After pointing out Matsya, the tour guide then moves to the avatar named Varaha who is Sri-Vishnu's avatar in the form of a boar.
As a point of emphasis, the guide points out the difference between the fish avatar and the boar avatar by the distinguishing nose. The guide's insistence that this is Varaha is important because Praveen Mohan has claimed that the Vishnu form holding the so-called 'oblate spheroid' is Varaha. The above form certainly looks more like the head of a boar and is similar to other sculptures of Varaha, although it must be pointed out that Varaha is not holding the personified Earth which is a typical feature of a Varaha murti. However, one of the arms of the Deity has been destroyed by Muslim invaders which may have possibly once held a depiction of the Earth. I cannot identify the symbol in the remaining arm.
The guide then moves to the form of Vishnu whom she claims is the avatar named Kurma who is holding a representation of the Mandara Mountain, (not an oblate spheroid as Praveen Mohan speculates). The sub-titles seen here are from the original video:
The guide points out that the cylindrical shape is actually a representation of Mount Mandara (hence not an oblate spheroid Praveen Mohan proposed). One may wonder why Mount Mandara is shaped like a cylindrical rather than a mountain, and that is a question I ask myself, though it must be pointed out that traditional Indian artists have been more concerned to convey the idea of Mount Mandara as a churning rod-type mountain, rather than being concerned with depicting a specific mountain shape. In the image below we see Mandara Mountain more like an oblong shape.
For those who are unaware of the history, when the demigods and demons were churning the great Milk Ocean in order to extract the nectar of immortality, Mount Mandara was used as a churning rod, and Vishnu in the form of the tortoise avatar (Kurma) entered the ocean and acted as support to the churning rod (which would have otherwise sunk in the ocean). The great serpent Vasuki was used as a rope to turn the Mountain, and the demigods pulled on one side whilst the demons pulled on the other. Although Mandara Mountain is described as 10,000 yojanas (80,000 miles) in length and height (See SB 5.16.11) we can see that the artists generally depict the Mountain as more as an oblong or cylindrical shape:
Even some modern artists often continue to depict Mandara Mountain as having an oblong or cylindrical shape:
Considering that the above paintings depict Mandara Mountain with an oblong shape, it may not be so such of a surprise that the sculpture of Kurma is depicted with a similar oblong-shaped object supposedly representing Mandara Mountain.
It must also be pointed out that the murti holding the round shape does not seem typical of Kurma statutes, (which usually indicate Kurma by showing the shell of the tortoise), however, the entire set of carvings as we have seen with Matsya (the fish avatar), seen to be all depicting Sri-Vishnu with the hands and legs of a human form, with only the head portion being depicted as fish, boar, tortoise, etc. In the picture below we can compare the faces of all three murtis. Matsya is clearly visible on the left, whilst the pronounced boar like features seem more prominent in the central sculpture. The third sculpture carrying the oblong shape does not have a snout-like protuberance like that of a boar.
Apart from Matsya on the left, I'm personally not completely convinced of the identity of either of the other two forms. The merge of human and animal features makes it difficult to ascertain the intended features, and the murti on the right has also been desecrated and disfigured by Muslim iconoclasts which adds to the difficulty. However the face of the deity on the right does seem to have more of the flat features of a tortoise than the pronounced snout of a boar as seen in the central figure. When we compare the three forms of Vishnu, Matsya is clearly recognizable on the left, whilst the face of the central figure certainly seems to have more of the boar-like features of Varaha than the final figure on the right—purported by Praveen Mohan to be Varaha holding the Earth in the form of an an oblate spheroid.
So perhaps the female temple guide is correct and the Deity in the center is indeed Varaha, whilst the Deity on the right is actually that of Kurma holding Mandara Mountain, (not Varaha holding an oblate spheroid). However, in a different video tour of the same temple, a male guide announced that the form holding the roundish form is Varaha (as Praveen Mohan claims), not Kurma as the female guide had previously stated. It appears that even the guides cannot agree on the identity of the statues. The difference in opinion is not unexpected as the details surrounding the Earth and the Lord's pastimes upon said Earth have been all but lost in the last few centuries. Obviously if one thinks the Earth is round, one will naturally jump to the conclusion that the above murti holding the roundish shape is a form of Varaha holding the Earth, rather than a form of Kurma holding Mandara Mountain.
