Krishna Consciousness

Vedic Cosmography

Sound Vibration

Srimad-Bhagavatam

Canto 3 Chapter 36 Text 32

tāmasāc ca vikurvāṇād
bhagavad-vīrya-coditāt
śabda-mātram abhūt tasmān
nabhaḥ śrotraṁ tu śabdagam
SYNONYMS
tāmasāt—from egoism in ignorance; ca—and; vikurvāṇāt—undergoing transformation; bhagavat-vīrya—by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; coditāt—impelled; śabda-mātram—the subtle element sound; abhūt—was manifested; tasmāt—from that; nabhaḥ—ether; śrotram—the sense of hearing; tu—then; śabda-gam—which catches sound.
TRANSLATION
When egoism in ignorance is agitated by the sex energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the subtle element sound is manifested, and from sound come the ethereal sky and the sense of hearing.
PURPORT
It appears from this verse that all the objects of our sense gratification are the products of egoism in ignorance. It is understood from this verse that by agitation of the element of egoism in ignorance, the first thing produced was sound, which is the subtle form of ether. It is stated also in the Vedānta-sūtra that sound is the origin of all objects of material possession and that by sound one can also dissolve this material existence. Anāvṛttiḥ śabdāt means “liberation by sound.” The entire material manifestation began from sound, and sound can also end material entanglement, if it has a particular potency. The particular sound capable of doing this is the transcendental vibration Hare Kṛṣṇa. Our entanglement in material affairs has begun from material sound. Now we must purify that sound in spiritual understanding. There is sound in the spiritual world also. If we approach that sound, then our spiritual life begins, and the other requirements for spiritual advancement can be supplied. We have to understand very clearly that sound is the beginning of the creation of all material objects for our sense gratification. Similarly, if sound is purified, our spiritual necessities also are produced from sound.
Here it is said that from sound the ether became manifested and that the air became manifested from ether. How the ethereal sky comes from sound, how the air comes from sky and how fire comes from air will be explained later on. Sound is the cause of the sky, and sky is the cause of śrotram, the ear. The ear is the first sense for receiving knowledge. One must give aural reception to any knowledge one wants to receive, either material or spiritual. Therefore śrotram is very important. The Vedic knowledge is called śruti; knowledge has to be received by hearing. By hearing only can we have access to either material or spiritual enjoyment.
In the material world, we manufacture many things for our material comfort simply by hearing. They are already there, but just by hearing, one can transform them. If we want to build a very high skyscraper, this does not mean that we have to create it. The materials for the skyscraper—wood, metal, earth, etc.—are already there, but we make our intimate relationship with those already created material elements by hearing how to utilize them. Modern economic advancement for creation is also a product of hearing, and similarly one can create a favorable field of spiritual activities by hearing from the right source. Arjuna was a gross materialist in the bodily conception of life and was suffering from the bodily concept very acutely. But simply by hearing, Arjuna became a spiritualized, Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Hearing is very important, and that hearing is produced from the sky. By hearing only can we make proper use of that which already exists. The principle of hearing to properly utilize preconceived materials is applicable to spiritual paraphernalia as well. We must hear from the proper spiritual source.

The "Big Bang" is the exhulation of Maha Visnu and the "God Particle" is Ksirodakasayi Visnu

Major work on 'Big Bang' completed

1 day ago

Engineers have finished the major work of fixing the broken "Big Bang" machine, the largest scientific instrument ever built.

The last of 53 replacement magnets for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been lowered into the 16-mile tunnel straddling the Swiss-French border which houses the machine.

Scientists said they were on track to re-start the particle accelerator in the autumn.

The LHC, based at the Swiss headquarters of the European nuclear research organisation Cern, was switched on in September last year amid a fanfare of publicity.

But just 10 days later an electrical fault led to a catastrophic leak of helium used to cool the machine's powerful magnets, causing a complete shut-down.

The LHC is designed to collide sub-atomic particles together at energies never before attained.

It will re-create the conditions moments after the Big Bang which gave birth to the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

A key aim of the LHC is to find the elusive Higgs Boson - nicknamed the "God Particle" - which is believed by theoretical physicists to explain the existence of mass.

There is also a chance of the machine creating tiny short-lived black holes, a fact which led to some wild speculation about the Earth being doomed by out-of-control experiments.

The super-cooled magnets are used to drive the particles around the LHC's ring-shaped tunnel.

Copyright © 2009 The Press Association.

