Creation of the Universe
by Araceli Perez
It would be ignorant to believe that there is only one explanation for the
creation of the universe. The Vedic hymns present several cosmogonies.
There are many interpretations for these myths resulting from there
documentation on various levels of culture. It is purposeless to quest for
the origin of each of these cosmogonies because most of these ideas and
beliefs represent a heritage transmitted from prehistory all over the
ancient world.
There are four essential types of cosmogonies that seem to have fascinated
the Vedic poets and theologians. They are as followed: (1) creation by
fecundation of the original waters; (2) creation by the dismembering of a
primordial giant, Purusa; (3) creation out of a unity-totality, at once
being and nonbeing; (4) creation by the separation of heaven and earth.[2]
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The first cosmogony relates to the celebrated hymn of the Rg Veda. The god
imagined as Hiranyagarbha (the Golden Embryo) hovers over the Waters,
Hiranyabarbha enters the waters and fecundates them. This gave birth to
Agni (the god of fire).[3]
The second cosmogony can be found in a hymn, the Purusasukta. Purusa is
represented at once as cosmic totality and as an androgynous being.
Creation proper is the result of a cosmic sacrifice. The gods sacrifice
Purusa. From his dismembered body proceed the animals, the liturgical
elements, the social classes, the earth, the sky, the gods: "His mouth
became the Brahman, the Warrior was the product of his arms, his thig ...