Namaste and Welcome to the First Post of this Blog :)

Have been racking my brains about the right topic to start with and ! thought it would probably
be good to begin at the beginning " implying the Beginning of our Universe#
$here is a wealth of %stronomical data available in ancient Hindu scriptures# !&ll first share our
current knowledge about %stronomy and then we can compare it with the details provided in our
ancient te'ts to get a clear picture about where we stand#
(odern %stronomy talks about a )ingle *niverse comprising of +ark (atter and brighter
Heavenly bodies like the Galaxies Stars Planets Asteroids Satellites etc# $his entire matter
,and anti"matter) is believed to have emerged about -. Billion /ears ago in time
from a momentous e'plosion called the Big Bang#
0oom out from 1arth to the *niverse
$urning to the scriptural descriptions my personal favorite is Shrimad-Bhagavat
Puraan because of its e'tremely scientific approach and !2m gonna use e'cerpts from this
magnificent book to present data that ! am sure will blow your mind if you have any interest in
astronomy3
!nside this literary (asterpiece one can find descriptions of the different planets from our )olar
)ystem and beyond4 our 5ala'y4 different Planetary systems4 as well as our 1N$!61 *niverse3
7et2s see what it has to offer to an interested reader in terms of %stronomy#
Universe according to Srimad Bhagvatam
Hindu (ythology talks about $W8 separate 6ealms in this 9reation " the )P!6!$*%7 and the
(%$16!%7#
$he Spiritual Realm is full of the 1ffulgence of )upreme 7ord that spreads throughout
and banishes darkness from each and every corner of this 6ealm# 6eligions that envision 5od as
a Being of Bright 7ight worship the same Brahmajyoti.
$he )piritual 6ealm
$his )upreme Heaven is believed to be the abode of Supreme Brahman in :edas Allah in
;oran Jehovah in <ewish te'ts Param Purakh in )ikhism and the King-of-Kings in Bible# $his
is the )upreme %bode that all souls in the material realm strive for and reach after
attaining Nirvana# )rimad Bhagvatam calls this the dwelling place of Lord rishna who
resides in His )piritual abode of Golok Vrindavan.
%round this central world there e'ist other )piritual planets that revolve around it like the
planets in )olar )ystem revolve around the )un# $hese are collectively known
as the !ai"unth planets and each of these is the +ivine residence of a !ishnu form#
$he )piritual 6ealm of Bhagvat Puraan
8n these planets reside 7ord :ishnu2s different incarnations alongwith 5oddess La"shmi and
the Pure souls who have been able to transcend the bonds of (aterial Nature#
!n one corner of this huge bright realm like a =+ark cloud in a clear bright sky& lies the
#aterial $reation where !ndividual )ouls like /8* and (1 take birth evolve e'ist eat earn
reproduce and ultimately die# $his realm takes up about ->.th of the entire space of the )piritual
6ealm and is depicted beneath the lotus on the lower right corner of the image below#
(aterial 6ealm in a corner of the )piritual 6ealm
1ven though Material Realm is created for souls who want to live independent lives the 7ord
by means of His infinite e'pansions still ensures they can have a smooth sailing# He takes
the form of Shri #aha !ishnu for the 9reation of this (aterial 6ealm and it is from Him that
everything in this world emanates#
Now there is 8N1 (%<86 difference in the Hindu notion of the (aterial world and the current
scientific understanding about it " %indu scriptures state that the #aterial Realm is
composed of Billions and &rillions of Universes '(() and *+& just a single one((
Billions and Billions of Universes
)cientifically it is still undetermined whether the universe e'ists by itself or is ?ust one of the
countless trillions within a larger #ultiverse itself contained within the +mniverse that is the
(aterial World#
But according to scriptures the *niverse that we live in is ?ust a $!N/ infinitesimal part of the
entire (aterial 9reation and all these @illions of *niverses are born at the )ame $ime from
the )ame Primeval )ource - Shri #aha !ishnu#
1:16/$!(1 the 7ord e'hales a *niverse emerges from 1%9H of his body pores and
with 1%9H of His inhalations %77 these *niverses merge B%9; into His body3 $he multiple
universes generated are floating and they are scattered all over the 9ausal 8cean#
*niverses emerging from )ri (aha :ishnu
! was rendered speechless by the larger"than"life imagery inherent in this concept# $he mere
thought of so many *niverses taking Birth 1'panding and +issolving again in (aha
:ishnu&s )!N571 breath is fantastic and indeed ,to use the pun) breath"taking33
#adam Blavats"y the founder of the $heosophical )ociety describes this phenomenon thus"
The Great Breath goes forth and returns again.
