Brahma's Prayer to Krishna - II

Govindam ädi-purusam tam aham bhajämi

Yogis, desiring to attain the Supreme Absolute Truth, that lies beyond the realm of contemplation, follow the path of strictly regulating the breathing process. Sages who advocate the philosophy of the formless absolute follow the path of philosophical discussion to ascertain the formless, impersonal Brahman by the process of gradually eliminating the unreal. After pursuing these paths for hundreds of millions of years, they may reach only as far as the tips of the toes of His lotus feet. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

Potency and the possessor of potency are one undifferentiated principle. The potency by which billions of universes are created is situated inseparably within Him. All the universes are situated within Bhagavän, and by the influence of His inconceivable potency, Bhagavän is also fully present in every atom of all the universes. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

I worship the original personality, Govinda. Those human beings whose hearts are enthused with ecstatic devotion for Him attain their respective forms, seats, conveyances and ornaments, in accordance with their individual moods, and they glorify Him through the hymns renowned in the Vedas.

Govinda, who is all-pervading and who exists within the hearts of all, resides in His Goloka along with Rädhä, who is the embodiment of His pleasure potency and the counterpart of His own spiritual form. She is the epitome of transcendental rasa, and is expert in sixtyfour arts. They are also accompanied by the sakhis, who are expansions of Rädhä’s own transcendental body, and who are infused with blissful, spiritual rasa. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

Saintly persons whose eyes of devotion are smeared with the salve of love always behold Krsna within their hearts as Syämasundara, the embodiment of inconceivable qualities. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

I worship the original personality, Govinda, who manifests Himself in the material world as Rämachandra and many other incarnations who are His plenary portions and sub-portions, and who personally appears in the form of Krsna.

I worship the original personality, Govinda. The nondifferentiated, impersonal Brahman that has been described by the Upaniñads has originated from the radiance of His limbs. That effulgence is distinct from the majestic opulence of billions of worlds such as the Earth planet which comprise the mundane realm, and is perceived as the indivisible, unlimited, endless principle of truth.

Mäyä consists of the three material qualities of goodness, passion and ignorance and is His inferior energy. She propagates the Vedic knowledge that pertains to the material universe. I worship the original personality Govinda, who is the shelter of that mäyä, though His own existence is the embodiment of pure goodness untinged by passion and ignorance.

When living entities remember Govinda, He is reflected in their pure hearts, appearing in His original form, which is surcharged with blissful transcendental mellows. This form is the embodiment of the most resplendent, transcendental amorous rasa, which churns the heart of the god of love, Cupid himself, although he churns others’ hearts. Through His pastimes, Govinda is ever victorious over the three worlds. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

Devi-dhäma, the material world, consists of fourteen planetary systems. Above this lies Mahesa-dhäma, above that Hari-dhäma, and above all lies Goloka, the abode of Govinda. I worship the original personality Govinda, who regulates the characteristic influence pertaining to each individual abode.

The shadow of the transcendental potency is that great potency who creates, maintains and annihilates the material universe. She is worshiped throughout the world as Durgä. I worship the original personality, Govinda, in accordance with whose desire Durgä conducts her every endeavor.

Govinda attains the form of Sambhu to perform a specific function, just as milk is transformed into yogurt by contact with a particular transforming agent, although yogurt is not a different substance, independent of milk, which is its cause. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

I worship the original personality, Govinda.

Just as when the flame of one lamp is transmitted to another lamp, the second lamp illuminates in the same manner as the original flame, although it exists separately, so does Govinda accept the form of Mahä-Visnu reclining on the Causal Ocean. That Mahä-Visnu is the source of all the Visnu expansions and incarnations in this world.

I worship that original personality, Govinda. Having assumed His own most excellent form, Sesa, the embodiment of the all-accommodating potency, He enjoys mystic slumber while reclining in the Causal Ocean with innumerable universes within every hair-pore of His skin.

The lords of the universes, such as Brahmä, who emanate from the hair-pores of Mahä-Visnu’s skin, remain alive only for the duration of His one exhalation. I worship the original personality, Govinda, of whom Mahä-Visnu is a portion of a portion.

