Shloka 5
Ahaṃkāra as the Second Creation: Brahmā’s Cosmological Instruction (अहंकार-प्राधान्येन सृष्टिवर्णनम्)
अहंकारेणाहरतो गुणानिमान् भूतादिरेवं सृूजते स भूतकृत् वैकारिक: सर्वमिदं विचेष्टते स्वतेजसा रज्जयते जगत् तथा
ahaṅkāreṇāharato guṇān imān bhūtādir evaṁ sṛjate sa bhūtakṛt | vaikārikaḥ sarvam idaṁ viceṣṭate svatejasā rajjayate jagat tathā ||
Vāyu sprach: „Das Selbst, gestützt auf die Ichheit (ahaṅkāra), formt eben diese guṇas und eignet sie sich dann zur Erfahrung an. Dieser Schöpfer der Wesen—beginnend mit den Elementen—bringt die Schöpfung auf diese Weise hervor. Wahrlich, diese ganze bewegte, ringende Welt ist nichts als die Gestalt jenes Ich-Prinzips als Ursache der Wandlungen; und durch seine eigene Kraft färbt es das gesamte All mit rajas und treibt es zu Begehren und Genuss.“
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse explains a Sāṅkhya-style account: the ego-principle (ahaṅkāra) generates and appropriates the guṇas and thereby drives the active world. Ethically, it implies that desire-driven activity (rajas) arises from ego-identification; reducing ego-clinging supports restraint and clearer discernment.
Vāyudeva is speaking in a doctrinal passage, describing how creation and worldly activity proceed through the ego-principle and the guṇas, emphasizing that the restless, desire-oriented character of the world is propelled by rajas arising from ahaṅkāra.