Śrīmad Devī Bhāgavatam

The Devī said :-- "Hear, Ye Immortals! My words with attention, that I am now going to speak to you, hearing which will enable the Jīvas to realise My Essence. Before the creation, I, only I, existed; nothing else was existent then. My Real Self is known by the names Chit, Sambit (Intelligence), Para Brahma and others.

My Ātman is beyond mind, beyond thought, beyond any name or mark, without any parallel, and beyond birth, death or any other change or transformation. My Self has one inherent power called Māyā. This Māyā is not existent, nor non-existent, nor can it be called both. This unspeakable substance Māyā always exists (till the final emancipation or Mokṣa).

Just as all the Karmas of the Jīvas dissolve in deep sleep (Śuṣupti), so at the time of Pralaya or the General Dissolution, the Karmas of the Jīvas, the Jīvas and Time all become merged, in one uniform mass in this great Māyā. United with My Śaktī, I am the Cause of this world; this Śaktī has this defect that it has the power of hiding Me, its Originator.

I am Nirguṇa. And when I am united with my Śaktī, Māyā, 1 become Saguna, the Great Cause of this world. This Māyā is divided into two, Vidyā and Avidyā. Avidyā Māyā hides Me; whereas Vidyā Māyā does not. Avidyā creates whereas Vidyā Mayā liberates.s

Māyā united with Caitanya (Intelligence), i. e., Cidābhāsa is the efficient cause of this Universe; whereas Māyā reduced to and united with five original elements is the material Cause of the Universe.

Some call this Māyā tapas; some call Her inert, material; some call Her knowledge; some call Her Māyā, Pradhāna, Prakṛti, Ajā (unborn) and some others call Her Śaktī.

The Śaiva authors call Her Vimarśa and the other Vedāntists call Her Avidyā; in short, this Māyā is in the heads of all the Pundits. This Māyā is called various in the Nigamas.

That which is seen is inert; for this reason Māyā is Jaḍa (inert) and as the knowledge it conveys is destroyed, it is false. Caitanya (Intelligence) is not seen; if It were seen, it would have been Jaḍa. Caitanya is self-luminous; not illumined by any other source. Were It so, Its Enlightener would have to be illumined by some other thing and so the fallacy of Anavasthā creeps in (an endless series of causes and effects).

Again one thing cannot be the actor and the thing, acted upon (being contrary to each other); so Caitanya cannot be illumined by itself. So It is Self-luminous; and it illumines Sun, Moon, etc., as a lamp is self-luminous and illumines other objects. So, O Mountain! This My Intelligence is established as eternal and everlasting.

The waking, dreaming and deep sleep states do not remain constant but the sense of "I" remains the same, whether in waking, dreaming or deep sleep state; its anomaly is never felt. (The Bauddhas say that) The sense of intelligence, Jñāna, is also not felt; there is the absence of it; so what is existent is also temporarily existent.

But (it can then be argued that) then the Witness by which that absence is sensed, that Intelligence, in the shape of the Witness, is eternal. So the Pundits of all the reasonable Śāstras declare that Samvit (Intelligence) is Eternal and it is Blissful the fountain of all love.

Never the Jīvas or embodied souls feel "I am not"; but "I am" this feeling is deeply established in the soul as Love. Thus it is clearly evident that I am quite separate from anything else which are all false. Also I am one continuous (no interval or separation existing within Me). Again Jñāna is not the Dharma (the natural quality) of Ātman but it is of the very nature of Ātman.

If Jñāna ware the Dharma of Ātman, then Jñāna would have been material; so Jñāna is immaterial. If (for argument’s sake) Jñāna be denominated as material, that cannot be. For Jñāna is of the nature of Intelligence and Ātman is of the the nature of Intelligence. Intelligence has not the attribute of being Dharma. Here the thing Chit is not different from its quality (Chit).

So Ātman is always of the nature of Jñāna and happiness; Its nature is Truth; It is always Full, unattached and void of duality. This Ātman again, united with Māyā, composed of desires and Karmas, wants to create, due to the want of discrimination, the twenty-four tattvas, according to the previous Samskāras (tendencies), time and Karma.

O Mountain! The re-awakening after Pralaya Suṣupti is not done with Buddhi (for then Buddhi is not at all manifested). So this creation is said to be effected without any Buddhi (proper intelligence).

O Chief of the Immovables! The Tattva (Reality) that I have spoken to you is most excellent and it is my Extraordinary Form merely. In the Vedas it is known as Avyākrita (unmodified), Avyakta (unmanifested) Māyā Śabala (divided into various parts) and so forth. In all the Śāstras, it is stated to be the Cause of all causes, the Primeval Tattva and Saccidānanda Vigraha.

