In the planetary system of Dhruvaloka are the planets of the fire-god, Indra, Prajāpati, Kaśyapa and Dharma, all of whom are very respectful to the great devotee Dhruva, who lives on the polestar. Like bulls yoked to a central pivot, all the planetary systems revolve around Dhruvaloka, impelled by eternal time. Those who worship the virāṭ-puruṣa, the universal form of the Lord, conceive of this entire rotating system of planets as an animal known as śiśumāra. This imaginary śiśumāra is another form of the Lord. The head of the śiśumāra form is downward, and its body appears like that of a coiled snake. On the end of its tail is Dhruvaloka, on the body of the tail are Prajāpati, Agni, Indra and Dharma, and on the root of the tail are Dhātā and Vidhātā. On its waist are the seven great sages. The entire body of the śiśumāra faces toward its right and appears like a coil of stars. On the right side of this coil are the fourteen prominent stars from Abhijit to Punarvasu, and on the left side are the fourteen prominent stars from Puṣyā to Uttarāṣāḍhā. The stars known as Punarvasu and Puṣyā are on the right and left hips of the śiśumāra, and the stars known as Ārdrā and Aśleṣā are on the right and left feet of the śiśumāra. Other stars are also fixed on different sides of the Śiśumāra planetary system according to the calculations of Vedic astronomers. To concentrate their minds, yogīs worship the Śiśumāra planetary system, which is technically known as the kuṇḍalini-cakra.
Pivot
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
We have purposely denoted dharma as occupation because the root meaning of the word dharma is "that which sustains one's existence." A living being's sustenance of existence is to coordinate his activities with his eternal relation with the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the central pivot of living beings, and He is the all-attractive living entity or eternal form amongst all other living beings or eternal forms. Each and every living being has his eternal form in the spiritual existence, and Kṛṣṇa is the eternal attraction for all of them. Kṛṣṇa is the complete whole, and everything else is His part and parcel. The relation is one of the servant and the served. It is transcendental and is completely distinct from our experience in material existence. This relation of servant and the served is the most congenial form of intimacy. One can realize it as devotional service progresses. Everyone should engage himself in that transcendental loving service of the Lord, even in the present conditional state of material existence. That will gradually give one the clue to actual life and please him to complete satisfaction.
The eleventh incarnation of the Lord took the form of a tortoise whose shell served as a pivot for the Mandarācala Hill, which was being used as a churning rod by the theists and atheists of the universe.
Once both the atheists and the theists were engaged in producing nectar from the sea so that all of them could become deathless by drinking it. At that time the Mandarācala Hill was used as the churning rod, and the shell of Lord Tortoise, the incarnation of Godhead, became the resting place (pivot) of the hill in the seawater.
Every living being is anxious for full freedom because that is his transcendental nature. And this freedom is obtained only through the transcendental service of the Lord. Illusioned by the external energy, everyone thinks that he is free, but actually he is bound up by the laws of nature. A conditioned soul cannot freely move from one place to another even on this earth, and what to speak of one planet to another. But a full-fledged free soul like Nārada, always engaged in chanting the Lord's glory, is free to move not only on earth but also in any part of the universe, as well as in any part of the spiritual sky. We can just imagine the extent and unlimitedness of his freedom, which is as good as that of the Supreme Lord. There is no reason or obligation for his traveling, and no one can stop him from his free movement. Similarly, the transcendental system of devotional service is also free. It may or may not develop in a particular person even after he undergoes all the detailed formulas. Similarly, the association of the devotee is also free. One may be fortunate to have it, or one may not have it even after thousands of endeavors. Therefore, in all spheres of devotional service, freedom is the main pivot. Without freedom there is no execution of devotional service. The freedom surrendered to the Lord does not mean that the devotee becomes dependent in every respect. To surrender unto the Lord through the transparent medium of the spiritual master is to attain complete freedom of life.
