tat-katyam catalam klptam
urubhyam vitalam vibhoh
janubhyam sutalam suddham
janghabhyam tu talatalam
mahatalam tu gulphabhyam
prapadabhyam rasatalam
patalam pada-talata
iti lokamayah puman
tat -- in His; katyam -- waist; ca -- also; atalam -- the first planetary system below the earth; klptam -- situated; urubhyam -- on the thighs; vitalam -- the second planetary system below; vibhoh -- of the Lord; janubhyam -- on the ankles; sutalam -- the third planetary system below; suddham -- purified; janghabhyam -- on the joints; tu -- but; talatalam -- the fourth planetary system below; mahatalam -- the fifth planetary system below; tu -- but; gulphabhyam -- situated on the calves; prapadabhyam -- on the upper or front portion of the feet; rasatalam -- the sixth planetary system below; patalam -- the seventh planetary system below; pada-talatah -- on the bottom or soles of the feet; iti -- thus; loka-mayah -- full of planetary systems; puman -- the Lord.
Modern enterprisers (the astronauts who travel in space) may take information from Srimad-Bhagavatam that in space there are fourteen divisions of planetary systems. The situation is calculated from the earthly planetary system, which is called Bhurloka. Above Bhurloka is Bhuvarloka, and the topmost planetary system is called Satyaloka. These are the upper seven lokas, or planetary systems. And similarly, there are seven lower planetary systems, known as Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatala and Patala lokas. All these planetary systems are scattered over the complete universe, which occupies an area of two billion times two billion square miles. The modern astronauts can travel only a few thousand miles away from the earth, and therefore their attempt to travel in the sky is something like child's play on the shore of an expansive ocean. The moon is situated in the third status of the upper planetary system, and in the Fifth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam we shall be able to know the distant situation of the various planets scattered over the vast material sky. There are innumerable universes beyond the one in which we are put, and all these material universes cover only an insignificant portion of the spiritual sky, which is described above as sanatana Brahmaloka. The Supreme Lord very kindly invites the intelligent human beings to return home, back to Godhead, in the following verse of the Bhagavad-gita (8.16):
a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah
punar avartino 'rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate
Beginning from Satyaloka, the topmost planet of the universe, situated just below the eternal Brahmaloka, as described above, all the planets are material. And one's situation in any of the many material planets is still subject to the laws of material nature, namely birth, death, old age and disease. But one can get complete liberation from all the above-mentioned material pangs when one enters into the eternal Brahmaloka sanatana atmosphere, the kingdom of God. Therefore liberation, as contemplated by the speculative philosophers and the mystics, is possible only when one becomes a devotee of the Lord. Anyone who is not a devotee cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Only by attainment of a service attitude in the transcendental position can one enter into the kingdom of Godhead. Therefore the speculative philosophers, as well as the mystics, must first of all be attracted to the devotional cult before they can factually attain liberation.
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