HINDU COSMOLOGY
BRIEF BACKGROUND
OF HINDUISM
HINDUISM
The Oldest religion in the world.
There is no known historical figure credited to be its founder.
Aryans brought to India the tenets of Hinduism after they invaded Indus valley civilization.
The term Hindu is derived from the name of River Indus, which flows through northern India.
Hinduism is henotheistic. (belief in one god, without denying the existence of other gods in the form of
deities)
Believe in the doctrines of samsara (the continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation) and karma
(the universal law of cause and effect).
Atman – belief in soul.
STAGES IN THE EVOLUTION OF HINDUISM
1500-1200 BCE: The earliest Vedas, the oldest of all written scriptures are compiled.
1200-900 BCE: The early Vedic period, during which the main tenets of Hinduism were developed. The
earliest Upanishads were written about 1200 BCE.
500 BCE-1000 CE: The Puranas were written during this time giving rise to the concepts of deities such as
the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and their female forms or Devis. The germ of the great epics of the
Ramayana & Mahabharata started to form during this time.
2nd century CE: Composition of the Ramayana and Mahabharata completed.
- 4th century CE up to the present: Contemporary Hindu Cosmology emerged.
Hindu beliefs about the universe are shown through an important text called the Rig Veda. This text
suggests that the universe is very old but that it is not entirely clear where it came from or when it
began. Hindus believe that there are many universes floating around in space, but there are many
different ideas about how the world was created.
We will focus on 4 major frames for Hindu cosmology: the Vedic, Upaniṣadic, Purāṇic, and contemporary
Hindu cosmology. Although through the millennia Hindu thinkers have dramatically redrawn notions of
time, space, and person, they also share a wealth of common imagery: the central idea of a cycle, and
the divisions of space into particular realms and spheres. Each new cosmology does not completely
replace the old but stands alongside of it as yet another cosmological option.
COSMOLOGY OF HINDUISM
COSMOLOGY – is a three-fold study of the creation of the universe, its destruction, and its recreation.
The Hindus, especially the ‘Puranic thinkers’ were aware of the cyclic movement in nature.
VEDIC COSMOLOGY
Vedas are texts that existed before the idea of “Hinduism” per se emerged as a world religion. These
texts were almost entirely oral, guarded by the priestly Brahmanic tradition as the basic supporting texts
of the sacrifice.
Veda is derived from the root of Sanskrit word ‘vid, which means ‘to know’, ‘to obtain’, to consider, feel
or tell’.
The Vedic philosophers were firm believers in the theory of causality. If everything has a cause, then,
‘Who hath beheld him as he sprang to being, seen how the boneless One supports the bony? Where is
the blood of earth, the life, the spirit?’
The Vedic seers viewed creation not as a new beginning, but as an arrangement and organization of all
that lay in chaos. To bring harmony into the disorganized morass is Creation.
The pre-Creation state is described in the ‘Rigveda’ thus:
“There was neither non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of
air, no sky beyond it.… no sign was there, the day’s and night’s divider.
…Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this all was
undiscriminated chaos. All that existed then was void and formless.”
To bring order and harmony to the chaotic mass was the task of Prajapati, ‘the Sole God, producing
earth and heaven, the great Creator … [who] formed in order Heaven and Earth, the regions of the air,
and light’.
It seems highly significant that a similar undefined pre-Creation state of the universe is described in the
Rig Veda:
“What was the germ primeval which the waters received where all the Gods were seen
together? The waters, they received that germ primeval wherein the Gods were gathered all together. It
rested set upon the Unborn’s navel, that One wherein abide all things existing.”
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The Creator, arose from the great waters and by his power and energy germinated the egg containing
the world matter, thus setting in motion the process of Creation. From this standpoint, Creation was not
a new beginning but a rearrangement, setting things in a proper order.
The Vedic philosophers found a unique way to relate the Creator and the created. Creation is actually
the manifestation of the Purusha, the first cause, in all things living and non-living. How did he do it? By
becoming the object of sacrifice:
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“This Purusa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be …
So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than this is Purusa.
All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven.
With three-fourths, Purusa went up: one-fourth of him again was here.
Thence he strode out to every side over what eats not and what eats.
From him Virāj was born; again Purusa from Virāj was born.
As soon as he was born he spread eastward and westward o’er the earth.
When Gods prepared the sacrifice with Purusa as their offering, …
They balmed as victim on the grass Purusa born in earliest time.”
- A hymn called ‘Purusha Sukta’
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We see such transformation everywhere in nature: when the flower unfolds, the bud disappears, and
the egg breaks to make way for the chick. Likewise, in the process of Creation, ‘Ye will not find him who
produced these creatures: another thing hath risen up among you.’
“The Purusha permeates the whole of nature:
The moon was gendered from his mind, and
from his eye the Sun had birth;
Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and
Vāyu from his breath.”
The world vibrates with his presence. The Creator secures steadfast all that is, by his law. He remains
beyond all change. This Being who is past, present, and future (what has been and what shall be) the
Upanishads termed Brahman.
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UPANISHADIC COSMOLOGY
While the activity of sacrifice is still presumed in the period of composition of the Upanishadic texts, the
object of sacrificial knowledge is no longer the actual procedures of the sacrifice or the gods per se but a
new force called Brahman. Brahman is thought of as the power behind the sacrifice, and as the
Upanisadic thought developed, it was described as the power behind every living thing and every
element in the universe. The main essence of Upanishadic Concept of Cosmos is the Brahman. He is the
creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe or Cosmos. He is the supreme soul, the ultimate reality.
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Brahman willed, ‘I shall multiply and be born.’ For this, the Lord of all creatures, produced two
instrumental causes, matter and life, with the intention that they would multiply in manifold ways.
