Millions of universes (Books)

Expressions researched:
"millions and trillions of universes" |"millions of brahmandas, or universes" |"millions of jagad-anda, universes" |"millions of other universes" |"millions of planets and universes" |"millions of seeds of universes" |"millions of universes"

SB Canto 3

SB 3.25.42, Purport:

These different demigods, or directors, such as Candra, Varuṇa and Vāyu, are called adhikāri-devatā. The demigods are departmental heads. The government of the Supreme Lord consists not only of one planet or two or three; there are millions of planets and millions of universes. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has a huge government, and He requires assistants. The demigods are considered His bodily limbs. These are the descriptions of Vedic literature. Under these circumstances, the sun-god, the moon-god, the fire-god and the air-god are working under the direction of the Supreme Lord. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). The natural laws are being conducted under His superintendence. Because He is in the background, everything is being performed punctually and regularly.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.1.30, Purport:

Atri Muni unspecifically thought of the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of the universe, although he had no clear idea of the Lord of the universe nor of His specific form. Mahā-viṣṇu, from whose breathing millions of universes emanate and into whom they are again withdrawn, may be accepted as the Lord of the universe. Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from whose abdomen sprouted the lotus flower which is the birthplace of Brahmā, may also be considered the Lord of the universe. Similarly, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is the Supersoul of all living entities, may also be considered the Lord of the universe. Then, under the order of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Viṣṇu form within this universe, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva may also be accepted as the Lords of the universe.

SB 4.29.42-44, Purport:

These sages reside in different stars known as the southern stars, which circle the polestar. The polestar, called Dhruvaloka, is the pivot of this universe, and all planets move around this polestar. All the stars are planets, as far as we can see, within this one universe. According to Western theory, all the stars are different suns, but according to Vedic information, there is only one sun within this universe. All the so-called stars are but different planets. Besides this universe, there are many millions of other universes, and each of them contains similar innumerable stars and planets.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.11.13-14, Purport:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes." (Bs. 5.40) The Supreme Personality of Godhead is thus described in Bhagavad-gītā:

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ

jagad avyakta-mūrtinā

mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni

na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ

"By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them." (BG 9.4)

SB 5.23.3, Purport:

The machine given by material nature—whether the machine of the body or the machine of the orbit, or kāla-cakra—works according to the orders given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead and material nature work together to maintain this great universe, and not only this universe but also the millions of other universes beyond this one.

The question of how the planets and stars are floating is also answered in this verse. It is not because of the laws of gravity. Rather, the planets and stars are enabled to float by manipulations of the air. It is due to such manipulations that big, heavy clouds float and big eagles fly in the sky. Modern airplanes like the 747 jet aircraft work in a similar way: by controlling the air, they float high in the sky, resisting the tendency to fall to earth. Such adjustments of the air are all made possible by the cooperation of the principles of puruṣa (male) and prakṛti (female).

SB Canto 6

SB 6.16 Summary:

The Lord was nicely dressed in bluish garments, with a helmet and ornaments of gold. His face appeared very happy. In the presence of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, Citraketu offered his obeisances and began to offer prayers.

In his prayers, Citraketu said that millions of universes rest in the pores of Saṅkarṣaṇa, who is limitless, having no beginning and end. The Lord is well known to the devotees for His eternity. The difference between worshiping the Lord and worshiping the demigods is that the worshiper of the Lord also becomes eternal, whereas whatever benedictions one can get from the demigods are impermanent. Unless one becomes a devotee, one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 6.16.37, Purport:

The origin of the material creation is Mahā-viṣṇu, who lies in the Causal Ocean. While He sleeps in that ocean, millions of universes are generated as He exhales, and they are all annihilated when He inhales. This Mahā-viṣṇu is a plenary portion of a portion of Viṣṇu, Govinda (yasya kalā-viśeṣaḥ). The word kalā refers to a plenary portion of a plenary portion. From Kṛṣṇa, or Govinda, comes Balarāma; from Balarāma comes Saṅkarṣaṇa; from Saṅkarṣaṇa, Nārāyaṇa; from Nārāyaṇa, the second Saṅkarṣaṇa; from the second Saṅkarṣaṇa, Mahā-viṣṇu; from Mahā-viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu; and from Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu controls every universe. This gives an idea of the meaning of ananta, unlimited.