Vedic Perspective

750331CC.MAY                 Lectures
This Maha-Visnu, who is creating innumerable universes by breathing... Just like sometimes we breathe and there are some germs, small, we cannot see; in the same way, the universes in a small minute form, they are coming out of the breathing of Maha-Visnu. That is Karana-toya-sayi, karana-udaka, Causal Ocean. That is beginning of creation. Then all the universes, they gradually develop into gigantic form. In the originally, it is coming out. We cannot understand. Sometimes we become surprised that "How such innumerable universes are being created by a person?" So, the universe is not so big in the beginning. Just like our, this body is not so big in the beginning of our body within the womb of our mother. It is not so big. It is very small, minute, and then it becomes just like a pea, and gradually the body develops. The same process is applicable to the universes. In the beginning, they are coming out of the breathing of Karana-toya-sayi Visnu, and then gradually they are developed brhannatvat, brhatvat. It increases gradually. That Karana-toya-sayi Visnu is also Sankarsana. And then Garbhodakasayi. The universes are created. Then, when they develop, then same Visnu, Maha-Visnu, enters into each universe, and He creates an ocean. That is called Garbhoda Ocean. And He lies down there on Sesa-Naga, And then, from the navel, the lotus flower sprouts, and then Lord Brahma is created. Then, after many years tapasya, tapo, he understands how to create. In this way the whole creation of universes takes place. Garbhodakasayi. And after creation of this universe, then same Visnu, Garbhodakasayi, within this universe He creates His own Vaikuntha where there is an ocean of milk. There are different kinds of oceans, we learn from sastra. We have got experience of the salted ocean, but there are many other oceans, just like milk ocean and ghee ocean, oil ocean and yogurt ocean. There are. We get this information from the sastra.
    So the Maha-Visnu, first of all He enters in each universe as Garbhodakasayi. Then, within the universe, He creates His Vaikuntha and lies down there--Ksirodakasayi. This Ksirodakasayi Visnu is approached by the demigods when there is need of maintenance or for subsiding the disturbance by the demons. Then Brahma, Lord Siva and others, they go on the beach of this milk ocean and submit their appeal. Then the answer is given to Brahma, and he informs to other demigods. This is the process. You'll find this later on. So payobdhi-sayi and sesas ca, Sesa, that is also incarnation of Visnu. He is sustaining the body of Visnu in different oceans, and He is serving the Lord Visnu in so many ways. Sayya, asana, sitting place, bed, and upavita, and clothes, garments--so many ways He is serving. Now, all these different incarnation of Visnu is summarized here by Kaviraja Gosvami that "All of them are partial expansion of Nityananda," to understand what is Nityananda Prabhu. The prakasa-vigraha... Krsna first. Then His prakasa-vigraha, manifested form, a little difference in bodily feature, but the same powerful, that is Balarama. And then, from Balarama, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, in this way, quadruple expansion... Then Narayana, then another quadruple expansion, then from that quadruple, second manifestation of Sankarsana, all these different Visnus, Karana-toyasayi, Garbhodakasayi, Ksirodhi-sayi--in this way, expanding. Diparcir eva hi dasantaram abhyupetya. Just like you take one candle, then you lit up another candle, another candle, another candle. All these candles are equally powerful, but still, the calculation is, Krsna is the first candle, Balarama is the second candle. In this way, visnutaya vibhati--the expansion of Visnu, innumerable.
   Advaita acyuta anadi ananta-rupam. This Ksirodakasayi Visnu is the person who is situated in everyone's, every living being's, heart. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati. That isvara, antaryami, who is existing in everyone's heart, that is Ksirodakasayi Visnu. Not only within the heart of all living entities, but He is within the atom also. Andantara-stha-paramanu-caya... Paramanu. Paramanu means atom. In this way Visnu expansion are there. It is inconceivable for us, but by the grace of Krsna, we can partially understand from the description of the sastras. Otherwise we cannot imagine how these things can happen, but it happens. We have to accept. Sastra-caksusah. We have to see through the pages of sastra. Otherwise it is not possible. So if we want to know Visnu-tattva, if we want to know Krsna, His exalted position, then here are the description of the sastra, and if we take them as it is, without malinterpretation, without showing any extraordinary intelligence by us... It is not possible. We have to accept. Therefore the injunction is that you accept the statement of the sastras. That is... Bhagavad-gita also said, yah sastra-vidhim utsrjya vartate-kama-karatah: "If you do not follow the description of the sastra and if you manufacture something," then na siddhim sa avapnoti, "then you'll never get perfection." We have to follow the sastra; otherwise there is no other alternative to understand the exalted position of Krsna, how He expands in different forms, as Visnu, as Narayana. Sometimes they argue that Krsna is incarnation of Visnu. That is also truth. You'll find in Caitanya... Truth in this way, that when any incarnation comes, He comes through the Ksirobdhi-sayi Visnu. But Ksirobdhi-sayi is partial expansion of Krsna. The subject matter is very intricate, but if we follow the sastra and accept it, then some clear conception we can have.

Open air, regular bath and ample space in which to live are favorable for healthy vitality. Fresh produce from the earth like grains and vegetables, as well as fresh water and heat, is good for the upkeep of the gross body.

SB 2.10.31 P Bhagavatam Is the Answer to All Questions
The construction of the whole material world is prominently made by three elements, namely earth, water and fire. But the living force is produced by sky, air and water. So water is the common element in both the gross and subtle forms of all material creation, and it should be noted herewith that due to necessity, water, being most prominent in the material creation, is the principal element of all the five. This material body is thus an embodiment of the five elements, and the gross manifestation is perceived because of three, namely earth, water, and fire. Sensations of touch are perceived due to the thin layer on the skin, and bone is as good as hard stone. The breathing air of life is produced of sky, air and water, and therefore open air, regular bath and ample space in which to live are favorable for healthy vitality. Fresh produce from the earth like grains and vegetables, as well as fresh water and heat, is good for the upkeep of the gross body.

big, big scientist, putting forward, 'by combination of chemical...' So why don't you combine the chemical and give the dead man to become alive? Where is your brain?

