The Vedic Planetarium - A Journey to the Spiritual World

February 1, 2007

A draft proposal for an audio-visual presentation to establish the superiority of our Vedic model of the universe over that of modern science (and indirectly, inspiring anyone who watches it with the desire to go to that perfect world).

Primary goal: To attract scientists and ordinary people alike to a presentation of the Vedic model of the universe, based on the Srimad Bhagavatam (5th Canto) and Sri Brihad-bhagavatamritam, presented through a simulated journey to the spiritual world. By establishing the superiority of the Vedic model, we aim at making the Bhagavatm and the Brihad-bhagavtamritam widely acceptable as standard academic text and reference books, defeating atheistic and impersonalist scientific theories, establishing bhakti as a scientific theistic philosophy far superior to any other philosophy or theology, and generally attracting scientists (and thereafter ordinary people) to the philosophy and practice of bhakti.

Secondary goal: To acquire an additional piece of land (3 Acres) and to construct a Vedic Planetarium (along with a temple/asrama/guesthouse complex).

Location: The location of our asrama (Sri Ranganatha Gaudiya Math, Bangalore) is ideally suitable for this project. This location is becoming a tourist attraction spot, with Nritya-gram (a luxury resort hotel) within short walking distance away, a 50 acres Safary Zoo coming up right next door to our asrama, Eco Resort village (another fancy resort) just opened and a Science City project (100 acres) being constructed, both within 2 kilometers of the asrama's entrance. The Government Film Institute is nearby, and the outer ring-road of Bangalore is planned to pass just a couple of kilometers away. Bangalore city is considered the software capital of the world and we can get technical support there. Since we have been here (just over a year) we have seen the whole area rapidly developing and transforming right before our eyes.

The persons behind the project: BV Dandi Maharaja spent 12 years in college and university education, and completed his D. Sc. (which is higher than a Ph.D) in a record time of 3 years (it usually takes between 5 and 12 years). He has been keeping up with the latest scientific theories and collecting evidence in favour of the Vedic view, such as the evidence on the Ramayana bridge to Sri Lanka. He single-handedly secured this countryside asrama and raised the lakshmi to purcase it. Since then he has been developing the site and has started a Gurukula here. BV Vishnu-daivata Mj. has been working on the English translation of Sri Brihad-Bhagavatamritam and can be consulted on this subject. Jaya Gopal dasa is an expert computer graphics artist and has already produced one pioneering picture-diagram of the universe (under Tridnndi Mj. guidance). Dau Dayal dasa (BA Hons. UCL) has just finished compiling Sri Slokamritam and can now give his full attention to this project. If we can get Srila Gurudeva's blessings and support for this project, we will no doubt be successful in our aspiration to render this little service at his lotus feet.

Mission statement: One may hazard a guess that the advantageous location of the proposed project, the background qualifications of the devotees involved, and the conjunction of these two factors, is not a coincidence, but is due to Guru and Krishna's arrangement. Therefore we see it as a sign that we are meant to use this opportunity to further the mission of Mahaprabhu, as a service to Srila Gurudeva and under his guidance. This was also Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami "Prabhupada's" desire. In a conversation with George Harrison in 1976 he emphasized his desire for the construction of a Vedic Planetarium as an important aid to re-educating and transforming the misleading and concocted views of the sceintists. (The word 'science' in old English means 'Knowledge of God' and 'nescience' therefore means 'ignorance of God').

Funding: Although money is a secondary consideration and Krishna can make anything happen if our desire is dovetailed with His, we can raise money through (1) Treatment courses in Ayurveda, (2) Selling plots to Western devotees wishing to build a home or a resort cottage on the land, and (3) fund-raising collection in the West. BV Dandi Mj. has the experience of raising the money and managing the construction of a sizable temple in New York.

The Scientific versus Vedic explanations of observable reality:

Scientists now conjecture that the universe is made of innumerable galaxies. To support their "Big Bang" theory of an expanding universe, they say that our planetary system is moving within the Milky Way galaxy just like a flying 'frisbee' at the speed of 330 kilometers per second through space. However, from an ordinary observation we know that even a mundane military jet plane exceeding the speed of sound (less than one km per second) produces a 'G force' that greatly impairs the normal functioning ability of the pilot. How are the scientists reconciling this? The Vedic view is that the universe revolves at a much lower speed around the pole star (Dhruva loka), and that the sun revolves around the 14 planetary systems of this one universe. There is only one sun per universe, and the multitude of stars are the abodes of various sages and saints, each having his own star. The Milky Way is not a galaxy at all but the akasa Ganga coming down through the hole in the covering shell of the universe pierced by Vamanadeva. What the scientists observe as galaxies are the remnants of the celestial Ganga entering this universe through the holes in the covering of the universe made by Vamanadeva. Since Vamanadeva comes 1000 times in each day of Brahma, there are innumerable such "galaxies."

