If one is not aware of the Vijayanagara insignia, one may falsely conclude that the above image depicts Varaha with an Earth globe; however, the round object is actually the Sun accompanied with the crescent Moon and sword. These images are still depicted in modern reproductions of the Vijayanagara seal such as those shown below:
The sculpture shown below depicts the same Vijayanagara insignia, but this time the crescent Moon is carved above the nose of Varaha with the so-called Earth (which is actually the Sun) shown to the side. What if someone wanted to use the image below to concoct the idea that Varaha lifted the Moon rather than the Earth?
Another carving of the insignia (see below) clearly confirms that it is a depiction of the Vijayanagara insignia, not a depiction of Varaha lifting the Earth. As we shall see later, the pastime of Varaha lifting the Earth is actually depicted in a very different way.
Incredibly, even though the sculpture in the image below shows Varaha with the crescent Moon above his nose (not the so-called Earth globe), the creator of the video called Ancient India Knew the Earth was Round still argues that it is evidence for the idea that Varaha lifted an Earth globe:
The above video posted on Youtube by Scholars Key channel contains a number of images of Varaha supposedly showing Varaha lifting an Earth globe. If one desires to take the time to study the subject, it can be easily shown that each image is misrepresented in the same way as the Vijayanagara seal shown above. The video is typical of the three or four minute videos posted by members of the Hindu community that are generally poorly researched, and show little or no knowledge of, or faith in the original descriptions of the Earth contained in the cosmological sections of the Vedic Puranas (histories). Judging from the content of most of these videos, the arguments presented in favour of the idea that ancient Indians believed the Earth is a globe, are mostly the remnants of those presented by a few very irresponsible members of ISKCON in their failed attempt to merge the modern Earth globe ideology with the ancient Vedic Bhu-mandala ('Earth circle') concept. In this regard we would like to encourage Praveen Mohan and others discussing the question of the shape of the Earth, to thoroughly research such historical artifacts before presenting them to such a large audience as 'evidence' that the ancient Indians believed the Earth to be a globe. We all have a serious responsibility to ensure that any information presented is completely accurate and consistent with the original Vedic teachings regarding the Earth in question.
There is an unfortunate tendency on the part of modern Indians to simply regurgitate assumptions and misinformation about the Earth—assumptions that have existed since the period of British rule in India when the original Vedic understanding of the Earth and greater cosmos was unceremoniously dumped for supposedly being 'primitive' and 'mythological'. Within a very short period of time, the original Vedic cosmology was duly replaced with the modern so-called 'scientific' understanding that the Earth is a globe-shaped planet floating in space. Perhaps motivated from a sense of one-upmanship, the overwhelming number of presentations from the Hindu side display a misguided endeavour to prove that ancient Indians cosmologists were more advanced than their Western counterparts (because they supposedly discovered that the Earth was a globe long before Galileo). I call this attempt 'misguided' because as we shall see, the so-called 'evidence' presented for this idea can be easily disproved by a closer study of the artifacts in question; and moreover by a closer study of the descriptions of the Earth-circle (Bhu-mandala) as they are found in the original Vedic texts. We shall argue that the ancient Indian Vedic rishis actually were more advanced than their modern so-called 'scientific' counter-parts, but not because they believed the Earth is a globe floating in space and orbiting around the Sun; rather the rishis were more advanced because they believed the Sun, Moon, and other planets and stars rotate above a stationary Earth plane. True science proves this fact, however, scientific presentations are for another day; for the moment we wish only to look at the artifacts presented by Praveen Mohan as evidence that ancient Indians believed the Earth to be a globe.
