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For some background context see the articles: Virtual Reality Analogy Alongside Science and Mysticism,   Computational Metaphysics and Vedic Metaphysics,   Correspondences with Ancient Metaphysical Paradigms,   Survey of Ancient Traditions and also see Metaphysical Context. In the table in the first mentioned article we see that Hiranyagarbha may be analogous to the SMN information process itself, which is the simulation program, that manages all information flows, which underlie all interactions within the virtual reality. From the perspective of virtual systems the flow of transcendent information is “the sight within seeing and the qualities of the seen”. So what is Hiranyagarbha in the Vedic tradition?

Below is some information on Hiranyagarbha, collected from the internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranyagarbha

Hiranyagarbha, meaning the "golden fetus" or "golden womb", in one hymn of the Rigveda (RV 10.121) is a name for the source of the creation of the Universe. The hymn is known as hiranyagarbha sukta and presents an important glimpse of the emerging monism, or even monotheism, in the later Vedic period, along with the Nasadiya sukta suggesting a single creator deity predating all other gods ("He is the God of gods, and none beside him."), in the hymn identified as Prajapati (creator).

The Upanishads elaborate that Hiranyagarbha floated around in water in the emptiness and the darkness of the non-existence for about a year, and then broke into two halves which formed the Swarga and the Prithvi.

In classical Puranic Hinduism, Hiranyagarbha is a name of Brahma, so called because he was born from a golden egg (Manusmrti 1.9)

http://www.geocities.com/augustfour/hiranyagarbha.html

The Hiranyagarbha Sukta RV 10:121

In the beginning was the Divinity in his splendour,
manifested as the sole Lord of land, skies, water, space and that beneath
and he upheld the earth and the heavens.

Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings?

It is he who bestows soul-force and vigour,whose guidance all men invoke,
the Devas invoke whose shadow is immortal life-and death.

Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings?

It is he who by his greatness became the one King of the breathing and the seeing,
who is the Lord of man and bird and beast.

Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings?

It is he through whose glory the snow-clad mountains rose,
and the ocean spread with the river, they say.

His arms are the quarters of the sky.

Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings ?

It is he through whom the heaven is strong and the earth firm,
who has steadied the light and the sky’s vault,
and measured out the sphere of clouds in the mid-region.

Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offering?

It is he to whom heaven and earth, placed in the lightby his grace, look up,
radiant with the mind while over them the sun, rising, brightly shines.

Who is the deity we shall worship with our offerings?

When the mighty waters came, carrying the universal germ, producing the flame of life,
then dwelt there in harmony the One Spirit of the Devas.

Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings?

It is he who in his might surveyed the waters, conferring skill and creating worship-he,
the God of Gods, the One and only One.

Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings?

Father of the world - may he not destroy us who with Truth as his Law made the heavens and produced waters, vast and beautiful.

Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings?

Lord of creation ! no one other than thee pervades all these that have come into being.

May that be ours, for which our prayers rise, may we be masters of many treasures!

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/brahmanaspects.asp

Hiranyagarbha: He is the World Soul (Mahan Atma), the Cosmic Egg, that arises out of cosmic waters and engages Himself in the creation of forms and beings. He is the First Born (prathamaja), who manifests forms that are already contained in Him.

He is the Sutratman (the soul of a necklace) the thread on which all beings and all the worlds (the world of the devas, of the ancestors, of the humans, of the demons etc) are strung like beads in a necklace.

While Iswara is the causative principle (karanabhutam), Hiranyagarbha is the dynamic or the active principle (kriyabhutam or karyabhutam). He is also called Brahma who as the creative and dynamic principle uses the forms existing in Him and brings forth the Beings.

The word 'brah' means “bursting out or bringing forth” and 'ahm' means ego. Brahma is therefore he who brings forth many 'ahms' or egos or beings into this world using his divine power and matter and pouring life (breath) into them. Hiranyagarbha is not an eternal being, but comes into existence at the beginning of creation and becomes dissolved in Iswara at the end of creation.

http://www.mythfolklore.net/india/encyclopedia/hiranyagarbha.htm

HIRANYAGARBHA. [Source: Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology] 'Golden egg' or 'golden womb.' In the Rigveda Hiranyagarbha "is said to have arisen in the beginning, the one lord of all beings, who upholds heaven and earth, who gives life and breath, whose command even the gods obey, who is the god over all gods, and the one animating principle of their being." According to Manu, Hiranyagarbha was Brahma, the first male, formed by the indiscernible eternal First Cause in a golden egg resplendent as the sun. "Having continued a year in the egg, Brahma divided it into two parts by his mere thought, and with these two shells he formed the heavens and the earth; and in the middle he placed the sky, the eight regions, and the eternal abode of the waters."