A little more field work is perhaps necessary to ascertain the true identity of each Deity; however, whichever form of the Lord the murti turns out to be, we say can one thing for certain—the oblong form in the hands of the Lord is neither an oblate spheroid as Praven Mohan speculates, nor a depiction of an Earth globe. How do we know this? There is only one way to understand the shape of the Vedic Earth and that is with reference to Vedic scripture (shastra). The Vedic scripture is called shastra which is another name for weapon because it cuts away ignorance (tamas) and illusion (moha). Followers of Vedic culture accept the statement of shastra as establishing the truth of the matter.
With due respect to the guides at the Somanathapura Temple, the question concerning the identity of the above Deities cannot be resolved simply by the word of a particular guide who may be working from the preconceived idea that the Earth is a globe; the issue can only be resolved with reference to the original description of the Earth as it appears in the Puranas, and the Puranas quite clearly and unambiguously describe the Earth as a gigantic circular plane characterized by seven cosmic-sized islands and oceans in the form of concentric circles, (hence not as not an oblate spheroid containing a number of small irregular shaped continents).
Imagine a scenario in which a person contacts the police in order to report a missing or stolen vehicle. The appropriate and rational response from a police officer would be to inquire from the owner about the make of the car, along with the time and place in which the car was stolen. One would consider it foolish, absurd, and unprofessional if the police officer prevented the owner of the car from providing their own personal account regarding the description of the car, and meanwhile started their own speculation on the model of the car, and the circumstances in which it was stolen. We face a similar scenario in regards to the 'missing Earth' in Vedic cosmology. Instead of hearing the description of the true shape and size of the Earth from the creator and owner of the Earth Himself, everyone simply works from the modern secular assumption that the Earth is a globe, and then simply superimposes this idea onto artifacts from the ancient Vedic culture.
The Bhagavata Purana/Srimad Bhagavatam (SB1.1.1) begins by offering obeisances to Vasudeva (a name of Sri-Krishna) who is the cause of all creation, maintenance, and destruction of the material world (om namo bhagavate vasudevaya janmady asya). Sri-Krishna's creation is described in chapters 16-26 of the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. The same general description of the virat-rupa (the universal form) is repeated verbatim in all the other Puranas, (though some of the Puranas will provide more detail and some less). Thus if we wish to settle the question of the size and shape of the Vedic Earth, we need only refer to the description of the Bhu-gola given in the various Puranas.
THE EARTH AS IT DESCRIBED IN THE MARKANDEYA PURANA
If the above mentioned oblate spheroid shape in the hands of Sri-Vishnu is meant to be a depiction of the Earth, we have to immediately question whose notion of the Earth are we talking about? Praveen Mohan claims the above image is a depiction of Lord Varaha holding the Earth in the shape of an oblate spheroid. Praveen claims that the person who made the sculpture had an advanced knowledge of astronomy and physics because he 'probably read the Markandeya Purana (which supposedly informed him that the Earth is not a perfect sphere, but that it is flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator). Unfortunately for Praveen Mohan's hypothesis, the Markandeya Purana (from which the sculptor may have reputedly taken his knowledge regarding the shape of the Earth), states that the Earth in question is not a 24,900 mile oblate spheroid, but rather a circular landscape with a diameter of fifty crore yojanas (4 billion miles). Markandeya Rsi even states that the circular shape of the Earth is derived from the shape of its central island (Jambudvipa).
Kraushtaki said: Dear brahmana, how many islands are there? How many oceans and mountains? Dear sage, how many varshas and rivers are there? Kindly narrate to me the magnitude of the five great elements, the details of Lokaloka and the movement of Sun and Moon.