VARAHA INSIGNIA 2
In his video, Praveen Mohan presents another image of Varaha as He supposedly lifts the Earth globe:
Praveen Mohan, states, "Here you can see Vishnu as a boar, and you can see the Earth right here depicted as a sphere, standing on an axis pretty much like a modern day globe". The image actually shows the royal emblem of the Chalukya dynasty (6th-12th century) which is carved into a pillar of the Ladkhan temple at Aihole, Karnataka, India. The photograph below shows the sculpture more clearly:
The image of the so-called Earth situated on a stand does not in any way conform to the description of the Earth circle given in the Puranas, nor does it attempt to illustrate the pastime of Varaha lifting the Earth which is depicted by the Chalukya dynasty in a very different way (see below). The Wikipedia article to the above image of the official Chalukya emblem lists the four symbols as Varaha, a conch-shell, a chakra or wheel and a mirror (not an Earth globe):
The article does not give any explanation why the Chalukyas would choose a mirror as their symbol. I was unable to find any alternative meanings behind the various symbols, except that the wheel-like symbol is sometimes regarded as the Sun. None of the sites discussing Chalukya history ever suggest that the round shape on top of a stand is a symbol for the Earth.
Before imposing our own modern idea of the Earth globe onto the object in question, we have to first understand the description of the Earth-circle as it is very scientifically described in the Puranas. The Vedic Earth circle is actually held by a thousand headed serpent called Ananta-sesha, and thus would never be depicted as a globe situated on a stand as Praveen Mohan claims. The image of the Vedic cosmos shown in the ancient diagram below, clearly depicts the circular disc-like shape of the Earth as it spans across the center of the round-shaped universe:
This ancient picture attributed to Sri Vadiraja Tirtha (12th century) shows the round shape of the universe which is called brahmanda in Sanskrit—the egg (anda) of brahma. It shows the round-shaped universe which is covered or encircled by seven different material elements (water, fire, air, etc). The bottom half of the universe is filled with the great Garbhodaka Ocean, and upon the waters rests Ananta-sesha who holds the Earth from below. Ananta-sesha is sometimes said to be supported by Kurma the form of Vishnu who appears as a great tortoise (the Srimad Bhagavatam does not mention this particular detail). Although the above image is not so clear, it shows Kurma supporting the great serpent Ananta-sesha, who in turn holds the circular Earth on His hoods. Above the circular Earth plane can be seen the stars, planets and other lokas that rotate above the Earth-circle at various heights. We shall discuss more of the details of the Earth circle in Part 2, but for the moment we wish merely to say that anyone who understands that the Vedic Earth is circular and held by Ananta-sesha, would not make the mistake of thinking a carving of a round object on top of a stand is the Earth in question. As we know from the abundance of ancient serpent sculptures found in India, the ancient Indians had no difficulty in carving serpents into rock, and thus if the round symbol in the Vijayanagara emblem was meant to be the Earth, they would have naturally depicted a serpent holding the Earth, instead of what we can clearly see to be a stand of some sort with a round shape on top of it.
The idea that the Vedic culture conceived of the Earth as a globe having an axis running between a north and south pole is unfounded because Bharata-varsha (our local area of the greater Earth) is actually described as a series of islands which are located at the southern part of Jambudvipa. Jambudvipa is the first of the seven great cosmic-sized islands and is measured at 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles); it is surrounded by the great salt-water ocean of equal size. Jambudvipa is comparable to a 'super-continent' that is divided into nine regions or varshas. Bharata-varsha is one of these varshas and is located at the southern side of the larger landmass. Our own area of the Earth is located in Bharata-varsha. Put simply, the Puranas describe Bharata-varsha as part of a larger Earth plane, and thus there is no question that India along with the other countries of the world are described as being wrapped around a globe-shaped planet that floats in space whilst spinning on its so-called axis. The image below shows Bharata-varsha's location in Jambudvipa:
The bow-shaped area of Bharata-varsha (marked in red) is measured by Lord Shiva in the Skanda Purana as 80,000 yojanas (640,000 miles) from east to west and 9,000 yojanas (72,000 miles) from north to south:
"lsvara said: What is remembered as Jambudvlpa is exactly at the center of the Earth. It is divided into nine regions, 0 beautiful woman, known as the different Varshas (regions). Therein, the first Varsha is Bharata. It is also remembered as being divided into nine parts. From south to north it measures nine thousand yoganas (72,000 miles). The distance from east to west is eighty thousand yojanas (640,000 miles). Himavan is in the north. The ksiroda (ocean) is in the south." (Skanda Purana: VII.I.ll.6-8)
Our own area of the Earth is just one small part of this greater area known as Bharata-varsha. Thus Bharata is not simply a name for India, but refers to a much greater area of land that is situated on the southern side of Jambudvipa. We shall discuss in greater detail about Jambudvipa's relation to the even larger Earth plane in later parts to this paper, but continuing for the moment with the artifacts presented by Praveen Mohan, we wish to say further that anyone familiar with the various Puranic renditions of the Varaha-lila will immediately understand that the symbols on the Chalukya insignia are not meant to illustrate the scene of Varaha lifting the Earth. Scenes depicting the pastime of Varaha lifting the Earth will generally include images of the personified Earth goddess, images of the demon Hiranyaksha who had stolen the Earth, and very often will contain images of Ananta-sesha who normally holds the Earth in position. The Chalukya insignia at the Aihole temple complex is simply their family emblem which includes the image of Varaha in the form of the boar along with various symbols such as the conch-shell. At the very same archaeological site at Aihole, we find that the very same Chalukya Kings had commissioned a very specific sculpture of Varaha which shows the Lord lifting the Earth. This sculpture of Varaha (shown below) is found at the Durga Temple, and shows Varaha carved in the traditional manner displaying the four-arms of Vishnu, and lifting the personified Earth Goddess in his arms. Ananta-sesha is also shown at the feet of Lord Varaha. Ananta-sesha is depicted in the scene because (as the Puranas explain), after lifting the Earth, Varaha returns the physical form of the Earth to the head of Ananta-sesha who then resumes the sport (lila) of holding the great circular disc in position.
A similar deity of Varaha is found at the Badami cave temples. The deity is relevant to our discussion as it was also constructed by the same Chalukya dynasty.
The point I wish to make here is that the Chalukya kings were clearly aware of how the pastime of Varaha lifting the Earth was to be depicted according to the Shilpa-shastra—instructions for the creation of deities, and other works of art. Clearly the Chalukya insignia which includes Varaha, a conch, a wheel/chakra/sun type image, and of course, the round object on a stand (a mirror?) is not meant to be a depiction of Varaha lifting the Earth itself.
As an example of the type of cheating that goes on in the name of 'Vedic cosmology', we must also point out that the above image of Varaha Deity at the Aihole Durga temple is often touted as 'evidence' for the globe. The image (below) of the same deity features in dozens of blogs and videos, with the caption that the round image above the head of Varaha is the supposed Earth globe floating in space, proving that the Indians discovered the globe 800 years before Galileo:
...As it turns out, a closer inspection by Jahnava Nitai dasa revealed that the so-called Earth globe is actually the conch-shell in one of Varaha's four hands:
We have discussed the implications of this deceptive presentation in a paper called "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words".
DEITIES OF VARAHA SHOWING THE FLAT-EARTH
The sculpture of Varaha at the Aihole Durga temple clearly depicts the Earth in Her personified form as a beautiful goddess, not as an Earth globe. Although the Puranas describe the Earth as having the physical form of a huge circular plane, She is also understood to have the spiritual form of a beautiful Goddess, and as being one of the two wives of Lord Vishnu. For this reason, the Earth is generally depicted in sculpture in Her personified form, (we shall see later that in Indian classical paintings the Earth is always depicted as a flat Earth, and never a globe). Although the above sculptures of Varaha holding the personified Earth in His arms are beautiful to behold, they unfortunately do not give us an indication of the shape of the Earth in Her physical form. However, there do exist a number of Varaha deities showing the physical form of the Earth in the shape of a flat Earth. Indeed, what is perhaps the oldest deity of Varaha in the world (Sri Adi-Varaha at Mathura), clearly shows a flat Earth held on His tusks:
Details of this deity can be found in our article called, "A Million Year Old Deity of Lord Varaha in Mathura Holds a Flat-Earth".
