The Devi Bhagavata Purana presents the Divine Mother as the supreme ground of being, the ultimate reality from whom all cosmic processes arise. Before any manifestation, only the Goddess exists, beyond time and space, as both pure consciousness and primordial nature in a state of undisturbed equilibrium. From this transcendental stillness, creation begins when she wills to manifest, and her power, Shakti, stirs the balance of the three gunas. Through this movement, the subtle principles of existence unfold, progressing from the most refined levels of intellect and ego down to the subtle elements and finally the gross elements such as earth, water, fire, air, and space. In this vision, the universe is not separate from her, but a graded expression of her own being.

Within this unfolding, the familiar deities of the Hindu cosmos themselves arise from Devi. The Purana portrays Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as emanations of her power, brought forth so that creation, preservation, and dissolution can be carried out in an ordered way. Vishnu is produced from her own self, and from Vishnu’s navel springs the lotus on which Brahma appears as the detailed creator of worlds and beings. Shiva, too, is manifested by her as the destroyer who will later preside over dissolution. Yet all three remain dependent on her Shakti; their capacities are functional roles within her larger play rather than independent sovereignties. The entire hierarchy of worlds, deities, sages, humans, and other creatures thus comes forth under her overarching guidance.

Preservation, as described in this text, is likewise an expression of the Goddess’s sustaining presence. Vishnu maintains the universe only because her sattvic power abides in him as his very capacity to preserve. She pervades all beings as life-force, intelligence, and inner controller, silently regulating the rhythms of time, the operation of karma, and the maintenance of dharma. Even when the gods appear to act, their actions unfold according to her will, and she may assume forms such as Lakshmi or Narayani to embody the nurturing, protective aspect of preservation. The cosmos continues from moment to moment through the interplay of the three gunas in primordial nature, an interplay she continually oversees.

Dissolution, finally, is not a negation of the Goddess but a return of all things to her unmanifest state. At the end of cosmic cycles, she withdraws her manifest energy, and the universe is gradually reabsorbed: gross elements into subtle, forms into their causes, and even Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva into the undifferentiated ground. Partial dissolutions occur at the close of vast epochs, when many worlds are submerged, while a full dissolution at the end of Brahma’s lifespan leaves only the Devi as the transcendent Absolute. In that great night of being, the gunas fall back into equilibrium, and all names and forms are stilled within her. From this silent plenitude, through her will alone, a new cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution will again arise, each cycle another expression of the one Supreme Devi who is both immanent in the cosmos and beyond it.