Prajapati in Vedas

Prajapati in Vedas

Prajapati (prajā-pati) is composed of two words Praja+Pati means one who is protector of his state/public. The word Prajapati is used for God, King, Learned Scholar, Sun etc. according to Vedic philosophy.

Prajapati is one name among many names of one God. God have countless names due to countless qualities. Each name is based on different different qualities.

God is the supreme power who is protector of whole universe. So, God is called by the name Pratapati.

There are many mantras in Vedas which says that God is Prajapati. Rigveda 10/21 sukt describes God as Prajapati or Creator of the universe.

The Hiranayagarbha sukt of the Rigveda 10/121/10 speaks about Prajapati as

प्रजापते न तवदेतान्यन्यो विश्वा जातानि परि ताबभूव ।

यत्कामास्ते जुहुमस्तन नो अस्तु वयं सयाम पतयोरयीणाम ॥
parajāpate na tavadetānyanyo viśvā jātāni pari tābabhūva |
yatkāmāste juhumastana no astu vayaṃ sayāma patayorayīṇāma

O! Prajapati You are the only creator of this universe. You are the only care taker of this universe and you are the only destroyer of this universe. You are the only one who creates this universe for emancipation of souls. You are the only one who is Supreme and possessor of this universe.

Yajurveda 13:4 describes the Devta of this mantra is Prajapati. This mantra is also associated with the Hiranayagarbha name of God.

Apart from God a good caring Ruler or King, a honest scholar among living beings are also honored with name Prajapati. A king protects his kingdom from enemies.

A scholar or a learned person protects from ignorance. So, he is called as Prajapati.

Among the non living ones Sun is also known by name Prajapati because Sun protects from darkness. Sun showers its rays as blessings without any discrimination and bias so Sun is also known by the name Prajapati.

A lot of confusion is being created these days especially by christian missionaries who by wrong interpretation are trying to depict Jesus Christ as Prajapati. They also falsely depicts that Vedas speaks about Jesus Christ as Prajapati. This seems to be a planned conspiracy to forcefully impose Jesus on Hindu Scriptures especially the Vedas. Vedas are no history books which will predicts arrival and re-arrival of Jesus. Vedas are ever lasting, sustainable and universal knowledge of God. They are for whole humanity irrespective of caste, creed or religion. So, bounding them as forecast or prediction books will be a symbol of deep ignorance.

TO SUM UP

For better understanding the concept of many names of one god kindly refer first chapter of book Satyarth Prakash by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. In this book more than 100 names of one God are explained in illustrative and attractive manner for readers.

Prajapati is one name among many names of one God. Prajapati is used for creator, king, care taker, sustain, learned scholar, sun etc. in different contexts.

Dr Vivek Arya