Part Two “Studying the Structure of the Universe.”

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 5 Chapter 20 text 26 to text 46

By His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 

SB 5.20.26

For these lands also, there are seven boundary mountains and seven rivers. The mountains are Īśāna, Uruśṛṅga, Balabhadra, Śatakesara, Sahasrasrota, Devapāla and Mahānasa. The rivers are Anaghā, Āyurdā, Ubhayaspṛṣṭi, Aparājitā, Pañcapadī, Sahasra-śruti and Nijadhṛti.

SB 5.20.27

The inhabitants of those islands are also divided into four castes — Ṛtavrata, Satyavrata, Dānavrata and Anuvrata — which exactly resemble brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra. They practice prāṇāyāma and mystic yoga, and in trance they worship the Supreme Lord in the form of Vāyu.

SB 5.20.28.

[The inhabitants of Śākadvīpa worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of Vāyu in the following words.] O Supreme Person, situated as the Supersoul within the body, You direct the various actions of the different airs, such as prāṇa, and thus You maintain all living entities. O Lord, O Supersoul of everyone, O controller of the cosmic manifestation under whom everything exists, may You protect us from all dangers.

Purport:

Through the mystic yoga practice called prāṇāyāma, the yogī controls the airs within the body to maintain the body in a healthy condition. In this way, the yogī comes to the point of trance and tries to see the Supersoul within the core of his heart. Prāṇāyāma is the means to attain samādhi, trance, in order to fully absorb oneself in seeing the Supreme Lord as antaryāmī, the Supersoul within the core of the heart.

SB 5.20.29

Outside the ocean of yogurt is another island, known as Puṣkaradvīpa, which is 6,400,000 yojanas [51,200,000 miles] wide, twice as wide as the ocean of yogurt. It is surrounded by an ocean of very tasteful water as broad as the island itself. 

On Puṣkaradvīpa there is a great lotus flower with 100,000,000 pure golden petals, as effulgent as the flames of fire. That lotus flower is considered the sitting place of Lord Brahmā, who is the most powerful living being and who is therefore sometimes called bhagavān.

SB 5.20.30

In the middle of that island is a great mountain named Mānasottara, which forms the boundary between the inner side and the outer side of the island. Its breadth and height are 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles]. On that mountain, in the four directions, are the residential quarters of demigods such as Indra.

In the chariot of the sun-god, the sun travels on the top of the mountain in an orbit called the Saṁvatsara, encircling Mount Meru. The sun’s path on the northern side is called Uttarāyaṇa, and its path on the southern side is called Dakṣiṇāyana. One side represents a day for the demigods, and the other represents their night.

Purport:

The movement of the sun is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.52): yasyājñāya bhramati saṁbhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. The sun orbits around Mount Sumeru, for six months on the northern side and for six months on the southern. This adds up to the duration of a day and night of the demigods in the upper planetary systems.

SB 5.20.31

The ruler of this island, the son of Mahārāja Priyavrata named Vītihotra, had two sons named Ramaṇaka and Dhātaki. He granted the two sides of the island to these two sons and then personally engaged himself in activities for the sake of the Supreme Personality of Godhead like his elder brother Medhātithi.

SB 5.20.32

For the fulfillment of material desires, the inhabitants of this tract of land worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead as represented by Lord Brahmā. They offer prayers to the Lord as follows.

SB 5.20.33

Lord Brahmā is known as karma-maya, the form of ritualistic ceremonies, because by performing ritualistic ceremonies one may attain his position and because the Vedic ritualistic hymns become manifest from him. He is devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead without deviation, and therefore in one sense he is not different from the Lord.

Nevertheless, he should be worshiped not as the monists worship him, but in duality. One should always remain a servitor of the Supreme Lord, the supreme worshipable Deity. We therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto Lord Brahmā, the form of manifest Vedic knowledge.

Purport:

In this verse, the word karma-mayam (“obtainable by the Vedic ritualistic system”) is significant. The Vedas say, svadharma-niṣṭhaḥ śata janmabhiḥ pumān viriñcatām eti: “One who strictly follows the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma for at least one hundred births will be rewarded with the post of Lord Brahmā.”

It is also significant that although Lord Brahmā is extremely powerful, he never thinks himself one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead; he always knows that he is an eternal servitor of the Lord. Because the Lord and the servant are identical on the spiritual platform, Brahmā is herein addressed as bhagavān. 

Bhagavān is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, but if a devotee serves Him with full faith, the meaning of the Vedic literature is revealed to him. Therefore Brahmā is called brahma-liṅga, which indicates that his entire form consists of Vedic knowledge.

