[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879) › c5.2122 # A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2122 A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2122 - **Language:** English ### [c5.2122](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2122) VISWA-KARMĀ, VISWA-KARMAN. ‘Omnificent.’ This name seems to have been originally an epithet of any powerful god, as of Indra and Sūrya, but in course of time it came to designate a personification of the creative power. In this character Viswa-karmā was the great architect of the universe, and is described in two hymns of the Rig-veda as the one “all-seeing god, who has on every side eyes, faces, arms, and feet, who, when producing heaven and earth, blows them forth (or shapes them) with his arms and wings; the father, generator, disposer, who knows all worlds, gives the gods their names, and is beyond the comprehension of mortals.” In these hymns also he is said to sacrifice himself or to himself, and the Nirukta explains this by a legend which represents that “Viswa-karmā, son of Bhuvana, first of all offered up all worlds in a Sarva-medha (general sacrifice), and ended by sacrificing himself.” - [Previous: c5.2121](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2121) - [Next: c5.2123](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2123) - [Up: c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5) ## Cites (1) - [Ṛgvedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.rg) — Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2122](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2122) · Pramāṇa