The Sun Is Closer Than The Moon

[Guest guest]

Dear Madhudvisa Prabhu.

Pamho. AgtSP.

 

At first it seems as a touchy subject, I know. But, please don't think, that

I'm trying to undermine Srila prabhupadas authority or something like that.

Not at all. Quite the opposite. Like I said, this question was posted by

another devotee (please see it in recent posting by Caitanya Candrodaya

Prabhu), and I had no really good answer to it, besides that of Sadaputa

Prabhu, which I quoted also here. And I was also able to tell him, that

Srila Prabhupada was probably not so concerned about distances, since his

main point was, that they never went to the moon.

 

>

> There is no question. Prabhupada has let us know for sure on many

> occasions that the Moon is further away than the Sun. And it is described

> like that in the Bhagavatam also. That the Moon is much bigger than the

> Sun. But the Moon and the Sun appear to be the same size to us. So if we

> accept the Bhagavatam's description of the relative sizes of the Moon and

> Sun the Moon has to be further away.

 

As explained by Sadaputa Prabhu, Bhagavatam says that moon is closer to

Bharata Varsa than the sun. That is also supported by other sastra. Now,

Sadaputa Prabhu may be wrong, but his points seem clear and understandable.

 

It is true, that acording to SB the Sun is closer to Bhu-mandala (larger

earth). But at the same time, it is further away from Jambudvipa and Bharata

Varsa (which is our earth). So, both is true. There is just one slight

disagreement in numbers, and it is a bit hard to grasp. It took me some time

to figure out what the other devotee is actually speaking about. I needed to

use some calculator and paper. And, of course, while not understanding his

point, I blasted him away several times for his "wrong" opinion.

 

BTW.

============

Prabhupada: It does not look bigger than the sun. May be bigger. Hare Krsna.

[break]

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk -- November 29, 1975, Delhi

============

>

> In this text you are saying, more or less, "What Prabhupada says in the

> Bhagavatam seems to be wrong, here is my explanation, it is better."

 

No, not really. Why would I say anything like that. I'm just saying that it

is not clear to me, why would Srila Prabhupada present the point numerically

different than in sastra. It is not a challenging point, please don't jump

to conclusions too soon. I reacted similarly to this question, as it was

raised in "Understanding Srila Prabhupada's Teachings" conference. I said

exactly the same points, as you did. Prabhupada is talking truth.

 

It is just what is the truth? Is the truth in numbers or are numbers used to

support higher truth? I picked up calculator and added numbers in Srimad

Bhagavatam, to see where discrepancy is. You can do the same, if you want.

 

Sadaputa prabhu also recognized this apparent contradiction in Srila

Prabhupadas words. He comments, that SP is simply making the point that if

you put together the Bhagavatam and modern astronomy you get a contradictory

picture.

 

Again, acording to SB, it can be viewed both ways. Both that the sun is

closer, or that the moon is closer, depending of what you consider as earth.

One earth is Bhu-mandala, and another earth is Bharata Varsa, part od

Jambudvipa, central island of Bhu Mandala.

 

>

> There is something very seriously wrong with this. The words of the pure

> devotee of Krishna are correct. We may not realize how they are correct.

> But we have to accept that we are conditioned. We have imperfect senses,

> we make mistakes, we are illusioned and we cheat. These faults all

> conditioned souls, including the scientists, have.

 

It is wrong, of course, the way you present it. But that is not what I'm

aiming at, I assure you. I thought I was clear im my letter about my

intention. Let me repeat my intention again, just to be clear. I noted this

apparent discrepancy, and found explanation of Sadaputa Prabhu for it. From

my experience I know, that usually there is more than one of such

explanations. Different devotees give us more ways how to understand Srila

Prabhupada in a better way. My question was like this: "Is this how we

answer to people when they ask us, or maybe there are some other ways to

look at this subject matter." So, I just wanted to know if explanation of

Sadaputa Prabhu is "bonafide" and the only accepted in ISKCON, or maybe

there is another explanation to it.

 

>

> The great benefit of receiving knowledge from Srila Prabhupada is it is

> perfect and not flawed because of these four defects found in all

> conditioned souls.

 

Thank you for pointing this out. I was not going in this direction in any

way, not even by far. Srila Prabhupada is right by definition, we all know

that. But sometimes we don't understand some points well enough. And usually

there are several ways how to understand some "contradictory" points. In

this subject (moon) I was able to find only one explanation of Sadaputa

Prabhu. I was just wondering if this is the only way to see it, or is there

another way. Usually there is more than one way to see so-called

"contradictory" points.

 

>

> So we may not understand exactly how what Srila Prabhupada is saying is

> correct. But we understand it is correct. And if we surrender and serve

> Srila Prabhupada then the knowledge and realization of the knowledge will

> come to us.

 

Yes, Srila Prabhupada is correct. There is of course no doubt about it. My

letter is just a humble attempt to know, if there is another explanation on

this subject besides that of Sadaputa Prabhu.

 

>

> But if we start off with the presumption that we have a greater ability to

> understand the Srimad-Bhagavatam than Srila Prabhupada we are in real

> trouble.

 

Please, why would I do that? Interestingly, I reacted very similarly at

first to the same questions put forward by another devotee. If you would

like to see my replies, you can read them in "Understanding Srila

Prabhupada's Teachings" conference. Now I know that I just didn't read

another devotees letter carefully enough, and just unfairly attacked him for

his "lack of faith". It was wrong from my side and now I'm just getting back

what I deserve. I was jumping to conclusions abouth his faith in Srila

Prabhupada too quickly, and now the same thing is happening to me. It is the

mercy of devotees, and my great fortune, to be able to be guided in my

attempts to serve Srila Prabhupada in his mission.

 

Thank you

 

your servant Giri-nayaka das