A creator figure in the Vedic period of India was Prajapati. In early Vedic literature, the name was applied to various primal figures. Later it signified one deity the "Lord of all creatures", who was said to have produced the universe and all its beings after preparing himself through ascetic practices. Other stories allude to his creation from the primal waters. His female emanation was Vac, the personification of the sacred word; Usas, the dawn was identified as his female partner or his daughter. In the post-Vedic age, Prajapati came to be identified with Brahma.