Prajapati bethought himself, “Verily, I have created here a counterpart of myself, to wit, the year”; whence they say, “Prajapati is the year”; for he created it to be a counterpart of himself: inasmuch as “samvatsara (year),” as well as “Prajapati,” consists of four syllables, thereby it (the year) is a counterpart of him.
Now, these are the deities who were created out of Prajapati—Agni, Indra, Soma, and Parameshthin Prajapatya.
They were born with a life of a thousand years: even as one would see in the distance the opposite shore, so did they behold the opposite shore of their own life.
—Julius Eggeling (trans.). “Satapatha-Brahmana, XI, i, 6.” Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 44. Max Müller (ed.). Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1900, pp. 12–15.
From the Chandogya Upanishad The Upanishads are philosophical instructions—literally “sessions” or “sitting next to”—in which forest-dwelling sages expounded on the nature of Vedic theories. As such, they form the last part of Vedic literature. The thirteen main Upanishads were composed c. 800–400 B.C., and scholars fix the Chandogya as one of the oldest (c. 700 B.C.).
The problem of the origin of being and its relation to not-being addressed in Rig-Veda X, cxxix, is taken up again here in two different ways. The first passage (III, 19) uses the imagery of the Brahmanas to argue that not-being developed itself like the chaotic waters into the egg of the universe. The second (VI, 2) disputes this theory, asking how being could have been derived from not-being. It concludes that being must have been present at the beginning and that it created the world by desiring replication and thereby producing water and heat.
(III. 19) IN THE BEGINNING this world was merely non-being. It was existent. It developed. It turned into an egg. It lay for the period of a year. It was split asunder. One of the two eggshell-parts became silver, one gold.
That which was of silver is this earth. That which was of gold is the sky. What was the outer membrane is the mountains. What was the inner membrane is cloud and mist. What were the veins are the rivers. What was the fluid within is the ocean.
Now, what was born therefrom is yonder sun. When it was born, shouts and hurrahs, all beings and all desires rose up toward it. Therefore at its rising and at its every return shouts and hurrahs, all beings and all desires rise up toward it.
He who, knowing it thus, reverences the sun as Brahma—the prospect is that pleasant shouts will come unto to him and delight him—yea, delight him!
(VI, 2) IN THE BEGINNING, my dear, this world was just Being, one only, without a second. To be sure, some people say: “In the beginning this world was just Non-being, one only, without a second; that from Non-being Being was produced.”
But verily, my dear, whence could this be?, said he. How from Non-being could Being be produced? On the contrary, my dear, in the beginning this world was just Being, one only, without a second.
It bethought itself: “Would that I were many! Let me procreate myself!” It emitted heat. The heat bethought itself: “Would that I were many! Let me procreate myself!” It emitted water. Therefore whenever a person grieves or perspires from the heat, then water [i.e., either tears or perspiration] is produced.
That water bethought itself: “Would that I were many! Let me procreate myself!” It emitted food. Therefore whenever it rains, then there is abundant food. So food for eating is produced just from water.
—Robert Ernest Hume (ed. and trans.). The Thirteen Principal Upanishads. London: Oxford University Press, 1971. pp. 214–215, 241.
From the Kena Upanishad The Kena Upanishad (800–400 B.C.) is another of the thirteen principal and canonical Upanishads. Like the others, it is a philosophical instruction on Vedic themes, particularly in this instance on the nature of the creator Brahman.
The use of many different approaches to religious questions is typical of Vedism. While the second prose part of this Upanishad depicts Brahman in highly anthropomorphic terms and praises him as supreme among the gods, the first verse section included here is far more abstract and philosophical. It cautions against idolatry and argues that Brahman is “not what people here adore.” Rather, it defines Brahman as the cause, not the object, of the senses. Brahman is the ground of being and thinking: “What cannot be thought with the mind, but [is] that whereby the mind can think.” Beyond both the known and unknown, Brahman cannot be objectified. Thus, while its mystery can be apprehended, it can never be comprehended.
WHO SENDS the mind to wander afar? Who first drives life to start on its journey? Who impels us to utter these words? Who is the Spirit behind the eye and the ear?
