The Vedic History Reveals a Greater Earth Plane, Part 3
BY: MAYESVARA DASA
Apr 04, 2018 — IRELAND (SUN) —
Pariksit in Jambudvipa
In the previous sections of this paper we have been exploring the idea of a greater Earth plane with reference to historical accounts from the Srimad Bhagavatam and other Vedic texts that describe the sovereignty of famous kings like Yudhisthira over areas of land that cover at least 800,000 miles. Here you will find Part One and Part Two of this paper.
Another fascinating verse and purport in Srimad Bhagavatam (SB 1.16.12) describes the vast territories of Jambudvipa that were conquered by Maharaja Pariksit (the grandson of Arjuna), who ruled the empire of Jambudvipa after Yudhisthira.
King Pariksit arresting the personality of Kali-yuga
Chapter 16 of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam is called 'How Pariksit Received the Age of Kali', and describes King Pariksit's digvijaya, or conquest of all directions. As we shall see, this conquest includes areas of the Earth that lie beyond our known Earth:
"Maharaja Pariksit then conquered all parts of the earthly planet—Bhadrasva, Ketumala, Bharata, the northern Kuru, Kimpurusha, etc.—and exacted tributes from their respective rulers." (SB 1.16.12)
The place names mentioned in the verse below are not place names of anywhere within or surrounding India; they are the place names of Jambudvipa. According to the measurements provided in canto five, chapter sixteen of Srimad Bhagavatam, these nine varshas of Jambudvipa cover an 800,000 mile area of the Earth circle (Bhu-mandala). Bharata-varsha (where our Earth is located) is mentioned almost incidentally as part of Pariksit's sovereignty. Although Srila Prabhupada refers to these nine varshas (different land divisions) as 'parts of the Earthly planet,' they are specifically parts of Jambudvipa which is the central island of the great Earth circle (Bhu-mandala), not the assumed Earth globe. Unless one is familiar with the description of these varshas, one can easily pass over the English translation without realizing the implications of this verse to our present understanding of the Earth. The above verse from Srimad Bhagavatam actually presents the revolutionary concept that our known area of the Earth was once connected to a greater Earth, specifically to the 800,000 mile island of Jambudvipa. Such a conception, of course, contradicts the idea that the Earth of Srimad Bhagavatam is a globe floating in dark space, and this again has implications for how the International Society for Krishna Consciousness presents the Earth within the up and coming Temple of Vedic Planetarium (due to be completed in 2022). In our previous papers we have argued that the conception of Earth as a globe-shaped planet floating in space is a foreign and aberrant idea to the Vedic world-view, although it has now come to be accepted as part of 'Vedic cosmology.' We hope the following paper will add evidence to the idea that the Earth is described in Srimad Bhagavatam as vast circular plane—not a small round planet—and that according to Srimad Bhagavatam our known Earth area is actually surrounded by other inhabited parts of this great Earth plane.
Whilst reading the verse and purport below, please keep in mind that according to Srimad Bhagavatam's 'Description of Jambudvipa' in chapters 16-19 of the fifth canto, these areas of Jambudvipa cover an area of 800,000 miles:
"Maharaja Pariksit then conquered all parts of the earthly planet—Bhadrasva, Ketumala, Bharata, the northern Kuru, Kimpurusha, etc.—and exacted tributes from their respective rulers. (SB 1.16.12)
PURPORT
Bhadrasva: It is a tract of land near Meru Parvata, and it extends from Gandha-madana Parvata to the saltwater ocean. There is a description of this varsha in the Mahabharata (Bhishma-parva 7.14-18). The description was narrated by Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra.
Maharaja Yudhishthira also conquered this varsha, and thus the province was included within the jurisdiction of his empire. Maharaja Pariksit was formerly declared to be the emperor of all lands ruled by his grandfather, but still he had to establish his supremacy while he was out of his capital to exact tribute from such states.
