Vedic Narration
Backdrop
As hymns of primaeval knowledge or greatest wisdom, Vedas were part of the Cosmos from its coming into existence. They were then revealed by the Creator God (Aadi Narayan), heard, perceived and recited by the early Super-human Seers. They were passed down through generations orally and written down in the form of books for some little over 7000 years.
Creation Suktas (composite of hymns)
- Naasadiya suktam
This suktam of creation is a fundamental understanding of the pre-bang creation scenario. It is generally referred to as the hymn of the unknown. It is the 129th suktam of the 10th mandala of Rig Veda. The seven hymns of this suktam represent poetic beauty and are pregnant with the wisdom of the highest order. These hymns would be incoherent gibberish or a fundamentally flawed interpretation to the uninitiated, like the early interpreters of Vedas with a crude understanding of Sanskrit. Let us take each one of those hymns and decipher the underlying meaning.
- ‘Naasadaasiinno sadaasiit’thadaaniim naasiidrajo no vyomaa laro yath׀
Kimaavariivaha kuha kasya sharmannambhaha kimaasiidrahanam gabhiiram‖’
Then, there was neither non-existence (immanifest) nor existence (manifest). There was no atmosphere nor the outer space beyond it. What covered it? Where? Under whose shelter? Was there not a mysterious plasmatic matrix dark and deep
- ‘Na mrthyuraasiidanrtam na tharhi na rathryaa ahna aasiithprkethaha
Aaniidavaatham svadhayaa thadekam thasmaad’dhaanyanna paraha kin chanaasa‖’
Then, there was no mortality (death) nor immortality. There was no night nor day. ‘That One’ (He) breathed on its own nature without air. There was nothing beyond That (Him).
- ‘Thama aasiith thamasaa goolamagre’aprekatam saliilam sarvamaa’idam׀
Thuchyenaabhvapihitham yadhaasiith thapasasthanmahinaajaayathaikam‖’
Earlier, there was dark energy, and everything was enveloped in darkness. There was only a continuum of covered dark fluidy plasmatic ocean lying in a void. From this empty, unborn, immanifest (un-manifest) arose the one with the power of its heat (tapas).
- ‘Kaamasthadhagre samavarthathaadhi manaso rethaha pratthamam yadhaasiith׀
Sathobanddhumasathi niravinddhanhrdhi prathiishyaa kavayo maneehaa‖’
At first, earlier (before creation), desire (to create) arose in Him. Then, from His mind, the first seed was born. By reasoning, wise men (seers) found the manifest bonded to the immanifest.
- ‘Thirashchiino vithatho rashnireshaamaddhaha svidhaasii duparisvidhaasii׀ Rethoddhaa’aasan mahimaan aasan svaddhaa avastaath prayathiha parasthaath‖’
Far and wide spread criss-cross its rays. He became the begetter. He became great by his own will below, above and beyond.
- ‘ko ad’ddhaa vedh ka iha pravochath kutha aajaathaa kutha iyamvisrishtiha׀
Arvaag dhevaa asya visrjanenaatthaa ko vedh yatha aababhoova‖”
Who knows and who will tell here from where and why this creation came into being as the Gods were born later after the creation? So, who knows from whom did this creation manifest?
- ‘iyam visrshtiryatha aababhoova yadhi vaa na׀
Yo, asyaaddhyakshaha param vyoman so anga vedha yadhi vaa navedha‖”
From where and by whom did this creation arise? Did he create it or not? Does he uphold it or not? He, who is its supervisor residing in the remote sky, knows it all or is it he even does not know?
Exposition
The Super-human Vedic seer with super DNA ponders about the pre-creation scenario whence there was no semblance of the manifest cosmos. This is a remarkable pre-bang phase whence there was no air nor ether but only eerie darkness. For the entire Cosmos to manifest from the pre-cosmic substratum, there must have been an unseen, immanifest unbounded energy. Modern cosmologists/astronomists are ignorant of any energy from which the singularity manifested. The Vedic postulate is pregnant with the concept of an unknowable, unfathomable inherent spiritual energy, a manifestation of which is in the form of ‘tapa’ (heat) at the back of the manifesting Cosmos.
The state of the pre-creation scenario is beyond comprehension by our senses. There was an emptiness or void with anything observable being not there. There was neither space nor time, no matter nor energy, an important concept of Vedic cosmology.
