The story of Hiranyaksha sending Earth into the Cosmic Ocean does tell us about the crazy invincible powers he had but then again it seems way too unrealistic to believe it.
Many doubts spring to my mind, when Earth was being taken away from Solar System then away from Milky Way galaxy and then right into the lower planetary systems, what must have happened to mortals living on Earth during this phenomenon?
There must have been fierce climatic changes, no sunlight for years and many bad things on Earth before He (Varah avatar) put Earth back into it's original place.
It will be pleasure if someone explains me this complex story.
Hare Krishna Earth!
Replies
as like we smash houses of ants when we wash our feet in a similar way the Earth and people on Earth were in that condition. So it was too sinful...to stop one's life prior to the natural death. As like now people are killing animals so it was similar sin. Hiranyaksha by putting the Earth on water killed all the living entities.
Your servant,
Hare Krishna,
This complete narration is very beautifully explained / mentioned in Shrimad Bhagwatam 3rd canto, u must read it. The fight between Lord Varaha n Hiranyaksha, Hiranyaksha was younger brother of Hiranyakachipoor, and both of them happen to be attendants of 7th door of Vaikunth Dham of Lord the Jaya n Vijaya in their previous life. who were cursed by four Kumaras.
The narration of fight is so beautiful and lord Avatar and protecting earth is so mentioned, I am falling short of words to explain u divinity of this whole pastime of Lord, but I request u to please read it.
I Thank You Very very Much for giving me a chance to recall the whole pastime again.
Hare Krishna.
Dear Siddhant Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I am in no way expert in Vedic Cosmology, but just a few things I know from Srimad Bhagavatam that maybe helpful for you. H. H. Danavir Goswami Maharaja has written several detailed books of Vedic Cosmology, you can study them if you are seriously interested, also Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy by Sadaputa Prabhu.
As you surely know, the Vedic understanding of the universe differs from the modern, so first of all there is only one Sun in the center of the universe illuminating it. It is not that we have our Solar System and the stars we see are separate suns with their planetary systems. The Sun is only one. The Milky Way is called in Vedic literature Akasha Ganga, it is actually the River Ganges descending from the higher planetary systems to the earth. It is not a galaxy. The Ganges is the water of the Causal ocean leaking into our universe after its shell was pierced by the toe of Lord Vamanadeva, and she flows through the heavenly planets, on the earth and then to the lower planets.
There are two understandings of the term "Earth" in Vedic Cosmology. Usually the whole Bhu Mandala is called Earth, it is a huge disc (about 186 million miles across) with many islands, extremely high mountains and oceans, as described in the 5th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, it extends far beyond any knowledge of modern science, because it can only be perceived by highly developed beings. And sometimes just that small round globe that we know is called Earth (it is the Bharata Khanda of Jambudvipa, the central island of Bhu Mandala; situated on the shore of the salt water ocean). I heard a discussion between devotees regarding which of these two Earths Hiranyaksha drowned into Garbhodaka ocean, and they did not know for sure, but they concluded that it could have been just the small globe, because Srila Prabhupada authorized paintings of Lord Varahadeva holding a round globe on His snout. Maybe some devotees here know better.
Regarding the climatic changes and mortals living on Earth at that time, we must remember that Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu are celestial demons, they are sons of Prajapati Kashyapa who is a son of Lord Brahma, and these events take place on a different time scale. The lower planetary systems including the Earth are anyway periodically annihilated at the end of each kalpa (day of Lord Brahma) and drowned into the raising Garbhodaka ocean.
We feel so important and we feel the center of the universe, but our Earth is a very insignificant tiny fraction of the Lord's creation, even of this one universe. Of course, this place is very important for those who want to practice spiritual life and return Back to Godhead, but materially it is extremely insignificant, and the inhabitants of the higher planets are much more intelligent and developed, even the demons such as Hiranyaksha. Another thing is that since these events have taken place in the beginning of creation, there might not yet have been so many living entities on the Earth. Because at the beginning of each kalpa the Prajapatis again fill the universe with living entities, and Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu were among the first sons of Prajapati Kashyapa.
Hopefully more knowledgable devotees can clarify further on this.
Your humble servant,
Madhavi-lata d.d.
Hare Krishna Madhavi - lata devi.
That was a good answer too, maybe not complete but still very good. The thing is our (my generation) understanding of Universe is mostly based on what mainstream education teaches us. We blindly trust on what NASA says without questioning them. Maybe we need to find it ourselves what the true nature of Universe is!
Canto 12, verse one
SB 12.2.1
sri-suka uvaca
tatas canu-dinam dharmah
satyam saucam ksama daya
kalena balina rajan
nanksyaty ayur balam smrtih
SYNONYMS
sri-sukah uvaca—Sukadeva Gosvami said; tatah—then; ca—and; anudinam—day after day; dharmah—religion; satyam—truth; saucam—cleanliness; ksama—tolerance; daya—mercy; kalena—by the force of time; balina—strong; rajan—O King Pariksit; nanksyati—will become ruined; ayuh—duration of life; balam—strength; smrtih—memory.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the age of Kali.
PURPORT
Balam, bodily strength, is also decreasing. The Vedic literature states that five thousand years ago, in the previous age, human beings—and even animals and plants—were larger and stronger. With the progress of the age of Kali, physical stature and strength will gradually diminish.
So basically, the size of our ancestors were larger. I believe there was some rumor that a fellow saw Ashwatthama, who claimed that he ~8 feet tall (which adds to it).. But even modern day scientists agree tht our ancestors were larger and huger and some were more intelligent. So it's a scientific fact that size has been decreasing (of course, modern day since also supports the we evolved from monkeys but that doesnt make much point)...
It is also shown in Ramanad Sagars Krishna serial that Balaramas wife, Revati Devi, left with her father in Satya yoga to Brahmaloke, and upon coming down to earth, it was already Dvapar Yuga. ballades used his plough to "shrink her" to normal size (I can't vouch for its validity since my mid is blank on Lord Balaramas wedding as mentioned in the Bhagavtam... This is just what I remember.)...
So Hiranyaksha must have been large and powerful (he was also a Mayavi who has dark powers... He can also increase his size)...
Now the way everything is set up, yes there exists serious doubts on the validity of most things. To take an extreme example, Does Krishna exist? Some say yes, others no. The point is only those who know Krishna can actually say that he exists. These are close associates of The Lord, or to those The Lord shows his special mercy to. But just be ause we not perceive it, does not mean it cannot exist. This is opposite of the thinking in Kali Yuga. Many scientists agree that there are still many things they don't know, but even they state that there has to be something... Hence they do research and experiments.
Now as far as changes occur, yes that is possible, and it means death for all the inhabitants on Earth... But that's as far as i can say since its all speculation. To be honest, it doesn't affect our Bhakti in any sense, unless one feels that this story can be related to Krishna's existence, so we shouldn't bother ourselves with such matters really. It's good to be curious, but it doesnt really affect going back one, back to godhead
Good. Unfortunately, I will have to say that in this present age, even the greatest devotees or yogis will not be able to visualize the technology of subtle energies from Satya Yuga.
Maybe, this has got to do with nature's law in Kali Yuga, where our senses are extremely limited and anything out of the box looks mythical to us.
Hare Krishna to you!, have a pleasant day!