Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/113

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
HYMNS OF CREATION
79

this; he is incomprehensible to your mind. People make guesses, being shrouded in a mist; they take their food for the support of their life and utter hymns and wander about."

This sublime hymn teaches us in unmistakable words that the different Vedic gods are but different names of the one incomprehensible Deity. We quote another such hymn:—

"At that time what is, was not, and what is not, was not. The earth was not, and the far-stretching sky was not. What was there that covered? Which place was assigned to what object? Did the inviolate and deep water exist?

" At that time death was not, nor immortality; the distinction between day and night was not. There was only One who lived and breathed without the help of air, supported by himself. Nothing was, excepting Him.

"At first darkness was covered in darkness. All was without demarcation; all was of watery form. The world that was a void was covered by what did not exist and was produced by meditation.

"Desire arose in the mind, the cause of creation was thus produced. Wise men reflect and in their wisdom ascertain the birth of what is from what is not.

"Males with generating seed were produced, and powers were also produced. Their rays extended on both sides and below and above, a self-supporting principle beneath, an energy aloft.

"Who knows truly? Who will describe? When