गत्यर्थाद् ऋषयो धातोर्न्नामनिर्वृत्तिरादितः। तस्मादृषिपरत्वेन महांस्तस्मान्महर्षयः
The sages, from the root meaning of movement, have their name originating from the beginning; therefore, due to their supreme sagehood, they are called ‘maharṣis’.
महर्ल्लोकस्थितैर्दृष्टः कालः सुप्तस्तदा च तैः। सत्याद्याः सप्त येह्यासन् कल्पेऽतीते महर्षयः
Time, asleep, is seen by those dwelling in Maharloka; and in the past cycle, the seven sages beginning with Satya existed.
एवं ब्राह्मीषु रात्रीषु ह्यती तासु सहस्रशः। दृष्टवन्तस्तथा ह्यन्ये सुप्तं कालं महर्षयः
Thus, during countless Brahmā’s nights that have passed, other great sages likewise have witnessed time as asleep.
कल्पयामास वै ब्रह्मा तस्मात् कालो निरुच्यते
Brahmā indeed created the cycle; hence, time is so named.
स स्रष्टा सर्वभूतानां कल्पादिषु पुनः पुनः। व्यक्ताव्यक्तो महादेवस्तस्य सर्वमिदं जगत्
He is the creator of all beings, again and again at the beginning of cycles; the great god, manifest and unmanifest, and this entire world is his.
इत्येष प्रतिसन्धिर्वः कीर्त्तितः कल्पयोर्द्वयोः। साम्प्रतातीतयोर्मध्ये प्रागवस्था बभूव या
Thus, this continuity between the two cycles—past and present—has been described to you, along with the prior state that existed between them.
कीर्त्तिता तु समासेन कल्पे कल्पे यथा तथा। साम्प्रतं ते प्रवक्ष्यामि कल्पमेतं निबोधत
It has been recounted in brief how it is in each cycle; now I shall tell you of this present cycle, listen attentively.
तुल्यं युगसहस्रस्य नैशं कालमुपास्य सः। शर्वर्यन्ते प्रकुरुते ब्रह्मत्वं सर्गकारणात्
Having worshipped the night equal to a thousand ages, at the end of the darkness, he attains Brahmahood for the purpose of creation.
ब्रह्मा तु सलिले तस्मिन् वायुर्भूत्वा तदाचरत्। अन्धकारे तदा तस्मिन् नष्टे स्थावरजङ्गमे
Brahmā, in those waters, became the wind and moved therein; in that darkness, all that is stationary and moving was destroyed.
जलेन समनुव्याप्ते सर्वतः पृथिवीतले। अविभागेन भूतेषु समन्तात्सुस्थितेषु च
When water had thoroughly pervaded the earth everywhere, and all beings stood firmly, undivided, on all sides,
निशायामिव खद्योतः प्रावृट्काले ततस्ततः। तदाकाशे चरन् सोऽथ वीक्ष्यमाणः स्वयम्भुवः
Like a firefly in the night during the rainy season, then, moving in the sky, the self-born was observed.
प्रतिष्ठाया ह्यपायन्तु मार्गमाणस्तदा प्रभुः। ततस्तु सलिले तस्मिन् ज्ञात्वा ह्यन्तर्गतां महीम्
Seeking a foundation and a descent, the Lord then, in those waters, realized the earth was hidden within.
अनुमानात्तु सम्बुद्धो भूमेरुद्धरणं प्रति। चकारान्यां तनुञ्चैव पूर्वकल्पादिषु स्मृताम्
By inference, he understood the extraction of the earth; he assumed another form, as remembered from previous cycles.
स तु रूपं वराहस्य कृत्वाऽपः प्राविशत् प्रभुः। अद्भिः सञ्छादितामुर्वीं समीक्ष्याथ प्रजापतिः
He took the form of a boar and entered the waters, the Lord; seeing the earth covered by water, the progenitor,
उद्धृत्योर्वीमथाद्भ्यस्तु अपस्तास्तु स विन्यसत्। सामुद्रीस्तु समुद्रेषु नादेयीर्निम्नगास्वपि। पार्थिवीस्तु स विन्यस्य पृथिव्यां सोऽचिनोद्गिरीन्
Having lifted the earth from the waters, he set the waters in their places: the oceanic waters in the oceans, the river waters in the rivers, and the earthly ones upon the earth, and he arranged the mountains.
