Hinduism contains various accounts of creation that are sometimes contradictory. The earliest text, the Rigveda, describes Purusha as the primeval cosmic being whose body parts were used to create different aspects of the world. It also mentions Hiranyagarbha, interpreted as either a mundane egg or a male-female energy, from which the gods and other beings were born. Later texts provide additional details on Prajapati and other gods involved in the creation, but acknowledge that the exact origins may never be known for certain.

1. Hinduism is a conglomerationof distinct intellectual or philosophical
points of view, rather than a rigid commonset of beliefs.[13]
As a result,
the Hindu texts do not provide a single canonical account of the
creation; they mention a range of theories of the creation of the world,
some of which are contradictory.[14]
Many Hindus regard these
scriptural legends as allegories or metaphors rather than literal
truth.[citation needed]
Rigveda
The Purusha Sukta of the earliest Hindu
text Rigveda mentions Purusha, the primeval cosmic
being.[15]
Purusha is described as all that has ever existed and will
ever exist.[16]
This being's bodywas the origin of four differentkinds of
people:The Brahman, the Rajanya, the Vaishya, and the
Shudra.[17]
Viraj, variously interpreted as the mundane
egg[15]
(seeHiranyagarbha) or the twofold male-female energy, was
born from Purusha, and the Purusha was born again from Viraj. The
gods then performed ayajna with the Purusha, leading to the creation
of the other things in the manifested world from his various body parts
and his mind. These things included the animals, the Vedas,
the Varnas, the celestialbodies,the air, the sky, the heavens, the
earth, the directions,and the Gods Indra and Agni. It is likely that this
myth has proto-Indo-Europeanorigins,as it is similar to other myths
found in the Indo-Europeancultures, in which the creation arises out
of the dismembermentof a divine being (cf. Ymir of the Norse
mythology).[1]
The concept of Purusha is similar to the concept
of Brahman described in the later texts.[18]:318
As for the creation of
the primordial beings (such as the gods who performed the sacrifice
of the Purusha), the Nasadiya Sukta states:[19]
Who really knows, and who can swear,
How creation came, when or where!
Even gods came after creation’s day,
Who really knows, who can truly say
When and how did creation start?

2. Did He do it? Or did He not?
Only He, up there, knows, maybe;
Or perhaps, not even He.
— Rig Veda 10.129.1-7
Rigveda (10.121)also mentions the Hiranyagarbha (literally, golden
embryo/womb/egg)that existed before the creation. This metaphor
has been interpreted differently by the various later texts.
The Samkhya texts state that Purusha and the Prakritimade the
embryo, from which the world emerged.In another tradition, the
creator god Brahma emerged from the egg and created the world,
while in yet another tradition the Brahma himself is the
Hiranyagarbha.[20]
The nature of the Purusha, the creation of the gods
and other details of the embryo creation myth have beendescribed
variously by the later Hindu texts.
The early hymns of Rigveda also mention Tvastar as the first born
creator of the human world.[21]
Brahmanas
The fish avatara of Vishnu savesManu, the progenitorof the existing
human race, during the great deluge.
The Shatapatha Brahmana mentions a story of creation, in which
the Prajapati performstapas to reproduce himself.He releases the
waters and enters them in the form of an egg that evolves into the
cosmos.[22]
The Prajapati emerged from the goldenegg,and created
the earth, the middle regions and the sky. With further tapas, he
created the devas. He also created the asuras, and the darkness
came into the being.[18]:102–103
It also contains a story similar to the
other great flood stories.Afterthe great flood,

3. Manuthe only surviving human, offers asacrifice from which Ida is
born. From her, the existing human race comes into the being
Later texts
An attempt to depict the creative activities of Prajapati; a
steel engraving from the 1850s
Belief in evolution is among the Samkhya philosophy. In
theSamkhya philosophy, evolution is symbolized by the
Sanskrit term parinama. Many Hindu reformers compare this
term and philosophy with Darwinism. The prominent
Vivekananda, based most of his cosmological and biological
ideas off of theSamkhya.[8]
The Samkhya texts state that
there are two distinct fundamental eternal entities: the
Purusha and the Prakriti. The Prakriti has
three qualities: sattva (purity or preservation), rajas(creation)
and tamas (darkness or destruction). When the equilibrium
between these qualties gets broken, the act of creation
starts. Rajas quality leads to creation.[26]
The later texts such as the Puranas identify the Purusha with
theGod. In many Puranic notes, Brahma is the creator
god.[18]:103
However, some Puranas also identify Vishnu,
Shiva or Devi as the creator.[18]:103
In Garuda Purana, there was nothing in the universe except
the Brahman. The universe became an expanse of water,

4. and in that Vishnu was born in the golden egg. He created
Brahma with four faces.
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