770217rc.may                                         Conversations
Prabhupada: ...brainwash or brain-giving, that "This movement is not brainwash; we are brain-giving. Where is your brain? First of all you must have brain; then it is a question of washing. But you have no brain; you do not know what is this life. So we are giving, brain-giving movement, not brainwashing movement." On this point. "Where is your brain? You do not...You cannot explain what is the difference between a dead man and a living man. You have got so many big, big scientists, philosophers. You do not know. So where is your brain? First of all put your brain; then it is a question of washing or... So it is not brainwashing; it is brain-giving movement. Unfortunately you have no brain; therefore you misunderstand." On this point the Bhagavad-gita will explain. What do you think? "Brainwash or brain-giving?" This should be the heading.
Adi-kesava: Yes, this is good.
Prabhupada: So we have to prove that "You have no brain at all. Your brain is like cats and dogs. That is not brain. Even if you are scientist, philosopher, the position of your brain is the same. You do not know what is that thing missing that a living being is dead. You do not know. For centuries in the history you could not answer this. So where is your brain?" On this point discuss you amongst themselves. Write one article and send, signing your name. Is it not a fact, that "brain-giving" movement? There is no brain. Dhiras tatra na muhyati. "If you had brain, then you could understand. But you have no brain. Where is the question of washing? It is brain-giving movement." Am I right or wrong?
Pradyumna: Yes.
Adi-kesava: That's right.
Prabhupada: "It is not brain-washing, but you have no brain. There is no question of washing. We have to give you brain."
Pradyumna: The brain...
Prabhupada: Brain means proper intelligence. That is brain. Dhira, sober, that is brain. Anyone who has got brain, he will understand the simple logic, that how the body is changing. There is something; therefore body's changing from childhood to boyhood. And as soon as that important thing is missing--no more change of body. It is a dead matter. So where is your brain to understand this simple truth? Hm?
Pradyumna: Because it's dulled from sense gratification, they can't under...
Prabhupada: "So whatever the cause, but you have no brain. Cause may be so many things. But you have no brain to understand the simple truth. Where is your brain? So this movement is not brainwashing. Brain-giving. You have no brain." Therefore sastra says, sa eva go-kharah. Animal has no brain. They say animal has no soul, but that's not the fact. Animal has no brain. Otherwise, all anatomical, physical, physiological conditions are there. Ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithuna. But they have no brain. They cannot understand what is the difference between dead man and living man. That is the distinction between man and animal. But if you cannot understand, then where is your brain? On this point. Actually he has no brain. Sa eva go-kharah. That was the point Arjuna was chastised, that "You rascal, you have no brain. You are lamenting on this body and talking like very learned man." Asocyan anvasocas tvam prajna-vadams ca... The whole world is going on like that. They're talking like very big scientist, big philosopher, very big, big, big, but real thing they do not know. "So where is your brain?" Challenge them like that. "You cannot answer. You are big, big scientist, putting forward, 'by combination of chemical...' So why don't you combine the chemical and give the dead man to become alive? Where is your brain? You simply say 'combination of chemical,' but you take the chemicals and combine, then we can understand you have got brain. That you cannot do, falsely taking prestigious position that you have got brain. Actually you have no brain. Cheating people." Write articles on this. They have no brain at all. (Bengali) In India there is a prejudice that you should not lie down putting your head towards northern side. Whatever truth may be, one man was asked that "Don't keep your head toward northern side." So he answered, "Where is my head? The head is already cut off." So these people are like that. They are making propaganda of "brainwash," but where is your brain? Challenge them, "Where is your brain?" Cannot answer this simple thing. "Where is your brain?" Write a strong letter on this point and try to publish it. "If there is brain, there is question of washing or doing something else. But where is your brain? You have no brain."

Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta:Millions of Hindus practice with sublime devotion the Hare Krsna mantra. We are not aware of any case where such practice has resulted in any detrimental effect to the health or mind of anyone.

770214rc.may                                         Conversations
"Indian Brain Research Association, Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta. Gentlemen: The Hare Krsna kirtana mantra used in meditation or chanting of Radha-Krsna has been practiced not only by the Vaisnavas of India, but by most of the Hindus as a regular religious and social practice in Hindu families. Millions of Hindus practice with sublime devotion the Hare Krsna mantra. We are not aware of any case where such practice has resulted in any detrimental effect to the health or mind of anyone. We can submit that the worshiping of Radha-Krsna, as being practiced in West Bengal, India, does not differ from that of the Hare Krsna mantra chanting of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. And as such, either of them cannot do any harm to the devotee or to the observer. Further we can add that the rhythmic dance and musical (Bengali:) svara in Hare Krsna kirtana mantra may have profound beneficial effect on a distorted human mind. These practices do not have any relation with brainwashing, although the word seems to carry no scientific meaning at all. Statement by Professor Ajit K. Mytee. Yours faithfully, J.J. Ghosh, President on behalf of the Indian Brain Research Association."
Prabhupada: It is good certificate. And University of Calcutta. So you publish this.

The systematic activities of the time factor are perpetual and eternal and cannot be stated to be false

 Srimad Bhagavatam    Divisions of the Creation

                                TEXT 13

                      yathedanim tathagre ca
                      pascad apy etad idrsam

                             SYNONYMS

   yatha--as it is; idanim--at present; tatha--so it was; agre--in the beginning; ca--and; pascat--at the end; api--also; etat idrsam--it continues to be the same.

                           TRANSLATION

   This cosmic manifestation is as it is now, it was the same in the past, and it will continue in the same way in the future.

                             PURPORT

   There is a systematic schedule for the perpetual manifestation, maintenance and annihilation of the material world, as stated in Bhagavad-gita (9.8): bhuta-gramam imam krtsnam avasam prakrter vasat. As it is created now and as it will be destroyed later on, so also it existed in the past and again will be created, maintained and destroyed in due course of time. Therefore, the systematic activities of the time factor are perpetual and eternal and cannot be stated to be false. The manifestation is temporary and occasional, but it is not false as claimed by the Mayavadi philosophers.

This unmanifested world is the self-same Personality of Godhead

Srimad Bhagavatam   

Divisions of the Creation   TEXT 12

                                   TEXT

                      visvam vai brahma-tan-matram
                      samsthitam visnu-mayaya
                      isvarena paricchinnam
                      kalenavyakta-murtina

                              SYNONYMS

   visvam--the material phenomenon; vai--certainly; brahma--the Supreme; tat-matram--the same as; samsthitam--situated; visnu-mayaya--by the energy of Visnu; isvarena--by the Personality of Godhead; paricchinnam--separated; kalena--by the eternal time; avyakta--unmanifested; murtina--by such a feature.

