Chapter 214
It is small, smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of wheat, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than the grain of millet.
It is the spirit within my heart, and its vastness surpasses that of the earth, the sky, the heavens, and all of this world.
It is that which encompasses all karma, all desire, all fragrance, all taste, and all things without words, that which remains serene and still—this is the spirit within my heart, the Great Brahma.
--From the Upanishads, one of the most classic and ancient philosophical works in India.
Chapter 284, fourth position.
In the distant past, the Primordial of the most ancient gods on the blue Planet—
Before the Universe was born, there was only Chaos, without light or darkness, without senses or spirit, without life or death, without existence, nor non-existence, without day or night, and without east, west, south, or north. Everything was a unified whole, everything was in the beginning of Chaos, and everything was Chaos.
The origin of the Universe was formless and without shape; everything was a unified whole, without heaven or earth. The origin of this world was born from here.
Within this, however, there already existed something Nameless, the very origin of the Universe, something beyond all senses and cognition.
"It has neither birth nor death. It has neither day nor night. It is only it that breathes in its own way, but it does not breathe air."
"Who knows? Who proclaims it? Where was he born? From where did he come? Then the gods appeared, the gods created the world, but who knows where it all began?"
Where does it come from? Does it originate from itself?
"On that lofty peak, the scattered fires are cast aside."
"Does it know everything, or does it know nothing at all?"
Later beings called it --
"Brahma"
It slept soundly in the Chaos.
At some unknown time, a change occurred; countless lights emerged from within 'Brahman' and filled the Chaos.
Tiny, persistent, and awe-inspiring tremors.
Eventually, countless years passed, the light faded, and 'Brahman' vanished.
Before 'Brahman' dissipated, the light condensed into several objects on the primordial waters in the Chaos.
First, there was a golden egg, which shone brightly like the Sun. In the Chaos Universe, this golden egg slowly absorbed energy, gradually expanding and filling the entire Universe. Thus, 'Brahman' brought the world into existence, and all things came into being, from nothingness to existence.
In the pitch-black darkness, where you can't see your hand in front of your face, in the inky darkness where you can't even reach out and touch anything.
Sleeping amidst the swaying waves, the enormous golden egg awaits its moment to hatch.
--It is Brahma.
Then, in the Universe, which was like a vast ocean of primordial water, a humanoid figure appeared in the remaining light, sleeping in the Universe. He was the Lord of Maya means "illusion." The saying goes, "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning; thus should they be viewed." However, he was also affected by Maya's backlash and fell into a deep sleep.
Like an invisible void, just like transparent crystal.
Lord Maya, drawn into slumber by what he controls, awaits his awakening.
--It is Vishnu.
At the same time, a black mist that isolated everything was born on the boundless Universe Sea. Within the mist, invisible to all, there were Lingam and the crescent moon, but they were also connected to a sleeping humanoid being. He was the Pashupati, the master of all beasts, and so when he revealed his terrifying appearance, all living beings in the Universe trembled.
The dance can only begin when the world is destroyed, sacrificed as a sacrifice.
The Pashupati, bearing the terrifying name of destruction, awaits his moment to reveal himself.
--It is Shiva.
This moment marks the birth of the Three Aspects, the Supreme Being deity in the Indian Pantheon.
The Age of Myths - without a doubt
Pale blue specks of light drifted down onto the distant Universe Sea, reflecting a warm, golden glow comparable to the Sun, shimmering with beautiful brilliance.
No, that might not be quite right, because the blue light is caused by light falling from a distance not far from the Three Aspects.
In the tranquil Universe Sea, besides the golden egg that resembled the Sun, a 'crescent moon' hung high in the black smoke, but it did not shine its silvery light into the Primordial Sea, as it was obscured by the smoke.
However, whether it is the golden light of the golden egg, the silvery glow of the new moon, or the blue light that appeared at some unknown time, before all things in the Universe were born and existed, once new things are bathed in these three very different lights, they will surely receive tremendous blessings.
Because all three are the origin, the foundation, and the Root of all life, they radiate the Od of all life as its source.
This is the original landscape of the Universe in the ancient pantheon.
Under the illumination and confrontation of golden, blue, and white light, the seemingly infinite Universe Sea appeared frozen as if time had stopped, then vanished, emerged, and was destroyed, endlessly repeating itself.
