Shloka 3
Ahaṃkāra as the Second Creation: Brahmā’s Cosmological Instruction (अहंकार-प्राधान्येन सृष्टिवर्णनम्)
यह अहंकार भूतादि विकारोंका कारण है, इसलिये वैकारिक माना गया है। यह रजोगुणका स्वरूप है, इसलिये तैजस् है। इसका आधार चेतन आत्मा है। सारी प्रजाकी सृष्टि इसीसे होती है, इसलिये इसको प्रजापति कहते हैं ।। देवानां प्रभवों देवो मनसश्न त्रिलोककृत् । अहमित्येव तत्सर्वमभिमन्ता स उच्यते
devānāṃ prabhavo devo manasaś ca trilokakṛt | aham ity eva tat sarvam abhimantā sa ucyate ||
వాయువు పలికెను—ఆయనే దేవుడు; దేవతలకూ మూలకారణం; మనస్సుకు ప్రభువు; త్రిలోకాలను సృజించినవాడు. ‘అహం’—‘నేను’—అనే భావంతో సమస్తాన్ని తనదిగా అభిమనించే వాడే అహంకారమని చెప్పబడతాడు.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse characterizes the ‘I’-sense as a cosmic principle: it is called so because it appropriates all experience as “I.” It is also portrayed as foundational to mind and world-formation, reminding the listener that ego is not merely personal pride but a metaphysical function that must be understood and disciplined for ethical clarity.
Vāyu is instructing the listener in a doctrinal explanation of creation and inner psychology. He identifies a divine source connected with mind and the three worlds, and explains why it is termed the ‘I’-appropriator—linking cosmology with the inner mechanism by which beings identify with and claim phenomena.