Just as the sun manifests his potency to a minute degree within jewels such as sürya-känta, and invests them with the power to burn, similarly Govinda also infuses His creative potency within the secondary creator of the universe, Brahmä. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

In order to obtain the power required to remove all the obstacles within the three worlds, Ganesa, the bestower of success, always holds the divine lotus feet of Govinda upon the pair of cranial mounds protruding from his elephant head. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

The three worlds have been created from nine elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, space, the directions, time, the mind and soul. I worship the original personality, Govinda, from whom the elements have originated, in whom they are situated after their manifestation, and into whom they enter at the time of the cosmic annihilation.

Sürya, the predominating deity of the sun, is the king of all the planets, and is likened to the eye of this world. I worship the original personality, Govinda, upon whose order the sun travels in his regular orbit, having mounted the wheel of time.

I worship that original personality, Govinda, whose power of endowment alone manifests the respective potencies in the principles of religious conduct, sinful activities, the Vedas, various austerities and all living entities from Brahmä down to the most insignificant insect.

Govinda impartially bestows the fruits of reaction upon all living entities who are wandering on the path of karma, from the insignificant indragopa insect to Indra, the monarch of the demigods, according to the bondage accrued from their respective individual actions.

Those who contemplate Him with feelings of lust, anger, the natural intimacy of friendship, fear, parental affection, bewilderment, reverence and servitude, attain bodies with various degrees of beauty and qualities corresponding to their individual meditations. I worship that original personality, Govinda.

I worship that supreme abode of Svetadvipa, where the beloved heroines are a host of transcendental goddesses of fortune, and the Supreme Personality Krsna is the only lover; where all the trees are spiritual desire-trees, and the earth is made of transcendental wish-fulfilling cintämani jewels; where the water is nectar, natural speaking is a melodious song, and walking to and fro is an artful dance; where the flute is the dearmost friend; where light is full of knowledge and bliss, and the supreme spiritual substance that comprises all things is relishable; where a vast transcendental ocean of milk is always flowing from millions upon millions of surabhi cows; and where time is not subject to passing away, even for half the blink of an eye, because it is not divided into past and future, but remains in the undivided eternal present. That divine abode, which is practically unknown in this world, is known by the name of Goloka to only a few, rare sädhus.

On hearing this prayer, which contains so many essential truths, Sri Krsna said to Brahmä, “O Brahmä! if you desire to create progeny by employing the transcendental realization of My glories, then My dear child, I will bestow upon you this knowledge, contained in five verses. You should take it up in practice.”

Krsna Uvaca: "When one realizes the transcendental subject through knowledge, and through devotion whose goal is affection for Krsna, there is an awakening of love for the GOD. That love is characterized by extremely elevated devotion in the form of transcendental rasa in relation to Krsna. One may attain incessant realization of one’s constitutional identity by continuously observing the codes of appropriate behavior, and by practicing the sädhana-bhajana prescribed by the authentic scriptures. Understanding oneself to be under the shelter of the Lord, one may offer oneself fully at His lotus feet. A sädhaka who does so attains highest-devotion. Love & devotion is the aim and object of life, and there is nothing more auspicious than this. The platform of supreme bliss is attained only through prema-bhakti. This prema-bhakti, which leads to Me, is only achieved through practice. O Brahmä! abandon all varieties of dharma and engage exclusively in My worship with unwavering determination and faith. Perfection is attained according to one’s faith. Human beings in this world are continuously engaged in occupational duties. They should desire to attain love & devotion by being absorbed in thoughts of Me through the performance of their respective duties. O Brahmä! listen to Me. I alone am the seed and the root principle of this universe of moving and non-moving entities. Only I am the unmanifest aggregate of the material elements. Only I am the predominated (prakrti) as well as the predominator (purusa). The brahminical power that is concealed within you has been given by Me. Therefore, employ this power in creating the universe of animate and inanimate entities."

Gayatri & Brahma's Prayer to Krsna

After learning the 18-syllable mantra from sarasvati, Brahma engaged in severe austerities. Then Gäyatri, emanated as the sound of Krsna’s flute, entered the eight earholes of Brahmä. Thus Brahmä achieved realization of the Gäyatri mantra that lead to his reformation, having heard gayatri directly from his spiritual master.

As Gäyatri entered the ears of Brahmä, he became qualified as a Brähmana and began to sing hymns in praise of the original purusa. Thus by chanting Gayatri, which is the essence of all the Vedas, Brahmä became fully enlightened with the ocean of truths that he realized, and with that essence of Vedic knowledge he offered the following prayer to Krsna.