The oldest beings in the pantheon bear witness to the birth of something new in another Universe.
As countless days of creation and countless months of destruction arrive, countless 'Maya' will cause the cycle of life within to maintain Order.
The blue light, however, remained uninvolved, merely witnessing the initial creation, the subsequent miracles of Order, and the final destruction.
After an unknown amount of time, in the Universe Sea that seemed to be in a state of stillness, undergoing a cycle of destruction, maintenance, and rebirth, the golden egg was split in two from the inside. The upper half became the sky, and the lower half became the earth. At this moment, the concept of space in the Universe was established, and Brahma emerged from it.
Faced with everything before him, the newly born Brahma did not know what to do, so he chose to enter into Meditation. During the Meditation, Brahma developed a mind.
From the mind arose the Five Great Elements: emptiness (also known as Brahman), wind, water, fire, and earth.
Thus, Brahma created the foundation in the Universe Space that could constitute all living beings.
Looking at the orderly things he had created, Brahma couldn't help but smile slightly:
"I am the true Brahman."
"No, Brahma, you are merely a being born from a lotus flower that grew from my navel. I am the true Brahma."
Just as Brahma was feeling smug about creating the world, a voice suddenly came and made him lose his smile. Brahma knew that the owner of this voice was not someone he had just created; in other words, it was possible that the voice belonged to an equal being.
Then a man dressed in yellow silk robes, with dark blue skin, a full moon-like face, and eyes like blooming lotus petals, appeared before Brahma lying on his side.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps Brahma's breaking out of his shell represented the formal manifestation of the Three Aspects. In any case, at the moment Brahma broke out of his shell, Vishnu, as the lord of Maya, completely took control of 'Maya' and thus awoke. He then discovered that a split lotus flower had grown on his navel at some unknown time, and it was already broken.
Slightly puzzled, Vishnu immediately spotted the smug Brahma not far away. As the Three Aspects, he knew Brahma's name without even asking. Since Brahma's name means "born from the navel" and he was holding a lotus, Vishnu mistakenly believed that Brahma had emerged from the lotus at his own navel.
"Hmph, nonsense, Vishnu. I created the world, and what have you done? To the world, I am the true Brahman."
Brahma would naturally not accept Vishnu's viewpoint and allow him to be superior to him.
"Brahma, then who created you? And who manifested you?"
Vishnu countered with a question, but Brahma remained silent, unable to answer.
Just as Brahma was about to ignore Vishnu and leave, he suddenly saw an enormous Lingam and an idea came to him. Therefore, he said to Vishnu:
"Vishnu, let's see who can reach the end of this Lingam. The loser must acknowledge the winner as the true Brahman. I bow down."
Having said that, Brahma gave Vishnu no chance to refuse, and immediately transformed into a swan, soaring upwards in search of its destination.
In response, Vishnu transformed into a wild boar and began digging downwards to find the starting point.
A faint blue light drifted down, and in this Universe, where everything was still, only the incarnations of the two moved.
However, the length of the Lingam was so astonishing that the two spent an unknown amount of time without finding the beginning or the end. Feeling that his duty was to maintain the world, Vishnu abandoned this unnecessary dispute and turned back towards the place where he had met Brahma.
Brahma's thoughts were indeed the same as Vishnu's, but on his return journey, he happened to find a Screw Pine Flower. So Brahma hatched a wicked plan: since no one knew, if this Screw Pine Flower could testify that it had reached the finish line, wouldn't Vishnu have no choice but to admit defeat?
After an unknown period of time, Brahma and Vishnu met.
Vishnu, who had assumed that his opponent would fail just like himself, suddenly sensed something was amiss when he saw the Screw Pine Flower beside Brahma.
"Vishnu, I have found my destination; this Screw Pine Flower is what I found at the end."
"That's right, Brahma has reached the end."
The Screw Pine Flower chimed in.
"I see, then it seems I've lost."
Well, perhaps Vishnu was too lazy to argue with Brahma, or perhaps he truly felt that Brahma had reached his limit; in any case, he was about to bow to Brahma at this moment.
"I Vishnu, acknowledge Brahman—"
"You bastard!"
With this sudden sound, Vishnu looked closely and saw that Brahma's original five heads had been cut off, leaving only four.
"How dare you deceive me like this! How can I work with you!"
