---
type: Concept
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.0"
id: srishti
title: "Sṛṣṭi — सृष्टि"
iast: "Sṛṣṭi"
devanagari: "सृष्टि"
description: "Cosmic emanation: the projection of the manifest cosmos from Brahman/Avyakta; NOT creation ex nihilo (from nothing) but the drawing-out (sṛj = to emit, project, release) of what was already present in unmanifest form; one of the three eternal cosmic functions alongside Sthiti (maintenance) and Saṃhāra (dissolution)."
darshana:
  - Purāṇic
  - Vedānta
  - Sāṃkhya
school_scope: "Universal Purāṇic concept; Advaita reads Sṛṣṭi as apparent (Vivartavāda: projection through Māyā); Viśiṣṭādvaita reads it as real transformation of Brahman's body (Pariṇāmavāda); Sāṃkhya reads it as real evolution of Prakṛti; all agree it is not creation from nothing"
text_source: "BhP 2.5-6; BhP 3.5-12; Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.6; Brahma Sūtra 1.1.2"
tags: [cosmology, creation, srishti, brahma, hiranyagarbha, virat, puranic]
not:
  - term: "creation ex nihilo (from nothing)"
    why: "The Purāṇic-Vedāntic framework explicitly rejects creation from nothing. The cosmic content pre-exists in Avyakta (the unmanifest); Sṛṣṭi is the projection or emanation of that latent content into manifest form. Satkāryavāda (the doctrine that the effect pre-exists in the cause) is the operative metaphysical principle: Brahman does not create something from nothing but projects what already exists within itself."
    instead: "Translate as 'cosmic emanation' or 'projection' rather than 'creation.' Note that Sṛṣṭi implies continuity between cause and effect, not rupture."
  - term: "Big Bang"
    why: "The Big Bang is a physical singularity model of the universe's initial expansion from a high-density state. Sṛṣṭi is a metaphysical emanation from a conscious ground (Brahman/Avyakta), not a physical event. The Purāṇic framework posits infinite preceding cycles; the Big Bang posits a unique beginning. These are incommensurable frameworks."
  - term: "Brahmā creates everything"
    why: "Brahmā is the secondary agent of Sṛṣṭi — he differentiates and populates what Hiraṇyagarbha (the first manifestation) has already provided. Brahmā himself is created within the Sṛṣṭi cycle. The ultimate source of Sṛṣṭi is Brahman through Hiraṇyagarbha and Virāṭ; Brahmā operates within that framework. See brahma-the-creator.md."
related:
  - /concepts/sthiti.md
  - /concepts/samhara.md
  - /concepts/pralaya.md
  - /concepts/hiranyagarbha.md
  - /concepts/virat.md
  - /concepts/avyakta.md
  - /concepts/brahma-the-creator.md
  - /concepts/trimurti.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Sṛṣṭi — सृष्टि

**Not:** creation from nothing, the Big Bang, Brahmā as sole creator

## Etymology and Core Meaning

Sṛṣṭi comes from the root sṛj — to emit, to project, to release, to let flow. The word itself encodes the meaning: what is created was already present in potential, and Sṛṣṭi is its release into manifestation. There is no gap between potential and actual in the sense of "nothing suddenly becoming something." The transition is from Avyakta (unmanifest) to Vyakta (manifest), not from non-existence to existence.

## The Three-Level Sṛṣṭi Sequence

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa (BhP 2.5-6, 3.5-12) describes a layered Sṛṣṭi:

1. **Brahman + Māyā-Śakti → Avyakta**: the unmanifest ground stirs; cosmic time (Kāla) appears; the potential for manifestation is established
2. **Avyakta → Hiraṇyagarbha**: the first manifestation; the cosmic golden embryo; the seed-state of the entire universe; Hiraṇyagarbha is the subtle-cosmic body
3. **Hiraṇyagarbha → Virāṭ**: the expanded cosmic form; the universe as a differentiated whole; Brahmā then operates within Virāṭ to further differentiate species, lokas, and beings

Brahmā's role in this sequence is real but secondary: he differentiates the content that the first two stages have already provided.

## Satkāryavāda: the Operative Principle

All Vedāntic and Sāṃkhya schools accept Satkāryavāda — the doctrine that the effect pre-exists in the cause in some form. What appears is not new but a transformation or projection of what was latent. This directly contradicts creation ex nihilo:

- **Advaita (Vivartavāda)**: the world "appears" in Brahman as a reflection appears in a mirror; Brahman is unchanged; the world is not a real transformation but an apparent one through Māyā
- **Viśiṣṭādvaita (Pariṇāmavāda)**: the world is a real transformation of Brahman's body (Śarīra); real, but Brahman remains the inner controller
- **Sāṃkhya (Prakṛti Pariṇāma)**: Prakṛti (the material ground) really transforms into the manifest world; Puruṣa (consciousness) is uninvolved

All three agree: Sṛṣṭi draws out what was already there.

## Sṛṣṭi as One-Third of the Cosmic Rhythm

Sṛṣṭi-Sthiti-Saṃhāra is the continuous triple-rhythm of existence — not a sequence of three events but three aspects of one ongoing process. At every moment, something is being created, something maintained, something dissolved. The Trimūrti (Brahmā-Viṣṇu-Śiva) allocates these three functions to three cosmic agents, but the process itself is one.

## Audience Metaphor

Sṛṣṭi is like a seed becoming a tree. Nothing in the tree was absent from the seed; the tree is the seed's potential actualizing itself. The soil, water, and sun are the enabling conditions — analogous to Māyā, Kāla, and Brahman's Śakti — but the tree was always in the seed. This is why the Upaniṣad says: "All this is Brahman" — the manifest world has not departed from Brahman; it is Brahman's own expression.

## Citations

1. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 2.5-6 — the fundamental Sṛṣṭi sequence; see references/bhagavata-purana.md
2. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.5-12 — detailed cosmological derivation sequence
3. Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.6 — "From Brahman, verily, are born space, air, fire, water, earth..." (the Sṛṣṭi sequence in Upaniṣadic voice)
4. Brahma Sūtra 1.1.2 — "Janmādyasya yataḥ" — "That from which arise the birth [etc.]" — Brahman as the source of Sṛṣṭi
5. Sāṃkhya Kārikā (Īśvarakṛṣṇa) — Prakṛti's evolution as Sṛṣṭi without Puruṣa; see references/samkhya-karika.md
