चतुर्मुखत्वम् अगमत् कस्माल् लोकपितामहः कथं तु लोकान् असृजद् ब्रह्मा ब्रह्मविदां वरः
How did the grandsire of the worlds come to have four faces, and how did Brahma, the best of knowers of Brahman, create the worlds?
तपश् चचार प्रथमम् अमराणां पितामहः आविभूतास् तथा वेदाः साङ्गोपाङ्गपदक्रमाः
At first, the grandsire of the immortals performed austerities; then the Vedas, with their limbs, sub-divisions, and sequences, became manifest.
पुराणसर्वशास्त्राणां प्रथमं ब्रह्मणा स्मृतम् नित्यं शब्दमयं पुण्यं शतकोटिप्रविस्तरम्
Of all the ancient scriptures, the first was remembered by Brahma: eternally composed of sound, sacred, and spanning a hundred crore verses.
अनन्तरं च वक्त्रेभ्यो वेदास् तस्य विनिःसृताः मीमांसान्यायविद्याश् च प्रमाणाष्टकसंयुताः
Then, from his mouths, the Vedas emerged, along with Mimamsa, Nyaya, and the sciences, joined with the eightfold means of knowledge.
वेदाभ्यासरतस्यास्य प्रजाकामस्य मानसाः मनसः पूर्वसृष्टा वै जाता यत् तेन मानसाः
As he was devoted to the study of the Vedas and desired offspring, the mind-born sons were created earlier from his mind, those who are called mind-born.
मरीचिर् अभवत् पूर्वं ततो ऽत्रिर् भगवान् ऋषिः अङ्गिरश् चाभवत् पश्चात् पुलस्त्यस् तदनन्तरम्
First, Marichi came forth; then the venerable sage Atri; after him, Angiras appeared, and then Pulastya followed.
ततः पुलहनामा वै ततः क्रतुर् अजायत प्रचेताश् च ततः पुत्रो वसिष्ठश् चाभवत् पुनः
After that, Pulaha was born; then Kratu arose; from him, Prachetas was born, and again, Vasistha became his son.
पुत्रो भृगुर् अभूत् तद्वन् नारदो ऽप्य् अचिराद् अभूत् दशेमान् मानसान् ब्रह्मा मुनीन् पुत्रान् अजिजनत्
Bhrigu became his son, and likewise Narada soon appeared; thus, Brahma generated these ten mind-born sages as his sons.
शारीरान् अथ वक्ष्यामि मातृहीनान् प्रजापतेः अङ्गुष्ठाद् दक्षिणाद् दक्षः प्रजापतिर् अजायत
Now I will speak of the bodily sons, those without mothers, of the Lord of creatures: from his right thumb, Daksha, the progenitor, was born.
धर्मः स्तनान्ताद् अभवद् धृदयात् कुसुमायुधः भ्रूमध्याद् अभवत् क्रोधो लोभश् चाधरसंभवः
Dharma arose from his breast, Kamadeva from his heart, anger from between his brows, and greed from the lower regions.
बुद्धेर् मोहः समभवद् अहंकाराद् अभून् मदः प्रमोदश् चाभवत् कण्ठान् मृत्युर् लोचनतो ण्र्प भरतः करमध्यात् तु ब्रह्मसूनुर् अभूत् ततः
Delusion was born from intellect, pride from ego, delight from the throat, death from the eyes, O Bharata; and from the middle of the hand, Brahma's son was born.
एते नव सुता राजन् कन्या च दशमी पुनः अङ्गजा इति विख्याता दशमी ब्रह्मणः सुता
These are nine sons, O king, and again a tenth daughter; she is renowned as Angaja, the tenth child of Brahma.
बुद्धेर् मोहः समभवद् इति यत् परिकीर्तितम् अहंकारः स्मृतः क्रोधो बुद्धिर् नाम किम् उच्यते
It is said that delusion arises from intellect; ego is remembered; anger and intellect—what is meant by these names?
सत्त्वं रजस् तमश् चैव गुणत्रयम् उदाहृतम् साम्यावस्थितिर् एतेषां प्रकृतिः परिकीर्तिता
Sattva, rajas, and tamas are declared as the three qualities; their state of equilibrium is called the nature of creation.
केचित् प्रधानम् इत्य् आहुर् अव्यक्तम् अपरे जगुः एतद् एव प्रजासृष्टिं करोति विकरोति च
Some call it Pradhana, others say it is the unmanifest; this alone creates and transforms the beings.
