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Hindu cosmology is the description of the universe and its states of matter, cycles within time, physical structure, and effects on living entities according to Hindu texts. Hindu cosmology is also intertwined with the idea of a creator who allows the world to exist and take shape.
There are three states of the gunas that make up all matter in the universe:Axel Michaels (2003), Notions of Nature in Traditional Hinduism, Environment across Cultures, Springer, , pages 111–121Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita, a New Translation and Commentary, Chapter 1–6. Penguin Books, 1969, p 128 (v 45) and p 269 v.13 Prakriti: Indian philosophy, Encyclopædia Britannica
Pradhana, which has no consciousness or will to act on its own, is initially agitated by a primal desire to create. The different schools of thought differ in understanding about the ultimate source of that desire and what the gunas are mixed with (eternal elements, time, Jiva).
The manifest material elements (matter) range from the most subtle to the most physical (gross). These material elements cover the individual, spiritual Jiva (embodied souls), allowing them to interact with the material sense objects, such as their temporary material bodies, other conscious bodies, and unconscious objects.
Manifested physical (gross) elements ( pancha bhuta, the five elements) and their associated senses and sense organs that manifest:
The earliest mentions of cosmic cycles in Sanskrit literature are found in the Yuga Purana ( 1st century BCE), the Mahabharata ( 3rd century BCE – 4th century CE), and the Manusmriti ( 2nd – 3rd centuries CE). In the Mahabharata, there are inconsistent names applied to the cycle of creation and destruction, a name theorized as still being formulated, where yuga (generally, an age of time) and kalpa (a day of Brahma) are used, or a day of Brahma, the creator god, or simply referred to as the process of creation and destruction, with kalpa and day of Brahma becoming more prominent in later writings.
Prakriti (primal matter) remains mixed for a maha-kalpa (life of Brahma) of 311.04 trillion years, and is followed by a pralaya (great dissolution) of equal length. The universe (matter) remains manifested for a kalpa (day of Brahma) of 4.32 billion years, where the universe is created at the start and destroyed at the end, only to be recreated at the start of the next kalpa. A kalpa is followed by a pralaya (partial dissolution, night of Brahma) of equal length, when Brahma and the universe are in an unmanifested state. Each kalpa has 15 manvantara-sandhyas (junctures of great flooding) and 14 (age of Manu, progenitor of mankind), with each manvantara lasting for 306.72 million years. Each kalpa has 1,000 and each manvantara has 71 Yuga Cycle (epoch, maha-yuga), with each chatur-yuga lasting for 4.32 million years and divided into four yugas ( dharmic ages): Satya Yuga (1,728,000 years), Treta Yuga (1,296,000 years), Dvapara Yuga (864,000 years), and Kali Yuga (432,000 years), of which we are currently in Kali Yuga. (2025). 9781684669387, Notion Press. ISBN 9781684669387 (2025). 9783642007378, Springer. ISBN 9783642007378
The material creation is called maya ("measure or something that is measurable") due to its impermanent (non-eternal), temporary nature of sometimes being manifest and sometimes not. It has been compared to a dream or virtual reality, where the viewer ( jiva) has real experiences with objects that will eventually become unreal.Teun Goudriaan (2008), Maya: Divine And Human, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 4, 167Richard L. Thompson (2003), Maya: The World as Virtual Reality,
Through the interactions with the material sense objects, a jiva starts to identify the temporary material body as the true self, and in this way becomes influenced and bound by maya perpetually in a conscious state of Ignorance (ignorance, unawareness, forgetfulness). This conscious state of nescience leads to samsara (cycle of reincarnation), only to end for a jiva when moksha (liberation) is achieved through self-realization ( atman-jnana) or remembrance of one's true spiritual self/nature.Christopher Chapple (1986), Karma and creativity, State University of New York Press, , pages 60–64 Taking action to develop this state of awareness of ones true identity, and to understand the illusionary nature of maya is known as striving for moksha. Hindu's believe that dharma is a means to moksha, thus perfecting dharma is one such action. The spiritual practice known as sadhna is another action. The jiva is considered the place where all positive qualities within us are housed, yet remain hidden due to the "layers of maya".
The different schools of thought differ in understanding about the initial event that led to the jivas entering the material creation and the ultimate state of moksha.
This metaphor has been interpreted differently by the various later texts. The Samkhya texts state that Purusha and the Prakriti made the embryo, from which the world emerged. In another tradition, the creator god Brahma emerged from the egg and created the world, while in yet another tradition the Brahma himself is the Hiranyagarbha. The nature of the Purusha, the creation of the gods and other details of the embryo creation myth have been described variously by the later Hindu texts.
The later texts such as the Puranas identify the Purusha with God. In many Puranic notes, Brahma is the creator god. However, some Puranas also identify Vishnu, Shiva or Devi as the creator.