As it proceeds outwards, objects, worlds, and men appear.
As it recedes all things disappear into the original source.
The Great Breath is, so to speak, the universal and eternal Perpetuum obile.
!f ever there is a 5rand description of 5od in World literature it has to be this one3 How
infinitesimal and tiny our entire e'istence appears to be if we humbly give thought to this notion#
8ur entire lifetimes are nothing not even a fraction of a second for 7ord (aha :ishnu3
!ndeed our entire *niverse ,which by current estimates is about -A#B Billion years old) was born
with a )!N571 e'halation of the 7ord and will merge back into Him with His N1C$ intake of
Breath33 $he concept also fits the Big Bang $heory as the moment it emerges from 7ord
:ishnu2s body pores is $H1 moment of Big Bang for each *niverse3
Big Bang " $he Birth of a *niverse
%fter e'ploding out of the body of Sri #aha !ishnu each *niverse continues to e'pand and
after reaching a critical threshold again begins to contract until it is assimilated back in the body
of 7ord (aha :ishnu3
! thought this was probably one isolated e'ample of the mention of a (ulti"verse and maybe was
not intended in the way ! was interpreting it# But to my surprise the concept of (ultiple
*niverses is widely accepted and acknowledged in Hindu 9osmology3
#ultiple Universes in Scriptures
Puranic literature is full of descriptions of multiple as well as parallel *niverses#
Hindu scriptures also declare there2s !ntelligent life out there in the *niverse and this is gotta be
the absolutely F!6)$ mention of %7!1N) in World 7iterature ever33
! will share with you a few e'amples from different te'ts to illustrate the point#Srimad
Bhagavatam DE#-E#ABF eulogi@es the )upreme 7ord :ishnu in following words:
There are nnumera!le "niverses besides this one, and although the! are unlimitedl! large, the!
move about like atoms in "ou. Therefore "ou are called #$ithout-limits#.
!n verse -G#-.#-- it again states:
"nlimited universes pass through the pores of "our bod! just as particles of dust pass through
the openings of a screened window.
Lord Shiva in verse H#.#IE again mentions thus:
! dear son, %, &ord Brahm' and the other devas, who move within this universe, cannot e(hibit
an! power to compete with the )upreme Personalit! of Godhead, for nnumera!le "niverses
and their inha!itants come into e(istence and are annihilated b! the simple direction of the &ord
*ari.
)hri Hari :ishnu the 9ause of all 9reation
)imilar views are shared by 7ord Brahma in the Brahma !aivarta Puraan where a mention of
(ultiple Parallel *niverses is made"
And who will search through the wide infinities of space to count the universes Side !# Side,
+A,* containing its Brahma, its -ishnu, its )hiva. $ho can count the %ndras in them, A&&
those %ndras Side !# Side, who reign at once in all the innumerable worlds/ those others who
passed awa! before them/ or even the %ndras who succeed each other in an! given line,
ascending to godl! kingship, one b! one, and, one b! one, passing awa!.