SB Canto 2
Oṁkāra, or the praṇava, is the seed of transcendental realization, and it is composed of the three transcendental letters a-u-m. By its chanting by the mind, in conjunction with the breathing process, which is a transcendental but mechanical way of getting into trance, as devised by the experience of great mystics, one is able to bring the mind, which is materially absorbed, under control. This is the way of changing the habit of the mind. The mind is not to be killed. Mind or desire cannot be stopped, but to develop a desire to function for spiritual realization, the quality of engagement by the mind has to be changed. The mind is the pivot of the active sense organs, and as such if the quality of thinking, feeling and willing is changed, naturally the quality of actions by the instrumental senses will also change. Oṁkāra is the seed of all transcendental sound and it is only the transcendental sound which can bring about the desired change of the mind and the senses. Even a mentally deranged man can be cured by treatment of transcendental sound.
This Śiśumāra is the pivot for the turning of the complete universe, and it is called the navel of Viṣṇu (Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu). The yogī alone goes beyond this circle of Śiśumāra and attains the planet (Maharloka) where purified saints like Bhṛgu enjoy a duration of life of 4,300,000,000 solar years. This planet is worshipable even for the saints who are transcendentally situated.
The primeval Lord then assumed the tortoise incarnation in order to serve as a resting place (pivot) for the Mandara Mountain, which was acting as a churning rod. The demigods and demons were churning the ocean of milk with the Mandara Mountain in order to extract nectar. The mountain moved back and forth, scratching the back of Lord Tortoise, who, while partially sleeping, was experiencing an itching sensation.
The primeval Lord, being all-powerful, can do whatever He likes, and therefore His assuming the incarnation of a tortoise or a fish for serving a particular purpose is not at all astonishing. Therefore we should not have any hesitation whatsoever in accepting the statements of the authentic scriptures like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The gigantic work of churning the milk ocean by the combined effort of the demigods and the demons required a gigantic resting ground or pivot for the gigantic Mandara Hill. Thus to help the attempt of the demigods the primeval Lord assumed the incarnation of a gigantic tortoise, swimming in the ocean of milk. At the same time, the mountain scratched His backbone as He was partially sleeping and thus relieved His itching sensation.
SB Canto 3
All departments of law and order emanate from the arms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The law and order of the universe is directed by different demigods, and it is here said to emanate from the Lord's arms. Mandara Hill is mentioned here because when the ocean was churned by the demons on one side and the demigods on the other, Mandara Hill was taken as the churning rod. The Lord in His tortoise incarnation became the pivot for the churning rod, and thus His ornaments were polished by the turning of Mandara Hill. In other words, the ornaments on the arms of the Lord are as brilliant and lustrous as if they had been polished very recently. The wheel in the hand of the Lord, called the Sudarśana cakra, has one thousand spokes. The yogī is advised to meditate upon each of the spokes. He should meditate upon each and every one of the component parts of the transcendental form of the Lord.
SB Canto 4
Just as rainfall satisfies everyone's desires, Mahārāja Pṛthu used to satisfy everyone. He was like the sea in that no one could understand his depths, and he was like Meru, the king of hills, in the fixity of his purpose.
Mahārāja Pṛthu used to distribute his mercy to suffering humanity, and it was like rainfall after excessive heat. The ocean is wide and expansive, and it is very difficult to measure its length and breadth; similarly, Pṛthu Mahārāja was so deep and grave that no one could fathom his purposes. The hill known as Meru is fixed in the universe as a universal pivot, and no one can move it an inch from its position; similarly, no one could ever dissuade Mahārāja Pṛthu when he was determined.
All the great sages mentioned in this verse have their planets near Brahmaloka, the planet where Lord Brahmā resides along with four great sages—Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumāra. These sages reside in different stars known as the southern stars, which circle the polestar. The polestar, called Dhruvaloka, is the pivot of this universe, and all planets move around this polestar. All the stars are planets, as far as we can see, within this one universe. According to Western theory, all the stars are different suns, but according to Vedic information, there is only one sun within this universe. All the so-called stars are but different planets. Besides this universe, there are many millions of other universes, and each of them contains similar innumerable stars and planets.
