Hiraṇyagarbha | The Golden Egg

Hiranyagarbha

Hiraṇyagarbha (IAST)
Translation: "The Golden Egg"

A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: हिरण्यगर्भ
Transliteration: Hiraṇyagarbha

Translation: "“golden egg”; gold germ; the cosmic form of the self; cosmic womb; creator of the subtle universe"

Definition:

1. It is the thread self or the subtle vesture. It is the form of all the individuals together or the only individual. It is the seed of the universe. It is also known as Sūtrātman. The Ṛg Veda (X.121) says, “Hiraṇyagarbha arose in the beginning; born, he was the one lord of things existing.”
2. A name of God, the Creator (Saguṇa Brahman) as born from a golden egg. This egg was formed from the seed deposited in the primordial waters by the self-existent Brahman on the eve of creation. The seed took the form of a golden egg, out of which Brahman was born as Brahmā, the creator. It also means the soul invested by the subtle body. Various synonyms for this term include Mahat, Virāt, Īśvara, Saguṇa Brahman.

Glossary to the Record of Yoga

Hiraṇyagarbha – "the Golden Embryo of life and form,” Brahman manifest in the second of the three states symbolized by the letters of AUM as “the Spirit in the inner planes;” the Self (Ātman) supporting the dream state (Svapna) or subtle (Sūkṣma) consciousness, “the Dream-self which is the continent of all subtle, subjective or supraphysical experience.”

Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Swami Krishnananda)

Commentary: "Even as you have the state of individual dream animated by a consciousness called Taijasa, there is, from the cosmic point of view, Hiraṇyagarbha, pertaining to the cosmic dreaming state. While the dream world of Taijasa may be regarded, tentatively speaking, as an effect of the waking world of Viśva, we cannot say that Hiraṇyagarbha is an effect of Virāt. This is the difference between individualistic perception and Cosmic Knowledge. While Viśva may be said to precede Taijasa, Virāt does not precede Hiraṇyagarbha. On the other hand, the reverse is the case in the cosmic state. The dream consciousness which is Taijasa has certain characteristics of Viśva, also. The subtle body has the same contour as the physical body. If the physical body is a form, the subtle body is the mold in which this form is cast. The subtle body has, thus, a reference to the physical body, and, almost in every respect, it corresponds in form, shape and structure to the physical body. This is why the words, Saptāṅga and Ekonaviṃśati-Mukhaḥ, are repeated, both in the waking and the dream descriptions.

The Viśva, or the Jāgarita-Sthāna, is Saptāṅga and Ekonaviṃśati-Mukhaḥ; and so is Taijasa, or the Svapna-Sthāna. Hiraṇyagarbha and Virāt seem to have the same structural formation, though Hiraṇyagarbha is subtler than Virāt. Hiraṇyagarbha and Virāt are both cosmic, and their difference is one of a degree of subtlety, but not of structural formation. Hiraṇyagarbha also would be beheld by us in the state of realization as the Virāt only with the distinction that Hiraṇyagarbha is subtler than the Virāt. The seven heads described of Viśva or Vaiśvānara can also be described as of Hiraṇyagarbha or Taijasa. Taijasa individually and Hiraṇyagarbha cosmically are Antaḥ-Prājñaḥ, internally conscious because of their objects being not physical but subtle, constituted of Tanmātra: Śabda, Sparśa, Rūpa, Rasa, and Gandha. Though waking and dream have their similarity of character in respect of Saptāṅgatva and Ekonaviṃśati-Mukhatva, the dream consciousness is Pravivikta-Bhuk, both individually and cosmically, it absorbs subtle things into itself in both cases. And that distinction we draw between Viśva and Vaiśvānara, we can also draw between Taijasa and Hiraṇyagarbha. The relation between the Virāt and Viśva, and the relation between Hiraṇyagarbha and Taijasa are the same. The dream world is very complex when it is judged from the point of view of the Jīva, the individual; but it is simple from the point of view of Cosmic Experience."

The Upanishads: Volume I (Swami Nikhilananda)

"Hiraṇyagarbha, or Brahmā, is mentioned in the Rig-Veda as the first-born when Brahman becomes conditioned by Māyā. He is the first entity endowed with the consciousness of individuality. "Who creates the God Brahmā in the beginning and who communicates to Him the Vedas also." He is called Brahmā (masculine) and is differentiated from Brahman (neuter). He is the "Golden Egg," containing in potential form the future manifold universe. In contrast with the Jīva, the individualized consciousness, who is conscious only of his own soul, Brahmā is conscious of all souls. The totality of all beings is His individuality (Sarvābhimāni).

It is implicit in the Upanishadic teachings that the entire objective universe is possible only in so far as it is sustained by a knowing subject. Though this knowing subject is manifested in all individual subjects, yet it is not, by any means, identified with them. Individual subjects come into existence and die, but the universe continues to exist. Who, then, is its perceiver or knower? It is Brahmā, or Hiraṇyagarbha, who is the eternal Knowing Subject by which the universe is sustained. All living beings respond in more or less like manner to the outside world, and experience the same sensations, because their individual minds are controlled by the cosmic mind of Brahmā, and also because they are part and parcel of Him. When, at the end of a cycle, Brahmā dies, the universe dies with Him."

References:

1. Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
2. Hartz, Richard. Glossary to the Record of Yoga (Sri Aurobindo). Retrieved from http://wiki.auroville.org.in/wiki/Glossary_to_the_Record_of_Yoga
3. Krishnananda, Swami (1996). The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. Retrieved from https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mand_0.html. p. 65-66.
4. Nikhilananda, Swami (1949). The Upanishads: Volume I—Katha, Iśa, Kena, and Mundaka. New York, New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. p. 69.