The three forms of Vishnu who create the material universes

Lord Narayana expands Himself in three forms to create the material universes: Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. What are the differences between them?

Lord Vishnu is also called Narayana. The word "nāra" means all living entities, and "ayana" means the resting place. In this way, Lord Vishnu is the origin and destination of all living entities. We, of course, understand that Lord Narayana or Lord Vishnu is an expansion of Krsna, but as Narayana, He plays the role of the Supreme Lord, while as Krsna He just plays with His friends. Lord Narayana is Krsna at work, so to speak.

The part that may be a little difficult to understand is that Lord Narayana expands Himself in three forms to create the material universes: Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. What are the differences between them?

Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu or Maha-Vishnu is the creator of all material universes. He is called Kāraṇodakaśāyī because He lays in the Karana ocean, and He is called Maha-Vishnu because his form is gigantic.

The Karana Ocean, or Mahat-tattva, is the sum of all material elements. Srila Prabhupada explains that it is just like a dark cloud that covers part of the spiritual sky, containing all the souls who want to enjoy matter. Matter in the causal ocean exists in a pure unmanifested form. When Lord Vamanadeva kicked the coverings of the universe, He created a crack that allows some of this water to enter our universe. This spiritual water, mixed with the dust from the lotus feet of the Lord travels through the universe in the form of the Ganges.

Lord Kāraṇodakaśāyī Vishnu is so big that material universes pass through the pores of His body as He breathes in and out. Once Srila Prabhupada explained this point to a plane pilot and he replied that it was a really good description of the grandeur of God. We can't even calculate the size of our universe by scientific means, and therefore we can't even imagine how big Lord Maha-Vishnu is!

All material universes are originally created as empty shells. To make them alive, Lord Maha-Vishnu expands Himself and enters each universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Originally the universe is completely empty, so the first thing He does is to fill half of the universe with water. At this point Lord Sesa manifests Himself in the form of a gigantic serpent who lays on the water, creating a comfortable bed where the Lord can rest. Laksmi Devi also manifests, serving the Lord by massaging His feet.

This enormous body of water created by the Lord is called the Garbodaka Ocean, and the Lord is called Garbhodakaśāyī because He lays down on this ocean. To have an idea of its size, we have to remember that the Garbodaka Ocean goes from the bottom of the universe up to almost half. Therefore, this ocean is almost as big as the rest of the universe!

Later, Laksmi Devi appears from the churning of the ocean and marries Lord Vishnu, but this is just a pastime. This form of Laksmi Devi who appears from the churning of the ocean is just an expansion of her eternal form which is always present with Lord Vishnu.

Finally, the Lord expands Himself as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu or Paramatma. In this form, he enters the heart of each and every living being, as well as each atom of the material elements. There is not a place where Paramatma is not present.

When we hear this description we may think that there is a separate form of Paramatma for each living being and for each atom, but this is not exactly correct. There is one form of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu for each universe, it is just that He is everywhere at the same time. It's quite difficult to understand how someone can be in one place and simultaneously everywhere, but this is just another display of Krsna's power. God is so big that complete universes pass through His pores and He is so powerful that He can be simultaneously everywhere.

Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lays down in the milk ocean in the polestar, which is a Vaikunta planet that appears inside the universe and serves as a pivot for all other stars. All the stars we see in the sky at night move around this spiritual planet. The polestar is however not directly visible to us, therefore, the stars appear to move around some imaginary point (or around some random star that appears close to this imaginary point), but in reality, they circumambulate the abode of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.

This is confirmed by Prabhupada on SB 2.2.24: "The polar star of the universe and the circle thereof is called the Śiśumāra circle, and therein the local residential planet of the Personality of Godhead (Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu) is situated. Before reaching there, the mystic passes over the Milky Way to reach Brahmaloka, and while going there he first reaches Vaiśvānara-loka, where the demigod controls fire. On Vaiśvānara-loka the yogī becomes completely cleansed of all dirty sins acquired while in contact with the material world. The Milky Way in the sky is indicated herein as the way leading to Brahmaloka, the highest planet of the universe."

