Creation Hymn

Popular name for a hymn in the Rg Veda
(10.129), which is one of the most
unusual hymns in the Vedas. The four
Vedas are the oldest Hindu religious
texts, and based on its style and content,
the Rg Veda is the oldest of these. Most
of the hymns in the Rg Veda are invocations addressed to various divinities.
These hymns are sung to invoke and
propitiate these divinities so that
human beings may enjoy the good
things in life. In marked contrast to the
confidence and optimism found in the
earlier hymns, the Creation Hymn takes
a far more speculative tone. In the
Creation Hymn, the poet begins by
imagining a time before the existence of
Being and Nonbeing, and he speculates
on the origin of the world. In the end the
poet ascribes all creation to a single
impersonal agent, “That One” (Tad
159
Creation Hymn
Ekam). However, the poem concludes
with the thought that even That One
may not know the secrets of the cosmos.
In its speculative tone and its admission
that the ultimate answer may be
unknown, it foreshadows the final
stratum of the Vedic literature,
the Upanishads.