Hiranyagarbha: The Golden Embryo of Creation

In Vedic Cosmology the Hiranyagarbha is the source that all creation emanated from. In the formless, darkness of the Universe before creation, God created the Hiranyagarbha in the primordial waters. Out of this golden embryo all of creation emanated.

Hiranyagarbha means “golden embryo” or “golden womb”, and is the Vedic tradition of the cosmic eff out of which the universe is born. Within the scriptures of Vedic Religion and Hinduism there are a number of varying traditions of this process, thus no singular version of the story exists.

The Tale of Creation

According to the Vedic account of creation, first there was the Mahāprālaya — the great dissolution of the material universe — which left nothing but darkness everywhere. Anywhere you looked, there was nothing. No light. No motion. Nothing existed. There was only darkness.

In that darkness a being called Svayambhu emerged. He was a self-created being, manifesting himself in the formless void, whose nature of existence lay beyond what the senses could perceive.

Svayambhu first created the primordial waters, and on those waters, he placed the seed of creation. In time the seed evolved into the Hiranyagarbha, the golden womb, and Svayambhu entered into that womb.

In the Vedas

Elsewhere in the Rigveda Prajapati is described as Hiranyagarbha (golden embryo) that was born from waters that contain everything, which produced Prajapati. (10.121, Rigveda)

After the Hiranyagarbha (golden embryo) was formed in the primordial waters, the Hiranyagarbha sukta further explains that it split into two halves. One part becoming the sky, the other, the sun. [2] Out of itself the Hiranyagarbha produced Prajapati, then manas (mind), kama (desire), and tapas (heat) were created. [1]

The Vedic account of creation that I gave above in the Tale of Creation section, is the version told in the Matsya Purāṇa. [2]

The concept of the Hiranyagharbha (“golden womb”) out of which the universe is born was first mentioned in the Vishvakarma Sūkta. (RV 10.82.5,6) In the Vishvakarma Sukta (which came chronologically before the Hiranyagarbha Sukta that I mentioned above, found in RV 10.121) the “golden womb” was seen as resting on the navel of Vishvakarma.

In later Hinduism, this imagery shifted, with Vishvakarma being replaced by Vishnu and Surya. [2]

In The Unpanishads

The Upanishads call the golden womb Brahman — the Soul of the Universe, as well as the Supreme Intelligence.

Connection Between the Hiranyagarbha and Other Ancient Religions

The idea of the “Golden Embryo” or “Golden Womb” as it exists in Vedic traditions, is a version of the widespread Cosmic Egg motif found in a large number of Ancient Religions, Indo-European and otherwise.

The most logical conclusion of the widespread existence of this theme, is that there is a common source that connects a number of these traditions. We see the similarities between Vedic and Norse tradition, between Norse and Ancient Greek Religions, between Vedic and Zoroastrian, and between all of these and ancient Sumerian religion.

The Cosmic Egg motif also exists in Ancient Egyptian Religion, out of which the first and highest god is born: Ptah in the most ancient iteration, but later Amun, Ra, and Amun-Ra are all born of the Cosmic Egg. In ancient China, the cosmic egg is Pengu.

So the question is, is there a common source for these traditions, a connection between these religions deep in antiquity?

Interpretation of the Hiranyagarhba

One of the most curious situations that I have come across in studied the myths and legends of the ancient religions of the world, is the fact that many of these cosmogenic myths — those dealing with the creation of the universe and the world — often are surprisingly similar to the accounts given by modern science.

This is especially true of Sumerian and Ancient Egyptian versions of this myth, and the Vedic shares many similarities also. Stars are born of stellar nebula, giant space clouds which collapse under their own weight into a cosmic ball of hydrogen and helium — very similar to the cosmic egg. With enough density, thermonuclear fusion is ignited in the core, and a star is born. Light radiates into the Universe, and the solar wind blows.

In this Vedic tradition, out of the golden embryo Hiranyagarbha it is said that the Sun and the sky are born. It is hard not to see the similarities in this process.

Notes

Resources

1. Wikipedia Contributors. Prajapati. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajapati>. Accessed 09 June 2024.
2. Wikipedia Contributors. Hiranyagharbha. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranyagarbha>. Accessed 11 Dec 2024.