http://www.taracentre.com/glossary.shtml

The shining being in whom the whole universe lives in its dormant state. Hiranyagarbha is also known as Brahma, the creator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman

In the Rig Veda, Brahman gives rise to the primordial being Hiranyagarbha that is equated with the creator God Brahmā. The trimurti can thus be considered a personification of hiranyagarbha as the active principle behind the phenomena of the universe.

http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/glossary.htm

HIRANYAGARBHA: Cosmic intelligence; the supreme lord of the universe; cosmic mind.

http://atomicshakespeare.com/word/search.jsp?keyword=Hiranyagarbha

Keyword search of the Upanishads for 'hiranyagarbha'.

Isa Upanishad: Chapter I: Verse 12-14

Into a blind darkness they enter who worship only the unmanifested prakriti; but into a greater darkness they enter who worship the manifested Hiranyagarbha.

One thing, they say, is obtained from the worship of the manifested; another, they say, from the worship of the unmanifested. Thus we have heard from the wise who taught us this.

He who knows that both the unmanifested prakriti and the manifested Hiranyagarbha should be worshipped together, overcomes death by the worship of Hiranyagarbha and obtains immortality through devotion to prakriti.

Svetasvatara Upanishad: Chapter: III: Verse 4

He, the omniscient Rudra, the creator of the gods and the bestower of their powers, the support of the universe, He who, in the beginning, gave birth to Hiranyagarbha-may He endow us with clear intellect!

Svetasvatara Upanishad: Chapter: III: Verse 7

The Supreme Lord is higher than Virat, beyond Hiranyagarbha. He is vast and is hidden in the bodies of all living beings. By knowing Him who alone pervades the universe, men become immortal.

Svetasvatara Upanishad: Chapter: V: Verse 2

He, the non-dual Brahman, who rules over every position; who controls all forms and all sources; who, in the beginning, filled with knowledge the omniscient Hiranyagarbha, His own creation, whom He beheld when He (Hiranyagarbha) was produced-He is other than both knowledge and ignorance.

Svetasvatara Upanishad: Chapter: IV: Verse 2

That Supreme Self is Agni (Fire); It is Aditya (Sun); It is Vayu (Wind); It is Chandrama (Moon). That Self is the luminous stars; It is Hiranyagarbha; It is water; It is Virat.

Svetasvatara Upanishad: Chapter: IV: Verse 12

He, the creator of the gods and the bestower of their powers, the Support of the universe, Rudra the omniscient, who at the beginning gave birth to Hiranyagarbha-may He endow us with clear intellect!

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part One: Chapter II: The Process of Creation: Verse 2

Water, verily, is arka. What was then like froth on the water became solidified; that was earth. After the earth was created, Hiranyagarbha was tired. From Him, thus fatigued and heated, came forth His essence as brightness. That was Fire.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part One: Chapter III: The Prana: Its Glories and Redeeming Power: Verse 28

Whatever objects this chanter, endowed with such knowledge, desires for himself or for the sacrificer, he obtains by his chanting. This [meditation] by itself wins the world (Hiranyagarbha). He who thus knows the saman (the prana, or vital breath)-for him there is no fear of not being admitted into that world.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part One: Chapter V: Manifestations of Prajapati: Verse 20

The divine vital breath from water and the moon permeates him. And, verily, that is the divine vital breath which, whether moving or not moving, neither feels pain nor is injured. He who knows this becomes the self of all beings. As is this deity (Hiranyagarbha), so is he. And as all beings honour this deity, so do they honour him. Howsoever creatures may grieve, that grief of theirs remains with them but only merit goes to him. No demerit ever goes to the gods.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part Two and Four: Chapter VI: The Line of Teachers: Verse 3

Sanaga from Parameshthin (Viraj). Parameshthin from Brahma (Hiranyagarbha). Brahman is self-born (eternal). Salutation to Brahman.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part Three: Chapter VI: Yajnavalkya and Gargi (I): Verse 1

