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<\/center><\/p>\nNitaicandra dasa: The Srimad Bhagavatam canto 5 speaks of the Bhu-mandala. That is not our small mother earth planet, egg of clay, we are familiar with. Bhu-mandala is a terrestrial sphere, like a thick disc, the top resembling the whorl of a lotus flower. It stretches from one side of the Brahmanda (=universe) to the other side, and is thus horizontally nearly 500 million yojanas. <\/p>\n
The Srimad Bhagavatam is not small earth centered. A small earth of 5000 yojanas circumference is not even once mentioned in the Bhagavatam. Other lower modes puranas mention it. <\/p>\n
Vayu Purana 53.46:
\n\u2018The sun’s ray called susumna develops the declining moon. It is said to be exerting power (to the moon) laterally and from above.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Linga Purana 57.73
\n\u2018The sun’s position is above. The moon is lower.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Narada purana 2.54.154
\n\u2018In a solar eclipse the moon obscures the sun. In a lunar eclipse the shadow of the earth obscures the moon.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Along with this, Rahu appears, remaining invisible, according to
\nVisnudharmottara Purana 42.40-41
\nThe lord Hari-Vishnu said to me (Rahu) : ‘O Demon you will be a planet and will be worshiped. At the time of periodic change of the moon, you will cover the moon and the sun. You will be the idol of darkness and invisible and move in the opposite direction. O Demon, the moon will be covered by the shadow of the earth and the sun will be covered with the moon. When you will rise, O best of the Demon, you will always get a share in the good deeds of bathing, chanting and performing sacrifice, donation, shraddha ceremony, and the worship of gods at the time of eclipse.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Visnudharmottara Purana 106.20-23
\n\u201820. The pole, the son of Uttanapada is stated to be Vishnu, attached to which the crowd of the heavenly winds and lights are made to twin round. 21. The orbit of the seven rishis (the great Bear) is stated to be always below that…
\n22-23. Below that is the ‘Bha” circle and below is Saturn. Below that is the Sun and below him is stated to be Venus. Below that Mercury, while below him is the moon.\u2019<\/p>\n
Varahamihira’s Brihat Samhita Chapter 4 \u2013 On the moon’s transit.
\nBy the sun’s rays one half of the moon that is always beneath the sun is illuminated, while the other half becomes dark by her own shadow just as one half of the pot exposed to the sun is. <\/p>\n
Varahamihira’s Brihat Samhita Chapter 5 \u2013 On Rahu’s course.
\nAt the lunar eclipse the moon enters the shadow of the earth, and at the solar eclipse she enters in front of the the sun’s disc. The moon situated below and moving from the west obstructs the solar disc like the cloud. <\/p>\n
Surya Siddhanta
\nThe sun is 108 sun diameters from the earth and the moon is 108 moon diameters from the earth.<\/p>\n
The distance bhu-mandala to sun is 100.000 yojanas, and to the sun is 200.000 yojanas. Thus what is this Bhu-mandala and this egg of Earth.
\nThe complete picture or understanding is given in the Srimad Bhagavatam 5.20.38 commentaries. Srila Prabhupada quotes the Sanskrit of the commentary of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, but he does not give the English translation. Here it is. <\/p>\n
\u201cLokaloka\u2019s distance from Meru is one quarter of the measurement of Meru to the universal shell (bhu-golasya). Since the earth like the sun is (approximately) situated in the center of the upper and lower halves of the universe, like the heavens (or the diameter of the moon and the sun plane to the edge of the universe), the earth plane also is 500,000,000 yojanas in diameter to the edges of the universe. A quarter of that is 125,000,000 yojanas. That is the extent (radius) of the raised mountainous area of Lokaloka. (The exact distance is different.)<\/p>\n
However, the earth surface is 493,400,000 yojanas across (according to the dimensions given in this chapter). From the middle of Meru to the middle of Manasottara is 15,750,000 yojanas. From the middle of Manasottara to the other shore of the fresh water ocean is 9,600,000 yojanas. The golden land measures 15,750,000 yojanas. The total measurement from the middle of Meru to the Lokaloka Mountain is then 41,100,000 yojanas. The distance from one side of the Lokaloka to the end or other side of the Lokaloka mountain i.o.w the broadness of the ring mountain is 82,200,000 yojanas. This dimension is mentioned in verse 42 with the words yo \u2018ntar-vistarah and yad bahir lokalokacalat. (Total is 123,300,000 yojanas from Meru to end of Lokaloka. That is the meaning of the verse.) The distance outside of Lokaloka is the same. And the distance is the same on the other side of Meru as well. Thus it is said that 125,000,000 yojanas (approximately) is the measurement from Meru to the end of Lokaloka. <\/p>\n
Thus bhuloka is 493,400,000 (note1) yojanas with the oceans, islands and mountains. There is thus a space of 1,700,000 yojanas from the bhumandala till the universal shell all around. Because of this Sesa holds up the earth and the elephants of the directions steady it. (note 2) To explain the dimensions in any other way would make the descriptions mentioned here useless, since it has been mentioned that the diameter to the shell of the universe is 500,000,000 yojanas. It would also be impossible for Varaha to lift up the earth (bhu-mandala) which has sunk in the Garbodhaka Ocean during Caksusa Manvantara, if bhu-mandala was 500,000,000 yojanas in diameter.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Notes (translator HH Bhanu Swami):
\n1. 493,200,000 according to my calculation.
