1832.] Analysis of the Purdnas. £39 



Brahma' the Creator, is in fact, only an embodied portion of the Raja 

 Guna, the quality of passion or desire, by which ihe world was called 

 into being. Rudra is the embodied Tama Guna, the attribute of dark- 

 ness or wrath, and the destructive fire by which the universe is annihi- 

 lated, and Vishnu is the embodied Satwa Guna, or property of mercy 

 and goodness, by which the world is preserved ; the three exist in one, 

 and one in three ; as the Veda is divided into three and is yet but one, 

 and they are all A'srita, or comprehended within that one being who is 

 Par am a or supreme, Guhya or secret, and Servdtmd the soul of all 

 things. 



So far the theology of the Vdyu Purdna agrees with the deism 

 of the Veddnta, but it presently deviates from this doctrine in the 

 manner common to all the Purdnas, and to a purport which may be 

 supposed to have mainly influenced the present form of these composi- 

 tions. Agreeably to the Veddnta school, the Supreme Being, though of 

 one nature with his emanations, possesses a sort of separate existence, and 

 is always Nirguna or void of attributes. According to the Paurunic 

 doctrines however, he is not merely Nirguna, but is occasionally 

 Saguna or Sakalydna guna y possessed of attributes, or at least of all 

 excellent attributes. In this latter case he becomes perceptible, and 

 appears in the form either of Vishnu or Siva, according to the sect to 

 which the work that so describes him appertains : his appearances are 

 regarded as his Li la or pastime, and in this sense, the Vdyu Purdna 

 observes, the Paramatma, or Yogeswara, has engaged in various sports 

 and consequently assumed a variety of incarnations, and is known by 

 different names. 



The successive stages of the creation of the world, are enumerated as 

 in the Kurma Purdna, and amount to nine. They are somewhat dif- 

 ferently named in one or two instances, but the meaning is probably 

 alike. The nine Sargas are the Mahat, Bhuta, ind Areyaka, JSlau- 

 khya, Tdryaksrotas, Urddhasrotas, Arvdksrotas, Anugraha, and Kau- 

 mdra, or matter, the elements, the senses, the earth, animals, gods, 

 men, goblins, and Brahma's sons, a list agreeing with that of the Kur- 

 ma Purdna, except in the third, which is there called the Tejasarga, or 

 creation of light or lustre. The two works also agree in calling the 

 three first creations Prdkrita, or elementary, and the six last Vaikrita 

 or secondary, the elements being only made to assume Vikriti or 

 change of form. 



The subject of creation is continued through the 7th and 8th chap- 

 ters, and the next sections are occupied with directions to practise ab- 

 stract devotion, and obtain a knowledge of the Supreme Being, interpers- 



