Rg Veda Samhita - Three Hymns

Translation A

1.At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing.
There was not air nor yet sky beyond.
What was its wrapping? Where? In whose protection?
Was Water there, unfathomable and deep?

2.There was no death then, nor yet deathlessness;
of night or day there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath, by its own impulse.
Other than that was nothing else at all.

3.Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness,
and all was Water indiscriminate. Then
that which was hidden by the Void, that One, emerging,
stirring, through power of Ardor, came to be.

4.In the beginning Love arose,
which was the primal germ cell of the mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom,
discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing.

5.A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.
What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces,
thrust from below and forward move above.

6.Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it?
Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation?
Even the Gods came after its emergence.
Then who can tell from whence it came to be?

7.That out of which creation has arisen,
whether it held it firm or it did not,
He who surveys it in the highest heaven,
He surely knows-or maybe He does not!

Translation B (The Rig Veda 10.129 Creation Hymn)

1.There was neither non-existence nor existence then; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond. What stirred? Where? In whose protection? Was there water, bottomlessly deep?

2.There was neither death nor immortality then. There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day. That one breathed, windless, by its own impulse. Other than that there was nothing beyond.

3.Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning; with no distinguishing sign, all this was water. The life force that was covered with emptiness, that one arose through the power of heat.

4.Desire came upon that one in the beginning; that was the first seed of mind. Poets seeking in their heart with wisdom found the bond of existence in non-existence.

5.Their cord was extended across. Was there below? Was there above? There were seed-placers; there were powers. There was impulse beneath; there was giving-forth above.

6.Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen?

7.Whence this creation has arisen – perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not – the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he knows or perhaps he does not know.

Translation A

1.In the beginning arose the Golden Germ:
he was, as soon as born, the Lord of Being,
sustainer of the Earth and of this Heaven.
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

2.He who bestows life-force and hardy vigor,
whose ordinances even the Gods obey,
whose shadow is immortal life-and death-
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

3.Who by his grandeur has emerged sole sovereign
of every living thing that breathes and slumbers,
he who is Lord of man and four-legged creatures-
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

4.To him of right belong, by his own power,
the snow-clad mountains, the world-stream, and the sea.
His arms are the four quarters of the sky.
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

5.Who held secure the mighty Heavens and Earth,
who established light and sky's vast vault above,
who measured out the ether in mid-spheres-
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

6.Toward him, trembling, the embattled forces,
riveted by his glory, direct their gaze.
Through him the risen sun sheds forth its light.
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

7.When came the mighty Waters, bringing with them
the universal Germ, whence sprang the Fire,
thence leapt the God's One Spirit into being.
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

8.This One who in his might surveyed the Waters
pregnant with vital forces, producing sacrifice,
he is the God of Gods and none beside him.
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

9.O Father of the Earth, by fixed laws ruling,
O Father of the Heavens, pray protect us,
O Father of the great and shining Waters!
What God shall we adore with our oblation?

10.O Lord of creatures, Father of all beings,
you alone pervade all that has come to birth.
Grant us our heart's desire for which we pray.
May we become the lords of many treasures!

Translation B (10.121 The Unknown God, the Golden Embryo)

1.In the beginning the Golden Embryo arose. Once he was born, he was the one lord of creation. He held in place the earth and this sky. Who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

2.He who gives life, who gives strength, whose command all the gods, his own, obey; his shadow is immortality and death. Who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

3.He who by his greatness became the one king of the world that breathes and blinks, who rules over his two-footed and four-footed creatures – who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

4.He who through his power owns these snowy mountains, and the ocean together with the river Rasā, they say; who has the quarters of the sky as his two arms who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

5.He by whom the awesome sky and the earth were made firm, by whom the dome of the sky was propped up, and the sun, who measured out the middle realm of space who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

6.He to whom the two opposed masses looked with trembling in their hearts, supported by his help, on whom the rising sun shines down – who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

7.When the high waters came, pregnant with the embryo that is everything, bringing forth fire, he arose from that as the one life's breath of the gods. Who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

8.He who in his greatness looked over the waters, which were pregnant with Dakṣa, bringing forth the sacrifice, he who was the one god among all the gods – who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

9.Let him not harm us, he who fathered the earth and created the sky, whose laws are true, who created the high, shining waters. Who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

10.O Prajāpati, lord of progeny, no one but you embraces all these creatures. Grant us the desires for which we offer you oblation. Let us be lords of riches.

