God Is Lord Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu - Mahā-Viṣṇu The Origin of Creation
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that to execute the cosmic manifestation, the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into various forms. The very first of these forms is Lord Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, also known as Mahā-Viṣṇu, who effortlessly creates and annihilates millions of universes simply by His divine breathing.
The First Puruṣa Incarnation
Before the material world comes into existence, the Lord manifests His specific creative expansions. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that Mahā-Viṣṇu is the original puruṣa-avatāra and the absolute master of all material elements, eternal time, and cosmic space.
- The first purusa incarnation is Maha-Visnu, and the second purusa incarnation is the Garbhodakasayi Visnu, from whom Brahma is created.
- Karanarnavasayi Visnu is the first incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and He is the master of eternal time, space, cause and effects, mind, the elements, the material ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form of the Lord, Garbhodakasayi Visnu.
- Known as the Maha-Visnu, He (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) lies within the Causal Ocean, and it is He who is the original incarnation in the material world.
- The first purusa-avatara is Maha-Visnu, and that Maha-Visnu is the plenary portion of the plenary portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
Lying in the Causal Ocean
The border between the spiritual sky and the material manifestation is filled with spiritual water. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that Mahā-Viṣṇu lies upon this Causal Ocean in a state of pure transcendental sleep, completely untouched by material ignorance.
- Maha-Visnu is lying in the Causal Ocean, Karanarnava, and He is breathing, and from His breathing innumerable universes are coming out. And in each and every universe, Maha-Visnu, in His further expansion as Garbhodakasayi-Visnu, He enters.
- The original Personality of Godhead (adyah), Govinda, expands Himself as the Maha-visnu incarnation and rests in the Causal Ocean, which He Himself creates.
- The word yoga-nidram is used in reference to the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Maha-visnu). One should understand that this nidra, or sleep, is not like our nidra in the mode of ignorance. The Lord is always situated in transcendence.
- While Maha-visnu sleeps within the Causal Ocean, innumerable universes are generated along with His breathing. These universes are floating, and they are scattered all over the Causal Ocean.
Breathing Millions of Universes
The scale of the Lord's creative power is inconceivably vast. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that countless universes, appearing like seeds, simply fly out of the pores of Mahā-Viṣṇu's skin when He exhales, and are completely drawn back inside Him when He inhales.
- When it is necessary to create the material universes, Visnu expands Himself as Maha-Visnu. Maha-Visnu lies down in the Causal Ocean and breathes all the universes from His nostrils.
- All these universes are thus created by the exhalation of Maha-Visnu, and when Maha-Visnu inhales, they re-enter His body. The unlimited opulences of Maha-Visnu are completely beyond material conception.
- It is stated that from the skin pores of the Maha-Visnu, all the universes are emanating. In each universe there is a Brahma, a supervisor, who is the supreme creature and manager. These managers live only as long as the Maha-Visnu exhales.
- Countless universes reside like seeds within the skin pores of Maha-Visnu and when He exhales they are all manifested.
Glancing Over the Material Energy
The Supreme Lord never personally touches the dull material energy. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that Mahā-Viṣṇu simply casts His transcendental glance over māyā to agitate the mahat-tattva and impregnate it with the living entities.
- At the creation, the material energy is let loose as mahat-tattva, into which the Lord as His first Purusa incarnation, Maha-Visnu, enters. He lies within the Causal Ocean and breathes out innumerable universes.
- The total material energy is not the cause of the creation, but actually the Maha-Visnu enters into the mahat-tattva, the total material energy. He is the soul.
- He (Maha-Visnu) lies on the ocean of karana, from where He glances over His material nature, and the mahat-tattva is at once created.
- In His form as Karanodakasayi Visnu the Lord impregnates material nature by His glance. The transcendental molecules of that glance are particles of spirit, or spiritual atoms.
The Master of Cosmic Time
What appears to be an eternity from the human perspective is a mere fraction of a second to God. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the entire lifespan of Lord Brahmā, which spans trillions of years, exactly corresponds to a single breath of Mahā-Viṣṇu.
- The whole life of Brahma is contained within one breath of Maha-Visnu.
- The Brahmas and other lords of the mundane worlds appear from the pores of Maha-Visnu and remain alive for the duration of His one exhalation. I adore the primeval Lord, Govinda, of whom Maha-Visnu is a portion of a plenary portion.
- We cannot imagine the duration of one breath of Maha-Visnu, for within one breath all the universes are created and annihilated. This is stated in the Brahma-samhita.
- After the winding up of the cosmic manifestation, most of the conditioned souls merge into the existence of the Maha-Visnu Personality of Godhead, lying in His mystic slumber, to be created again in the next creation.
Expanding into All Universes
Once the universes are manifested in the Causal Ocean, they require internal maintenance. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that Mahā-Viṣṇu then expands into millions of forms of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, entering each individual universe to oversee its development.
- After creating the total number of universes, which are unlimited, Maha-Visnu expanded Himself into unlimited forms and entered into each of them.
- A summary of creation is given in this verse (SB 5.17.22-23). From Sankarsana, Maha-Visnu expands, and from Maha-Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu expands.
- In each and every universal globe, the same Maha-visnu enters again as Garbhodakasayi Visnu and lies there on the serpentlike Sesa incarnation. From His navel sprouts a lotus stem, and on the lotus, Brahma, the lord of the universe, is born.
- The innumerable universes are generated from the skin holes of this Karanodakasayi Visnu, and in each one of the universes the Lord enters as Garbhodakasayi Visnu.
Conclusion
To properly understand the magnitude of the material creation, one must look toward the Causal Ocean. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that Lord Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, or Mahā-Viṣṇu, is the ultimate source of all universes, resting in pure transcendental sleep while governing eternal time and space. Because His single breath contains the entire cosmic history of millions of universes, the conditioned souls should cease their foolish attempts to master the material energy and instead humbly surrender to the supreme origin of creation.
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