"The transcendental realm is eternally adorned by millions of wish-fulfilling trees, by pavilions made of desire-fulfilling jewels and by innumerable wish-fulfilling cows. There, thousands upon thousands of Gopis are rendering services to the Supreme Personality with great affection. I worship that original Supreme Personality, Govinda"

Govindam ädi-purusam tam aham bhajämi

"I worship the primeval personality, Govinda, who is absorbed in playing upon His flute, whose long eyes expand and bloom like lotus flowers, whose headdress is adorned with peacock feathers, and whose unique bodily complexion, which resembles the luster of a dark blue raincloud, bewilders the minds of millions of Kandarpas (Cupids)"

Govindam ädi-purusam tam aham bhajämi

"I worship the original personality, Govinda, around whose neck a garland of forest flowers and peacock feathers swings gently, whose lotus hands hold a captivating flute, whose arms are decorated with jeweled ornaments, who is always madly absorbed in intimate loving pastimes, and whose eternal naturalaspect is His graceful, threefold-bending (tri-bhanga-lalitam) Syämasundara form"

Govindam ädi-purusam tam aham bhajämi

"I worship that original personality, Govinda. His divine form is composed of eternity, cognizance and bliss, and is therefore exceptionally effulgent. Each and every limb or sense of His transcendental body is inherently endowed with all the functions of all the other senses. He eternally sees, maintains and regulates an infinite number of universes, both spiritual and mundane"

Govindam ädi-purusam tam aham bhajämi

"Although He is non-dual, infallible, beginningless, possessed of unlimited forms and the oldest of all, nevertheless He is a beautiful person with everlasting, fresh youthfulness. Although He is incomprehensible through study of the Vedas, He is easily attained by spontaneous devotion of the soul. I worship that original personality, Govinda"

continued........

18 syllable mantra

The mantra that Goddess Sarasvati had asked Brahma to read so that his mind will be focussed on creation.

The first syllable klim is the seed, or käma-bija. Joined together with this seed, the mantra is klim krsnaya govindäya gopijana-vallabhäya svähä. . The mantra is called a sad-anga, sad-padi mantra, meaning that its six words (pada) comprise its six limbs (anga). The six words are (1) krsnäya, (2) govindäya,(3) gopijana, (4) vallabhäya, (5) svä and (6) hä. The mantra is formed by arranging the words in this order. Klim is the original one-syllable seed (käma-béja), whose meaning has been expressed as follows in the Upanisads. “Krsna created the universe by the käma-bija, klim. In this käma-béja, the letters k, l, i, the sign of the half moon and the dot (bindu) above it have given rise to the elements water, earth, fire, air and space respectively.” Therefore this mantra, whose heart is the käma-bija, is the root cause of all living beings.

Klim: The letter k indicates the very form of eternity, knowledge and bliss, the Supreme Person, Krsna. The letter l signifies the highest bliss in the ocean of happiness born from the love of Rädhä-Krsna. The letter i indicates Vrndävanesvari, the supreme potency, Rädhä. The sign of the half-moon and the bindu, which together form the ending m, signify the supremely ecstatic sweetness derived from the mutual love of Rädhä-Krsna. Narada was once told by Sanat Kumara about the origin of klim. "klim is not something that is only made of letters; it is the very embodiment of Krsna’s divine transcendental form, because each one of its component letters is one of Krsna’s limbs. One should understand the letter k Krsna’s head, specifically the crown of His head, His forehead, His two eyebrows, His nose, His two eyes and His ears. The letter l embodies His cheeks, the upper portion of the cheeks, His chin, neck, throat and His fingernails. The half-moon is His chest, His belly, the sides of His body, His navel and His waist. One should understand the bindu to be His thighs, His knees, His calves, the center of His knees, the backs of His heels, His feet, the lower part of His thighs, His toes and His toenails".

Krsnaya: Krsna whose form is eternity, knowledge and bliss completely takes away all kinds of sins and offenses and even vanquishes the offenses of the demons.

Govindaya: Go means (a) the cows, (b) the world and (c) the Vedas; so it can mean He who pleases the cows, the Earth and the Vedas, and who nourishes all, thereby increasing their bliss. SO, He who is in cowherd boy attire, who is celebrated throughout the world and the Vedas, is addressed as Govinda.

