बिभ्रच्छ्रियं यशः सत्यं ब्रह्मचर्यं तपो वैराग्यं मन ऐश्वर्यं सप्रणवा व्याहृतय ऋग्यजुःसामाथर्वाङ्गिरसः सर्वाणि छन्दांसि तान्यङ्गे समाश्रितानि तस्मादीशानो महादेवो महादेवः अथ पुनरेव नारायणः सोऽन्यत्कामो मनसाध्यायत तस्य ध्यानान्तःस्थस्य ललाटात्स्वेदोऽपपत् ता इमाः प्रतता आपः ततस्तेजो हिरण्मयमण्डलम् तत्र ब्रह्मा चतुर्मुखोऽजायत सोऽध्याय्त्
bibhracchriyaṃ yaśaḥ satyaṃ brahmacaryaṃ tapo vairāgyaṃ mana aiśvaryaṃ sapraṇavā vyāhṛtaya ṛgyajuḥsāmātharvāṅgirasaḥ sarvāṇi chandāṃsi tānyaṅge samāśritāni tasmādīśāno mahādevo mahādevaḥ atha punareva nārāyaṇaḥ so'nyatkāmo manasādhyāyata tasya dhyānāntaḥsthasya lalāṭātsvedo'papat tā imāḥ pratatā āpaḥ tatastejo hiraṇmayamaṇḍalam tatra brahmā caturmukho'jāyata so'dhyāyt
Bearing prosperity, fame, truth, chastity, austerity, dispassion, mind, lordship; the utterances with the praṇava, the Ṛg-veda, the Yajur-veda, the Sāma-veda and the Atharvāṅgiras, all the metres — all of them are lodged upon his body. Therefore he is Īśāna, Mahādeva, Mahādeva. And again Nārāyaṇa, desiring another thing, meditated with the mind; and of him, abiding in contemplation, from the forehead fell sweat — these are the outspread waters. Then fire — the golden orb; and there the four-faced Brahmā was born, and he meditated.
5bbede26b786 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
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The one born from the forehead receives his name, and receives it last — after it is listed what is upon him.
The list deserves looking at, for it is unusual. A deity is usually described by form: colour, arms, weapons. Here properties and books are listed: prosperity, fame, truth, chastity, austerity, dispassion, mind, lordship; and after them — the utterances, the four Vedas, all the poetic metres.
And it is said: tāny aṅge samāśritāni — “they have taken refuge in his body”, are settled upon him.
That is, his body is composed of Vedas and virtues. Hence he is named Īśāna and Mahādeva: the name is given not by birth but by what rests upon him.
Then — the second creation, and it begins with the same refrain: “and again Nārāyaṇa, desiring another thing, meditated with the mind.”
From the forehead falls sweat. These are the waters of which the first paragraph said that they were not.
Note the image. Not a river and not an ocean: sveda, sweat — what breaks out from effort. The waters of the universe came from the strain of the contemplating one.
From the waters — a golden orb; in it — the four-faced Brahmā. This is the hiraṇyagarbha, “the golden egg”, the most famous image of Vedic cosmogony.
And the paragraph's last word: so 'dhyāyat — “and he meditated”. The born one does the same as the one who bore him.