It is the ear of the ear, the eye of the eye, and the word of words, the mind of mind, and the life of life. Those who follow wisdom pass beyond, and on leaving this world, become immortal.
There the eye goes not, nor words, nor mind. We know not, we cannot understand, how he can be explained: he is above the known, and he is above the unknown. Thus have we heard from the ancient sages who explained the truth to us.
What cannot be spoken with words, but that whereby words are spoken: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore.
What cannot be thought with the mind, but that whereby the mind can think: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore.
What cannot be seen with the eye, but that whereby the eye can see: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore.
What cannot be heard with the ear, but that whereby the ear can hear: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore.
What cannot be indrawn with the breath, but that whereby breath is indrawn: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore.
—Juan Mascaro (trans.). The Upanishads. Baltimore, Md.: Penguin Books, 1965, pp. 51–54.
From the Laws of Manu Hindu mythology claims that being and time come into existence with Brahma, the creator. Brahma lives for 100 divine years, and each day of his life is represented by a kalpa, a period of 4,320 million earthly years. The kalpas in turn have fourteen ages, each ruled over by its own Manu, a father of the human race. We now live in the seventh age, and the Manu is Manu Vaivasvata. Manu is thought to have been given the Vedas so that he might construct a system of Hindu law, and it is for this reason that the most important law book is ascribed to him.
The semicanonical lawbooks form part of Smirti or “Human” Tradition (in contrast to the Vedas, Shruti or “Divine” Tradition). Principally based on the Vedas, they sought to present a comprehensive philosophy of life and social organization.
In this passage from the Lawbook of Manu (c. 200–100 B.C.), the theme of the golden egg laid in waters is maintained. But in this case Brahman (the Self-Existent) creates both the chaotic waters and the egg (his seed) within them; now manifest, he is born from the egg as Brahman. As such, he is simultaneously Narayana (son of the primal spirit), Purusha (the primal man), and Brahma (the masculine form of Brahman; the creator god). All this complexity serves to demonstrate the mystery that Brahman is both the cause and result of his own creation—both creator and creature, father and son; and secondly, that he is one, although known under different names. Having lived in the egg for one year, Brahman creates the universe out of it by his thought.
HE (that is the Self-existent) desiring to produce beings of many kinds from his own body, first with a thought created the waters and placed his seed in them. That (seed) became a golden egg, in brilliancy equal to the sun; in the (egg) he himself was born as Brahman, the progenitor of the whole world. The waters are called narah (for) the waters are, indeed, the offspring of Nara; as they were his first residence, he thence is named Narayana. From that cause, which is indiscernible, eternal, and both real and unreal, was produced that male (Purusha) who is famed in this world (under the appellation of) Brahma. The divine one resided in that egg during a whole year, then he himself by his thought (alone) divided it into two halves; and out of those t
wo halves he formed heaven and earth, between them the middle sphere, the eight points of the horizon, and the eternal abode of the waters.
—G. Buhler (trans.). The Laws of Manu. Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 25. In Max Mülner (ed.). Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1886, p. 5.
From the Vishnu Purana The Puranas or “Ancient Stories” comprise part of the Smirti or “Human” Tradition in the Hindu canon. They are commonly attributed to Vyasa, the legendary author of the great epic, the Mahabharata, and were written after 300 A.D., although they contain older material. The Puranas generally deal with theological and cosmological issues raised in the Upanishads and with Hindu notions of time. Because of their popularity, these books introduced many to ideas that had hitherto been known only by the priestly class.
The distinction between appearance and reality is a complex and troubling one and this myth attempts to simplify it. Brahman is imagined as both the creator and essence of the world. In enlightened reality, all is one, Brahman. In objective appearance, however, things are disparate, and Brahma (the masculine form of Brahman) is their creator. As such, he assumes the form of a boar, raises the earth from the bottom of the primeval seas with his tusks, and orders the universe. Reverting to sacred reality, the passage asserts the identity of Brahman with the mysterious sacred power of sacrifice: “Thou art the person of sacrifice…thy mouth is the altar…thy name is all the hymns of the Vedas.”
