Hindu cosmology is the description of the universe and its states of matter, cycles within time, physical structure, and effects on living entities according toHindu texts. Hindu cosmology is also intertwined with the idea of a creator who allows the world to exist and take shape.[1]
All matter is based on three inertgunas (qualities or tendencies):[2][3][4]
There are three states of thegunas that make up all matter in the universe:[2][4][5][6][7][8]
Pradhana, which has no consciousness or will to act on its own, is initially agitated by a primal desire to create. The different schools of thought differ in understanding about the ultimate source of that desire and what thegunas are mixed with (eternal elements, time,jiva-atmas).[9][10]
The manifest material elements (matter) range from the most subtle to the most physical (gross). These material elements cover the individual, spiritualjiva-atmas (embodied souls), allowing them to interact with the material sense objects, such as their temporary material bodies, other conscious bodies, and unconscious objects.
Manifested subtle elements:[11][12][13][a]
Manifested physical (gross) elements (a.k.a.pancha bhuta, the five elements) and their associated senses and sense organs that manifest:[14][15][a]
Time is infinite with a cyclic universe, where the current universe was preceded and will be followed by an infinite number of universes.[16][17] The different states of matter are guided by eternalkala (time), which repeats general eventsranging from a moment to the lifespan of the universe, which is cyclically created and destroyed.[18]
The earliest mentions of cosmic cycles in Sanskrit literature are found in theYuga Purana (c. 1st century BCE), theMahabharata (c. 3rd century BCE – 4th century CE), and theManusmriti (c. 2nd – 3rd centuries CE). In theMahabharata, there are inconsistent names applied to the cycle of creation and destruction, a name theorized as still being formulated, whereyuga (generally, an age of time)[19][20] andkalpa (a day ofBrahma) are used, or a day ofBrahma, the creator god, or simply referred to as the process of creation and destruction, withkalpa and day of Brahma becoming more prominent in later writings.[21]
Prakriti (primal matter) remains mixed for amaha-kalpa (life ofBrahma) of 311.04 trillion years, and is followed by amaha-pralaya (great dissolution) of equal length. The universe (matter) remains manifested for akalpa (day ofBrahma) of 4.32 billion years, where the universe is created at the start and destroyed at the end, only to be recreated at the start of the nextkalpa. Akalpa is followed by apralaya (partial dissolution,a.k.a. night of Brahma) of equal length, when Brahma and the universe are in an unmanifested state. Eachkalpa has 15manvantara-sandhyas (junctures of great flooding) and 14manvantaras (age ofManu, progenitor of mankind), with eachmanvantara lasting for 306.72 million years. Eachkalpa has 1,000 and eachmanvantara has 71chatur-yugas (epoch,a.k.a.maha-yuga), with eachchatur-yuga lasting for 4.32 million years and divided into fouryugas (dharmic ages):Satya Yuga (1,728,000 years),Treta Yuga (1,296,000 years),Dvapara Yuga (864,000 years), andKali Yuga (432,000 years), of which we are currently inKali Yuga.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]
The individual, spiritualjiva-atma (embodied soul) is the life force or consciousness within a living entity.Jivas are eternal; they are not created or destroyed, and are distinctly different from the created unconscious matter. Thegunas in their manifest state of matter, cover thejivas in various ways based on eachjiva'skarma and impressions. This material covering of matter allows thejivas to interact with the material sense objects that make up the material universe, such as their temporary material bodies, other conscious bodies, and unconscious objects.[32][33][34]
The material creation is calledmaya ("measure or something that is measurable") due to its impermanent (non-eternal), temporary nature of sometimes being manifest and sometimes not. It has been compared to a dream orvirtual reality, where the viewer (jiva) has real experiences with objects that will eventually become unreal.[35][36]
Through the interactions with the material sense objects, ajiva starts to identify the temporary material body as the true self, and in this way becomes influenced and bound bymaya perpetually in a conscious state ofnescience (ignorance, unawareness, forgetfulness). This conscious state of nescience leads tosamsara (cycle of reincarnation), only to end for ajiva whenmoksha (liberation) is achieved throughself-realization (atman-jnana) or remembrance of one's true spiritual self/nature.[37][38][39][40][41] Taking action to develop this state of awareness of ones true identity, and to understand the illusionary nature ofmaya is known as striving for moksha. Hindu's believe thatdharma is a means tomoksha, thus perfectingdharma is one such action.[42] The spiritual practice known assadhna is another action.[43] Thejiva is considered the place where all positive qualities within us are housed, yet remain hidden due to the "layers ofmaya".[43]
The different schools of thought differ in understanding about the initial event that led to thejivas entering the material creation and the ultimate state ofmoksha.
