This article is a work in progress..
When Narayna (ever existing) felt the desire to be more than just one, he accepted Vaishnavi Maya or prakriti, along with its three gunas; Rajoguna, Tamoguna, and Sattvaguna and motivated it to create the universe.
| Before we move ahead, lets understand Maya a bit more. Maya always existed. It has no creation. It is one of the nine shaktis (powers) of Narayana, that creates the universe; which is nothing but an illusion. Maya is also known as Vindhyavasini and Yogamaya, a benevolent form of Durga. |
For creation, sustenance and destruction, Narayana accepted Maya’s Rajoguna in the form of Brahma, Sattvaguna in the form of Vishnu, and Tamoguna in the form of Rudra (Shiva).
For this reason Durga or YogMaya is sometimes called the mother of Trimurty. And also the creator of universe.
After accepting Maya and its three gunas, the efforts that rajoguna and sattvaguna aspects of maya were making for the creation of universe, led to Mahattva (महत्तत्त्व). This Mahattva (महत्तत्त्व) resulted in Pride or Ahankara (अहंकार) which is a Tamoguna. Ahankara resulted in creation of Akasha or Ether.