SB 5.20.34

Thereafter, beyond the ocean of sweet water and fully surrounding it, is a mountain named Lokāloka, which divides the countries that are full of sunlight from those not lit by the sun.

SB 5.20.35

Beyond the ocean of sweet water is a tract of land as broad as the area between the middle of Mount Sumeru and the boundary of Mānasottara Mountain. In that tract of land there are many living beings. Beyond it, extending to Lokāloka Mountain, is another land, which is made of gold. Because of its golden surface, it reflects light like the surface of a mirror, and any physical article that falls on that land can never be perceived again. All living entities, therefore, have abandoned that golden land.

SB 5.20.36

Between the lands inhabited by living entities and those that are uninhabited stands the great mountain which separates the two and which is therefore celebrated as Lokāloka.

SB 5.20.37

By the supreme will of Kṛṣṇa, the mountain known as Lokāloka has been installed as the outer border of the three worlds — Bhūrloka, Bhuvarloka and Svarloka — to control the rays of the sun throughout the universe. All the luminaries, from the sun up to Dhruvaloka, distribute their rays throughout the three worlds, but only within the boundary formed by this mountain. Because it is extremely high, extending even higher than Dhruvaloka, it blocks the rays of the luminaries, which therefore can never extend beyond it.

Purport:

When we speak of loka-traya, we refer to the three primary planetary systems — Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ — into which the universe is divided. Surrounding these planetary systems are the eight directions, namely east, west, north, south, northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest. Lokāloka Mountain has been established as the outer boundary of all the lokas to distribute the rays of the sun and other luminaries equally throughout the universe.

This vivid description of how the rays of the sun are distributed throughout the different planetary systems of the universe is very scientific. Śukadeva Gosvāmī described these universal affairs to Mahārāja Parīkṣit as he had heard about them from his predecessor. 

He explained these facts five thousand years ago, but the knowledge existed long, long before because Śukadeva Gosvāmī received it through disciplic succession. Because this knowledge is accepted through the disciplic succession, it is perfect.

The history of modern scientific knowledge, on the contrary, does not go back more than a few hundred years. Therefore, even if modern scientists do not accept the other factual presentations of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, how can they deny the perfect astronomical calculations that existed long before they could imagine such things?

There is so much information to gather from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Modern scientists, however, have no information of other planetary systems and, indeed, are hardly conversant with the planet on which we are now living.

SB 5.20.38

Learned scholars who are free from mistakes, illusions and propensities to cheat have thus described the planetary systems and their particular symptoms, measurements and locations. With great deliberation, they have established the truth that the distance between Sumeru and the mountain known as Lokāloka is one fourth of the diameter of the universe — or, in other words, 125,000,000 yojanas [1 billion miles].

Purport:

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has given accurate astronomical information about the location of Lokāloka Mountain, the movements of the sun globe and the distance between the sun and the circumference of the universe.

However, the technical terms used in the astronomical calculations given by the Jyotir Veda are difficult to translate into English. Therefore to satisfy the reader, we may include the exact Sanskrit statement given by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, which records exact calculations regarding universal affairs.

sa tu lokālokas tu bhū-golakasya bhū-sambandhāṇḍa-golakasyety arthaḥ; sūryasy eva bhuvo ’py aṇḍa-golakayor madhya-vartitvāt kha-golam iva bhū-golam api pañcāśat-koṭi-yojana-pramāṇaṁ tasya turīya-bhāgaḥ sārdha-dvādaśa-koṭi-yojana-vistārocchrāya ity arthaḥ bhūs tu catus-triṁśal-lakṣonapañcāśat-koṭi-pramāṇā jñeyā; yathā meru-madhyān

mānasottara-madhya-paryantaṁ sārdha-sapta-pañcāśal-lakṣottara-koṭi-yojana-pramāṇam; mānasottara-madhyāt svādūdaka-samudra-paryantaṁ ṣaṇ-ṇavati-lakṣa-yojana-pramāṇaṁ tataḥ kāñcanī-bhūmiḥ sārdha-sapta-pañcāśal-lakṣottara-koṭi-yojana-pramāṇā evam ekato meru-lokālokayor

antarālam ekādaśa-śal-lakṣādhika-catuṣ-koṭi-parimitam anyato ’pi tathatyeto lokālokāl loka-paryantaṁ sthānaṁ dvāviṁśati-lakṣottarāṣṭa-koṭi-parimitaṁ lokālokād bahir apy ekataḥ etāvad eva anyato ’py etāvad eva yad vakṣyate, yo ’ntar-vistāra etena hy aloka-parimāṇaṁ ca vyākhyātaṁ yad-bahir lokālokācalād ity