Gopijana: indicates those gopis who are the very embodiment of that love and devotion that is itself the power to attract Krsna, who is only controlled by this type of affection. It can also be interpreted as the word gopi is derived from the gup, which means “to protect or to maintain.” His special potency that bestows love upon the devotees and nourishes and protects them is called gopé, or the pleasure potency, and Rädhä is the original embodiment of the pleasure potency. Therefore, the word gopi indicates the embodiment of the pleasure potency, the aggregate of the predominated principle, Rädhä. Jana means the circle of Her plenary expansions, or those who are expansions of Her personal form, the sakhtis such as Lalitä and Visäkhä.

Vallabhäya: The word vallabha means “one who inspires/encourages/engages in love” or “a lover.” He who engagess the gopis through His endearing pastimes. He who enjoys the sweetest amorous sports with the gopés, is called Gopijanavallabha. In the company of Rädhä, He manifests as Madana-mohana. The expression gopéjana-vallabha is therefore properly interpreted to mean Madana-mohana, who is the form eternally embraced by Rädhä. Since gopéjanavallabha evidently refers to the Divine Couple, Rädhä-Krsna .

Svähä: The word svähä means “His energy” Yogamäyä. Yogamäyä is the spiritual potency that manifests from Gopijana-vallabha’s intrinsic nature, and she offers the devotees unto the lotus feet of krsna. Hence, Svaha means, she by whose help one’s ätmä is absolutely and irrevocably offered un to His lotus feet. By uttering or remembering the word svähä, the devotees accomplish unconditional self-surrender. Therefore one should recite or remember the word svähä as the method of completely selfless dedication.

Origin of Gods - VI - Prajapati & Brahma

The four-headed Brahmä, the knower of the four Vedas, was manifested from that lotus.

The lotus flower that was the resting place of all living entities emerged from the purusa who had entered His hidden abode. Thereafter Hiranyagarbha Brahmä (Prajapati), the possessor of the collective bodily identification, manifested. After that, fourheaded Brahmä, the knower of the four Vedas, emerged as the embodiment of enjoyment from Hiranyagarbha. The four-headed Brahmä appeared from the lotus that came from the area of Visnu’s navel, and whose flower and stem are the resting place of the fourteen planetary systems. Here, “embodiment of enjoyment” means that Brahmä’s present four-headed body is a repository of material enjoyment, made according to the impressions of desires to enjoy the fruits of his actions from the previous creation. Because of his previous impressions, he desired to create the material world as soon as he appeared.

After manifesting from the lotus flower, Brahmä, who is empowered by Bhagavän’s potency, absorbed his mind in the subject of creation according to his previous impressions. However, he saw nothing but darkness in all four directions. Since he felt dense darkness, Brahmä glanced in four directions at once, and in so doing, he manifested four faces in the four directions.

At that time, when the cosmos had been dissolved and the vast waters were agitated into whirlpools by the force of the wind, Brahmä, was situated in the lotus flower that had emerged from the water. However, he could neither factually understand the situation of the world nor of his own self. Being seated on the upper surface of the lotus flower, he had a lot of questions, “Who am I? What is the origin of this unique lotus flower within the water? How did it appear? There must definitely be something below it, and this lotus flower must also be situated upon some supporting base”. So deliberating in this way, Brahmä entered the path formed by the hollow within the middle of the lotus stem. Still, despite approaching the base of the lotus stem, namely Näräyana’s navel, he was incapable of understanding anything, even after making extensive research. Retiring from his investigation with his ambition unfulfilled, Brahmä returned once more to his sitting place on top of the lotus flower. There he sat in a posture for meditation, and by controlling his breathing he gradually concentrated his consciousness by introspection.

In a nutshell, due to Brahmäs previous actions, he had a desire to create. Every living entity acquires a particular nature in accordance with his previous actions and, in accordance with his nature, different types of endeavors appeal to his heart. This is called the fruit of action performed in previous lives. In Brahmä’s heart was the desire to create just as he had done in the previous creation. Similarly, certain qualified living entities may also attain the position of Brahmä.

Sarasvati spoke to Brahmä as he was looking at the darkness in all directions. "O Brahmä! klim krsnaya govindäya gopijana-vallabhäya svähä. This mantra will fulfill your cherished desires." This is the eighteen syllable mantra that is the highest of all mantras.

Orgin of Gods - Part V - Living Entities' Creation

Thereafter, Mahä-purusa, having entered the universe in the forms of Prajäpati, Visnu and Sambhu, performs His pastime of maintenance, creation and dissolution, which occurs within the inert material energy. Since this pastime is so insignificant, Visnu associates with Yoganidrä, who is the personification of mystical absorption in His own intrinsic bliss, and the partial manifestation of the spiritual potency.