%indu scriptures declare there,s -ntelligent life out there. and this is gotta /e a/solutely
the 0-RS& mention of AL-1*S in 2orld Literature ever((
$he obvious take"away from this concept is that according to the scriptures there e'ist (861
than 8ne *niverses in our 9reation and this topic has long been debated by modern )cientists#
7et us see what our current notions of scientific theory have to say about it#
#ultiple Universes in Science
% large body of )cientific intelligentsia believes in multiple *niverses e'isting perhaps in
parallel dimensions# Here ! would like to introduce you to perhaps the most brilliant mind of our
times " Stephen %a3"ing whose phenomenal work " A Brief %istory of &ime is by far the
most important book on )pace )cience ever#
)tephen Hawking2s (asterpiece
!n this monumental work (r# Hawking talks about something known as $haotic Boundary
$onditions and the Anthropic &heory# He states and ! Juote"
0According to the )trong Anthropic Principle, there are either A1" different
2niverses or A1" different regions of a single universe, each with its own initial configuration
and, perhaps, with its own set of laws of science.3
)imply put it states that the likelihood of development of our )ingle *niverse from the big"
bang is much less than the likelihood of (ultiple *niverses being born out of it33
(ultiple *niverses emerging from the Big Bang
$he notion of Parallel>%lternate *niverses has been widely used in many Hollywood movies
such as the recent Star-&re" film ,KGGH) 0A4 ,KGG.) and <et"7i movie &he +ne ,KGG-)#
What is interesting for me is that the mention of (ultiple *niverses comes from the
scriptures much B1F861 modern )cience came to terms with accepting their e'istence# )hort of
$ime"$ravel the ancient /ogis could only have grasped the basic nature of our *niverse through
their rigorous meditation and penance3
$ill now )cience has been unable to tell us what e'isted B1F861 the Big Bang# WH161 did
the e'plosion take place if there was nothing before it happenedLL WH%$ caused the e'plosion
in the first placeLL
But if we grasp the concepts from Srimad Bhagvatam we can understand the )cience as well as
Faith behind this# $he )cientific )pirit of ancient 6ishis makes me bow down in reverence and if
you read the te'ts with an open mind will ama@e you with their profound philosophical insight
as well#
%ncient /ogis deciphering the *niverse through meditation
+ur ancient /eliefs are not just #yths. /ut Para/les for explaining profound Scientific
principles to the common man5
We will cover more such interesting topics in the Posts to follow and ! will try to touch upon as
many diverse scientific disciplines as ! can use to understand and decode the myths and legends
from ancient Hindu tradition#
For now ! conclude this post with the ama@ingly inJuisitive *asadiya Su"ta from the most
ancient te't of Humanity "the Rigveda 678579:; which highlights the Juest of ancient Rishis to
find 8rigins of not only this 9reation but that of 58+ Himself"
At first was no Being neither 1on-being,
There was !et no Air nor )k! spread.
)o what was covering. $here was it present.
$as $ater there, in the unfathomable depth.
There was no 4eath, nor %mmortalit!/
5f 1ight or 4a! there was !et no sign.
The 5ne breathed windless, self-sustaining,
5ther than *% was nothing divine.
4arkness was there, wrapping more 4arkness,
And All was $ater indistinguishable, 4ark.
The ,osmic seed was wrapped in the -oid,
6ising at last, b! the power of Thought.
%n this beginning, 4esire took form,
The primal seed, born of the ind.
$isel! sifting, +(istence from 1on-e(istence,
)ages have found all this in their *eart.
A 6a! was stretched across the -oid,
7now what was below, and what above.
Bearers of seed were there and ight! forces,
Below was )trength, and ,reative-will above.
$ho reall! knows. $ho can declare.
$hen did it happen. *ow ,reation came on.
+ven the 4evas came after its emergence.
)o who trul! knows, $hence it was born.
*e, from $hom this ,reation Arose,
4id *e fashion it or did *e not,
*e, who surve!s it from the *ighest *eaven,
*e surel! knows or ma!be even *e does not8
5
Aum Shanti< Shanti< Shanti<
5
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