Vedic Cosmology Overview
The ancient Vedic literatures from India contain a very elaborate description of the universe which goes beyond what we can observe in the sky with our limited senses. It is a completely different model from the one we have been taught by science since our birth.
In reality our observations of the universe are very limited and theories constructed by scientists based on very limited and imperfect information they can gather through their sense perception and speculation may be incorrect.
Vedic cosmology describes the universe we exist in as being contained within a closed sphere with a diameter of four billion miles. The bottom half of this sphere is filled with water and upon that water Lord Visnu is laying on the bed of Sesa-naga and from his abdomen a lotus flower grows and when a beautiful golden lotus blooms on the top of that plant Lord Brahma, the engineer of the universe, takes birth. Lord Brahma meditates and from within his heart Lord Visnu reveals the knowledge he needs to create the universe.
Our universe, created by Lord Brahma, is centered around Bhu Mandala, a vast expansive plane of 7 alternating islands and oceans. The central ocean is Jambhudvipa, and that is where the Earth is located. Jambhudvipa is surrounded by an ocean of salt water the same width as the island of Jambhudvipa. The salt water ocean is surrounded by the next island (presumably ring shaped) which is ten times the width of Jambhudvipa and that is surrounded by an ocean the same width as that island. This continues with rings of islands and oceans and they keep on increasing ten times the width of the previous island.
So according to Vedic Cosmology the earth is situated on a plane and it is only a very small part of the total plane and there are many more islands further out over the plane across the ocean which we are currently unaware of. And the Srimad-Bhagavatam and other Vedic texts explain the climate and occupants of the various islands. So all these islands are inhabited. They are heavenly compared to our earth. On these heavenly islands the residents enjoy very long lifetimes and a much higher standard of living than what we experience here, on earth.
These islands, including Jambhudvipa where earth is located, are stationary. So according to the Vedic model the earth is not a ball spinning in space.
We imagine the earth as a ball spinning in space because of the movements of the stars, planets, sun and moon in the sky. What we observe happening in the sky seems to be largely consistent with us being on a rotating globe in space with a relatively fixed array of stars, planets, sun and moon around us. We see in the sky that stars are always in relatively the same position but the planets, sun and moon are seen in different locations in the sky at different times. So we explain this by understanding the moon to be rotating around the earth and the earth and moon together rotating around the sun and all other planets also rotating around the sun on more-or-less the same plane as the rotation of earth.
Vedic cosmology explains the rotational movement we see in the sky causing the sun, moon and all other luminaries to rise and set once every twenty-four hours to be caused by the rotation of the wheel of the sun-god’s chariot. There is a description of a huge wheel turning which rotates a three dimensional structure of stars, always remaining in their fixed relative positions, but the whole three dimensional structure is rotating in the sky above the Bhu-mandala plane [the seven concentric islands and oceans with the earth in the center]. The sun, moon and planets move with this 24 hour rotation but they have their own independent movements also, that is why the sun, moon and planets are seen in different parts of the sky at different times of the year.
There is another movement in Vedic cosmology that takes 360 days to complete. The Axle of the sun-god’s chariot is resting on a huge circular mountain range around the edge of this concentric collection of seven islands surrounded by oceans. That mountain range is called Manasottara. On each rotation of the axle [which causes all the luminaries in the sky to rise and set over a 24 hour period] that axle inches around the Manasottara mountain range one degree. So after 360 days it will again return to the same position after circumbnabulating the whole Bhu-mandala plane. So this rotation around Manasottara mountain causes the seasons and different lengths of day and night as we experience them on earth.
I agree with this flat earth model. I even know people who have seen the flat earth from above in astral projections, 2 people, who don´t know one another and have seen the same thing, our flat earth disk and other disks around, it is therefore for me a fact the model of hindu cosmology, and the egg is the magnetic absolute north and south poles, that are dome shaped, the north is in the sky, the south below our feet, as you can see in these experiments here:https://www.youtube.com/user/davelapoint777/videos
And this book contain the closest to true flat earth model to this day a part of vedic cosmology, if you want to read:https://www.thebookofthesun.com/
Thank you for sharing the Vedic description. Are we located in Jambudvipa? Specifically, are we currently located in the part of Jambudvipa that is called Bharata Varsha and is bordered by the Himalaya mountain range?
Seems from the description of Srimad Bhagavatam that there are mountains called the Himalaya that border the tract of land called Bharata Varsha, which is 9000 yojanas = 72000 miles in length, and these mountains have a height of 10000 yojanas = 80000 miles.
The mountains that are commonly called Himalaya in the present country called Nepal has reportedly the highest peak of Mt Everest, which has a height of only 5.5 miles, not 80,000 miles.