Translation A

1.A thousand-headed is the Man
with a thousand eyes, a thousand feet;
encompassing the Earth all sides,
he exceeded it by ten fingers' breadth.

2.The Man, indeed, is this All,
what has been and what is to be,
the Lord of the immortal spheres
which he surpasses by consuming food.

3.Such is the measure of his might,
and greater still than this is Man.
All beings are a fourth of him,
three fourths are the immortal in heaven.

4.Three fourths of Man ascended high,
one fourth took birth again down here.
From this he spread in all directions
into animate and inanimate things.

5.From him the Shining one was born;
from this Shining one Man again took birth.
As soon as born, he extended himself.
all over the Earth both behind and before.

6.Using the Man as their oblation,
the Gods performed the sacrifice.
Spring served them for the clarified butter,
Summer for the fuel, and Autumn for the offering.

7.This evolved Man, then first born,
they besprinkled on the sacred grass.
With him the Gods performed the sacrifice,
as did also the heavenly beings and seers.

8.From this sacrifice, fully accomplished,
was gathered curd mixed with butter.
Thence came the creatures of the air,
beasts of the forest and those of the village.

9.From this sacrifice, fully accomplished,
were born the hymns and the melodies;
from this were born the various meters;
from this were born the sacrificial formulas.

10.From this were horses born, all creatures
such as have teeth in either jaw;
from this were born the breeds of cattle;
from this were born sheep and goats.

11.When they divided up the Man,
into how many parts did they divide him?
What did his mouth become? What his arms?
What are his legs called? What his feet?

12.His mouth became the brahmin; his arms
became the warrior-prince, his legs
the common man who plies his trade.
The lowly serf was born from his feet.

13.The Moon was born from his mind; the Sun
came into being from his eye;
from his mouth came Indra and Agni,
while from his breath the Wind was born.

14.From his navel issued the Air;
from his head unfurled the Sky,
the Earth from his feet, from his ear the four directions.
Thus have the worlds been organized.

15.Seven were the sticks of the enclosure,
thrice seven the fuel sticks were made,
when the Gods, performing the sacrifice,
bound the Man as the victim.

16.With the sacrifice the Gods sacrificed to the sacrifice..
Those were the first established rites.
These powers ascended up to heaven
where dwell the ancient Gods and other beings.

Translation B (RgVeda 10.90 Purusha-Sukta ["The Hymn of The Person"])

1.The Person has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. It pervaded the earth on all sides and extended beyond it as far as ten fingers.

2.It is the Person who is all this, whatever has been and whatever is to be. It is the ruler of immortality, growing beyond everything through food.

3.Such is the Person's greatness, and the Person is yet more than this. All creatures are a quarter of it; three quarters are what is immortal in heaven.

4.With three quarters the Person rose upwards, and one quarter still remains here. From this, it spread out in all directions, into that which eats and that which does not eat.

5.Viraj [the "golden embryo”] was born from this Person, and from Viraj came the Person. When it was born, it ranged beyond the earth behind and before.

6.When the gods spread the sacrifice with the Person as the offering, spring was the clarified butter, summer the fuel, autumn the oblation.

7.They anointed the Person, the sacrifice born at the beginning, upon the sacred grass. With the Person, the gods, Sadhyas, and sages sacrificed.

8.From that sacrifice in which everything was offered, the melted fat was collected, and the Person made it into those beasts who live in the air, in the forest, and in villages.

9.From that sacrifice in which everything was offered, the verses and chants were born, the meters were born from it, and from it the mantras were born.

10.Horses were born from it, and those other animals that have two rows of teeth; cows were born from it, and from it goats and sheep were born.

11.When they divided the Person, into how many parts did they apportion it? What do they call its mouth, its two arms and thighs and feet?

12.Its mouth became the Brahmin [priests/scholars]; its arms were made into the Warriors, its thighs the Merchants/craftsmen, and from its feet the Servants were born.

13.The moon was born from its mind; from its eye the sun was born. Indra [God] and Agni [Fire] came from its mouth, and from its vital breath the Wind was born.

14.From its navel the middle realm of space arose; from its head the sky evolved. From its two feet came the earth, and the quarters of the sky from its ear. Thus, they set the worlds in order.

15.There were seven enclosing-sticks for it, and thrice seven fuel-sticks, when the gods, spreading the sacrifice, bound the Person as the sacrificial beast.

16.With the sacrifice, the gods sacrificed to the sacrifice. These were the first ritual laws [Dharmas]. These very powers reached the dome of the sky where dwell the Sadhyas, the ancient gods.