In the Beginning Puranic Cosmology

Purusha & Prakriti

The Puranas

Hiranyagarbha and the

Cosmic Egg

Carl Sagan and the

Scientific purview
In The Beginning...
One of the oldest ideations upon the origins of the universe
occurred in the Rigveda, verse 10.129. This is the introduction
to the Purusha, also known as the creative force according to
Vedic philosophy. At first there was nothing until the first
vibration sound or seed mantra that sounds like “Aum”.

The Purusha was divided part by part in order to manifest the

tangible evidences of the world as we know it. Purusha is
described to have a 1000 heads, eyes and feet, and the moon
was borne from his mind, the sun from his eye, Indra and Agni
were born from his mouth, Vayu from his breath and the soil
or earth from his feet.

Purusha permeates all being, past, present and future. It is

the sacrifice or offering of the Purusha that manifested the
existence of beings and products of the universe.
 Purusha & Prakriti
The Samkhya philosophers understand reality as a dual
toned brush. The principles of Purusha and Prakriti
signify pure Spirit and nature or matter respectively.
The Samkhya philosophers posit a transformation from
the efficient cause (Purusha) to the material cause
(Prakriti). Neither can exist without the other.

Purusha is not born or is forced into existence by any

other force and Prakriti, with its inherent inclination
towards production, also is eternal and not the result of
something else.

Purusha represents the transcendent self and Prakriti is

manifest in the triple Gunas, namely, Sattva, Rajas and
Tamas.
 Apparent Transformation
Puranic cosmology understands the theory of Apparent
Transformation where the universe goes through an eternal
cycle of creation (srishti) by Brahma, preservation (sthiti) by
Vishnu and destruction (samhara) by Maheshwar or Shiva.
Creation here is signified as evolution.

Why did Purusha create? Desire is considered the driving force

in creation, the motive.

Creation thus involves two partnered forces, ‘Hari’ or ‘Vishnu’ as

the instrumental cause, whose lotus brought forth Brahma who is
the maker of all things and beings.
Hiranyagarbha and
the Cosmic Egg
Both the Vedas and the Puranas mention the existence of
a cosmic egg that acts like a womb carrying the inherent
universe within it. Time or Kaala plays an important role
in this cycle. The moist interior and the hard, shell
exterior is suited to carry the kalpa or eon and saves the
remains of the previous one for the subsequent kalpa.

Hiranyagarbha is hunger that death or Aditi, the mother

or feminine aspect that calls for the existence of the
universe.

Through this, cosmogenesis acts as a sacrifice of the

Purusha to Death in order for the universe to exist as we
know it. Hence, Purusha is also known as the ‘unborn
one’.
“The Hindu religion is one of the world’s great
Faiths dedicated to the idea that the cosmos
itself undergoes an immense number of deaths
and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the
time skills correspond no doubt ‘by accident’ to
those of modern scientific cosmology. The
cycles run from our ordinary day and night to
a day and night of Brahma – 8.64 billion years
long. It is longer than the age of the Earth, the
Sun, and half the time since Bing Bang.”
~ Carl Sagan, American astronomer
The search for the origins of the
universe has not left us even in
the modern ages. Scientists have
analysed the tiniest of space
particles and put forth theories
abot them, such as the ‘God
particle’ and ‘Dark matter’. The
Big Bang theory is currently the
reigning theory regarding the
beginnings of the universe that
involves the rapid expansion of
a single point in space and time.
In such conversations, bits and
pieces in Hindu cosmology act as
proto scientific evidences in
human ideation about the
origins of the universe.
Thank you!
Haritha Vattolikal
A21906
IA2 Paper IV
TYBA

References:-
Primary Reading
https://keithsherwood.substack.com/p
/hindu-cosmology-made-simple
https://www.opindia.com/2020/08/a
merican-astronomer-carl-sagan-
hindu-cosmology-cosmos-universe/