There is\u00a0a wealth of\u00a0Astronomical data available in\u00a0ancient Hindu\u00a0scriptures. I\u2019ll first share our current knowledge about Astronomy and then we can\u00a0compare\u00a0it with the details\u00a0provided in\u00a0our ancient texts to get a clear picture about where we stand.<\/div>\n

Modern Astronomy\u00a0talks about\u00a0a Single Universe\u00a0comprising of\u00a0Dark Matter and\u00a0brighter Heavenly bodies like the\u00a0Galaxies<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0Stars<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0Planets<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0Asteroids<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0<\/b>Satellites<\/b><\/a>\u00a0etc. This entire matter (and anti-matter)\u00a0is believed to have\u00a0emerged about 14 Billion Years ago in time, from\u00a0a\u00a0momentous explosion called the\u00a0Big Bang<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many of us may have encountered the number 108 in various ancient cultures.. There are 108 gopis of Vrindavan, Mukhya Shivaganas are 108 in number, Zen priests wear 108 bead rosaries, Chinese and South-Indian martial arts describe 108 pressure points on the body, Stonehenge is 108 feet in Diameter..<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Did you know the astronomical significance of this number???
\n\u2013 The distance between EARTH and SUN = 108 times sun-diameter!
\n\u2013 The distance between EARTH and MOON = 108 times Moon-diameter!<\/p>\n

Coincidence?? Or scientific facts that we tend to overlook?\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Turning to the scriptures one can find descriptions of\u00a0 the different planets from our Solar System and beyond; our Galaxy;\u00a0different Planetary systems; as well as our ENTIRE Universe! Let\u2019s see what they have to offer to an interested reader in terms of Astronomy.<\/p>\n

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Universe\u00a0according to\u00a0Srimad Bhagvatam<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Hindu Mythology talks about\u00a0TWO separate Realms\u00a0in this Creation \u2013\u00a0the SPIRITUAL\u00a0<\/b>and the MATERIAL.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Spiritual Realm<\/b><\/a>\u00a0is full of the\u00a0Effulgence of Supreme Lord that spreads throughout and\u00a0banishes darkness from each and every corner of this Realm. Religions that envision God as a Being of Bright Light worship the same\u00a0Brahmajyoti<\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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This Supreme Heaven is believed to be the abode of\u00a0Supreme Brahman<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in Vedas,\u00a0Allah<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in Koran,\u00a0Jehovah<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in Jewish texts,\u00a0Param Purakh<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in Sikhism and the\u00a0King-of-Kings<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in Bible. This is the Supreme Abode that all souls in the material\u00a0realm strive for, and reach\u00a0after attaining\u00a0Nirvana. Srimad Bhagvatam,\u00a0calls this\u00a0the dwelling place\u00a0of\u00a0Lord Krishna<\/b>\u00a0who resides in His Spiritual abode of\u00a0Golok Vrindavan.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Around this central world, there exist other Spiritual planets that revolve around\u00a0it like the planets in Solar System\u00a0revolve around\u00a0the Sun.\u00a0These\u00a0are\u00a0collectively\u00a0known as\u00a0the\u00a0Vaikunth<\/b><\/a>\u00a0planets and each of these is the Divine residence of a\u00a0Vishnu<\/b>\u00a0form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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On these planets reside\u00a0Lord Vishnu\u2019s different incarnations alongwith Goddess\u00a0Lakshmi<\/b>\u00a0and the Pure souls who have been able to transcend the bonds of Material Nature.<\/div>\n
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In one corner of this huge bright realm, like a\u00a0\u2018Dark cloud in a clear bright sky\u2019,lies the\u00a0Material Creation<\/b>, where Individual Souls like YOU and ME take birth, evolve, exist, eat, earn, reproduce and ultimately die.\u00a0This realm takes up about 1\/4th of the entire space of the Spiritual Realm and\u00a0is\u00a0depicted beneath the lotus on the lower right corner of the image below.<\/div>\n
