The Cosmic Egg (Brahmanda) in Sanatana Dharma: How the Universe Unfolds

The Brahmanda—The Cosmic Egg

Brahma, as the creative God, is spoken of as appearing first, born in the Golden Egg, which grows out of the seed of the One in the [causal] waters of matter.

“He, having meditated, desiring to produce various beings from His own body, first put forth the waters; in these He placed the seed. That became a Golden Egg, equal in radiance to the thousand-rayed (the Sun). In that was born Brahma Himself, the Grandsire of all worlds” (Manu Smriti 1.8,9).

Here the waters, matter, mulaprakriti, receive the seed of Life, and this becomes the Hiranyagarbha, the Golden Egg, in which the Creator is born, in order to form His world-system. Hence a world-system is called a Brahmanda, a Brahma-Egg, a very significant epithet, as world-systems are oval (elliptical) like an egg, and seen from outside present exactly an egg-like form, each planet following an egg-like, elliptical, orbit. Of this Egg we read in the Vishnu Purana that within it Brahma and the world-system were contained, while it was invested externally by seven envelopes: water, fire, air, ether, the origin of the elements (ahamkara), mahat and primal homogeneous matter, which surrounds the whole (Manu Smriti 1.2).

Every world-system is thus surrounded by the great cosmic elements, as described in the first chapter of the Manu Smriti by Manu himself (slokas 5 to 59). The account of the later creation is given over to Bhrigu, who explains briefly the repetition of the process within the World Egg. A similar and fuller account is given in the Mahabharata, and in the Vishnu and other Puranas.

It will be enough if the student grasps the general principles, and he can fill up later the complicated details from the many accounts given in the sacred books. He should remember that the process in the universe containing many Brahmandas, and in the separate Brahmandas, is similar.

More about how the creative process happens

We shall now see that the creative process within a Brahmanda follows on the same lines. Brahma is surrounded by homogeneous matter, called pradhana, in the Vishnu Purana–in which the gunas are in equilibrium; His energy disturbing this tamasic condition, rajoguna prevails and there is rapid motion. Then He puts forth the principle of mahat-buddhi, pure reason–which, entering matter, being invested by it, and causing the predominance of the sattwaguna, the motion becomes rhythmical, harmonious.

Then follows ahamkara, the individualizing principle, separating the homogeneous matter into particles–anus, atoms. Ahamkara, causing the tamoguna to prevail in prakriti, forms successively the five tanmatras, or subtle elements, and the senses: hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell, with their appropriate gross elements: akasha, vayu, agni, apa, prithivi–ether, air, fire, water, earth. Causing the rajoguna to prevail, ahamkara gives rise to the ten indriyas: the five ideal types of sense-organs (jnanendriyas) and the five ideal types of action-organs (karmendriyas). Causing sattwaguna to prevail, ahamkara calls out the ten deities connected with the sense-and-action-organs, and manas, the centralizing organ of the indriyas.

These three creations are called respectively the bhutadi, that of the elements; taijasa, that of the fiery, the active energies; and vaikatrika, the directing, administrative powers. The points to remember here are: in what is usually called matter, tamoguna predominates; in the indriyas, rajoguna predominates; in the presiding deities, sattwaguna predominates.

Cosmic Egg Infographic

Brahma’s assistant-creators

The work of creation proceeded by calling into existence the suras or devas, described by Manu as karmatmana “whose nature is action,” that vast multitude of intelligent beings of very varying power and authority who guide the whole course of nature, and direct all its activities. It is of course, clearly understood by all Hindus that this vast host of devas no more obscures the unity of Ishwara in His triple form as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, than do the vast hosts of men, animals, plants, and minerals.

As said in the Shruti: “Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, they call Him, and He is golden-feathered Garuda. Of what is One, sages speak as manifold; they call Him Agni, Yama, Matarishwan” (Rigveda 1.164.46). So also the Smriti: “All the gods (are) even the Self: all rests on the Self. Some call Him Agni, others Manu, (others) Prajapati, some Indra, others Life-breath, others the eternal Brahman” (Manu Smriti 12.119, 123).

But the devas have their own place in nature as the ministers of the will of Ishwara, ruling, protecting, adjusting, guiding, with intelligence and power far greater than human, but still limited.

The name deva–shining or radiant–very well describes their resplendent appearance, their bodies being formed of a subtle luminous matter, and hence flashing out light. They are concerned with the matter-side of nature, and the guidance of its evolution, and all the constructive energies studied by science are the energies of the devas. On their work depend the fruits of all human activities concerned with production, in all its branches.

Previous Sanatana Dharma articles:

• The Many in the One: Creation, Pralaya, and the Trimurti
• Shakti and Maya in Sanatana Dharma: The Power Behind Creation