                           TRANSLATION

   This cosmic manifestation is separated from the Supreme Lord as material energy by means of kala, which is the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Lord. It is situated as the objective manifestation of the Lord under the influence of the same material energy of Visnu.

     PURPORT

   As stated previously by Narada before Vyasadeva (Bhag. 1.5.20), idam hi visvam bhagavan ivetarah: this unmanifested world is the self-same Personality of Godhead, but it appears to be something else beyond or besides the Lord. It appears so because of its being separated from the Lord by means of kala(time). It is something like the tape-recorded voice of a person who is now separated from the voice. As the tape recording is situated on the tape, so the whole cosmic manifestation is situated on the material energy and appears separate by means of kala. The material manifestation is therefore the objective manifestation of the Supreme Lord and exhibits His impersonal feature so much adored by impersonalist philosophers.

The total number of stars in the Universe is larger than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet Earth

Vedic Perspective

SB 2.7.40          Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions    Text 40

                                   TEXT

             visnor nu virya-gananam katamo 'rhatiha
             yah parthivany api kavir vimame rajamsi
             caskambha yah sva-rahasaskhalata tri-prstham
             yasmat tri-samya-sadanad uru-kampayanam

                             SYNONYMS

   visnoh--of Lord Visnu; nu--but; virya--prowess; gananam--in the matter of accounting; katamah--who else; arhati--is able to do it; iha--in this world; yah--one who; parthivani--the atoms; api--also; kavih--great scientist; vimame--might have counted; rajamsi--particles; caskambha--could catch; yah--one who; sva-rahasa--by His own leg; askhalata--without being hampered; tri-prstham--the topmost planetary space; yasmat--by which; tri-samya--the neutral state of the three modes; sadanat--up to that place; uru-kampayanam--moving very greatly.

                           TRANSLATION

   Who can describe completely the prowess of Visnu? Even the scientist, who might have counted the particles of the atoms of the universe, cannot do so. Because it is He only who in His form of Trivikrama moved His leg effortlessly beyond the topmost planet, Satyaloka, up to the neutral state of the three modes of material nature. And all were moved.

                             PURPORT

   The highest scientific advancement of the material scientists is atomic energy. But the material scientist is not able to have an estimation of the particles of atoms contained in the whole universe. But even if one is able to count such atomic particles or is able to roll up the sky like one's bedding, even then one is unable to estimate the extent of the prowess and energy of the Supreme Lord. He is known as Trivikrama because once, in His incarnation of Vamana, He expanded His leg beyond the highest planetary system, Satyaloka, and reached the neutral state of the modes of nature called the covering of the material world. There are seven layers of material coverings over the material sky, and the Lord could penetrate even those coverings. With His toe He made a hole through which the water of the Causal Ocean filters into the material sky, and the current is known as the sacred Ganges, which purifies the planets of the three worlds. In other words, no one is equal to the transcendentally powerful Visnu. He is omnipotent, and no one is equal to or greater than Him.

Project at Lawrence Berkeley Lab to Map Far Reaches of Universe

By

Rachel Gross

Contributing Writer
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Category: News > University > Research and Ideas

Using state-of-the-art instruments to cover a quarter of the night sky, researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are launching the next phase of an ambitious project to map the universe and understand more about its expansion.

The project is part of Sloan III, the third installment of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which began in 2000 with the goal of creating a three-dimensional map of the known universe. The first two phases mapped out nearby galaxies, while Sloan III will map galaxies halfway across the universe.

The project uses a telescope, located in New Mexico, that has a 2.5-meter mirror, giving it the widest field of vision of any telescope that size. The telescope will map around 1.5 million galaxies and 160,000 quasars, said Martin White, a Berkeley lab survey scientist for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, known as BOSS, one of four components of Sloan III.

Sloan III will cost $43 million and will be funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and participating universities, said David Schlegel, the principal investigator of BOSS.

Although the preliminary phase of Sloan III began on July 15, BOSS, which is run by the Berkeley lab, is not yet fully operational pending an upgrade of its instruments.

BOSS's main goal is to determine the universe's rate of expansion, which it will do by measuring the redshifts of galaxies and quasars, said Nikhil Padmanabhan, another BOSS scientist. A redshift is an increase in wavelength that measures how quickly objects are receding into space.

BOSS will last for five years and will begin collecting redshift data in September 2009.

"We're very excited about (the survey)," Schlegel said. "It'll make a map that's very much like the original Sloan map of the universe but it goes out in distance quite a bit further � There is nothing comparable to that being done by anyone else."

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BOSS relies on instruments attached to the telescope including a spectrograph, which gathers light from distant galaxies and disperses it into a spectrum. The spectrograph, which will cost $2 million to upgrade, will be 50 percent more efficient at detecting light and will use a new and more precise method of measuring redshifts, Schlegel said.

In 1929, astronomer Edwin Hubble found that the redshift of an object pointed to the speed at which an object moved away into space, a discovery that alerted scientists that the universe was expanding.

"What we expected for fully 70 years after that discovery was that, OK, the universe is expanding, but then everything feels the gravity from everything else, the expansion should slow down," Schlegel said. "But in fact, that's not actually what's happening."

Instead, researchers found that the expansion of the universe was accelerating, a discovery due in part to 1998 research on supernova redshifts at the Berkeley lab. To account for this, they postulated the existence of dark energy, an unknown low-density energy that occupies most of the universe and is responsible for its expansion.

"Either there's a mysterious thing called dark energy that fills up three quarters of the universe, or Einstein's theory of relativity is wrong," White said. "And people don't like to bet against Einstein."

BOSS will peer five billion years into the universe, covering more of the sky than any other survey, he added.

