The end of the hymn of creation, and the reason it is so often quoted: the oldest surviving Indian scripture closes its account of the origin of things by doubting whether even the highest god knows how it happened. The gods, it says plainly, came after the world.
Facts
Passage
TextWho verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation? The Gods are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being? He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it, Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not. 1 Reference Scheme Translation
TranslationThe Hymns of the Rigveda 1 Connections
Concerns
The hymn ends by saying the answer may not be knowable at all.
Passage Of
Source The Hymns of the Rigveda, translated with a popular commentaryRalph T. H. Griffith
Sources
1. The Hymns of the Rigveda, translated with a popular commentary
Ralph T. H. Griffith, E. J. Lazarus / Internet Sacred Text Archive, 1896Rig Veda 10.129.6-7View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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