The Nasadiya Suktam (Rig Veda 10.129) or the Creation Hymn, speaks of the time when the universe did not exist, a time before Creation when there was nothing and yet there was a formless form.

Rig Veda 10.129

1. There was neither Non-existence nor Existence,
Nor was there Earth or Sky beyond;
What was the covering, whence at whose shelter
Was there the primeval Water with depths unfathomed?

2. Death was not then, nor was their Immortality,
There was no sign of day and night;
That one in breathless space breathed on its own,
Apart from that there was just nothing.

3. Darkness at the beginning was covered with darkness,
And this All was discriminated chaos;
All was then in the Void contained only the One
Hath emerged with its mighty radiance.

4. Thence arose primal Desire in the beginning,
The first seed of the mind;
Wise sages searched into the heart of mystery,
And found Existence kinship in Non-existence.

5. Sideways extended their severing line,
What was above and what was below it?
Begetters were there and mighty Potencies there,
Sacrificial acts here, fulfilling Energy up yonder.

6. Who indeed knows, who can here declare,
Whence and wherewith comes the Creation?
Gods are later than this Creation’s origin,
Who knows then whence is issued into being?

7. This Creation thus issued forth thence,
But was it founded or not?
The Lord of Creation, who in Transcendence reposed,
Indeed, knows this, or knows not?

8. With that purusha, the first of beings,
Consecrated on grass;
The gods sacrificed, the rishis of old,
And the rishis that followed.

9. From that Sacrifice, the cosmic offering;
Dripped butter, the gathering life-force;
Therefrom were formed the creatures of air,
Of the forest and of home.

These are the first nine verses of the Hymn of Creation.
Please close your eyes and contemplate on each verse.

I will share the next eight verses in my second blog.

Aim Hrim Klim

Photo by Andy Holmes on Unsplash