"The thing that's exciting about BOSS is that it is as close to a perfect survey as one could do for the local universe," Padmanabhan said. "It makes the best measurement at the time when dark energy is the most relevant."

Vedic Perspective

SB 2.2.28 P            The Lord in the Heart
                             TEXT 28

                               TEXT

                tato visesam pratipadya nirbhayas
                 tenatmanapo 'nala-murtir atvaran
                   jyotirmayo vayum upetya kale
                vayv-atmana kham brhad atma-lingam

                             SYNONYMS

   tatah--thereafter; visesam--particularly; pratipadya--by obtaining; nirbhayah--without any doubt; tena--by that; atmana--pure self; apah--water; anala--fire; murtih--forms; atvaran--by surpassing; jyotih-mayah--effulgent; vayum--atmosphere; upetya--having reached there; kale--in due course of time; vayu--air; atmana--by the self; kham--ethereal; brhat--great; atma-lingam--the real form of the self.

                           TRANSLATION

   After reaching Satyaloka, the devotee is specifically able to be incorporated fearlessly by the subtle body in an identity similar to that of the gross body, and one after another he gradually attains stages of existence from earthly to watery, fiery, glowing and airy, until he reaches the ethereal stage.

                             PURPORT

   Anyone who can reach Brahmaloka, or Satyaloka, by dint of spiritual perfection and practice is qualified to attain three different types of perfection. One who has attained a specific planet by dint of pious activities attains places in terms of his comparative pious activities. One who has attained the place by dint of virat or Hiranyagarbha worship is liberated along with the liberation of Brahma. But one who attains the place by dint of devotional service is specifically mentioned here, in relation to how he can penetrate into the different coverings of the universe and thus ultimately disclose his spiritual identity in the absolute atmosphere of supreme existence.
   According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, all the universes are clustered together up and down, and each and every one of them is separately sevenfold-covered. The watery portion is beyond the sevenfold coverings, and each covering is ten times more expansive than the previous covering. The Personality of Godhead who creates all such universes by His breathing period lies above the cluster of the universes. The water of the Causal Ocean is differently situated than the covering water of the universe. The water that serves as covering for the universe is material, whereas the water of the Causal Ocean is spiritual. As such, the watery covering mentioned herein is considered to be the false egoistic covering of all living entities, and the gradual process of liberation from the material coverings, one after another, as mentioned herein, is the gradual process of being liberated from false egoistic conceptions of the material gross body, and then being absorbed in the identification of the subtle body till the attainment of the pure spiritual body in the absolute realm of the kingdom of God.
   Srila Sridhara Svami confirms that a part of the material nature, after being initiated by the Lord, is known as the mahat-tattva. A fractional portion of the mahat-tattva is called the false ego. A portion of the ego is the vibration of sound, and a portion of sound is atmospheric air. A portion of the airy atmosphere is turned into forms, and the forms constitute the power of electricity or heat. Heat produces the smell of the aroma of the earth, and the gross earth is produced by such aroma. And all these combined together constitute the cosmic phenomenon. The extent of the cosmic phenomenon is calculated to be diametrically (both ways) four billion miles. Then the coverings of the universe begin. The first stratum of the covering is calculated to extend eighty million miles, and the subsequent coverings of the universe are respectively of fire, effulgence, air and ether, one after another, each extending ten times further than the previous. The fearless devotee of the Lord penetrates each one of them and ultimately reaches the absolute atmosphere where everything is of one and the same spiritual identity. Then the devotee enters one of the Vaikuntha planets, where he assumes exactly the same form as the Lord and engages in the loving transcendental service of the Lord. That is the highest perfection of devotional life. Beyond this there is nothing to be desired or achieved by the perfect yogi.

Only 2 Earth Masses! Scientists Close in on Distant Earths

By Amir Alexander
April 22, 2009

The hunt for distant Earths received a tremendous boost this week with the announcement of two remarkable discoveries in a planetary system 20.5 light-years away. In an article submitted to the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, a group of European astronomers reported the detection of a planet estimated to be only twice the mass of Earth. It is by far the smallest world yet discovered orbiting a faraway star. In the same article the authors also report that additional observations of another planet in the same system place it at heart of its star's "habitable zone," where liquid water is stable.

"The holy grail of current exoplanet research is the detection of a rocky, Earth-like planet in the 'habitable zone' said lead author Michel Mayor of the Geneva Observatory. And while neither of the planets discussed in the article fully answers to this description, their discovery suggests that the detection of other Earths may not be far behind.

The new "light weight" planet is the fourth known member of the planetary system around the red dwarf star Gliese 581, and is designated accordingly Gliese 581e or, more technically, GJ 581e. According to Xavier Bonfils of the Grenoble Observatory, who was a member of the discovery team, with a minimum mass of 1.9 Earths the planet is most likely a rocky world like our own. But as the innermost planet in the system it is extremely close to its star, completing each orbit in just over 3 days. Its surface is therefore far too hot to sustain liquid water or life as we know it.  

This however is not the case for its larger neighbor, the planet Gliese 581d, whose minimum mass is seven times that of the Earth. Previous estimates had the planet orbiting its star every 82 days, a period that placed it just beyond the outer boundary of the habitable zone. Additional data gathered over the past two years, however, has disclosed that the planet's true orbital period is only 67 days, placing it closer to its star and right at the heart of the habitable zone.

"Gliese 581d is probably too massive to be made only of rocky material," said discovery team member Stephane Udry of the Geneva observatory, "but we can speculate that it is an icy planet that has migrated closer to the star." Since it is located in the habitable zone, Udry continued, it "could even be covered by a large and deep ocean – it is the first serious 'water world' candidate."

