In the beginning, there was nothing. There was only a void. From that void emerged sound and from the sound was created the sky. From the sky emerged the wind, from the wind emerged energy, from the energy was created the water, and the water gave birth to the earth. It is with these elements that Vishnu creates the bodies of living beings. And he delivers the earth so that she can bear these living beings.

When there was nothing in the universe, the only element which was present was water and water was everywhere. (This seems to contradict the earlier statement that the water was created from energy.) The paramatman or the brahman (the divine essence) slept on this water was created from energy.) The paramatman or the brahman (the divine essence) slept on this water and this divine essence was nothing but Vishnu. The word nara means water and the word ayana means resting place. Since Vishnu slept on the water, he is known as Narayana.

Brahma’s day is much longer than human days. The duration of one of Brahma’s days is known as a kalpa (cycle). During the kalpa, Vishnu performs the act of creation. At the end of the kalpa, Brahma’s night comes and the universe is destroyed.