Is the moon the moon?

[Guest guest]

> > > Now soon there will be a solareclipse by the moon. But is it the moon?

> > > Or Rahu? If it is not the moon, why do they think it is? Does Rahu

> > > follow the track of the moon? How can they mistake the moon for

> > > something else?

> > >

> > > We´ve heard that Srila Prabhupada said the moon is further away than

> > > the sun, so it´s nice to get it cleared up, no?

> > >

> > > Your servant Trayimaya dasa

> >

> > interesting questions. Please panditjis, answer us.

> >

> > Ys Visnu Murti das

>

> Srila Bhaktisddhanta Saraswati explains it in a purport to text 209 of the

> Second Chapter, Adi Khanda, Sri Caitanya-bhagavata:

>

> "When the sun and moon are at opposite extremes in their orbits, their

> shadows form Rahu and Ketu. When the sun and moon are six rasis, or signs,

> from each other, or when they are at 180 degrees, the residents of this

> planet see the shadow of earth fall on the moon. This shadow is called

> Rahu. When the sun is covered by the shadow of the moon it is said to be

> eclipsed by Ketu or Rahu. Also at the time of the lunar eclipse the

> earth's shadow is called Rahu. The word kavala means "swallowed"."

>

> © 1998 by Vrajraj Press

 

The following explanation is given by Sadaputa Prabhu in Vedic Cosmography

and Astronomy, pages 97-100:

 

"In the Vedic literature it is often mentioned that Rahu causes

solar and lunar eclipses by passing in front of the sun or moon. To many

people, this seems to blatantly contradict the modern explanation of

eclipses, which holds that a solar eclipse is caused by the passage of the

moon in front of the sun and a lunar eclipse is caused by the moon’s passage

through the earth’s shadow. However, the actual situation is somewhat more

complicated than this simple analysis assumes.

The reason for this is that the Surya-siddhanta presents an

explanation of eclipses that agrees with the modern explanation but also

brings Rahu into the picture. This work explicitly assumes that eclipses are

caused by the passage of the moon in front of the sun or into the earth’s

shadow. It describes calculations based on this model that make it possible

to predict the occurrence of both lunar and solar eclipses and compute the

degree to which the disc of the sun or moon will be obscured. At the same

time, rules are also given for calculating the position of Rahu and another,

similar planet named Ketu. It turns out that either Rahu or Ketu will always

be lined up in the direction of any solar or lunar eclipse.

In Chapter 1 we have already described how the astronomical

siddhantas define the orbit of Rahu, and a similar definition is given for

Ketu. The positions assigned to Rahu and Ketu correspond to the ascending

and descending nodes of the moon—the points where the orbit of the moon

(projected onto the celestial sphere) intersects the ecliptic, or the orbit

of the sun. These nodal points rotate around the ecliptic from east to west,

with a period of about 18.6 years. One of them must always point in the

direction of an eclipse, since the moon can pass in front of the sun or into

the earth’s shadow only if the sun, moon, and earth lie on a straight line.

Thus, by placing Rahu and Ketu at the nodal points of the moon, the

Surya-siddhanta conforms both with the modern theory of eclipses and the

Vedic explanation involving Rahu and Ketu.

One objection that may be raised to the explanation given in the

Surya-siddhanta is that it contradicts the Vedic statement that the moon is

higher than the sun. However, we have seen that this statement refers to the

height of the moon above the plane of Bhu-mandala, and not the distance

along the line of sight from the earth globe to the moon."

 

© 1989 Richard Thompson

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

your servant,

Krishna-kripa Das

Bhaktivedanta Institute (Alachua)

WWW: http://www.afn.org/~bvi