---
type: Concept
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.0"
id: brahmanda
title: "Brahmāṇḍa — ब्रह्माण्ड"
iast: "Brahmāṇḍa"
devanagari: "ब्रह्माण्ड"
description: "The 'egg of Brahmā': the cosmic shell or container of the manifest universe, comprising all 14 Lokas arranged vertically within a single cosmic unit; the structured physical-cosmological space within which a Kalpa's life unfolds; multiple Brahmāṇḍas exist simultaneously (Purāṇic accounts vary on this); NOT the same as the universe in the modern astrophysical sense."
darshana:
  - Purāṇic
  - Vedānta
school_scope: "Pan-Purāṇic; the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa is named after this concept; BhP, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, and Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa all give cosmological descriptions of the Brahmāṇḍa's layers; Advaita does not dispute the cosmological description but situates Brahmāṇḍa within Māyā"
text_source: "BhP 5.20-26 (Loka structure within Brahmāṇḍa); Viṣṇu Purāṇa 2.7; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.1"
tags: [cosmology, brahmanda, cosmic-egg, sapta-loka, loka, puranic]
not:
  - term: "the observable universe (modern astrophysics)"
    why: "The Brahmāṇḍa is a cosmological category within a Purāṇic metaphysical framework where matter, consciousness, and dharmic order are inseparable. The modern 'observable universe' (~93 billion light-years in diameter) is a purely physical concept. The Brahmāṇḍa includes non-physical realms (Svarga, Brahmaloka), operates within Kāla's cyclic structure (Kalpas), and dissolves at Mahā Pralaya -- none of which map to the astrophysical universe."
  - term: "one universe among infinite identical universes (multiverse)"
    why: "Some Purāṇic texts (BhP 6.16.37) suggest multiple Brahmāṇḍas -- Brahmā, looking through the Brahmāṇḍa's aperture, sees other Brahmāṇḍas floating in the infinite Brahman-ocean. This is sometimes cited as a Purāṇic 'multiverse.' But the Purāṇic multiple-Brahmāṇḍa model is about the infinite creative expression of Brahman, not about the physical multiverse hypotheses of modern cosmology (many-worlds, eternal inflation). The structural analogy is superficial."
  - term: "equivalent to Virāṭ"
    why: "Brahmāṇḍa is the structural container (the egg-shell, with the 14 Lokas as its layers); Virāṭ is the gross-cosmic totality experienced as a conscious body. They overlap but emphasize different aspects: Brahmāṇḍa is architectural; Virāṭ is experiential. See virat.md."
related:
  - /concepts/sapta-loka.md
  - /concepts/virat.md
  - /concepts/hiranyagarbha.md
  - /concepts/srishti.md
  - /concepts/kalpa.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Brahmāṇḍa -- ब्रह्माण्ड

**Not:** the modern observable universe, a multiverse, identical to Virāṭ

## The Cosmic Egg

Brahmāṇḍa (Brahma + aṇḍa = egg) is the "egg of Brahmā" -- the bounded cosmic container within which one complete Kalpa unfolds. It arises from Hiraṇyagarbha (the golden embryo floating on the cosmic waters at the beginning of each Kalpa) and is bounded by successive shells or envelopes (āvaraṇas) of increasing subtlety:

From innermost to outermost, the Purāṇic texts describe layers of:
1. Earth (Bhūmi)
2. Water (Ap) -- 10x the extent of the earth-layer
3. Fire (Tejas) -- 10x the water layer
4. Air (Vāyu) -- 10x the fire layer
5. Space (Ākāśa) -- 10x the air layer
6. Ahaṃkāra (cosmic ego-principle) -- 10x space
7. Mahat (cosmic intelligence) -- 10x ahaṃkāra
8. Avyakta (unmanifest) -- 10x Mahat

This "onion-shell" structure encodes the Sāṃkhya tattva sequence in reverse: the gross (earth) is innermost, the subtle and causal are outer shells. The Brahmāṇḍa is thus not just a physical space but the entire tattvic hierarchy arranged as concentric containers.

## The 14 Lokas Within the Brahmāṇḍa

The interior of the Brahmāṇḍa is arranged as 14 Lokas (see sapta-loka.md for full treatment):

**Upper 7 (Ūrdhvaloka):** Bhūr, Bhuvar, Svar, Mahar, Jana, Tapa, Satya (= Brahmaloka)
**Lower 7 (Pātāla / Adholoka):** Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talātala, Mahātala, Rasātala, Pātāla

The horizontal center at Bhūr-loka level contains the cosmic geography: Mount Meru at the center, the seven concentric dvīpas (continents) and oceans surrounding it, with Jambudvīpa (our world) as the innermost. See brahmanda.md and sapta-loka.md in combination for the full structure.

## Multiple Brahmāṇḍas

BhP 6.16.37 describes Brahmā looking out through the aperture of the Brahmāṇḍa and seeing other Brahmāṇḍas floating in the infinite cosmic ocean of Brahman -- each with its own Brahmā, its own Kāla cycle, its own hierarchy of lokas. This is a conceptually significant statement: the Brahmāṇḍa is one unit in an infinite cosmic expression, not the unique totality.

This should not be collapsed into modern multiverse physics. The multiple Brahmāṇḍas in the Purāṇic frame are: (a) all within Brahman (not independently existing spacetimes); (b) operating on the same metaphysical principles (same Kāla system, same dharma-framework); (c) cited to indicate Brahman's infinite creative expression, not to posit alternative physical laws.

## Audience Metaphor

The Brahmāṇḍa is like one bubble in an infinite ocean. Each bubble (Brahmāṇḍa) has its own interior architecture (14 lokas), its own Brahmā who arranges that architecture, its own Kāla cycle (one Brahmā-lifespan). The ocean (Brahman) is the common medium in which all bubbles float; it is neither created nor affected by any individual bubble's appearance or dissolution. Looking carefully at the bubble's surface from inside, you can see the reflections of other bubbles -- other Brahmāṇḍas -- but you cannot exit your bubble to visit them; the exit (if it exists) is through the subtle layers of the shell back to the ocean itself.

## Citations

1. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 5.20-26 -- structural description of the Brahmāṇḍa and its Loka-contents; see references/bhagavata-purana.md
2. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 6.16.37 -- multiple Brahmāṇḍas visible from within one Brahmāṇḍa
3. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 2.7 -- the concentric shells (āvaraṇas) of the Brahmāṇḍa; see references/vishnu-purana.md
4. Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.1 -- the text named after this concept; cosmological framework introduction
