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Hiraṇya means gold and garbha means foetus. Literally Hiraṇyagarbha means the golden egg. Lalitā Sahasranāma also uses this nāma as Svarṇagarbhā (nāma 638).

This nāma can be best explained through sayings of Veddanta Paribhāṣā, a 17th century scripture. It says, “Hiranyagarbha is the first soul to be born and is different from Brahmā, Viṣṇu and śiva.” The subtle body consisting of the five vital forces, the mind, the intellect and the ten organs is produced from the five basic elements. This paves the way for the soul to experience the result of actions or in other words it causes karmas. The subtle body is of two kinds, superior and inferior. The superior one is the subtle body of Hiranyagarbha and the inferior is the subtle body of living beings. The subtle body of Hiranyagarbha is called as ‘mahat’ or the cosmic intellect and the subtle body of living beings is called ego.”

HiranyaGarbhah – One who is the Atman of Everyone including Brahma

According to Sri Adi Sankara, Hiranyagarbha refers to Bramha as the Creator and dweller in the Golden Egg generating the Universe.  Since Bramha is only a component of Lord Vishnu Hiranyagarbhah is a name of Bhagavan also. Rigveda says ‘Hiranyagarbhah samavartataagre – Hiranyagarbhah was there at the beginning of creation’.

Sri Parasara Bhattar gives a different interpretation. He interprets Hiranya as fitting or lovely. The word garbha means womb. Sri Bhattar interprets it as the Abode or Living Place. Thus the meaning – ‘One who is in a fitting or Lovely Abode’, viz. The Parama Padam.  Or, He is the garbha, or originator, of hiranyaa or gold, a term used to refer to all that is the Object of fulfillment and joy.

Śrīmad Bhāgavata – Canto 11, Chapter 24

Mayā sañcoditā bhāvāḥ sarve saṃhatyakāriṇaḥ,

Aṇḍamutpādayāmāsurmamāyatanamuttamam. (9)

:: श्रीमद्भागवत – एकादशस्कन्धे, चतुर्विंषोऽध्याय ::

मया सञ्चोदिता भावाः सर्वे संहत्यकारिणः ।

अण्डमुत्पादयामासुर्ममायतनमुत्तमम् ॥ ९ ॥

Impelled by Me, all these elements combined to function in an orderly fashion and together gave birth to the golden universal egg, which is My excellent place of residence.

७०. ॐ हिरण्यगर्भाय नमः |

70. OM Hiraṇyagarbhāya Namaḥ

Hiranyagarbhah -One who dwells in the womb (garbha) of the world (Hiranya). The Upanishad declares: “All these are in-dwelt by the Lord.” The “Golden Universe” is an idiom in Sanskrit where ‘gold’ means “objects of fulfilment and joy”. One who dwells in them all is Hiranyagarbhah. The term can also mean as He who, having become first the Creator, has come to he considered as the womb of all objects.

One who is Ātman of even Brahmā the creator who is otherwise known as Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ – the luminous globe that contains the whole universe in the seminal form. Hiraṇya garbhaḥ samavartatā’gre (R̥gveda saṃhita 10.121.1) at first, Hiraṇya garbha alone existed.

He appeared [as Nârâyana] in the egg that was situated in the water of the causal ocean and from My navel a lotus arose that is known as the universe. On that lotus the self-born one found his existence [Brahmâ, see 3.8].

INTERPRETATION GUIDED BY SANT VANI (WORDS OF SAINTS)

NOTE: This particular name is going to have a slightly more elaborate explanation. Please read slowly with patience.

Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ (also name 411)

The ātmā of Brahmājī.

Hiraṇyagarbha means Brahmājī and he is not other than Viṣhṇu, not separate from Him. So, Brahmājī, Hiraṇyagarbha is Viṣhṇu alone. Again He is the ātmā of Hiraṇyagarbha.

Or else hiraṇya means gold. Knowledge is likened to gold which is ever shining. It does need to be created in a laboratory. Only the impurities of gold need to be removed. Knowledge, when once gained always shines. Since gold is ever shining, hiraṇya is used to indicate knowledge. This whole universe is in the form of knowledge.

When one opens the seed of a banyan tree, none of the parts of the tree are visible in that tiny seed. Neither the branches nor the roots, nor the trunk nor the leaves. None of these forms is visible in the seed and if one had never seen a tree, it would be difficult to even imagine that the primary factor was a small seed. But, we do know that the seed is the only way, the only source from which the huge banyan tree will manifest. When we really look at it, the seed is pure knowledge of how to manifest plus a name and form. It is as if the software code gives rise to the hardware of the tree form. Likewise, the human zygote that has its coding to manifest into a foetus, grows with all organs of the body in the womb and then once delivered, the capacity of the baby to grow to a full fledged adult. The parents may be gynecologists but have no complete idea how this beautiful system entirely works. We can take any other natural phenomenon and we find amazing intelligence at work.