Hinduism is a group of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid common set of beliefs.[44] It includes a range of viewpoints about theorigin of life.Hindu texts do not provide a single canonical account of the creation; they mention a range of theories of the creation of the world, some of which are apparently contradictory.[45]
According to Henry White Wallis, theRigveda and other Vedic texts are full of alternative cosmological theories and curiosity questions. To its numerous open-ended questions, the Vedic texts present a diversity of thought, in verses imbued with symbols and allegory, where in some cases, forces and agencies are clothed with a distinct personality, while in other cases as nature with or without anthropomorphic activity such as forms of mythical sacrifices.[46]
Rigveda 10.121 mentions theHiranyagarbha ("hiranya = golden or radiant" and "garbha = filled / womb") that existed before the creation, as the source of the creation of the Universe, similar to theworld egg motif found in thecreation myths of many other civilizations.
This metaphor has been interpreted differently by the various later texts. TheSamkhya texts state that Purusha and thePrakriti made the embryo, from which the world emerged. In another tradition, the creator godBrahma emerged from the egg and created the world, while in yet another tradition the Brahma himself is the Hiranyagarbha.[47] The nature of the Purusha, the creation of the gods and other details of the embryo creation myth have been described variously by the later Hindu texts.
ThePurusha Sukta (RV 10.90) describes a myth ofproto-Indo-European origin, in which the creation arises out of thedismemberment of thePurusha, a primeval cosmic being who is sacrificed by the gods.[48][49] Purusha is described as all that has ever existed and will ever exist.[50] This being's body was the origin of four different kinds of people: theBrahmin, theRajanya, theVaishya, and theShudra.[51] Viraj, variously interpreted as themundane egg[49] (seeHiranyagarbha) or the twofold male-female energy, was born from Purusha, and the Purusha was born again from Viraj. The gods then performed ayajna with the Purusha, leading to the creation of the other things in the manifested world from his various body parts and his mind. These things included the animals, the Vedas, theVarnas, the celestial bodies, the air, the sky, the heavens, the earth, the directions, and the GodsIndra andAgni.
The later texts such as thePuranas identify the Purusha withGod. In many Puranic notes,Brahma is the creator god.[52]: 103, 318 However, some Puranas also identify Vishnu, Shiva or Devi as the creator.[52]: 103
TheNasadiya Sukta (RV 10.129) takes a near-agnostic stand on the creation of the primordial beings (such as the gods who performed the sacrifice of the Purusha), stating that the gods came into being after the world's creation, and nobody knows when the world first came into being.[53] It asks who created the universe, does anyone really know, and whether it can ever be known.[54] The Nasadiya Sukta states:[55][56]
Darkness there was at first, by darkness hidden;
Without distinctive marks, this all was water;
That which, becoming, by the void was covered;
That One by force of heat came into being;Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
Gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;
Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not;
Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,
Only He knows, or perhaps He does not know.
The early hymns of Rigveda also mentionTvastar as the first born creator of the human world.[60]
The Devi sukta (RV 10.125) identifies a goddess, identified as the cosmic form of Speech, with the creator, empowering, nourishing and giving joy to gods and humans.[61]
Rig Veda (RV) 10.72 states:[56]
1. Now amid acclaim we will proclaim the births of the gods,
so that one in a later generation will see (them) as the hymns are recited.
2 The Lord of the Sacred Formulation [=Bhṛaspati] smelted these (births) like a smith
In the ancient generation of the gods, what exists was born from what does not exist.
3 In the first generation of the gods, what exists was born from what does not exist.
The regions of space were born following that (which exists)—that(which exists) was born from the one whose feet were opened up.
