The Bhagvatam gives complete details of the various Lokas of the galaxy giving precise LOCATIONS of the various divine and semi-divine\u00a0denizens of our\u00a0Galaxy! Let us see what these locations are and try to find out a useful address or two from the descriptions ;o)<\/p>\n

The Galactic Center, is\u00a0the tail-end of the coiled serpent and\u00a0is supposed to be a seat of Immense Power and Energy. According to the Bhagavatam, this Galactic Center is formed by\u00a0the\u00a0Dhruva Loka<\/b>.<\/p>\n

It is important to\u00a0note that\u00a0according to\u00a0modern Astronomy, Galactic Center\u00a0is made up of very large mass\u00a0and density which scientists believe\u00a0to be a\u00a0Supermassive Black Hole<\/a><\/b>. Black Holes are\u00a0the evolutionary end-point of MASSIVE stars\u00a0<\/b>and pack within themselves the power of thousands of Nuclear bombs combined!<\/p>\n

Now,\u00a0\u00a0Dhruva<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>as we know is the Pole Star\u00a0and according to Bhagavatam,\u00a0it is supposed to be situated right at the CENTER of our Galaxy. At present, the Northern pole star\u00a0is\u00a0Polaris<\/a><\/b>, which lies close to the Celestial North\u00a0Pole,\u00a0and is visible at the end of the constellation Ursa Minor (Little Dipper).\u00a0<\/b>However, after researching its location, I found that this particular Star does not lie as far as the Center of the Galaxy and it dampened my excitement a bit<\/p>\n

