Cosmos and Universes: As per Vedas (3)
Hiranyagarbha Suktam
Modern Science and scientific principles are nothing but the unfolding of the many truths encoded in the mysterious language of Vedas. The Vedas have their own symbols, and unless the exact meaning of the encoded symbols is deciphered, the hymns shall remain obscure to the uninitiated. Hiranyagarbh, represented by hymn 121 of chapter 10 of Rig Ved, is one symbol that needs to be decoded to understand its secret meaning.
hiraṇyagarbhaḥ sam avartataagre bhuutasya jaataḥ patir eka aasiit |
R.Ved 10/121/1
sa daadhAara pṛthiviiṃ dyam utemaaṃ kasmai devaaya haviṣaa vidhema ||
Hiranyagarbha was present at the beginning; when born, he was the sole Lord of created beings; He upheld this earth and heaven– let us offer worship with an oblation to the divine Him.
hiranyagarbham passyata jaayamaanam sa no buddhyaa subhayaa samyunaktu||
(4.12)
So is said in Svetaasvatara upanishad. Herein it is said that Hiranyagarbha is a physical situation of extraordinary importance. The importance is that seeing the birth of this situation glorifies the Creator God. This part of the hymn says so, ‘let He, who has overseen the birth of Hiranyagarbha, enjoin us with good qualities.
hiranyagarbham janayaamaasa puurvam sa no buddhyaa subhayaa samyunaktu||
(3.4)
In verse 3.4 of the same Upanishad, it is said that He was not only the observer but also the originator of the extraordinary situation. The hymn conveys that He, who brought Hiranyagarbha into being, may confer good intellect in us. It is clear from this that Hiranyagarbha is some extraordinary skilful deed, and being performed by the Creator Lord, He is bestowed with the title Hiranyagarbha. So, the word Hiranyagarbah gets indiscriminately associated with both the deed and the doer. However, the meaning of the word needs to be deciphered correctly.
The Etymology of the Word
In Vedic literature, Hiranya stands for brilliance, glitter or glow. The word is defined in Satpata Brahman (chapter 9) as:
Jyotirvai hiranyam jyotireso amrtam hiranyam
Satpata Brahman (chapter 9)
Meaning: Hiranyagarbha sustains the glow of fundamental particles in its womb.
Amarkosha defines it as:
Hiranyam hiranyamayam andam tasya garbha iva
Amarkosha
Meaning: One who holds the glowing mass of fundamental particles in its womb is Hiranyagarbha. This glowing fireball is the initial glowing mass of matter that manifested at the beginning of the formation of the Cosmos.
So, the term Hiranyagarbha is an apt title for the Creator Lord who performed the act or deed.
The Appearance of the Fire Ball
Most of the auxiliary texts endorse the Vedic view of the origin of the Cosmos from the initial Fire Ball. Let us look at some of the mentions in them.
Puranic expressions
- Verse 1.1.29 of Mahabharat Aadiparvam says so.
Nisprabhe asmin niraaloke sarvastamsaavrtte
Verse 1.1.29 of Mahabharat
brhadandamabhuudekam prajaanaam bijamavyayam
adbhutam chapyachintyam cha sarvatra samataa gatam
avyakam kaaranam suuksham yat that sadasadaatmakam
Meaning: A homogenous globe of fundamental initial material cause manifested suddenly against the background of all-enveloping darkness. The globe mainly consisted of two classes – the sat and the asat. The emphasis on a background of darkness indicates the appearance of a glowing matter of brilliance.
2. The description of the origin of the Fire Ball finds mentioned in the Vaayu Puran thus:
Purusaadhisthitatvaac’cha avyaktaamgrahena cha mahadaadayo visheshantaa andamutpaadayante
Vaayu Puran
This verse says, ‘governed by the intelligent being and by the grace of the manifested nature, they produce a huge Fire Ball at the beginning of creation. The role of the Lord (Purusha) and the primordial matter (avyakta) are mentioned clearly.
What do the smriti texts speak of the initial state
3. Manusmriti verse 1.8 also mentions the state at the beginning of creatio
Sa abhidhyaaya sariraat svaat sisrkshurvividhaah prajaah apa eva sasarjaa dyou taasu vijamavaasrjat
Manusmriti verse 1.8
Desirous of producing diverse objects, the Lord, after introspection, manifested a primordial substance called Aapah at the beginning of creation. From fixing a seed, He created ava, the substance of lower order of gross substances.
