CHAPTER XXXIII.
The Goddess displays her Cosmic Form
Page 1
The Dev� said:--"O Girir�ja! This whole universe, moving and unmoving, is created by My M�y� S'akt�. This M�y� is conceived in Me. It is not, in reality, different or separate from Me. So I am the only Chit, Intelligence. There is no other intelligence than Me. Viewed practically, it is known variously as M�y�, Vidy�; but viewed really from the point of Brahman, there is no such thing as M�y�; only one Brahman exists, I am that Brahma, of the nature of Intelligence. I create this whole world on this Unchangeable Eternal (Mountain-like) Brahma, (composed of Avidy�, Karma, and various Samsk�ras) and enter first as Pr�na (vital breath) within it in the form of Chid�bh�sa. O Mountain! Unless I enter as Breath, how can this birth and death and leaving and retaking bodies after bodies be accounted for! As one great �k�s'� is denominated variously Ghat�k�s'a (�k�s'� in the air), Pat�k�s'a (�k�s'� in cloth or picture), so I too appear variously by acknowledging this Pr�na in various places due to Avidy� and various Antahkaranas. As the Sun's rays are never defiled when they illumine various objects on earth, so I, too, am not defiled in entering thus into various high and low Antahkaranas (hearts). The ignorant people attach Buddhi and other things of activity on Me and say that �tman is the Doer; the intelligent people do not say that. I remain as the Witness in the hearts of all men, not as the Doer. O Achalendra! There are many J�vas and many �s'varas due to the varieties in Avidy� and Vidy�. Really it is M�y� that differentiates into men, beasts and various other J�vas; and it is M�y� that differentiates into Brahma, Visnu and other �s'varas. As the one pervading sky (�k�s'a) is called Mah�k�s'a Ghat�kas'a (being enclosed by jars), so the One All pervading Param�tm� is called Param�tm�, J�v�tm� (being enclosed within J�vas). As the J�vas are conceived many by M�y�, not in reality; so �s'varas also are conceived many by M�y�; not in essence. O Mountain! This Avidy� and nothing else, is the cause of the difference in J�vas, by creating differences in their bodies, indriyas (organs) and minds. Again, due to the varieties in the three Gunas and their wants (due to the differences between S�ttvik, R�jasik and T�masik desires), M�y� also appears various. And their differences are the causes of different �s'varas, Brahma, Visnu and others. O Mountain! This whole world is interwoven in Me; It is I that am the �s'vara that resides in causal bodies; I am the "Sutr�tman, Hiranyagarbha that resides in subtle bodies and it is I that am the Vir�t, residing in the gross bodies. I am Brahm�, Visnu, and Mahes'vara; I am the Br�hm�, Vaisnavi and Raudr� S'aktis. I am the Sun, I am the Moon, I am the Stars; I am beast, birds, Chand�las and I am the Thief, I am the cruel hunter; I am the virtuous high-souled persons and I am the female, male, and hermaphrodite. There is no doubt in this. O Mountain! Wherever there is anything, seen or heard, I alway exist there, within and without, There is nothing moving or unmoving, that can exist without Me. If there be such, that is like the son of a barren woman. Just as one rope is mistaken for a snake or a garland, so I am the One Brahma and appears as �s'vara, etc. There, is no doubt in this. This world cannot appear without a substratum. And That Substratum is My Existence. There can be nothing else.
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