Brahmaloka: The Highest Heaven In Hinduism
Brahmaloka is the highest realm in hinduism the metaphorical top of reality. Reserved for devoted contemplators of the most pious kind. and its inhabitants will never experiance death (although in a way more complicated that imagined) although it does depend on the specific tradition whether it is the highest realm.
The landscape
The main marker here is that brahma(the god of material creation) resides alongside the yogis and yoginis drinking the nectar of yoga. experiancing the highest truth possible.
So How does it relate to Vishnu Or shiva
The relation between brahma and the creative principle of Brahman is sort of dependent on which tradition one of them says visnu sleeps in his residence or for eg in Kurma Purana which is a Vishnu tradition text which says that Rudraloka(the abode of Siva) is higher than Brahmaloka while the Siva Purana which is shiva text places Vishnuloka above Brahmaloka.
“Its inhabitants will never know death”
So this can mean a few things first it can means that the brahmaloka is an eternal and the highest realm where there is no descend downwards but then of how we are led there (described right here as the northern path) because one cannot be led anywhere in space and time of the knowing of brahman because brahman is incomparable so to say brahmaloka is the true goal is misleading.
Another interpretation could be that due to the presence of visnu in the brahmaloka that visnu by the end of the cosmic cycle would liberate the contemplators by giving them knowledge of brahman during the stay in heaven and if it works they will be liberated at the end of the cycle.
Originally published at https://techiebros.net on January 11, 2024.