Shloka 21
Brahmā’s Secondary Creation, Kāla (Eternal Time), and the Taxonomy of Species
तिरश्चामष्टम: सर्ग: सोऽष्टाविंशद्विधो मत: । अविदो भूरितमसो घ्राणज्ञा ह्यद्यवेदिन: ॥ २१ ॥
tiraścām aṣṭamaḥ sargaḥ so ’ṣṭāviṁśad-vidho mataḥ avido bhūri-tamaso ghrāṇa-jñā hṛdy avedinaḥ
La huitième création est celle des espèces inférieures (tiryak), tenue pour vingt-huit variétés. Elles sont fort sottes et saturées de tamas ; elles reconnaissent ce qu’elles désirent par l’odorat, mais ne peuvent rien retenir dans le cœur.
In the Vedas the symptoms of the lower animals are described as follows: athetareṣāṁ paśūnāḥ aśanāpipāse evābhivijñānaṁ na vijñātaṁ vadanti na vijñātaṁ paśyanti na viduḥ śvastanaṁ na lokālokāv iti; yad vā, bhūri-tamaso bahu-ruṣaḥ ghrāṇenaiva jānanti hṛdyaṁ prati svapriyaṁ vastv eva vindanti bhojana-śayanādy-arthaṁ gṛhṇanti. “Lower animals have knowledge only of their hunger and thirst. They have no acquired knowledge, no vision. Their behavior exhibits no dependence on formalities. Extensively ignorant, they can know their desirables only by smell, and by such intelligence only can they understand what is favorable and unfavorable. Their knowledge is concerned only with eating and sleeping.” Therefore, even the most ferocious lower animals, such as tigers, can be tamed simply by regularly supplying meals and accommodations for sleeping. Only snakes cannot be tamed by such an arrangement.
FAQs
It describes the animal creation as the eighth sarga, consisting of twenty-eight varieties, characterized by ignorance (avidyā), heavy tamas, and perception centered largely on smell and immediate needs.
In the context of explaining the divisions of creation, he highlights how different beings manifest varying degrees of consciousness under the guṇas; animal life is portrayed as predominantly tamasic, with limited discrimination and present-oriented awareness.
It encourages cultivating sattva—clarity, restraint, and higher inquiry—so that human life does not degrade into sense-driven, present-only living, but is used for conscious spiritual progress.