The Upanishad explains the origin of all beings: ‘That in truth out of which these creatures arise,
whereby they, having arisen live, and into which they at death return again, that seek thou to know, that
is Brahman.
Again, the simile of a cosmic ‘egg’, which ‘hatches’ the universe, is used to describe the process of
creation.
According to Upanishad nothing is eternal. Whatever is created in time cannot be eternal. Same goes for
the Universe also. It’s being created in some cosmic era, so it will also have an end to it. This is a cyclic
order of natural events. All beings are taken back by Brahman at the end of cycle to be started all over
again.
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Upanishads are the concluding portions of Vedas, therefore called Vedanta.
The term ‘upanishad’ has 3 parts: upa, ni, shad.
Upa = nearby
Ni=devotedly
Shad = to sit
Therefore upanishad means “to sit devotedly near the Guru, by acquiring knowledge about the ultimate
reality to destroy ignorance and get freedom from worldly bondage.”
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PURANIC COSMOLOGY
Puranic cosmology that follows description of the cycle of creation-dissolution-recreation is note-
worthy: it is here that the Puranas rise to the level of intellectual discourse. Creation is a vibration within
the root cause which results in the sprouting forth of this world. As in the Vedas, the Puranas also refer
to a ‘golden egg’, or ‘cosmic egg’, from which the universe emerges.
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Since Creation is evolution—a change of form, a manifestation of that which lay nascent—it must have
been contained within something like a womb. What could that be? A projection of Brahman? Another
question associated with this creative activity is, ‘Why did he create?’ Addressing the second question,
the Brahmanda Purana observes, ‘With a desire to create he who is beyond measures, creates the great
Creation’. Desire is accounted as the motive force. It is through desire that we strive to achieve. This
psychological element in Puranic cosmology seems significant and adds a distinct favor to the Puranas,
bringing them in line with the Upanishads.
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The Brahmanda Purana describes the cosmic egg, the anda: These seven worlds are well established in
this cosmic egg; the whole earth along with the seven continents, the seven oceans, the great
mountains and thousands of rivers are established in the very same cosmic egg. These worlds are
situated within (the cosmic egg). This universe is within the cosmos. Everything is established in that
cosmic egg: the moon and the sun along with the stars, planets and the wind as well as the mountains.
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The mechanism of creation has been elaborated in the Brahmanda Purana as some sort of activity or
movement which stirs the gunas (property, quaity or principle) from their dormant state. The gunas lose
their equilibrium and the cycle restarts.
Time (kāla) plays a significant role in creation and destruction. Time is eternal: ‘The deity as Time is
without beginning, and his end is not known; and from him the revolutions of creation, continuance and
dissolution unintermittingly succeed.
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CONTEMPORARY HINDU COSMOLOGY
PRESENTATION OF THE DIVINE
The Upanishads are one of the holy scriptures of Hinduism and are seen as a source of wisdom and
authority. The text shows that, although there are many deities, all with different characteristics
representing different parts of Brahman, there is just one true ultimate God, the Divine.
Hindus believe that Brahman is the one true ultimate being. However, they also believe that there are
many deities. These deities are different aspects of Brahman and each one shows Hindus a part of what
Brahman is like.
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The concept of TRIMURTI, the triad of the three deities or forms of BRAHMAN: Brahma, Vishnu and
Shiva was known at least by the time of Kalidasa’s poem Kumarasambhava (‘Birth of the War’ god; c.4th-
5th century CE)
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Brahma is the creator god who works with Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva to maintain an unending cycle of
universes. All three are aspects of Brahman.
Time is not a straight line. Instead there are eternal cycles with universes being created, existing and
dying, followed by recreation, existence and death. There is no beginning and no end. This is mirrored in
the belief in reincarnation.
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Brahma the creator
Images, or murtis, of Brahma have four heads, seeing in all directions at once and symbolising the four
Vedas. Brahma’s four arms carry symbols of power – a goblet, a bow, a sceptre and the Vedas. In Hindu
creation stories, Brahma brings the universe into being. Brahma is not worshipped by many Hindus
today, in comparison to the other two murtis.
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Vishnu the preserver
Murtis of Vishnu express splendour and power. His four arms carry symbols of power – a discus, a lotus
flower, a conch shell and a mace. Vishnu, god of light and enlightenment, has appeared on Earth
through avataras. Vishnu (and his avataras, including Krishna) are worshipped by many millions of
Hindus today.
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Shiva the destroyer
Murtis of Shiva vary. He is often pictured dancing and with four arms. He holds a drum and a flame, and
he points to his dancing feet with one hand and holds in the other hand a pen, meaning ‘fear not’. His
necklace of cobra snakes is another sign of power. Shiva is worshipped by many millions of Hindus
today.
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CREATION STORY
For Hindus the universe was created by Brahma, the creator who made the universe out of himself.
After Brahma created the world, it is the power of Vishnu which preserves the world and human beings.
As part of the cycle of birth, life and death it is Shiva who will ultimately destroy the universe. This is not
necessarily as bad as it might sound because it allows Brahma to start the process of creation all over
again.
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References
1. Hindu cosmology
http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Overview_of_Cosmology_in_the_Scriptures
2. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religions
(https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zbbdnrd)
3. The Heart of Hinduism textbook
(https://iskconeducationalservices.org/HoH/concepts/core_x0002_values/)
4. History of Hinduism, BBC. Hinduism Fast Facts, CNN.
(https://www.history.com/topics/religion/hinduism)
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GROUP 1
ADAN, KEVIN
ADOLFO, LENNARD KIER
AMAR, JOEY ALBERT
ATILLO, GABRIELLE
BARNAYJA, JEREMY
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