Hiranyagarbha - The Golden Cosmic Egg

Dadi: "Guddu, where do you think the universe came from?"

Guddu: "The Big Bang? That's what school taught us."

Dadi: "And what was before the Big Bang?"

Guddu: "*(thinking)* I... I don't know. Something?"

Dadi: "*(smiling)* Thousands of years ago, our ancient sages asked the same question. And they came up with a beautiful answer - Hiranyagarbha, the Golden Cosmic Egg."

Guddu: "A golden egg?! Like from a chicken?"

Dadi: "*(laughing)* Much, much bigger, beta! Imagine an egg that contained EVERYTHING - every star, every planet, every creature, every thought. That was Hiranyagarbha."

Guddu: "How did it form?"

Dadi: "Before anything existed, there was... nothing. Or rather, something we can't describe. In that nothingness, a golden glow appeared - like dawn breaking in an empty sky. This golden light gathered itself into the shape of an egg."

Guddu: "Just floating in nothing?"

Dadi: "Yes. The ancient hymn says: "In the beginning arose Hiranyagarbha" - the Golden Womb, the Golden Child. Inside this egg was the seed of everything that would ever be."

Guddu: "Then what happened?"

Dadi: "The egg split open! One half became the sky above us. The other half became the earth below. From the golden yolk came the sun, giving light. From different parts came the stars, the moon, the elements, and eventually - life."

Guddu: "So we all came from this egg?"

Dadi: "Everything did. The hymn from the Rig Veda - one of our oldest texts - says this golden being "established the earth and this sky" and was "the lord of all that is.""

Guddu: "Who laid this egg, Dadi?"

Dadi: "Ah! That's the most beautiful part of the hymn. After describing all this creation, it keeps asking a question: "Kasmai devaya havisha vidhema?" - "To which God should we offer our prayers?""

Guddu: "They didn't know who created it?"

Dadi: "They were being humble, beta. They knew that whatever created the universe was beyond all names and forms humans could imagine. So instead of claiming to know, they kept asking: "Who? What is this mystery? To whom should we bow?""

Guddu: "That's... actually really honest."

Dadi: "The ancient sages believed it was more truthful to ask questions than to pretend they had all answers. The universe is so vast, so incredible, that the right response is wonder, not certainty."

Guddu: "Did they ever find an answer?"

Dadi: "They called this source "Prajapati" - the Lord of Creatures - and later "Brahman" - the Ultimate Reality. But even these are just names pointing at something that can't be named."

Guddu: "So the golden egg is kind of like the Big Bang?"

Dadi: "In a way, yes! Scientists today say the universe began from a single point that expanded. Our ancestors imagined it as a golden egg that split open. Different images, but both trying to explain the same mystery - how did nothing become everything?"

Guddu: "I like the egg image better. It feels more... alive."

Dadi: "*(touching his head)* That's why the sages used it. Creation isn't just physics, beta. It's birth. Just like you came from your mother's womb, the whole universe came from a cosmic womb. We're all children of that Golden Egg."

Guddu: "That makes me feel connected to... everything."

Dadi: "You ARE connected to everything! The stars, the trees, your friends, your family - all came from the same source. We're all siblings, in a way, born from Hiranyagarbha."

Guddu: "Dadi, why was it GOLDEN?"

Dadi: "Gold represents the sun, light, consciousness, purity. The universe didn't start with darkness - it started with golden light. From that light came everything. Even now, when the sun rises, we're seeing an echo of that first golden moment."

Guddu: "Every sunrise is like... remembering how everything began?"

Dadi: "*(beaming)* My wise boy! Yes. Every morning when you see that golden light, think of Hiranyagarbha. Think of how everything started with that glow. And feel grateful that you exist - that the golden egg split open just right to eventually create you."

Guddu: "I'll look at sunrise differently now."

Dadi: "Good. And whenever someone asks you where everything came from, you can say: from gold, from light, from a mystery so beautiful we're still wondering about it after thousands of years."