Story of Shrimdbhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter 10 :

“Division of the Creation “

Shribhagavatam is narreted by Maitreya Muni to Vidura. After discribing the universal form of the Lord and the process of cosmic creation the earlier chapter ,Maitreya now explains how the univers is systematically divided and how time ,activities and living beings arearranged within it .The chapter is philosophical and explains the structure of creation as seen through vedic wisdom .

Vidura Inquiry-

Vidura,who is eager to understand the Lord,s pastimes,requests Maitreya to discribe in detail how the Supreme Personality of Godhead creats,maintains and annihilates the cosmos.He asks about the divisions of time ,the diffrent types of creation and how living entities are engaged according to their past karma.

Maitreya ,pleased with Vidura’s humble inquiring ,beings to explain the subject of serga,visrga and the nine kinds of creation .

The Ten Division of Creation .

Maitreya says that the process of creation is of ten kinds . The first is the creation of Mahat-Tattva ,the sum total of material energy ,whitch is agitated by the glance of Maha -Vishnu .From Mahat-Tattva arises false ego ,which further manifests in three modes-goodness,passion and ignorance .From these modes come the subtle elements, the senses and the demigods who preside over them. This is called primary creation,which is directly brought about by the Lord Himself without the participation of Brahma.

The second creation is carried out lay Lord Brahmas ,who appears on the lotus spring from the navel of Garbhoda kashayi Vishnu .Brahma empowered by the Lord ,then creates the verious planetary systems and living beings .

Maitreya lists the nine types of Creation as follows:

1. Mahat-tattva :Creation.The total material energy .

2. False ego : where identity and material elements arise .

3. Sense Perception & Elements: sound,touch,form,taste,smell,and the five gross elements-ether,air,fire,water,earth .

4. Knowledge -Acquiring Senses: ears,skin,eyes,tongue,nose .

5. Working Senses : voice,hands,legs,anus,genitals .

6. Demigods : The controlling dieties of the senses and elements

7. Ignorance : The five kinds of ignorance-tamas,moha,Maha Moha, tamisra,andha-tamisra, which cover the living entity.

8. Plants and trees : Immobile living beings who are almost unconscious .

9. Animals and Birds : Living beings with partial consciousness ,dominated by ignorance .

Beside these nine ,the tenth Creation is that of human beings,who are endowed with developed consciousness and can practice religion,economic development,sense gratification and liberation-dharma,erth,kaama,moksha.

Division of time –

Maitreya then explains the measurments of time , which controls all activities in the universe . The smallest unit is paramanu ,the time taken by sunlight to pass through an atom. Two paramanu make one anus and so on . Graduaally the calculation extends to seconds,minutes,days,months,and years.

One day of the demigods equals six months of human beings – the northern course of the sun is their day and southern course is their night .Four Yuga -Styas,Treta,Dvapara and Kali-together form one divya-yuga of 4,320000 human yeaars .

1000 divya -yugas make one day of Brahma ,called a kalpa , His night is of equal duration . Brahma lives for 100 such years ,after which the entire universe is annihilated. This explain shows how temporary the material world is when seen from the perspective of eternal time .

The three kinds of Annihilaation .

Maitreya also describes the periodic destructions :-

1. Naimittika -occurs at the end of Brahma’s day ,when the lower planets are destroyed .

2. Prakritika – occurs at the end of Brahma’s life ,when the entire univers merges back into Maha Vishnu .

3. Atiyantika -The individual libration of a soul who goes back to Godhead .

Purpose of Creation –

The chapter concludes by emphasizing that the Lord creats the material world not for His own need but to give the conditioned souls a chance to reform themselves. The cosmic manifestation is like a prison house where rebellious souls can learn to surrender. Through the cycles of creation and destruction ,the Lord reminds the living entities of their eternal relationship with him.

Essence of chapter 10 .

This chapter is not a story with characters,but a cosmic blueprint.It teachs that everything from the atom to the lifetime of Brahma -is under the control of the Supreme Lord through the agency of time. Human life is especially valuable bacause only in this form can one inquire about the Absulute Truth and attain liberation .

Madan Lal Sharma

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