So, the one in whom this hiraṇya, the world in the form of knowledge is placed like in a garbha, is called Hiraṇyagarbha.

Īśvara is the one who has all knowledge and hence is the ātmā, truth of even Hiraṇyagarbha.

“Whatever you see is God. Whatever you hear is God. Whatever you taste is God. Whatever you smell is God.

Whatever you feel is God. This is the manifested aspect. The physical body belongs to the Virat (cosmos).

The astral body belongs to Hiranyagarbha (cosmic intelligence).

The causal body belongs to Ishwara (Reality with its veiling power). Where is this “I” now?”

– Swami Sivananda

It is a fact that there are no multiple Gods but only the concepts of ‘Bhagawan’ and Devtas assuming different forms. There is no doubt that Brahma, the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Rudra the destroyer is praised in Puranas but the fact is; in Puranas when sages used to ask them, you people are always in meditation, whom do you meditate. They say it’s cosmic mother, or Nirgun Brahman (Adi-Parashakti).

What is so special about the word Nirgun?

Nirgun literally means ‘Without Multiplication’, so how come the relationship between multiplication and meditation exist?

The Nirgun points to the thing/not-thing which stands still without any dualities and cannot be multiplied further. There are three Gunas namely, Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas. Sattwa means, acceptance, Tamas means Rejection/Ignorance, and Rajas means the bond without acceptance or rejection, like enjoyment which stands naturally in the environment. These three multiplies in people through the ‘Maya (cosmic illusion)’ of space and time.

However, when there is no Gunas in person, only one thing exists that is ‘person inside the mother’s womb or Garbha’, a Nirgun form without any dualities and without the feelings of male-female, etc. It’s in the form of an egg and when it comes out, it becomes a child. In reality, the egg is getting matured through the multiplication of consciousness like Acceptance or Sattwa (you accept, you are male-female and many more), Ignorance (You ignore various things because you don’t understand many kinds of stuff), and Rajas (you enjoy through the use of senses and organs and grow with the body). This is through consciousness which makes you mature in Space and the Time. 

However, it slowly reverses back and you start losing all the consciousness because of the old age. There is eventually death. Post-death, the consciousness, and the collected body dissolves into the mother earth and cosmos again.

Combinedly, mother Earth and the cosmos is the Hiranyagarbha where you, your mother, and everyone are matured through Hiranyagarbha and dissolved in the same. This Hiranyagarbha itself is the mother of all or the whole system of intelligence and the universe also called Brahm-Anda (Egg of the Brahman). When someone experiences all these in meditation, they say ‘Aham Brahmasmi’, (I am Brahman) or I am a mature egg that is dissolved into the cosmos. In Meditation (Dhyana and Samadhi), the same principle is being contemplated through various techniques so that you become aware of the real you, i.e. Nirgun, and get dissolved in it highlighting the importance of “Spiritualizing” the human heart, the golden sphere of HIRANYAGARBHA – a symbol of the spiritual heart which contains within it, the whole of the Universe. – Everything that came into being from the moment of creation and going on and on into eternity; the Sky, the Earth, the Oceans, the Solar Systems, the Stars, the Milky Way and the Celestial Galaxies, all the Gods and Goddesses and the Avatars. This is the MahaKarana Sharir which is the Higher Dimension of consciousness where the Siddhas and Saints stay in their subtle bodies. Bhagawan said, “When the heart of the human being attains the state of total purity, it becomes HIRANYAGARBHA – the abode of Brahman.” – the microcosm that contains the Universe that radiates divine energy.

All these Brahmanda’s originate from the Body of Maha Vishnu (Kāraṇodakaśāyī Vishnu)

In Gaudīya Vaishnavism the Sātvata-tantra describes three different forms of Vishnu as:

1 – Mahā Vishnu also known as Kāraṇodakaśāyī Vishnu

2 – Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu Seen in painting below)

3 – Ksirodakaśāyī Vishnu (Paramātmā).

Each form has a different role in the maintenance of the Universe and its inhabitants.

“For material creation, Lord Krishna’s plenary expansion assumes three Vishnus.

1 – The first, Mahā Viṣhṇu, creates the total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva.

2 – The second, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣhṇu, enters into all the universes to create diversities.

3 – The third, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu, is diffused as the all-pervading super soul in all the universes; in the heart of every living being, is known as Paramātmā.

He is present even within the atoms.The real objective of meditation in Yoga is attaining a state of Paramātmā. Anyone who realises them can be liberated from material entanglement.”