MAITREYA: Tell me, mighty sage, how, in the commencement of the (present) Kalpa, Narayana, who is named Brahma, created all existent things.
PARASARA: In what manner the divine Brahma, who is one with Narayana, created progeny, and is thence named the lord of progeny (Prajapati), the lord god, you shall hear.
At the close of the past (of Padma) Kalpa, the divine Brahma, endowed with the quality of goodness, awoke from his night of sleep, and beheld the universe void. He, the supreme Narayana the incomprehensible, the sovereign of all creatures, invested with the form of Brahma, the god without beginning, the creator of all things; of whom, with respect to his name Narayana, the god who has the form of Brahma, the imperishable origin of the world, this verse is repeated: “The waters are called Nara, because they were the offspring of Nara (the supreme spirit); and, as, in them, his first (Ayana) progress (in the character of Brahma) took place, he is thence named Narayan (he whose place of moving was the waters).” He, the lord, concluding that within the waters lay the earth, and being desirous to raise it up, created another form for that purpose; and, as, in preceding Kalpas, he has assumed the shape of a fish or a tortoise, so, in this, he took the figure of a boar. Having adopted a form composed of the sacrifices of the Vedas, for the preservation of the whole earth, the eternal, supreme, and universal soul, the great progenitor of created beings, eulogized by Sanaka and the other saints who dwell in the sphere of holy men (Janaloka); he, the supporter of spiritual and material being, plunged into the ocean. The goddess Earth, beholding him thus descending to the subterranean regions, bowed in devout adoration, and thus glorified the god:—
PRITHIVI (Earth): Hail to thee, who art all creatures; to thee, the holder of the mace and shell: elevate me now from this place, as thou hast upraised me in days of old. From thee have I proceeded; of thee do I consist; as do the skies and all other existing things. Hail to thee, spirit of the supreme spirit; to thee, soul of soul; to thee, who art discrete and indiscrete matter; who art one with the elements and with time. Thou art the creator of all things, their preserver, and their destroyer, in the forms, O lord, of Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra, at the seasons of creation, duration, and dissolution. When thou hast devoured all things, thou reposest on the ocean that sweeps over the world, meditated upon, O Govinda, by the wise. No one knoweth thy true nature; and the gods adore thee only in the forms it hath pleased thee to assume. They who are desirous of final liberation worship thee as the supreme Brahma; and who that adores not Vasudeva shall obtain emancipation? Whatever may be apprehended by the mind, whatever may be perceived by the senses, whatever may be discerned by the intellect, all is but a form of thee. I am of thee, upheld by thee; thou art my creator, and to thee I fly for refuge: hence, in this universe, Madhavi (the bride of Madhava of Vishnu) is my designation. Triumph to the essence of all wisdom, to the unchangeable, the imperishable: triumph to the eternal; to the indiscrete, to the essence of discrete things: to him who is both cause and effect; who is the universe; the sinless lord of sacrifice; triumph. Thou art sacrifice; thou art the oblation; thou art the mystic Omkara; thou art the sacrificial fires; thou art the Vedas, and their dependent sciences; thou art, Hari, the object of all worship. The sun, the stars, the planets, the whole world; all that is formless, or that has form; all that is visible, or invisible; all. Purushottama, that I have said, or left unsaid; all this, Supreme, thou art. Hail to thee, again and again! hail! all hail!
PARASARA: The auspicious supporter of the world, being thus hymned by the earth, emitted a low murmuring sound, like the chanting of the Sama Veda; and the mighty boar, whose eyes were like the lotus, and whose body, vast as the Nila mountain, was of the dark colour of the lotus-leaves, uplifted upon his ample tusks the earth from the lowest regions. As he reared his head, the waters shed from his brow purified the great sages, Sanandana and others, residing in the sphere of the saints. Through the indentations made by his hoofs, the waters rushed into the lower worlds with a thundering noise. Before his breath the pious denizens of Janaloka were scattered; and the Munis sought for shelter amongst the bristles upon the scriptural body of the boar, trembling as he rose up, supporting the earth, and dripping with moisture. Then the great sages, Sanandana and the rest, residing continually in the sphere of saints, were inspired with delight; and, blowing lowly, they praised the stern-eyed upholder of the earth.