— Bṛhaspati Āṅgirasa, Bṛhaspati Laukya, or Aditi Dākṣāyaṇī, The Gods, Rig Veda 10.72.1-3[b]
RV 1.24 asks, "these stars, which are set on high, and appear at night, whither do they go in the daytime?" RV 10.88 wonders, "how many fires are there, how many suns, how many dawns, how many waters? I am not posing an awkward question for you fathers; I ask you, poets, only to find out?"[62][63]
TheShatapatha Brahmana mentions a story of creation, in which thePrajapati performstapas to reproduce himself. He releases the waters and enters them in the form of an egg that evolves intothe cosmos.[64] The Prajapati emerged from the golden egg, and created the earth, the middle regions and the sky. With further tapas, he created the devas. He also created theasuras, and the darkness came into the being.[52]: 102–103 It also contains a story similar to the othergreat flood stories. After the great flood,Manu the only surviving human, offers a sacrifice from which Ida is born. From her, the existing human race comes into the being.[52]: 102–103
TheShatapatha Brahmana states that the current human generation descends fromManu, the only man who survived agreat deluge after being warned by the God. This legend is comparable to the otherflood legends, such as the story of theNoah's Ark mentioned in theBible and theQuran.[65]
TheAitareya Upanishad (3.4.1) mentions that only the "Atma(soul)" (the Self) existed in the beginning. The Self created the heaven (Ambhas), the sky (Marikis), the earth (Mara) and the underworld (Ap). He then formed the Purusha from the water. He also created the speech, the fire, the prana (breath of life), the air and the various senses, the directions, the trees, the mind, the moon and other things.[66]
TheBrihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.4) mentions that in the beginning, only the Atman existed as the Purusha. Feeling lonely, the Purusha divided itself into two parts: male ("pati") and female ("patni"). The men were born when the male embraced the female. The female thought "how can he embrace me, after having produced me from himself? I shall hide myself." She then became a cow to hide herself, but the male became a bull and embraced her. Thus the cows were born. Similarly, everything that exists in pairs, was created. Next, the Purusha created the fire, thesoma and the immortal gods (thedevas) from his better part. He also created the various powers of the gods, the differentclasses, thedharma (law or duty) and so on.[67] TheTaittiriya Upanishad states that the being (sat) was created from the non-being. The Being later became theAtman (2.7.1), and then created the worlds (1.1.1).[52]: 103 TheChhandogya states that the Brahma creates, sustains and destroys the world.[68] A similar perspective is also portrayed in the Mundak Upanishad verse 2.1.10, which states "puruṣa evedaṃ viśvaṃ karma tapo brahma parāmṛtam", meaning "out of this Purush, everything is born, and by knowing him, everything becomes known"[69]
The Puranas genre of Indian literature, found in Hinduism and Jainism, contain a section on cosmology and cosmogony as a requirement. There are dozens of different Mahapuranas and Upapuranas, each with its own theory integrated into a proposed human history consisting of solar and lunar dynasties. Some are similar to Indo-European creation myths, while others are novel. One cosmology, shared by Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts involves Mount Meru, with stars and sun moving around it usingDhruva (North Star) as the focal reference.[70][71] According to Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus, the diversity of cosmology theories in Hinduism may reflect its tendency to not reject new ideas and empirical observations as they became available, but to adapt and integrate them creatively.[72]
In the laterPuranic texts, the creator godBrahma is described as performing the act of "creation", or more specifically of "propagating life within the universe". Some texts consider him equivalent to the Hiranyagarbha or the Purusha, while others state that he arose out of these. Brahma is a part of thetrimurti of gods that also includesVishnu andShiva, who are responsible for "preservation" and "destruction" (of the universe) respectively.
InGaruda Purana, there was nothing in the universe exceptBrahman. The universe became an expanse of water, and in that golden egg, Vishnu created Brahma with four faces. Brahma then created the devas, asuras, pitris and manushas. He also created the rakshasas, yakshas, and gandharvas. Other creatures came from the various parts of his body (e.g. snakes from his hair, sheep from his chest, goats from his mouth, cows from his stomach, others from his feet). His body hair became herbs. The four varnas came from his body parts and the four Vedas from his mouths. He created several sons from his mind: Daksha, Daksha's wife, Manu Svaymbhuva, his wife Shatarupta and the rishi Kashypa. Kashypata married thirteen of Daksha's daughters and all the devas and the creatures were born through them.[52]: 103 Other Puranas and the Manu Smriti mention several variations of this theory.
