SECTION THE SECOND TREATS OF CERTAIN OPINIONS ENTERTAINED BY THIS SECT CONCERNING THE CREATION: A SUBJECT WHICH IS ALSO DISCUSSED IN THEIR PURANAS OR HISTORIES.――In the second part of the Bhagavat, one of their most esteemed Puránás, it is recorded that the Almighty Creator, in the beginning, first placed the mantle of existence on the bosom of _Prakriti_,[4] or “nature,” and produced the fourteen _Bhuvanas_,[5] or “worlds.” The first sphere is that of the earth, which has been estimated by some of the ancients at five Kotes (50 millions) of Yojans,[6] each Kote being equal to one hundred Lakhs (10 millions) and each Jojun to one Parasang and one-third; above the terrestrial is the aqueous sphere; above which is that of fire; beyond which is the aërial, over the celestial; beyond which is the _Ahankar_,[7] or that of “consciousness;” and higher than this is the _Mahat-tat_ (_Mahat-tatwam_)[8] or “essence,” which is equal to ten of those below it; and Prakrit having enveloped it, intelligence penetrating through all the things before said, rises above: on earth it becomes knowledge; by means of water, there is taste; by means of fire, form; by means of air, the touch of cold and dry; by means of the heavens, there is the perception of sound; and the organs of perception, are the exterior senses; and the internal sense is the seat of consciousness. In the same part of the Bhagavat it is stated that, by nature, the heavens are the vehicle of sounds; and consequently, the nature of the air gives the perception of sound and touch; in all other bodies the air is spirit, and from it arises the energy of the senses. To the nature of fire belongs the perception of sound, touch and form; to the nature of water, that of sound, touch, form, and savor; and to the nature of earth, that of sound, touch, form, savor, and odor. Of the fourteen created spheres, seven rise above the waist of the Almighty, and the remaining seven correspond with the lower part of his body; according to which enumeration the _Bhú-lok_,[9] or the earth and terrestrial beings form “his waist;” the _Bhúvanlok_,[10] or the space between the earth and sun, “his navel;” the _Surlok_,[11] “his heart;” the _Mehrlok_,[12] “his breast;” the _Jonlok_,[13] “his neck;” the _Tapalok_,[14] “his forehead;” the _Satyolok_,[15] “his head;” the _Atellok_,[16] “his navel and podex;” the _Batellok_,[17] “his thigh;” the _Sotollok_,[18] “his knee;” the _Talátellok_,[19] “the calf of the leg;” the _Mahátollok_,[20] “the heel;” the _Rasatollok_,[21] “the upper part of the foot;” the _Pátállok_,[22] “the sole of the foot.” There is another division limited to three spheres: the _Bhúlok_, “the sole of the Almighty’s foot;” the _Bhuvarlok_, “his navel;” the _Súrlók_, “his head;” the whole fourteen gradations in detail are thus reduced to three, signifying a mighty personage, the same as the Deity.