The Brahmanda Purana
by G.V. Tagare | 1958 | 319,243 words | ISBN-10: 8120838246 | ISBN-13: 9788120838246
This page describes notes on the fourteen worlds of the English translation of the Brahmanda Purana: one of the oldest puranas including common Puranic elements such as cosmogony, genealogy, ethics, geography and yoga. Traditionally, the Brahmandapurana is said to consist of 12,000 verses metrical Sanskrit verses.
Notes on the fourteen worlds
These notes are extracted from the Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa chapter 1.2.20.
The Cosmic Egg consists of fourteen worlds arranged vertically as follows:
I. The Upper Regions:
Satya-Loka
Tapo-loka
Jana-Loka
Mahar-Loka
Svar-Loka
Bhuvar-Loka
II. The Middle Region:
The Earth
III. The Lower Regions or Nether-worlds:
Atala
Vitala
Sutala
Talātala
Rasātala
Mahātala
Pātāla
All these are supported by Lord Śeṣa, the Serpent-King.
These lower regions are not dark or devoid of sunlight. They are full of light and have the affluence and comforts of the world of gods. Cf. Bh. P.V.24, VP.V.2. Vā. P. 50.1-54.
Baladeva Upādhyāya makes out a plausible case for identifying the Nether-worlds with the continent of America, (vide: Purāṇa-Vimarśa, pp. 43-49).