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Even though\u00a0Material Realm<\/i><\/b>\u00a0is created for souls who want to live independent lives, the Lord, by means of His infinite expansions,\u00a0still ensures they can have a smooth sailing. He\u00a0takes the\u00a0form of\u00a0Shri Maha Vishnu<\/b><\/a>\u00a0for the Creation of this Material\u00a0Realm and it is from Him that everything in this world emanates.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Now there is ONE MAJOR difference in the\u00a0Hindu\u00a0notion of the Material\u00a0world and\u00a0the current scientific\u00a0understanding about it \u2013\u00a0Hindu scriptures state that the\u00a0Material Realm is composed of\u00a0Billions and Trillions of Universes\u00a0(!!) and\u00a0NOT just\u00a0a single one!!<\/b><\/div>\n
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Billions and Billions of Universes<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
Scientifically, it is still undetermined whether the universe\u00a0exists by itself or\u00a0is just one of the countless trillions within a larger\u00a0Multiverse<\/b><\/a>, itself contained within the\u00a0Omniverse<\/b><\/a>\u00a0that is the Material World. But, according to scriptures, the\u00a0Universe that we live in, is just a\u00a0TINY infinitesimal part of the entire Material Creation and all these zillions of Universes\u00a0are\u00a0born at the Same Time\u00a0from theSame Primeval Source\u00a0\u2013<\/i>\u00a0Shri Maha Vishnu<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n
EVERYTIME\u00a0the Lord exhales, a Universe emerges\u00a0from EACH of his body pores and with\u00a0EACH of His inhalations, ALL these Universes merge\u00a0BACK into His body! The multiple universes generated\u00a0are floating, and they are scattered all over the Causal Ocean.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I\u00a0was rendered\u00a0speechless by the larger-than-life imagery inherent in this concept. The mere thought of so many Universes taking Birth, Expanding and Dissolving again in Maha Vishnu\u2019s\u00a0SINGLE breath is fantastic and\u00a0indeed (to use the pun) breath-taking!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Madam Blavatsky<\/b><\/a>, the founder of the Theosophical Society describes this phenomenon thus-<\/p>\n
The Great Breath goes forth and returns again.<\/i>
\nAs it proceeds outwards, objects, worlds, and men appear.<\/i>
\nAs it recedes all things disappear into the original source.<\/i>
\nThe Great Breath is, so to speak, the universal and eternal Perpetuum Mobile.<\/i><\/p>\n
If ever there is a Grand description of God in World literature, it has to be this one! How infinitesimal and tiny our entire existence appears to be if we humbly give thought to this notion. Our entire lifetimes are nothing, not even a fraction of a second for Lord Maha Vishnu!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Indeed our entire Universe (which by current estimates is about 13.7 Billion years old), was born with a\u00a0SINGLE exhalation of the Lord\u00a0and will merge back into Him with\u00a0His\u00a0NEXT intake of Breath!! The\u00a0concept also fits the Big Bang<\/b><\/a>\u00a0Theory, as the moment it\u00a0emerges from Lord Vishnu\u2019s body pores\u00a0is THE moment of Big Bang for each Universe!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I wished to check if this fits with our current concept of science in any way and I found data from NASA\u2019s\u00a0WMAP Program<\/b>\u00a0(Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) which has been studying the cosmic microwave background in the Universe.<\/p>\n
This CMB is basically the light emitted by our Universe when it was just 400,000 years old. The study of this data which is being collected since 2001 suggests that apparently, new universes could be created spontaneously from what we perceive as empty space! The support for this view also comes from the observation of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics or the Law of Entropy that states that each closed system (like our Universe) has a tendency to get into disorder spontaneously (hence it\u2019s expansion) \u2013 this implies that to begin with, the Universe was in an ordered state!<\/p>\n
Caltech<\/b>\u00a0astronomers studying this CMB data claim that this initial order is entirely possible if the so called Big Bang happened in the cold space of a previous Universe. Imagine then, Lord Mahavishnu lying in the cold dark material realm, surrounded by this empty space, giving rise to multiple universes including our own! After exploding\u00a0out of the body of\u00a0Sri Maha Vishnu<\/b><\/a>, each Universe continues to expand, and after reaching a critical threshold, again begins to contract until it is assimilated back in the body of Lord Maha Vishnu.<\/p>\n
I thought this was probably one isolated example of the mention of a Multi-verse and maybe was not intended in the way I was interpreting it. But to my surprise, the concept of Multiple Universes is widely accepted and acknowledged in Hindu Cosmology!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Multiple Universes in Scriptures<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