The enormous Lingam was surrounded by black smoke and a crescent moon. After everything dissipated, Shiva appeared before Brahma, with the disheveled, dark blue hair of an ascetic, a necklace of skulls around his neck, his upper body half-naked, a tiger skin wrapped around his lower body, a Cobra wrapped around his body, and holding Trident and Bow and Arrow. He stared at Brahma with a face full of Wrath.
"You... I..."
"You, as the creator, lied for your own selfish desires. How can you expect the world to believe you? How can they trust you!"
Shiva, holding his Trident, pointed it at Brahma and said, "We work together and should share the respect of all things in the world. Your current behavior is a disgrace to us!"
Being publicly exposed for lying and having his head chopped off dealt a severe blow to Brahma's pride as the creator god, leaving him speechless.
Feeling it was time to ease the tension, Vishnu smiled and said to Shiva:
"Shiva, I also made a mistake in the past, mistakenly believing that Brahma was born from within me, and thus fought with him because of Desire. In a way, this cancels out the previous mistake."
"But you weren't lying, and you returned because you remembered your duty."
Vishnu felt he couldn't persuade the stubborn Shiva, so he quickly brought up a topic:
"Speaking of which, are there only the three of us here?"
"Creation, preservation, and destruction—there can only be three in nature."
When Shiva spoke with such certainty, Vishnu and pointed to the dimming blue light not far away.
"If that's the case, then what is Shiva?"
"Um... this..."
Following Vishnu's gaze, Shiva belatedly noticed the light. He naturally understood that it wasn't something Brahma had created, but rather something similar to the three of them... But no matter what Shiva thought, it couldn't be anything other than creation, preservation, and destruction...
Just as the Three Aspects gods gazed upon each other, a scene unfolded before them, much like Brahma breaking free from his shell, Vishnu awakening, and Shiva manifesting himself.
The dim blue light spot once again emitted a brightness that surpassed everything, floating there, looking down upon this place.
For a moment, Shiva thought it was an illusion created by Vishnu, the lord of Maya. But no, everything had an overwhelming sense of reality, except for the existence of the light, which was blurry and hazy, like a beautiful but illusory dream, flickering incessantly, unclear and indistinct, making it impossible to judge.
Then Shiva murmured:
"Could it be the fourth one...?"
As if confirming Shiva's words, the Universe landscape around the point of light changed.
The Universe, space, and elements began to disintegrate, turning into particles of light that flickered like stars. As they twinkled, they scattered, dissolving into the blue light points. Then, with a series of booming sounds, the blue light points shook the darkness, shattering the Universe darkness and revealing human figures.
In terms of time, how long exactly has passed? Although time has long since lost all meaning for the three gods, they couldn't help but feel a sense of lingering time.
The man had long, silver hair that reached his ankles, and his eyes shone with a blue light. He wore a simple, pure white outfit.
"Greetings, everyone. My Kavia."
That was all the man said.
He slowly stepped forward, his eyes, dyed like the blue sea, gazing at the three gods. In the deep darkness, a slab-like stepping stone instantly formed, followed by a lower, white slab-like structure, and then another one below. In the blink of an eye, the darkness formed a staircase, extending all the way towards the illuminating man and the three gods.
He walked along the long White Stairs suspended in the Universe, and blue specks of light began to fall onto the White Stairs he had created. These specks of light seemed to have just emitted an exceptionally bright light. After seven days, the man arrived before the three gods.
"That's really unexpected, there's actually a fourth one."
In contrast to Vishnu's friendliness, Shiva asked Kavia with a somewhat indifferent tone:
What are your responsibilities?
"Sorry, I don't know."
Kavia looked at Shiva with those emotionless, lifeless eyes.
"How could you not know your responsibilities? That's impossible."
At this moment, Kavia silently gazed at Shiva.
Then Shiva, who was being watched, turned his head and looked at Brahma with murderous intent:
"Perhaps your actions have led to your position being taken over, Brahma. You might as well just die."
"Ugh, you bastard..."
Brahma could only glare at Shiva, but could do nothing.
"Shiva, I don't understand why you do this. If destruction destroys creation, then Order will collapse, and this newly born world will perish. This is the natural order."
After saying this, Kavia looked at Shiva and said, "If you destroy Brahma, I will naturally destroy you at all costs, and nothing is impossible for me."