Contrary to the expanding universe theory, we observe that things on this planet actually shrink over time. People of previous ages were bigger (there is a footprint of Bhima nearby which is three times the size of an adult footprint), our forefathers had a much longer life-span, and had better brains and higher consciousness. The measurements given in the sastra for mountains and for distances such as that between mainland India and Sri Lanka are considerably bigger than those we observe today. This may be due to the cycle of yugas or to the natural shrinking of the atoms as part of the fact that matter is temporary and always being destroyed. (Whether this is due to the effect of Kali yuga or to the fact that matter as such is always decaying and shrinking, we will have to consult Srila Gurudeva). According to Vedic astrology, the size of the universe itself is fixed and it has a given size (CC Madhya 21.84 pt: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, one of the greatest astrologers of his time, gives information from the Siddhanta-siromani that this universe measures 18,712,069,200,000,000 x 8 miles. This is the circumference of our universe).

Srila BV Swami Prabhupada declared very strongly that man could not have possibly gone to the moon. There is now mounting evidence that the whole trip to the moon was a hoax, set up for political reasons. Public opinion surveys in the US have shown that more than 50 percent of the American people now have serious doubts that moon landing. (see the documentary "The Moon-landing Hoax.")

We now know that Darwin was wrong and his theory of evolution is no longer taken seriously by the leading lights of the academic world. We also know that Newton's theory is not so good since there are observable things it cannot explain. Sceintists now speak of something they label "Intelligent Design", meaning that everything in the universe has been designed very intelligently, nothing is due to chance. In other words they admit that there is an intelligence behind the universe, just as there is an intelligence behind something like a watch. Intelligence doesn't float in space, it is a personal quality. It means there is a person behind the creation just as there is a watch-maker behind the watch. (see the documentary "The Origin of Life"). Moreobver, did you know that Einstein was wrong and that he failed to really explain the universe? In order to make his theory consistent, he denied the existence of ether (space), one of the five basic material elements. A contemporary of Einstein by the name of Godel once challenged the former to a philosopical-scientific debate. He took one of Einstein's basic equations and worked it through to what turned out to be an illogical, absurd conclusion. Einstein checked the sequence of equations but couldn't find any fault with the sequence itself, which means that his original equasion was faulty. Einstein was well-known, well-connected and well-established while Godel was relatively a nobody. Einstein dismissed this case by saying "Let's just ignore this Godel with his strange conclusions." Trying as hard as he could, he could not successfully develope a "Unified Field Theory", that is, one theory that explains everything, both the macro universe and the micro structure of the atoms. At the end of his life he was a very unhappy person. Godel, however, formulated a theory known as "The Incomplete and Inconsistent Theorem." He claimed that any theory presented by any scientist, any explanation of this material world and material phenomena, is bound to be incomplete and inconsistent. This is an admittance that we (either as sceintists or as conditioned souls) can never figure it out completely (after all the material energy maya is called the deluding potency of Krishna). It means that we are not the controllers and enjoyers, that we are not at all independent. The repercussions of Godel's theory were devastating for his contemporaries, especially for the physicists and mathematicians, since they assume that mathematics and physics are "closed-ended" systems that can be comprehended and explained fully by an observer who is completely independent of the system he observes (unlike language which is an "open-ended" system, allowing for creative individual input, and therefore doesn't have a final set of rules, or grammer, that is capable of explaining everything possible within language). The scientific community of the time was morose and depressed since their life-work of research seemed futile and not very meaningful in the light of Godel's Theorem. Therefore, what they did was to dismiss and ignore Godel's theory as unscientific and irrelevant. However, thousnds of Ph.Ds and research scientists nowadays are in disarray. There are major problems with their theories and basic assumptions about the nature of the universe. There are many things that they simply cannot reconcile or explain away. The blind leading the blind. Still they promise that soon, one day, they will give us the full explanation (Srila BV Swami Prabhupada called this "The blank cheque promise"). However, the mental speculation of the empirical scientists seems to have reached a saturation point. A new theory is being put forward every couple of years, replacing the previous so-called theory, and making it clear that they are just mentally concocting new theories without actually realising the Truth or having a grasp on Reality. Therefore they strongly believe that everything is relative and there is no Absolute Truth. Most of the observations made by the scientists can be adequately and consistently explained by the Vedic model. If we can show that our "theory" can provide a stronger and more complete expalanation of observable reality, the scientists are bound to eventually accept it.