Puranic literature\u00a0is full of descriptions of multiple as well as parallel Universes. Hindu\u00a0scriptures also declare there\u2019s Intelligent life out there in the Universe and this\u00a0is gotta be the absolutely\u00a0FIRST mention of ALIENS in World Literature ever!! I will share with you a few examples from different texts to illustrate the point.Srimad Bhagavatam<\/a><\/b>\u00a0[6.16.37]\u00a0eulogizes the Supreme Lord Vishnu in following words:<\/p>\n
There are<\/i>\u00a0Innumerable Universes<\/b>\u00a0besides this one, and although they are unlimitedly large, they move about like atoms in You. Therefore You are called \u2018Without-limits\u2019.<\/i><\/p>\n
In verse 10.14.11, it again states:<\/p>\n
Unlimited universes<\/b><\/i>\u00a0pass through the pores of Your body just as particles of dust pass through the openings of a screened window.<\/i><\/p>\n
Lord Shiva<\/b>\u00a0in verse 9.4.56\u00a0again mentions thus:<\/p>\n
My dear son, I, Lord Brahm\u0101 and the other devas, who move within this universe, cannot exhibit any power to compete with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for<\/i>\u00a0Innumerable Universes<\/b>and their inhabitants<\/b><\/i>\u00a0come into existence and are annihilated by the simple direction of the Lord Hari.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Similar views are shared by Lord Brahma in the\u00a0Brahma Vaivarta Puraan<\/a><\/b>\u00a0where a mention of Multiple, Parallel Universes is made-
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\nAnd who will search through the wide infinities of space to count the universes<\/i>\u00a0Side by Side<\/b>, EACH containing its Brahma, its Vishnu, its Shiva? Who can count the Indras in them, ALL those\u00a0Indras<\/i>\u00a0Side by Side<\/b>, who reign at once in all the innumerable worlds; those others who passed away before them; or even the Indras who succeed each other in any given line, ascending to godly kingship, one by one, and, one by one, passing away?<\/i>Hindu\u00a0scriptures declare there\u2019s Intelligent life out there, and this\u00a0is gotta be absolutely the\u00a0FIRST mention of ALIENS in World Literature ever!!<\/b>The obvious take-away from this concept is that according to the scriptures, there exist MORE than One Universes in our Creation and this topic has long been debated by modern Scientists. Let us see what our current notions of scientific theory have to say about it.\n
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Multiple Universes in Science<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\nA\u00a0large\u00a0body of Scientific intelligentsia believes in multiple Universes existing perhaps in parallel dimensions. Here, I would like to introduce you to perhaps the most brilliant mind of our times \u2013\u00a0<\/b>Stephen Hawking<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0whose phenomenal work \u2013\u00a0A Brief History of Time<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0is by far the most important book on Space Science ever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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In this monumental work, Mr. Hawking talks about something known as\u00a0Chaotic Boundary Conditions<\/b>\u00a0and the\u00a0Anthropic Theory<\/b><\/a>. He states and I quote-<\/p>\n
\u2018According to the Strong Anthropic Principle, there\u00a0are either\u00a0MANY different Universes\u00a0or\u00a0MANY different regions of a single universe, each with its own initial configuration and, perhaps, with its own set of laws of science.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n
Simply\u00a0put, it\u00a0states that, the likelihood of development of our\u00a0Single Universe from the big-bang is much less than the likelihood of Multiple Universes being born out of it!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0notion of Parallel\/Alternate Universes\u00a0has been widely used in\u00a0many Hollywood movies such as the\u00a0recent\u00a0 Star-Trek<\/b><\/a>\u00a0film (2009),\u00a0FAQ<\/b>\u00a0(2004), and Jet-Li\u00a0movie\u00a0The One<\/b><\/a>\u00a0(2001).<\/p>\n
What is interesting for me is that\u00a0the mention of Multiple Universes comes from the scriptures\u00a0much\u00a0BEFORE modern Science\u00a0came\u00a0to terms with\u00a0accepting their existence.\u00a0Short of Time-Travel, the\u00a0ancient Yogis could\u00a0only have grasped the basic nature of our Universe through their rigorous meditation and penance!<\/p>\n
Till now, Science has\u00a0been unable to\u00a0tell us,\u00a0what existed\u00a0BEFORE the Big Bang. WHERE did the explosion take place if there was nothing before it happened?? WHAT caused the explosion in the first place??<\/p>\n