InVishnu Purana, the Purusha is same as the creator deityBrahma, and is a part ofVishnu.[52]: 319 TheShaivite texts mention the Hiranyagarbha as a creation ofShiva.[47] According to theDevi-Bhagavata Purana Purusha and Prakriti emerged together and formed theBrahman, the supreme universal spirit that is the origin and support of the universe.[52]: 319
According toRichard L. Thompson, theBhagavata Purana presents ageocentric model of ourBrahmanda (cosmic egg or universe), where our Bhu-mandala disk, equal in diameter to our Brahmanda, has a diameter of 500 millionyojanas (trad. 8 miles each), which equals around 4 billion miles or more, a size far too small for the universe of stars and galaxies, but in the right range for theSolar System. In addition, theBhagavata Purana and otherPuranas speak of a multiplicity of universes, or Brahmandas, each covered by seven-fold layers with an aggregate thickness of over ten million times its diameter (5x1015yojanas ≈ 6,804+light-years in diameter). TheJyotisha Shastras,Surya Siddhanta, andSiddhānta Shiromani give the Brahmanda an enlarged radius of about 5,000 light years. Finally, theMahabharata refers to stars as large, self-luminous objects that seem small because of their great distance, and that the Sun and Moon cannot be seen if one travels to those distant stars. Thompson notes that Bhu-mandala can be interpreted as a map of the geocentric orbits of the Sun and the five planets, Mercury through Saturn, and this map becomes highly accurate if we adjust the length of theyojana to about 8.5 miles.[73]
Brahma, the first born and secondary creator, during the start of hiskalpa, divides theBrahmanda (cosmic egg or universe), first into three, later into fourteenlokas (planes or realms)—sometimes grouped into heavenly, earthly and hellish planes—and creates the first living entities to multiply and fill the universe. SomePuranas describe innumerable universes existing simultaneously with different sizes and Brahmas, each manifesting and unmanifesting at the same time.[citation needed]
TheSamkhya texts state that there are two distinct fundamental eternal entities: the Purusha and thePrakriti. The Prakriti has threequalities:sattva (purity or preservation),rajas (creation) andtamas (darkness or destruction). When the equilibrium between these qualities is broken, the act of creation starts.Rajas quality leads to creation.[74]
Advaita Vedanta states that the creation arises from Brahman, but it is illusory and has no reality.[52]: 103 The Mundak Upanishad verse 2.2.11 also states "brahmaivedamamṛtaṃ purastādbrahma paścādbrahma dakṣiṇataścottareṇaadhaścordhvaṃ ca prasṛtaṃ brahmaivedaṃ viśvamidaṃ variṣṭham", meaning "All this before is immortal Brahman; certainly all behind is Brahman; all to the south and to the north; all bellow and all alone stretched out, all this is certainly Brahman", and suggests that Brahma is present throughout that creation.[75][76]
Deborah Soifer describes the development of the concept of lokas as follows:
The concept of a loka or lokas develops in the Vedic literature. Influenced by the special connotations that a word for space might have for a nomadic people,loka in the Veda did not simply mean place or world, but had a positive valuation: it was a place or position of religious or psychological interest with a special value of function of its own. Hence, inherent in the "loka" concept in the earliest literature was a double aspect; that is, coexistent with spatiality was a religious or soteriological meaning, which could exist independent of a spatial notion, an "immaterial" significance. The most common cosmological conception of lokas in the Veda was that of thetrailokya or triple world:three worlds consisting of earth, atmosphere or sky, and heaven, making up the universe.