\n2. If the mandala touched the edges of the shell of the universe, it would not move downwards at all.)<\/p>\n
Then another commentator Sri Vamsidhara takes this from the commentary of Visvanatha on this verse and further writes, quoting the book \u2018goladarsa\u2019 , that there is a small earth, the egg of clay and the big earth, bhu-mandala, the terrestrial sphere or area of planets shaped like a huge thick disc going from one side of the universal egg to the other side. <\/p>\n
The bhu-mandala has the earth planet in the gross dimension. And other seas, lands or planets as its subtle or heavenly dimension, bhu-svarga. <\/p>\n
The top of the bhu-mandala is shaped like the whorl of a lotus or an upside down bowl. <\/p>\n
The Srimad Bhagavatam (or paramahamsa samhita) is a scripture for paramahamsas (nirmatsaranam satam 1.1.2) demigods and sages. They live in spiritual, devata and muni\/risi – lokas or planets. See SB 3.2.6.<\/p>\n
They speak about the 14 planetary systems and not maybe specifically about this clay egg, a very small part of one of these 14 planetary systems, namely the bhu-mandala. Mandala means round disk. <\/p>\n
The sun is 100.000 yojanas above the Bhu-mandala. That does not mean that the distance from the\/our earth planet to the sun is 100.000 yojanas because in SB 5.21.7 Sukadeva Goswami says that the sun travels in a circle whose length is 95.100.000 yojanas. And the center of this circle\u2013 Meru- is close to this earth planet. <\/p>\n
The sun and moon are circling around Mountain Meru, the central pole of the universe. The sun and moon are part of the svarga mandala, a plane vertically above the bhu-mandala plane. There are 14 such mandala regions, together occupying all the space in the universe from the top to the middle of the universe. The lower part of the universe is the Garbhodaka ocean.<\/p>\n
The distances between the moon, sun and earth in these planes are given in the Puranas, I quoted above. These are approximately the same as modern science gives them. The distances of the *planes* are given in the Srimad Bhagavatam. The Srimad Bhagavatam doesn’t give the distances of our familiar earth globe to sun and moon.<\/p>\n
The distances between bhu-mandala and moon and sun, and earth and moon and sun are very different because the earth and the moon are circling around Meru close to this Meru, while the sun circles at about 1\/4th of the radius Meru-wall of the universe.<\/p>\n
The moon is therefore closer to the earth then the sun. But the moon circles around Meru on a higher level vertically-taking bhu-mandala as the horizontal plane-then the sun in this svarga-mandala and is therefore vertically higher and above the sun counting vertically from the bhu-mandala plane.<\/p>\n
Therefore His Grace Sadaputa prabhu writes in Vedic Cosmography And Astronomy: “it hardly seems impossible to hurl a gross material object over a few thousand miles of space, or even several million”. And: “the astronauts have gone to the three-dimensional location of the moon without making the higher-dimensional journey needed to actually reach the kingdom of Candra. This would be comparable to visiting Vrndavana on the earth without being able to perceive the spiritual world that is also there.\u201d\u2013 at the same place, but in another dimension.
\nThe Sun and moon also have their demigod realm which is subtle or another dimension on the same location. Just as we have our gross and subtle body at the same place.
\nThe bodies of the devatas are not of only gross matter visible for us.
\n\u201cAlthough celestial beings are not visible to the naked eyes of the inhabitants of this earth, it was due to the influence of Maharaja Pariksit that the demigods also agreed to be visible.\u201d (SB 1.16.3 purport)
\nThey are of ether, air, fire, manah, buddhi, ahankar. The gross material elements are present but in very small portions.
\n \u201cThe moon attained an invisible form which sustains gods and man and these sixteen deities, as also the trees and plants. His visible form Rudra bore on His head.\u201d (Varaha Purana chapter 35.12-13)
\nAnd this subtle region Srila Prabhapada described as icy (SPL 14-10-76) \u201cThe moon is covered with ice, to explain why the moonshine is so pleasant. Moon-rays are very soothing, and we find in many places describing the pleasing effect of the moon, nitai-pada-kamala, koti candra-susitala, ye chayaya jagat judaya. This is because the moon must be covered with ice.\u201d Thus, in Garga Samhita canto 2, chapter 5 text 13 we read: \u201cWith his ice-weapon Soma (the moon-god) struck Bakasura. Tormented by the cold, the demon fainted, but then again he stood up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Continuing \u201cvedic astronomy and astrology\u201d
\nBut “there is evidence suggesting that some cheating has taken place”.