SB 6.16.37, Purport:

The first covering is earth, the second is water, the third is fire, the fourth is air, the fifth is sky, the sixth is the total material energy, and the seventh is the false ego. Beginning with the covering of earth, each covering is ten times greater than the previous one. Thus we can only imagine how great each universe is, and there are many millions of universes. As confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (10.42):

athavā bahunaitena

kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna

viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam

ekāṁśena sthito jagat

"But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe." The entire material world manifests only one fourth of the Supreme Lord's energy. Therefore He is called ananta.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.3.28, Purport:

He replied that of course Lord Brahmā, the father of the four Kumāras, was waiting at the door. Later, Lord Brahmā asked Kṛṣṇa why He had inquired which Brahmā had come. He was then informed that there are millions of other Brahmās because there are millions of universes. Kṛṣṇa then called all the Brahmās, who immediately came to visit Him. The catur-mukha Brahmā, the four-headed Brahmā of this universe, thought himself a very insignificant creature in the presence of so many Brahmās with so many heads. Thus although there is a Brahmā who is the engineer of each universe, Kṛṣṇa is the original source of all of them.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.7.31, Purport:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes." Although the impersonal feature of the Absolute is an expansion of the rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He does not need to take care of the impersonalists who enter the brahma-jyotir. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (9.4), mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā: "In My impersonal feature I pervade this entire universe." Thus the avyakta-mūrti, the impersonal feature, is certainly an expansion of Kṛṣṇa's energy. Māyāvādīs, who prefer to merge into this Brahman effulgence, worship Lord Śiva.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.11.19, Purport:

The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes." (Bs. 5.40) The brahma-jyotir is the beginning of the spiritual world, and beyond the brahma-jyotir are the Vaikuṇṭha planets. In other words, the brahma-jyotir stays outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets, just as the sunshine stays outside the sun. To enter the sun planet, one must go through the sunshine. Similarly, when the Lord or His devotees enter the Vaikuṇṭha planets, they go through the brahma-jyotir. The jñānīs, or monistic philosophers, because of their impersonal conception of the Lord, cannot enter the Vaikuṇṭha planets, but they also cannot stay eternally in the brahma-jyotir. Thus after some time they fall again to this material world.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.2, Purport:

Govinda, Kṛṣṇa, is the original Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Even Lord Mahā-viṣṇu, who by His breathing creates many millions upon millions of universes, is Lord Kṛṣṇa's kalā-viśeṣa, or plenary portion of a plenary portion. Mahā-viṣṇu is a plenary expansion of Saṅkarṣaṇa, who is a plenary expansion of Nārāyaṇa. Nārāyaṇa is a plenary expansion of the catur-vyūha, and the catur-vyūha are plenary expansions of Baladeva, the first manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore when Kṛṣṇa appeared with Baladeva, all the viṣṇu-tattvas appeared with Him.

SB 10.3.14, Purport:

This verse describes Mahā-viṣṇu as a plenary expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Mahā-viṣṇu lies on the Causal Ocean, and when He exhales, millions of brahmāṇḍas, or universes, come from the pores of His body. Then, when Mahā-viṣṇu inhales, all these brahmāṇḍas disappear. Thus the millions of brahmāṇḍas controlled by the Brahmās and other demigods come and go in this material world through the breathing of Mahā-viṣṇu.

Foolish persons think that when Kṛṣṇa appears as the son of Vasudeva, He is limited like an ordinary child. But Vasudeva was aware that although the Lord had appeared as his son, the Lord had not entered Devakī's womb and then come out. Rather, the Lord was always there. The Supreme Lord is all-pervading, present within and without. praviṣṭa iva bhāvyase: He only seemed to have entered the womb of Devakī and to have now appeared as Vasudeva's child. The expression of this knowledge by Vasudeva indicates that Vasudeva knew how these events took place. Vasudeva was certainly a devotee of the Lord in full knowledge, and we must learn from devotees like him. Bhagavad-gītā (4.34) therefore recommends:

SB 10.9.10, Purport:

Yogīs cannot capture Kṛṣṇa by severe penances and austerities, but mother Yaśodā, despite all obstacles, was finally able to catch Kṛṣṇa without difficulty. This is the difference between a yogī and a bhakta. Yogīs cannot enter even the effulgence of Kṛṣṇa. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-koṭiṣu (Bs. 5.40). In that effulgence there are millions of universes, but yogīs and jñānīs cannot enter that effulgence even after many, many years of austerities, whereas bhaktas can capture Kṛṣṇa simply by love and affection. This is the example shown here by mother Yaśodā. Kṛṣṇa therefore confirms that if one wants to capture Him, one must undertake devotional service.

SB 10.13.19, Purport:

This is Kṛṣṇa, who is understood by acintya-bhedābheda-tattva philosophy. pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate: (Īśo Invocation) Kṛṣṇa is always complete, and although He can create millions of universes, all of them full in all opulences, He remains as opulent as ever, without any change (advaitam). This is explained by different Vaiṣṇava ācāryas through philosophies such as viśuddhādvaita, viśiṣṭādvaita and dvaitādvaita. Therefore one must learn about Kṛṣṇa from the ācāryas. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda: one who follows the path of the ācāryas knows things as they are. Such a person can know Kṛṣṇa as He is, at least to some extent, and as soon as one understands Kṛṣṇa (janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9)), one is liberated from material bondage (tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so 'rjuna).

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.14, Translation:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes."

CC Adi 2.15, Translation:

(Lord Brahmā said:) “The opulences of the impersonal Brahman spread throughout the millions and millions of universes. That Brahman is but the bodily effulgence of Govinda.

CC Adi 5.94, Translation:

After creating millions of universes, the first puruṣa entered into each of them in a separate form, as Śrī Garbhodakaśāyī.

