Summary:

CH 1, SECTION 1, VERSE 8: Creation emerges through four stages from causal to gross. Brahman bulges with infinite joy recognizing infinite potential through tapas (knowledge-identification), like a singer inspired by a beautiful song with no selfish motive. From this emerges anna (the unmanifest/māyā) – the universe in seed form that will be experienced and consumed by all beings. From anna comes prāṇa (hiraṇyagarbha/brahmā) possessing three limitless capacities: jñāna-śakti, icchā-śakti, and kriyā-śakti. From hiraṇyagarbha emerge manaḥ (all minds), satyam (five elements and physical world/virāṭ), and lokāḥ (fourteen worlds). Actions by beings produce amṛtam (seen/unseen results stored in causal body). Truth remains hidden due to unsettled mental complexes and avaraṇa-śakti (veiling power) that hides one's nature as Consciousness, creating illusion of separateness and limitation driving karmic action.

CH 1, SECTION 1, VERSE 8: How creation comes?

तपसा चीयते ब्रह्म ततः अन्नम् अभिजायते
अन्नात् प्राणः मनः सत्यम् लोकाः कर्मसु च अमृतम् (१.१.८)
tapasā cīyate brahma tataḥ annam abhijāyate
annāt prāṇaḥ manaḥ satyam lokāḥ karmasu ca amṛtam (1.1.8)

Dayananda Translation: Brahman bulges by knowledge. From that Brahman the unmanifest is born. From the unmanifest, hiraṇyagarbha is born. Then the total mind, the five elements, the worlds and actions are born. And due to actions results are born.

Chinmaya Translation: In brooding meditation or continuous thought (tapas), the total creative urge (Brahma) swells (with the very joy of creation). From Him food is produced, from food the prana, the mind, the bhutas, the worlds and in the karmas their fruits (are produced). 

Purpose of Verse:

Purpose is to show all effects emerge from one cause, and how can something that doesn’t undergo change, become many? And creation follows precise order from causal to subtle to gross.

Stage 1 of Creation: Causal

“Brahman bulges (readies itself) through knowledge.” (tapasā cīyate brahma)

1. When it says “Brahman bulges”, think of this as poetical, not literal. Brahman (awareness) bulges with infinite joy recognizing His infinite potential. Just how a singer “bulges” when inspiration of a beautiful song comes to him. Thereon, the singer can hardly hold himself back. The song has to come out out potential into manifestation; there's no selfish motive or agenda for it. 
2. Tapas: Refers to knowledge-identification rather than austerity. It is Brahman identifying with His own all-knowledge-power potential.

“From that Brahman, the unmanifest (anna) is born.”  (tataḥ annam abhijāyate)

1. Moment the singer bulges, it indicates the unmanifest potential for the song is born. Similarly, the unmanifest (anna in this verse, while called avyakta/maya in other Upanishads) emerges from Brahman.
2. “Anna” literally means “food” — that which will be experienced by all manifest beings and consumed in form of experiences. This unmanifest is the potential form of the universe, like a seed containing an entire tree without showing any of its features.
3. The way Brahman “becomes” the universe is the way clay becomes a pot — clay's essence remains unchanged.
4. Comparison Other Upanishads:
   • Other Upanishads: Brahman + Māyā (knowledge in potential) > Universe comes.
   • Mundaka Upanishad: Brahman bulges (associates to His infinite knowledge in potential) > Universe comes.

Comparing to Familiar Creation Model in Other Upanishads:

1. Consciousness has potential (called māyā) to manifest many, just as you have potential to create dream world (time-space) – while you don’t become the stuff of the dream. For potential (maya) to manifest as time-space-objects, it has to have knowledge and power (to put things together, sustain it and change it) – because universe is complex and everything is interconnected.
2. Examples demonstrating why the cause of universe is of nature of knowledge:
   1. Human body: Where there is an intricately designed body, there is Intelligence making it what it is. You didn’t design it, else you would’ve requested it always remain young. Additionally, body goes through modifications, in an order you didn’t select. Your liver knows how to detoxify blood. You didn’t teach it. Cells divide 40-60 times, then stop. Who programmed this?
   2. Honeybee Navigation: Bees calculate the shortest flight path between flowers using the “Travelling Salesman Algorithm” – a math problem humans solved only in the 20th century.
   3. Tidal Clocks in Crabs: Fiddler crabs internally track tides — even if moved to a lab with no ocean. Their rhythm matches the moon’s pull. Changes their feeding, mating, and hiding.
   4. Water’s “Memory”: Polluted water returns trash to shores — not out of anger, but by Īśvara’s laws.
   5. Fibonacci in Nature: Sunflower seeds grow in spirals that follow a natural number pattern, helping them fit perfectly without crowding. It’s so precise, even human artists don’t usually match it.
   6. Insentient: Ask: “What is this really made of?” Drill down: Bone → Cells → DNA → Atoms → Quarks → Intelligence (Īśvara) → Consciousness (Brahman)
3. The example show universe isn’t magic — it’s engineering.

