Shloka 42
सर्गभेदाः — अविद्या, स्रोतोभेदाः, नव सर्गाः, देवासुरादिसृष्टिः, वेद-यज्ञप्रादुर्भावः
क्षुत्क्षामान् अन्धकारे ऽथ सो ऽसृजद् भगवान् प्रभुः विरूपाः श्मश्रुला जातास् ते ऽभ्यधावन्त तं प्रभुम्
kṣutkṣāmān andhakāre 'tha so 'sṛjad bhagavān prabhuḥ virūpāḥ śmaśrulā jātās te 'bhyadhāvanta taṃ prabhum
Then, from the principle of darkness (tamas), the Blessed Lord, sovereign over all, brought forth beings tormented by hunger and thirst. Misshapen and bearded as they arose, they rushed upon that very Lord.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How tamas yields fearful classes of beings in creation
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Creation Stage: Secondary
Concept: From tamas (darkness) arise distorted, craving-driven beings who turn even upon their source, illustrating how ignorance and appetite invert proper orientation to the divine order.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Track tamasic states (dullness, compulsive craving) and counter them with clarity, regulated senses, and remembrance of the Lord as the true refuge.
Vishishtadvaita: The ‘bhagavān prabhuḥ’ language preserves sovereignty: even tamasic products are within divine governance, not outside the Lord’s causality.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
It indicates a guna-conditioned phase of creation where beings of confused, distorted form arise, driven by raw impulses like hunger and thirst.
He frames them as emanations produced by the Lord through the modalities of prakriti; even the unsettling forms are within divine sovereignty and cosmic order.
Vishnu is presented as Bhagavān and Prabhu—the ultimate cause and ruler—so even tamasic creations originate from Him and cannot exist outside His governance.