गुणेभ्यः क्षोभमाणेभ्यस् त्रयो देवा विजज्ञिरे एका मूर्तिस् त्रयो भागा ब्रह्मविष्णुमहेश्वराः
From the agitation of the qualities, three gods were born; one form, three divisions: Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshvara.
सविकारात् प्रधानात् तु महत् तत्त्वं प्रजायते महान् इति यतः ख्यातिर् लोकानां जायते सदा
From the modified Pradhana, the great principle arises; because it is always known as 'great', it is the source of all worlds.
अहंकारश् च महतो जायते मानवर्धनः इन्द्रियाणि ततः पञ्च वक्ष्ये बुद्धिवशानि तु प्रादुर् भवन्ति चान्यानि तथा कर्मवशानि तु
Ego arises from the great principle, increasing mankind; from it, I will speak of the five senses, governed by intellect, and likewise the others, governed by action.
श्रोत्रं त्वक् चक्षुषी जिह्वा नासिका च यथाक्रमम् पायूपस्थं हस्तपादं वाक्क चेन्द्रियसंग्रहः
Hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell in order; excretion, generation, hands, feet, and speech are the collection of senses.
शब्दः स्पर्शश् च रूपं च रसो गन्धश् च पञ्चमः उत्सर्गानन्दनादानगत्यालापाश् च तत्क्रियाः
Sound, touch, form, taste, and smell as the fifth; elimination, enjoyment, taking, movement, and speech are their respective actions.
मन एकादशं तेषां कर्मबुद्धिगुणान्वितम् इन्द्रियावयवाः सूक्ष्मास् तस्य मूर्तिं मनीषिणः
Of these, the mind is the eleventh, endowed with the qualities of action and understanding; the subtle senses are its components, and the wise declare it to be their form.
श्रयन्ति यस्मात् तन्मात्राः शरीरं तेन संस्मृतम् शरीरयोगाज् जीवो ऽपि शरीरी गद्यते बुधैः
Because the subtle elements abide in it, the body is so called; and due to the union with the body, the living being is also termed 'embodied' by the learned.
मनः सृष्टिं विकुरुते चोद्यमानं सिसृक्षया आकाशं शब्दतन्मात्राद् अभूच् छब्दगुणात्मकम्
The mind, impelled by the desire to create, produces creation; from the subtle element of sound arose space, possessing the quality of sound.
आकाशविकृतेर् वायुः शब्दस्पर्शगुणो ऽभवत् वायोश् च स्पर्शतन्मात्रात् तेजश् चाविर् अभूत् ततः
From the transformation of space came air, possessing the qualities of sound and touch; and from the subtle element of touch in air, fire then arose.
त्रिगुणं तद्विकारेण तच्छब्दस्पर्शरूपवत् तेजोविकाराद् अभवद् वारि राजंश् चतुर्गुणम्
Through its transformation, fire became threefold, possessing sound, touch, and form; from the transformation of fire, water, O King, arose with four qualities.
रसतन्मात्रसंभूतं प्रायो रसगुणात्मकम् भूमिस् तु गन्धतन्मात्राद् अभूत् पञ्चगुणान्विता
Born from the subtle element of taste, water is mostly characterized by the quality of taste; and earth, from the subtle element of smell, arose endowed with five qualities.
प्रायो गन्धगुणा सा तु बुद्धिर् एषा गरीयसी एभिः संपादितं भुङ्क्ते पुरुषः पञ्चविंशकः
It is mostly characterized by the quality of smell; this is the superior intellect. With these, the twenty-fifth Purusha experiences the world.
ईश्वरेच्छावशः सो ऽपि जीवात्मा कथ्यते बुधैः एवं षड्विंशकं प्रोक्तं शरीरम् इह मानवे
Subject to the will of the Lord, this individual self is also described by the wise; thus, the body of man is said here to be composed of twenty-six elements.
सांख्यं संख्यात्मकत्वाच् च कपिलादिभिर् उच्यते एतत् तत्त्वात्मकं कृत्वा जगद् वेधा अजीजनत्
Because it consists of elements, this is called Sāṃkhya by Kapila and others; having established these principles, the Creator fashioned the world.
सावित्रीं लोकसृष्ट्यर्थे हृदि कृत्वा समास्थितः ततः संजपतस् तस्य भित्वा देहम् अकल्मषम्
Having placed Sāvitrī in his heart for the purpose of creating the worlds, he became absorbed; then, as he recited, breaking through his pure body,