Ketumala: This earth planet is divided into seven dvipas by seven oceans, and the central dvipa, called Jambudvipa, is divided into nine varshas, or parts, by eight huge mountains. Bharata-varsha is one of the above-mentioned nine varshas, and Ketumala is also described as one of the above varshas. It is said that in Ketumala varsha, women are the most beautiful. This varsha was conquered by Arjuna also. A description of this part of the world is available in the Mahabharata (Sabha 28.6).
It is said that this part of the world is situated on the western side of the Meru Parvata, and inhabitants of this province used to live up to ten thousand years (Bhishma-parva 6.31). Human beings living in this part of the globe are of golden color, and the women resemble the angels of heaven. The inhabitants are free from all kinds of diseases and grief.
Bharata-varsha: This part of the world is also one of the nine varshas of the Jambudvipa. A description of Bharata-varsha is given in the Mahabharata (Bhishma-parva, Chapters 9 and 10).
In the center of Jambudvipa is Ilavrita-varsha, and south of Ilavrita-varsha is Hari-varsha. The description of these varshas is given in the Mahabharata (Sabha-parva 28.7-8) as follows: …It is mentioned here that the women in both these varshas are beautiful, and some of them are equal to the Apsaras, or heavenly women.
Uttarakuru: According to Vedic geography the northernmost portion of Jambudvipa is called Uttarakuru-varsha. It is surrounded by the saltwater ocean from three sides and divided by Sringavan Mountain from the Hiranmaya-varsha.
Kimpurusha-varsha: It is stated to be situated north of the great Himalaya Mountain, which is eighty thousand miles in length and height and which covers sixteen thousand miles in width. These parts of the world were also conquered by Arjuna (Sabha 28.1-2). The Kimpurushas are descendants of a daughter of Daksha. When Maharaja Yudhishthira performed a horse sacrifice yajna, the inhabitants of these countries were also present to take part in the festival, and they paid tributes to the Emperor. This part of the world is called Kimpurusha-varsha, or sometimes the Himalayan provinces (Himavati). It is said that Sukadeva Gosvami was born in these Himalayan provinces and that he came to Bharata-varsha after crossing the Himalayan countries.
In other words, Maharaja Pariksit conquered all the world. He conquered all the continents adjoining all the seas and oceans in all directions, namely the eastern, western, northern and southern parts of the world."
A detailed description of these enormous and fantastic areas of the greater Earth plane is given in chapters 16-19 of the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Again if one is not conscious that these places are described as part of a greater Earth area, one may simply gloss over the verse and purport without realizing the significance of this information to our understanding of the size and shape of the world. For example, in the purport Srila Prabhupada mentions how Arjuna crossed the great Himalayan Mountain which is 80,000 miles and 16,000 wide. For anyone stuck in the conception that Earth is a globe, such measurements make no sense, since the Himalaya in India is only around 5.5 miles high. Srimad Bhagavatam, however, is describing a region of the Earth that is beyond our known Earth area. The great Himalaya forms the northern border between Bharata-varsha and Kimpurusha-varsha as shown in the map below. The measurements show the scale of this region of the Earth that was conquered by King Pariksit and King Yudhisthira before him:
What to speak of believing in a greater Earth plane, one may wonder how it is possible to rule over such a vast area. The follower of Srimad Bhagavatam is expected to take into account the superhuman controlling ability of Krishna and His empowered representatives in the governance of the universe:
Amogha: Of the 400,000 human species, what is the distinguishing characteristic that makes one different from another? How could we recognize them, or could we?
Prabhupada: You have not seen varieties of men?
Amogha: Yes.
Prabhupada: Then, what is the...
Amogha: Well is it divided by country or within one country there are many species?
Prabhupada: You are taking of country, but the sastra takes of the planets, not of the country. Your idea is very crippled: country, national. But sastra is not... There is no such thing as national. They take the whole universe as a whole. They consider from that angle of vision. These crippled ideas, "state," "national," has come later on. There was no such thing previously. One planet or universe, like that. Just like last night the girl was astonished that "How this planet can be governed by one king?" It was being actually done. And the whole universe is being governed by Brahma, one person. So one must know how to govern…
Hari-sauri: Is that governing that Brahma does in the universe, he does that in relationship with all the other demigods like they are departmental heads? So he is not personally directing every single thing.
