Flat earth
The Purāṇic Geography of Bhārata-varṣa
Over a year ago now, a friend came to me and said the earth was flat. Well, being a student of the Srimad Bhagavatam, I had to agree, as the place we call The Earth is situated on the southern most flat plain of Bharata-varsha. He showed me what happened on Youtube around 2015, an explosion of videos and discussion about the ’Flat Earth’. He said it was part of Lord Chaitanya’s plan to introduce the Srimad Bhagavatam, Dharma, and the Hare Krishna Mahamantra to the entire world. Well, I guess that could be true, but did I actually think the Gleeson disc-shaped map he was showing me was the factual shape of the Earth? Well, that needed research.
Thus began my work on a book called “The Puranic Geography of Bharata-varsha”. The first thing that drew my interest was Danavir Goswami’s video presentation called “Vedic Cosmos”, which showed computer animations of a ball earth sitting on the ocean, off the coast of a cosmic-sized version of the Himalaya mountains. It seems the standard ISKCON cosmological view was that the earth is indeed a globe, sitting somewhere in the ocean. Danavir Maharaja’s model was based on the model of Sadaputa Dasa, Dr Richard Thompson, Srila Prabhupada’s math and science expert. Both were convinced the Earth was a globe, and somehow that fitted in with Bhagavata and Puranic cosmology.
So, in this way many months passed while reading the 5th Canto of the Bhagavatam, the Acaryas comments, the works of Indian astronomers over the centuries, the Surya-Siddhanta, all 18 major puranas, and just about every book written about the puranic geography of the earth. Along with this was the viewing of many Youtube videos giving empirical proof that the so called curvature of the earth cannot be observed or photographed. Even at great heights, on balloons and rockets with cameras, the horizon is always level with the observer. All flight manuals, and artillery manuals use the model of the earth as a vast plane. Ships that supposedly disappear over the curve of the ocean reappear using telescopic cameras. So what are my conclusions? Whats the answer to this whole ’Flat Earth’ debate?
- Nowhere in the puranic literature is the earth we live on described as a physical sphere, spinning on an axis, orbiting the sun.
- In the Narada purana’s section on Mathematics, which is almost identical to the Surya-Siddhanta, there are steps that must betaken to predict astrological movements. This requires creating a mathematical model of the Earth as a sphere to ascertain the latitude and longitude of the observer. Once this is done, that observer stands in the center of an infinite flat plane, with all the celestials moving in a heavenly dome intersecting that great plane.
- If that observer stands at the north pole, a map of the earth that is created is indeed the Gleeson flat earth map. However, with any flat earth map, the further away from the centre you go, the more distorted becomes the earths geography.
- This is the great conundrum - empirically, observationally, and according to all scriptures, the earth is flat. However, when we navigate by the stars, or traverse the earth with vehicles, and measure the distances between cities, countries and continents, the maths tells us the earth is a sphere. Therefore, the puranas warn us that human understanding of the measurement of the earth and the universe will never be fully understood, achintya, inconcievable.
- The most intelligent flat earth researchers are stumped by this, how the earth can be flat yet act like a globe. Most flat earthers don’e even understand the problem that the azimuthal Gleeson map cannot demonstrate the correct direction for the rising and setting of the sun, nor can it depict the correct shape and size of the continents. As in any flat map, the closer you are to the equator, the more accurate these things are, so, in this way, there will never be a perfect flat map of the earth. We will have to rely on what is described in Vedic sciptuires like the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Surya-Siddhanta.
- There are several conclusions drawn from this epic and puranic study of the Earth:
- There are several definitions of “Bharata-varsha” in the puranic literature: 1. India, 2. Eurasian Landmass, 3. Entire Earth 4. Karma-Bhumi - the realm of humans trapped by karma.
- There are co-existing shapes of the Earth which is known as Bharata-varsha: 1. the south Jambudvipa bow, 2. a spherical mathematical construct that affects the physical boundaries of Bharatavarsa, 3. an infinite, repeating, flat plane lying underneath the dome of the sky, 4. Bhudevi - the living personification of the Earth - a higher-dimensional Goddess who is the consort of God/Narayana/Varaha.
- The continents and islands of the earth can be identified by their ancient puranic names, by cross referencing the Vayu Purana with Mahabharata, Ramayana, other puranas, Surya-Siddhanta and Siddhanta-siromani, and with geological, geographical, and historical evidence.
- There are various lengths given to the sanskrit “yojana” in the puranic literature. They generally vary from 1 mile to 9 miles, depending on the text. I have given six reasons why these differences exist, including the fact that Bharata-varsa &/or its inhabitants progressively shrink during the cycle of four yugas or ages, by a factor of 6:1, or that the puranic measurements have been compiled in different kalpas (days of creation). This directly relates to the conceptualization of Earth as Bharata-varsa.
All these conclusions and evidences are discussed in my book “Puranic Geography of Bharata-varsa” which will be published first as a ebook by the end of the year. It’s still being edited and refined, with translators presently working on detailed analysis of the sanskrit devanagari used as evidence from the puranas. I am sure this publication will be of great interest to devotees and flat-earther’s alike, and may help design the physical and digital models Srila Prabhupada requested for his last project - the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Anyone interested in helping me finish and publish this book in any way should contact me here on Facebook.
Below is a link to a work in progress, an online summary of the book, with sample illustrations. Comments and constructive criticisms are very welcome. Hare Krishna. 🙏 https://soolaba.wordpress.com/puranic-geography/
Soolaba Dasa