82 
THE COSMOGONY 
man {purusha) came into existence, who was Prajapati. He 
divided this golden egg. There was then no resting place 
for him. He therefore floated about for the space of a year, 
occupying this golden egg. In a year he desired to speak. 
He uttered bhuh, which became this earth ; hhuvah, which 
became this firmament ; and svah, which became that sky " 
(Muir's Sans. Texts, Vol. IV, p. 21). 
In this account, probably, the author of the primeval 
waters is overlooked rather than denied. For certain it is 
that this materialistic doctrine was never popular in India. 
Hindus of the vedic age believed either in creation from 
nothing by the exertion of divine power, or in creation from 
chaos after the birth of the creator from the "golden embryo," 
or in creation as a phenomenal emanation ; and post-vedic 
cosmogonies combine the two first, with the exception of the 
Vedanta which adopts the last. 
According to Manu, the Harivamsa, and the Puranas, the 
Deity was prior to chaos ; he created the primeval waters 
by a thought, and deposited a seed in them which became a 
golden egg, resplendent as the sun, in which he himself was 
born as Brahma, the progenitor of all worlds (5) 
" This universe was enveloped in darkness, imperceived, 
undistinguishable, undiscemible, unknowable, as it were 
entirely sunk in sleep. (6) Then the irresistible self-existent 
lord, undiscerned, causing this universe "with the five elements 
and all other things to become discernible, was manifested 
dispelling the gloom. (7) He who is beyond the cognizance 
of the senses, subtle, undiscernible, eternal, who is the essence 
of all beings, and inconceivable, himself shone foi-th. (8) 
He desiring to produce various creatm-es from his own body, 
first with a thought created the waters, and deposited in 
them a seed. (9) This (seed) became a golden egg, resplendent 
as the sun, in which he himself was born as Brahma, the 
progenitor of all the worlds. (10) The waters are called nam, 
because they are the offspring of JS'ara ; and since they were 
