Then there was neither non-being nor being; no realm of air, no sky beyond it. What stirred? and where? in whose keeping? Was there water, unfathomably deep?
Verse 3 — na mṛtyurāsīdamṛtaṃ na tarhi na rātryā ahna…
na mṛtyurāsīdamṛtaṃ na tarhi na rātryā ahna āsītpraketaḥ | ānīdavātaṃ svadhayā tadekaṃ tasmāddhānyanna paraḥ kiṃ canāsa ||
Then there was neither death nor deathlessness, no sign to mark night from day. That One breathed, windless, by its own power; other than that there was nothing at all.
tama āsīttamasā gūl̤hamagre'praketaṃ salilaṃ sarvamā idam | tucchyenābhvapihitaṃ yadāsīttapasastanmahinājāyataikam ||
Darkness there was, hidden in darkness at the first; all this was an ocean without light. That One, becoming, wrapped in the void, was born through the power of its own heat (tapas).
In the beginning desire arose upon it — the first seed of mind. Searching their hearts with wisdom, the sages found the bond of being within non-being.
Their measuring-cord was stretched across: was there a below? was there an above? There were seed-bearers, there were mighty powers — impulse below, and striving above.
Verse 7 — ko addhā veda ka iha pra vocatkuta ājātā kuta…
ko addhā veda ka iha pra vocatkuta ājātā kuta iyaṃ visṛṣṭiḥ | arvāgdevā asya visarjanenāthā ko veda yata ābabhūva ||
Who truly knows? Who here can declare it — whence it was born, whence came this creation? The gods came after this world's making — so who knows from where it arose?
iyaṃ visṛṣṭiryata ābabhūva yadi vā dadhe yadi vā na | yo asyādhyakṣaḥ parame vyomanso aṅga veda yadi vā na veda ||
Whence this creation arose — whether it was made, or was not — He who watches over it from the highest heaven, He alone knows; or perhaps even He does not know.
About Nāsadīya Sūkta
Nāsadīya Sūkta is a Sanskrit stotra, composed by Vedic Rishis (Shruti), addressed to Purusha — a Sukta. It is presented here in Devanagari, Roman (IAST), Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, each verse with its English meaning. Source text: sanskritdocuments.org.
Also known as: Hymn of Creation, Nasadiya Suktam, Nasadasin no Sadasit.
The Durgā Sūktam is a Vedic hymn to the Goddess drawn from the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka and the Ṛgveda; as śruti it is anonymous, ancient revelation and wholly in the public domain.
The Nāsadīya Sūkta (Ṛgveda 10.129), the hymn of creation — 8 verses that ask what existed before existence itself. It is one of the most philosophically celebrated passages in all of Vedic literature.
What does the Nasadiya Suktam say?
Nāsadīya Sūkta opens with "nā́sad āsīn nō sád āsīt" — "there was not then what is, nor what is not" — and proceeds through a chain of rhetorical questions: who truly knows? who can say for sure? Even the gods came after creation — so who knows from where it arose?
Why is the Nasadiya Suktam famous?
Nāsadīya Sūkta is famous for its radical agnosticism about the origin of the universe. Rather than offering a creation myth, it suspends judgment — "perhaps it arose, perhaps it did not; the overseer in the highest heaven alone knows" — a posture that has drawn comparisons with modern cosmology and philosophy.
How do I read the Nasadiya Suktam on Avabodhak?
Every verse of Nāsadīya Sūkta is shown in Devanagari, Roman (IAST) and English meaning. Free to read, no login required; the practice view lets you chant along verse by verse.