Further thoughts of creation on Vishnu’s part led to the emergence of insentient and dark creations known as the nagas. The word gam means going and na means negation. Naga therefore connotes objects that cannot move or go, such as trees and hills. The idea is that in this stage, Vishnu created trees, creepers, bushes, hills and mountains. These have development but no mobility; they can grow but cannot move. This sarga was known as mukhya (main) sarga.

Vishnu saw that these creations were not entirely successful. He began to think of some other creation and that creation flowed out in a curved path, rising and then falling. The world tiryaka means and then falling. The word tiryaka means curved and these creations are therefore known as tiryaka yoni (birth). These creations were primarily the birds. (What is meant by these creations following a curved path is not very clear.)

In several other sargas, Vishnu created gods, humans and spirits. The gods were happy, affectionate, and open but introverted creatures. The men were extroverts, often unhappy, sometimes evil. They were more full of passion than of goodness, though containing bits of both. The spirits were restless, quarrelsome and predatory.(We have not catalogued all the nine sargas, as some of the descriptions are rather esoteric and difficult to understand. It is also necessary to point out that the above accounts contradict accounts of living beings emerging as a result of Brahma’s act of creation. The only explanation possible is that Vishnu’s creation refers to sarga, while Brahma’s refers to pratisarga.)