SB Canto 5
Established by the supreme will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the polestar, which is the planet of Mahārāja Dhruva, constantly shines as the central pivot for all the stars and planets. The unsleeping, invisible, most powerful time factor causes these luminaries to revolve around the polestar without cessation.
When bulls are yoked together and tied to a central post to thresh rice, they tread around that pivot without deviating from their proper positions—one bull being closest to the post, another in the middle, and a third on the outside. Similarly, all the planets and all the hundreds and thousands of stars revolve around the polestar, the planet of Mahārāja Dhruva, in their respective orbits, some higher and some lower. Fastened by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to the machine of material nature according to the results of their fruitive acts, they are driven around the polestar by the wind and will continue to be so until the end of creation. These planets float in the air within the vast sky, just as clouds with hundreds of tons of water float in the air or as the great śyena eagles, due to the results of past activities, fly high in the sky and have no chance of falling to the ground.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
"However," the Lord told Sanātana, "I shall explain the chief līlā-avatāras."
- matsya, kūrma, raghunātha, nṛsiṁha, vāmana
- varāhādi—lekhā yāṅra nā yāya gaṇana
Thus the Lord's incarnations were enumerated, including Matsya, the fish incarnation; Kūrma, the tortoise; Lord Rāmacandra; Nṛsiṁhadeva; Vāmanadeva; and Varāha, the boar incarnation. Thus there are innumerable līlā-avatāras, and all of these exhibit wonderful pastimes. Lord Varāha, the boar incarnation, lifted the entire planet earth from the depths of the Garbhodaka Ocean. The tortoise incarnation, Lord Kūrma, became a pivot for the emulsification of the whole sea, and Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared as half-man, half-lion. These are some of the wonderful and uncommon features of līlā-avatāras.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Light of the Bhagavata
Human life is meant for controlling the senses, for uncontrolled senses are the cause of material bondage. But for fools sense enjoyment is the pivot of life's activities. All men undergo hard, laborious duties all day and night and in all seasons of the year, only for the sake of sense pleasure with their mates. These foolish creatures have no information of other enjoyment. In a godless civilization especially, sense pleasure, accepted in the name of culture and philosophy, is all in all. Men who are addicted to this pleasure are called kṛpaṇas.
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So surāsura-gaṇa udadhiṁ mathnatām. Churning. Once upon a time they churned the whole ocean. Now, churning the ocean... You have got experience, churning the milk in a pot or something else in a pot. But the pot is the ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the rod is Mandarācala Hill. And one side, the asuras, and the other side, the suras. So the churning rod must be placed on something, a pivot. That is kamaṭha-rūpeṇa. Lord accepted the... Because the kamaṭha, the tortoise can live within the water and without the water also. They can live on the land and within the water. So the churning rod, Mandarācala Hill, was placed on the shell, on the back of the... Keśava dhṛta-kūrma-śarīra. Kṣitir iha vipulatare tiṣṭhati tava pṛṣṭhe. This pṛṣṭha, he is carrying.
- kṣitir iha vipulatare tiṣṭhati tava pṛṣṭhe
- dharaṇi-dhāraṇa-kiṇa-cakra-gariṣṭhe
- keśava dhṛta-kūrma-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare
This Kūrma, kamaṭha-rūpeṇa.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So the example is given: just like fire is localized in a place but the heat and light is expanded. The vivid example we can see, the sun. The sun globe is situated in one place—every one of us, we can see—and the heat and light is distributed throughout the whole universe. According to our Vedic conception, the sun is moving round, not the sun is the center. It is in the center of the universe, but it is going round. Kala-cakra. It is called kala-cakra. In Brahma-saṁhitā it is said,
- yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ
- rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ
- yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
From Bhāgavatam we understand sun is not fixed up in one place but it is going round. And the whole universal planetary system, they are also moving, making the polestar, making the polestar as the pivot.
