Soolaba's Blog

Even though the earth can be regarded as a globe from the viewpoint of our ordinary sensory experience, we have already argued that there is a sense in which the earth is definitely not a globe. The very idea of a sphere is based on three-dimensional Euclidian geometry. Thus, if the three-dimensional continuum of our ordinary experience is simply a limited aspect of a higher-dimensional reality, it follows that the globe of the earth is also simply an aspect of that higher reality. To properly describe what that reality is, in and of itself, we must go beyond three-dimensional constructs such as a sphere or a plane. A yogé who can reach directly to another continent by means of the präpti-siddhi is not experiencing the earth as a sphere. Similarly, a person who is able to realize that Våndävana in India is nondifferent from the unlimited spiritual realm of Goloka cannot be thinking of the earth simply_as a small globe. The earth globe may be one aspect of the reality that he is experiencing, but he may choose to describe that reality by emphasizing other aspects that for him are more important.

the Bhagavatam uses Bhu-mandala to represent at least four reasonable and consistent models: (1) a polar- projection map of the Earth globe, (2) a map of the solar system, (3) a topographical map of south-central Asia, and (4) a map of the celestial realm of the demigods.