The next verse says;
Tadandamabhavaidhemam sahsraansusamaprabham
(1.9)
That Aapah began to glow with the brilliance of thousand suns. Doesn’t the Big Bang of Science have some similarity to this?
4. Brahmanical contentions
Aapo ha vaa idamagra salilamevaasa
The meanings of Aapah and Salila are not to be taken in the literal sense, as said in part 5. Salila is a scalar word, while aapah is a vectorial word. Salila represents the primaeval subtlest causative principle existing in an undifferentiated, homogenous and non-cognitive state. Aapah is the inhomogeneous differentiated cognitive plasmatic principle introduced into the realm of creation.
Tamasit tamsaa guulamagre apraketam salilam sarvamaa idam
Initially, there was only darkness everywhere; a mysterious darkness, an unknowable salilam enveloped all. Since all was pervaded by darkness, nothing was cognisable from a human perspective. The terms guulam, meaning mysterious, and apraketam, meaning unknowable, are from the human perspective. As far as the Creator God is concerned, nothing was unknowable; for Him, it was salilam, the primordial matter. From an etymological point of view, salilam stands for the fundamental cause, which develops into a gross matter from a subtle state.
Taa akaamyanta taa tapo’tapyanta
taasu tapastapyamaanaasu hiranyamaandam sambabhub
The fireball’s appearance denotes the nature of the matter from which it arose, nothing but primordial matter.
Vedic take on the initial state
The source of all found in Puranas, Smritis, and Brahmanas lies in the Vedas. We have already interpreted Hiranyagarbha as the initial fireball, the precursor of the Cosmos, with the inherent matter as the primordial matter. Since the Creator God controlled it, He was called Hiranyagarbha on this account.
Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ sam avartataagre bhuutasya jaataḥ patir eka aasiit |
R. Ved 10/121.1
sa daadhaara pṛthiviiṃ dyaam utemaaṃ kasmai devaaya haviṣaa vidhema ||
This verse describes the coming into being of the initial fireball controlled by the Creator God and the inception of the Cosmos. This hymn does not speak of the presence of any other deities or gods except the Creator God. It is the Creator God who sustained it.
Aapo ha yad bṛhatiir viśvam aayan garbhaṃ dadhaanaa janayantiir agnim|
R. Ved 10/121.7
tato devaanaaṃ sam avartataasur ekaḥ kasmai devaaya haviṣaa vidhema ||
Again the hymn speaks of the existence of only one, the Creator God supervising the act of creation. The last part of the hymn emphasises the adorability of that one and only one Creator God. Clearly, the Vedas stand for the monotheistic principle.
Paścedam anyad abhavad yajatram amartyasya bhuvanasya bhuunaa | suparṇo aṅga savitur garutmaan puurvo jaataḥ sa u asyaanu dharma ||
R. Ved 10/149.3
The term ‘yajatram’ appearing in this hymn stands for a previous fire preserved as a relic seen from the point of view of fire worship. The preserved fire is used for new worship. When seen from the point of view of creation, ‘yajatram’ represents the physical energy preserved by the Creator God at the end of the previous Cosmos (Chaos). It is this energy that the Creator God uses to create ‘vajra’ to be flung at that part of the physical energy, which went out of his scheme and is technically called ‘vrtra’ in Vedic language. The Vedic’ vrtra’ is synonymous with the scientific entity ‘black hole’. The ‘vrtras’ represent isolated reserves of energy, which are completely cut off from the rest of the manifesting Universe. These contained pockets of energy can swallow any energy that ventures close to their spheres of influence. In Vedas, such entrapped pockets of energy are known as ‘sambar’s forts’. Without demolishing or breaking these ‘sambar’s forts asunder,’ the Creator God’s creation plan of the Cosmos and Universes cannot proceed. So, these are the hindering stumbling blocks in fashioning out the Universes. They must be annihilated to release the trapped concentration of energy to be used in the Cosmic scheme. The trapped energy was not available for the creation process and stood as an impediment in the Cosmic plan of the Creator God. Now, who will break these sambar’s forts and how? It will be done by none else but God himself. In a metaphorical sense, the Rigveda says that Indra hurled vajra at the vratras (sambar’s forts). Here, Indra is none else, but the Creator God himself (or Prajapati), and the vajra is the energy preserved from the previous Cosmos when it underwent dissolution or Chaos. This also ensures a dynamic energy continuum from Cosmos to Chaos and, again, Cosmos. It is to be understood that the vajra flung onto the sambar’s forts is a more powerful compact mass of energy greater than that of the sambar’s forts.
