How Brahma Created the World
From Ancient Tales From Many Lands by Rachel M. Fleming, 1922.
From: Unknown To: 1922 C.E.
Location: Indus Valley, Pakistan
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Ancient Tales From Many Lands by Rachel M. Fleming, 1922.
In the beginning this world did not exist, but everything lay in the darkness that falls on those who sleep. At last came the moment of awakening. The Great Power who cannot be seen or heard or felt, who is eternal, and who is the soul of the world and all the life upon it, determined to create the world from his thoughts.
He first willed that the great waters should appear. Upon the waters he willed that there should be a golden egg which shone like the brightest of the stars of the morning. Within the egg was the beginning of all the life in the world, and from it there came forth Brahma, the Lord of all the Stars.
Brahma rested in the golden egg for a year of the gods—which is longer than an age of men—and did nothing but think. At the end of that time he willed that the egg should break into two parts, from which the sky and the earth were formed, while the space between them became the air, which is the storehouse of all the refreshing showers.
He then made the mind, and gave it power to rule the senses. He made all living creatures, and gave to each of them their special work in the world. He created the gods. He made time, and divided it into days and months and years. The stars, the seas, the rivers, the mountains, the valleys, and the plains were all made by him.
He gave to men the power to choose good and evil, and to all creatures that breathe he gave the power to feel pain and pleasure.
Brahma, the Lord of Creation, looked upon the men whom he had created, and said to them, "What shall be your tasks?"
They replied, "We are not our own masters, O Lord: command what we shall undertake."
Then Brahma said that the first set of men whom he had created should be priests, and told them to study the Sacred Books of India. These Sacred Books Brahma had drawn out of fire, and air, and sun. This first set of men are the caste of priests in India called Brahmans. The next set of men he ordered to be soldiers, and to protect all other men from their enemies. They are the caste of Kshatriyas or soldiers. The next set he ordered to buy and sell, to till the ground, and to look after the cattle. They are the caste of the Vaisyas. The fourth set were to be slaves and servants of the other three. They are the Sudras.
As men had been made subject to pain and suffering by Brahma, they were forced to build houses to shelter in when the rains and the heat and the cold were too much for them. They also had to build cities in which they could take refuge from their enemies. At last there came a time when their food failed them. In great distress, and worn out by long hunger, they called upon Brahma. He at once drew forth from the earth very many different sorts of seed, which he gave to men so that they might sow them, and reap harvests from which to satisfy their hunger.
Many years afterwards a worshipper of Brahma, named Manu, was seated by a stream thinking upon Brahma, the Lord of All. To him there swam a fish, who asked to be saved from the stream. Manu took the fish and put it in a jar. Soon, however, the fish grew so very large that the jar would not hold it. Then Manu threw it into a pond. Here again the fish went on growing, so that it was at last too large even for the pond. Then it called to Manu, and said, "Bring me, O Holy Man, to Ganges, the Ocean's Beloved Queen. In her I shall dwell." Then Manu took the fish and threw it into the Ganges.
There the fish continued to grow, so that at last it was too great even for the wide river. Then Manu brought it to the ocean and threw it in. As soon as Manu had done this, the fish told him that a great flood was coming upon the earth. He added, "Thou must cause a strong ship to be built and a cable to be fastened to it. Then take all manner of seeds with thee, and go on board with seven wise men, and wait for me to come."
Manu did as he was told, and, taking all the seeds, floated on the billowy sea in the beautiful ship, with the seven wise men. Soon the fish swam up to the ship, and the cable of the ship was fastened to the horn of the fish. The fish, being thus fastened to the ship, drew it very rapidly over the salty waters, and carried its crew over the ocean, whose waves danced wildly and whose waters thundered loudly.
Tossed by the raging winds, the ship whirled wildly on the waters. Soon the waters covered everything except the ship and the mighty fish that drew it. For many years, the unwearied fish drew the ship through the heaving mass of waters. At length, however, it brought the vessel to the highest peak of the Himalaya. Here it ordered the companions of Manu to fasten the ship without delay to the mountain peak.
Then the fish revealed himself as Brahma, Lord of All, and ordered Manu to create anew all living beings, gods and men, the world and all things in it, both movable and immovable.
Fleming, Rachel M. Ancient Tales From Many Lands. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1922.
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