\nMaybe some cheating happened in the moon traveling, but do we still have to believe 50 years later that no one went to the moon. Recently India, and China put their flag also there. <\/p>\n
“The cosmology of the Fifth Canto was controversial during the period of the 1600’s, when Vamsidhara was active.”
\nIn other words, it is a difficult subject. Vamsidhara is one of the commentators on the Srimad Bhagavatam. He wrote extensively on the cosmology of the Srimad Bhagavatam. And he solved the puzzles.<\/p>\n
From the commentaries on this fifth canto Srimad Bhagavatam we see there were various statements and figures in the Puranas and the books specifically on astronomy.
\nVamsidhara tries to solve it by making the plane of Bhu-mandala a reflection and refraction by the fire sphere, anala-gola of the earth planet. Supposed to start 1 yojana around and above the round earth planet and a water-sphere. By the water and fire spheres the earth mirrored in the golden land (SB 5.20.35) becomes the bhu-mandala.
\nHe is in the Advaita-Vedanta school so he extrapolates their bimba-pratibimba-vada. <\/p>\n
Then do our acaryas make mistakes?
\nWe read in the Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.15 purport Jiva Goswami correcting Sridhar Swami, also on cosmology<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to Sripada Sridhara Svami, the original commentator on the Bhagavatam, there is not always a devastation after the change of every Manu. And yet this inundation after the period of Cakshusha Manu took place in order to show some wonders to Satyavrata. But Sri Jiva Gosvami has given definite proofs from authoritative scriptures (like Vishnu-dharmottara, Markandeya Purana, Harivamsa, etc.) that there is always a devastation after the end of each and every Manu. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti has also supported Srila Jiva Gosvami, and he (Sri Cakravarti) has also quoted from Bhagavatamrita about this inundation after each Manu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acarya\u2019s differing in cosmological details can be yogamaya: asura moha bhakti toshan \u201cto bewilder the demons and to protect bhakti.\u201d (See the commentary of Visvanath Cakravarti Thakura on SB canto 10.29.10-11 .. not to disturb the false opinions of atheists and so as to protect the confidentiality of devotional service.. Sometimes however, Krishna wishes to proclaim the excellence of bhakti-yoga)
\nAlternatively, Srila Prabhupada answered on this:
\n\u2018Jayadvaita: …they know everything and they’re perfect in everything. But sometimes, from our material viewpoint, we see some discrepancies. Just like we think that…
\nPrabhupada: Because material viewpoint. The viewpoint is wrong; therefore you find discrepancies.
\nJayadvaita: So we should think that we have the defect.
\nPrabhupada: Yes. Acarya is explained, bhakti-samsanah: “One who’s preaching the cult of devotional service, he’s acarya.” Then why should you find any discrepancy?
\nJayadvaita: Because we see… For instance, sometimes the acarya may seem to forget something or not to know something, so from our point of view, if someone has forgotten, that is…
\nPrabhupada: No, no, no. Then…
\nJayadvaita: …an imperfection.
\nPrabhupada: That is not the… Then you do not understand. Acarya is not God, omniscient. He is servant of God. His business is to preach bhakti cult. That is acarya.
\nJayadvaita: And that is the perfection.
\nPrabhupada: That is the perfection. Hare Krishna.
\nJayadvaita: So we have a misunderstanding about what perfection is?
\nPrabhupada: Yes. Perfection is here, how he is preaching bhakti cult. That’s all.\u201d (Morning Walk, April 8, 1975, Mayapur)<\/p>\n
They are expert in spiritual science. The material world is limited but the spiritual world is unlimited. The knowledge of something in the always changing material world is useless or too trivial. To know the spiritual world is their real glory and significance.<\/p>\n
Therefore Srila Prabhupada wrote in 1976 to delegate the moon matter to the Bhaktivedanta institute.
\n\u201cRegarding the scientists, we have entrusted our own three scientists namely Svarupa Damodara, Sadaputa, and Madhva and we leave the matter to them, we do not say anything ourselves, but are leaving it to them.\u201d (Letter to: Dr. W.H. Wolf-Rottkay, Chandigarh, 14 October, 1976)<\/p>\n
He says this is material knowledge
\n\u201cThis is also material education, the movement of the sun.\u201d (Morning Walk, February 4, 1976, Mayapur)<\/p>\n
And answers he doesn\u2019t know details.
\nE.g.:
\n– Devotee: How is it that we see the moon moving?
\nPrabhupada: Moon, that is… Of course, I do not remember, but [laughs] the whole planetary system is moving.