Markandeya said: The entire Earth measures 50 crore yojanas [500,000,000 yojanas or four billion miles]. Listen to the configuration of the Earth and other details as I narrate it to you..." (Markandeya Purana, chapter 54, verses 1-4)
One may indeed be surprised that the Vedic rishis (seers) such as Markandeya have calculated such a huge measurement for the Earth's diameter, but let us consider that if modern scientists are unable to find the end of even the smallest thing, can we unquestioningly concur that they have found the end of the Earth? The Earth-circle is actually the largest feature in the Vedic cosmos and spans the entire center of the universe. Markandeya Rsi explains that the colossal Earth measured at 50 crore yojanas has seven major islands beginning with Jambudvipa which is 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles) in diameter. Markandeya Rsi also states that Jambudvipa is circular in shape.
"I will tell you the magnitude of Jambudvipa. It is one lakh yojanas [100,000 yojanas or 800,000 miles] wide on all sides. It is circular". (Markandeya Purana, chapter 54 verse 8)
Markandeya Rsi explains that the other islands and oceans surround Jambudvipa, and each island and ocean is double the size of the preceding island and ocean. Since the size of Jambudvipa is 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles) and the salt-water ocean surrounding Jambudvipa is a further 100,000 yojanas, when we double the size of each succeeding island and ocean from the previous one, the combined size of all seven islands and oceans is 25,350,000 yojanas or 202,800,000 million miles. This figure is confirmed in all the other Puranas (including Srimad Bhagavatam), and is summarized in the Skanda Purana as follows:
"Thus the seven continents and the oceans together extend to twenty-five million, three hundred and fifty thousand (yojanas), O son of Pritha". (see Skanda Purana, 1.ii.37.16-22b)
Although the Skanda Purana states that the seven islands and oceans cover an area of twenty-five million three hundred and fifty thousand yojanas (202,800,000 miles), this inconceivable land-mass is just one portion of the overall 500 million yojanas (4 billion mile) diameter of the Earth circle. The image below shows the seven islands and oceans in the form of concentric circles with Mount Meru in the center and the colossal Lokaloka Mountain in the background. Lokaloka Mountain marks the boundary between the light side of the Earth and the dark side of the Earth where no sun shines.
Thus the Earth described in Markandeya Purana and other Puranas is obviously very different from the modern Earth globe idea. The propaganda put out by the British Imperialists in the 19th century was that the Vedic rishis were uninformed of the actual size and shape of the Earth, and so the British accused the rishis of concocting huge fantastical measurements that bear no resemblance to the world as we know it. The actual fact is that Srila Vyasadeva is providing a scientific description of a larger Earth plane, and is not imagining fantastical landscapes as a backdrop to his so-called 'mythological' tales. In any case, the argument by Praveen Mohan that the above featured statue of Vishnu is holding a supposed oblate spheroid is obviously not the case since the Puranas describe the size and shape of the Earth in a radically different way. Despite not presenting any original citations from the Puranas that describes the size and shape of the Vedic cosmos in great detail, Praveen Mohan goes onto claim:
"This video shows you some alternate view, it shows alternate history that the oval shape of the Earth was not first discovered by Newton, it was known before him and we have archaeological evidence to prove this as a fact. But because this carving is found in India, nobody is talking about this, and I am thinking I am the first person to show you that this carving shows the oblate spheroid theory before Newton proposed it."
Praveen Mohan's claim that we have 'archaeological evidence to prove this as a fact' highlights the danger in presenting artifacts from antiquity whilst superimposing one's own 21st century conception of the Earth onto the scene. The uninformed person who is not aware of the Vedic description of the Earth simply assumes that Praveen has indeed found evidence for Newtons' oblate sphere, 400 years before Newton. With what justification can Praveen Mohan (or anyone else) shrink the colossal Earth circle described by Srila Vyasasdeva to the size and shape of the modern Earth globe? Even if one argues that the oblate spheroid shape is representative of just one part of the larger Vedic Earth, namely Bharata-varsha, this is still unfounded because Bharata-varsha is clearly described as part of the larger Earth plane, and is specifically described as being surrounded by ocean water—not surrounded by dark space as modern images of the Earth globe depict.
