The Puranas

Pulastya replied--- At the end of the previous kalpa when Lord Brahma awakened from his sleep, he

found the whole earth submerged in water. He meditated on Lord Vishnu, who took the incarnation of

'Varah' and retrieved the earth and established it in its original position. Lord Brahma then created all

the four worlds--Bhurloka, Bhuvarloka, Swargloka and Maharloka and divided the earth into seven

islands.

First of all, Lord Brahma created the 'Mahattatva'. After that he created the 'Tanmatras', Indriyas

(sense-organs), the immovable things like mountains, rivers, animals, deities, demons, human beings

etc.

2.1.3 The Four Prominent Castes

On being asked by Bhishma about the origin of the four prominent castes, Sage Pulastya said--- Lord

Brahma created the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas from his mouth and chest respectively. Similarly,

Vaishyas and Shudras manifested from Lord Brahma's thigh and feet respectively.Lord Brahma had

created his 'manasputras' with the objective of increasing the population and their names were Bhrigu,

Pulah, Kratu, Angira, Marichi, Daksha, Atri and Vashishth. But all of them were free from worldly

desires and extremely virtuous. Seeing his effort go in vain, Lord Brahma became furious, as a result of

which Rudra manifested from his forehead. Half of Rudra's body resembled like a male while the

remaining half appeared like a female.Lord Brahma instructed Rudra to detach the female form from his

body and commence copulative creation. Following his advice, Rudra detached the female part of his

body and created eleven male entities. Similarly he created various female entities from the female part

of his body.

This way, the first human pair-Manu and Shatarupa came into existence. In course of time four children

were born to them---Priyavrata, Uttanpad, Prasuti and Aakuti. Prasuti was married to Daksha Prajpati,

while Aakuti became the wife of Ruchi-Prajapati. Prasuti gave birth to 24 daughters-- Shraddha, Laxmi,

Dhriti, Pushti, Tushti, Medha, Kriya, Buddhi, Lajja, Vapu, Shanti, Keerti, Khyati, Sati, Sambhuti, Smriti,

Preeti, Kshama, Santati, Ansuya,Urja, Swaha and Swadha. Out of them, the former thirteen were the

wives of Dharma and the rest were married to various sages like Bhrigu, Shiv, Marichi, Angira, myself

(Pulastya), Pulaha, Kratu, Atri, Vashishth Agni, etc.Shraddha gave birth to 'Kaam', Laxmi to 'Daarpa,

Dhriti to Niyam, Tushti to Santosh, Pushti to Lobha, Medha to Shrut, Kriya to Dand, Nay and Vinay,

Buddhi to Bodh, Lajja to Vinay, Vapu to Vyavasay, Shanti to Kshama, Siddhi to Sukh and Keerti gave

birth to Yash. All of them were the sons of Dharma.

Kaam had a son named Harsh from his wife Nandi, Bhrigu's wife Khyati gave birth to a daughter named

Laxmi--the consort of Lord Vishnu. Lord Rudra accepted Sati--the daughter of Daksha Prajapati as his

wife. Hinsa was the wife of Adharm and gave birth to Anrit and Nikriti. Anrit had two sons---Maya and

Narak, while Nikriti had two daughters--Maaya and Vedana. Maaya married Maya while Vedana

became the wife of Narak. Maaya had a son named Mrityu--the lord of death and Vedana gave birth to

Dukh. Five children were born to Mrityu--Vyadhi, Jara, Shok, Trishna and Krodha. All of them were

celibates and had no progeny.

2.1.4 The Manifestations of Goddess Laxmi

Bheeshma expressed his desire to know about the manifestation of goddess Laxmi.

Pulastya replied-- Once, after being defeated by the demons, the deities went to Lord Vishnu and sought his help.