In the Purāṇas, we often encounter the cosmological term “Brahmāṇḍa.” The most prolific 20th-century Puranic commentator, Bhaktivedanta Swami, translated Brahmāṇḍa as “Universe.” Consequently, most English translations use “Universe” as the equivalent term for Brahmāṇḍa. However, in this article, I propose an alternative translation: “Solar System.”
There are two main reasons for this alternative translation: the size and the lifespan. The Purāṇic Brahmāṇḍa has a size (see Bhāgavata Purāṇa 5.20) and lifespan (see Chapter 5 of my book, The Big Bang and The Sages) that approximately match those of the modern scientific Solar System. Let me elaborate: the Purāṇic Brahmāṇḍa is described as having a radius of 25 koti yojanas (approximately 2 billion miles), and its lifespan is one kalpa (roughly 9 billion solar years). By comparison, the distance from the Sun to Saturn is about 1 billion miles, and the lifecycle of our Sun is approximately 9 billion solar years. For these empirical reasons, I suggest that “Solar System,” rather than “Universe,” is a more accurate translation. Furthermore, the modern scientific Universe is vastly larger than the Brahmāṇḍa by many orders of magnitude. It is noteworthy that while Bhaktivedanta Swami generally translated Brahmāṇḍa as “Universe,” he mentioned in a lecture given in Mombasa on September 12, 1971, that Brahmāṇḍa can alternatively be translated as “Solar System.”
The relationship between the Brahmāṇḍa and the Solar System as we experience it is analogous to the relationship between Bhū-maṇḍala and Earth as we perceive it. The Purāṇic Brahmāṇḍa includes various “lokas,” such as Jana-loka, Satya-loka, and Bhū-loka. Although the Sanskrit word “loka” is often translated as “planet,” this can be misleading. A planet, by definition, orbits a particular star at a radius determined by the balance between the planet’s centripetal force and the star’s gravitational force. In contrast, a “loka” is not bound by such constraints. The Sanskrit term “Bhū-loka” is another name for Bhū-maṇḍala. As explained in detail in my book, *The Big Bang & The Sages*, Bhū-maṇḍala is inherently a higher-dimensional entity, implying that all lokas must also be higher-dimensional entities. Consequently, the Brahmāṇḍa itself must be a higher-dimensional construct.
While I translate Brahmāṇḍa as “Solar System,” it encompasses more than just the Solar System. In other words, the Solar System that we observe is a four-dimensional projection of the higher-dimensional Brahmāṇḍa.
What do you think?