BHARATA-VARSHA
We have discussed that the Vedic Earth has seven cosmic-sized islands and oceans. Now let us look in more detail at the central island called Jambudvipa where our own local area of the Earth is located. First of all let us comprehend that Bharata-varsha is part of Jambudvipa which is part of the larger Earth (prthivi) measured at 500 million yojanas:
trailokye prthivi dhanya jambudvipo yatah param tatrapi bharatam varsham tatrapi mathura puri
"In the three worlds the most fortunate place is the Earth (prthivi). The best place on the Earth is Jambudvipa. In Jambudvipa the best place is Bharata-varsha. In Bharata-varsha the best place is Mathura-puri." (Sanat-kumara Samhita, verse 78)
All of the Puranas measure Jambudvipa at 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles) in diameter, and describe that it is surrounded by the great Salt-water Ocean which is also 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles) across:
"O Brahmins, this Jambudvipa which consists of nine varshas and which extends to a hundred thousand yojanas has been mentioned by me. O Brahmins, the Salt-water Ocean that extends to a hundred thousand yojanas (800,000 miles) and is like a bangle in shape encircles the Jambudvipa externally". (Brahma Purana, 17.29)
Jambudvipa and the surrounding ocean are shown in the image below:
Within this circular landmass measured at 800,000 miles is the region called Bharata-varsha (marked in red in the shape of a bow) which is measured by Lord Shiva at 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 Jambudvipa 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 yojanas (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...The southern-most varsha mentioned by me by the name Bharata has oceans to its south, west, and east. Himavan is to the north like a string unto the bow." (Skanda Purana: VII.I.ll.6-8)
Bharata-varsha is described to be in the shape of a bow due to the circular coast-line of Jambudvipa (which forms the rounded shape of the bow) and also to the Himalaya Mountain (Himavat) which is compared to the string of the bow. The Himalaya runs for 80,000 yojanas from east to west forming the northern border of Bharata-varsha. The length of the Himalaya and the bow shape of Bharata-varsha is confirmed in the Vayu Purana:
"And mountains Himavan and Srngavan are each eighty thousand yojanas in length…The two sub-continents in the south [Bharata-varsha] and north (Uttara-kuru-varsha] should be known as situated in the form of a bow" (Vayu Purana:34.24-31)
Along with the huge length of Himalaya measured at 80,000 yojanas (640,000 miles), the Srimad Bhagavatam states that Himalaya is 10,000 yojanas (80,000 miles) high. The 19th century British Imperialists who were intent on demolishing Vedic culture in India, simply laughed these measurements off as hyperbole and fantasy pointing out that the Himalaya in India is only a fraction of this size. However, the Himalaya described in the Puranas is actually a description of the great Himalaya which is further north on the Earth plane, and which forms the northern border separating Bharata-varsha from the rest of Jambudvipa. Himavata (Himalaya) means "full of ice". It forms a mountainous wall-like frozen barrier between Bharata-varsha and Kimpurusha varsha which is one of the heavenly areas of the Jambudvipa (bhumi-svarga). It is interesting that the ice wall concept has reappeared in modern popular culture such as that found in the Game of Thrones serial.
The British Imperialists dismissed these descriptions of the Bhu-mandala as nothing more than mythological tales and fantasies. The British scholars simply reapportioned these names of places along the larger Earth plane to places in and around India. In one fell swoop the greater Earth-circle was shrunk and repackaged as the Earth globe, and any notion of a larger Earth plane literally disappeared overnight. The Vedic Bhu-gola (Earth circle) duly became misidentified and renamed as the Western Earth globe. [In Part 3 we shall discuss why Bhu-gola means Earth-circle not Earth globe]. The Innocent Indians have been following the British explanation ever since, and for the most part Hindu scholars follow the idiocy of Syed Muzafer Ali's Geography of the Puranas (1966) who reclassified the seven cosmic-sized islands and oceans of Bhu-mandala as countries and seas in and around India. Why Indian brahmanas take lessons in Vedic cosmology and geography from a Muslim who propagates the British Imperialist world-view is beyond comprehension to me; we can only hope in some way to disperse the maya surrounding this subject.
