Maitreya replied: "The Supreme Lord is never overcome by illusion, but the
individual beings are small enough to fall under her power, as in a
temporary dream. The misconception of identification with matter can be
gradually dissipated by meditating on the Lord, the transcendental Reality,
just like when we awaken from sleep we can return to the awareness of the
waking state by focusing on what really exists."
Vidura asked again: "Please tell me more about the secondary creation of
Brahma, of the Manus and their descendants, of the planets, the various
species, the divisions of society, the different methods of spiritual
realization, the prescribed rituals and the activities of the Lord when he
manifests in this world."
Maitreya congratulated Vidura for his excellent question and said that the
same subjects had been explained by Ananta Sankarshana to Sanat Kumara
and his three brothers, sons of Brahma. In turn, the Kumara handed down
the same teachings to Sankhyayana Muni, who gave them to Brihaspati and
Parasara, Maitreya's guru.
The Lord, the Supreme Soul of the universe, appears to be sleeping in the
water of the Ocean and generates the living beings through the power of
the external energy, the Kala shakti ("the black Power" or "the Power of
Time"), therefore his transcendental body has a dark blue complexion. The
aggregate of the selfish activities of the living beings manifests in the form
of a lotus bud growing from Vishnu's navel. Again the Lord enters that
lotus flower as Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, the Supreme Soul of all beings, and
generates the personification of the Vedic knowledge, Brahma.
After meditating for a long time, Brahma became able to see the Lord and
offered him beautiful prayers. With the Lord's blessing, Brahma established
himself firmly in spiritual consciousness, that enabled him to perceive the
presence of the Godhead in each being, and he started to shape the
fourteen inhabited planetary systems and the bodies of the various living
beings according to the different species.
There are nine subsequent stages in creation: the first is the mahat-tattva (the
total aggregate of matter), the second generates the sense of identification
with matter, the third manifests sense perception, the fourth manifests the
sense of cognition and action, the fifth manifests the archetypes of the
universal reality known as Devas, and the sixth manifests the sense of
ignorance. The secondary creation by Brahma starts from the seventh
phase, in which he manifests the immovable beings, such as the plants. The
eighth phase manifests the lower animals, including mammals and birds,
who are listed in 28 wide categories. The ninth and last phase of creation
manifests the human beings, the heavenly beings, the Rakshasas and
Yakshas, Gandharvas and Apsaras, Siddhas and Charanas and Vidyadharas,
and the various types of goblins and ghosts.
