Interesting stuff about Hinduism

In Hinduism, there is a city made of gold inhabited by snake people called Nagas who speak out of both sides of their mouths and are divine and wise. The city is completely dark, but the Nagas wear amulets that cast light all around them. The air is sweetly perfumed and there is a perfect garden surrounding the city. In this garden is a divine tree called Kalpavriksha that bears fruit which bring spiritual enlightenment and leaves that heal the body.

It's like dark Eden in a way, no? A perfect garden with lots of gold and gems, but the serpent is wise and the tree's fruit is good. Revelation's New City is described as dark and lit by the glory of God and the presence of the Lamb alone as another parallel. I wonder how a Hindu would feel reading Genesis 3!

(I've only read some Bhagavata Purana as well as other Hindu texts, but they are definitely too long and rich to understand without commitment.)

Concept of the World

I'm struck by the concept of other worlds and dimensions. Well-known systems like Norse mythology and Greek mythology confirm that our human world is unimportant and adrift in a sea of many worlds distinct from ours, but while the former come across as answers to questions about the sublime natural world or everyday moral quandaries, Hinduism's world is more complex and immediately communicates the concept of varying levels of self and consciousness. The symbolism is endless with the world being born from an egg floating in milk, a great Naga deity holds up the cosmos out of the milk, the cycle of life and death is an ever-turning wheel set about the all-gold mountain Meru where Brahma resides, etc.

I see many Hindus online believe they are purely symbolic, but they also have very concrete understanding of them with measurements and specific figures. It is very different from the Bible's narrow focus to the immediate world around us from our ground-bound viewpoint and the spiritual world, which offers a veiled glimpse of God but focuses more on human souls than exploring other worlds. The Bible just doesn't address space like other religious texts have, and we have no parallel for the patalas.

(Bhagavata Purana, Hindu forums)