Varaha, Himachal Pradesh 1720
Christies Auctions, 2016

Varaha, Rajasthan, India (1725)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Varaha the Boar Incarnation of Vishnu, c. 1725-50

Again we see the Earth depicted as a flat circular form. Bhumi is depicted as a cow standing beside a peacock, and the temple (or Mount Meru stands) in the center of the Earth. Below is the Garbhodaka Ocean.

Varaha Rescuing the Earth, c. 1720-50
Brooklyn Museum.

Varaha, Pahari, Chamba, c. 1730-40
Cleveland Museum of Art

Here we see the flat-Earth and the cow sitting very peacefully on the surface.

Varaha Killing Hiranyaksha and Saving the World, Basohli, c. 1730
Lahore Museum

Here we see the ultimate disc-like flat-Earth with Bhumi in the form of a cow on the surface.

Varaha, the Third Incarnation of Viṣṇu, Stands in Front of the
Decapitated Body of the Demon Hiranyaksha, c. 1751-1850
British Museum Collection

Here we again see a beautiful depiction of the Bhumi-devi situated on the flat circular Earth.

Varaha Kills the Demon Hiranyaksha, c. 1760
San Diego Museum of Art

Varaha Avatar (Folio from a Dasavatara series) Kotah, 1760

In another painting entitled "Varaha, The Boar Incarnation of Vishnu", from a Folio in the Tehri Garhwal series of the Gita Govinda, c. 1775–1780, we see Varaha raising a spectacular version of the flat-Earth from the Garbodhaka Ocean. This painting must be viewed online at the Metropolitan Museum.

Varaha Rescues the World from the Waters, Bengal, c. 1775
Chester Beatty Museum, Dublin

Varaha, an Illustration to a Dasavatara Series, Chamba School, Punjab, c. 1700

Varaha Lifting the Earth, from an Illustrated Bhagavata Purana, c. 1800
Bibliotheque Nationale de France

Varaha, the Boar Incarnation of Vishnu, Rajastan School (1790-1810)

At first glance the depiction of the Earth seems globe-like; however, a close-up of the image reveals the Earth to be circular landscape as and the buildings to be situated horizontally on a flat-earth. The Earth here is round like a coin.

Varaha, the Boar Avatar of Visnu
British Museum

Bear in mind the Earth depicted here is meant to represent the Bhu-mandala which is 500 million yojanas in diameter. It is not meant to represent a flat-version of the so-called Earth-globe which is minute in comparison to the overall Bhu-mandala.

THE OCEAN BELOW THE EARTH

Earth having been lifted from the flood water
Bhagavata Purana series, c. 1775–90, Nainsukh family workshop, Parahi
Royal Collection Trust

The above painting shows the Earth after it has been lifted by Varaha. Mount Meru is in the center of the Earth, and is surrounded by a lush landscape dotted with temples and cows which again informs us of what the people held to be of most importance and of greatest priority in their lives. The high mountains ranging from east to west could possibly be an attempt to depict the great mountains such as Himalaya, Hemakuta, and Nisadha which divide Jambudvipa into different varshas.

This painting is interesting because it not only shows the Earth in circular form, but it shows the Earth situated above the water of the Garbhodaka Ocean, (not surrounded by dark space, as should be the case if the people at the time actually thought that was how the Earth was situated). The Puranas do not describe the Earth as being situated in an infinite dark space with all manner of planets and stars both above and below (as modern images of the Earth portray). In Vedic cosmology all the stars and planets are above the Earth. The only thing below the Earth is Ananta-sesha who resides on the Garbhodaka Ocean. This is explained in the Caitanya-caritamrita by Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja Goswami as follows:

"After creating millions of universes, the first purusha entered into each of them in a separate form, as Sri Garbhodakasayi. Entering the universe, He found only darkness, with no place in which to reside. Thus He began to consider. Then He created water from the perspiration of His own body and with that water filled half the universe. The universe measures five hundred million yojanas. Its length and breadth are one and the same. After filling half the universe with water, He made His own residence therein and manifested the fourteen worlds in the other half. There He manifested Vaikuntha as His own abode and rested in the waters on the bed of Lord Sesha. He lay there with Ananta as His bed. Lord Ananta is a divine serpent having thousands of heads, thousands of faces, thousands of eyes and thousands of hands and feet. He is the seed of all incarnations and is the cause of the material world." (Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, 5.94-101)

Here it says, sei jale kaila ardha-brahmanda bharana—Vishnu filled half (ardha) the universe (Brahmanda) with water (jale). In his commentary to SB 5.23.9, Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura states that the universe is 500,000,000 million yojanas from top to bottom, and that the Garbhodaka Ocean is just slightly less than half of that measure having a depth of 249,800,000 yojanas deep. Krishna dasa Kaviraja Goswami goes on to say that Sesha holds the Earth (Dharani) on His head: sei vishnu 'sesha'-rupe dharena dharani (CC Adi. 5.117). The Earth in question (Prthivi) is thereafter described as being 500 million yojanas in diameter (pancasat koti yojana) and resting like a mustard seed on the head of Ananta-sesha (CC Adi. 5.119). The picture below shows Kurma and Sesha on the water of Garbhodaka Ocean with the Earth on the hoods of Ananta.