If Praveen Mohan's channel shows anything, it is that the ancient Indians were among other things, the most brilliant mathematicians, architects, and astrologers in the ancient world. The construction techniques of temples such as the Kailash temple at Ellora defy explanation. Modern architects and engineers are perplexed as to how such a construction even took place. Linguistic and archaeological evidence shows the extent of this advanced Vedic culture through-out the ancient world. The idea that the ancient Indians didn't know how to measure the length and breadth of their own country and its surrounding area is simply ludicrous. Scholars writing about Vedic cosmology remain in a state of bewilderment regarding the Puranas measurements for Bharata-varsha and the larger Earth circle. They wonder why Indians who were otherwise so advanced in architecture, mathematics, astrology etc. were not able to accurately measure the length and breadth of India, and supposedly had no accurate knowledge of the rest of the world. But the point to understand about Vedic cosmology is that Bharata-varsha refers to a much larger area than simply India, and that the Bhu-gola refers to a much larger Earth than we are presently conscious of. The measurements for Bharata-varsha and the rest of the Earth are not hyperbole of fantasy, they are simply descriptions of measurements, distances and directions to other parts of a larger Earth plane. Just as modern cartographers provide distances and directions from one place to another, so the Vedic rishis provide distances and directions to other places on the Bhu-mandala.
Vedic Kings such as Yudhisthira and Pariksit were ruling the entire 800,000 mile super-continent of Jambudvipa from their base in India only five thousand years ago; however, knowledge of Jambudvipa and contact with the larger Earth gradually diminished when the lineage from King Pariksit eventually ended, and we entered full-scale into the age of Kali-yuga. By the influence of maya, knowledge of the greater Earth became gradually covered over in order to protect regions in Jambudvipa from the scourges of Kali-yuga (the degraded age of Kali-yuga only affects the Bharata-varsha region). In this regard we will take our history and understanding of the situation from Srila Vyasadeva, not from Syed Muzafer Ali or from the British Imperialists who were intent on destroying Vedic culture by expounding the secular scientific world-view.
BHARATA-VARSHA IS SURROUNDED BY OCEAN WATER, NOT DARK SPACE
So accepting that the Puranic measurement of Bharata-varsha is 80,000 yojanas (640,000 miles) from west to east and 9,000 yojanas (72,000 miles) from north to south, let us see how Bharata-varsha is further divided into smaller areas. Within Bharata-varsha there are a further nine main divisions. Although Bharata-varsha is part of the same landmass as Jambudvipa, parts of Bhartata-varsha were submerged which created nine islands:
"In this single Bharata-varsha, there are many islands separated by the ocean. They have been divided into many parts." (Vayu Purana 48.42)
Srimad Bhagavatam mentions nine islands:
"Nine of the remaining sons of Rsabhadeva became the rulers of the nine islands (nava-dvipa) of Bharata-varsha". (SB 11.2.19)
For more details of these nine islands, let us turn again to the Markandeya Purana mentioned previously by Praveen Mohan:
"Markandeya said: There are nine divisions in Bharata-varsha—all of them are separated by the ocean and are mutually inaccessible. They are Indradvipa, Kaseru, Tamraparna, Gabhastiman, Nagadvipa, Saumya, Gandharva, and Varuna. This (Bharata) is the ninth island, surrounded by water and measuring a thousand yojanas [eight thousand miles] from south to north." (Markandeya Purana chapter 57, verses 5-7)
So within Bharata-varsha there are nine divisions and the ninth division (also called Bharata here) is identified as our own area of the Earth. The Puranas also refer to our area by other names such as Kumari-dvipa.
