The Father of the eye— for wise of mind is He—
Created these two [a] like sacrificial ghee, [b]
And they bowed to him [in worship].
Not till the ancient [c] boundaries were firmly fixed
Were heaven and earth extended.
2 Maker of All, exceedingly wise, exceedingly strong,
Disposer, [d] Ordainer, [e] highest Exemplar: [f]
Their sacrifices [g] exult in nourishment
From there, where they say the One is— beyond the Seven Seers. [h]
3 He is our father, He created us,
The Ordainer: [All] dwellings He knows,
All worlds [He knows]: the Spirit He named,
[Himself] One only: [All] other beings go to question Him.
4 Now as [our] singers [give] of their abundance,
So did the ancient seers [i] together offer Him wealth:
After the sunless and the sunlit spaces
Had been set down, together they made these beings.
5 Beyond the heavens, beyond this earth,
Beyond the Spirit, beyond the demons, [j]
What was the first embryo the waters bore,
To which God alone witnessed?
6 He [k] was the first embryo the waters bore
In Him all creation came together,
The One implanted in the Unborn’s navel [l]
In which all the worlds reside.
7 You will not find Him who fathered [all] these:
Some other thing has stepped between you.
Blinded by fog and [ritual] mutterings
[So do they] wander, the hymn-reciters, robbers of life!
Footnotes
a. Or, 'heaven and earth'
b. Ghee is a form of highly-clarified butter used in Asian cooking. Like butter, ghee is typically made from cow's milk. It is made from fresh butter that is melted and simmered to get a clear golden liquid. The butter separates into liquid fats and milk solids.
c. Or, ‘eastern’
d. Or, ‘Creator’
e. Designator of Holy Orders
f. samdrs. Sanskrit. the concentrated form of eternity, knowledge, bliss
g. i.e. ‘wishes’ or 'prayers'
h. Refers to the Ursa Major constellation of the northern sky, also called the Great Bear or Big Dipper.
i. the constellations, including Ursa Major
j. Asuras are power-seeking deities in constant battle with the benevolent deities known as devas. The angels (devas), demons (asuras), and humans are considered children of God (Brahma), as they were all created by God. He provided them with the same knowledge. However, because of difference in understanding, attitude and thinking, each understand the same truth in different ways and through different lenses.
k. Visvakarman; divine architect and creator of the world.
l. (symbolic) inside the heart, or (literal) the central source of nutrients for developing embryo
Hindu Scriptures
Hindu Scriptures / translated from Sanskrit by R. C. Zaehner, copyright © 1966 J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Comments