Prabhupada: Yes, he is given in charge. Just like we have got different GBC's for different jobs. Similarly, they are doing their duty nicely. All these planets are the different residential quarter of different demigods. They are controlling the whole universal affairs. In comparison to them, this human being is nothing. We are controlled; we are not controller. That they do not realize. The modern civilization they do not realize, although they are being controlled they do not recognize it. That is the defect.
(Morning walk, May 20, 1975, Melbourne)
Regarding perception of the rest of the Earth plane, the follower of Srimad Bhagavatam is required to have an initial faith and learn to see the rest of the world through the eyes of shastra (scripture). In the following discussion, Srila Prabhupada states that information of other 'earthly planets' exists in the Srimad Bhagavatam:
Indian man (4): Physical world, this earth is there. Are there any other earthly planets of this type where human beings or other beings are staying other than spiritual beings?
Prabhupada: Oh, yes.
Indian man (4): Why the information is not given about that?
Prabhupada: Why not? In Bhagavata there is all information.
Indian man (4): About the other earthly planets also?
Prabhupada: Oh, yes. All, every each and every planet, Janaloka, Tapoloka, Maharloka, what kind of men are living there, what they are doing -- everything is there. Svargaloka.
Indian man (4): But do they not come here sometimes to visit us or we cannot go there?
Prabhupada: But you cannot see them. Your philosophy is unless you see, you don't believe. That is your philosophy. But you do not consider what you can see. That is the defect of this imperfect world, that people do not think that they are imperfect. With all imperfectness, they think they are perfect. That is the defect.
(Morning Walk, Ahmedabad - September 29, 1975)
In the above conversation with the Indian man, Srila Prabhupada refers to other 'Earthly planets.' The English word 'planet' was generally Srila Prabhupada's default term for describing any place in the Vedic universe, though it should be noted that this concept of a planet does not always correspond with our modern notion. We have discussed the issue in the this paper.
A proper understanding of Srila Prabhupada's use of this terminology is particularly important in relation to the Earth, because what Srila Prabhupada refers to as 'Earthly planets' actually corresponds to the seven cosmic-sized islands of Bhu-mandala (the Earth circle). They are not separate planets floating in space, but are different areas of one vast Earth plane. The seven massive islands and oceans spread out in the form of concentric circles covering an area of over 200 million miles as shown in the image below with Mount Meru in the center. There are more areas of the Earth beyond this, though the sapta-dvipa (seven islands) forms the central inhabited area containing inestimable numbers of the 8,400,000 species of life, including many varieties of human life:
Seven islands and oceans of Bhu-mandala
In the above conversation, the Indian man asks Srila Prabhupada if visitors from the other Earthly planets come to this Earth; and if so, why don't we see them. Srila Prabhupada answers that visitors from other planets do indeed visit, though they are undetected by us. Interestingly, the Chaitanya Charitamrta narrates that visitors from other planets, as well as from the other dvipas (islands of the greater Earth plane), and varshas (specific areas of Jambudvipa), came to see Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Jaganatha Puri in India only 500 years ago. One can read about these pastimes in a section of this paper called "Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the Earth of Seven Islands".
One can also refer to section 2.0 of this paper, which discusses predictions regarding the spread of Krishna consciousness throughout the universe.
It may be that Lord Caitanya's sankirtan movement will reconnect us with these different parts of the Earth plane, as well as to other parts of the universe. All of these areas were connected with Bharata-varsha at the time of the appearance of Krishna and the Pandavas on the Earth only 5,000 years ago.
We will look now at part of Srila Prabhupada's lecture on SB 1.16.12 which describes King Pariksit's conquest of the different varshas of Jambudvipa:
Pradyumna: "Bhadrasva: It is an island near Meru Parvata. There is a description of this island in Mahabharata, Bhishma-parva, 7.16-18. The description was narrated by Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra. Maharaja Yudhishthira also conquered this island, and thus the province was included within the jurisdiction of his empire. Maharaja Parikshit was formerly declared to be emperor of all the lands ruled by his grandfather, but still he had to establish his supremacy..."