Such an act happens at the beginning of the formation of every Universe and is analogous to the Big Bang of Scientific Cosmology.
The coming into being of the fire globe and its subsequent expansion giving rise to Universes, is mentioned in the following hymn.
Tasmaad viraaḻ ajaayata viraajo adhi puuruṣaḥ |
R. Ved 10/90/5
sa jaato aty aricyata paśchaad bhuumim atho puraḥ ||
This hymn mentions two principles. Firstly, it says that a huge glowing fire mass appeared at the beginning, and then, secondly, it says that it expanded to extreme limits giving rise to the Universes, heavenly bodies and the earth.
Another hymn says that the Lord burned the primordial matter like a blacksmith.
Brahmaṇas patir etaa saṃ karmaara ivaadhamat |
R. Ved 10/72.2
devaanaam puurvye yuge ‘sataḥ sad ajaayata ||
Here there is mention of the early age of devas. The term devas finding mention is not to be confused with divinities (as most interpret in mythological puranas). But, the term here stands for physical forms or celestial objects being formed. Asat was the former state from which sat gets formed later. However, all asat is not transformed into sat, so both were subjected to severe heat.
Earlier, it was established that aapah is a Vedic symbol for active primordial matter. It is also referred to as maayaa.
Let us look at another verse about the huge fireball that came into being before the manifestation of the Cosmos.
Muurdhaa bhuvo bhavati naktam agnis tataḥ suuryo jaayate praatar udyan | maayaam uu tu yajñiyaanaam etaam apo yat tuurṇiś carati prajaanan ||
R. Ved 10/88/6
This hymn says that when the primordial matter enters the creation phase, it is known by at least three names; aapah, maayaa and asat. The Vedic interpreters must be aware of the symbolic Vedic terms. Otherwise, they enter into hilarious fallacious interpretations.
Agnir jajñe juhvaa rejamaano mahas putraam̐ aruṣasya prayakṣe |
R. Ved 3/31/3
mahaan garbho mahy aa jaatam eṣaam mahii pravṛd dharyaśvasya yajñaiḥ ||
Here the description is too vivid. All three words, agni, juhvaa, and arusah, signify fire glow. Further, the four words mahi, mahaan, mahah and mahyaa all stand for great. Apparently, a great event is being indicated, the manifestation of the fire mass, which sets the ball of creation rolling.
Another hymn details the same event in a beautiful metaphoric manner.
Abhi jaitriir asacanta spṛdhaanam mahi jyotis tamaso nir ajaanan |
R. Ved 3/31/4
taṃ jaanatiiiḥ praty ud aayann uṣaasaḥ patir gavaam abhavad eka indraḥ ||
Herein, the age of the Cosmos represented by the Vedic symbol usaa is personified. As already mentioned, according to the Vedic theory, cosmos and chaos occur alternatively. The period of existence of creation is known as the cosmos, and the period of the non-existence of creation is known as chaos. Apparently, there are many usaasah (bygone periods of creation). It is said poetically that these bygone periods of creation (usaasah) pray to the Lord during the periods of chaos to re-create new cosmos. They feel like victors when their prayer gets granted.
Different texts describe the manifestation of the Cosmos from primordial matter differently.
Dve viruupe carataḥ svarthe anyaanyaa vatsam upa dhaapayete |
R. Ved 1/95/1
harir anyasyaam bhavati svadhaavaañ chukro anyasyaaṃ dadṛśe suvarchaaḥ ||
Here, the hymn says that a huge fireball is produced at the end of the divine night (period of chaos). During the cosmos (divine day), this fireball creates brilliantly shining Universes.
This hymn contains an allegorical (metaphorical or figurative)mention of two ladies, Naktam and Usaa. They symbolise the divine night (chaos) and the divine dawn (cosmos).
Interestingly, the next hymn speaks of three and not two divine ladies.
Daśemaṃ tvaṣṭur janayanta garbham atandraaso yuvatayo vibhṛtram | tigmaaniikaṃ svayaśasaṃ janeṣu virochamaanam pari ṣiiṃ nayanti ||
R. Ved 1/95/2
The three ladies mentioned here are the three classes of fundamental particles. The three ladies are an allegorical representation of the three classes of fundamental particles.
‘Asmai tisro avyathyaaya naarirdevaya devirdidhisnt yannam’
This hymn refers to the three classes of particles as the three ladies sustaining the life-giving material in this Universe for the Lord.