The two planets, Gliese 581d and Gliese 581e, were detected and observed with the HARPS spectrograph, at the European Southern Observatory's 3.6 meter telescope at La Silla, Chile. Built specifically to search for exoplanets through the radial velocity method, HARPS can detect the miniscule shifts in a star's spectrum as it rocks back and forth to the tug of an orbiting planet. HARPS is so sensitive, in fact, that it can register a star's motion towards the Earth or away from it, even if it is as slow as 1 meter per second -- about the speed of a leisurely stroll. It is thanks to this remarkable sensitivity that the spectrograph was able to discover a planet as small as Gliese 581e.

In the future, radial velocity searches may become even more sensitive. With funding from The Planetary Society, planet hunter Geoff Marcy of U.C. Berkeley is building a system known as FINDS Exo-Earths, which combines two advanced optical technologies to enhance the light signal from observed stars and improve the "signal to noise" ratio. When in the coming years the system will be installed at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, Marcy predicts it will be able to detect stellar motions as slow as 0.5 meters per second. With that kind of sensitivity, the detection of Earth-mass planets will be within reach.

The radial velocity method employed by HARPS has been the most effective planet-hunting tool to date, but it does have this peculiarity: while it can provide an estimate of a planet's minimum mass, it cannot directly measure a planet's true mass. This depends on the inclination of the planet's orbital plane as seen from Earth, which in most cases is not known. And so, while the planetary masses measured by this method may be low, it is nevertheless theoretically possible that the true masses of the planets are, in fact much higher.

Significantly, however, this is not the case for the unique planetary system around Gliese 581. By running repeated computer simulations, Mayor and his collaborators showed that the true masses of the planets orbiting Gliese 581 could not be greater than 1.6 times their minimum values. If the planets were more massive than that, the simulations showed, the system would be inherently unstable and would fall apart within a few million years. This means that at the most, Gliese 581e cannot be more – and is likely considerably less – than 3 Earth masses.

"It is amazing to see how far we've come" said Mayor, who in 1995 led the team that discovered the first exoplanet around a normal star – a gas giant orbiting 51 Pegasi. "The mass of Gliese 581e is 80 times less than that of 51 Pegasi b" he said, reflecting on the evolution of the hunt for exoplanets. "This is tremendous progress in just 14 years."

Indeed it is. And as new and ever more sensitive technologies come online, the day when an Earth-mass rocky planet will be found orbiting in the habitable zone of a distant star is fast approaching.

Vedic Perspective

Srimad Bhagavatam 1.14.35-36 P   The Disappearance of Lord Krsna
                           TEXTS 35-36

                               TEXT

                       mangalaya ca lokanam
                      ksemaya ca bhavaya ca
                      aste yadu-kulambhodhav
                     adyo 'nanta-sakhah puman

                     yad bahu-danda-guptayam
                    sva-puryam yadavo 'rcitah
                      kridanti paramanandam
                        maha-paurusika iva

                             SYNONYMS

   mangalaya--for all good; ca--also; lokanam--of all the planets; ksemaya--for protection; ca--and; bhavaya--for elevation; ca--also; aste--is there; yadu-kula-ambhodhau--in the ocean of the Yadu dynasty; adyah--the original; ananta-sakhah--in the company of Ananta (Balarama); puman--the supreme enjoyer; yat--whose; bahu-danda-guptayam--being protected by His arms; sva-puryam--in His own city; yadavah--the members of the Yadu family; arcitah--as they deserve; kridanti--are relishing; parama-anandam--transcendental pleasure; maha-paurusikah--the residents of the spiritual sky; iva--like.

                           TRANSLATION

   The original Personality of Godhead, the enjoyer, and Balarama, the primeval Lord Ananta, are staying in the ocean of the Yadu dynasty for the welfare, protection and general progress of the entire universe. And the members of the Yadu dynasty, being protected by the arms of the Lord, are enjoying life like the residents of the spiritual sky.

                             PURPORT

As we have discussed many times, the Personality of Godhead Visnu resides within each and every universe in two capacities, namely as the Garbhodakasayi Visnu and the Ksirodakasayi Visnu. The Ksirodakasayi Visnu has His own planet on the northern top of the universe, and there is a great ocean of milk where the Lord resides on the bed of the Ananta incarnation of Baladeva. Thus Maharaja Yudhisthira has compared the Yadu dynasty to the ocean of milk and Sri Balarama to the Ananta where Lord Krsna resides. He has compared the citizens of Dvaraka to the liberated inhabitants of the Vaikunthalokas. Beyond the material sky, further than we can see with our eyes and beyond the sevenfold coverings of the universe, there is the Causal Ocean in which all the universes are floating like footballs, and beyond the Causal Ocean there is an unlimited span of spiritual sky generally known as the effulgence of Brahman. Within this effulgence there are innumerable spiritual planets, and they are known as the Vaikuntha planets. Each and every Vaikuntha planet is many, many times bigger than the biggest universe within the material world, and in each of them there are innumerable inhabitants who look exactly like Lord Visnu. These inhabitants are known as the Maha-paurusikas, or persons directly engaged in the service of the Lord. They are happy in those planets and are without any kind of misery, and they live perpetually in full youthfulness, enjoying life in full bliss and knowledge without fear of birth, death, old age or disease, and without the influence of kala, eternal time. Maharaja Yudhisthira has compared the inhabitants of Dvaraka to the Maha-paurusikas of Vaikunthaloka because they are so happy with the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita there are many references to the Vaikunthalokas, and they are mentioned there as mad-dhama, or the kingdom of the Lord.

Astronomers take peek at oldest event ever

Astronomers take peek at oldest event ever

1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Astronomers have spied a gamma-ray burst from the universe's infancy, making it the oldest event ever witnessed and shedding light on cosmic origins, British and US scientists said Tuesday.

