Did Brahma create the universe? Was it born out of the sacrifice of Prajapati? Did his wife Shatarupa create animals while being pursued by him? Or was it all a product of Manu? A Vedic poet says that for anything to be created in the universe, it must be preceded by desire. If desire is the seed, the cosmos is its fruit. A Shaiva story says that in the beginning there was a golden woman in the shape of a lotus, and when it bloomed, Brahma was in it, and he then divided into Shiva and Shakti. The Vaishnava tradition says that in the beginning, everything was asleep – and then Vishnu awoke, and the first creation was born of the fear of loneliness. The Shakta tradition says that before the earth was born, Shiva was doing tapasya and there was pralaya – everything was frozen and barren. Then Parvati emerged from the mountain and seduced and married him. The heat or energy within him was then released and the snow started to melt and the earth became fertile. Which is it? Discover all these origin myths and more in this short, sweet read from Devlok.