Shloka 18
Sṛṣṭi-krama: Brahmā’s Sequential Creation of Devas, Sages, and Sense-Presiding Powers
कामस्याप्यभिमानी तु स एव परिकीर्तितः / ब्रह्माहङ्कारिकं प्राणं कार्योत्पत्तेरनन्तरम्
kāmasyāpyabhimānī tu sa eva parikīrtitaḥ / brahmāhaṅkārikaṃ prāṇaṃ kāryotpatteranantaram
Él también es proclamado como el principio regente (abhimānī) del deseo (kāma). Inmediatamente después de surgir los efectos de la creación, brota el prāṇa, aliento vital arraigado en Brahmā y condicionado por el ahaṅkāra (egoidad).
Lord Vishnu (in dialogue teaching Garuda/Vinatā-putra)
Concept: Prāṇa and kāma function through presiding principles; prāṇa manifests in the wake of creation, conditioned by ahaṅkāra and rooted in Brahmā’s creative order.
Vedantic Theme: Upādhi-based conditioning of life-force and desire; distinction between the witnessing Self and emergent psycho-physical principles (tattva-viveka).
Application: Observe desire and breath as conditioned movements of ahaṅkāra; cultivate prāṇa-sākṣitva (witnessing breath) and reduce identification with impulses.
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Related Themes: Garuda Purana (Brahma-khanda/cosmogony sections): discussions of ahaṅkāra, prāṇa, and creation-order; Garuda Purana: passages linking kāma to guṇa-driven mind and bondage
FAQs
This verse frames kāma (desire) as governed by a presiding principle (abhimānī), indicating that desire is not random but functions within an ordered cosmic hierarchy of tattvas.
It states that immediately after manifest effects arise, prāṇa appears as a principle linked with Brahmā and shaped by ahaṅkāra—showing prāṇa as a subtle, ego-conditioned life-force within the created order.
Seeing desire and life-force as conditioned by ego helps one practice self-restraint, breath-discipline, and ethical living—reducing ego-driven impulses and stabilizing prāṇa through mindful conduct.