ekato lokālokaḥ sārdha-dvādaśa-koṭi-yojana-parimāṇaḥ anyato ’pi sa tathety evaṁ catus-triṁśal-lakṣonapañcāśat-koṭi-pramāṇā bhūḥ sābdhi-dvīpa-parvatā jñeyā; ata evāṇḍa-golakāt sarvato dikṣu sapta-daśa-lakṣa-yojanāvakāśe vartamāne sati pṛthivyāḥ śeṣa-nāgena dhāraṇaṁ dig-gajaiś ca niścalī-karaṇaṁ sārthakaṁ bhaved anyathā tu vyākhyāntare pañcāśat-koṭi-pramāṇatvād aṇḍa-golaka-lagnatve tat tat sarvam akiñcit-karaṁ syāt cākṣuṣe manvantare cākasmāt majjanaṁ śrī-varāha-devenotthāpanaṁ ca durghaṭaṁ syād ity adikaṁ vivecanīyam. 

Srila Prabhupada never translated the Jyotir Veda above.

Here is an added important comment regarding the shapes of the planets and defeats the propagaters of "flat earth nonsenese."  

We cannot deny that each planetary system is made up of planets that look like ''balls in space'' Prabhupada explains. 

All planets in space are spherical globes that make up our universes 14 planetary Systems and our Earth globe is just a spec in on one of those systems.

As Danavir Maharaj and Sadaputa dasa have also explained, our Earth globe is just a spherical spec within the 4 billion diameter "Bhu-Mandala universe" (made up of 14 planetary systems)

There are two meanings to the word "earth." 

The bigger "earth" is known as our universe "earth" inside the surrounding massive Brahmanda and called Bhu-Mandala. 

And the smaller "earth" is known as our earth global round sphere planet we live on. 

Lokaloka's distance from Meru is one quarter of the measurement of Meru to the outer universes Brahmanda, also known as bhu-golasya. 

The bigger earth plane (Bhu-Mandala) is also almost 500,000,000 yojanas in diameter or 4 billion miles in diameter reaching to the edges of the inner universe (Brahmanda outer covering) or the first layer of the surrounding Brahmanda (not to be confused with our small earth globe)

A quarter of our inner material universe is 125,000,000 yojanas or one billion miles in diameter. That is the extent (radius) of the raised mountainous area of Lokaloka. 

However, the bigger earth's surface is 493,400,000 yojanas across or 3,947,200,000 miles

Again this is not to be confused with our smaller earth global round sphere we live on that is only 7,917 miles around at the equator. 

Only less intelligent fools believe our small earth globe is a flat plane.

As said above there are "two earth descriptions," the bigger one known as our small inner universe called Bhu-Mandala, and the smaller one known as our earth globe or the sphere we live on.

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 freshwater 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 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.

Our inner smaller material universe inside the surrounding Brahmanda (the Bhu-Mandala universe) with its 14 different planetary systems is 493,400,000 yojanas or 3,947,200,000 miles in diameter with many planets spread in outer space that have oceans, islands and mountains on them.

There is thus a space of 1,700,000 yojanas from the outer edge of the Bhu-Mandala universe till the surrounding Brahmanda layers of 7 elements that is all around the inner smaller Bhu-Mandala universe. 

Because of this Sesa holds up our material universe inside the Brahmanda (Bhu-Mandala) and the elephants in each direction steady it mystically (symbolic according to Bhaktivenode Thakur)

The diameter deep inside of the massive outer Brahmanda universe that our smaller inner Bhu-Mandala universe is in, is almost 500,000,000 yojanas or 4 billion miles in diameter.

It is foolish to believe our small earth globe is Bhu-Mandala because it is way too big to be the earth globe we live on. 

Also the massive layers of the surrounding Brahmanda are earth, water, fire, air, Sky, False ego and Maha-tattva.

 In other words, the inner 4 billion mile diameter universe (Bhu-mandala universe) is surround by those layers of matter.

The 7 layers of material elements belong to the bigger Brahmanda egg shaped universe as seen in painting below.

All the millions of Brahmandas are different sizes, our Brahmanda is 44 quadrillion 444 trillion 444 billion miles in diameter and, as said above, is just one among billions of Brahmanda universes coming from the Body and breathing of Maha Visnu.

SB 5.20.39

On the top of Lokāloka Mountain are the four gaja-patis, the best of elephants, which were established in the four directions by Lord Brahmā, the supreme spiritual master of the entire universe. The names of those elephants are Ṛṣabha, Puṣkaracūḍa, Vāmana and Aparājita. They are responsible for maintaining the planetary systems of the universe.

SB 5.20.40

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of all transcendental opulences and the master of the spiritual sky. He is the Supreme Person, Bhagavān, the Supersoul of everyone. The demigods, led by Indra, the King of heaven, are entrusted with seeing to the affairs of the material world.