So is 1) the Himalaya in the Bhagavatam not the Himalaya we think of currently? Then where are we located? Or 2) do the Himalayas go underneath the Earth 80000 miles and we see only the top?, 3) Has anyone seen the edge of our entire landmass and observed any mountain or a wall which is so high that we cannot see or reach its top (so that could suggest that is the Himalaya)? 4) Or is a “yojana” context dependent: it can mean different lengths according to context, like many Sanskrit words like ‘atma’: body/mind/soul? Or 5) We can only see the gross Himalaya and not what can be seen by enlightened subtle beings?
Ultimately, I think we cannot make a Vedic model that “matches” our observations: because we have very limited ability to observe what is mentioned in the Bhagavatam. What we can do is only make a model of the Vedic universe according to Bhagavatam and accept it. As explained by Srila Prabhupada, “Our experimental knowledge can neither verify nor disprove the statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We should simply hear these statements from the authorities. If we can appreciate the extensive energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that will benefit us.”
Yes. Of course distances in the Srimad-Bhagavatam are difficult for us to comprehend and to rationalize with our physical observations. However Srimad-Bhagavatam, if we are to believe it, is giving a real and actual physical description of the universe we live in.
The description of the universe given in Srimad-Bhagavatam is not from the perspective of someone stuck on earth. The Bhagavatam is spoken by liberated souls who are giving the description as they have heard it. Of course Narada Muni, he is a transcendental spaceman, he can travel to any point in the material and spiritual worlds at will, so he has actually seen our universe from all angles of vision, so Narada Muni is giving actual real descriptions of what he has practically seen and experienced. So the Bhagavatam contains a very detailed description of our universe given by liberated souls who have heard about it from people who have seen it, or, in the case of Narada Munin, someone who has actually seen it.
So the Bhagavatam description, although very difficult to correlate with our actual physical observations, is the way it is. If we are to have any faith in the Bhagavatam at all then we have to accept what is in the Bhagavatam is correct. And realistically there is a very large part of Srimad-Bhagavatam dedicated to the creation of and describing the universe we are living in. So it is correct. Bhagavatam description is correct. As you correctly point out “Our experimental knowledge can not either verify or disprove the statements of Srimad-Bhagavatam.”
Of course our experimental knowledge also can not prove or disprove the ideas of the globe earth model or the presentations of the flat earth people. That is because our ability to observe is so very very very limited. We are stuck here on earth and all we can do is look up in the sky and see some lights moving around and make speculations as to what they are and how they are moving.
So by our experimental knowledge and observations also we can not prove that we are on a rotating globe. We can not observe it, we are stuck on this planet, and can only go up a few hundred miles, not far enough to take a picture so we can see what we are really on. It is something of a prison planet. We are stuck here. We can not leave. So all we can do is look up into the sky and speculate.
Scientists and astronomers have come to the conclusion that the earth is a globe only because they see other globes, the planets, floating in space. So they presume “as above so below” so because the planets are globes the presume we are on a planet also and it is a globe. And they look in the sky and see things rotating as if it would appear from a rotating globe, so they guess we must be on a rotating globe.
But these ideas can no more be confirmed or denied by our experimental knowledge than the description of the universe in the Bhagavatam.
Point is we are unable to understand how it is by our experimental knowledge, therefor we have to agree to accept some authority who can let us know the situation. So we can choose to accept the authority of the scientists or the authority of Srimad-Bhagavatam. So we have chosen to accept the authority of Srimad-Bhagavatam and that is correct of course.
So according to Srimad-Bhagavatam, earth is stationary and the stars and other heavenly bodies are rotating around the polestar above us. And Bhagavatam gives a very elaborate explanation as to how this works. So we can certainly say for sure that the idea that earth is spinning globe in space is incorrect. Because, according to Bhagavatam, the two rotational motions we see in the sky are explained by a 24 hour rotation of all the luminaries in the sky around the polestar and a 360 day rotation of the axle of the sun god’s chariot around Manasottara mountain.
So it is a very big description and it can be understood, comprehended, and it can explain our observations, better than the current globe earth model. Only it is a very big subject not possible to explain in a few paragraphs in a comment…
In the Vedic Model, there is a Sumeru Mountain situated at the north pole. Even if it is reflective in nature, it may have a physical substance. But I have read somewhere that it is in celestial dimension which cannot be experienced with our material eyes.
No. Sumuru Mountain is NOT in a ‘celestial dimension’. It is very material. But it is a mirror, golden mirror. So we see the reflection in the curved mirror. We can’t see the mountain, we see the reflection in the mirror that is the surface of the mountain. We are living in a house of mirrors and what we see in the sky, nothing is actually where it appears to be, we are only seeing a reflection, the reality is somewhere else.
Sumuru Mountain is NOT at the North Pole. It is in the center. Not North or South. North is on one side of Sumeru Mountain and South is on the other side of Sumeru Mountain. It is in the middle.
So Sumuru is very real and very physical, but it is a mirror. So we only see the reflection in the mirror, we can’t see the mountain.