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Adarsh E-zine Issue Three 2018
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4 8
contents
3 Who is the cause of our achievements?
INFINITE ISHWARS
and where to find them
Adarsh E-zine Issue Three 2018
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There is a tendency for people to quote a figure of 330 million ‘gods’ that populate Hindu belief. This is often cited to
support the simplistic argument that Hinduism is polytheistic. However, it is crucial to understand that there is one
Supreme Being, who is the ultimate creator of the universe and the controller of our collective destinies. In this sense,
Hinduism is still monotheistic; we worship one Supreme God (Parameshwar), while still accepting many gods (ishwars).
So what does the number 330 million often quoted in the in turn will be destroyed as well. This is called nimitta-pralay,
Hindu shastras refer to? which is the duration of Brahmā’s day… Thirty days of Brahmā
make one month, 12 such months make one year, and a
It refers to the population of devas, i.e. celestial beings or hundred such years is the lifespan of Brahmā. When Brahmā
‘demigods’. Just like humans, the devas are perishable and dies, the brahmānd, consisting of the 14 realms, is destroyed.
bound by maya, but unlike us, they have superior powers, Then, all of the entities that have evolved out of Prakruti are
knowledge and God-endowed authority. And just like humans, assimilated back into Prakruti. This is called prākrut-pralay.”
the devas also have an immense population. There are 7 (Vachanamrut Bhugol-Khagol)
billion humans presently on earth and 330 million devas
resident elsewhere in the brahmānd. There are 14 realms in “In one day of Virāt-brahmā, Shudra-brahmā, Vishnu and
a brahmānd, which also includes Mrutyuloka (the realm of Shiva the three pass away… There are millions of brahmānds
humans), Swargaloka and Satyaloka. Beyond these realms are each caused by a distinct Virāt. In one day of Pradhān-
the abodes of the higher deities. Purush, Virāt passes away.”
(Swamini Vato 6.95)
Indra and other devas who reside in Swargaloka are jivas,
whereas the major devas, such as Brahmā who resides in Based on the above quotations we can now deduce that there
Satyaloka, are known as ishwars. However, do we really need are essentially ten ishwars responsible for each brahmand,
to know this distinction? Well, if one wants to have a deeper which in turn is a manifestation of an eleventh ishwar known
understanding of the five eternal entities expounded by as Virāt-brahmā. There are countless brahmands as part of
Bhagwan Swaminarayan then the answer is yes. creation, so effectively there are infinite ishwars just as there
are infinite jivas. The pralays refer to the cosmic time scales
The concept of ishwar requires the key understanding that (or epochs) for the function of the various ishwars.
whatever powers ishwars possess is gifted by Bhagwan
Swaminarayan, who is revered as sarvopari bhagwan and The given table summarises the various ishwars and their
honoured with the title of Parameshwar, the lord of all ishwars. abodes, life cycle and functions:
Ishwars are eternal entities, infinite in number. They are similar
to jiva with respect to being bound by maya but involved at Nimitta-Pralay Prākrut-Pralay
a macro level in the functioning of the brahmānds. We get a (8.64 million years) (36,000 nimitta-pralays)
sense of who the ishwars are, their time scales and what their Nirgun Nar-narayan Lakshmi-narayan
role is in governing the galaxies from the following quotes. (Badrikashram) (Vaikunth)
Vasudev-narayan Krishna-narayan (Golok)
“Each brahmānd has ten power bases of Brahmā, Vishnu, (Shwetdwip)
Shiva, Aniruddh, Pradyumna and Sankarshan who are the
six sagun, whereas Narnarayan, Vasudev-narayan, Lakshmi- Sagun Brahma = Shudra-brahma Pradyumna (Creation)
(Satyalok)
narayan and Krishna-narayan are the four nirgun.”
(Swamini Vato 5.177) Vishnu = Sheshayi-narayan Aniruddh (Sustenance)
(Shirsagar)
“When one night of Brahmā passes and Brahmā retires to sleep, Mahesh = Shiva (Kailash) Shankarshan (Destruction)
the ten realms inclusive of Swarg, Mrutyulok and Pātāl are Virat-brahma
destroyed. Brahmā’s night is as long as his day. Thus, one of = Virat-purush
Brahmā’s night and day together lasts for our 8,640,000,000 years. = Vairaj-purush
= Virat-narayan
The lower ten realms of the brahmānd are thus destroyed daily. = Bhuma-purush (Avyakrut
At the end of each day, a new set of realms is created, which Dham)
Adarsh E-zine Issue Three 2018
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