Here Srila Prabhupada begins his lecture by discussing Bhadrasva-varsha which is the varsha to the east of Mount Meru. Srila Prabhupada refers to Bhadrasva as an island, though technically it is part of the main island of Jambudvipa. We can see the position of Bhadrasva-varsha in the image below:
Bhadrasva-varsha to the north of Bharata-varsha
In confirmation of our previous article regarding Yudhisthira's sovereignty over Jambudvipa, Srila Prabhupada says:
"Maharaja Yudhishthira also conquered this island [bhadrasva], and thus the province was included within the jurisdiction of his empire. Maharaja Parikshit was formerly declared to be emperor of all the lands ruled by his grandfather, but still he had to establish his supremacy..."
According to the measurements given in Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhadrasva-varsha is at least 264,000 miles from the southern coast of Bharata-varsha. We can calculate this from the description in SB 5.16.6 which relates that Bharata-varsha, Kimpurusha-varsha, and Hari-varsha are all 9,000 yojanas (72,000 miles each from north to south) and the three dividing Mountains are 16,000 miles each; thus going north from Bharata-varsha to Bhadrasva-varsha would take 264,000 miles. Most scholars are in agreement that one yojana is equivalent to 8 miles as translated by Srila Prabhupada, but despite even lower estimates, this description from Srimad Bhagavatam nonetheless points to massive areas of undiscovered land to the north of our known Earth area.
Srila Prabhupada continues with his lecture:
Prabhupada: This island might have changed, the name. Because there are so many islands. Just like the Java(?) island and Laksadvipa island, very small islands. Similarly, this Meru is also another island. Not only these small island, but according to Vedic culture, each planet is called island. Each planet. Just like this planet, earthly planet, is called Jambudvipa. Why it is called dvipa? Dvipa means island. Because actually it is island of the air. Just like there are so many islands in the sea, similarly, this vast air, outer space, and all these planets, are floating like island. Therefore they are called island, dvipa, Jambudvipa. Here in this earthly planet, long, long ago, it is said in the Vedic literatures, sapta-dvipa. Sapta means seven. So this earthly planet is of seven dvipa, seven islands. These two Americas, north and south, they are islands. Africa, one island. And combined Asia and Europe, another island. The two poles, two islands. Australia, another island. You see? Sapta-dvipa. So they say they discovered America. But this discovery was long, long, many, many millions of years, it was known. Where is the discovery? Their poor fund of knowledge. Because they have no knowledge in the Vedic literature, they think, "Now I discovered." Just like a child born, he thinks, "Now I've discovered the world. Before my birth, there was no world." This kind of knowledge called poor fund of knowledge.
Here Srila Prabhupada says that Jambudvipa is 'this earthly planet,' calling it 'an island of the air' (floating in space), and that the sapta-dvipa (seven islands) refers to the continents of this Earth. However, in chapter 20 of the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada also translates and comments on Sukadeva Goswami's description of sapta-dvipa or seven islands of Bhu-mandala, and these islands cover an area of over 200 million miles. Thus the situation of the Earth and its seven islands is described differently in the Srimad Bhagavatam itself. Perhaps some context may help explain this seeming disparity: the above lecture on SB 1.16.12 was spoken on January 9 1974, which is a year before Srila Prabhupada completed the translation of the fifth canto containing the cosmological descriptions. When this fifth canto translation was completed, Srila Prabhupada inaugurated his plan to depict the cosmological descriptions at a Temple of Vedic Planetarium. Although Srila Prabhupada inaugurated this revival of the Vedic cosmos in the modern world, he stated on many occasions that cosmology and astronomy were not his area of expertise, and delegated the study of the fifth canto to his disciples. This perhaps explains why in his lecture of 1974, Srila Prabhupada referred to Jambudvipa as 'this earthly planet…an island of the air,' and to the sapta-dvipa as the continents of this Earth. After the translation of the fifth canto in 1975, and the plans to depict the cosmology at the TOVP, discussions about the Earth began to take a different turn as it became necessary to consider detailed descriptions of Bhu-mandala, and how it relates to the Earth globe idea. We refer the reader to the paper: "Why Did Srila Prabhupada Call the Earth a Globe?". Part Two is called "Conversation with a Vedic Astronomer".