Since the 1000 yojana (8,000 mile) distance of the ninth island is the same diameter as the supposed Earth globe, unscrupulous people have taken the measurement out of context (of the description of Bharata's place in the larger Earth plane) and simply superimposed the Earth globe idea onto a scene which is describing a very different reality. Note that the Purana describes the Bharata-varsha area as being surrounded by 'ocean', and as part of a larger landscape with more islands, hence not as an independent globe-shaped planet which is surrounded by dark space.
Some people have presented statements from other Vedic texts that purport to indicate a smaller Earth with dimensions closer to the size of the so-called Earth globe; however all of these smaller figures are simply a diameter calculated for our local area of the flat-Earth plane in Bharata-varsha, not for a supposed Earth globe floating in space. Vedic texts are not contradictory, and do not present opposing ideas of what is considered to be real and true. The reality of Bharata-varsha is that it is located in Jambudvipa. One cannot take measurements for Bharata-varsha's islands out of context in order to suggest that measurements for one of the islands (Bharata/Kumari-dvipa) is an indirect reference to an Earth globe floating in space. We have presented an explanation for seemingly opposing measurements in Part 3 of "A Reply to Danavir Goswami on the Shape and Size of the Vedic Earth".
Why are the islands of Bharata-varsha described as being surrounded by ocean? The islands are surrounded by ocean because although Bharata-varsha is part of the mainland of Jambudvipa, parts of Bharata-varsha became submerged by the huge 800,000 mile Salt-water Ocean, which left nine main areas that were separated from one another by ocean. We cannot see the other areas of Bharata-varsha because karma and the controlling power of deva keeps each group of people bound up in a particular area, and one can't go from one area to another. The Vayu Purana explains:
"There are stated to be nine divisions of this Bharata-varsha. Being separated by oceans they are mutually inaccessible." (Vayu Purana 45.78)
They are Indradvipa, Kaseru,Tamravarna, Gabhastiman, Nagadvipa Saumya, Gandharva, and Varuna. This Bharata, the ninth among them is surrounded by the sea. From south to north it extends to a thousand yojanas (8,000 miles), from Kumari to the source of the Ganga. Sideways in the north it extends to nine thousand yojanas (72,000 miles). (Vayu Purana 45.79.81)
Here the Vayu Purana gives an even larger measurement for our local area of the Earth plane. It is interesting that ancient maps show parts of our world that seem to have curiously 'disappeared' in time. The Vayu Purana also describes a whole series of other continents to the south of Bharata-varsha of which we are also presently unaware. In chapter 48, an ocean measured at 10,000 yojanas (80,000 miles) is described along with descriptions of various sized continents. These islands and oceans are part of the greater 800,0000 mile salt-water ocean which surrounds Jambudvipa. Our own oceans are just a drop of this greater ocean.
The images below are Danavir Goswami's attempt to depict the nine areas of Bharata-varsha. This depiction may or may not be entirely accurate but it does correctly convey the idea that our known area of the Earth is just a small part of a larger flat-Earth landscape, and hence not an independent planet floating in space. The image shows the nine dvipas of Bharata-varsha marked in red with the huge Himalaya Mountain in the backdrop. Beyond Himalaya are the other eight varshas of Jambudivpa. Note that Danavir Goswami has depicted our own local area of Bharata-varsha as the so-called Earth globe, however, the spherical shape of this one island is completely incongruous with the rest of the landscape. Danavir Goswami has simply superimposed his own belief in a spherical Earth onto what is unquestionably a massive flat-Earth landscape.
So back to the oblong-shaped object in the hands of the Vishnu Deity at the Somanathapura temple, if the object is meant to represent the modern Earth globe measured at 24,900 miles in diameter, that cannot be the case because the Vedic Earth is measured at 500 million yojanas (4 billion miles) and is circular in shape, not globular. If the object is meant to represent just a part of the Earth, namely Bharata-varsha (which is supposed to have somehow manifested as an Earth globe) that also cannot be the case because our own small area of the Earth-circle in Bharata-varsha is clearly described as being located to the south of Jambudvipa and surrounded by the waters of the great Salt-water Ocean. It is certainly not described as an independent planet that is floating in air, and surrounded by the dark void of space.