Tapa (heat), the Heralder
The big bang theory of the Universe’s origin opines that all matter and energy were concentrated at a point. In contrast, the hymns 1 – 3 of Naasadiya suktam say that the Universe was completely empty initially. This is what is attested to by Taitriya Brahman (2.2.9.1). ‘Earlier, there was absolutely nothing. There was no heaven, no earth and no atmosphere’.
Modern Science conveys that the Universe was infinitely hot initially, which rapidly cooled down with the Universe’s expansion. The opposite is the contention of the Vedas. To begin with, the Universe was extremely cold, and the evolution of the Universe started with a temperature rise. Hymn 3 posits that Tapa is the cause of the Universe. Tapa is also related to tapas, meaning the performance of spiritual endeavours. In the Naasadiya sukta, Tapa is used in the sense of heat. The Cosmos undoubtedly began with the appearance of matter, energy and space.. The consequence was the warming up of the Cosmos, and hence Tapa heralded the formation of the Cosmos.
Watery Origin? Oh’ No! Ignorance about ‘Salila and Aapah’
Hymn 3 says that there was darkness everywhere and all that existed was ‘Salila’. The literal meaning of Salila is water, but as we know, the contents of Vedas are coded, and the words are not used in the literal sense but metaphorically. Salila is used in a technical sense and means undifferentiated fluidy matrix (not fluid matrix), and also named Aditi in Rig Veda.
The word Salila is technical and is confirmed by a hymn of Satpatha Brahmana (11.1.6.1).
āpo ha vā idamagre salilamevāsa tā akāmayanta kathaṃ nu prajāyemahīti tā aśrāmyaṃstāstapo’tapyanta tāsu tapastapyamānāsu
Satpatha Brahmana (11.1.6.1)
Verily, in the beginning, this (Universe) was water, nothing but a sea of water. The waters desired, ‘How can we be reproduced?’ They toiled and performed fervid devotions; a golden egg was produced when they were becoming heated. Indeed, the year was not in existence: this golden egg floated about for as long as the space of a year.
As per this hymn, Aapah is indeed Salila earlier. Unfortunately, post-Vedic texts have created confusion by quoting the literal meaning. Though both the terms mean water, taking the literal meaning would render the hymns senseless. Both Salila and Aapah are technical terms and are not truly synonyms.
The two terms are differential; one is more of a scalar word while the other is a vector word. In this sense, salila is scalar and aapah, vectorial. Salila represents the primaeval subtlest causative principle existing in an undifferentiated, homogenous and non-cognitive state. At the same time, Aapah is the inhomogenous differentiated cognitive plasmatic principle introduced into the realm of creation. Aditi is the already existing ultimate material cause in this context, which exists as homogenous and undifferentiated.
Purusha and Prakriti (Confusion galore; let it be cleared)
According to Vedic concepts, there are two eternal principles, the Purusha and the Prakriti. They are eternal, unborn and beginningless. The Purusha, though eternal in its original abode, is nevertheless transient and cyclical related to the appearance and disappearance of the cosmos. This so-called Purusha is none else but the Creator God or Aadi Narayan. He is the Super-Consciousness or the Lord of the Lower Heaven. He is known by names like Ishwara, Pranav Brahm, Aum, Hiranyagarbha, First Principle (Aadi Purush), Colossal Principle (Virat Purush), Maha Vishnu, Shabd Brahm etc. Vedas also refer to him as Prajapati. Puranic texts mention names like Vishnu, Shiv, Brahma etc.
- Note: It is the Creator God himself who finds addressed as Surya (light), Vayu (air), and Agni (fire) in Vedas, as the properties associated with these celestial objects are an act of creation of the Creator, and these objects themselves are referred to as devtas because of their essential life-sustaining properties.
Prakriti (ultimate physical reality) is the immanifest material cause (nature), also known as Aditi in Vedic literature or Svaambhaava in Gita, meaning aggregate of ultimate (fundamental) particles. Gita calls it Avyakta (latent or concealed), and Vedas calls it Asat or Devaanaam (non-cognizable positive existence). Prakriti or Aditi is the ‘Creatrix’, the feminine creative energy from which the entire Cosmos gets created; it is the material substance that forms the cosmos and Universes. Other names in the Vedas are ‘Usa or Usha’ and ‘vac’ or ‘Saraswati’. Let me also clarify that Prakriti in itself the familiar ‘Maya’ of Hindi spiritual/religious texts. It is from this Maya or material cause our senses and everything in the Universe that keeps us interested, involved and engaged, preventing us from moving towards the Supreme Lord. Hence, it is also referred to as the ‘Illusory entity’. What is needed is the understanding that different words are used to denote the same material or matter from different perspectives and keep us confused when it is not clear.]
