"These three were the Prakrita creation, the (discrete) developments of indiscrete nature preceded by the indiscrete principle." "Preceded by," ought to be replaced here with "beginning by," Buddhi; for the latter is neither a discrete nor an indiscrete quantity , but partakes of the nature of both, in man as in Kosmos: a unit -- a human MONAD on the plane of illusion -- when once freed from the three forms of Ahankara and liberated from its terrestrial manas, Buddhi becomes truly a continued quantity, both in duration and extension, because eternal and immortal.
Earlier it is stated, that the third Creation "abounding with the quality of goodness, is termed Urdhvasrotas "; and a page or two further the Urdhvasrotas creation is referred to as "the sixth creation .
.
.
that of the divinities" (p.
75).
This shows plainly that earlier as well as later manvantaras have been purposely confused, to prevent the pro- [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * See concerning their post-types , the Treatise written by Trithemius (Agrippa's master, 16th cent.).
"Concerning the seven secondaries, or Spiritual Intelligences, who, after God, actuate the Universe;" giving out, besides secret cycles and several prophecies, certain facts and beliefs about the Genii, or the Elohim, which preside over and guide the septenary stages of the World's Course.
** From the first, the Orientalists have found themselves beset by great difficulties with regard to any possible order in the Puranic Creations.
Brahma is very often confused with Brahm, by Wilson, for which he is criticised by his successors.
The " Original Sanscrit Texts " are preferred by Mr.
Fitzedward Hall for the translation of Vishnu Purana and texts, to those used by Wilson.
"Had Professor Wilson enjoyed the advantages which are now at the command of the student of Indian philosophy, unquestionably he would have expressed himself differently," as said by the editor of his works.
This reminds one of the answer given by one of Thomas Taylor's admirers to those scholars who criticised his translations of Plato.
"Thomas Taylor may have had less knowledge of the Greek than his critics have, but he understood Plato far better than they do," he said.
Our present Orientalists disfigure the mystic sense of the Sanskrit texts far more than Wilson ever did, though the latter is undeniably guilty of very gross errors.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 454 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
fane from perceiving the truth.
This is called "incongruity" and "contradictions" by the Orientalists.* This "creation" of the immortals, the " Deva-Sarga ," is the last of the first series, and has a universal reference; namely, to Evolutions in general, not specifically to our Manvantara ; but the latter begins with the same over and over again, showing that it refers to several distinct Kalpas.
For it is said "at the close of the past ( Padma ) Kalpa the divine Brahma awoke from his night of sleep and beheld the universe void." Then Brahma is shown going once more over the "seven creations" in the secondary stage of evolution, repeating the first three on the objective plane.
(IV.) The Mukhya , the Primary as it begins the series of four.
Neither the word "inanimate" bodies nor yet immovable things, as translated by Wilson, gives a correct idea of the Sanskrit terms used.
Esoteric philosophy is not the only one to reject the idea of any atom being inorganic , for it is found also in orthodox Hinduism.
Moreover, Wilson himself says ( in his collected Works , vol.
iii.
, p.
381): "All the Hindu systems consider vegetable bodies as endowed with life .
.
.
" Charachara , or the synonymous sthavara and jangama , is, therefore, inaccurately rendered by "animate and inanimate," "sentient beings," and "unconscious," or "conscious and unconscious beings," etc., etc.
"Locomotive and fixed" would be better, since trees are considered to possess souls." Mukhya is the "creation" or organic evolution of the vegetable kingdom.
In this secondary Period, the three degrees of Elemental or Rudimental Kingdoms are evolved in this world, corresponding inversely in order to the three Prakritic creations during the Primary period of Brahma's activity.
As in that period, in the words of "Vishnu Purana": "The first creation was that of Mahat (Intellect), the second, of Tanmatras (rudimental principles), and the third, that of the senses (Aindriyaka)"; in this one, the order of the Elemental Forces stands thus: (1) The nascent centres of Force (intellectual and physical); (2) the rudimental principles -- nerve force , so to say; and (3) nascent apperception , which is the Mahat of the lower kingdoms, especially developed in the third order of Elementals; these are succeeded by the [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * "The three Creations beginning with Intelligence are elemental, but the six creations which proceed from the series of which Intellect is the first are the work of Brahma" ( Vayu-Purana ).
Here "creations" mean everywhere stages of Evolution.
Mahat , "Intellect" or mind (which corresponds with Manas, the former being on the Cosmic, and the latter on the human plane) stands here, too, lower than Buddhi or Supra-divine Intelligence.
Therefore, when we read in Linga Purana that "the first Creation was that of Mahat, Intellect being the first in manifestation," we must refer that (specified) creation to the first evolution of our system or even our Earth, none of the preceding ones being discussed in the Puranas , but only occasionally hinted at.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 455 CREATIONS CONTINUED.
objective kingdom of minerals, in which latter that apperception is entirely latent, to re-develop only in the plants).
The mukhya "Creation," then, is the middle point between the three lower and the three higher kingdoms, which represent the seven esoteric kingdoms of Kosmos, as of Earth.
(V.) The Tiryaksrotas (or Tairyagyonya) creation,* that of the "( sacred ) animals," corresponding only on Earth, to the dumb animal creation.
That which is meant by "animals," in primary Creation, is the germ of awakening consciousness or of apperception , that which is faintly traceable in some sensitive plants on Earth and more distinctly in the protistic monera.** On our globe, during the first round, animal "creation" precedes that of man, while the former (or mammal) evolves from the latter in our fourth round -- on the physical plane: in Round I.
the animal atoms are drawn into a cohesion of human physical form; while in Round IV.
the reverse occurs according to magnetic conditions developed during life.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The passage states the elemental kingdoms correspond 'inversely in order' to the Prakritic creations, and asserts 'in man as in Kosmos' the same structural pattern holds.
Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.
The entire passage is a cosmogonic exposition, detailing the seven creations, primary and secondary periods of Brahma's activity, and the staged unfolding of kingdoms from the indiscrete principle.
Naturally-existing, non-human intelligences native to a single element — earth, air, fire, or water — rather than the fourfold-composite human nature: Paracelsus's gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and undines; the Deva Kingdom or fairy kingdom of Western occultism, forming their own parallel kingdom capable of incarnating in or forming relationships with humans. Distinct from artificial_elemental (a manufactured thought-entity deliberately created by a single operator, not a naturally-occurring species) and animism (the general doctrine that nature-places host indwelling spirits, of which this is one specific taxonomic system organised around the four elements rather than locality).
The passage describes 'the three degrees of Elemental or Rudimental Kingdoms' with nascent centres of force, nerve force, and nascent apperception, forming a parallel kingdom of elemental intelligences.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage describes a cascading structure from the indiscrete principle through discrete developments, three Prakritic creations, seven creations, and successive kingdoms of matter, forming a clear ontological hierarchy.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage states that manvantaras 'have been purposely confused, to prevent the profane from perceiving the truth,' indicating deliberate esoteric concealment of meaning.
The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.
The passage explicitly describes the directional descent of spirit into matter through successive stages, with the secondary period repeating the primary on the objective plane, and the inverse ordering of elemental kingdoms.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The passage explicitly states that Buddhi is 'in man as in Kosmos' a monad, making the human being a small-scale image of the cosmic structure.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
Buddhi is explicitly called 'a unit — a human MONAD on the plane of illusion,' and the passage describes its nature as partaking of both discrete and indiscrete quantity.