CC Adi 6.21, Translation:

Śrī Advaita Ācārya is the creator of millions and millions of universes, and by His expansions (as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu) He maintains each and every universe.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.143, Purport:

"By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded." And as confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37), goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ: "Although the Lord always stays in His abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, He is still all-pervading." His all-pervasive feature is understood to be impersonal because one does not find the form of the Lord in that all-pervasiveness. Actually, everything is resting on the rays of His bodily effulgence. The Brahma-saṁhitā (5.40) also states:

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-

koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam

Due to the rays of the Lord's bodily effulgence, millions of universes are created, just as planets are created from the sun.

CC Madhya 15.172, Translation:

“Just as there are millions of fruits on the uḍumbara tree, millions of universes float on the waters of the river Virajā.

CC Madhya 19.151, Purport:

When we speak of brahmāṇḍa, we refer to the whole universe, or to the cluster of many millions of universes. In all the universes there are innumerable planets, and there are innumerable living entities upon those planets—in the air, on land and in the water. There are millions and trillions of living entities everywhere, and they are engaged by māyā in suffering and enjoying the results of their fruitive activity, life after life. This is the position of the materially conditioned living entities. Out of many of these living entities, one who is actually fortunate (bhāgyavān) comes in contact with a bona fide spiritual master by Kṛṣṇa's mercy.

CC Madhya 20.160, Translation:

“"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes."

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 36:

Another devotee once said, "This Supreme Personality of Godhead from whose bodily pores come millions of universes, permanently rising, who is the ocean of mercy, who is the owner of inconceivable energies, who is always equipped with all perfections, who is the origin of all incarnations, who is the attraction for all liberated persons—this very Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme controller and the supremely worshipable. He is all-cognizant, fully determined and fully opulent. He is the emblem of forgiveness and the protector of surrendered souls. He is munificent, true to His promise, expert, all-auspicious, powerful and religious. He is a strict follower of the scripture, He is the friend of the devotees, and He is magnanimous, influential, grateful, reputable, respectable, full of all strength, and submissive to pure love. Surely He is the only shelter of devotees who are attracted to Him by the affection of servitorship."

Nectar of Devotion 36:

Uddhava has described the transcendental qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa as follows: "Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is our master and worshipable Deity, the controller of Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, and the controller of the whole universe as well, accepts the controlling orders of Ugrasena, His grandfather. He is the proprietor of millions of universes, but still He begged a little land from the ocean. And although He is just like an ocean of wisdom, He sometimes consults me. He is so great and magnanimous, yet He is engaged in His different activities just like an ordinary person."

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 14:

This particular universe may appear as a very gigantic body, but it is nothing but the measurement of seven spans for Lord Brahmā. Aside from this universe, there are unlimited other universes which are outside the jurisdiction of this particular Lord Brahmā. Just as innumerable atomic infinitesimal fragments pass through the holes of a screened window, so millions and trillions of universes in their seedling form are coming out from the bodily pores of Mahā-Viṣṇu, and that Mahā-Viṣṇu is but a part of a part of the plenary expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Under these circumstances, although Lord Brahmā is the supreme creature within this universe, what is his importance in the presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa?

Krsna Book 14:

Similarly, Lord Brahmā may be a very great personality, and yet not only Brahmā but everything that be is existing within the womb of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord's energy is all-pervading: there is no place in the creation where it is not acting. Since everything is existing within the energy of the Lord, the Brahmā of this universe and the Brahmās of the many other millions and trillions of universes are existing within the energy of the Lord; therefore the Lord is considered to be the mother, and everything existing within the womb of the mother is considered to be the child. And the good mother is never offended with the child, even if he touches the body of the mother by kicking his legs.

Krsna Book 87:

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is within the gigantic universe, and He is lying in the Causal Ocean as Mahā-Viṣṇu, in a body so gigantic that when He exhales, millions and trillions of universes emanate from His body. This is called mahimā-siddhi. Kṛṣṇa also has the perfection of laghimā: He can become the lightest. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that it is because Kṛṣṇa enters within this universe and within the atoms that all the planets are floating in the air. That is the explanation of weightlessness. Kṛṣṇa also has the perfection of prāpti: He can get whatever He likes. Similarly, He has the facility of īśitā, controlling power. He is called the supreme controller, Parameśvara. In addition, Kṛṣṇa can bring anyone under His influence. This is called vaśitā.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 15, Purport:

"In the millions and millions of universes there are innumerable planets, and each and every one of them is different from the others by its cosmic constitution. All of these planets are situated in a corner of the brahma-jyotir. This brahma-jyotir is but the personal rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, whom I worship." This mantra from the Brahma-saṁhitā is spoken from the platform of factual realization of the Absolute Truth, and the śruti-mantra of Śrī Īśopaniṣad under discussion confirms this mantra as a process of realization. The Īśopaniṣad mantra is a simple prayer to the Lord to remove the brahma-jyotir so that one can see His real face. This brahma-jyotir effulgence is described in detail in several mantras of the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (2.2.10-12):