To benefit all living beings in all the varied planets and to increase the power of those elephants and of the demigods, the Lord manifests Himself on top of that mountain in a spiritual body, uncontaminated by the modes of material nature.

Surrounded by His personal expansions and assistants like Viṣvaksena, He exhibits all His perfect opulences, such as religion and knowledge, and His mystic powers such as aṇimā, laghimā and mahimā. He is beautifully situated, and He is decorated by the different weapons in His four hands.

SB 5.20.41

The various forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, such as Nārāyaṇa and Viṣṇu, are beautifully decorated with different weapons. The Lord exhibits those forms to maintain all the varied planets created by His personal potency, yoga-māyā.

Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā (4.6) Lord Kṛṣṇa says, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā: “I appear by My internal potency.” The word ātma-māyā refers to the Lord’s personal potency, yoga-māyā. After creating both the material world and spiritual world through yoga-māyā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally maintains them by expanding Himself in different categories as the Viṣṇu mūrtis and the demigods. He maintains the material creation from beginning to end, and He personally maintains the spiritual world.

SB 5.20.42

My dear King, outside Lokāloka Mountain is the tract of land known as Aloka-varṣa, which extends for the same breadth as the area within the mountain — in other words, 125,000,000 yojanas [one billion miles]. Beyond Aloka-varṣa is the destination of those who aspire for liberation from the material world. It is beyond the jurisdiction of the material modes of nature, and therefore it is completely pure. Lord Kṛṣṇa took Arjuna through this place to bring back the sons of the brāhmaṇa.

SB 5.20.43

The sun is situated [vertically] in the middle of the universe, in the area between Bhūrloka and Bhuvarloka, which is called antarikṣa, outer space. The distance between the sun and the circumference of the universe is twenty-five koṭi yojanas [two billion miles].

Purport:

The word koṭi means ten million, and a yojana is eight miles. The diameter of the universe is fifty koṭi yojanas (four billion miles). Therefore, since the sun is in the middle of the universe, the distance between the sun and the edge of the universe is calculated to be twenty-five koṭi yojanas (two billion miles).

SB 5.20.44

The sun-god is also known as Vairāja, the total material body for all living entities. Because he entered this dull egg of the universe at the time of creation, he is also called Mārtaṇḍa. He is also known as Hiraṇyagarbha because he received his material body from Hiraṇyagarbha [Lord Brahmā].

Purport:

The post of Lord Brahmā is meant for very highly elevated, spiritually advanced living beings. When such living beings are unavailable, Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, expands Himself as Lord Brahmā. This takes place very rarely. Consequently there are two kinds of Brahmās.

Sometimes Brahmā is an ordinary living entity, and at other times Brahmā is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Brahmā spoken of here is an ordinary living being. Whether Brahmā is the Supreme Personality of Godhead or an ordinary living being, he is known as Vairāja Brahmā and Hiraṇyagarbha Brahmā. Therefore the sun-god is also accepted as Vairāja Brahmā.

SB 5.20.45

O King, the sun-god and the sun planet divide all the directions of the universe. It is only because of the presence of the sun that we can understand what the sky, the higher planets, this world and the lower planets are. It is also only because of the sun that we can understand which places are for material enjoyment, which are for liberation, which are hellish and subterranean.

SB 5.20.46

All living entities, including demigods, human beings, animals, birds, insects, reptiles, creepers and trees, depend upon the heat and light given by the sun-god from the sun planet. Furthermore, it is because of the sun’s presence that all living entities can see, and therefore he is called dṛg-īśvara, the Personality of Godhead presiding over sight.

Purport:

In this regard, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says, sūrya ātmā ātmatvenopāsyaḥ. The actual life and soul of all living entities within this universe is the sun. He is therefore upāsya, worshipable. We worship the sun-god by chanting the Gāyatrī mantra (om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyaṁ bhargo devasya dhīmahi).

Sūrya is the life and soul of this universe, and there are innumerable universes for which a sun-god is the life and soul, just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the life and soul of the entire creation. We have information that Vairāja, Hiraṇyagarbha, entered the great, dull, material globe called the sun.

This indicates that the theory held by so-called scientists that no one lives there is wrong. Bhagavad-gītā also says that Kṛṣṇa first instructed Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god (imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam).

Therefore the sun is not vacant. It is inhabited by living entities, and the predominating deity is Vairāja, or Vivasvān. The difference between the sun and earth is that the sun is a fiery planet, but everyone there has a suitable body and can live there without difficulty.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fifth Canto, Twentieth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Studying the Structure of the Universe”