According to sastra, one who knows the truth does not change his philosophical conclusions. According to the Srimad Bhagavtam (2nd sloka) "The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all" and that indeed is the knowledge presented by the Bhagavatam. We are aspiring to present scientists and ordinary people with the knowledge of the Bhagavatam, presenting a model of the universe which explains everything, the totality of both material and spiritual worlds, in a complete and perfect way. It accounts for everything we observe, clearly distinguishing reality from illusion. This model is the ultimate "Unified Field Theory." It has its origin not in the mind of any scientist or any human being and is not the result of mental speculation. It is not man-made knowledge but is perfect knowledge that descends from the perfect world, through perfected sages, and presented in perfect literature, free from the mistakes and defects of mortal, conditioned souls. We are humbly extending an invitation to all scientists and any interested persons to take a look at a picture of the universe (or a model of reality) which can answer all questions, allay all doubts, and inspire any individual with a higher taste, the desire for elevation to the spiritual world through the process of bhakti. As it has been said, this is a journey without a beginning to a goal that has never changed. Hare Krishna.

The Vedic view of the Universe:

The Spiritual world:

GOLOKA VRiNDAVANA - Svayam Bhagavan Vrajendra-nandana Krishna, Lila-purushottama, and Vrishabhanu-nandini Srimati Radhika; Krishna has the ego and attire of an dolescent cowherd boy; three pure rasas and two mixed. Prema-rasa nishtha, Pure Madhurya (Aisvarya is completely covered); path leading to Goloka Vrindavana: Suddha-raga bhakti.

[in a parallel prakoshta - SVETADWIPA - Gaura lila, Sri Sacinandana Gaurahari, Prema-purushottama]

MATHURA - Mathuresa Krishna, son of Vasudeva; ego and attire of a Kshatriya prince; both dvibhuja and caturbhuja. Mixed Aisvarya and Madhurya.

1st Catur-vyuha: Vasudeva - Sankarsana. path: Vaidhi-misra-raga bhakti.

DWARAKA PURI - Dwarakadisa Krishna, son of Vasudeva, Kshatriya king.

Suhrid-rasa nishtha, Aisvarya predominant over Madhurya. 2nd Catur-vyuha: Pradyumna-Anirudha. path: Vaidhi-misra-raga bhakti.

AYODHYA - Ramacandra, Maryada-purushottama, Sita-Rama-Lakshmana-Hanman. Seva-rasa-visesha nishtha; path: Vaidhi-bhakti in dasya-rasa.

VAIKUNTHA - Lakshmi-Narayana. Aisvarya predominating. Bhagavan is cutur-bhuja. Seva-rasa nishtha. path: (1) Vaidhi-bhakti in dasya-rasa, and (2) Mukti: salokya, samipya, sarupa, sarsti.

SIVA-LOKA - at the bottom of Vaikuntha. path: worship of Lord Siva (in the mood that he is non-different than Lord Narayana). Consort: Parvati.

Borderline region between the spiritual and material worlds (tatastha):

SIDDHA-LOKA/MUKTI-LOKA - on the shore of the Viraja river (causal ocean) at the bottom of Siva-loka. Neither material, nor spiritual, borderline (tatastha). path: jnana yoga, jnanis whose goal is impersonal liberation (sayujya, nirvana) desiring to merge into the impersonal brahman effulgence emanating from the toes of Krishna. From the point of view of bhakti, this amounts to spiritual suicide since it extinguishes one's individuality and desire to serve Krishna. (note: This destination is not higher than the Paramatma realisation below, but parallel to it).

VIRAJA RIVER or CAUSAL OCEAN - Karanodakasayi Vishnu. The tatastha (borderline) region between the material and spiritual worlds. path: Ashtanga yoga, realisation of the Paramatma (Supersoul in the heart). Again, this is neither material nor spiritual: no service, no ananda. Karanodakasayi, or Maha-Vishnu (a five times removed expansion of Krishna) infuses His potency into maya (Durga devi) thus creating the material world and then impregantes the conditioned jivas through His glance into their respective material bodies (see separate diagram). Innumerable universes emanate from the pores of His skin with every exhalation and are drawn back into His body with each inhalation (Bigger than the biggest).

The Material world:

Composed of innumerable, egg-shaped universes of various sizes, floating in the material sky or held on the hoods of Sesha-naga. Just as Maha-Vishnu is the supersoul of the entire material creation, the second purusha-avatara, Garbodakashayi Vishnu is the supersoul of each individual universe. He lies at the bottom half of the universe in the ocean created by His own sweat, in a state of samadhi (yoga-nidra) and is being served by His consort, Lakshmi. The third purusha-avatara, Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, is the supersoul in the heart of every living being. He also resides inside each atom, holding it together (Smaller than the smallest).

