Why does the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 8 Chapter 10 Text 38 Purport says the moon is further away from Earth than the sun? Srila Prabhupada - ''Therefore the distance between the Earth and the Moon would be about 95,000,000 miles''

Why does the Srimad Bhagavatam say the moon is further away from Earth than the sun?

Srimad Bhagavatam 8.10.38,

Srila Prabhupada says - "The Sun is supposed to be 93,000,000 miles above the surface of the Earth, and from the SB, we understand that the Moon is 1,600,000 miles above the Sun. Therefore the distance between the Earth and the Moon would be about 95,000,000 miles."

Lets be clear, the purport doesn’t say the moon is bigger or larger than the Sun here, however, it DOES in other passages in the Srimad Bhagavatam, such as Canto 5 Chapter 24 Text 2, it is said the Moon is Bigger than the sun.

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 5 Chapter 24 Text 2-

"The sun globe, which is a source of heat, extends for 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles]. The moon extends for 20,000 yojanas [160,000 miles], and Rāhu extends for 30,000 yojanas [240,000 miles].

Formerly, when nectar was being distributed, Rāhu tried to create dissension between the sun and moon by interposing himself between them.

Rāhu is inimical toward both the sun and the moon, and therefore he always tries to cover the sunshine and moonshine on the dark-moon day and full-moon night".

Purport:

As stated herein, the sun extends for 10,000 yojanas (80,000 miles), and the moon extends for twice that, or 20,000 yojanas (160,000 miles). The word dvādaśa should be understood to mean twice as much as ten, or twenty.

In the opinion of Vijayadhvaja, the extent of Rāhu should be twice that of the moon, or 40,000 yojanas (320,000 miles).

However to reconcile this apparent contradiction to the text of the Bhāgavatam?

Vijayadhvaja cites the following quotation concerning Rāhu; 

rāhu-soma-ravīṇāṁ tu maṇḍalā dvi-guṇoktitām. 

"This means that Rāhu is twice as large as the moon, which is twice as large as the sun". 

This is the conclusion of the commentator Vijayadhvaja".

How is this understood intelligently, where Prabhupada above claims the Moon is twice the size of the Sun?

Dr. Richard L. Thompson (Disciple of Srila Prabhupada and co-author of the book “The hidden history of Human Race”) explains -

This is another case of an apparent contradiction. Since we have practically no information, we cannot make a definite statement.

But it is possible that the larger sizes of the moon and Rahu may have to do with the higher-dimensional aspects of these planets.

The Sürya-siddhanta gives a diameter of 2,400 miles for the moon. This is close to the modern figure. (from Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy)

Why it should be related to higher dimensional aspects?

Because we believe the Verse SB 5.24.2 does not talk from the perspective of ordinary humans or 3 dimensional reality.

But, if you read the purport of Srimad Bhagavatam 8.10.38, then you can understand that Srila Prabhupada says the moon is ABOVE the Sun.

Question : The Vedic literature says the moon is higher than the sun (further away from earth than the sun is). How can this be?

Professor Brian Cox comments - "Lets face it, no intelligent person let alone Cosmologist, will EVER accept the absurd nonsense the Sun is first and the Moon is beyond that with the silly argument Sunday (Sun) is the first day of the week then Monday (Moon) is next".

Answer to these comments, including the comment above by the modern scientist and famous Cosmologist Professor Brian Cox comment is nicely given by Dr. Richard L. Thompson (Sadaputa Dasa ACBSP)-

"In Chapter 22 of the Fifth Canto, the heights of the planets above the earth are given, and it is stated that the moon is 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles) above the rays of the sun.

In this chapter, the word "above" means "above the plane of Bhu-mandala." It does not refer to distance measured radially from the surface of the earth global sphere.

We have shown that if the plane of Bhu-mandala corresponds to the plane of the ecliptic, then it indeed makes sense to say that the moon is higher than the sun relative to Bhu-mandala.

This DOES NOT MEAN the moon is farther from the earth globe than the sun!

For example, if point A is in a plane, B is 1,000 miles above the plane, and C is 2,000 miles above the plane, we cannot necessarily conclude that C is further from A than B is. (Taken from Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy)