Vedic Worldview

The main problems and categories of the Vedic worldview

The Origins of the World (Geo-Cosmogonies)

Before addressing the question of the world's origins, let us briefly outline the methodological foundations of this exploration. We will approach this issue from the standpoint of Vedic cosmology as a religious-mythological worldview. Mythology, as a form of early worldview emerging in tribal societies, naturally places a primary focus on the origins of the universe. Just as the origins of one's lineage are of paramount importance to a tribal individual, they likewise extend these inquiries to the origins of the world around them.

Mythology attributes divine qualities to all things (theomorphism), perceives nature as living (hylozoism), and animates it (pananimism). Consequently, the origin of the world is often portrayed in terms akin to the birth of a living organism, a concept philosophers often refer to as the biomorphic model of cosmogony. Given that the "parents" of the world are frequently gods, this form of creation may be termed "theo-cosmogony."

We will consider cosmogonic notions in the order corresponding to the evolution of divine images, which are accepted as cosmic principles and the progenitors of the world. According to scholars of mythology, early mythological consciousness conceived of gods in vague, indefinite, and abstract forms. Over time, these divine figures became more concrete, first taking the shapes of animals (zoomorphism), and eventually, human forms (anthropomorphism).

In keeping with tradition, we begin with the cosmogonic narrative presented in the Rigveda. Here, the primary reality is an indefinite and mysterious principle of being—the One, apart from which nothing else existed: neither being (sat) nor non-being (asat), neither space nor sky, neither day nor night. This One is described as a living entity: it "breathed" and "was born of the power of heat" (tapas). Since tapas is typically understood as a life force (heat or warmth) that arises from the tension of physical or spiritual energies (desire, aspiration) within a living being, we may infer that the One was self-born. From it, perhaps, the cosmos itself emerged—though this is left to speculation. The gods seemingly arose in the process of the world's creation. It should be noted that this cosmogonic account in the Rigveda is presented in fragments, suffused with a tone of skepticism, and resists straightforward interpretation.

Similar cosmogonic concepts involving an indefinite principle of being are found in the Brahmanas, where the world is said to arise from non-being. For example, in the Shatapatha Brahmana, "Indeed, in the beginning, [all] this was non-being." However, even this abstract principle is endowed with the attributes of a living entity, capable of reproduction. This interpretation is supported by the account in the Taittiriya Brahmana, where non-being (asat) lay dormant and subjected itself to tapas (self-mortification); from this tapas arose smoke, fire, light, flame, mists, which condensed into clouds, from which the primordial ocean came forth. These characteristics of non-being as the source of creation suggest that "asat" represents an undefined reality, perhaps the primeval matter of nature (aditi—"unbound, unlimited, infinite"). This interpretation is endorsed by philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who sees the origin of the world as a transition from non-being (asat) and the indefinite (aditi) to being (sat) and the definite (diti—the bound and finite).

The Brahmanas also offer other cosmogonic accounts, introducing more concrete origins. Following the line of tapas (heat), the first element to consider is fire. In the Aitareya Brahmana, fire is declared the primary cause of existence: all things emerge from fire and ultimately dissolve back into it. Another primary element is water, as described in the Shatapatha Brahmana: "In the beginning, there was nothing but water... The waters desired to reproduce. They subjected themselves to asceticism and then... the Golden Embryo appeared," or the "golden egg." Here we see the concretization of the general biomorphic model of world origin by introducing an intermediate zoomorphic element—an embryo or egg. This version of cosmogony later appears in the Upanishads, for example in the Chandogya Upanishad, where the world is said to be born from an egg that split apart. The silver half of the shell became the earth, the golden half became the sky, and various parts of the egg gave rise to mountains, rivers, seas, and all living beings.

Next, we turn to cosmogonic versions rooted in anthropomorphic principles. In accordance with the progression of mythological thought from individual human elements to the human being as a whole, we begin with the notion that the world originates from thought. The Shatapatha Brahmana states, "In the beginning, it was neither non-being nor being. In the beginning, it was only thought." Within the framework of the biomorphic model of cosmogony, thought appears as a living entity, engaging in tapas to assume a more defined form.

Finally, the originator of the world is depicted as a complete human being in the form of an anthropomorphic deity, most notably Prajapati. Initially, Prajapati serves as a mediator in the creation of the world, emerging from water, an egg, or thought, and subsequently bringing the world into being, creating the earth, sky, gods, day, and night from his speech. Yet, he also functions as an autonomous creator-person. According to one cosmogonic myth from the Shatapatha Brahmana, "In the beginning, there was only Prajapati." He decided to "continue himself"—that is, to give birth—by engaging in asceticism and self-mortification. Through this process, he created fire and food for it—plants on the earth. He produced living beings from his vital organs: man from his thought, horse from his eye, cow from his breath, and so on.

In conclusion, Vedic literature contains traces of a religious cosmogony, in which the universe is not born from an impersonal principle or deity, nor does it emanate from one, but is brought into being through the actions of a creator god who transforms primordial material. This marks the emergence of a technomorphic model of cosmogony, likening the cosmos to a product of craftsmanship. A notable example of this type of religious-mythological cosmogony is the creation of the world from the body of a cosmic man, Purusha, through the act of sacrifice, as described in one of the hymns of the Rigveda. From Purusha's head arose the sky, from his feet the earth, from his navel the atmosphere, from his eyes the sun; animals and humans were born from him: his mouth became the brahmin, his arms the kshatriya, and so on. In short, his body became everything that exists.

To qualify this cosmogony, we supplement the concept of "religious cosmogony" with the term "mythological," since in this case, the material for creating the cosmos is not real, physical matter but an imagined, mythical "substance." When the creation of the world involves real natural matter, we will refer to this as "religious-philosophical cosmogony." This perspective is reflected in the Rigveda when it asks, "What was the forest, and what the tree from which they carved the sky and earth?" Here we can observe the foundation of the philosophical concept of matter in Indo-European languages, where the image of a forest serves as a metaphor for building material. For instance, the Greek word hyle signifies both "forest" and "matter."

As an example of purely religious-philosophical views on creation, we may cite the Shatapatha Brahmana, in which Prajapati first creates water and then, from this primordial ocean as raw material, with some effort—he "exerted himself, subjected himself to tapas," as would be expected of a "laborer"—he fashions clay, stone, metal, plants, and covers the earth with them.