\n\u2013 devotee : \u201cWhy is it sometimes there’s only quarter moon, no moon, half moon, full moon
\nPrabhupada: The same explanation. On the whole, we have to accept that something wonderful is going on. And that is Krishna’s arrangement.\u201d
\n– And let\u2019s himself be explained how moon is reflecting light Devotee: The back side of the moon. That’s what we’re seeing now. The sun’s here, hitting…
\nPrabhupada: I can understand now. That means moon…, moon is… A portion is bright.
\n– 15-4-76 mw \u201cI was never a scientist\u201d
\n– 16-4-76 mw \u201cI am not a scientist.\u201d This he states 20 times, while talking on cosmology.
\nSo why take his \u201cI am a layman\u201d on these cosmology and moon matters as absolute\u2013 he didn\u2019t want or claim that.
\nHe says in the following few quotes 10 times that he is a layman.
\nBut he never said that he was layman on spiritual matters. He is a saktyavesa-avatara from Goloka Vrndavana, meaning the realm of Go, cows-gopi\u2019s, gopa\u2019s. I know another one in my circle of devotees\u2013 simply completely purely Krishna conscious\u2013 but should they know everything on worldly matters? Again, bhakti toshan asura mohan\u2013 to delude the demons and to protect bhakti. If devotees are only always healthy, wealthy etc having all the worldly opulence, the atheists will flock the temples for mundane goods. And this material world is their appointed playground to be independent, so there is sometimes purposefully covering of Krishna\u2019s opulence.
\nOne of my devotee friends also went to the moon; the persons, flora fauna was all white, ice, snow.
\nSrila Prabhupada also says about the sun, that the bodies of the inhabitants are fiery.<\/p>\n
Prabhupada: Fool. Simply childish. Balaka. What are they gaining? For the last, how many years they are trying? For going to the moon planet?
\nSvarupa Damodara: Russia started in 1957. First sputnik where Gagarin was there…
\nPrabhupada: Twenty-five years. So they could not get anything, not a single farthing even. Still, they are doing. Just see, obstinacy. Punah punas carvita. This is called chewing the chewed. Punah punas carvita-carvananam [SB 7.5.30]. They will never be successful. So I am a layman. When I wrote that Easy Journey? In 1950, 67. How many years?
\nKarandhara: Six years.
\nPrabhupada: No, no. Not 67, 57. Sixteen years before. They are all childish. I am a layman. It will never be successful. It is already written there in my Easy Journey to Other Planets. Here also, that, some press reporter asked me in San Francisco, when I landed, “What is your position about this moon planet?” “It is simply a waste of time and energy. That’s all. You cannot go there.” (Morning Walk, At Cheviot Hills Golf Course, May 17, 1973, Los Angeles)<\/p>\n
uttama-sloka-gunanuvarnanam. This is success. With your talent, you simply come to the conclusion that Krishna is the Supreme. That’s all. So our business is, because we are neither scientist nor musician, nothing of the sort, layman, we have simply said, “Krishna Supreme.” That’s all. Never mind what I am (Morning Walk, December 15, 1973, Los Angeles)<\/p>\n
Prabhupada: My point is: If the moon is going round the earth, beginning from here to there, similarly, the sun is also going around earth, because we see the similar way, it is rising and going that way. So how you can say one is fixed, one is standing? The process, we find the same. How you can say that this is fixed and this is going around? Why is…? If the process is the same, then the result will be the same. [break]\nHari-sauri: …accepted the sun was moving, then they wouldn’t be able to prove that…
\nPrabhupada: And the… And the moon is not seen also for fifteen days in the month[?]. As a layman, we should say that as the moon is rising from this side and going to this side, the sun is also rising from this side. So if the moon is moving, the sun is moving.
\nPancadravida: If that’s true, then how does… What about the changes in the moon’s face? Sometimes…
\nPrabhupada: True or nontrue, I am layman. I am saying that if the moon is rising from this side and going to this side, so sun is also rising from this side and going to this side. So if the moon is moving, the sun is moving.
\nTamala Krishna: Common sense.
\nPrabhupada: Huh? Yes, I am a layman. Actually sun is moving, but they say fixed up. [break]\nPancadravida: …moving the same, though, the sun…, the moon would always appear full, and it goes through changes, or phases.
\nPrabhupada: Yes. Why it, the moon, is…? [break]\nJayapataka: They say that everything is moving. Both the earth is moving, sun is moving and the moon is moving, but everything has got its own time. Moon is moving once around in twenty-eight days, and our earth is moving around in 365 days, and sun is also moving in its own time.
\nPrabhupada: But they say sun, fixed up.
\nJayapataka: No, they don’t say fixed up.
\nPancadravida: They say there’s a point called the galactic center of the universe, and everything is moving around that point.
\nTrivikrama: They say like that.
\nPrabhupada: So what is that center?
