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Nasadiya Sukta - A Probe Into Its Depth1
Nasadiya Sukta - A Probe Into Its Depth1
Nobody knows for sure how ancient the Ṛgveda Samhita is.
Researchers and scholars fix its oldness at 2000 to 1000 BCE. This is merely
a conjecture without definite substantiation. Evenif this figure is accepted as
true, it is an indication of the ancientness of Indian civilization; for, such
esoteric compilations and such maturity of language could not have
happened all of a sudden. Thousands of years must have been taken to reach
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such a level of greatness in thought and maturity in language. It is an
indisputable fact that the Indian philosophy is the oldest one; at the same time
it is the most modern one since it is still alive with irrefutable speculative
discoveries and pronouncements. Its unique fathomless depth has so far
been neither explored exhaustively nor matched by any other system of
philosophy.
Word Meaning: na- not; asat- ASAT; āsīt- existed; no- not; sat- SAT;
tadanīṃ- then, at that time, in the beginning; nāsīt – na āsīt; rajas- air,
space between earth and heaven; vyoman – sky, heaven, space; para-
beyond; kim- what; āvarītṛ– one who veils or covers; kuha – where?; kasya-
whose; śarman – protection, safety, shelter; ambhaḥ- water; rahas –
mystery; gabhīra – inscrutable.
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Mantra Meaning: At that time (in the beginning) there was no ASAT; there
was no SAT either; no air, nor any space beyond. Which veiled all these?
And where? Under whose shelter was water? Which was that inscrutable,
mysterious one?
While in this mantra the Sage raised some questions about the
existence of a mysterious ultimate entity, in the next mantra he comes up with
definite answers. Let us examine the second mantra.
Word Meaning: na- not; mṛtyuḥ- death, mortality; āsīt- existed; amṛtaṃ-
immortality; tarhi- then, at that time; rātryā- with or by night; ahna- by day;
praketaḥ- knowledge, perception, sight; ānīta – brought, taken; vātaṃ- air,
the sustaining energy; svadhayā – spontaneously, according to one’s habit
or pleasure, on one’s own volition; tat- that; ekaṃ- one; tasmāddhānyanna -
tasmāt + ha + anyat + na – nothing other than it (than Him); paraḥ- other,
great, high, superior, beyond; kiṃcana – whatever; āsa- existed, was there.
Mantra Meaning: Mortality and immortality were not there at that time.
There was no distinction like day and night. Only He alone existed who
sustained by own sustaining energy. Nobody existed other than Him.
The verse says that nothing could be differentiated at that time; the
duality of mortality and immortality was also not there. It is well known that
the ultimate entity is immortal. But, this feature of immortality is
distinguishable only when there exists mortality also. The original state was
however without any such differentiation, implying that only the absolute
whole existed in the beginning which was beyond all dual attributes. Without
duality, nothing can be known. We become conscious of night, because there
is day also. In the beginning, that which existed was beyond such differential
consciousness; it was the ultimate and nothing existed other than it or beyond
it.
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The original state of existence is further described in the next mantra
and it is followed by a mention of how the physical manifestation was initiated.
The mantra may be seen below:
The only existing One mentioned here is Ātmā. His power for physical
manifestation is Prakṛti which He invokes for projecting the physical world
periodically. Darkness here indicates absence of physical phenomena.
Everything was in an undifferentiated state, fully absorbed in Ātmā. By
invoking Prakṛti, Ātmā unleashes all that has thus far been in His hold. This
marks the beginning of the world. With Prakṛti invoked, Ātmā is known as
Puruṣa. Therefore, Puruṣa is the One who was projected at first by Ātmā.
Mantra Meaning: That which existed there in the inner hold of Ātmā as the
initial (original) seed of physical manifestation emerged as Kāma; the
Sages, having experienced in their Heart through intellect, regarded this to
be the connection of SAT on ASAT.
Together with Puruṣa, the original seed of physical expression was also
released as Kāma. This seed had been existing as fully absorbed within
Ātmā. Kāma occurs only when there is something other than oneself. Here,
apart from Puruṣa, there is Prakṛti also. Puruṣa is SAT (स ् ) and Prakṛti is
ASAT (अस ् ). That is why it is said in the mantra that Kāma is a connection
of SAT on ASAT. Sages were aware of this fact. SAT is that which has no
state of non-existence (Gīta 2.16). That means, it is existence abstracted or
pure existence. On the other hand, ASAT is that which has no state of
existence. It cannot exist on its own. ASAT gets a relative existence when it
is supported by SAT. The product of this union is neither SAT nor ASAT; it is
said to be inexplicable (अषनवमचनीय - anirvacanīya).
Now, having initiated the projection of the universe, the next step is the
expansion of the available material outwards in all directions. This process is
explained in the next mantra.
With this mantra, the explication of cosmogony is over. Now, in the next
two mantras a speculation is made upon who can cognise the knowledge
about this projection and how.
Word Meaning: kaḥ- who; addhā- truly, certainly, for sure; veda- knows;
iha- here; pravocat- declare; kutaḥ- from where; ājātā- born, originated;
iyaṃ- this; visṛṣṭiḥ- creation;
arvāk- after; devāḥ- Devas, gods; asya- its (of the creation); visarjanena- of
the projection; atha ā - therefore; yataḥ- from where; ābabhūva- came to be.
Mantra Meaning: Who knows with certainty and who can here declare
where all these creations came from. Even gods are later than the emission
of all this and therefore who knows whence all this occurred. (Note: It may
be noted that Devas are all creations of Ātmā – see verses 2.1.20, 2.4.6 of
Bṛhadāraṇyaka and other Upaniṣads).
Word Meaning: iyaṃ- this; visṛṣṭiḥ- creation; yataḥ- from where; ābabhūva-
came into being; yadi vā - whether … or; dadhe- held, projected; na- not;
yaḥ- whoever; asya- its (of the creation); adhyakṣaḥ- presiding entity,
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controller, master; parame vyoman – supreme, ultimate space; saḥ- he;
aṅga- indeed, verily; veda- knows.
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