In the beginning, as the subtle essence of being is enveloped by the finer elements, it gradually sheds its subtlety. In the vastness of space, one perceives a form—a spark of fire—shining forth with brilliance. This spark, endowed with the faculties of ego, intellect, and the individual soul, is known as the eightfold subtle body. It is like a bee nestled at the lotus-heart of the elements. Within this subtle body, the mind exerts its intense force and brings forth a radiant form. As time passes and maturation occurs, this form attains a greater density, much like a fruit ripening according to its destined season. Shining in the pure sky, its radiance flows like molten gold from a crucible, assuming its own unique form by its inherent nature. Within its own abode, the mind—composed of a mass of radiance—naturally assumes a firm and expansive imagination. Above, it forms a seat like a head; below, a base like feet; on either side, the arrangement of hands; and in the middle, the nature of a belly. There appears a child with manifest limbs, resembling a cluster of pure flames, who stands there, taking a body according to the will of the mind. Through the force of its own tendencies, the mind of the sage, having imagined limbs, brings about the growth of its own body, just as each season brings forth its natural effects. In time, this body becomes distinct, attaining a spotless form endowed with intelligence, purity, strength, enthusiasm, discernment, and mastery. This being is the blessed Lord Brahma, ruler of all worlds, shining like molten gold, arisen from the supreme expanse. Abiding in this supreme realm, possessing the highest form, Brahma creates his own dwelling through the play of his mind, remaining established in himself. At times, this dwelling is pure space alone, supreme and free from any distinction; at times, it is pure water, without beginning, middle, or end. Sometimes it is adorned with the radiance of the flames of the fire at the end of an age; at other times, it is a lovely forest, or the closed bud of a lotus at the navel. By his own will, this sovereign effortlessly creates countless seats of various forms for each and every birth. Among these, when Brahma first descends from the state of Brahman, knowledge makes his own body well-formed. When the sleep of the womb departs, he sees a radiant body, endowed with the flow of prāṇa and apāna, constructed solely from substances. This body is covered with the tips of hairs, furnished with thirty-two teeth, supported by three pillars, possessed of fifteen deities, and marked below by the soles of the feet. It is divided into five parts, has nine gates, limbs smooth and smeared with unguents, equipped with twenty fingers, and marked by twenty nails. There are two arms, two breasts, two eyes—or sometimes many shoulders and arms; it is the nest of the bird of mind, the cave for the serpent of desire. It is the dwelling of the demoness of thirst, the cave of the lion called the soul, the stable of the elephant of pride, and adorned by the lotus-face. Beholding his own radiant and supreme form, Brahma, the blessed one whose vision is pure across the three times, began to reflect. In this cave of space, on this shore adorned with honey, endless and without visible boundary, he wondered: what was there first? Thus pondering, Brahma, newly arisen and with a stainless vision of the Self, saw countless past creations that had already passed away. He then recalled all the Vedas, complete with their sequences of duties and qualities, as one remembers blossoms in spring—joined with speech and meaning. Effortlessly, he created various beings born of thought, with diverse customs and undertakings, as a Gandharva might fashion a city. For their sake—so they might attain heaven, liberation, and the fulfillment of duty, desire, and wealth—he composed countless and wondrous scriptures. Thus, O Rama, this creation came to abide in this cycle, as the splendor of flowers rests in spring, taking form through the mind of Brahma. By manifold arrangements and playful acts, by the mind taking the form of the lotus-born, O son of Raghu, the glory of creation here has been established in this world in an incomparable way. When all this is accomplished, nothing remains established—only the vast emptiness of space, the supreme play of the mind. In this, neither place nor time exists anywhere within the cosmic egg, not even in the slightest, though it appears grand and sky-like. This is merely the essence of thought, like a city seen in a dream; wherever it appears, there is nothing but pure space. Even the construction of walls and coloring, though seen, is not real; what is unmade seems made, a marvelous painting in the sky. Everything—the body and the three worlds—are imagined by the mind; this is the cause of transmigration, just as vision is caused by the eye. The world is only an appearance, unfolding through pots, huts, and cloths; they do not exist as real things, nor are walls and such separately established. This body is fashioned by the mind for the sake of dwelling, just as a worm makes its own cocoon for itself. There is nothing that does not exist, nor any name, which the mind, slow in resolve, does not create or attain—even what is difficult or inaccessible. In the Supreme, who possesses all powers, what can truly be called separate powers? There are none; it is only by these that the inner cave of the mind appears to be veiled. O mighty-armed one, the existence or non-existence of all things always arises only because the all-powerful, all-pervading One is present. See how the lotus-born body is attained through imagination by the mind; therefore, O Rama, know that all manifestation arises endowed with all power. Gods, demons, humans, and animals are created by their own thoughts at the beginning of creation; when those thoughts subside, they are extinguished, like lamps without oil.