Each universe is completely enclosed by a thick shell of seven layers, each layer is successively ten times thicker than the previous one. The following is a description of the seven layers of one universe and their predominating deities, going from the topmost, external layer, to the bottom, inner layer.

The Seven Layers:

1. Mahat-tattva (seed form of the material elements) - Vasudeva-rupi Vishnu

2. Ahankara (collective false ego) - Sankasana-rupi Vishnu

3. Ether (or space) - Anirudha-rupi Vishnu

4. Air - Pradyumna-rupi Vishnu

5. Fire - Surya (sun)-rupi Vishnu

6. Water - Matsya (totoise)-rupi Vishnu

7. Earth - Varaha (Boar)-rupi Vishnu

The seven upper planetary syatems:

1. Satya-loka - the abode of lord Brahma, the secondary creator of each universe. (the universe lasts as long as Brahm's life, 100 years or ?)

2. Tapa-loka - the abode of the four Kumaras: Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanata-Kumara.

3. Jana-loka - the abode of the Nava-Yogendra, the nine anceint sages (re. King Nemi, 11th Canto of SB).

4. Mahar-loka - the abode of Bhrigu Muni and other sages.

5. Svarga-loka - the abode of the Demigods, headed by Indra, the king of Heaven.

6. Bhuva-loka - the abode of the Pitri-purusha, the forefathers (Manvantaras?)

7. Bhu-loka - Planet earth and the seven Dwipas (not visible to material vision) - the abode of human beings and other living entities.

The seven lower planetary systems:

8. Atal-loka - abode of Bala demon

9. Vital-loka - abode of Hatkesvara Siva

10. Sutal-loka - abode of Bali Maharaja (guarded by Vamana avatara)

11. Talatal-loka - abode of Maya demon (protected by Siva)

12. Mahatal-loka - Kaliya serpent and demoniac sons of Diti

13. Rasatal-loka - Demons

14. Patal-loka - Vasuki serpent

Thus there are 14 planetary systems altogether, each comprising a group of planets or stars.

Below these 14 is Naraka-loka, Hell, the abode of the Yamadutas, Yamaraja's agents whose job is to punish and prepare sinful jivas for their next life.

The Process of Creation (and the sequence of the appearance of material elements):

Karanodakasayi (Maha) Vishnu lies in the Causal Ocean (also called the Viraja River). He infuses Maya (Durga) devi with His potency and this gives rise to the (1) Mahat-tattva (the seed form of the material elements). This gives rise to to the (2) Ahankara (collective form of false ego). Three kinds of Ahankara result from this, according to the three modes of nature: Sattvik, Rajasik and Tamasik. From Sattvik ahankara comes the Mind. From Rajasik ahankara come the (3-7) Jnanendriya (5 organs of perception) and (8-12) Karmendriya (5 organs of action). From Tamasik ahankara come the (13-17) Panca-bhuta, the 5 material elements: space, air, fire, water and earth, and their corresponding (18-22) Tanmatra, the 5 sense enjoyment objects: sound, touch, sight, taste and smell. The 23rd element is the Mind (mana), 24th is Intelligence (buddhi), 25th is the individual false ego (Ahankara) thinking that the self (the sense of "I") is independent of God, that "I am the doer and things related to this body are mine"). 26th is Citta (heart) or consciousness, the symptom of the soul, which is not a material element although it may be covered by the subtle material elements of ego, intelligence and mind and results in material consciousness. The 27th element is the Paramatma, the supersoul who sits in the heart of the jiva as witness and permitter, and also as the caittya-guru (the guru in the heart who manifests externally as the Guru when the jiva becomes eligible for bhakti). Therefore the process of bhakti is to spiritualize one's consciousness, under the guidance of a bona fide Guru, and transform it back to its original spiritual nature, Krishna consciousness, the awareness that one is a loving servant of Krishna and that one's real happiness lies in rendering loving devotional service to one's eternal object of love, Sri Krishna. Hare Krishna. Nitai-Gaura Hari bol.

Sources: Srimad Bhagavatam, 5th Canto; Sri Brihad-bhagavatamritam; Sri Caitanya-Caritamrita, Madhya chapters 20-21; Sri Brahma-samhita; Jaiva Dharma.

Dr. Swami B.V. Dandi Maharaja

B.Sc. (Hons) B.E. (IISC, Bangalore) M.S. (IIT Chennai) D.Sc. (Washington University), P.E. (USA), CISSP

bvdandi

Swami BV Vishnu Daivata Maharaja

B.E. (VJTI Mumbai), M.Tech. (IIT Kharagpur)

vishnudaivata

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