Hansen, The Saffron Wave (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1999); Zoya Hasan, ed., Forging Identi-
ties—Gender, Communities and the State (Delhi: Kali for
Women, 1994); Romila Thapar, Cultural Pasts (New
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001).
hiranyagarbha
Hiranyagarbha (hiranya, gold; garbha, seed, egg,
womb, embryo) is the Golden Embryo, Golden
Egg, or Golden Womb identified in the Rig Veda
(X.121) as the cause of the universe. Paradoxically,
it has both a masculine and a feminine aspect. It
is referred to as “he,” but it is also the “womb” of
manifest reality.
From the beginning the term hiranyagarbha
has had multivalent and sometimes contradictory
meanings. In Rig Veda X.82 it is the cosmic egg
that separates into two hemispheres, in the begin-
ning of the world, its upper portion forming the
sky and its yolk becoming the Sun. This vision is
elaborated in the PURANAS, where other elements
of the egg make up elements of the manifest uni-
verse: the water in the cosmic egg, for instance,
becomes the ocean.
Various Hindu traditions have offered vari-
ous and quite different understandings of this
ancient image, even within the same tradition.
Influenced by SAMKHYA concepts, some say that
the PURUSHA (the transcendent divine) with the
cooperation of PRAKRITI (nature) made the cos-
mic egg from which the world emerges. In one
context BRAHMA, the creator, emerged from the
egg to create the universe. In other contexts,
however, Brahma is himself the hiranyagarbha;
the word can be used as an epithet or alternate
name of Brahma.
In Shaivite (see SHAIVISM) contexts hiran-
yagarbha is seen as a creation of SHIVA that
embodies aspects of him. From hiranyagarbha,
in turn, Brahma or the universe can emerge. In
Vaishnavite (see VAISHNAVISM) mythology, VISHNU
inspires or creates the hiranyagarbha, from which
the universe derives. In the VEDANTA of SHANKARA
the term takes on various meanings depending
on the lineage and tradition expounding upon
it. In this tradition it is often associated with a
state of consciousness rather than an entity per
se. For example, in Shankara’s own commentaries
hiranyagarbha is considered synonymous with the
manifest universe, which is the product of M AYA.Further reading: Cornelia Dimitt and J. A. van Buite-
nen, eds., and trans., Classical Hindu Mythology: A
Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple
University Press, 1978); O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger, Rig
Veda (London: Penguin Books, 1981).Hiranyakashipu
Hiranyakashipu means “he who wears a golden
robe” and is the name of an arrogant asura, or
demon king, who ruled over and tormented all
the worlds. Unfortunately, he had earned boons
from the gods so that he could not be killed
by man or beast, by day or night, indoors or
outdoors. He had become so powerful through
boons that he had usurped the sovereignty of
Indra, the king of the gods. VISHNU was called
to take on an incarnation to deal with this cruel,
ignorant tyrant.
According to the myth Hiranyakashipu felt
disgraced that his son, PRAHLADA, loved and wor-
shipped Vishnu. He tried to force his son to reveal
Vishnu’s whereabouts. Knowing that VISHNU was
everywhere, Prahlada pointed to a pillar. The
demon king brashly kicked the pillar and out
sprang the man-lion or (Narasimha) incarnation
of Vishnu (see NARASIMHA AVATA R), who ripped
him apart. He was able to be killed here because
the pillar was in the doorway (neither indoors nor
outdoors), it was twilight (neither day nor night),
and in the Narasimha form, Vishnu was neither
man nor beast.Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, eds. and trans., Classical Hindu Mythology:
A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: TempleK 188 hiranyagarbha