"This is the most remote gamma-ray burst ever detected, and also the most distant object ever discovered -- by some way," said Nial Tanvir at University of Leicester.

Gamma-ray bursts, the universe's most luminous explosion, happen when massive stars run out of nuclear fuel. Their cores collapse into a black hole or neutron star, and gas jets, in a process still not fully understood, punch out in a spectacular surge into space.

The so-called "GRB 090423" explosion, which occurred when the universe was only 640 million years old -- some five percent of its current age -- was seen by the NASA Swift satellite on April 23.

Subsequent analysis by teams of scientists, utilizing the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, showed the satellite effectively looked back in time 13 billion years.

"Swift was designed to catch these very distant bursts," said Swift lead scientist Neil Gehrels at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

"We?ve waited five years, and we finally have one."

The event's capture has the potential of illuminating astronomy in its quest to unravel the mysteries of the early universe.

"At its most basic level this discovery tells us that there were massive stars at this moment in cosmic history," said Andrew Levan at University of Warwick.

"But equally importantly we can use events like this to probe how the universe evolves when it is less than 5 percent of its current age."

Vedic Perspective

Bhagavad-gita 8.17 P              Attaining the Supreme
                             TEXT 17

                               TEXT

                      sahasra-yuga-paryantam
                     ahar yad brahmano viduh
                     ratrim yuga-sahasrantam
                     te 'ho-ratra-vido janah

                             SYNONYMS

   sahasra--thousand; yuga--millenniums; paryantam--including; ahah--day; yat--that; brahmanah--of Brahma; viduh--they know; ratrim--night; yuga--millenniums; sahasra-antam--similarly, at the end of one thousand; te--that; ahah-ratra--day and night; vidah--understand; janah--people.

                           TRANSLATION

   By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahma's one day. And such also is the duration of his night.

                             PURPORT

   The duration of the material universe is limited. It is manifested in cycles of kalpas. A kalpa is a day of Brahma, and one day of Brahma consists of a thousand cycles of four yugas or ages: Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali. The cycle of Satya is characterized by virtue, wisdom and religion, there being practically no ignorance and vice, and the yuga lasts 1,728,000 years. In the Treta-yuga vice is introduced, and this yuga lasts 1,296,000 years. In the Dvapara-yuga there is an even greater decline in virtue and religion, vice increasing, and this yuga lasts 864,000 years. And finally in Kali-yuga (the yuga that we have now been experiencing over the past 5,000 years) there is an abundance of strife, ignorance, irreligion and vice, true virtue being practically nonexistent, and this yuga lasts 432,000 years. In Kali-yuga vice increases to such a point that at the termination of the yuga the Supreme Lord Himself appears as the Kalki avatara, vanquishes the demons, saves His devotees, and commences another Satya-yuga. Then the process is set rolling again. These four yugas, rotating a thousand times, comprise one day of Brahma, the creator god, and the same number comprise one night. Brahma lives one hundred of such "years" and then dies. These "hundred years" by earth calculations total to 311 trillion and 40 million earth years. By these calculations the life of Brahma seems fantastic and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash. In the Causal Ocean there are innumerable Brahmas rising and disappearing like bubbles in the Atlantic. Brahma and his creation are all part of the material universe, and therefore they are in constant flux.
   In the material universe not even Brahma is free from the process of birth, old age, disease and death. Brahma, however, is directly engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord in the management of this universe--therefore he at once attains liberation. Elevated sannyasis are promoted to Brahma's particular planet, Brahmaloka, which is the highest planet in the material universe and which survives all the heavenly planets in the upper strata of the planetary system, but in due course Brahma and all the inhabitants of Brahmaloka are subject to death, according to the law of material nature.

The source of "dark matter" : Visnu enters into everything--even into the minute atom

Vedic Perspective

Bg 9.8 P          The Most Confidential Knowledge           TEXT 8

                                   TEXT

                       prakrtim svam avastabhya
                       visrjami punah punah
                       bhuta-gramam imam krtsnam
                       avasam prakrter vasat

                             SYNONYMS

   prakrtim--material nature; svam--of My personal Self; avastabhya--enter in; visrjami--create; punah punah--again, again; bhuta-gramam--all these cosmic manifestations; imam--this; krtsnam--total; avasam--automatically; prakrteh--by the force of nature; vasat--under obligation.

                           TRANSLATION

   The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again, and by My will it is annihilated at the end.

                             PURPORT

   This matter is the manifestation of the inferior energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This has already been explained several times. At the creation, the material energy is let loose as the mahat-tattva, into which the Lord as His first Purusa incarnation, Maha-Visnu, enters. He lies within the Causal Ocean and breathes out innumerable universes, and into each universe the Lord again enters as Garbhodakasayi Visnu. Each universe is in that way created. He still further manifests Himself as Ksirodakasayi Visnu, and that Visnu enters into everything--even into the minute atom. This fact is explained here. He enters into everything.
   Now, as far as the living entities are concerned, they are impregnated into this material nature, and as a result of their past deeds they take different positions. Thus the activities of this material world begin.The activities of the different species of living beings are begun from the very moment of the creation. It is not that all is evolved. The different species of life are created immediately along with the universe. Men, animals, beasts, birds--everything is simultaneously created, because whatever desires the living entities had at the last annihilation are again manifested.

It is clearly stated here that the living entities have nothing to do with this process. The state of being in their past life in the past creation is simply manifested again, and all this is done simply by His will. This is the inconceivable potency of the Supreme Personality of God. And after creating different species of life, He has no connection with them. The creation takes place to accommodate the inclinations of the various living entities, and so the Lord does not become involved with it.