\nJayapataka: That they can’t find out.
\nBalavanta: Somewhere near the sun. They’ve just imagined it. It’s close to the sun, but not exactly the sun. It’s the center, they say.
\nPrabhupada: So our Bhagavata says the whole planetary system is moving like this…
\nPushta Krishna: Yes.
\nPrabhupada: …centering the polestar.
\nJayapataka: They admit that there’s some center of the universe. Everything is going around that, including the sun. But they don’t know exactly where it is.
\nPrabhupada: That is polestar.
\nPushta Krishna: No, that’s admitted, that the polestar, the stars are revolving around, everything. They take photographs.
\nPancadravida: What?
\nPushta Krishna: Of the… Everything revolving around the polestar, the constellations.
\nGurudasa: Are the moon’s phases due to the planet Rahu, Srila Prabhupada?
\nPrabhupada: Hmm?
\nGurudasa: Are the moon’s phases due to the planet Rahu?
\nPrabhupada: Space?
\nPushta Krishna: The phases of the moon\u2014quarter moon, half moon, full moon.
\nGurudasa: Waxing and the waning of the moon.
\nPrabhupada: No.
\nPancadravida: What’s it due to, then?
\nPrabhupada: That I should not exactly immediately say.
\nGurudasa: We don’t accept.
\nPushta Krishna: No. Prabhupada just said, “Not right now.”
\nPrabhupada: But moon is far away from the sun. That is from Bhagavatam.
\nTamala Krishna: Further away. Prabhupada, there’s another question I have. I remember on a walk… I have read in your books that the moon’s glowing is due to reflecting the sun. Then I remember on a walk in Vrindavana you said that the moon is fiery just like the sun, but there’s a cooling atmosphere around it. So is it actually fiery glow, or is it simply a reflecting glow?
\nPrabhupada: That is stated in Bhagavatam.
\nGurudasa: It says reflection in the Bhagavata.
\nPrabhupada: No, it is also a fiery place. But it is because it is far away from the sun, it is not so glowing.
\nTamala Krishna: So it’s not a question of reflection only.
\nPrabhupada: The reflection theory is the modern theory.
\nTamala Krishna: Because sometimes in the books it’s stated…
\nPrabhupada: Yes. Sometimes I have said or taken this modern theory.
\nTamala Krishna: Just so that people will understand an example. I see.
\nPushta Krishna: Another question is, “How do the different seasons come about\u2014winter, summer, spring?”
\nPrabhupada: That is due to the movement of the sun.
\nPushta Krishna: The…?
\nPrabhupada: Movement of the sun.
\nPushta Krishna: Movement of the sun.
\nPrabhupada: But they say sun is fixed up.
\nPushta Krishna: Yes, they say the earth is tilting back and forth like this.
\nPrabhupada: That is always doing, but it takes little time. But the movement of the sun, uttara and dakshina, what is their explanation?
\nPushta Krishna: They say that the earth is tilting like this. The sun is fixed. When the earth tilts like this in the northern hemisphere there is summer, and when it tilts like this, the southern hemisphere, there’s summer. It’s tilting back and forth as it revolves around the sun.
\nPrabhupada: Tilting?
\nPushta Krishna: Yes.
\nPrabhupada: But they say it is…
\nPancadravida: Well, they say the earth is on a tilted axis.
\nTrivikrama: Twenty-three degrees from the north pole.
\nPancadravida: So, as it revolves around the sun…
\nPushta Krishna: That’s another theory too.
\nPrabhupada: Eh?
\nPushta Krishna: There’s two different theories.
\nHamsaduta: It’s simultaneously going around the sun, and also, in itself, it is turning. And then it’s sometimes tilting on a particular axis. It’s simultaneously moving around the so-called central sun…
\nPrabhupada: But for six months that, it tilts?
\nHamsaduta: And then it also spins\u2014the globe spins\u2014and then it also…
\nPrabhupada: Eh?
\nHamsaduta: It has different tilts. It takes different degrees.
\nTamala Krishna: The tilt is always the same.
\nHamsaduta: And when the sun’s rays hit the earth at a particular angle, it becomes cooler or hotter. This is their sum and substance.
\nTamala Krishna: While it’s spinning, it’s not just spinning straight up and down; it’s on an axis. So it’s spinning like this.
\nLokanatha: Yes. It’s going around like a ball.
\nTamala Krishna: Not like this. Like this.
\nPancadravida: It’s on an angle.
\nHamsaduta: Yeah. And then it is tilting.
\nPushta Krishna: But how does that explain summer and winter?
\nTamala Krishna: Because it’s close to the sun in…
\nPancadravida: Because it’s close to the sun and… No, it’s not closer.
\nPushta Krishna: It spins. Every twenty-four hours it’s turning. Why should that matter?
\nPancadravida: No, but the orbit around the sun is…
\nPushta Krishna: Elliptical.
