The Secret Doctrine of Goddess Lalita
(Sri LalitaAṣṭottara Rahasyārthamu)
16. ābrahma kīṭajananī
She is the mother of everything, from brahma to the lowest of insects.
The Divine Mother is not only the mother of the insentient world. She is also the mother of the sentient world, from a lowly insect such as an ant or a mosquito, to the great creator Brahma, the ruler of satya loka. While the earlier nāma describes the vastness of the insentient world Devī created, this nāma describes the vastness of the sentient world She created. Consciousness does not undergo any change while manifesting sentient beings. The difference is only in the extent to which it (Consciousness ) manifests in each sentient form.
According to Hindu mythology, there are a total of fourteen loka-s (worlds) in the universe, seven in the upper sphere and seven in the lower sphere of the universe. There are countless types of living beings of human, divine, and demonic natures living in these worlds. There are also countless types of animals, birds, reptiles, etc. living in these words. It is said that it is impossible even for the creator Brahma to keep track of the actions, perceptions, and feelings of these countless beings. One can only imagine the enormous power of mahāśakti who manifests and sustains these sentient and insentient worlds. Before appearing externally, these worlds were hidden in Her (mahāśakti) womb. The nāma-s viśvagarbhā (She who contains the whole world in Her womb) and svarṇagarbhā (She who is the cause of the universe) signify this. The word viśva refers to the inert world. The word svarṇa refers to the Conscious world, which is also known as hiraṇyagarbha. Before manifestation, the two worlds are present in the womb of the mahāśakti as pure un-manifested Consciousness. When the desire to expand arose like a ripple in the ocean of Consciousness, śakti moved from Her un-manifest state to the manifest state. The sentient and insentient worlds we perceive are, therefore, only an appearance of that mahāśakti. As manifest or un-manifest, they are all contained in Her womb and cannot transcend It.