The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c20.s3.24

v1.c20.s3.24

Prajāpati also appears in other animal forms, which is in keeping with his position as the great generator: his eye swells, and, because it did so (*açvayat*), the horse came into being; he assumes the form of a boar in order to raise the earth out of the waters, a legend which is recounted in the Taittirīya Saṁhitā⁷ and which is the starting-point of the boar incarnation of Viṣṇu, and he also assumed the form of a tortoise to produce all creatures according to the Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa,⁸ whence arises the view that all men are the children of the tortoise. He is also identified with the primeval Puruṣa or giant from whom by the sacrifice the gods created the whole of the world, and also men and the gods.