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Sailing to Jambüdvépa SAILING TO JAMBÜDVÉPA The Mäyäpur Vedic Planetarium and the Flat Earth According to Çrémad-Bhägavatam By Mäyeçvara däsa Table of Contents (1.0) A New Earth ................................................................................................................................. 2 (1.1) The Shape of Earth ...................................................................................................................... 4 (1.2) The Flat Earth ............................................................................................................................... 6 (1.3) The Mäyä Earth ........................................................................................................................... 8 (1.4) The Earth According to Çrémad-Bhägavatam .......................................................................... 11 (1.5) The Earth of Çrémad-Bhägavatam is Not a Globe ................................................................... 17 (1.6) The Divisions of Bhärata-varña ............................................................................................... 29 (1.7) The Earth Disc (Bhü-maëòala) and the Vedic Empire ......................................................... 32 (1.8) The Sovereignity of the Päëòavas over Jambüdvépa ........................................................... 42 (1.9) The Pilgrimage of the Päëòavas to Jambüdvépa .................................................................. 51 (2.0) The Rediscovery of Jambüdvépa ............................................................................................. 60 (2.1) Tamäla Kåñëa Goswami and the Flat Earth .......................................................................... 65 (2.2) Faking the Images of the Earth ................................................................................................ 72 (2.3) Sadäpüta Däsa on the Round Earth ........................................................................................ 91 (2.4) Arguments for a Flat Earth .................................................................................................... 102 (2.5) Our Limited Understanding of East and West ................................................................... 131 (2.6) Çréla Prabhupäda on the Flat Earth ....................................................................................... 137 (2.7) Difficulties in Accepting a Flat Earth ................................................................................... 150 (2.8) Why Fake a Globe-shaped Earth? ......................................................................................... 152 (2.9) A Proposal for the Vedic Planetarium ................................................................................. 153 (3.0) Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 155 1 (1.0) A New Earth The Vedic Planetarium in Mäyäpur, West Bengal, India (presently well under construction as of November 2015), is an attempt to present the cosmography1 of the Universe according to the ancient Vedic literature, primarily the Fifth Canto of Çrémad- Bhägavatam as translated and presented by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda. Çréla Prabhupäda is the Founder-Äcärya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, popularly known as the Hare Krishna society. Çrémad-Bhägavatam otherwise known as the Bhāgavata Purāṇa was originally spoken by the great Vedic sage Çréla Vyäsadeva to his son Çukadeva Goswämé and is described as being the essence or cream of all Vedic literature and histories sarva-vedetihäsänäà säraà (SB 1.3.41). Canto 1, chapter 5, verse 11 of Çrémad-Bhägavatam predicts that this literature will bring about a revolution in the impious lives of this world‖s misdirected civilization (janatägha-viplavo). The Mäyäpur Vedic Planetarium is based on the cosmography of Çrémad-Bhägavatam and was one of Çréla Prabhupäda‖s main projects to counteract the prevailing materialistic world view of life and the cosmos. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam’s depiction of the universe immediately creates a clash of world- views that most people may prefer to avoid, and that includes many of the followers of the Vedas who find it difficult to understand or conceptualize the Çrémad-Bhägavatam’s depiction of Earth and its relation to the greater universe. We have all grown up with an image of Earth as a rotating ball in space, and we‖re pretty happy with that. But how did we get that image and conception of a globe into our heads? Is the globe-shaped Earth an authentic image, and is the Earth truly a round planet rotating in space around the sun? Will it come to be, that one of the most earth-shattering events in our life is the discovery of the real nature of Earth itself? What will the Mäyäpur Vedic planetarium reveal? To quote from the Book of Revelations, a Christian book of prophecy: And I saw a new heaven and a new Earth, for the first heaven and the first Earth were passed away (Rev 21.1) Will the Mäyäpur Vedic Planetarium reveal a new looking Earth? Or will it look like the one that The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been presenting ever since the first photographs of Earth taken in 1969, reputedly taken from outer space as the Apollo spacecraft made its way to the moon? This subject can be of interest to all of us; not only because we certainly ought to know the location and shape of the Earth that we live on, but also because the position and shape of the Earth has wider implications in regard to the world views we will adopt, created by either a 1 Cosmography is the science that maps the general features of the cosmos or universe, describing both heaven and Earth. 2 materialistic or transcendental perspective. We have on our hands a clash of world- views that is truly mind-blowing. 3 (1.1) The Shape of Earth What shape is the Earth? But we know the answer to that already! It‖s a globe-shaped ball floating in space; right! Right? We‖ve all seen the pictures in books and films, and done the math to prove its round. The sun and moon are round. The other planets are round. Earth is round. What other shape could it be? Well let‖s think about that for a moment… I would to first draw the reader‖s attention to the depiction of Earth in a video called Vedic Cosmos produced by His Holiness Dänavér Goswami, a prominent disciple of Çréla Prabhupäda. I am an admirer of Dänavér Goswami‖s scholarship and dedication to Çréla Prabhupäda. The following paper merely questions a few points of the presentation with the intention of coming to the correct understanding of Earth‖s position and depiction as described in Vedic texts; indeed I am surprised that Dänavér Goswami has depicted the Earth as globe-shaped when Çrémad-Bhägavatam itself offers no such description. I assume the animation in this video will help formulate the ideas of how the Vedic cosmos will be presented in the Mäyäpur Vedic planetarium when it eventually opens. I would like, therefore, to present some counter arguments to Dänavér Goswami‖s depiction of a globe-shaped Earth specifically to those involved in preparing the images for the future planetarium. The question of Earth‖s shape and location, however, is of general interest to all of us, and so I‖m presenting the following paper for everyone‖s interest. According to the Vedic Puräëas (histories) the continents of our Earth (running from north to south) are an 8,000 mile section of a much greater land area called Bhärata-varña; Bhärata-varña is altogether a 72,000 mile region of the even greater 800,000 mile circular island of Jambüdvépa; and Jambüdvépa itself rests on the cosmic flat plane of Bhü-maëòala which has a diameter of 4 billion miles stretching to the shell of the universe. All of this huge land area is populated by various forms of life, including advanced human life. According to NASA we are standing on a rotating ball in empty lifeless space. Which is it? Do we actually have any assurance that the Earth is indeed a globe rotating in space? Well perhaps we are already so assured and confident in the image of Earth that we‖ve been presented, that to question it is unnecessary, and for anyone to do so, means they must be bordering on the insane. What do you mean by questioning the globe-shaped image of the Earth? Are you crazy? The animation presented in the video Vedic Cosmos is relevant here (at least to those interested in Vedic knowledge) because in that video we see Bhärata-khanda (the Earth) depicted as a globe. Çrémad-Bhägavatam however 4 describes Earth as part of a massive island called Jambüdvépa which lies on the cosmic flat plane of Bhü-maëòala. Houston, we have a problem! 5 (1.2) The Flat Earth Usage of the term ―flat Earth‖ does not mean a landscape devoid of highlands and mountains; it is a term used to distinguish the idea of Earth lying on a horizontal plane, from the opposing and most widely accepted idea of Earth being a rotating globe floating in space. The flat Earth idea is usually equated with primitive and pre-scientific ideas. A common expression to equate certain ideas with stupidity is to say, “And people used to think the world was flat.” In most people‖s minds, a flat Earth conjures up pictures of boats falling off the edge. However, almost all ancient cultures and religions (including the Vedic culture) taught that the world was flat and motionless, and that the sun and moon rotated around the stationary Earth. This system is referred to as the
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