Stage 2 of Creation: Subtle

“From unmanifest (anna / maya) — prāṇa (hiraṇyagarbha / brahmā) is born”  (annāt prāṇaḥ)

1. Prāṇa here refers to hiraṇyagarbha, the cosmic subtle body. Think of “cosmic subtle body” as the blueprint for creation — how everything will work and how it'll be connected.
2. Hiraṇyagarbha possesses three capacities: jñāna-śakti (capacity to know), icchā-śakti (capacity to desire), and kriyā-śakti (capacity to create, sustain and dissolve). These capacities are limitless, while in human beings they're limited.
3. Brahman identified with hiranyagarbha is called brahmā (Creator).
4. Creation Model Comparison Between Upanishads:
   • Other Upanishads: Brahman > maya > Ishvara (cause of universe) > subtle matter > gross matter we observe.
   • Mundaka Upanishad: Brahman > anna > Hiranyagarbha > gross universe we observe.
5. In short: Brahman + annam (knowledge-power in potential) = Hiranyagarbha / Brahmā (Creator, or Lord).

Stage 3 of Creation: Gross Universe (time-space-objects)

“From hiraṇyagarbha — the mind, 5 elements (satya), and worlds arise.”  (prāṇāt manaḥ satyam lokāḥ)

1. From hiraṇyagarbha emerge all minds, the physical world (satya/virāṭ) including the five elements, and 14 worlds (lokāḥ) where beings like humans and devas exist. These beings perform various karmas.
2. Creation now becomes observable and knowable through the senses. It is made of forms (sentient/insentient), with a name attached for sake of differentiating it from other forms.

Stage 4 of Creation: Due to actions performed, results are born (karmasu ca amṛtam)

You, being one of the manifestations of Brahman, starts thinking of self “I am this living, breathing, thinking being – endowed with power to know, desire and act”. From your actions, seen/unseen results (amṛta) are born. Unseen future results are “parked” in your account called “Causal Body”.

Why is the truth hidden from the Individual (jiva)?

1. Unsettled accounts with the world: Unresolved issues keep you seeing the “snake” instead of the “rope.” Mental complexes (comparison, fear, anger) prevent clear perception of the world and its cause, and even taking interest in it. Solution is to retell the story you're telling yourself about things. A distorted story is like a pebble thrown into a lake, causing it to ripple and unable to reflect the sun (truth) properly.
2. Due to Veiling Power (avarana-shakti): For potential to produce universe of variety, it has to hide one to reveal another. When veiling power operates on an individual mind, it hides your true nature as Consciousness, and hides the presence of knowledge-power – thus you see self as a small entity, different from others. Because your nature is all-pervasive, you can’t stand your smallness, thus perform actions in hope to free yourself from sense of confinement or limitation. When perform action, you get seen/unseen results.

Order Summary:

1. Visualization (Tapas) – Brahman visualizes the universe-to-be using His power, preparing for creation
2. Causal State (Anna) – The universe exists in seed form, unmanifest but ready for evolution
3. Hiraṇyagarbha (Prāṇa) – Brahmaji emerges, possessing all knowledge of creation and three powers: jñāna-śakti (knowledge), kriyā-śakti (creation), and icchā-śakti (desire)
4. Mind (Manaḥ) – From Brahmaji, all minds are born.
5. Physical World (Satyam) – Virāṭ, the physical world emerges, including the five elements.
6. Fourteen Worlds (Lokāḥ) – 14 worlds come into being, where humans, devas and other beings reside
7. Human Actions (Karmāṇi) – Human beings perform various actions.
8. Results of Actions (Amṛtam) – Results of those actions remains until experienced, persisting across lifetimes.

The Purpose of Creation Model in Vedanta

Scriptures do not maintain a consistent order regarding creation across different Upanishads. The Taittirīyopaniṣad, Chāndogyopaniṣad, and this Upanishad all present different sequences of creation. The śāstra is not interested in the order of creation nor in showing how the world comes about. It is only interested in pointing out that the effect (jagat) is not separate from the cause (Brahman). The details of creation have no meaning when creation is recognized as mithyā.

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Recorded 9 July, 2025