Maharloka
Maharloka · mahar-loka, “the world of greatness”
Atirātra has other meanings too: see all meanings of Atirātra. Kalpa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kalpa.
Maharloka is the first of the four lokas (worlds) that lie above the three worlds of Bhūloka, Bhuvarloka and Svargaloka. The Agni Purāṇa, taught by Agni Deva to Vasishṭha Maharshi, places it one crore yojanas beyond Dhruva, the pole star that marks the height of the three worlds. Bhṛgu Maharshi and others, who live until the end of the kalpa, dwell there. Above it rise Janaloka, Tapoloka and Satyaloka.
When the three worlds burn at the end of a kalpa, Maharloka is the refuge of the dwellers of Bhuvarloka and Svargaloka: tormented by the heat, they go up to Maharloka, and from there to Janaloka. In pūjā, Maharloka is honoured with the other higher lokas on the twenty-four-petalled lotus of the Bhadra maṇḍala.
Where Maharloka lies
Agni Deva, telling Vasishṭha Maharshi of the bhuvanakośa (the treasury of the worlds), gives the distances of the lights of the sky. The sun is one lakh yojanas from the earth, and the moon one lakh yojanas beyond the sun. Beyond them, in order, come the circle of the nakshatras, Budha, Śukra, Kuja, Guru and Śani, the circle of the Saptarshis, and Dhruva. Dhruva is the height of the three lokas.
Then he names the higher lokas:
- Maharloka is one crore yojanas beyond Dhruva. Bhṛgu and others, who live till the end of the kalpa, dwell in that loka.
- Janaloka is two crore yojanas beyond Maharloka. The siddha-purushas Sanaka, Sanandana and others live there.
- Tapoloka is eight crore yojanas beyond Janaloka. The devas called Vairājas live there.
- Satyaloka is ninety-six crore yojanas beyond Tapoloka. Deathless puṇyātmās, devas and ṛshis live there; it is also called Brahmaloka.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 120
Refuge at the pralaya
Agni Deva describes the naimittika pralaya, the dissolution that comes at the end of a kalpa. At the end of a thousand caturyugas the earth is worn out, and for a hundred years a terrible drought destroys all living beings. Bhagavān Vishṇu, through the seven rays of Sūrya, dries up the waters of the earth, of pātāla and of the oceans. Swelled by drinking that water, the seven rays become seven suns and burn the three worlds to ash, down to the floor of pātāla. Kālāgni Rudra appears from the breath of Ādi Śesha and burns the pātālas, and Bhagavān Vishṇu burns up the earth and svarga, until the three worlds look like a blazing roasting pan.
Then the dwellers of Bhuvarloka and Svargaloka, tormented by the heat, go to Maharloka, and from there to Janaloka. Clouds born of the breath of Hari rain for a hundred years and quench the fire, and Bhagavān Vishṇu lies down on Ādi Śesha in the one ocean, in his divine yoga-nidrā, for the span of a kalpa, before he rises in the form of Brahmā and creates again.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 368
On the lotus of the maṇḍala
Nārada, teaching the rite of the Bhadra maṇḍala, names what is honoured in each of its enclosures. On the twenty-four-petalled lotus of the third enclosure the order is: Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka and Satyaloka; the seven soma yajñas Agnishṭoma, Atyagnishṭoma, Uktha, Shoḍaśī, Vājapeya, Atirātra and Aptoryāma; the individual mind, intellect and ego-sense; sound, touch, form, taste and smell; the jīva; the collective mind, the collective intellect (the mahat-tattva) and the collective ego-sense; and Prakṛti. The form of all these is sound alone: it is enough to say their names and bow, with no need to meditate on their mūrtis.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 30
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 30, 120, 368