Rig Veda: Creation

Rig Veda: Creation is a timeless piece of literature that looked to raise unanswered questions, the first of which answers the question on how the universe was created. The author suggests that no one existed before the world was created so we have no insight on how it was created. This is explained in the first verse “There was neither non-existence nor existence then; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond” (Creation Hymn 1) This hymn raises many legitimate questions about the beginning of life’s greatest questions. The authors tone is complex having expanded very subjective questions why also being very creative and still being concise. The tone is very thought provoking and mysterious, this is because it brings up unconscious thoughts we think about everyday and makes us reflect further. Personally this text made me feel very insightful and unsteady, I felt like I understood the author perfectly and was deeply moved by how it questions everything from our existence to beliefs. One part of the hymn that caught my attention was when it mentioned that we don’t know when the world was created, that the story of God’s creation isn’t true because our God came after creation. “The gods came afterwards, with the creation of the universe” (Creation Hymn 6). This stood out because I thought that it was a very ground breaking philosophy during its time, ideas like that were not easily accepted. This line emotionally provokes me as well which makes me uneasy, all my life I was raised to believe a certain idea on creation and the author negates my belief during the first set of the writing. This text reminds me of the works from old Greek philosophers who questioned everything including creation during a time where new ideas were easily dismissed and lead to punishments. This hymn challenged my belief of Christianity by challenging when the world and God was created. The hymn has made me more insightful by making me more open to abstract ideas and ideas that stray away from what I hold true.