\nPancadravida: Yes. Elliptical.
\nHamsaduta: Yeah, for instance, in Sweden, they have a certain part of the year when it is always dark. So they say this is because the earth’s axis has shifted, so that… Yeah.
\n\u2026 Pushta Krishna: Is the earth also spinning?
\nPrabhupada: No.
\nPushta Krishna: Or is it simply the sun’s movement that causes the day and night, everything?
\nPrabhupada: No planet is fixed except the sun. All are fixed up. But the whole thing is moving. That is Bhagavatam. And that you can see at night.
\nGurudasa: What’d he say?
\nPancadravida: No planet is fixed. The earth and sun, they’re all moving.
\nGurudasa: The sun is fixed.
\nTamala Krishna: Yeah, but they’re all moving.
\nHari-sauri: But they’re all moving.
\nPrabhupada: It is like a tree, just like this. This is moving, and the sun is moving, and all other planets, they are fixed.
\nHari-sauri: How is it we see the moon coming in every day, then?
\nPrabhupada: Hmm?
\nHari-sauri: How is it that we see the moon moving?
\nPrabhupada: Moon, that is… Of course, I do not remember, but [laughs] the whole planetary system is moving. (Morning Walk, March 18, 1976, Mayapur)<\/p>\n
Prabhupada: …moon is hot, they say, because the shade of the earth is obstructing.
\nPancadravida: Yes.
\nPrabhupada: Is it not?
\nDevotees: Yes.
\nTrivikrama: They say that the sun is hitting like that.
\nPrabhupada: Eh? The sun is there, and the earth is there. How it becomes…?
\nPushta Krishna: The earth is bet… The earth is between the sun and the moon. Therefore there’s some…
\nPrabhupada: That’s all right, in between.
\nHamsaduta: No, no. They say that the sun’s rays are striking it, only half. The other half is in shadow.
\nPrabhupada: What is that shadow?
\nDevotee (1): Night. Like nighttime on the earth.
\nHamsaduta: Shadow. Like a ball. If I have a ball and shine a light on it, then…
\nPrabhupada: No. No, no. Shadow.
\nHamsaduta: …this side will be in shadow.
\nPrabhupada: Shadow… “Shadow” means earthly shadow? No.
\nHamsaduta: No, no, no. Its own shadow. If this is a ball, and the light is coming from here, see, this portion will be in darkness or shadow, and the other portion will reflect light.
\nPushta Krishna: That’s not the modern theory.
\nDevotees: Yes, yes.
\nPrabhupada: Is that all right? Explanation?
\nDevotee (1): Sounds all right.
\nHamsaduta: That’s what they say.
\nPrabhupada: “They say.” What you say?
\nHamsaduta: We don’t know anything. After meeting you, we wonder if we know anything, because we thought the moon was going around the earth.
\nPushta Krishna: What shadow is that? The moon casts its own shadow.
\nHamsaduta: That’s what they say.
\nPrabhupada: They, their explanation is…
\nPushta Krishna: Half the moon is in darkness.
\nTrivikrama: Yeah, the back side.
\nPrabhupada: The back side.
\nTrivikrama: The back side of the moon. That’s what we’re seeing now. The sun’s here, hitting…
\nPrabhupada: I can understand now. That means moon…, moon is… A portion is bright.
\nDevotees: Yes.
\nPushta Krishna: Half of it is always bright.
\nDevotee: Yes. The part that’s facing the sun.
\nPrithu-putra: But this is less than half.
\nPrabhupada: And when they go to the moon planet, they go to the dark side. Is it not?
\nHamsaduta: No.
\nPancadravida: No, they say they go to the light side, too.
\nHamsaduta: No, they say the dark side is so cold that no one can… Because there’s no sunlight, it is so cold.
\nPrabhupada: That means they have no experience of all the sides of the moon.
\nHamsaduta: No, they don’t. They only have one side, experiencing.
\nPrabhupada: So, so what is the cause of the brightness?
\nPancadravida: The sun.
\nPrabhupada: They have brought some dust, but this is not bright.
\nTrivikrama: They say it’s reflected light.
\nPrabhupada: That’s all right. What is the material that makes it so bright so that whole universe is illuminated?
\nHamsaduta: There’s no comment on that point.
\nPrithu-putra: They don’t know that.
\nPrabhupada: They have brought some dust, but that is not bright. They have said… The other scientists, they said, “This kind of dust can be available here.” Just see. Now, how it is bright?
\nPancadravida: Well, they say that from space the earth would be bright also, Srila Prabhupada.
\nPrabhupada: The nonsense may say anything. But our common sense, that if the…, there is some ingredient in this moon which makes it bright, so they have brought the dust, but other scientists say that this dust can be available here.
\nPancadravida: So it may be cheating.
\nPrabhupada: Eh?