That's also the planet where the demigods go when there is some disturbance in the universe. They however can't directly go to see Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. They go there and stay at the shore of the ocean offering prayers and waiting for the Lord to give them darshan.

Later on, the polestar is given to Druva Maharaja, who goes to live there as a king in the association of the Lord. Dhruva Maharaja is eternally the king of the polestar (that due to this is also called Dhruvaloka) but this pastime is reenacted again for each universe. It appears that Dhruvaloka is actually just one spiritual Vaikunta planet that by the mystical potency of the Lord appears simultaneously in every universe. Similarly, Dhruva Maharaja is just one, just like Arjuna or Narada Muni are just one, but just like them he appears to execute His pastime in each and every material universe.

In this way, the Lord expands Himself as Maha-Vishnu and enters each and every universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, all of this to create and put the universe in motion, giving us thus the opportunity of remembering our eternal position and going back to Godhead.

Another interesting detail connected with Lord Maha-Vishnu is the appearance of Saddha-Shiva, from whom all the Shivas present in all universes manifest.

After creating the material universes through His breath, Lord Maha-Vishnu impregnates the material energy with His look. This look contains all the souls who desire to enjoy the material nature and are thus placed in her womb to participate in the material creation.

Srila Prabhupada mentions that when an ordinary man desires to impregnate his wife to produce a child, he has to physically engage in sex with her, but in the case of Lord Maha-Vishnu no sexual act is necessary. Because of His omnipotence, He can impregnate the material nature with just His look and produce not only one child but an unlimited number of them, in the form of all living entities in the millions of universes.

Just like all the energies of the Lord, this look of Maha-Vishnu is not just some impersonal energy, but a personality, Lord Saddha-Shiva. He is an expansion of Lord Maha-Vishnu who acts like a guardian for all the souls who join the material creation. Lord Saddha-Shiva is Vishnu Tattava. He has His planet on the border between the Brahmajoti and the causal ocean. There he stays with His associates constantly doing kirtana. Vaishnavas who are devotees of Lord Shiva have the opportunity of going to this spiritual planet and joining Him. In the Brhad Bhagavatamrta, Gopa Kumara visits this planet after passing through the impersonal Brahmajoti.

Saddha-Shiva is originally just one. Although he is Vishnu-Tattva, he acts as a devotee, remaining eternally on His planet. However, to help the souls who join the different material universes He expands Himself into many. Entering each one of the different material universes he associates with the material energy, becoming the numerous Shivas inside each universe. Because of his association with material energy, part of the transcendental qualities of Lord Shiva is thus covered. In the Nector of devotion, it is mentioned that Lord Vishnu shows 94% of the qualities of Krsna, while ordinary souls can (in their perfect state) display up to 78% of Krsna's qualities. When he enters the universes, Lord Shiva displays 84% of these qualities. He thus sits in the middle, being more than an ordinary soul, but at the same time not displaying all the qualities of Lord Vishnu. There is Vishnu-Tattva, Jiva-Tattva, and Shiva-Tattva.

Lord Shiva is also a guna-avatara. Just like Lord Vishnu takes charge of the mode of goodness, and Lord Brahma takes charge of the mode of passion, Lord Shiva takes charge of the mode of ignorance, and thus he helps the most fallen souls, like demons, ghosts, and spirits to also progress spiritually, acting as a Guru for them.

Lord Sadha Shiva also displays his compassion for the conditioned souls by coming as Advaita Acarya to teach the science of Bhakti. Due to his incessant prayers, Lord Caitanya comes once a day of Brahma to inaugurate His sankirtana movement and give an opportunity for all the wretched souls of Kali-yuga to attain the treasure of Krsna Prema.

Lord Shiva also comes as Sankaracarya to restore the authority of the Vedas after the advent of Krsna as Lord Buddha. It happens that Lord Buddha comes at a time when people are misusing the authority of the Vedas to kill animals and commit other acts of violence. As part of his mission of establishing non-violence, Lord Buddha has to reject the Vedas and convince the atheists to just follow him. When this happens, Lord Shiva comes later as Sankaracarya. He then preaches a philosophy similar to Buddhism, but based on the Vedas, allowing other acaryas who come later to gradually restore the correct conclusions.