अष्टविकल्पो दैवस्तैर्यग्योनश्च पञ्चधा भवति ।
मानुषश्चैकविधः समासतोऽयं त्रिधा सर्गः ॥ ५३ ॥
aṣṭavikalpo daivastairyagyonaśca pañcadhā bhavati ।
mānuṣaścaikavidhaḥ samāsato’yaṁ tridhā sargaḥ ॥ 53 ॥
Aṣṭa=eight; vikalpaḥ=varieties; daivaḥ=celestial; tairyak=belonging to animals (literally horizontal); yonaḥ=species; ca=and; pañcadhā=of five types; bhavati=is; mānuṣaḥ=of humans; ca=and; ekavidhaḥ=of one kind; samāsataḥ=in brief; ayaṁ=this; tridhā=of three kinds; sargaḥ=creation
The celestial creation is of eight kinds; the animal species of five kinds; and the human is of one kind. In summary, this is the essence of the physical creation.
This karika discusses the material creation (bhautika sarga) as consisting of celestial beings (daiva), humans (mānuṣaḥ) and animal species (tairyak, literally horizontal). As always, the karika only provides the total number in each category. It is left to the commentators to list the members in each category.
Of the celestial forms, there is a minor difference in the lists provided by G and VM: Brahma, Prajapati, Saumya (VM: pitra), Indra, Gandharva, Yaksha, Rakshasa, and Pishacha. These are known to be different classes of divine beings representing different qualities and attributes.
The five types of animal species are: cattle, horses etc. (pashu), wild beasts like tigers, elephants etc. (mriga), birds (pakshi), reptiles (sarisripa), and immovable objects (like trees etc.) (sthavara).
Humans represent only one category.
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