On creation

After going through udaka shAnti anuvAkAs for translating go sUktam, I recited the whole work once and realized that I needed some practise to get back to earlier fluency. Although we had managed to memorize the whole thing in school, now my fluency is limited to the ability to recite with the help of a book. udaka shAnti is almost certainly a compilation of very early vedic works due to the abundant references to indra, apsarAs and the high prevalence of rig vedic riks. A very famous rig vedic sUktam is also included in udaka shAnti, called nAsadIya (about the "na asat" or "not non-existent") sUktam. Anybody who is reasonably knowledgeable about rig veda would have heard about this since it is perhaps the earliest recorded instance of (human) scepticism. There were definitely some Greek sceptics, but rig veda almost surely predates their musings. The suktam occurs in the 10th mandalA of rig veda.

Although the sUktam is well known and well studied, I thought I'd attempt to translate (again with the help of Griffith) and record these thoughts. Translation in yellow.

नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्तदानीं  |
Then, there was not non-existence and not existence. -- !!
नासीद्रजो नो व्योमा परो यत् |
There was no air and no space beyond it. -- व्योमन् can also mean heavens
किमावरीवः कुह कस्य शर्मन् |
What covered it? Where? In whose protection? -- शर्मन् = protection (சருமம்)
अम्भः किमासीद्गहनं गभीरम् | 
Was there deep and impenetrable water? गहनम्  = hard to explain, अम्भस् = water
न मृत्युरासीदमृतं न तर्हि न | (न मृत्युरंरुतान तर्हि न -- in yajur veda. But meaning is same)
Then, there was no death and no immortality.
रात्र्या अह्न आसीत्प्रकेतः |
There was no night and day also.
आनीदवातं स्वधया तदेकं |
That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature.
तस्माद्धान्यन्न परः किञ्चनास |
Apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
तम आसीत्तमसा गूहळमग्रे प्रकेतं |
Darkness there was. At first concealed in darkness,
सलिलं सर्वाऽइदम् |
all of this was in water without light.
तुच्छ्येनाभ्वपिहितं यदासीत् |
All this was enclosed by nothing. -- तुच्छ = less, empty. पिहित = concealed, covered
तपसस्तन्महिनाजायतैकम् | (तम -- in udaka shAnti instead of तप )
(Due to heat)/(From the darkness) arose the ultimate one
कामस्तदग्रे समवर्तताधि |
After that, desire arose in the beginning.
मनसो रेतः प्रथमं यदासीत् |
The desire which is the seed of the mind. --Griffith says मनस्=spirit, I prefer mind  
सतो बन्धुमसति निरविन्दन् |
The relationship between the existent and non-existent,
हृदि प्रतीष्या कवयो मनीषा |
was discovered by sages who searched their hearts.
तिरश्चीनो विततो रश्मिरेषाम् |
They stretched their rays across -- <scratches head>
अधः स्विदासीदुपरि स्विदासीत् |
to know what was up and what was below.
रेतोधा आसन्महिमान आसन् |
They were fertile and of great power.
स्वधा अवस्तात्प्रयतिः परस्तात् |
Action is here and energy is upward. -- <again don't understand the imagery>
को अद्धा वेद क इह प्र वोचत् |
But who really knows and who can declare it?
कुत आजाता कुत इयं विसृष्टिः |
Whence did all this come and whence did this creation come? -- !!
अर्वाग्देवा अस्य विसर्जनेन |
The gods come after the creation. -- !!
अथा को वेद यत आबभूव |
Who knows whence it came into being?-- !!
इयं विसृष्टिर्यत आबभूव |
Whence this creation began, the creator,
यदि वा दधे यदि वा न ।
did he create it or did he not? -- !!
यो अस्याध्यक्षः परमे व्योमन् |
The one who oversees from the heavens,
सो अङ्ग वेद यदि वा न वेद |
he knows, or perhaps even he does not know. -- !!

I've read and chanted this multiple times, and even as I type this, the last few vAkyAs are hair raising. The highest scripture of dharma is so steeped in scepticism. There are other creation hymns in rig veda like purusha sUktam. purusha sUktam also occurs in the 10th mandalA and says that all creation came from the sacrifice of the ultimate one (purusha), and all creation is a continuing yagna (sacrifice). All said and done, the main darshaNAs like advaita vedAnta, dwaita vedAnta, sAMkhyA, tantra, etc., accept that there is brahman, Atman, etc., using the shruti (vedas + upanishad) as pramANA. So the "I don't know verses" somehow get superceded by the "there is brahman verses"? Many have argued that purusha sUktam is a later rig vedic work, and I am somewhat in agreement with this view due to the "there is an ultimate purusha" nature of those hymns. It would be interesting to know how shankarA deals with these problems. But that would demand tremendous maturity with the sources which I do not possess at the moment.

One thing is clear to me, shruti (vedas+upanishads) contain several universal prayers and works of deep and brave philosophical speculations. sAdhakAs and masters claim that these are not mere speculations, and that they have proof through their first person empirical experiences. I am not going to judge those masters as yet. But I will judge certain fraudsters like Sri Sri Sri, as.. well.. fraudsters. Also, most present day vaidikAs, I am sure dont care enough to understand what they are chanting almost on every muhUrtam day. I am also sure that most would not be able to understand the universal values and would harbour repulsive casteist tendencies. So next time you are in a nAndi ceremony where udaka shAnti is being chanted, you might want to keep an ear out for this. Its good to once in a while soak in on how much more we know since the vedic times on how we got here (thanks to Darwin, Hubble and the rest), and how little we know yet.
PS: 1) Searched for udaka shAnti renditions on the web and found this almost flawless rendition.
Starting point of nAsadIya sUktam: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dQyOuwtAeQU#t=3257
Starting point of go sUktam from the previous post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dQyOuwtAeQU#t=2973

2) Carl Sagan quotes these exact same verses at the beginning of this video from the Cosmos series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq5qojfB4P0