Follow-Up for Flat Earth...

It seems that we need to discuss some more on the Flat Earth Concept from our previous post.

Hence... This follow-up post.

As mentioned in our earlier post, it needs some out-of-the-box thinking to understand cosmological explanations from Srimad Bhagavatam. This is important because we can't count on direct experience for understanding the Universe around us.

So we need to place our faith in some authority, for understanding the Universe around us.

Right now we have broadly, TWO places to rest our faith.

1. The scientist that rely on Human sensory and intellectual faculties to describe this Cosmos.
2. The Vedic texts like Srimad Bhagavatam, spoken by a well acknowledged and accepted spiritual authority.

Not going in the technicalities of how the scientists come up with their conclusions; one thing is undeniable, and that is that its all done with profitability as its underlying motivation. When someone is motivated by profit-making, such a person / group / or entity becomes less & less reliable.

Moreover, the current scientific method (in relation to cosmological science) to understand this universe is as follows:

First they come-up with a theory, and then they do everything to try and prove it to be correct. And if its not provable even after trying hard, then they just shamelessly say, "Well that's the beauty of science, We discard that which can't be Proved".

How can any Wise person subscribe to this kind of method for acquiring knowledge. This is like a blind man finding out about a ditch after falling into it.

Vedic way of acquiring knowledge is an exact polar opposite of this. In Vedic way, only a knowledgeable person can impart knowledge upon someone who is less knowledgeable. In this way of acquiring knowledge, submissive inquiry plays a key role.

And since the knowledge flows from a more knowledgeable person to a less knowledgeable person, it creates a succession. Thus the process becomes verifiable. As in; one who wants to get knowledge from SOMEBODY can check if that SOMEBODY is a self proclaimed KNOWER or has he acquired the knowledge through the same process of succession.

That way the entire chain of succession should lead us to the origin of all knowledge, the Supreme Creator Lord Sri Krishna. Thus by verifying each link in the succession, if we find that the ultimate last entity is the Supreme Person, then we can rely on the source of information.

Now, without getting into the details of spiritual standing of Srila Shukadev Goswami (the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam); lets examine the facts.

The assembly where Srila Shukadev Goswami was speaking, included all the renowned sages. Among the assembly was Srila Vyasadev, who himself is a writer of Srimad Bhagavatam. He is the one who imparted this knowledge of Srimad Bhagavatam to his son Srila Shukadev Goswami.

So Srila Shukadev Goswami was not only his son, but also his disciple. And in Vedic context, a Spiritual Master is duty-bound to correct the mistakes of his disciple. KEEP THIS POINT IN MIND. We will refer this later on.

Also in the assembly was the renowned inter-stellar traveller Srila Narad Muni. He imparted the knowledge of Srimad Bhagavatam to Srila Vyasadev. So Srila Vyasadev is in a way, a disciple of Srila Narad Muni. Again, Srila Narad Muni, as a spiritual master is duty-bound to correct the mistakes of his disciple.

Srila Shukadev Goswami spoke Srimad Bhagavatam as answers to the inquiries of Saintly King Parikshit.

King Parikshit was about to Die in 7 days, and thus was in no mood of listening to fairy tales.

King Parikshit was having complete confidence in Srila Shukadev Goswami's infallible knowledge. Which is why he chose to become his disciple. Moreover, he was reassured about the correctness of the answers given by Srila Shukadev Goswami; since Shukadev Goswami's Spiritual master was in the assembly, listening to their discourse. Remember as mentioned above; a spiritual master is duty-bound to correct the mistakes of his disciple.

On the backdrop of this setup as mentioned above, when King Parikshit inquired about the cosmology of our universe, will Srila Shukadev Goswami start telling a fairy tale. This is a question we should ask to ourselves.

Some of us who want to doubt the correctness of the cosmological descriptions given by Shukadev Goswami should seriously consider this situation.

In the assembly, there is Srila Narad Muni, who is a renowned inter-stellar traveller. Surely he would have raised a hand in the assembly and objected Srila Shukadev Goswami, if Shukadev Goswami was engaging in Mental Speculation or Fairy Tales.

So... Now... if we are amply convinced that whatever description Srila Shukadev Goswami gave about the cosmology, is indeed correct, then lets see what will happen if the earth is not flat; as some of us may want to believe.

Say, If the Earth is spherical, as contrary to what Srila Shukadev Goswami thinks, then there are 2 possibilities.

1. The spherical earth is resting on the Jambu-Island, as a Ball would rest on the ground.
2. OR... The spherical earth is freely floating a little above the surface of Jambu-Island.

In the first scenario, since the earth is resting on a flat plane, therefore no one can access the bottom part of this sphere. But in fact, people are right now staying at both arctic and antarctic. Moreover, they are flying in air all over the place. Thus no part of this spherical earth seems inaccessible. Therefore this first possibility can't hold true.

In the second scenario, if the earth is freely floating over the surface, there comes another problem. The sky is only in the top portion of our Universe. At the vertical-centre of our universe is the Bhu-Mandala Plate. And beneath this plate, is ocean. So if this spherical earth is floating above this Bhu-Mandala plate, then half the people on this earth should have no SKY above there heads. Only half of the earth's population will see SKY over there heads. But in fact, we all see SKY above our heads, no matter where we are on this earth. Therefore this hypothesis also gets thrown out of the window.

The easiest way, is to believe that Srila Shukadev Goswami had no reason to cook a fairy tale description of our cosmology.

So as described in Srimad Bhagavatam, the part where humans live (Bharat-Varsha) is a Flat-Surface of Bhu-mandala plate.

Since the above statement is true, therefore the only plausible explanation is the one presented in the previous posts.

When Maya-Devi (Goddess Durgaa) makes us perceive this flat-earth as a sphere, she also sets some laws of nature, which support this perception.

The laws of nature also differ from one place to another in our Bramhanda. This is vividly described in Srimad Bhagavatam, and will be discussed in following posts.

So as always... Stay tuned.