From Viṣṇu arises the universe, and in him all things abide. He is the sustainer and controller of the world, and he himself is the world’s very substance. Thus, when Śrī Parāśara begins his teaching, he bows in reverence to Viṣṇu—the pure, changeless, and eternal Supreme Soul, whose form is ever one and who conquers all. He offers salutations as well to Hiraṇyagarbha, to Hari, to Śaṃkara, to Vāsudeva—the savior, the creator, the sustainer, and the destroyer of worlds. Parāśara continues his praise: he bows to Viṣṇu, whose form is both singular and manifold, the gross and the subtle self, whose nature is both manifest and unmanifest, and who is the true cause of liberation. Again, he salutes Viṣṇu, the supreme soul, who is the root of creation, preservation, and destruction, and the very essence of all worlds. Parāśara bows to Acyuta, the supreme person, the foundation of the universe, subtler than the subtlest, who dwells in all beings. He explains that the essential nature of knowledge is utterly pure; only through mistaken perception does it appear as the manifold objects of the world. Having offered his salutations to Viṣṇu—the devourer and lord of the universe in its preservation and creation, the ruler of all worlds, unborn, imperishable, and unchanging—Parāśara prepares to relate, as it was told before, the ancient wisdom spoken by the venerable lotus-born Lord, the grandsire Brahmā, when asked by the foremost sages beginning with Dakṣa. This knowledge, he says, was told to Purukutsa, king of the earth, on the banks of the Nirmadā, by the sage Sārasvata, and passed down to Parāśara, who now shares it with Maitreya. He describes the Supreme as the highest among the high, the Self established in itself, beyond distinctions of form, color, or any attribute. Free from decay, destruction, transformation, growth, or birth, this Supreme can only be described as “He always exists”—nothing more. Because he pervades everything and dwells in all, the wise call him Vāsudeva. That supreme Brahman is eternal, unborn, imperishable, and unchanging; always of one nature, pure because there is nothing to reject. This alone is all that exists, with both manifest and unmanifest forms, established as the form of the Person and as the form of Time. Parāśara explains to the twice-born sage: the Person is the first form of the Supreme Brahman; likewise, the manifest and unmanifest, and Time, are other supreme forms. Beyond primordial matter, the Person, the manifest, and Time, that which is supreme—the pure state—is seen by sages as the supreme abode of Viṣṇu. The forms of primordial matter, the Person, the manifest, and Time, in their various divisions, are the causes of the existence, creation, and dissolution of beings. Viṣṇu himself is the manifest, the unmanifest, the Person, and indeed Time. His activity, Parāśara says, is like that of a child at play. The unmanifest cause, which the foremost sages call primordial matter (Pradhāna), is subtle nature, eternal, and of the essence of both being and non-being. It is imperishable, has no other support, is immeasurable, ageless, and constant; it is devoid of sound and touch, and not associated with form or other qualities. Endowed with the three qualities (guṇas), it is the source of the world, without beginning, origin, or end; therefore, before creation and after dissolution, all was indeed that alone. Those who know the Vedic doctrines, and the established teachers of Brahman, recite this very meaning, which establishes the primacy of primordial matter. There was no day or night, no sky or earth, no self or light, nor anything else; only the one primordial Brahman, not accessible to the senses or mind, existed then. Beyond the true form of Viṣṇu, Parāśara explains, there are indeed two forms: Pradhāna (primordial matter) and Puruṣa (spirit). When these two are separated and purified, another form arises—Time. That which remains manifest in Prakṛti (nature) even after the great dissolution is called by the wise the Prākṛta (primordial) state, for it endures through each cycle. The Blessed Lord, Time, is without beginning and has no end; thus, the cycles of creation, maintenance, and dissolution are uninterrupted. When the qualities are in equilibrium and the individual soul is distinct, then the form of Time belonging to Viṣṇu undergoes transformation. Then, the Supreme Soul, the essence of the universe, the all-pervading Lord of all beings, the Self of all, becomes the blazing Brahman. By his own will, Hari entered both Pradhāna and Puruṣa—the perishable and the imperishable—and agitated them at the time of creation. Just as the mere presence of fragrance causes disturbance, though the mind is not the direct agent, so too does the Supreme Lord set creation in motion. He alone is both the agitator and the one to be agitated, the Supreme Person; by contraction and expansion, he abides also as Pradhāna. By forms of expansion and subtlety, such as the form of Brahman and others, Viṣṇu, the Lord of all lords, becomes manifest. From the equilibrium of the qualities, presided over by the knower of the field, arises the differentiation of the qualities at the time of creation. The principle of Pradhāna gave rise to Mahat (the great principle), which enveloped it; Mahat is threefold—sāttvika, rājasika, and tāmasika. Mahat, existing equally with Pradhāna and enveloped like a seed, is threefold: Vaikārika (of sattva), Taijasa (of rajas), and Bhūtādi (of tamas). From Mahat arose the threefold Ahaṃkāra (ego), which is the cause of the elements and the senses, due to its three qualities; just as Mahat is enveloped by Pradhāna, so too is Ahaṃkāra enveloped by Mahat. Then Bhūtādi, undergoing transformation, produced the subtle element of sound; from that subtle sound, space (ākāśa), characterized by sound, was created. Bhūtādi enveloped both the subtle sound and space; then space, undergoing transformation, produced the subtle element of touch. From that, powerful Vāyu (air) arose, whose quality is touch; space, which possesses only sound, was enveloped by the subtle element of touch. Thus, from the Supreme, through the subtle play of his own nature, the universe arises, abides, and is sustained.