प्राक्सर्गे दह्यमाने तु तदा संवर्त्तकाग्निना। तेनाग्निना प्रलीनास्ते पर्वता भुवि सर्वशः
At the previous creation, when all was being burned by the fire of dissolution, by that fire, the mountains on earth were all destroyed.
शैत्यादेकार्णवे तस्मिन् वायुनापस्तु संहृताः। निषक्ता यत्र यत्रासंस्तत्रतत्राऽचलोऽभवत्
Because of the cold, in that single ocean, the waters were drawn together by the wind; wherever they settled, there the earth became solid.
स्कन्नाचलत्वादचलाः पर्वभिः पर्वताः स्मृताः। गिरयोऽद्भिर्निगीर्णत्वाच्चयनाच्च शिलोच्चयाः
Because they became solid after flowing, they are called 'mountains'; since they are heaped up with peaks and swallowed by waters, they are known as 'heaps of rocks.'
ततस्तु तां समुद्धृत्य क्षितिमन्तर्ज्जलात् प्रभुः। स्वस्थाने स्थापयित्वा च विभागमकरोत् पुनः
Then, having lifted the earth from within the waters, the Lord, after placing it in its proper place, again made its divisions.
सप्त सप्त तु वर्षाणि तस्या द्वीपेषु सप्तसु। विषमाणि समीकृत्य शिलाभिरचिनोद्गिरीन्
Then, having made the uneven regions on the seven islands level, he constructed mountains with rocks.
द्वीपेषु तेषु वर्षाणि चत्वारिंशत्तथैव च। तावन्तः पर्वताश्चैव वर्षान्ते समवस्थिताः। सर्गादौ सन्निविष्टास्ते स्वभावेनैव नान्यथा
On those islands, there are forty regions, and just as many mountains are established at the end of each region; these were arranged at the beginning of creation by their very nature, not otherwise.
सप्त द्वीपाः समुद्राश्च अन्योन्यस्य तु मण्डलम्। सन्निकृष्टाः स्वभावेन समावृत्य परस्परम्
The seven islands and oceans, each encircling the other, are naturally close together, surrounding one another.
भूराख्यांश्चतुरो लोकांश्चन्द्रादित्यौ ग्रहैः सह। पूर्वं तु निर्म्ममे ब्रह्मा स्थानानीमानि सर्वशः
Brahmā first created the earth named Bhū, the four worlds, the moon and sun along with the planets, and all these places entirely.
कल्पस्य चास्य ब्रह्मा वै ह्यसृजत् स्थानिनः पुरा। आपोऽग्रिः पृथिवी वायुरन्तरिक्षं दिवं तथा
At the beginning of this kalpa, Brahmā formerly created the stationary elements: waters, fire, earth, wind, space, and also the heavens.
स्वर्गं दिशः समुद्रांश्च नदीः सर्वांश्च पर्वतान्। ओषधीनां तथात्मानमात्मानं वृक्षवीरुधाम्
He created heaven, the directions, the oceans, all the rivers and mountains, as well as the essence of herbs and of trees and plants.
लवाः काष्ठाः कलाश्चैव मुहूर्तं सन्धिरात्र्यहम्। अर्द्धमासांश्च मासांश्च अयनाब्दयुगानि च
He created moments, time divisions, lunar days, conjunctions, nights and days, fortnights, months, solstices, years, and ages.
स्थानाभिमानिनश्चैव स्थानानि च पृथक् पृथक्। स्थानात्मानः स सृष्ट्वा वै युगावस्थां विनिर्ममे
He also created the presiding deities of the places and the places themselves, each separately; having created the essences of the places, he established the order of the ages.
कृतं त्रेता द्वापरं च कलिं चैव तथा युगम्। कल्पस्यादौ कृतयुगे प्रथमे सोऽसृजत् प्रजाः
The Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali ages—at the beginning of the kalpa, in the first Kṛta age, he created the beings.
प्रागुक्ता या मया तुभ्यं पूर्वकालं प्रजास्तु ताः। तस्मिन् संवर्त्तमाने तु कल्पे दग्धास्तदाऽग्निना
The beings I previously described to you, those from the earlier time—when that kalpa was dissolved, they were then burned by fire.
अप्राप्ता यास्तपोलोकं जनलोकं समाश्रिताः। प्रवर्तन्ति पुनः सर्गे बीजार्थं ता भवन्ति हि
Those who had not reached Tapoloka but had taken refuge in Janaloka, they again manifest at creation, serving as seeds.