A History of Sanskrit Literature c8.87

c8.87

*Non-being then existed not, nor being :*
*There was no air, nor heaven which is beyond it.*
*What motion was there? Where? By whom directed?*
*Was water there, and fathomless abysses?*

*Death then existed not, nor life immortal;*
*Of neither night nor day was any semblance.*
*The One breathed calm and windless by self-impulse :*
*There was not any other thing beyond it.*

*Darkness at first was covered up by darkness;*
*This universe was indistinct and fluid.*
*The empty space that by the void was hidden,*
*That One was by the force of heat engendered.*

*Desire then at the first arose within it,*
*Desire, which was the earliest seed of spirit.*
*The bond of being in non-being sages*
*Discovered searching in their hearts with wisdom.*