So we can see that sun is in the center of the universe, but it is illuminating and heating the whole universe. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is situated in his own abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, but by distribution of His different energies He is all-pervading. This is idea.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: People are so degraded. So unless one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no possibility of being saved. There is example, that grinding mill... You know, grinding mill?
Prof. Regamay: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Yes, and the grains are put within it and they are all smashed. But one grain who takes shelter of the center, the pivot, it is not smashed. Similarly the modern civilization is such that everyone will be smashed. And one takes the central point shelter, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will not be. Kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31). So best thing is to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa and save yourself. Save means... This is saving, if you simply understand Kṛṣṇa. Janma karma... Kṛṣṇa appears, disappears. Kṛṣṇa works here also, in the battlefield or in other field. Kṛṣṇa has a whole activity. You study Kṛṣṇa Book, beginning from the birth up to the point of His leaving this world. Full of activities. Not that because He is God, He is sitting one place. No. Full of activities in all different spheres of life. Art, philosophy, politics, sociology, military arts—everything complete. That is Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: If one actually hears from the right source (indistinct), then this lusty desire of sex life will be finished. No more. Hṛd-rogaṁ kāmam apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ. Sober. But these people, they are hearing life after life by the sex concentration, making offense that Kṛṣṇa is also doing the same thing. They publish book. One rascal, Bhaṭṭācārya(?), has published. In Paris we saw.
Devotee (2): The Myth of Kṛṣṇa?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Rascal, sex life. Rādhārāṇī naked, he has given the first picture, and that is published by the United Nations.
Gurudāsa: The United Nations is also encouraging sex.
Prabhupāda: They do not know except this thing, anyone. Anyone. They have no other desire. That without sex life there can be higher transcendental, eternal pleasure, they do not know it. Whole world, whole universe, whole material creation is centered around that. It is the pivot. That I have already explained. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). That is there. They do not know anything else.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Indian man: In the moon too there is fire? But it is cold, as the, our sages say.
Prabhupāda: It is surrounded by cooling atmosphere.
Indian man: It rotates?
Prabhupāda: In a different way, not as they explain.
Indian man: They rotate.
Prabhupāda: Just like my hands is moving... (break) ...like that.
Indian man: And it does not go all around other planets?
Prabhupāda: No.
Cyavana: They all move together?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Cyavana: They move together?
Prabhupāda: Yes. The pivot is the polestar. Fixing, the pole-star, they are moving like this. And there is sun's movement.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: So all of you now make a complete idea how to make Vedic planetary, planetarium. Another question. Why in every map the northern side is accepted up? (laughter) Can anyone answer this? North, south. South is considered down. East, west. Why not other ways? I can make east on that side. Why it is north only up side? Can anyone answer?
Ambarīṣa: It might have something to do with the magnetic poles. The magnetic force is always pulling to the north.
Prabhupāda: That is the polestar. Yes. That is the up side of the universe. And that we have described in the Bhāgavatam. That is the pivot, and the whole planetary system is moving twenty-four hours.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: That's factual also. Because they see that all of these stars and constellations are going around the North Star.
Prabhupāda: But the modern astronomy, they do not say like that.
Jayādvaita: No. They don't say it is moving around. They don't say that it's moving around the polestar. They have some other explanation.
Prabhupāda: That means they're imperfect.
Mādhavānanda: They say that it's fixed. They say the polestar is fixed, but it doesn't revolve around. They say everything moves, but the polestar is...
Prabhupāda: Polestar is fixed, that is fact. And all.... It is like pivot. Everyone round, round. Ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham (BG 15.1). This tree is spread downwards. The root is upward.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: The scientists also say all of the stars are moving around. But they don't see the earth as moving around.
Prabhupāda: Why not? What is this nonsense? If all the stars can move, what is the earth? That is their nonsense.
