All the happenings that are described in the Upnishads or the Puranas are real and historical happenings. It is true that they may not be fully intelligible to a material mind but no part of them is unreal or imaginary. They are the true history of the entire brahmand, not only of this earth planet, and they are meant for the material souls of the world to show them the futility of the mayic manifestations, the Divine greatness of the Sages and Saints, and the path of bhakti.

The material reasonings are conditioned to, and based upon, the limitations of material time and space, and the spot-existency of an event. This is the reason that the happenings, that are beyond the mayic sphere, cannot be intellectualized.

Brahmand means the material and the celestial creation of one single Brahma. Material creation consists of an earth planet with a sun, moon and planetary system in the material space; and in the celestial space, which is just next to it, there is a celestial creation.

The topmost celestial abode called Brahm lok belongs to the creator Brahma, and adjacent to it are the abodes of God Shiv, Goddess Durga and God Vishnu. The abodes of Vishnu, Shiv and Durga represent a branch of Vaikunth abode in the celestial space of this brahmand.

Brahma with other celestial gods like, Indra (king of the celestial abode and also god of rain, thunder and lightning), Vayu (god of air), Agni (god of fire), Varun (god of water), Kuber (god of wealth), Brihaspati (god of wisdom) and Prajapati (president of the gods’ kingdom) etc. represent the celestial creation. Material and celestial creations are the two (material and celestial) dimensions of the material power maya.

2. Happenings of the celestial abode involving the Divine dimension. Just like the description of Krishn’s descension in the Garg Sanhita when God Vishnu, Brahma and other gods went to Golok to seek the favor of Krishn to descend to the earth planet to kill the demon Kans.

3. Happenings of the earth planet reflecting the Divine dimension. They are mostly related to Bhagwan Ram and Krishn. Just like: When Bhagwan Ram came to Ayodhya after conquering Lanka, He saw the loving impatience of His family members and the people of Ayodhya so He multiplied Himself into innumerable forms and instantly met everyone, and such was the beauty of this Gracious act that everyone felt that Ram came to him first.

In the Govardhan leela, Krishn playfully lifted the hill on His little finger and under the hill there was enough space to accommodate all the Brajwasis so they could stay there and spend the night. It all happened in a flash.

4. Happenings of the earth planet in the Divine dimension. The most important (leela) of this kind is maharas when unlimited Gopis danced with Krishn on the soils of Vrindaban but in a Divine dimension. A number of nikunj leelas and the leelas of Gahvarban were also the leelas of the Divine dimension where only Gopis and Radha Krishn associated.

5. Happenings of the earth planet mixed with the celestial dimension. (a) A good example of such a happening is the story of Nachiketa of Kathopnishad when he went to the celestial god Yam, asked spiritual questions, conceived the Divine truth, and crossed the mayic realm of death and birth. (b) According to the Ramayan, King Dashrath sometimes visited god Indra and accepted his hospitality. (c) The stories of Mahabharat when Arjun, during his exile period, visited celestial abodes and obtained celestial weapons from god Indra and Shiv etc., are of the same category. (d) Narad and God Shiv etc., visiting Braj and enjoying Krishn leelas are also of the same category.

6. Happenings of the earth planet that are beyond the logic and the limitations of the material phenomena. Lots of stories of our scriptures and the Puranas come in this category that are related to certain individual Saints, Sages and Rishis. For example: (a) Shukdeo remained for twelve years in the womb of his mother without giving her any discomfort. On the request of his father, Ved Vyas, when he came out, he was of the age and the height of a twelve year old boy. Not only that, he was fully absorbed in the Bliss of nirakar brahm; he didn’t even look to anyone around him. He just walked straight into the jungle. (b) To continue the family succession of a royal dynasty that had no heir, Ved Vyas simply looked to the two queens from a distance and they conceived. They gave birth to Pandu (the father of the Pandavas) and Dhritrashtra (the father of the Kauravas). (c) King Drupad was conducting a yagya. From the fire of the yagya a girl appeared and she was Dropadi, who married the Pandavas. Such happenings are beyond mayic nature, so they cannot be judged according to the material reasonings because they are promoted with the Divine power of a Divine personality.

7. Normal happenings of this world as described in the Puranas etc. All the happenings that are related to a person’s day to day life are of this kind. In this world there are always mayic souls and some Saints. Sometimes certain eternal Divine personalities descend in the world, and there is a time when Bhagwan Ram and Krishn also descend on this earth planet. It’s all described in the Puranas. These happenings are of two kinds: material and Divine. All the actions of a mayic soul are material, and all the actions of the Divine personalities are Divine.

Thus, the stories of the Puranas are repeated in a somewhat similar style. Details may differ but the general story remains almost the same. For example: the twelfth canto of the Bhagwatam predicts the detailed descriptions of the kings of India for about three thousand years. Suppose, after millions of years Krishn again descends on the earth planet and the Bhagwatam is again written by a Divine personality, Ved Vyas, of that time. There may not be a similar description of the dynasties of the kings of kaliyug as it is described in the twelfth canto, or there may be some variation in the descriptions of the first nine cantos, but the main part of the Krishn leelas, like the Govardhan leela, Brahma’s confusion, saving the people of Braj from the demons of Kans, His loving childhood leelas, maharas, Mathura and Dwarika leela, the Mahabharat war and the teachings of the Gita will all be there. It means that the general characteristical body of the events with its special representation of Divine love and Divine knowledge that forms the main body of the Bhagwatam never changes. It remains the same forever. Because Bhagwatam is a Divine power of Golok abode.

Now we understand that the stories and the events that are described in the Upnishads and the Puranas are not only the material happenings just like the other historical events of the world, they are mostly the Divine happenings that involved all the three dimensions: material, celestial and the Divine. If we hold such a wide angle of view, keeping in mind the various dimensions and the classes and the kinds of the happenings of this brahmand, of which this earth planet is only a part, there remains no question, confusion or contradiction in a person’s mind; and he begins to admire the Graciousness of God Who Himself revealed His knowledge to us.