\nPancadravida: Actually, they have not proved anything.
\nPrabhupada: That is my contention.
\nTrivikrama: They say the moon is bright, just like if a cloud is in the sky, it appears very white and bright because the sun is hitting it. But the same cloud, if you bring it into the room, it’s just mist.
\nPrabhupada: But cloud is not always existing. But this brightness is always existing. Cloud is sometimes appearing, sometimes disappearing. The moon brightness is regular. How you can compare with cloud? When you compare, there must be consistency. Analogy. Analogy means similar position. Otherwise, analogy has no meaning\u2026. How we see the sun is fixed up? The sun is moving, we see, so quickly. And the moon is moving, but it does not move. It is fixed up. Mean regarding the time, you can see practically, the sun is moving. And they say it is fixed up. The fixed-up article is moving quickly, and the moving article is fixed up. Why?
\nPancadravida: When a train is in the station, when the train pulls out of the station, when you’re in the train, it looks like that the station is moving and you’re standing still.
\nPrabhupada: Train has got different movement. But that means it has got different movement? Your analogy is imperfect.
\nPancadravida: No, but if we…
\nPrabhupada: You cannot compare with train because train has got different movement. But they haven’t got different movement.
\nPancadravida: But if this was moving at the same speed as the earth, it would appear to be fixed up. If the moon and the earth were both moving at the same speed, it would appear to be fixed up.
\nPrabhupada: No. We see practically. Now we are standing. We see the sun is moving. It comes. And the moon is moving, but it is fixed up. Why it is? The moving matter is stand still, and the fixed-up matter is moving.
\nPancadravida: Actually, it’s we who are moving. The sun is…
\nPrabhupada: But my speed is the same.
\nPancadravida: Pardon me?
\nPrabhupada: My, this earthly moving, that speed is the same. Why you find different position? Just consider with brain.
\nPushta Krishna: If the moon is closer than the sun, according to the scientists’ philosophy…
\nPrabhupada: Philosophy… But we see, I mean, a distant matter is moving. We can see. And nearer, we cannot see. It is fixed up. What is this?
\nPushta Krishna: If you take a bicycle wheel, a spoke…
\nPrabhupada: A bicycle you cannot concern. Bicycle or train, they have got different speed. You cannot compare. That analogy will not stand.
\nPushta Krishna: Say you take one spoke, one…
\nPrabhupada: No, no, we, cannot… You cannot bring bicycles in discussion first of all. You can talk all this to the fools. Analogy cannot be accepted unless they are similar.
\nPancadravida: The moon is locked up. The moon is in the same…
\nPrabhupada: That means you are suggesting simply. You have no clear idea. Actually the sun is moving. That is my point. Such a huge, gigantic matter, and we see, so quickly… From the sunrise, now, it is not even fifteen minutes. Just imagine how big speed is there is.
\nJayapataka: But it is not so fast at midday.
\nPrabhupada: Eh?
\nJayapataka: It is not so fast at midday.
\nPrabhupada: No. Eh? No…
\nJayapataka: At midday, it is not so…
\nPrabhupada: Faster, fast…, it is fast also. But because on the head. The speed is the same. You cannot say…
\nPushta Krishna: One point is there, though, Srila Prabhupada. If the moon is illuminating\u2014it gives off its own light\u2014then why can we only see half of the moon now?
\nPrabhupada: Hmm?
\nPushta Krishna: If the moon is illuminating, why can we only see half of the moon?
\nPrabhupada: They say there is half of the illuminating.
\nPushta Krishna: Yes, because it’s reflected from the sun.
\nPrabhupada: The shadow. Then there is shadow. It is being shadowed.
\nPushta Krishna: If it’s reflection.
\nPrabhupada: No, reflection we do not accept.
\nPushta Krishna: It’s illuminating.
\nPrabhupada: It is illuminating.
\nPushta Krishna: Giving off light.
\nPrabhupada: Yes.
\nPushta Krishna: So then why is it that we can only see half of the moon, then?
\nPancadravida: Half moon.
\nPrabhupada: About these movements, my position is different. My position is… There is two movements, a sun movement and the whole planetary system movement. So according to the movement… That is explained in the Bhagavatam.
\nPancadravida: Why is it sometimes there’s only quarter moon, no moon, half moon, full moon?
