The version of creation presented by Maitreya to Vidura in the Bhagavata Purana is according to the word of scriptures which state that Srishti, Stiti and Pralaya are His Sankalpa and keep recurring through time. Since creation always exists in the Lord, at times latent and at times manifest, it is at variance with the theory of evolution, pointed out Sri R. Krishnamurthy Sastrigal in a discourse. The Supreme Lord is the source of all dharma and is the eternal truth, and His swaroopa is of the essence of Sat-Chit-Ananda.
Prior to creation, He alone exists and holds within Himself all the subtle bodies of all beings animate and inanimate. He is described as lying on Adisesha, His couch. His eyes are closed as if in deep meditation, having withdrawn from the activities of creation, preservation and dissolution. He is in Yoga Nidra, appearing to be asleep; yet, He is ever awake with His omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence intact. At the appropriate time at the end of Pralaya, the Lord decides that creation should manifest and then from His Prakriti, the Mahat tatva, the ahamkara, the subtle and gross elements, the senses and their deities and Tamas are all created. Then, by His Will, Brahma is created and also endowed with the ability and jnana to engage in the rest of creation of the world and beings in it Brahma becomes the creator of the plant and animal world, the human species, and of the celestial beings and sages.
All the beings in creation including Brahma are subject to the Kala Chakra or cyclic progress of time and have different life spans. Krishna says in the Gita that though Arjuna is to fight the war and kill his opponents, He is only a nimitta karana in the Lord’s grand design. So too, though Brahma is seen as a creator, he is only an instrument of the Lord.
