Mysteries Of The Sacred Universe

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Mysteries Of The Sacred Universe

 

BY SADAPUTA DASA

 

USA, Nov 14 (VNN) — Mysteries of the Sacred Universe, by Richard L.

Thompson (Sadaputa Dasa)

 

Sadaputa Prabhu has recently published his latest book on science and

Vedic knowledge entitled Mysteries of the Sacred Universe: The

Cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana. In addition to the book he has

produced a multimedia CD-ROM illustrated with computer animations,

over 250 color pictures, and original artwork. The book contains 375

pages, 104 illustrations, 51 tables, a glossary, a bibliography, and

an index and retails for $15.95. A nice summary appears in the

November/December issue of Back to Godhead magazine, and more

information can be found at: http://sacreduniverse.com

 

>From the flat earth to the sun's chariot, traditional spiritual

texts often seem wedded to outmoded cosmologies that show, at best,

the scientific limitations of their authors. The Srimad Bhagavatam,

seems, at first glance, to be no exception. However, a closer

examination of this text reveals unexpected depths of knowledge in

ancient cosmology. Mysteries of the Sacred Universe shows that the

Bhagavatam's cosmology is a sophisticated system, with multiple

levels of meaning that encode at least four different astronomical,

geographical, and spiritual world models.

 

By viewing the text in the light of modern astronomy, Sadaputa shows

how ancient scientists expressed exact knowledge in apparently

mythological terms. Comparison with the ancient traditions of Egypt

and the Near East shows early cultural connections between India and

these regionsincluding a surprisingly advanced science. However,

quantitative science is only part of the picture. Mysteries of the

Sacred Universe also offers a clear understanding of how the

spiritual dimension was integrated into ancient Indian cosmology.

 

The book as been well received by devotees, scholars, and popular

writers as well. Hridayananda dasa Goswami wrote, "Mysteries of the

Sacred Universe by Sadaputa Prabhu constitutes yet another

outstanding achievement in the distinguished career of this very

important scholar. At a time when a somewhat dogmatic orthodoxy tends

to govern academia, Sadaputa displays here all the intellectual

ability, academic rigor, and the personal courage and creativity

necessary to produce his brilliant discovery of the modern scientific

relevance of ancient, Sanskrit descriptions of the universe. The

large and growing number of rational human beings who cannot accept

that ancient peoples were simply less evolved versions of ourselves,

will find here a treasure of hard data and masterful reasoning to the

contrary."

 

Professor Gene R. Thursby, of University of Florida, observed, "A

revolution in our understanding of the cosmology of the Puranas is in

the making here.

 

This book offers a way of reading ancient Indian texts that is

profoundly interesting and that overturns a long history of scholarly

undervaluation of the supposedly only mythological' contents of

Puranic literature."

 

Robert G. Bauval, coauthor of both The Orion Mystery and The Message

of the Sphinx commented, "Gripping, scholarly, and groundbreaking,

Mysteries of the Sacred Universe deserves to be widely read and

discussed."

 

Describing the interactive CD-ROM, Professor Subash Kak of Louisiana

State University wrote, "The CD accompanying the book is also

outstanding. The graphics are spellbinding."

 

In April 27, 1976, Srila Prabhupada wrote Svarupa Damodara

Maharaja, "So now all you Ph.D.'s must carefully study the details of

the Fifth Canto and make a working model of the universe. If we can

explain the passing seasons, eclipses, phases of the moon, passing of

day and night, etc., then it will be very powerful propaganda."

Mysteries of the Sacred Universe and its interactive CD are a great

contribution to the fulfillment of this desire of Srila Prabhupada.