By understanding the context regarding the gradual unveiling of Vedic cosmology, we can more clearly see Srila Prabhupada's intention in the above lecture on SB 1.16.12. The main point that Srila Prabhupada wishes to make by identifying the sapta-dvipa with the continents of our known Earth is not so much to establish the specific location of sapta-dvipa, but to make an argument that the continents of the world were known in the ancient world, and were indeed part of the Vedic Empire. This is an idea that is still rejected by mainstream history; however, a revolution in ancient archaeology is well under way, and confirms that an integrated world-wide culture existed in the past.
Despite the radical nature of this argument, the verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (SB 1.16.12) describing Pariksit Maharaja's conquest of the varshas of Jambudvipa is an even more radical concept: in the above verse, Sukadeva Goswami is explaining that not only was there a Vedic world-wide Empire in the past, but that this Empire extended beyond our known Earth area and included all of the varshas of Jambudvipa—an area of 800,000 miles. This in a nutshell is an ancient history describing more parts of the greater Earth beyond the continents of our known Earth.
So where are the varshas of Jambudvipa located in the Vedic Universe? Briefly, the universe according to Srimad Bhagavatam is described globe-shaped and has a diameter of 4 billion miles. The bottom half of the universe is half filled with water. Ananta-sesha is on the surface of the water (Garbhodaka Ocean) and holds the great Bhu-mandala (Earth circle) on His hood:
Jambudvipa along with the other islands (sapta-dwipa) are situated on the surface of the Earth (shown in the above diagram as concentric circles. Jambudvipa is the central island. Bharata-varsha (where we live) is located at the southern side of Jambudwipa. Bharata-varsha is thus just a part of the great Earth landscape, and not a separate planet floating in space. As shown in the above diagram, the great Earth is held by Ananta-sesha and is not floating in space like the other planets. The sun and moon orbit in a circular motion above the plane of the great Earth circle which is situated hundreds of thousands of miles below. The idea that the Earth is a small globe shaped planet rotating around the sun is the invention of modern Western cosmology; it has nothing to do with Vedic cosmology. The idea that the Vedas present the Earth as a globe-shaped planet, is simply the superimposition of the modern idea onto the original Vedic description.
With reference to all the relevant verses from Srimad Bhagavatam, we have presented our argument that the Earth is not a globe floating in space, but is rather a huge circular disc that is held by Ananta-sesha. The paper can be found here.
In a separate paper we have argued that the description of the sapta-dvipa does not correspond with the continents of this Earth, but instead refer to the great circular islands that rest on the surface of the Earth plane. The paper can be found here; see the sections called 'Definition and Description of Bhu-mandala: Earth of Seven Islands and Seven Oceans (sapta-dwipa)' and: 'Are the Sapta-dwipa Islands in Space?'
Further detail to the argument can be found in this paper, in a section called 'Planets as Globes in Space?'
The next question for every devotee is this: since the Srimad Bhagavatam presents a history of Vedic Kings governing vast areas of an Earth that our current science dismisses as mythological, then should it cause us to have doubt in Srimad Bhagavatam, or should it cause us to have doubts in science and the Earth globe conception? Is the concept of a great Earth circle mythological, or is the concept of an Earth globe just a false construct of reality based on speculative ideas beginning a few hundred years ago at the time of Copernicus, and given life in the modern era by deceptive propaganda from modern space agencies such as NASA? This is a question that every devotee must ask themselves and the answer will come according to one's degree of faith in Srimad Bhagavatam. The answer is clear according to the Srimad Bhagavatam itself, but whether one understands it, or believes it, is another factor.