Could There Be a Planet Hidden on the Opposite Side of our Sun? Vedas Confirm Hidden Planet

The sun might seem like a pretty huge galactic blind spot, but we've already managed to glimpse behind it, and there's nothing there in the way of another Earth, says NASA scientist Michael Kaiser, "unless it's awfully tiny."

Kaiser is the project scientist for NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission, which in 2006 sent two golf-cart-size satellites into orbit around the sun to study the explosions on the solar surface that are a major factor in space weather. A few months after their launch, the two probes were angled such that they could see beyond the sun, but they found no planets lurking behind the big star.

Even if we couldn't see behind the sun, the gravitational pull of a roughly 100-mile-wide planet hiding there would noticeably affect the orbits of the other planets. And if astronomers had somehow missed that detail, Kaiser says, an unaccounted-for tug of gravity in the solar system would have disrupted the orbit of man-made satellites circling the Earth or interfered with intra-solar-system spacecraft. That hasn't happened, so unless beings on a hidden planet have invented both an invisibility cloak and a gravity-masking device, the other side of the sun is almost certainly just empty space.

By Danny Freedman Posted 04.20.2009

Vedic Perspective

Srimad Bhagavatam Summary of Canto 5 Chapter Twenty-four
The Subterranean Heavenly Planets

   This chapter describes the planet Rahu, which is 10,000 yojanas (80,000 miles) below the sun, and it also describes Atala and the other lower planetary systems. Rahu is situated below the sun and moon. It is between these two planets and the earth. When Rahu conceals the sun and moon, eclipses occur, either total or partial, depending on whether Rahu moves in a straight or curving way.
   Below Rahu by another 1,000,000 yojanas are the planets of the Siddhas, Caranas and Vidyadharas, and below these are planets such as Yaksaloka and Raksaloka. Below these planets is the earth, and 70,000 yojanas below the earth are the lower planetary systems--Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatala and Patala. Demons and Raksasas live in these lower planetary systems with their wives and children, always engaged in sense gratification and not fearing their next births. The sunshine does not reach these planets, but they are illuminated by jewels fixed upon the hoods of snakes. Because of these shining gems there is practically no darkness. Those living in these planets do not become old or diseased, and they are not afraid of death from any cause but the time factor, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
   In the planet Atala, the yawning of a demon has produced three kinds of women, called svairini (independent), kamini (lusty) and pumscali (very easily subdued by men). Below Atala is the planet Vitala, wherein Lord Siva and his wife Gauri reside. Because of their presence, a kind of gold is produced called hataka. Below Vitala is the planet Sutala, the abode of Bali Maharaja, the most fortunate king. Bali Maharaja was favored by the Supreme personality of Godhead, Vamanadeva, because of his intense devotional service. The Lord went to the sacrificial arena of Bali Maharaja and begged him for three paces of land, and on this plea the Lord took from him all his possessions. When Bali Maharaja agreed to all this, the Lord was very pleased, and therefore the Lord serves as his doorkeeper. The description of Bali Maharaja appears in the Eighth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
   When the Supreme Personality of Godhead offers a devotee material happiness, this is not His real favor. The demigods, who are very puffed up by their material opulence, pray to the Lord only for material happiness, not knowing anything better. Devotees like Prahlada Maharaja, however, do not want material happiness. Not to speak of material happiness, they do not want even liberation from material bondage, although one can achieve this liberation simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord, even with improper pronunciation.
   Below Sutala is the planet Talatala, the abode of the demon Maya. This demon is always materially happy because he is favored by Lord Siva, but he cannot achieve spiritual happiness at any time. Below Talatala is the planet Mahatala, where there are many snakes with hundreds and thousands of hoods. Below Mahatala is Rasatala, and below that is Patala, where the serpent Vasuki lives with his associates.

String Theory Confirmed in the Vedic Literature

Vedic Perspective

SB 3.12.47    Creation of the Kumaras and Others    Text 47

                                TEXT

                    sparsas tasyabhavaj jivah
                    svaro deha udahrta
                    usmanam indriyany ahur
                     antah-stha balam atmanah
                     svarah sapta viharena
                     bhavanti sma prajapateh

                             SYNONYMS

   sparsah--the set of letters from ka to ma; tasya--his; abhavat--became; jivah--the soul; svarah--vowels; dehah--his body; udahrtah--are expressed; usmanam--the letters sa, sa, sa and ha; indriyani--the senses; ahuh--are called; antah-sthah--the set of letters so known (ya, ra, la and va); balam--energy; atmanah--of his self; svarah--music; sapta--seven; viharena--by the sensual activities; bhavanti sma--became manifested; prajapateh--of the lord of the living entities.

                           TRANSLATION

   Brahma's soul was manifested as the touch alphabets, his body as the vowels, his senses as the sibilant alphabets, his strength as the intermediate alphabets and his sensual activities as the seven notes of music.

                             PURPORT

   In Sanskrit there are thirteen vowels and thirty-five consonants. The vowels are a, a, i, i, u, u, r, r, l, e, ai, o, au, and the consonants are ka, kha, ga, gha, etc. Amongst the consonants, the first twenty-five letters are called the sparsas. There are also four antah-sthas. Of the usmas there are three s's, called talavya, murdhanya and dantya. The musical notes are sa, r, ga, ma, dha, and ni. All these sound vibrations are originally called sabda-brahma, or spiritual sound. It is said, therefore, that Brahma was created in the Maha-kalpa as the incarnation of spiritual sound. The Vedas are spiritual sound, and therefore there is no need of material interpretation for the sound vibration of the Vedic literature, The Vedas should be vibrated as they are, although they are symbolically represented with letters which are known to us materially. In the ultimate issue there is nothing material because everything has its origin in the spiritual world. The material manifestation is therefore called illusion in the proper sense of the term. For those who are realized souls there is nothing but spirit.