THE YOGINS: Triumph, lord of lords supreme; Kesava, sovereign of the earth, the wielder of the mace, the shell, the discus, and the sword: cause of production, destruction, and existence. THOU ART, O god: there is no other supreme condition but thou. Thou, lord, art the person of sacrifice: for thy feet are the Vedas, thy tusks are the stake to which the victim is bound; in thy teeth are the offerings; thy mouth is the altar; thy tongue is the fire; and the hairs of thy body are the sacrifical grass. Thine eyes, O omnipotent, are day and night; thy head is the seat of all, the place of Brahma; thy name is all the hymns of the Vedas; thy nostrils are all oblations: O thou, whose snout is the ladle of oblation; whose deep voice is the chanting of the Sama Veda; whose body is the hall of sacrifice; whose joints are the different ceremonies; and whose ears have the properties of both voluntary and obligatory rites; do thou, who art eternal, who art in size a mountain be propitious. We acknowledge thee, who hast traversed the world, O universal form to be the beginning, the continuance, and the destruction of all things: thou art the supreme god. Have pity on us, O lord of conscious and unconscious beings. The orb of the earth is seen seated on the tip of thy tusks, as if thou hadst been sporting amidst a lake where the lotus floats, and hadst borne away the leaves covered with soil. The space between heaven and earth is occupied by thy body, O thou of unequalled glory, resplendent with the power of pervading the universe, O lord, for the benefit of all. Thou art the aim of all: there is none other than thee, sovereign of the world: this is thy might, by which all things, fixed or movable, are pervaded. This form, which is now beheld, is thy form, as one essentially with wisdom. Those who have practised devotion conceive erroneously of the nature of the world. The ignorant, who do not perceive that this universe is of the nature of wisdom, and judge of it as an object of perception only, are lost in the ocean of spiritual ignorance. But they who know true wisdom, and whose minds are pure, behold this whole world as one with divine knowledge, as one with thee, O god. Be favourable, O universal spirit: raise up this earth, for the habitation of created beings. Inscrutable deity, whose eyes are like lotuses, give us felicity. O lord, thou art endowed with the quality of goodness: raise up, Govinda, this earth, for the general good. Grant us happ
iness, O lotus-eyed. May this, thy activity in creation, be beneficial to the earth. Salutation to thee. Grant us happiness, O lotus-eyed.
PARASARA: The supreme being thus eulogized, upholding the earth, raised it quickly, and placed it on the summit of the ocean, where it floats like a mighty vessel, and, from its expansive surface, does not sing beneath the waters. Then, having levelled the earth, the great eternal deity divided it into portions, by mountains. He who never wills in vain created, by his irresistible power, those mountains again upon the earth, which had been consumed at the destruction of the world. Having then divided the earth into seven great portions or continents, as it was before, he constructed, in like manner, the four (lower) spheres, earth, sky, heaven, and the sphere of the sages (Maharloka). Thus Heri, the four-faced god, invested with the quality of activity, and taking the form of Brahma, accomplished the creation. But he (Brahma) is only the instrumental cause of things to be created; the things that are capable of being created arise from nature as a common material cause. With exception of one instrumental cause alone, there is no need of any other cause; for (imperceptible) substance becomes perceptible substance according to the powers with which it is originally imbued.
—H.H. Wilson. The Vishnu Purana. Vol. 1. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1864, pp. 55–57.
A JAIN MYTH
Jinasena: There Is No Creator A very ancient tradition, Jainism was refounded by Mahavira (“the great hero”) in the latter half of the sixth century B.C. Mahavira was considered by his followers to be the twenty-fourth in a series of Tirthamkaras (“one who makes a ford” across the river of existence). Parsva, the twenty-third Tirthamkara, probably lived in the ninth or eight century B.C., but there is doubt as to the historicity of his twenty-two predecessors.
Primal Myths Page 28
