Markandeya says- ‘After Brahma came out from that egg, Rigveda manifested from his first mouth. From the mouth facing south, manifested the Yajurveda. After that, Samaveda manifested from his mouth facing west. In the end, Atharvaveda came out from the mouth facing north. The Rigveda symbolises the Rajo Guna while the Yajurveda symbolises the Satva Guna. Samaveda comprises of Tamo Guna whereas Atharvaveda is the mixture of Satva and Tamo Guna. The manifestation of the Vedas had illuminated the whole atmosphere. But the manifestation of Omkar overlapped their radiance and covered all the Vedas. At last, the radiance of the Vedas got united with that of the Omkar. The Rigveda symbolises the form of
Brahma during the period of creation while Yajurveda symbolises Lord Vishnu during the whole period of nurturing. Samaveda is symbolical of Rudra at the time of annihilation.
Markandeya says- ‘In the beginning of the creation, Surya shed unbearable amount of heat. This made the process of creation very difficult. Lord Brahma became worried. He thought- ‘Due to the extreme heat of the Sun, all the water on this earth is getting evaporated. If this continues to happen then how would the creatures survive?’
Lord Brahma eulogised Surya to please him. He said- ‘I make salutations to Surya who is the object of contemplation of great sages, who is the source of all energy. O Surya! It is only because of you that I can create, nurture and annihilate. You are the protector of this universe created from the Panchatatvas. Please subdue your radiance so that I can commence my creation.’ Vivasvan Surya became very pleased by Brahma’s eulogy and subdued his radiance. Thus, it became possible for Lord Brahma to begin his creation. He created the deities, demons, human beings, animals, vegetation etc. in the same way as he had done in earlier Kalpas.
PROGENIES OF KASHYAPA AND ADITI’S EULOGY OF DIWAKAR
Markandeya says- ‘Lord Brahma, after having created the universe divided the earth into various islands. He also created the oceans and the mountains. Marichi, the son of Brahma was the father of Kashyapa. Kashyapa was married to the ten daughters of Daksha. He had numerous sons from them like the deities, the demons and many creatures like reptiles. Aditi was the mother of the deities, Diti of the demons, Danu of the Danavas (monsters). Vinata gave birth to Garuda and Arun. Ravasa was the mother of Yakshas and the Rakshasas, Kadru of the Nagas. Muni was the mother of Gandharvas. Krodha was the mother of Kulyava Ganas, Rishta of Apsaras. Ira was the mother of the elephants and Tamra was the mother of Shyeni. Ila gave birth to all the vegetation while Pradha gave birth to the insects. The earth was inhabited with the progenies of Aditi’s sons.
Lord Brahma had made the deities masters of all the three worlds. This decision of Brahma had made the Daityas, Danavas and Rakshasas very angry. They got united and started causing obstacles in the path of the deities. A great battle was fought between the deities and the demons in which the deities were defeated. Aditi, the mother of the deities became very sad. She did a rigorous penance to please the Sun god. She observed fasts and eulogised the Sun god for most of her time. At last, the Sun god appeared before her but she could not bear his radiance which was so powerful that she could not even open her eyes. She requested him to subdue his power so that she could see him.