[Advaita-l] multi universes and powers

[V Subrahmanian]

Dear Raghav ji,

Thanks for the very interesting story in the link you shared.  I understand
from the story that: There are multiple brahmanda-s and  many Brahma-s but
their description differs owing to the size of each of the brahmanda.
Also, I understand that  the Brahma of universe A is different from the
Brahma of universe B and there will not be the recognition 'I am he'.  So,
different jivas are inhering each Brahma.  So with Shiva.

Regarding this observation of yours //One other problem is if Lalita Devi
(saguṇa Brahman) is anekakoTi brahmANda
jananI what about her consort Lord Shiva? Is he the Lord of one universe
or Lord of the multiverse? //

my response is: Lord Shiva the consort of the Janani Lalita is also the
janaka of the so many Brahmandas/multiverse.  There will be many Shivas and
Parvathis for the many Brahmandas. This can be explained by the concept of
Turiya Shiva or Turiya Vishnu. The Trimurtis are products/extensions of the
Turiya Shiva or Vishnu. So with Devi.

And your final statement // unless we acknowledge
the existence of certain forms of Ishvara including Shiva, Parvati , Vishnu
etc as having Aishvaryam of the entire multiverse and these aspects of
saguNam brahma are not-limited-to-one-universe.//  is perfectly fine.  Once
I asked Sri MDS about the multiverse, for which there is no clue at all in
the Prasthana traya/bhashya, for which he said 'it is not impossible or
inadmissible.'  I felt that the prakriya applicable for one universe,
brahmanda, like jiva's attaining various lokas due to karma, Brahma loka
for krama mukti, etc. will be replicated to all the brahmandas. In the
story in your link, Krishna indicates that the size/extent of each
Brahmanda differs. If we guess that the timeline of each Brahmanda too
differs, then still the prakriya stated in PTB will be applicable to all
brahmandas, with the respective timelines/durations.

regards
subbu



On Thu, Jul 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Dear Subbuji
>
> On Wed, 23 Jul 2025 at 11:46 PM, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, Jul 23, 2025 at 8:56 PM ramesh badisa via Advaita-l <
> > advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >
> > > Namaskaram to all.As per Upanishads (e.g: Maha NarayanaUpanishad),
> > > Puranams (e.g: Brahmanda puranam) and modern astronomy, there are many
> > > Universes in the vast expansion of space. As per our scriptures quoted
> > > above, each Universe has a Brahma, a Vishnu and a Maheswara. I would
> like
> > > to know from fellow advaitins if Omnipresent, Omnipotent,
> andOmniscience
> > of
> > > Trinity are limited to their respective Universes only. Grateful if you
> > > share your thoughts on this. Namaskaram. ramesh
> > >
> >
> >
> > Namaste
> >
> > Maybe the answer you are seeking lies in analysing the following.  It is
> > from the Saubhagyabhaskara commentary to the Sri Lalita Sahasra Nama:
> >
> > अनेककोटिब्रह्माण्डजननी दिव्यविग्रहा || १७५ ||  This is a nama there for
> > which the commentary explains:
> >
> >
> >
> >       अनेका अनन्ताः कोटयो ये ब्रह्माण्डास्तेषां जननी जनयित्री |
> >
> > यद्वा अनेककोटयो ब्रह्माण्डा येषां ते तथा |
> >
> > अभिमन्यमानत्वादिरूपः सम्बन्धः षष्ठ्यर्थः | तेषां
> > विराडादीनां जननीम् |
> >
> > There are many Brahmanda-s, universes, each of which has a Virāt,
> > Hranyagarbha, Ishwara, etc. She is the Janani for these so many Virāt,
> etc.
> > If we say the Trimurtis are  the Virat, etc. then She is the Janani of
> the
> > Trimurtis too. Then we can say that the Trimurtis in one Brahmanda will
> > have jurisdiction over that Brahmanda only.  Since Bhagavatpada says in
> the
> > Brihadaranyaka bhashya, Hiranyagarbha is both jiva and Brahman from diff
> > points of view, we can say the Trimurtis are different jivas in diff
> > brahmandas.
>
> Thank you for highlighting this.
>
> > Trimurtis being considered jivas may not go down too well with some.
> Although Brahmaa ji is often given jiva status.
>
> The famous Bhagavatam verse is there where brahmas of different brahmandas
> with differing numbers of faces, all come and pay their respects to Sri
> Krishna Bhagavan - its pic by ISKCON / gaudiya tradition is rather
> memorable I think.
>
>
> https://www.bhagavatam-katha.com/krishna-story-brahma-visit-to-lord-krishna-in-dvaraka/
>
>
> One other problem is if Lalita Devi (saguṇa Brahman) is anekakoTi brahmANda
> jananI what about her consort Lord Shiva? Is he the Lord of one universe or
> Lord of the multiverse? There may be infinite regress unless we acknowledge
> the existence of certain forms of Ishvara including Shiva, Parvati , Vishnu
> etc as having Aishvaryam of the entire multiverse and these aspects of
> saguNam brahma are not-limited-to-one-universe.
>
> Om
>
>
> They are also Brahman, Lalita Parameswari, since She alone is
> > appearing as all of them.
> >
> > Maybe others can add to this or correct this.
> >
> > regards
> > subbu
> >
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