Let this serve as a lesson to members of ISKCON when they are presented with images which seemingly depict Varaha lifting a globe—one must not only check the context in which the sculpture or painting of Varaha appears, but more importantly, the interpretation of the artifacts cannot be in a manner that contradicts the original description of Varaha lifting the circular Earth as it is given in Srimad Bhagavatam and other Puranas. The Puranas description of Varaha lifting the gigantic circular-shaped Earth is the template with which one can assess and judge any artifact related to Varaha that may be otherwise presented as evidence for the idea that Varaha lifted a globe-shaped Earth. The Vedic description of the Earth is the standard for assessing and judging the modern Earth globe conception of reality. It is not that the modern assumption and belief in the globe becomes the standard for disproving, negating, or even minimizing the truth of the Vedic Bhu-mandala.
THE MAYA EARTH
Since Bharata-varsha is clearly described as part of the larger Earth circle (Bhu-mandala), there is no sense in which Bharata-varsha itself can be misconstrued as an independent globe-shaped planet floating in space, or that Varaha lifted this supposed globe from the Garbhodaka Ocean. The Srimad Bhagavatam clearly states that Lord Varaha lifted the entire Bhu-mandala from the waters of the Garbhodaka Ocean:
"O Lord, as the peaks of great mountains become beautiful when decorated with clouds, Your transcendental body has become beautiful because of Your lifting the Earth (bhu-mandala) on the edge of Your tusks." (SB 3.13.41)
Yet as we entered the 20th century, images of Varaha holding Bharata-varsha in the form of an Earth globe began to appear. The image below by the Ravi Udaya Vijaya Press in the 1930's was among some of the earlier images that began to appear at this time.
In the above image, we see Varaha lifting the so-called Earth globe which features the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe, America, etc. However this depiction of the Earth is clearly erroneous (from the Vedic perspective) because our local area of Bharata-varsha (apart from being misrepresented here as taking the form of a globe), is in any case, only one part of Bharata-varsha, which is only one part of Jambudvipa, which is only one part of the colossal Earth circle. Since the Vedic history records that Varaha lifted the entire Bhu-mandala from the Garbhodaka Ocean—not simply one small part of Bharata-varsha—we can understand that any Deity or picture which shows Varaha lifting an Earth globe, is not actually a bona fide form of Bhu-Varaha (Lord Vishnu and His consort). The globe is not how Bhumi appears in her physical manifestation. The physical manifestation of Goddess Bhumi is the great Bhu-mandala. The globe is therefore a maya bhumi (an illusory Earth). Put simply, the Earth depicted in the image above is not Prthvi as she is described in Vedic literature, and thus any depiction or Deity of Varaha lifting a globe-shaped Earth is not a bona fide depiction of Bhu-Varaha. Anyone who supports this depiction of the Earth is basically agreeing to the idea that the Earth is not as Srila Vyasadeva describes it. The globe idea is actually antithetical to the teachings of Srila Vyasadeva, and those members of ISKCON who continue to propagate such an idea—despite knowing the truth of Bhu-mandala—are unfortunately propagating a heretical doctrine in the name of so-called Vedic cosmology.
Although Srila Prabhupada had himself instructed an artist disciple to depict Varaha holding an Earth globe, the issue was later settled when it became apparent that Varaha had lifted the entire Bhu-mandala—not an Earth-globe! We have discussed the issue in a paper called, "Did Lord Varaha Lift an Earth Globe?".
In Part 3 of this paper we will discuss Praveen Mohan's argument that the Sanskrit name Bhu-gola (round Earth) is a reference to the Earth globe. With reference to the original descriptions of the Bhu-gola we shall explain why the name means 'Earth-circle' not 'Earth-globe'. We shall also discuss how the promulgation of the globe through-out India in the 19th century by the British Imperialists, contributed to the rapid spiritual descent of India into impersonalism and atheism.