Another example of a sculpture showing Varaha lifting the flat-Earth was presented to us by Madhavananda dasa. The panel below is from the Radha Madhava Temple, in Radhanagar, Akhaura (presently in Bangladesh). The Temple was built in 1675 A.D. by Maharaja Krishna Manikya. Queen Jahnavi Devi installed the Deities of Radha-Madhava, and Jagannatha, Baladev, Subhadra in the Temple. Below is the panel of Lord Varaha lifting the Earth, which is presently preserved in the Tripura State Museum, Ujjayanta Palace, in the city of Agartala, the capital of the North East Indian state of Tripura:
The Earth is clearly carved as a flat-surface which gradually tapers down. Without question, all of the ancient sculptures and paintings always show the Earth either in Her personified form, or as a flat-Earth. It can be taken for certain that any sculpture or painting of Varaha which depicts the Earth as a globe is a product of the later 20th century. Anyone confronted with such images as 'evidence' for a so-called Earth globe in ancient Indian culture, need only check the date of the sculpture or painting in question. The painting below is otherwise typical of the representations of the Earth found in classical Indian art:
Varaha (1800's)
The above painting from the Patna School of Art in Bihar India, shows Varaha killing the demon Hiranyaksha and rescuing the flat-shaped Earth. If Indians at this period actually believed the Earth was a round globe, they obviously would have depicted it as such.
Please bear in mind that these depictions of the Earth are simple representations, and are not meant to display exact scale models of the Bhu-mandala as it is described in the various Puranas. We shall discuss this point further in later papers. An exact three-dimensional model of the Earth-circle based on the measurements given in Srimad Bhagavatam, will be eventually presented at the Temple of Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur India.
VARAHA COINS
As an example of modern Hindus imposing a 21st century understanding of the Earth onto the ancient Indian world-view, Praveen Mohan continues his evidence for the so-called Earth globe by presenting an ancient coin of Varaha with two round objects by his side:
Praveen Mohan states "In fact there are many carvings which do show the Earth as round, so it is clear that the Hindus did have a round Earth model as well". First of all, there are two round objects here—not one! If Praveen Mohan wishes to argue that the round object represents an Earth globe, then why are there two round objects? The Puranas only describe one Earth which is in the form of a gigantic Earth-circle with seven concentric-shaped islands and oceans, not in the form of one or more globe-shaped planets. And what about the many similar coins from the same Gurjara Pratihara period (8th-11 century) that depict two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight or more round objects as well as dumbbell-shaped objects, the Sun and crescent Moon, along with an assortment of other symbols (see below). If the round shape supposedly represents the so-called Earth-globe, what planet does the dumbbell shape represent? Are there dumbbell shaped planets in the cosmos?
The coin below has two round shapes beside the dumbbell shape, and a further four round shapes along the top.
The image below shows Varaha with a dumbbell, two circles, plus another six circles in a row across the top of the coin:
The image below shows Varaha with a dumbbell shape along with the two familiar round shapes, with the addition of the Sun, the crescent Moon, and a further eight round shapes along the right hand side. Does anyone wish to make an argument that Varaha is lifting, the Sun, the Moon, etc?
"Clearly the many round shapes or any of the other symbols are not meant to represent an Earth globe". Again, the images on the coin are not meant to depict the pastime of Varaha lifting the Earth, nor are they intended as images depicting maps of the universe which are described in an entirely way in the cosmological sections of the Puranas. The image below shows a gold coin from the Chalukya era, again showing the same Chalukya insignia that we discussed earlier:
This gold coin shows the Chalukya seal composed of Varaha along with the Sun, and the crescent Moon. When one understands the Chalukyas and their insignia, one will not mistake the round shape as the supposed globe Earth.
In Part 2 of this paper we shall look at Praveen Mohan's evidence for the idea that ancient Indians first conceived of the idea that the Earth is an 'oblate spheroid'. We shall also explain why the Sanskrit name Bhu-gola (round Earth) means 'Earth-circle', not 'Earth-globe'.
