Prajapati
'Lord of the people', IAST: Prajāpati) is a Vedic deity of Hinduism and he is a form of Brahma, the creator god.
He appears late in the Vedic layer of texts, and the hymns that mention him provide different cosmological theories in different chapters.
[10] A similarity between Prajapati (and related figures in Hindu mythology) and Phanes, also named as Protogonus (Ancient Greek: Πρωτογόνος, literally "first-born") of the Greco-Roman mythology has been proposed:[11][12] Phanes is the Classical mythology equivalent of the Hindu god Brahma's Prajapati form in several ways: he is the first god born from a cosmic egg, he is the creator of the universe, and in the figure of Phanes— worshippers participate in his birth, death, rebirth, redeath.
[14] The cosmic egg concept linked to Prajapati and Phanes is common in many parts of the world, states David Leeming, which appears in later Greco-Roman worship in Greece and Rome.
[2][7] His role peaked in the Brahmanas layer of Vedic texts, then declined to name a group of creators in the creation process.
[17] In the Rigveda, Prajapati appears as a name for Savitr, Chandra, Agni and Indra, who are all praised as equal, same and gods of creatures.
[19][20][21] One of the striking features about the Hindu Prajapati myths, states Jan Gonda, is the idea that the work of creation is a gradual process, completed in stages of trial and improvement.
[24] In Chapter 10 of the Shatapatha Brahmana, as well as chapter 13 of Pancavimsa Brahmana, is presented another myth where in Prajapati is a creator god, becomes creating with Vac, the creator goddess, all living creatures generated, then Mrtyu seizes these beings within his and her womb, but because these beings are created by Prajapati and Vac, they desire to live like him and her and Prajapati and Vac kill Mrtyu and creates the universe with releasing all living creatures in his and her womb.
[25][26] The Aitareya Brahmana tells a different myth, wherein Prajapati, having created the gods and goddesses, turns into a stag and approaches his daughter with Vac, Ushas who was in the form of a doe, to produce other animals.
[24] The Sankhyayana Brahmana tells another myth, wherein Prajapati created Agni, Surya, Chandra, Vayu, Ushas and all deities.
(Sanskrit: देवासुरा ह वै यत्र संयेतिरे उभये प्राजापत्यास्तद्ध, romanized: devāsurā ha vai yatra saṃyetire ubhaye prājāpatyāstaddha).
[39] The Grhyasutras include Prajapati as among the deities invoked during wedding ceremonies and prayed to for blessings of prosperous progeny, and harmony between husband and wife.
Some illustrations, states Roshen Dalal, include Agni, Bharata, Shashabindu, Shukra, Havirdhaman, Indra, Kapila, Kshupa, Prithu, Chandra, Svishtakrita, Tvashtra, Vishvakarma, Virana.
According to the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, Brahma initially created twenty-one Prajapatis to facilitate the process of creation.
