moon

[Guest guest]

> OK I wil try to explain once more. All I`m trying to do is to understand

> Srila Prabhupada. Now Prabhupada is saying the moon might be 95,000,000

> miles away. Why is he saying that when the surya sidhanta is saying

> (paraphrased by Sadhaputa in his book "Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy)

> "The S™rya-siddh€nta lists the diameter of the moon as 480 yojanas and the

> circumference of the moon’s orbit as 324,000 yojanas. If we convert these

> figures into miles by multiplying by the S™rya-siddh€nta value of 5 miles

> per yojana, we obtain 2,400 and 1,620,000. According to modern Western

> figures, the diameter of the moon is 2,160 miles, and the circumference of

> the moon’s orbit is 2Š times the earth-to-moon distance of 238,000 miles,

> or 1,495,000 miles. Thus the S™rya-siddh€nta agrees closely with modern

> astronomy as to the size of the moon and its distance from the earth."

 

It is more than 100% clear from below statements. It is sooooo simple, you

will see, when you get it. Surya-siddhanta is describing different model

than Bhagavatam. Bhagavatam is speaking of planar earth, Jambudvipa,

vertical dimension. And Surya-siddhanta is speaking of another system,

similar to that which is used by modern astronomers.

 

It is two different systems, thats why there is difference in numbers.

 

But actually it is one and the same thing, just described in two different

ways. Your mind is thinking 3 dimensions, thats why you have problem. Answer

is not in 3 dimensions. You can describe universe in many ways. 3D is one

way. There are other ways to do it. Bhagavatam is another view on the same

thing. It is not 3D view, as we perceive it with our senses, obviously. Some

say that SB describes higher dimensional way, although this can be

misleading. Higher-dimensional is relative term, just like love or peace, or

God. Higher dimensions, each person can understand it in his own way.

 

SB just describes different view on the same thing. Sadaputa prabhu put huge

amount of endeavor to explain it. Please see his book Sacred Universe. I

guess thats as far as you can get by our 3D mind and senses.

 

Please read it, and if you still do not understand, then better just forget

about it.

 

ys gnd

 

>

> "Q: In SB 8.10.38p, ®r…la Prabhup€da says, “The sun is supposed to be

> 93,000,000 miles above the surface of the earth, and from the

> ®r…mad-Bh€gavatam 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.” Doesn’t this plainly say that the moon is farther from

> the earth than the sun?

> A: In the summary at the end of Chapter 23 of the Fifth Canto ®r…la

> Prabhup€da says, “The distance from the sun to the earth is 100,000

> yojanas.” At 8 miles per yojana, this comes to 800,000 miles. We suggest

> that when ®r…la Prabhup€da cites the modern Western earth-sun distance of

> 93,000,000 miles, he is simply making the point that if you put together

> the Bh€gavatam and modern astronomy you get a contradictory picture. His

> conclusion is that one should simply accept the Vedic version, and he was

> not interested in personally delving into astronomical arguments in

> detail. Q: What is your justification for going into these arguments in

> detail? A: ®r…la Prabhup€da ordered some of his disciples to do this for

> the sake of preaching. In a letter to Svar™pa D€modara d€sa dated April

> 27, 1976, ®r…la Prabhup€da said, “Now our Ph.D.’s must collaborate and

> study the 5th Canto to make a model for building the Vedic Planetarium.…

> So now all you Ph.D.’s must carefully study the details of the 5th 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.” In this regard, he specifically

> mentioned Svar™pa D€modara d€sa, Sad€p™ta d€sa, and M€dhava d€sa in a

> letter to Dr. Wolf-Rottkay dated October 14, 1976.

> Q: If the distance from the earth to the sun is 800,000 miles, how can

> this be reconciled with modern astronomy?

> A: This distance is relative to the plane of Bh™-maŠala. The distance

> from the center of Jamb™dv…pa to the orbit of the sun around M€nasottara

> Mountain is 15,750,000 yojanas according to the dimensions given in the

> Fifth Canto. This distance lies in the plane of Bh™-maŠala and comes to

> 126,000,000 miles at 8 miles per yojana and 78,750,000 miles at 5 miles

> per yojana. Since values for the yojana ranging from 5 to 8 miles have

> been used in India, this distance is compatible with the modern earth-sun

> distance of 93,000,000 miles.

> Q: Using radar and lasers, scientists have recently obtained very accurate

> estimates of the earth-moon distance. This distance is about 238,000

> miles. How do you reconcile this with Vedic calculations?

> A: According to the S™rya-siddh€nta, the distance from the earth globe to

> the moon is about 258,000 miles (see Section 1.e). This is in reasonable

> agreement with the modern value.

> Q: If the moon is 258,000 miles from the earth globe, then how can it be

> 100,000 yojanas above the sun? This seems hard to understand, even if the

> latter distance is relative to the plane of Bh™-maŠala.

> A: This question is answered in detail in Section 4.b, and the reader

> should specifically study Tables 8 and 9 in that section. Briefly, we

> propose the following: The heights of the planets from Bh™-maŠala

> correspond to the maximum heights of the planets from the plane of the

> ecliptic in the visible solar system. This correspondence is approximate

> because the Fifth Canto gives the viewpoint of the demigods, whereas in

> modern astronomy and the jyotia €stra the viewpoint is that of ordinary

> humans.

> In summary, we propose that the Fifth Canto description of the universe is

> broadly compatible with what we see. The differences are due to the

> difference in viewpoint between human beings and demigods. Thus, from the

> higher-dimensional perspective of a demigod, Bh™-maŠala should be

> directly visible, and the relative positions of Bh™-maŠala, the sun, and

> the moon should appear as described in the Fifth Canto."