Kurma supporting Ananta-sesha who holds Earth on his hoods, c.1690
Asian Art Museum

Neither Srimad Bhagavatam or Caaitanya-caritamrta mention the role of Kurma although most of the Puranas state that the waters carry Kurma and Kurma carries Ananta-sesha. The Brahma-vivarta Purana states:

"At whose command the water carries the tortoise, the tortoise carries the serpent Sesa, and the serpent Ananta carries the Earth while the Earth carries all the oceans, seven continents, the seven mountains and all the people in all the forms." (Brahma-vivarta Purana, Prakrti Khanda, chapter 34)

A TRICK OF MAYA

The next painting shows a flat-Earth held on the horns of a cow.

A Cow Supporting the Weight of the Earth on its Horns
Bikaner, Rajasthan School, c. 1700-1720
British Museum

The above painting is more likely an attempt to depict the Islamic conception of Kujata/kuyutha (the cow or bull) who holds the Earth. The cow in turn is held by the cosmic fish.

The idea is most likely a variation on the Vedic teaching that the Earth is supported by Ananta-sesha and Kurma. What is interesting about the above painting is that the Earth is again depicted as a flat landscape. We shall discuss in a later paper how the introduction of the globe into India by the Jesuits was immediately welcomed by the Muslim rulers of the time. The Sultans found the globe to be a unique symbol that could effectively demonstrate their power over all that be. By standing on the globe, one seemingly stood as emperor over the entire Earth. In the picture we see a Muslim ruler standing on the Earth which is held by the Bull and fish, but in this case the flat-Earth (shown in the above picture) has been depicted instead as a globe.

The globe, of course, is a trick of maya, because not only is there much more Earth than that shown in the globe, but the Earth itself can never be conquered by any mortal man. In Canto Twelve of Srimad Bhagavatam we hear the following speech narrated by Sukadeva Goswami to King Pariksit, who himself had only seven days left to live:

"My dear King Pariksit, all these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this Earth and stake their claims, but ultimately they all must give up this world and meet their destruction. Even though a person's body may now have the designation "king," in the end its name will be "worms," "stool" or "ashes." What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell? [The materialistic king thinks:] "This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?" Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as "me" and this earth as "mine," in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion. My dear King Pariksit, all these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than historical accounts." (SB 12.2.40-44)

The next painting from 1790 shows a very flat Earth with many transcendental temples on its surface.

Varaha, the third incarnation of Vishnu, c. 1790
Albert Royal Collection Trust

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND

Though the depiction of the flat-Earth in the above paintings may appear somewhat simplistic and naive, it must be borne in mind that the depictions of the Earth as a flat-Earth landscape were never intended to present accurate and sophisticated models of the Earth-circle as it scientifically described in the Vedic Puranas. The shape and size of the Earth-circle along with descriptions of the various lokas in the universe, was elsewhere taught in gurukulas, temples, and ashramas with the help of various complex diagrams depicting the virat-rupa (universal form). The images below from the Vedic Cosmos documentary show a sannyasin teaching Vedic cosmology whilst pointing to a traditional map of Bhu-mandala and the greater cosmos.

The above featured images of the flat-Earth have the purpose of invoking devotion to Sri-Sri Bhu-Varaha, and are not presented as scientifically accurate depictions of the Vedic Bhu-mandala. ISKCON has been delegated with the task of creating an accurate three dimensional model of Bhu-mandala which will hopefully manifest at the Temple of Vedic Planetarium.

We have so far looked at many examples of paintings from the 17th and 18th century all of which depict the Earth as a flat-Earth along with the personified Earth goddess who appears on the landscape either as a female or in the form of a cow. In part two of this paper we shall show some further examples of flat-Earth paintings from the 19th century; we shall then show how the whole scene dramatically changed in the 20th century with the beginning of paintings depicting Varaha holding a globe-shaped Earth.

| The Sun | News | Editorials | Features | Sun Blogs | Classifieds | Events | Recipes | PodCasts |

| About | Submit an Article | Contact Us | Advertise | HareKrsna.com |