— Deborah A. Soifer[77]
Patrick Olivelle explains that during the early vedic period the universe was viewed as consisting of three spheres (loka): the earth (bhūḥ), an intermediate region (bhuvaḥ), and the sky or firmament (svaḥ), which this tripartite cosmology was shared with other Indo-European peoples. In recent studies of vedic cosmology,Witzel (1984) has shown that the expressionsvarga loka ("bright world" or "heavenly world") refers specifically to the Milky Way. By the late vedic period, four higher spheres were added called Mahas, Janas, Tapas, and Satyaloka ("world of truth") or Brahmaloka ("world of Brahma"). Text from a much later period post-Upanishads posit seven parallel lower spheres or hells.[78]
In theBrahmanda Purana, as well asBhagavata Purana (2.5),[79] fourteenlokas (planes) are described, consist of seven higher (Vyahrtis) and seven lower (Patalas)lokas.[80][81]
TheHindu texts describe innumerable universes existing all at the same time moving around like atoms, each with its ownBrahma,Vishnu, andShiva.
Every universe is covered by seven layers—earth, water, fire, air, sky, the total energy and false ego—each ten times greater than the previous one. There areinnumerable universes besides this one, and although they are unlimitedly large, they move about like atoms in You. Therefore You are called unlimited.
— Bhagavata Purana 6.16.37[82][83]
Because You are unlimited, neither the lords of heaven nor even You Yourself can ever reach the end of Your glories. Thecountless universes, each enveloped in its shell, are compelled by the wheel of time to wander within You, like particles of dust blowing about in the sky. The śrutis, following their method of eliminating everything separate from the Supreme, become successful by revealing You as their final conclusion.
— Bhagavata Purana 10.87.41[84]
The layers or elements covering theuniverses are each ten times thicker than the one before, and all the universes clustered together appear like atoms in a huge combination.
— Bhagavata Purana 3.11.41[85][86]
And who will search through the wide infinities of space to count theuniverses side by side, each containing its Brahma, its Vishnu, its Shiva? Who can count the Indras in them all--those Indras side by side, who reign at once in all theinnumerable worlds; those others who passed away before them; or even the Indras who succeed each other in any given line, ascending to godly kingship, one by one, and, one by one, passing away.
Every thing that is any where, is produced from and subsists in space. It is always all in all things, which are contained as particles in it. Such is the pure vacuous space of the Divine understanding, that like an ocean of light, contains theseinnumerable worlds, which like the countless waves of the sea, are revolving for ever in it.
— Yoga Vasistha 3.30.16–17[88]
There are many other large worlds, rolling through the immense space of vacuum, as the giddy goblins of Yakshas revel about in the dark and dismal deserts and forests, unseen by others.
— Yoga Vasistha 3.30.34[89]
You know one universe. Living entities are born inmany universes, like mosquitoes in many udumbara (cluster fig) fruits.
— Garga Samhita 1.2.28[90]
Mahattattva (महत्तत्त्व) or simply Mahat refers to a primordial principle of the nature of both pradhāna and puruṣa, according to the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.—[...] From the disturbed prakṛti and the puruṣa sprang up the seed of mahat, which is of the nature of both pradhāna and puruṣa. The mahattattva is then covered by the pradhāna and being so covered it differentiates itself as the sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa-mahat. The pradhāna covers the mahat just as a seed is covered by the skin. Being so covered there spring from the three fold mahat the threefold ahaṃkāra called vaikārika, taijasa and bhūtādi or tāmasa.
It is quite clear that the smallest unit was the "nimisah" ['winking of eyes'], and that time in the general sense of past, present and future was indicated by the word "yuga".
a day in the life of Brahma is divided into 14 periods called manvantaras ("Manu intervals"), each of which lasts for 306,720,000 years. In every second cycle [(new kalpa after pralaya)] the world is recreated, and a new Manu appears to become the father of the next human race. The present age is considered to be the seventh Manu cycle.
Each manvantara is preceded and followed by a period of 1,728,000 (= 4K) years when the entire earthly universe (bhu-loka) will submerge under water. The period of this deluge is known as manvantara-sandhya (sandhya meaning, twilight). ... According to the traditional time-keeping ... Thus in Brahma's calendar the present time may be coded as his 51st year - first month - first day - 7th manvantara - 28th maha-yuga - 4th yuga or kaliyuga.