Then Gargi, the daughter of Vachaknu, questioned him. "Yajnavalkya ," said she, "if all this is pervaded by water, by what, pray, is water pervaded?" "By air, O Gargi." "By what, pray, is air pervaded?" "By the sky, O Gargi." "By what is the sky pervaded?" "By the world of the gandharvas, O Gargi." "By what is the world of the gandharvas pervaded?" "By the world of the sun, O Gargi. "By what is the world of the sun pervaded?" "By the world of the moon, O Gargi." "By what is the world of the moon pervaded?" "By the world of the stars, O Gargi." "By what is the world of the stars pervaded?" "By the world of the gods, O Gargi." "By what is the world of the gods pervaded?" "By the world of Indra, O Gargi. "By what is the world of Indra pervaded?" "By the World of Virij, O Gargi. "By what is the World of Virij pervaded?" "By the World of Hiranyagarbha, O Gargi." "By what, pray, is the World of Hiranyagarbha pervaded?" "Do not, O Gargi," said he, "question too much, lest your head should fall off. You are questioning too much about a deity about whom we should not ask too much. Do not ask too much, O Gargi." Thereupon Gargi, the daughter of Vachaknu, held her peace.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part Three: Chapter IX: Yajnavalkya and Vidaghdha: Verse 9

Yajnavalkya said: "Concerning this some say: 'Since the air blows as one substance, how can it be one and a half (adhyardha)?' The answer is: It is one and a half because by its presence everything attains surpassing glory (adhyardhnot)." "Which is the one God?" "The vital breath (Hiranyagarbha); it is Brahman which is called That (Tyat)."

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part Four: Chapter III: Investigation of the Three States: Verse 33

He who is versed in the Vedas, sinless and free from desire. The bliss in the World of Prajapati, multiplied a hundred times, makes one measure of bliss in the World of Brahma (Hiranyagarbha), as also O one who is versed in the Vedas, sinless and free from desire. This, indeed, is the supreme bliss. This is the state of Brahman, O Emperor," said Yajnavalkya.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part Four: Chapter IV: Death and the Hereafter: Verse 4

"And just as a goldsmith takes a small quantity of gold and fashions out of it another-a newer and better-form, so does the self, after throwing off this body, that is to say, after making it unconscious, fashion another-a newer and better-form, suited to the Manes, or the gandharvas, or the gods, or Viraj, or Hiranyagarbha, or other beings.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part Six: Chapter II: The Process of Rebirth: Verse 15

"Those even among householders who know this, as described and those too who, living in the forest, meditate with faith upon the Satya Brahman (Hiranyagarbha), reach the deity identified with flame, from him the deity of the day, from him the deity of) the fortnight in which the moon waxes, from him the deities of the six months during which the sun travels northward, from them the deity identified with the world of the gods (devaloka), from him the sun, from the sun the deity of lightning. Then a being created from the mind of Hiranyagarbha comes and leads them to the worlds of Brahmin. In those worlds of Brahma they become exalted and live for many years. They no more return to this world.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Part Six: Chapter V: The Line of Teachers: Verse 4

...Tura, the son of Kavashi, from Prajapati (Hiranyagarbha). Prajapati received this knowledge from his relationship to Brahman (the Vedas). Brahman is self-existent. Salutation to Brahman.

Mundaka Upanishad: Part One: First Mundaka: Chapter II: Verse 11

But those wise men of tranquil minds who lives in the forest on alms, practising penances appropriate to their stations of life and contemplating such deities as Hiranyagarbha, depart, freed from impurities, by the Path of the Sun, to the place where that immortal Person dwells whose nature is imperishable.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-266775/Hiranyagarbha

The manifested cosmos was correlated with the bodily self; the soul of the world, or Hiranyagarbha, with the vital self; and Isvara, or God as a self-conscious being, with the thinking self.

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/etgloss/hi-hz.htm

Hiranyagarbha (Sanskrit) [from hiranya imperishable substance, golden garbha womb, embryo, fetus, also the interior of anything, hence a temple] Golden egg or womb; the matrix of imperishable substance. "The luminous 'fire mist' or ethereal stuff from which the Universe was formed" (TG 142); applied to Brahma, described in the Rig-Veda as born from a golden egg formed out of the seed deposited in the waters when they were produced as the first vikaras of the Self-existent; according to Manu (1:9) this seed became a golden egg, resplendent as the sun, in which the self-existent Brahman while remaining transcendent in its higher parts, evolved into Brahma the Creator, who is therefore regarded as a manifestation of the Self-existent. Having continued a year in the egg, Brahma divided it into two parts by his mere thought, and with these two he formed the heavens and the earth; and in the middle he placed the sky, the eight regions, and the eternal abode of the waters.

