The Cosmology Of The Bhagavata Purana
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The Cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana
Author: Richard L. Thompson
language: en
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
Release Date: 2007
From the flat earth to the sun`s chariot traditional spiritual texts seem wedded to outmoded cosmologies that show, at best, the scientific limitations of their authors. The Bhagavata Purana, one of the classical scriptures of Hinduism, seems, at first glance, to be no exception. However, a closer examination of this text reveals unexpected depths of knowledge in ancient cosmology. This shows that the cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana is a sophisticated system, with multiple levels of meaning that encode at least four different astronomical, geographical, and spiritual world models. By viewing the text in the light of modern astronomy, Richard Thompson shows how ancient scientists expressed exact knowledge in apparently mythological terms. Comparison with the ancient traditions of Egypt and the Near East shows early cultural connections between India and these regions including a surprisingly advanced science. However, quantitative science is only part of the picture. This work also offers a clear understanding of how the spiritual dimension was integrated into ancient Indian cosmology. Contents Introduction to Bhagavata Cosmology, 1. Introduction to Texts, 2. The Islands and Oceans of Bhu-mandala, 3. The Solar System in Projection, 4. The Solar system in three Dimensions, 5. The Earth and Local Geography, 6. The Realm of the Demigods, 7. The Greater Universe, 8. Notes on Time and Chronology, 9. General Observations, Appendices, Bibliography, List of tables, Glossary, Index.
Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy
The mysteries of the Fifth Canto of the Srimad- Bhagavatam have long puzzled students of Vedic cosmography and astronomy. Confronted with a description of the universe that seems much at variance with the information provided by our senses and standard astronomical calculations, foreign observers-and even Indian commentators-from the Middle Ages up to the present have concluded that the Bhagavatam's account, elaborated in other Puranas, must be mythological. On the other hand, the same persons have been much impressed with Vedic astronomical treatises, the jyotisa-sastras, which provide remarkably accurate measurements of the solar system. In Vedic Cosmography and Astromomy, Dr. Thompson shows that the Fifth Canto's cosmography and the accounts of the solar system found in the jyotisa- sastras are not contradictory, but that they in fact represent distinct yet mutually consistent ways of comprehending a universe with important features beyond the range of ordinary sense perception. solar system found in the jyotisa-sastras are not contradictory, but that they in fact represent distinct yet mutually consistent ways of comprehending a universe with important features beyond the range of ordinary sense perception.
The Bhagavata Purana
Author: Ravi Gupta
language: en
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Release Date: 2013-04-02
The Bhāgavata Purāna is a versatile Hindu sacred text containing more than 14,000 Sanskrit verses. Finding its present form around the tenth century C.E., the work inspired several major north Indian devotional traditions as well as schools of dance and drama, and continues to permeate popular Hindu art and ritual in both India and the diaspora.