Nasadiya Sukta
The Nāsadīya Sūkta (after the incipit ná ásat, or "not the non-existent"), also known as the Hymn of Creation, is the 129th hymn of the
Nasadiya Sukta begins with the statement: "Then, there was neither existence, nor non-existence." It ponders when, why, and through whom the universe came into being in a contemplative tone, and provides no definite answers. Rather, it concludes that the gods too may not know, as they came after creation, and that even the surveyor of that which has been created, in the highest heaven may or may not know.[2] To this extent, the conventional English title Hymn of Creation is perhaps misleading, since the verse does not itself present a cosmogony or creation myth akin to those found in other religious texts, instead provoking the listener to question whether one can ever know ALL the details of origins of the universe.
Nasadiya Sukta (Hymn of non-Eternity, origin of universe):
There was neither non-existence nor existence then;
Neither the realm of space, nor the sky which is beyond;
What stirred? Where? In whose protection?
There was neither death nor immortality then;
No distinguishing sign of night nor of day;
That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse;
Other than that there was nothing beyond.
Darkness there was at first, by darkness hidden;
Without distinctive marks, this all was water;
That which, becoming, by the void was covered;
That One by force of heat came into being;
Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
Gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?
Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;
Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not;
The Supreme Brahman of the world, all pervasive and all knowing
He indeed knows, if not, no one knows
Interpretations
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The hymn has attracted a large body of literature of commentaries both in Indian
The hymn, as Mandala 10 in general, is late within the Rigveda Samhita, and expresses thought more typical of later Vedantic philosophy.[5] Even though untypical of the content of the Vedic hymns, it is one of the most widely received portions of the Rigveda. An atheist interpretation sees the Creation Hymn as one of the earliest accounts ofThe text begins by paradoxically stating "not the non-existent existed, nor did the existent exist then" (ná ásat āsīt ná u
Karel Werner describes the author's source for the material as one not derived from reasoning, but a "visionary, mystical or Yogic experience put into words."[8]
Brereton (1999) argues that the reference to the sages searching for being in their spirit is central, and that the hymn's gradual procession from non-being to being in fact re-enacts creation within the listener (see
Metre
Nasadiya Sukta consists of seven
- yádi vā dadhé yádi vā ná
- "if he has created it; or if not [...]"
Brereton (1999) argues that the defect is a conscious device employed by the rishi to express puzzlement at the possibility that the world may not be created, parallel to the syntactic defect of pada 7d, which ends in a subordinate clause without a governing clause:
- só aṅgá veda yádi vā ná véda
- "he verily knows; or maybe he does not know [...]"[9]
Text and translation
Devanagari | Transliteration[10] | Translation ( Basham 1954)[11]
|
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्तदानीं नासीद्रजो नो व्योमा परो यत् | |
1. nā́sad āsīn nó sád āsīt tadā́nīṃnā́sīd rájo nó víomā paró yát kím ā́varīvaḥ kúha kásya śármann ámbhaḥ kím āsīd gáhanaṃ gabhīrám 2. ná mr̥tyúr āsīd amŕ̥taṃ ná tárhi ná rā́triyā áhna āsīt praketáḥ ā́nīd avātáṃ svadháyā tád ékaṃ tásmād dhānyán ná paráḥ kíṃ canā́sa 3. táma āsīt támasā gūháḷam ágre apraketáṃ saliláṃ sárvam ā idám tuchyénābhú ápihitaṃ yád ā́sīt tápasas tán mahinā́jāyataíkam 4. kā́mas tád ágre sám avartatā́dhi mánaso rétaḥ prathamáṃ yád ā́sīt sató bándhum ásati nír avindan hr̥dí pratī́ṣyā kaváyo manīṣā́ 5. tiraścī́no vítato raśmír eṣām adháḥ svid āsī́d upári svid āsīt retodhā́ āsan mahimā́na āsan svadhā́ avástāt práyatiḥ parástāt 6. kó addhā́ veda ká ihá prá vocat kúta ā́jātā kúta iyáṃ vísr̥ṣṭiḥ arvā́g devā́ asyá visárjanena áthā kó veda yáta ābabhū́va 7. iyáṃ vísr̥ṣṭir yáta ābabhū́va yádi vā dadhé yádi vā ná yó asyā́dhyakṣaḥ paramé vyoman só aṅgá veda yádi vā ná véda |
1. Then even non-existence was not there, nor existence, |
See also
Notes
- ISBN 0-7914-0679-2.
- ^ "Nasadiya Suktam - The Hymn of Creation in the Rig Veda". www.speakingtree.in. Archived from the original on 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
- ^ * Original Sanskrit: Rigveda 10.129 Archived 2017-05-25 at the Wayback Machine Wikisource;
- Translation 1: Max Muller (1859). A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Williams and Norgate, London. pp. 559–565.
- Translation 2: Kenneth Kramer (1986). World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions. Paulist Press. p. 21. ISBN 0-8091-2781-4.
- Translation 3: David Christian (2011). Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of California Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-520-95067-2.
- Translation 1:
- ISBN 0-14-044989-2.
- ISBN 81-7110-138-7(Set of four volumes). Parimal Sanskrit Series No. 45; 2003 reprint: 81-7020-070-9, Volume 4, p. 519.
- ^ Patri, Umesh and Prativa Devi. "Progress of Atheism in India: A Historical Perspective Archived 2013-09-25 at the Wayback Machine". Atheist Centre 1940-1990 Golden Jubilee. Vijayawada, February 1990. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
- ^ Carl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage Part 10 - The Edge of Forever Video Link (timestamp-36:40)
- JSTOR 3269600.
- ^ Brereton, Joel (1999). "Edifying Puzzlement: Ṛgveda and the Uses of Enigma". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 10 (129).
- ^ Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum, Rig Veda: a Metrically Restored Text (1994), utexas.edu Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ A.L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India (1954).
Further reading
- Joel P. Brereton, Edifying Puzzlement: Ṛgveda 10. 129 and the Uses of Enigma, Journal of the American Oriental Society (1999)
- P. T. Raju, The Development of Indian Thought, Journal of the History of Ideas (1952)
- Karel Werner, Symbolism in the Vedas and Its Conceptualisation, Numen (1977)
- Upinder Singh (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. pp. 206–. ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0.