III. -- THE CREATION BY BRAHMA.

*SKANDHA III., CHAP. 10.* When Bhagavan disappeared, Brahma, as directed, practised meditation for one hundred Deva-years. He found his lotus abode moved by air. With all the power acquired by _Atma Vidya_ and _Tapas_, he drank up all the waters and the air. He found the _Lokas_ attached to the overspreading Lotus and he had only to divide them. He entered into the Lotus bud and divided it into three parts -- the _Triloki_. This is the creation of the _Triloki_. The higher Lokas (Mahar, Jana, Tapas and Satya) are the transformations of _Nishkama Karma_ or unselfish action. So they are not destroyed in each Kalpa, but they last for two Parardhas. "What is Kala", asked Vidura, "that has been described as a _Sakti of Hari?_" "_Kala_ is the disturber of _Gunas_", replied Maitreya, "causing transformations. In itself it is without any particularity and is without beginning or end. "With Kala as the Nimitta or efficient cause, Bhagavan only manifested Himself. The Universe has no separate existence from that of Brahma. It is only Kala that makes the Universe manifest." The Creation of Brahma is ninefold, Prakrita and Vaikrita, Prakrita-Vaikrita being the tenth. The Pralaya is of three kinds: 1) By Kala or Nitya. Flow of time is the only cause of this Pralaya. 2) By Dravya or Naimittika. Dravya is the fire from the mouth of Sankarshana, at the end of one Kalpa. 3) By Guna or Prakritika, the Gunas devouring their own actions. The forms of Pralaya will be considered in the study of the Twelfth Branch. _A. -- Prakrita Creation, *i.e._ the Creation of Principles or Tatvas.*