ananta brahmÄṇá¸era yata brahmÄ-rudra-gaṇa
cira-loka-pÄla-Å›abde tÄhÄra gaṇana

 ananta - unlimited; brahmÄṇá¸era - of the universes; yata - all; brahmÄ - Lord BrahmÄs; rudra-gaṇa - and Lord Åšivas; cira-loka-pÄla - permanent governors of the worlds; Å›abde - by the word; tÄhÄra - of them; gaṇana - counting.


Text

“Actually it is very difficult to ascertain the number of universes. Every universe has its separate Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Åšiva, who are known as permanent governors. Therefore there is also no counting them.

Purport

Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Åšiva are called cira-loka-pÄla, permanent governors. This means that they govern the affairs of the universe from the beginning of the creation to the end. In the next creation, the same living entities may not be present, but because BrahmÄ and Åšiva are existing from the beginning to the end, they are called cira-loka-pÄla, permanent governors. Loka-pÄla means “predominating deities.†There are eight predominating deities of the prominent heavenly planets, and they are Indra, Agni, Yama, Varuṇa, Nirá¹›ti, VÄyu, Kuvera and Åšiva.