Nasadiya Sukta - Hymn of Creation

Dadi**: Guddu beta, tonight I'll tell you about the most mysterious question ever asked in any scripture in the world. A question so deep that even the gods don't know the answer!

Guddu**: Even the gods don't know? What question, Dadi?

Dadi**: "Where did everything come from?" This question was asked over three thousand years ago in our most ancient scripture, the Rigveda. There's a special hymn called the Nasadiya Sukta - the Hymn of Creation.

Guddu**: Did they find the answer?

Dadi**: That's the beautiful part, beta. They asked the question so honestly that they admitted they might never find the answer. Listen to how it begins: "There was neither existence nor non-existence. There was no earth, no sky, no space beyond."

Guddu**: Wait - nothing existed? Not even the sky?

Dadi**: Nothing at all! Not even darkness, because for darkness you need space, and there was no space. Not even time, because for time you need change, and there was nothing to change. The hymn says, "There was only That One, breathing without breath, existing by Its own power."

Guddu**: That's hard to imagine, Dadi.

Dadi**: It's supposed to be hard, beta! The sages who wrote this knew they were trying to describe something beyond human understanding. But they tried anyway. They said that before creation, there was darkness wrapped in darkness, like an ocean without any shore.

Guddu**: So how did everything start?

Dadi**: The hymn says that from this endless stillness, desire arose. The first seed of thought appeared in the cosmic mind. And from that desire, from that thought, creation began to flow - light and dark, up and down, forces above and forces below.

Guddu**: Like an explosion?

Dadi**: Maybe something like that, beta. But here's what makes this hymn so special. After describing all this, the sage asks: "But who really knows? Who can tell us where creation came from?"

Guddu**: Didn't the gods know?

Dadi**: The hymn says something amazing: "The gods themselves came AFTER creation. So how would they know what came before?" Even Indra, even Brahma - they all appeared after the universe was already being made.

Guddu**: So nobody knows?

Dadi**: The final verse is the most famous in all of world philosophy. It says, "He who watches from the highest heaven, He alone knows - or perhaps He knows not."

Guddu**: What?! Even God might not know?!

Dadi**: That's the humility of true wisdom, beta. Our ancient sages were brave enough to say, "We don't know everything, and maybe nobody does." They didn't pretend to have all the answers. They asked honest questions and admitted honest uncertainty.

Guddu**: But Dadi, isn't it scary not to know?

Dadi**: Some people find it scary. But your Dadi finds it beautiful. Think about it - if the universe is so mysterious that even the highest power might still be wondering, then every discovery we make is precious. Every question we ask is important.

Guddu**: Like when I ask why the sky is blue?

Dadi**: Exactly! You're continuing the tradition of those ancient sages. They weren't afraid to ask, "Why? How? What came before?" These questions made us who we are today.

Guddu**: So asking questions is good?

Dadi**: Asking questions is divine, beta! The Nasadiya Sukta teaches us that doubt and wonder are not enemies of faith - they are the beginning of wisdom. A person who pretends to know everything has stopped growing. A person who keeps asking, keeps questioning, keeps wondering - that person is truly alive.

Guddu**: I like that, Dadi. It's okay not to know everything.

Dadi**: It's more than okay - it's honest. And honesty with ourselves is the first step to any real understanding. The universe is billions of years old, unimaginably vast. If we understood it all in one lifetime, that would be suspicious!

Guddu**: Dadi, do you think we'll ever find out where everything came from?

Dadi**: Maybe, beta. Maybe one day. Or maybe the mystery itself is the gift. The wondering, the searching, the awe we feel looking at the stars - perhaps that's what it means to be human. We are the universe asking about itself.

Guddu**: Whoa. That's deep, Dadi.

Dadi**: Three thousand years of wisdom in seven short verses, beta. Our ancestors were remarkable thinkers. Now, look at the stars tonight and wonder. You're doing exactly what the Vedic sages did so long ago.

Guddu**: Goodnight, Dadi. I'm going to wonder myself to sleep!

Dadi**: Sweet dreams, my little philosopher.