Where all the Karmas are solidified and where Iccā Śaktī (will), Jñāna Śaktī (intelligence) and Kriyā Śaktī (action) all are melted in one, that is called the Mantra Hrīm, that is the first Tattva.

From this comes out Ākāsa, having the property of sound, thence Vāyu (air) with "touch" property; then fire with form, then water having "Rasa" property; and lastly the earth having the quality "smell." The Pundits say that the "sound" is the only quality of Ākāsa; air has two qualities viz., sound and touch, fire has three qualities sound, touch, form; water has four qualities sound, touch, form, taste; and the earth has five qualities sound, touch, form, taste and smell.

Out of these five original elements, the allpervading, Sūtra (string or thread) arose. This Sūtrātman (soul) is called the "Liṅga Deha," comprising within itself all the Prāṇas; this is the subtle body of the Paramātman. And what is said in the previous lines as Avyakta or Unmanifested and in which the Seed of the World is involved and whence the Liṅga Deha has sprung, that is called the Causal body (Kāraṇa body) of the Paramātman.

The five original elements (Apañcikrita called the five Tan Mātrās) being created, next by the Pañcīkaraṇa process, the gross elements are created. The process is now being stated :-- O Girijā! Each of the five original elements is divided into two parts; one part of each of which is subdivided into four parts.

This fourth part of each is united with the half of four other elements different from it and thus each gross element is formed. By these five gross elements, the Cosmic (Virāṭ) body is formed and this is called the Gross Body of the God. Jñānendriyas (the organs of knowledge) arise from Sattva Guṇas of each of these five elements.

Again the Sattva Guṇas of each of the Jñānendriyas united become the Antaḥ Karaṇāni. This Antaḥ karaṇa is of four kinds, according as its functions vary. When it is engaged in forming Saṅkalpas, resolves, and Vikalpas (doubts) it is called "mind."

When it is free from doubts and when it arrives at the decisive conclusion, it is called "Chitta"; and when it rests simply on itself in the shape of the feeling "I", it is called Ahamkāra. From the Rajo Guṇa of each of the five elements arises Vāk (speech), Pāṇi (hands) Pāda (feet), Pāyu (Anus) and Upastha (organs of generation).

Again their Rajo parts united give rise to the five Prāṇas (Prāṇa, Apāna, Samāna, Udāna and Vyāna) the Prāṇa Vayu resides in the heart; Apāna Vayu in the Arms; Samāna Vayu resides in the Navel; Udāna Vayu rasides in the Throat; and the Vyāna Vāyu resides, pervading all over the body. My subtle body (Liṅga Deha) arises from the union of the five Jñānendriyas, the five Karmendriyas (organs of action), the five Praṇas and the mind and Buddhi, these seventeen elements.

And the Prakṛti that resides there is divided into two parts; one is pure (Suddha Sattva) Māyā and the other is the impure Māyā or Avidyā united with the Guṇas. By Māyā is meant She, who, without concealing Her refugees, protects them. When the Supreme Self is reflected on this Śuddha Sattva, Māyā, He is called Īśvara. This Suddha Māyā does not conceal Brahma, its receptacle; therefore She knows the All-pervading Brahma and She is omniscient, omnipotent, the Lady of all and confers favours and blessings on all.

When the Supreme Self is reflected on the Impure Māyā or Avidyā, He is called Jīva. This Avidyā conceals Brahma, Whose nature is Happiness; therefore this Jīva is the source of all miseries.

Both Īśvara and Jīva have, by the influence of Vidyā and Avidyā three bodies and three names. When the Jīva lives in his causal body, he is named Prājña; when he lives in subtle body he is known as Taijasa; while he has the gross body, he is called Viśva.

So when Īśvara is in His causal body, he is denominated Īśa; when He is in His subtle body, he is known as Sūtra; and when He is in His gross body, He is known as Virāṭ.

The Jīva glories in having three (as above-mentioned) kinds of differentiated bodies and Īśvara glories in having three (as above-mentioned) kinds of cosmic bodies. Thus Īśvara is the Lord of all and though He feels Himself always happy and satisfied, yet to favour the Jīvas and to give them liberation (Mokṣa) He has created various sorts of worldly things for their Bhogas (enjoyments). This Īśvara creates all the Universe, impelled by My Brahma Śaktī. I am of the nature of Brahma; and Īśvara is conceived in Me as a snake is imagined in a rope. Therefore Īśvara has to remain dependent on My Śakti. Here ends the Thirty-second Chapter of the Seventh Book on Self-realization, spoken by the World Mother in the Mahāpurāṇam Śrimaddevībhāgavatam by Maharṣi Veda Vyāsa.