Correspondence
1968 Correspondence
Money making schemes should be easy; we cannot divert our attention for money making activities. We require some money for prosecuting our activities, and if we get that money by contribution that is best, otherwise, we can sell our literature and books, etc. But if we direct our attention like others, then it becomes karma. And karma is very dangerous for persons who want to go back to Godhead. Therefore, in Bhagavad-gita karma yoga is advised. On the whole, we can endeavor for money making if it doesn't hamper our devotional service. And otherwise, we shall prefer to starve and chant Hare Krishna. That should be the pivot of all our activities.
Strictly we should avoid publishing these confidential topics in Back To Godhead. This is dangerous for the conditioned soul. Although such Krishna lila can do some good to the mundane people in the long run, to understand the philosophical aspects of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam in the beginning is essential and will make for good stride in spiritual life. I do not know why Rayarama has asked you to send such article. It is not to my sanction. We shall be very careful about mundane sex life. That is the pivot center of conditioned life. You are intelligent enough and I hope that Krishna will help you in these matters.
1969 Correspondence
I thank you very much for your gorgeous, hopeful words that when I go to London, the London center will be pivot for our Krishna Consciousness Movement. I still maintain the idea of a world Sankirtana Party, so we have got men now in Los Angeles, in Montreal, in Boston, in New York, in New Vrindaban, and in London, who can form a nice group of Sankirtana, at least with 25 heads. If we travel, beginning from London, around the world and again come back to London, surely your foretelling will be a factual event. So try your best, and Krishna will help us as He is helping us. Krishna can help us immediately with all of His resources, but first of all He wants to see how much we can work seriously. So the more we become steady and serious, the more help we will have from Him, rest assured.
1975 Correspondence
From the Srimad-Bhagavatam we learn that the universe is like a tree with the roots being upwards. The pole star which is situated within the Asking question starts constellation is the root. The universe is pivoting around the pole star. That is one movement. The second movement is that the sun is revolving around the universe, or as if it were going around the tree. That is the second movement. The sun is not fixed. If this is proved, then their whole scientific theory collapses. According to them, the stars are all suns. The stars may have the same composition as the sun but they are not suns. The Brahma-samhita says that the sun is the king with unlimited light and temperature. The Srimad-Bhagavatam sublime literature describes all these things and it was written five thousand years ago. And they say that five thousand years ago there was no civilization. That Srimad-Bhagavatam has this information proves that Indian civilization is the oldest civilization.
1976 Correspondence
Now our Ph.D's must collaborate and study the 5th Canto to make a model for building the Vedic Planetarium. My final decision is that the universe is just like a tree, with root upwards. Just as a tree has branches and leaves so the universe is also composed of planets which are fixed up in the tree like the leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. of the tree. The pivot is the pole star, and the whole tree is rotating on this pivot. Mount Sumeru is the center, trunk, and is like a steep hill, like the alps mountains which also have very high peaks. I have seen in Switzerland one mountain peak which was so high that is penetrated through the clouds. The tree is turning and therefore, all the branches and leaves turn with the tree. The planets have their fixed orbits, but still they are turning with the turning of the great tree. There are pathways leading from one planet to another made of gold, copper, etc., and these are like the branches. Distances are also described in the 5th Canto just how far one planet is from another.
We can see that at night, how the whole planetary system is turning around, the pole star being the pivot. Each planet has its orbit fixed but the sun is moving up and down, north and south. It is not that we shall accept the theory that the sun is fixed up and the others are all going around the sun. That is not correct. Even the 7th star is rotating once around the pole star in each 24 hours. The whole universe is just like a big tree, that is a fact. I do not think that the modern astronomers have any such idea that the whole universe is like a big tree. The planets which are full of living entities are one after another, one above the other. The relative positions of the planets is fixed up but the whole thing is turning. The sun is going north and south, it has its own orbit below the moon. So now you all Ph.D.'s must carefully study the details of the 5th Canto and make a working model of the universe. If we can explain the passing seasons, eclipses, phases of the moon, passing of day and night, etc. then it will be very powerful propaganda.
| Page Title: | Pivot |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika |
| Created: | 17 of May, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=13, CC=1, OB=1, Lec=2, Con=4, Let=6 |
| No. of Quotes: | 27 |