\nPrabhupada: The same explanation. On the whole, we have to accept that something wonderful is going on. And that is Krishna’s arrangement. (Morning Walk, March 21, 1976, Mayapur)<\/p>\n
Prabhupada: Yes. From the… That question I was discussing the other day. In the common sense, question, that all over the world, they accept Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, in this way Saturday last. So why these arrangement, Sunday first and Monday second? And nobody could reply it. But as a layman I can conclude that sun planet is first and the moon planet is next. So if you cannot go to the sun planet, which is ninety-three million miles away, how you can go to the moon planet within four days? Nobody could answer me. Can you answer? (Room Conversation, with Reporter, June 4, 1976, Los Angeles)<\/p>\n
Answer is that sunday is the last day of the week. It is from Genesis\u2013 old testament. God created for 6 days, and the last day, sunday, He rested. Thus Monday is the first day of the week. According to this logic the moon is the first, closest planet.<\/p>\n
These people are going to the moon planet and… Actually whether they have gone or not, that is a doubtful thing. But the thing is, why they are coming down again? That is our challenge. If you have gone to the moon planet, then colonize there. But why you have come down again and do not talk anything about? What do you think?
\nBrahmatirtha: Well, I couldn’t say. They’ve been there, they say.
\nPrabhupada: They say; you believe. But we are common man, layman, we say that if you have gone there, why you do not live there?
\nBrahmatirtha: Yes, they just bring back rocks to show us, “We have rocks here.”
\nPrabhupada: If there is rock, if there is sand, then why don’t you colonize there? What is their answer? If there is same sand, same rock there, then why not… [break] …some money and can bring some sand and bluff people that “We have gone to moon planet.” And people are satisfied. They’re paying for another excursion, to the Mars. This is going on. If you have gone there, there is land. If you fly in the sky and if you get a land, then you can stay there. And because you cannot stay there, you come back again (Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan’s Journal, Questions 8 true 9, June 30, 1976, New Vrindavan)<\/p>\n
So why not there? In the water there is life, within the sand there is life, in the air there is life\u2014everywhere there is life. Why it should be vacant? Hmm? What is the opinion of the scientists? How…? We are layman, talking like layman, but why there should not be life? And in the sastra we get there is life. Not only moon; every planet is full of living entities. (Room Conversation, July 7, 1976, Baltimore)<\/p>\n
Prabhupada: …the moon planet, there is no rainfall?
\nKarandhara: No, according to scientists there is no (indistinct) of rainfall on the moon.
\nPrabhupada: Huh?
\nBhagavan: It’s very hot and very cold.
\nYogesvara: Have they made another mistake?
\nPrabhupada: And there is no water also.
\nKarandhara: No.
\nBhagavan: No, water.
\nYogesvara: They say that the moon is covered by a very thick layer of dust.
\nPrabhupada: But according to our sastra, moon is one of the heavenly planets. [break] …is moon in any way? Because there is no water?
\nKarandhara: They say that if they want to set up some houses there, they have to, everything has to be brought there. There’s nothing there to use.
\nPrabhupada: How the house will be brought there?
\nKarandhara: Well, they plan on in the future building stations and…
\nPrabhupada: The water has to be taken from the station?
\nKarandhara: Yes. Air, water, everything has to be taken.
\nPrabhupada: Oh. And still they must go there. And we are proposing another planet, Vaikuntha planet. They are not willing to go there.<\/p>\n
Prabhupada: So how you can say there is no water in the moon planet?
\nKarandhara: Well, they can take samples in the desert and find out if there is certain degree of moisture in the soil. They have taken the same samples on the moon and say that there is no moisture.
\nPrabhupada: So why the moon planet is bereft of? Material, anything material, it is combination of earth, water, fire, air, ether. Anything material. It is a combination.
\nKarandhara: Well, there are probably very minute quantities of moisture on the moon. But they say nothing significant, nothing suitable for agriculture.
\nYogesvara: There are no plants growing on the moon. In the desert we find some plants, but they have not found any vegetation on the moon.
\nPrabhupada: That means they have not gone thoroughly. One portion of it.
\nKarandhara: Well, they have scanners on these satellites which pick up vegetation or life. From hundreds miles away, it will show up on a screen. And they sent it all around the moon, and it hasn’t shown any indication of any organic matter or life. They can send this satellite up around the earth planet and they can locate fields of corn, fields of wheat, from hundreds of miles away, just by the way it shows up on these different electronic devices. [break] (Morning Walk, June 3, 1974, Geneva)<\/p>\n
To end, some more lila:<\/p>\n
Reporter: … about traveling to the moon.
\nPrabhupada: You are particularly interested with that subject matter?
\n.. So far the movement is concerned, it has nothing to do with the moon planetary journey, it has nothing to do. (Interview with LA Times Reporter, About Moon Trip, December 26, 1968, Los Angeles)<\/p>\n
Nilakantha: Some people are very, the public, they’re very satisfied: “Oh, I am an American, and we have done this. We have gone to the moon. We are so good.”
\nPrabhupada: Why don’t you say: “We have gone to Krishna-loka, Vrindavana, which you have no information”? (Morning Walk, April 28, 1973, Los Angeles)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nitaicandra dasa: The Srimad Bhagavatam canto 5 speaks of the Bhu-mandala. That is not our small mother earth planet, egg of clay, we are familiar with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14107,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14105\/revisions\/14107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}