Garbhodhakaśāyī Viṣhṇu is an expansion of Mahā Viṣhṇu (expansion of Saṃkarṣaṇa of second caturvyūha, which expands from Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭhaloka).

Garbhodhakaśāyī Vishnu is realized as the form of Pradyumna within the material universe.

He is the father of Brahmā who appeared from His navel and hence Garbhodakashayi Vishnu is also called Hiraņyagarbha.

The Cosmic Egg  

Please listen to the entire video discourse to understand the complete context, Swamiji talks about HIRANYAGARBHA from 8.51 min onwards.

Once upon a time there was a tiny golden egg. It had no mother. It had no father. At least it didn’t in the literal sense. The life within this egg was the Divine Essence of all life. It was its own mother and father. It slept and slept and slept.  While this Divine Essence slept, it called itself Vishnu, the God who preserves.

Once Vishnu began to stir within this egg, the germ that was Vishnu began to create himself.  Once he did, he called himself Brahma, the creator, or Svayambhu, which means one who is born by himself. He stayed inside his egg for a full year until he became eager to divide himself and create others to keep him company. He realized it was very difficult to know oneself without having something to compare oneself to. He realized that in order to see himself, he must split himself in half. This way, each side could equally see the other self and could therefore keep one another company.  

So because of this, he split the egg, or himself, in half. From these two halves he created the Spiritual Realm and the Physical Realm, otherwise known by many as Heaven and Earth.  Many wonderful aspects of life were also born at this moment: time, gravity, language, the senses, the sky, direction and, most importantly, birth and death (re-birth).

There were many wonderful children born to Brahma at this time who are referred to as Sages, or wise teachers. The seven sages born at this time were named Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya, and Vashishtha.  Brahma, the creator God, divided himself and became Vishnu, the preserver God, once again.  At the end of time, he will become Siva, the destroyer God, and all will return to the Cosmic Egg where Vishnu will preserve himself once again in a  lengthy, preserving, restful sleep. From here, he will be born again as a newer creation and begin the process all over again, a concept known as Reincarnation, which is the natural state of all life.

Hence He is who is the ‘womb’ of all. The golden egg that was broken by Nārāyaṇa himself to initiate the process of creation.

While at the level of the macrocosm/Uinversal-level, this name appears in the Narayaneeyam and the Śrīmad–Bhāgavatam as that Supreme Being who is the progenitor of Brahma and he who breaks the golden cosmic egg Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ, we have interpreted the names in this string primarily at the level of the microcosm/individual – the internal controller of the mind and intellect, he who gifts us the Prāṇa (Prāṇada) and is seated within as the Prāṇa as well and is also our closest companion – the elder brother literally, the Guru who can show us the light – that Jyeṣṭhaḥ–Śreṣṭha and the Prajāpatiḥ – the one principle who dwells within all beings – plants, animals and so on…

In this context, the Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ should be viewed as the Ātman invested with/embedded in the Sūkṣmaśharīra. In fact one of the accepted definitions of the Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ is the Sūkṣmaśarīra– the ‘subtle’ body composed of three Kośas or “sheaths” – Pranamaya, Manomaya and Vignanamaya.

Just as the two names, Viśvam and Viṣhṇu – the first two names in the Viṣhṇu Sahasaranama referred to that Supreme being as he who envelopes the world (the Universal-all) and also he who has interpenetrated it – i.e. Viṣhṇu not only envelops the entire Universe but also has penetrated it completely – this is at the level of the Universe/the macrocosm. Similarly, we see in this present string of names that at the level of the individual and in the microcosm too it is “He” alone who envelops each being as the many Kośas and also as the indwelling Ātman – the eternal witness.

It is therefore for each one of us to break this Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ in a sense (like the Supreme being did at the time of creation) and realize the Supreme being within as the one vital-principle inside each one of us.

The layers of the “Onion” have to be peeled to reveal the core within and it is no easy task – it requires the work of several lifetimes but a beginning has to be made and it starts with remembering that it is ‘He’ who is the in-dweller as also the guide and mentor – Turning inward as the Bhagavad-gītā says with the “limbs” of the sense organs withdrawn from their outgoing tendencies we can begin this journey.

यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वश: |

इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता || 2-58||

yadā sanharate chāyaṁ kūrmo ’ṅgānīva sarvaśhaḥ

indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣhṭhitā

The senses are by nature outward going but it is important for us to practice what is called Indriyanigrahah (इन्द्रियनिग्रह:) – restraining the senses and turning them inward. The more the senses are indulged the more they run amok. The allegory used in this verse is that of the tortoise which withdraws all its limbs at the first indication of danger and then when the danger passes it comes out of its “shell” and goes about its way – this is how the ‘Sthitaprajña‘ (the man of steady vision) conducts himself/herself…