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But, as I kept trying to find out more,\u00a0I came across a phenomenon known as the\u00a0 Precession of Equinoxes<\/b><\/a>. Simply put, it\u00a0states that\u00a0the role of the North Star PASSES from one star to another. This means that\u00a0Other stars<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/i>have occupied the position of the Pole Star before now!<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Precession of the Equinoxes is slow, taking about 25,770 years to complete a cycle,\u00a0 hence a single star typically holds that title for many CENTURIES, and since Hindu history\u00a0measures time in\u00a0billions of years,\u00a0One of these stars\u00a0could have been<\/b><\/i>\u00a0located in the vicinity of the\u00a0Galactic Center<\/b><\/a>\u00a0at some point in our Ancient History!!<\/div>\n
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Identifying that Star is beyond my current research capacity, but I\u00a0believe if we can find\u00a0 it, it would help us date\u00a0our Scriptures\u00a0in a more authentic fashion as well as give us a proof that our civilization is INDEED very ancient.<\/p>\n
The scripture further states that\u00a0Dhruv-loka<\/b><\/i>\u00a0is supposed to be the Supreme Seat of\u00a0Lord Vishnu<\/b><\/a>\u00a0in the Mortal Realm where He\u00a0reclines on the Divine Serpent\u00a0Sheshnaag<\/b><\/i>\u00a0accompanied by Goddess\u00a0Lakshmi<\/b>\u00a0in the Ocean-of-Milk\u00a0called\u00a0Ksheer-Sagar<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Now, Black Holes\u00a0have always been conjectured to be portals between different Universes,\u00a0sort of like\u00a0Gateways to different dimensions. This makes me\u00a0believe that\u00a0our Supermassive-Galactic-Center-Black-Hole\u00a0can\u00a0fit the precondition of being the\u00a0Abode of Lord\u00a0Vishnu<\/b><\/a> amazingly well, as it would connect Him with the Spiritual Realm outside as well as the Material realm contained within this Universe!<\/p>\n
Moving on from the Galactic Center<\/u><\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Near the central abode of Dhruva\u00a0resides\u00a0Praj\u00e2pati<\/b><\/i>, worshiped\u00a0\u00a0by the demigods\u00a0Agn<\/u>i, Indra<\/b><\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Dharma<\/b><\/i>\u00a0near the tail and the Holy\u00a0Saptarishi Mandal<\/a><\/b>\u00a0at its waist.<\/p>\n
On the right side of the Celestial Wheel are stationed the fourteen\u00a0Uttarayan Nakshatras<\/i><\/b>\u00a0(Northern Zodiacs) from\u00a0Abhijit<\/b>\u00a0<\/i>to\u00a0Punarvasu,<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and on its left side are found fourteen\u00a0Dakshinayan Nakshatras<\/i><\/b>\u00a0(Southern Zodiacs)\u00a0starting from\u00a0Pushya<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and ending with\u00a0Uttar-Aashadh<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The back of Shishumar\u00a0is formed by stars\u00a0collectively called\u00a0Ajavithi<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0its belly is formed by the Sacred Ganges\u00a0reverently known as\u00a0the\u00a0Akash Ganga<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n
If you look\u00a0at the clear\u00a0night sky, you\u2019ll observe\u00a0a faint band of light stretching across the darkness, either through the middle or near the horizon which is considered it the symbolic representation of the\u00a0Descent of Heavenly Ganges<\/b><\/i>\u00a0to the Mortal Realm of Earth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The stars called\u00a0Punarvasu<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Pushya<\/i><\/b>\u00a0form the right and left loins of the Shishumar;\u00a0Ardra<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Ashlesha<\/i><\/b>\u00a0form the right and left feet while\u00a0Abhijit<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Uttar-Aashadh<\/i><\/b>\u00a0form the right and left nostrils.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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Shravana<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Purv-Aashadh<\/i><\/b>\u00a0form the right and left eyes respectively; while\u00a0Mula<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Dhanishtha\u00a0<\/b><\/i>form\u00a0<\/b><\/i>the\u00a0<\/b><\/i>two ears;\u00a0Magha<\/i><\/b>, the group of Eight Stars form its ribs on the left side while the Eight stars of\u00a0\u00a0Mrigashirsha<\/i><\/b>, form the ribs on its right.\u00a0The stars\u00a0Shatabhish<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Jyeshtha<\/i><\/b>\u00a0form the right and left shoulders,\u00a0Agasti<\/i><\/b>\u00a0forms the upper jaw and\u00a0Yama<\/i><\/b>, the lower one.<\/p>\n
The planet Mars forms\u00a0its face; Saturn forms its organ of generation; Brihaspati forms the hump on the shoulders while\u00a0Surya<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>\u2013 The Lord of the planets, (which I have taken as the reference point for the Labelled image of\u00a0Shishumar below)\u00a0forms its breast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Supreme\u00a0Lord Narayan<\/a><\/b>\u00a0remains seated\u00a0in\u00a0its heart and the Moon is situated in its mind.\u00a0The two\u00a0Ashvins<\/i><\/b>\u00a0form either sides of its\u00a0chest;\u00a0Ushana<\/i><\/b>\u00a0or Venus forms its navel; Mercury is its\u00a0Prana<\/i><\/b>;\u00a0Rahu<\/b><\/i>is\u00a0the neck and\u00a0Ketu<\/i><\/b>\u00a0is all over its body in the form of different\u00a0Comets<\/a><\/b>.The innumerable other stars\u00a0we see are the numerous pores of its body. I have tried to label the image of\u00a0our Galaxy according to the descriptions\u00a0I have\u00a0shared in this post. Please find below the Image that has resulted from this exercise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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What is astonishing for me\u00a0is that without access to any form of\u00a0modern technology like the\u00a0Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>and its like, the\u00a0Rishis<\/i><\/b>\u00a0of Yore could still fathom the extent and shape of our Galaxy in such a detailed fashion!<\/p>\n
It was only in 1610, that Galileo used the first telescope and determined that Milky Way\u00a0is formed of\u00a0billions of dim stars that surround us. Before that, for centuries the\u00a0astronomers had struggled\u00a0with the\u00a0basic questions about this band of light in the sky\u00a0which were difficult to answer\u00a0because of\u00a0several reasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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One<\/b>, as we live\u00a0within the Milky Way, trying to fathom its\u00a0dimensions is\u00a0like living in one tiny corner of\u00a0a gigantic box and analyzing its composition and shape!<\/li>\n
Second<\/b>, the early telescopes weren\u2019t large enough and hence did not have sufficient range\u00a0to clearly view the galaxy around us.<\/li>\n
Finally<\/b>,\u00a0the\u00a0Milky Way\u00a0contains\u00a0large amounts\u00a0of cosmic dust\u00a0that obscures distant stars when we\u2019re\u00a0using\u00a0regular telescopes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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However, the 20th century brought great advancement in telescope technology and\u00a0large\u00a0Optical, Radio, Infrared<\/b>, and\u00a0X-ray telescopes<\/b>\u00a0allowed Astronomers to peer through the\u00a0cosmic dust and look\u00a0further into space. With these tools, they could piece together\u00a0the puzzle of our Galaxy\u2019s shape but the point to be\u00a0emphasized here is that all this became apparent only after the 20th Century!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Yet,\u00a0surprisingly,\u00a0ancient Vedic rishis had not only described the shape of the Galaxy, they had also identified a huge POWER SOURCE at its Center; given descriptions of most of its major STAR SYSTEMS; as well as defined the relative positions of different Lokas in our\u00a0 ever-expanding Universe!!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Whether it was due to their\u00a0Superhuman Yogic Powers<\/b>, or a result of direct observation (Space Travel?!?), I do not know. But, I hope this post opens the eyes of\u00a0 my readers to a brand new perception of these religious texts and would encourage them to analyze our traditional culture and beliefs with a more open and scientific approach.<\/p>\n
I will describe the various Lokas mentioned above in more detail in subsequent postsand will try to guide you through the structure of the Universe as per ancient Hindu Science. May\u00a0Lord Vishnu<\/a><\/b>\u00a0guide me through this journey that I have embarked upon and help me bring hidden truths from our ancient scriptures to fore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It is only fitting that I end the post with the traditional prayer to Supreme Lord Vishnu residing\u00a0in this Coiled Galaxy\u00a0Shishumar<\/a><\/b>\u00a0and also pay my obeisance to the Ancients who were able to decipher its structure on the basis of their Yogic powers..<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Thou art the Substratum of all Luminaries,<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
Thou Createst and Destroyest all,<\/i><\/div>\n
The Lord of all Celestials,<\/i><\/div>\n
We meditate fully on Thee,<\/i><\/div>\n
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Planets, Galaxies and\u00a0Stars are Thy body,\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
Divinity is established in Thee alone,<\/i><\/div>\n
Thou art \u00c2dipurus<\/u>h, the Foremost of all Beings,<\/i><\/div>\n
All\u00a0sins are destroyed\u00a0by remembering Thee.<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the last post,\u00a0I had shared the description of our Universe and the TWO\u00a0different types of Creations.\u00a0For easy understanding of the descriptions from our Scriptures,\u00a0we\u2019ll now take each topic\u00a0individually\u00a0beginning with our Galaxy, the\u00a0Milky Way. As you are perhaps aware, ours is a\u00a0Spiral Galaxy\u00a0containing a Galactic Center, and various arms radiating outwards from it, in a\u00a0spiral <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1622,"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-1621","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\/1068_PIA16695_large.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621","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=1621"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1630,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions\/1630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}