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Hare Krsna

Here is a problem to solve. I am also working on it.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam fifth canto, the diameter of the universe is given as 510,000,000 yojanas.

One yojana is 8 miles, which means the diameter of our universe is 510,000,000 × 8 = 4,080,000,000 miles or 4 billion 80 million miles.

Now, the distance of the planet Uranus from the sun is 1.8 billion miles, which means that the diameter of the orbit of Uranus is about 3.6 billion miles. This is a little less the size of the brahmanda of our 4 headed Brahma which is 4 billion 80 million miles. Neptune planet cannot be  included since the diameter of the orbit of Neptune is greater than 4 billion miles. However, let us say that the size of our universe is about the size of our solar system. 

If the universe really has a eightfold covering of earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego. Each successive layer 10 times thicker than the previous layer. Then light from distant stars would never reach the earth. We now know that the distance of the nearest star Alpha Centauri is 4 light years away and this is a very large distance as compared to the size of the universe given in the sastras or the size of our solar system. We can calculate very accurately the distance of the other stars from us in our milky way galaxy and other galaxies as well by studying the light emitted from these stars. We can also calculate other properties like temperature, composition and luminosity of the star. Some stars which are more massive than our sun collapse to form neutron stars or black holes. Black holes are like voids in space. Their pull is so strong that they do not allow even light to escape. Basically we don't know what is inside a black hole. Modern science has still a way to go before they discover a unified theory that can explain everything.

Anyhow, coming back to the question, how to reconcile the size of the universe as described in the sastras with the observed findings through scientific methods which are experimentally proven?

Stars don't merely reflect sunlight. They are a great distance away and some of these stars are many times larger than our sun and give out more energy. 

If we can see some of the 100,000 million galaxies spread across the universe and each galaxy has about 100,000 million stars then that means that there is no eightfold covering nearby. Does the universe really have a boundary? 

Before Copernicus in the 16th century, the earth was thought to be the center of the universe but it was Copernicus who discovered that actually earth and the other planets orbit the sun. But he was afraid of challenging the old belief which even the great greek philosopher Aristotle had advocated that the earth was the center of the universe. There would be a lot of opposition from the religious sects of the day. He couldn't publish his findings publicly. It was almost a century later that Galileo confirmed the theory of Copernicus by observing the sky from a telescope. 

On an interesting note, general theory of relativity of Einstein has proven that time is not absolute. It is different for different observers who are traveling at different speeds or on the gravitational pull around them. Reminds me of the 13th chapter of tenth canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam where Lord Brahma returns after his one moment afrer stealing the calves and cowherd boys. But here on earth Krsna had to wait for one year. This is relativity!

Hari bol