page_title: Hiranyagarbha
hierarchical_section_title: Hiranyagarbha
caption_attribution_description: English: Work of manaku, pahari Artist
context_page_description: Hiraṇyagarbha is the source of the creation of universe or the manifested cosmos in Vedic philosophy, as well as an avatar of Vishnu in the Bhagavata Purana. It finds mention in one hymn of the Rigveda, known as the Hiraṇyagarbha Sūkta, suggesting a single creator deity, identified in the hymn as Prajāpati. The concept of the "golden womb" is first mentioned in the Vishvakarma Sūkta which picturized the "primeval womb" as being rested set upon the navel of Vishvakarman the Supreme cosmic creator, that One wherein abide all things existing. This imagery was later transferred to Vishnu.
  The Upanishad calls it the Soul of the Universe or Brahman, and elaborates that Hiraṇyagarbha floated around in emptiness and the darkness of the non-existence for about a year, and then broke into two halves which formed the Svarga and the Pṛthvi.
  In classical Purāṇic Hinduism, Hiraṇyagarbha is the term used in the Vedanta for the "creator". Hiraṇyagarbha is also Brahmā, so called because it is said he was born from a golden egg, while the Mahābhārata calls it the Manifest.
context_section_description: Hiraṇyagarbha (Sanskrit: हिरण्यगर्भः ; literally the 'golden womb' or 'golden egg', poetically translated as 'universal womb') is the source of the creation of universe or the manifested cosmos in Vedic philosophy, as well as an avatar of Vishnu in the Bhagavata Purana. It finds mention in one hymn of the Rigveda (RV 10.121), known as the Hiraṇyagarbha Sūkta, suggesting a single creator deity (verse 8: yo deveṣv ādhi devā eka āsīt, Griffith: "He is the God of gods, and none beside him."), identified in the hymn as Prajāpati. The concept of the "golden womb" is first mentioned in the Vishvakarma Sūkta (RV 10.82.5,6) which picturized the "primeval womb" as being rested set upon the navel of Vishvakarman the Supreme cosmic creator, that One wherein abide all things existing. This imagery was later transferred to Vishnu.
  The Upanishad calls it the Soul of the Universe or Brahman, and elaborates that Hiraṇyagarbha floated around in emptiness and the darkness of the non-existence for about a year, and then broke into two halves which formed the Svarga and the Pṛthvi.
  In classical Purāṇic Hinduism, Hiraṇyagarbha is the term used in the Vedanta for the "creator". Hiraṇyagarbha is also Brahmā, so called because it is said he was born from a golden egg (Manu Smṛti 1.9), while the Mahābhārata calls it the Manifest.
  Some classical yoga traditions consider Hiraṇyagarbha as the originator of yoga, though this may also be a name for Rishi Kapila.
caption: Pahari painting of Golden cosmic egg Hiranyagarbha by Manaku, c. 1740.
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