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/24principles.asp

According to the Bhagavad gita, the Purusha enters the Prakriti and manifests the entire creation. At the human level, the purusha is compared symbolically with a man and the Prakriti with a woman. At the microcosmic level a union between the two indeed leads to the creation of a new being, which can be compared to the Hiranyagarbha (the golden embryo) at the microcosmic level.

http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1996/bmar96/expdiv.shtml

Garbha means 'womb'. Some people call it the golden egg, but the literal translation is the golden womb. The womb is an attribute of the feminine body. So even the vedic tradition speaks of hiranyagarbha as the original God, as the original guru, as the original deity.

The first person to come forth from the hiranyagarbha was Narayana. Narayana is life. When a baby comes out of the womb there is life. The aspect of Narayana is the life force that takes birth from the golden womb. From Narayana came creation – Brahma. Brahma became prominent. From Nara-yana came the power of sustenance – Vishnu. Vishnu became prominent. From Narayana came the power of transmutation and transformation – Shiva. Shiva became prominent. They formed the trinity. But that trinity is of the manifest nature only, not the seed nature. The seed nature is hiranyagarbha.

There is no image of hiranyagarbha. Narayana has name, form and quality. Brahma has name, form and quality. Vishnu has name, form and quality. Hiranyagarbha has no name, form or quality. The only symbol that is used to describe hiranya-garbha is a golden egg, and even that is wrong because garbha means womb not egg.

http://www.babylon.com/definition/World Egg/Russian

According to the Laws of Manu, hiranyagarbha "is Brahma the first male formed by the undiscernible Causeless cause in a 'Golden Egg resplendent as the Sun,' " (SD 1:89). The Rig-Veda says that the incomprehensible divine germ of our universe, " 'the one Lord of all beings . . . the one animating principle of gods and man,' arose, in the beginning, in the Golden Womb, Hiranyagarbha -- which is the Mundane Egg or sphere of our Universe" (ibid.).

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Why_Jagrat_is_a_Dream/id/10403

Dream is a reproduction of the experiences of the physical consciousness with some modifications. The mind weaves out the dream creatures out of the material supplied from waking consciousness. In dream the subject and object are one. The perceiver and the perceived are one in this state. The Abhimani of Svapna Avastha is Taijasa. Taijasa is a Vyasthi Abhimani. The Samasthi Abhimani is Hiranyagarbha, the first-born.

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/etgloss/root-rz.htm

Rootless Root The cosmic origin or womb of all, itself therefore necessarily without origin except itself -- self-born, parentless. The name is applied to parabrahman, be-ness rather than being. "The One reality is Mulaprakriti (undifferentiated Substance) -- the 'Rootless root' " (ML 347).

From the Rootless Root spring forth into manifestation in ever succeeding and unending cosmic periods, the universes which are scattered like seeds over the limitless fields of space; but in and through this womb there is the ever living and working hiranyagarbha (golden germ or egg), signifying for each such manifesting universe its divine monad -- its divine consciousness and intelligence.

http://en.mimi.hu/yoga/prajna.html

Through the absorption of their respective Upadhis or vehicles all these in turn are absorbed in the Pratyagatma-the three aspects of consciousness, Visva, Taijasa, and Prajna in man, the three, Virat, Hiranyagarbha, and Ishvara in the universe, the egg of the universe, the egg of man and the seven worlds. From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

http://yogameditationtips.com/content/view/31/46/

Brahma: The Creator (Prajapati) of the three worlds of men, angels, and archangels (Bhur, Bhuwah, and Swah); the first of the created beings; Hiranyagarbha or cosmic intelligence.

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/etgloss/fa-fz.htm

Isvara -- Hiranyagarbha -- Sukshma-sarira

The Logos -- Golden Egg -- Subtle Vehicle or Personal Monad

http://vahini.org/glossary/b.html

Brahman:'The universal spirit, soul' (also called Hiranyagarbha: 'of the gold inside' - SB 8-17) Associated with Creation, He is Brahmâ, with Protection; He is Vishnu, with Dissolution; He is Siva. (BV-30) The Creator in the trinity Brahmâ, Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the Destroyer). Impersonal Supreme Being, primal source and ultimate goal of all beings. Thus, it is identical to the Atma.

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