But if we\u00a0grasp the concepts\u00a0from\u00a0Srimad Bhagvatam<\/b>\u00a0we can understand the Science as well as Faith behind this. The Scientific\u00a0Spirit of ancient Rishis makes me bow down in reverence and if you read the texts with an open mind, will\u00a0amaze you with\u00a0their\u00a0profound philosophical\u00a0insight as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Our ancient beliefs are not just Myths, but Parables for explaining profound Scientific principles\u00a0to the common man.<\/b><\/p>\n
We will cover more such\u00a0interesting topics in the Posts to\u00a0follow and I will try to touch upon as many diverse\u00a0scientific disciplines as\u00a0I can use to understand and decode the myths and legends from ancient Hindu tradition.<\/p>\n
For now, I\u00a0conclude this post with\u00a0the amazingly inquisitive\u00a0Nasadiya Sukta<\/b><\/a>\u00a0from the most ancient text of Humanity -the\u00a0Rigveda [10.129]<\/b>\u00a0which highlights the quest of ancient\u00a0Rishis<\/i><\/b>\u00a0to find Origins of not only this\u00a0Creation\u00a0but that of GOD Himself-<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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At first was no Being neither Non-being,
\nThere was yet no Air nor Sky spread.<\/i>
\nSo what was covering? Where was it present?<\/i>
\nWas Water there, in the unfathomable depth?\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>There was no Death, nor Immortality;<\/i>
\nOf Night or Day there was yet no sign.<\/i>
\nThe One breathed windless, self-sustaining,<\/i>
\nOther than\u00a0HIM was nothing divine.<\/i><\/div>\n
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Darkness was there, wrapping\u00a0more\u00a0Darkness,<\/i>
\nAnd All was Water indistinguishable, Dark.<\/i>
\nThe\u00a0Cosmic seed\u00a0was wrapped in the Void,<\/i>
\nRising\u00a0at last, by the power of Thought.<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In this beginning, Desire took form,<\/i>
\nThe\u00a0primal seed, born of the Mind.<\/i>
\nWisely sifting, Existence from Non-existence,<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
Sages have\u00a0found all this in their Heart.<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
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A Ray was stretched across the Void,<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
Know what was below,\u00a0and what above.<\/i>
\nBearers of seed were there\u00a0and Mighty forces,<\/i>
\nBelow was Strength, and Creative-will above.<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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Who really knows? Who can declare?<\/i>
\nWhen did it happen? How Creation came on?<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
Even the Devas came after its emergence.<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
So who truly knows, Whence it was born?<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
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He, from Whom this C<\/i>reation Arose,<\/i>
\nDid\u00a0He\u00a0fashion it or\u00a0did\u00a0He\u00a0not,<\/i>
\nHe, who surveys it\u00a0from the Highest Heaven,<\/i><\/div>\n
He surely knows or maybe even He does not!<\/i><\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is\u00a0a wealth of\u00a0Astronomical data available in\u00a0ancient Hindu\u00a0scriptures. I\u2019ll first share our current knowledge about Astronomy and then we can\u00a0compare\u00a0it with the details\u00a0provided in\u00a0our ancient texts to get a clear picture about where we stand. Modern Astronomy\u00a0talks about\u00a0a Single Universe\u00a0comprising of\u00a0Dark Matter and\u00a0brighter Heavenly bodies like the\u00a0Galaxies,\u00a0Stars,\u00a0Planets,\u00a0Asteroids,\u00a0Satellites\u00a0etc. This entire matter (and anti-matter)\u00a0is believed to have\u00a0emerged <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,23],"tags":[18,19],"class_list":["post-1615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","category-space","tag-slider","tag-slider1"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Hindu-Philosophy-and-Modern-Science-Amazing-Similarities.jpg?fit=800%2C526&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1615"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1620,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615\/revisions\/1620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Universe\u00a0according to\u00a0Srimad Bhagvatam<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nHindu Mythology talks about\u00a0TWO separate Realms\u00a0in this Creation \u2013\u00a0the SPIRITUAL\u00a0<\/b>and the MATERIAL.<\/p>\n