4^th July 2021 –

हिरण्यगर्भः समवर्तताग्रे भूतस्य जातः पतिरेक आसीत् |
स दाधार पृथिवीं द्यामुतेमां कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ||

Hiranyagarbha samavartatgre bhutasya jatah patrirek asit |

Sa dadhara prithivim dhyamutemam kasmai devaya havisha vidhema ||

Meaning

O God, you are the source of the Eternal Light of the universe. You are the supreme master of the universe. You uphold this celestial cosmos. You were there before the creation of this universe and will remain there even after this universe ceases to exist. Whom else beside You, the embodiment of comforts and master of divine qualities, can we offer our devotion.

Contemplation/Idea

In this mantra, God is described as Hiranya-Garbah. Hiranya means full of knowledge and garbah means womb. It means the primordial substance of creation the innermost of which is resplendent like gold. It has many other meanings.

1. It means one who dwells in the womb of the universe
2. According to scientists, the creation took its birth from Nebula. In the Vedas, this Nebula is described as Hiranya-Garbah.
3. The ‘golden universe’ is an idiom in Sanskrit where gold means objects of fulfillment and joy. One who dwells in them is Hiranya-Garbah.
4. It also means, He, having become first the creator, has come to be considered as the womb of all objects.

Kapila Rishi, in his Sankhya Karika explicitly explains the origin of the universe. It is not possible for me to explain the Vedic theory of creation or evolution in detail here. However, I shall try to summarize it. It is worth noting that majority of astronomers and scientists believe in the Vedic theory. According to Vedic doctrine of Trinity, God, Soul and Prakriti (matter) are eternal. Prakriti means an unmanifested state of matter in which all the five elements – Earth, Water, Air and Ether are in perfect equilibrium and Rajasic, Tamsic and Saatvic attributes (gunas) are in equal proportion. Initially, Prakriti – the primordial elementary matter was inert and was in most attenuated (suksham) state. God, with His immense power changed Prakriti into Vikriti (The Big Bang Theory).

Dr. Ravi Srivastava is retired professor in Astrophysics from University of Toronto and purohit at Arya Samaj Missisaauga.