Back on to the exposition of the Naasidya Hymns
Verse 129/4 indicates that the Cosmos was manifested under the desire* of the Supreme Being. *This shall be elaborated on and clarified in another blog on the Dance of creation. The suggestion is that there is a definite cause for the manifestation of the Cosmos, and it did not happen by a causeless random process. The problem with Science is that it wants us to believe that the entire meaningful Cosmos and the complex human beings are the products of a random process, which can only create increasing disorder and not order.
Verse 129/5: Here, the Supreme Being becoming great is related to the expansion of the Cosmos and the Universes being formed within it. This is said in this verse, and Science seems to agree with it verily.
Verse 129/7: This verse talks about ‘Parama Vyoma’ as the residence of the Supreme Being. It also means the highest or the remotest space. This space or sky or heaven is beyond space and time domains. It is also said as the luminous space (Rig Veda 9/85/27). The three heavens are the luminous spaces, the highest (Parama Vyoma), the middle and the lowest (Rig Veda 5/60/6. The highest is also called Uttara or Paraya (R. Veda 4/26/6 and 6/40/5 or also as Tritiya (R. Veda 9/74/6 and 10/45/3.
- Note: Depending on the source of origin of Vedas, there is a limitation in its understanding of the three heavens or spaces. Another article about the Hierarchy of the Universes, the cosmic Dance, and the Three Principles explains this.
About the time before the origin
With the discovery of the Big Bang, Science veered to accepting the Universe’s cyclic origin and decay from the earlier staunchly held view of a linear Universe. This was the contention of the Vedas from the very beginning. However, Science is nowhere near explaining the time and mode of decay of the Universe. It is struggling with the different hypotheses to explain the process of decay. However, based on Vedic and other Hindu scriptures, different levels of dissolution were expounded in the earlier blogs on dissolution.
Solar and Cosmic dissolutions
In an earlier blog on dissolution, different levels of dissolution were discussed. Two important dissolutions are 1. Of Solar systems, and 2. Of the Cosmos. Dissolution of a solar system was noted to happen about 4.2 billion years after its origin, which was equated with a day of the Creator god. A new solar system would again come into being at the end of an equal period (night of Creator god). This is referred to as the daily dissolution or naimitik pralaya. As against this, there is a dissolution of the entire Cosmos, known as Prakritic pralaya or the Great Dissolution, which occurs at the end of the life span of the Creator God (100 divine years), equal to about 311 trillion years.
Cosmic Existence and Cosmic Chaos
This refers to the period of existence of the Cosmos and the period of the non-existence of the Cosmos. The Cosmos’ existence is about 311 trillion years, and that of Chaos is also of equal duration when nothing is there. Similarly, solar existence and solar Chaos are related to daily dissolution. The periods of cosmos and Chaos are designated as Usa and Naktam in the Vedas.
The first few hymns of Naasidya Sukta describe the period of Chaos, when nothing exists (matter, energy or radiation) but only darkness envelops darkness. However, all matter and energy return to a homogenous immanifest state through the heterogenous immanifest state. In this state, all matter and energy exist in the original fundamental or ultimate state, s earlier introduced as Prakriti or Aditi (ultimate physical reality or material cause).
As per Vedas, Prakriti, the fundamental matter or the material cause, is ever co-existent with the Creator God in a different eternal dimension. God never creates it from nothing or nowhere. So, the Vedic view of creation does not break the fundamental principle that energy/matter can neither be created nor destroyed, which presents a formidable problem for the scientific view of creation by the Big Bang. Vedas, therefore, do not subscribe to the idea of creation ex- nihilo. The Vedic view of creation is thus the most scientific.
Ref:
Vedic concept of creation of Universe by Vishnu Kant Sharma, Pratibha Prakashan, Delhi
Vedic Physics, Scientific origin of Hinduism by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mount Meru publishing, Canada
Go to creation part 6 for the understanding of Cosmos and the Universes.