The lilä of Maha-Visnu is such that Brahmä, Visnu and Sambhu have now entered the material universe. Maha-Visnu performs the tasks of creating, maintaining and annihilating the material world by entering the universe in these three forms, Brahmä, Visnu and Sambhu. Because Brahmä and Sambhu have a self-conception of being separate from the essential reality of Bhagavän, they sport with their respective aspects of the inferior potency, namely Sävitri and Umä, who are the shadow forms of the transcendental potency. However, Bhagavän Visnu associates with Bhagavati Mahä-Yoganidrä, who, being the partial manifestation of Ramä-devi, is the personification of mystical absorption in His own intrinsic bliss.

When Garbhodakasayi Visnu desired to create, from His navel emerged a golden lotus flower, from which the creator, Brahmä, appeared. Complete with its stem, this wonderful golden lotus flower is the residence of Brahmä and is known as Brahmaloka or Satyaloka. Before the creation of the five gross elements, the fundamental elements existed in their natural condition in separate, individual forms, because the process of combining them had not been applied. Mahä-Visnu, acted through the illusory potency by associating with His own transcendental potency. Uniting those separate elements by systematic combination, He created the material world. After accomplishing the task of creation in this way, He became absorbed in mystic slumber, the form of union with His own transcendental potency. When He mixed together the individual essential realities, He manifested unlimited numbers of material universes. After that He personally entered into His hidden abode, the innermost region of each universe (hidden means unreachable. it can be Lord's resting place and can be each creation/entity's heart). At that time, all the living entities woke up from the sleeping condition in which they had passed the duration of the cosmic dissolution. this last few words means, creation and dissolution follow a complete cycle. Cosmic annihilation happens at the end of Brahmä’s lifespan (one breathing cycle of Lord). The living entities again become manifest within the creation according to their previous fruitive desires. The living entities are eternal (eternal - they exist throughout the time) and they have an eternal relationship with Krsna that extends throughout time, with neither beginning nor end. By constitution they are intrinsically His superior potency. Narada explains it with an example: living beings are part and parcle of Krsna such as the rays of the sun are always related to the sun. The lotus flower that emerged from the area of Visnu’s navel contained the collective bodily conception of all living entities.

Origin of Gods - Part IV - Sambhu & False Ego

The world of false ego has been born from Sambhu. This is his function in relation to the living entities.The unmanifest aggregate material energy originates from Krsna’s spiritual potency, and it transforms into three types of false ego, which were infused/instilled with the potency for activity at the time of creation. The mind, the senses and the airs of life are born from these three modifications of false ego, namely false ego in goodness, false ego in passion and false ego in the mode of ignorance. hence Sambhu is also called Anantadeva. He is the cause of matter, the senses and the mind as explained above. Sambhu is the material cause by virtue of supplying the raw material substances for creation. When each universe is manifest from the gradual evolution of this state of existence, the rudra or destructive principle emerges from the existence of Sambhu. Although born from between the eyebrows of the purusa-avatära Mahä-Visnu, Sambhu remains as the epitome of false ego in all conditions.

An unlimited number of atomic conscious particles emerge from the spiritual rays of Paramätmä as the aggregate of the living entities. When the living entities identify themselves as the servants of Krsna, they are of Vaikuntha, and have no relationship with the world of mäyä. When the living entity forgets this pure identity, he desires to become the enjoyer of mäyä, and the false ego principle of Sambhu then enters his existence and produces within him the self-conception of being a separate enjoyer. Therefore, Sambhu alone is the principle underlying the world of false ego and the identification of the living entities with their material bodies.

Origin of Gods - Part III - Viswarupa & Creation

As described by Brahma in Brahma Samhita, Purusa, the master of the universe, Mahä-Visnu, possesses thousands upon thousands of heads, thousands upon thousands of eyes, thousands upon thousands of arms,and thousands upon thousands of incarnations and plenary expansions (Sahasra-sirsä). He is the Self of the cosmos, and He alone creates thousands upon thousands of living entities.

