VCA 3: Vedic Cosmography

In this chapter we will describe the structure of this universe, or brahmanḍa, as described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Our aim is to show the relation be-tween the Vedic picture of the universe and the world of our experience. In doing this, we will draw information from the following sources: (1) The writings of Srila Prabhupada, including his translation, with commentary, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, (2) other writings in the Vedic tradition, including the Sūrya-siddhanta, and (3) modern Western science.

Our strategy is to present the simplest possible world-picture that will harmonize (1) and (3), given the assumption that the Bhagavatam gives a direct and valid account of the universe. In doing this, we will try as far as possible to avoid introducing speculative hypotheses. (This is Newton's principle of hypothesis non fingo.) This means that we will often have to make statements of the form "A corresponds to B," without spelling out the exact nature of the correspondence. In some cases we will try to show the plausibility of the correspondence by offering a speculative explanation of how it might come about. However, all explanations of this kind should be regarded as tentative and subject to correction in the future.