 As the material cause, īśvara takes form as the universe through a processual cosmogony of subtle elements that undergo a process of grossification, first into elements and then into objects. On the level of subtle elements, īśvara functions as a cosmic mind named Hiraṇyagarbha, whose unrestricted intelligence pervades the universe. This cosmic mind is enlivened by its fundamental ground of consciousness-existence (brahman). On the level of coarse element composition, the perceptible universe is akin to īśvara’s physical body or brain. In this form īśvara is named Virāt. Śaṅkara’s view of the universe at the empirical level, with its universal mind and fundamental nature as consciousness, parallels some contemporary iterations of panentheism and panpsychism, particularly top-down cosmopsychism; however, his ultimate view of nondual brahman collapses any questions about the individual derivation or instantiation of nondual consciousness. (See Gasparri 2019; Vaidya 2020; and Albahari 2019 for comparisons of Advaita Vedānta and cosmopsychism).