The intrinsic form and nature of Mahä-Visnu, as stated in srimad-Bhägavatam (2.6.42)is, the first avatära of Bhagavän, the Lord of the spiritual realm, is the purusa who lies down in the Causal Ocean and casts His glance upon material nature. The following are all substances related to Paramesvara: His activities, such as the creation of time and acquired nature; material nature, which is composed of cause and effect; the unmanifest stage of material nature (mahattattva); the gross elements; false ego; the aggregate of the modes of material nature beginning with the mode of goodness manifested as various forms of life; hellish planets such as Pätälaloka; the aggregate of living entities; Garbhodakasäyi Visnu; moving and non-moving entities; and individual bodies. The gigantic purusa, who instigates the activities of material nature and who has thousands of heads and so on, has been called the original avatära who assumes a pastime form. His activities include creation of the time factor, acquired nature and other elements of the material creation. Thus, the original puruña-avatära creates, maintains and destroys within Himself and by Himself, at the beginning of every lifetime of Brahmä. Although He is one, He is manifest in many forms through His illusory energy. This universe, consisting of factual existence and the non-factual or temporary existence of cause and effect, is situated within Him alone. Therefore, all these phenomena have been called substances related to Him.

This Mahä-Visnu is known within the world of mäyä by the name Näräyana. The water of the Causal Ocean has emanated from this eternal purusa. He is the supreme predominator, possessed of thousands of plenary portions, although He Himself is a plenary portion of the Sankarsana. The eternal purusa takes shelter of mystic slumber and lies down in the vast waters of Virajä, hence the name Narayana ( Nara=water; ayana=shelter). He is a partial expansion of Mahä-Sankarsana in Vaikuntha. The Sankarsana in the chamber of Goloka, who was described earlier, is Müla-Sankarsana, His plenary portion in the second quadruple expansion in Vaikuntha is called Mahä-Sankarsana, and käranodakasayi Mahä-Visnu is an expansion of this Mahä-Sankarsana. It is His pastime to create the Causal Ocean and lie down in it in mystic slumber, which is a state of trance induced by His own intrinsic, ecstatic nature. Bhagavän’s state of trance in the form of absorption in His own pleasure potency is called Yoga-nidrä. Ramä-devi, who was mentioned previously, presents herself as Yogamäyä. The transcendental seeds of Saìkarsana emerge in the form of countless golden eggs from the pores of the skin of Mahä-Visnu as He reclines in the Causal Ocean. All those eggs remain covered by the great material elements.

Innumerable universes, each assembled in the f0rm of 24 elements of creation are born from Mahä-Visnu as He lies in the Causal Ocean.The elemsnts are as follows: five gross elements (earth, water, fire, air and space); five sense objects (form, taste, fragrance, sound and touch); the five knowledge-acquiring senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin); the five working senses (speech, hands, legs, rectum and genitals); and the three subtle senses (mind, intelligence and false ego). Along with the unmanifest material energy and the living entities, all these elements were contained within the illusory material nature in the form of the seeds of Mahä- Sankarsana, the presiding deity of the twenty-four elements of creation.

Each universe has an innermost portion extending 5,000,000,000 yojanas (40,000,000,000 miles), and its outer portion consists of the seven coverings beginning with earth, each extending ten times further than the previous one. There are millions upon billions of universes that extend even further than this universe. Nevertheless, millions and billions of such universes are situated like tiny atomic particles within each of the skin-pores of Mahä-Visnu. That Käranodakasayi Visnu is the cause of all the universes.

Then Mahä-Visnu entered into every individual universe as His individual plenary portions, each of which is complete with all His mystic opulences. In other words, within each universe Mahä-Visnu assumes the form of the universal soul (Garbhodakasayi Visnu) with thousands upon thousands of heads. Every one of those plenary portions is directly Visnu, and they are similar to Mahä-Visnu in every respect. Each Garbhodakasayi Visnu is the aggregate feature of all forms of the indwelling witness.

Then Mahä-Visnu created Visnu from His left side, Prajäpati (Hiranyagarbha the orginator of Brahma) from His right side, and Sambhu in the form of an effulgent linga from between His eyebrows, in each of the universe. Ksirodakasayi Visnu is the indwelling witness of the individual living entity, whereas Garbhodakasayi Visnu is the indwelling witness of the aggregate of living entities. The primal progenitor originating from the right side of Maha-Visnu is Hiranyagarbha, the expansion of the Lord, and he is different from the four-headed Brahmä. This Hiranyagarbha is the seed principle of each of the Brahmäs in all the unlimited universes.