The Devi sukta (RV 10.125) states a goddess is all, the creator, the created universe, the feeder and the lover of the universe;Charles Lanman, Hymns by Women, Book X, Hymn 125, Rigveda, The Sacred Books of the East Volume IX: India and Brahmanism, Editor: Max Muller, Oxford, pages 46–47
Recounting the creation of gods, the Rig Veda does seem to affirm creatio ex nihilo.Rig Veda 10.72 translation by R.T.H. Griffith (1896) Rig Veda (RV) 10.72 states:
RV 1.24 asks, "these stars, which are set on high, and appear at night, whither do they go in the daytime?" RV 10.88 wonders, "how many fires are there, how many suns, how many dawns, how many waters? I am not posing an awkward question for you fathers; I ask you, poets, only to find out?"
The Shatapatha Brahmana states that the current human generation descends from Manu, the only man who survived a flood myth after being warned by the God. This legend is comparable to the other flood legends, such as the story of the Noah's Ark mentioned in the Bible and the Quran.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.4) mentions that in the beginning, only the Atman existed as the Purusha. Feeling lonely, the Purusha divided itself into two parts: male ("pati") and female ("patni"). The men were born when the male embraced the female. The female thought "how can he embrace me, after having produced me from himself? I shall hide myself." She then became a cow to hide herself, but the male became a bull and embraced her. Thus the cows were born. Similarly, everything that exists in pairs, was created. Next, the Purusha created the fire, the soma and the immortal gods (the devas) from his better part. He also created the various powers of the gods, the different classes, the dharma (law or duty) and so on. Fourth Brâhmana in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Fourth Brahmana. Translated by Max Müller as The Upanishads, Part 2 (SBE15) 1879. The Taittiriya Upanishad states that the being ( sat) was created from the non-being. The Being later became the Atman (2.7.1), and then created the worlds (1.1.1). The Chhandogya states that the Brahma creates, sustains and destroys the world. A similar perspective is also portrayed in the Mundak Upanishad verse 2.1.10, which states " puruṣa evedaṃ viśvaṃ karma tapo brahma parāmṛtam", meaning "out of this Purush, everything is born, and by knowing him, everything becomes known"
In the later Puranas texts, the creator god Brahma is described as performing the act of "creation", or more specifically of "propagating life within the universe". Some texts consider him equivalent to the Hiranyagarbha or the Purusha, while others state that he arose out of these. Brahma is a part of the trimurti of gods that also includes Vishnu and Shiva, who are responsible for "preservation" and "destruction" (of the universe) respectively.
In Garuda Purana, there was nothing in the universe except Brahman. The universe became an expanse of water, and in that golden egg, Vishnu created Brahma with four faces. Brahma then created the devas, asuras, pitris and manushas. He also created the rakshasas, yakshas, and gandharvas. Other creatures came from the various parts of his body (e.g. snakes from his hair, sheep from his chest, goats from his mouth, cows from his stomach, others from his feet). His body hair became herbs. The four varnas came from his body parts and the four Vedas from his mouths. He created several sons from his mind: Daksha, Daksha's wife, Manu Svaymbhuva, his wife Shatarupta and the rishi Kashypa. Kashypata married thirteen of Daksha's daughters and all the devas and the creatures were born through them. Other Puranas and the Manu Smriti mention several variations of this theory.
In Vishnu Purana, the Purusha is same as the creator deity Brahma, and is a part of Vishnu. The Shaivism texts mention the Hiranyagarbha as a creation of Shiva. According to the Devi-Bhagavata Purana Purusha and Prakriti emerged together and formed the Brahman, the supreme universal spirit that is the origin and support of the universe.
Brahma, the first born and secondary creator, during the start of his kalpa, divides the World egg (cosmic egg or universe), first into three, later into fourteen lokas (planes or realms)—sometimes grouped into heavenly, earthly and hellish planes—and creates the first living entities to multiply and fill the universe. Some Puranas describe innumerable universes existing simultaneously with different sizes and Brahmas, each manifesting and unmanifesting at the same time.
Advaita Vedanta states that the creation arises from Brahman, but it is illusory and has no reality. The Mundak Upanishad verse 2.2.11 also states " brahmaivedamamṛtaṃ purastādbrahma paścādbrahma dakṣiṇataścottareṇa adhaścordhvaṃ ca prasṛtaṃ brahmaivedaṃ viśvamidaṃ variṣṭham", meaning " All this before is immortal Brahman; certainly all behind is Brahman; all to the south and to the north; all bellow and all alone stretched out, all this is certainly Brahman", and suggests that Brahma is present throughout that creation.
Patrick Olivelle explains that during the early vedic period the universe was viewed as consisting of three spheres ( loka): the earth ( bhūḥ), an intermediate region ( bhuvaḥ), and the sky or firmament ( svaḥ), which this tripartite cosmology was shared with other Indo-European peoples. In recent studies of vedic cosmology, Michael Witzel (1984) has shown that the expression svarga loka ("bright world" or "heavenly world") refers specifically to the Milky Way. By the late vedic period, four higher spheres were added called Mahas, Janas, Tapas, and Satyaloka ("world of truth") or Brahmaloka ("world of Brahma"). Text from a much later period post-Upanishads posit seven parallel lower spheres or hells.
In the Brahmanda Purana, as well as Bhagavata Purana (2.5), fourteen (planes) are described, consist of seven higher ( Vyahrtis) and seven lower ( ) lokas.
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