1116
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[ Canto 3, Ch. 26 ]
PURPORT
This universe, or the universal sky which we can visualize with its innumerable planets, is shaped just like an egg. As an egg is covered by a skin, so the universe is also covered by various layers. The first layer is water, the next is fire, then air, then sky, and the ultimate holding crust is  pradhāna . Within this egglike universe is the universal form of the Lord as the  virāṭa-puruṣa . All the different planetary situations are parts of His body. This is already explained in the beginning of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , Second Canto. The planetary systems are considered to form different bodily parts of that universal form of the Lord. Persons who cannot directly engage in the worship of the transcendental form of the Lord are advised to think of and worship this universal form. The lowest planetary system,  Pātāla , is considered to be the sole of the Supreme Lord, and the earth is considered to be the belly of the Lord. Brahmaloka, or the highest planetary system, where Brahmā lives, is considered to be the head of the Lord.
This  virāṭa-puruṣa  is considered an incarnation of the Lord. The original form of the Lord is  Kṛṣṇa , as confirmed in  Brahma-samhitā : “ ādi-puruṣa .” The  virāṭa-puruṣa  is also  puruṣa , but He is not  ādi-puruṣa . The  ādi-puruṣa  is  Kṛṣṇa .  Iśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ/anādir ādir govindaḥ . In  Bhagavad-gṭtā   Kṛṣṇa  is also accepted as the  ādi-puruṣa , the original. Kṛṣṇa says, “No one is greater than I.” There are innumerable expansions of the Lord, and all of them are  puruṣas  or enjoyers, but neither the  virāṭa-puruṣa  nor the  puruṣa-avatāras — Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu ,  Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu  and  Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu —nor any of the many other expansions, is the original. In each universe there is  Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu , the  virāṭa-puruṣa  and  Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu . The active manifestation of the  virāṭa-puruṣa  is described here. Persons who are in the lower grade of understanding regarding the Supreme Personality of Godhead may think of the universal form of the Lord, for that is advised in the  Bhāgavatam .
The dimensions of the universe are estimated here. The outer covering is made of layers of water, air, fire, sky, ego and  mahat-tattva , and each layer is ten times greater than the one previous. The space within the hollow of the universe cannot be measured by any human scientist or anyone else, and beyond the hollow there are seven coverings, each one ten times greater than the one preceding it. The layer of water is ten times greater than the length of the universe, and the layer of fire is ten times greater than that of water. Similarly, the layer of air is ten times greater