Brahmā—the first created living being and secondary creator of the material universe. Directed by Lord Viṣṇu, he creates all life forms in the universes. He also rules the mode of passion. Twelve of his hours equals 4,320,000,000 earth-years, and his life span is more than 311 trillion of our years; The first living being in the universe, Brahmā was born not of a womb but the lotus that grows from Lord Viṣṇu's navel. He is the forefather and guru of the demigods, the giver of the Vedas, and the director of the vaikṛta or secondary phase of cosmic creation by which all species of plants, animals, human beings and demigods come into existence. Thus he takes charge of the creative rajo-guṇa, just as Śiva takes charge of the destructive tamo-guṇa. Brahmā is usually a jīva, though rarely, when there is no qualified jīva to assume this post, the Supreme Lord expands Himself as Brahmā. See Demigods, Modes of nature.