“There is a Siddhaloka. We shall show how this planet works, Siddhaloka . The description of the Siddhaloka is there in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Siddhaloka persons, they can go from one planet to another without any machine, or airplane. Like the yogis, those who are perfect yogis, they can go from one place to another without any vehicle. There are many yogis still existing. They take bath in four dhamas — in Hardwar, in Jagannatha Puri, in Ramesvaram. And similarly ... yogis can do that. They attain anima-siddhi, eight kinds of perfection. So the Siddhaloka means they are bor n siddhas. They haven’t got to practice this mystic yoga system.” To illustrate this point he gave the simple, effective example of some siddhas that live within our immediate experience. He pointed out how birds and insects can fly automatically, but we c annot; we have to create so many big machines. Prabhupada’s idea in having a planetarium is to show that the statements made in the Vedic scriptures are authentic and based on scientific fact, not simply mythology, as commonly mis- understood. “There is no question of disbelieving,” he said. “It is not to be rejected, ‘Ah, there cannot be any ... This is unbelievable.’ We have got this information from the sastras. We are staunch believer: ‘Yes there are siddhas.’ That is called theism. One who believes in t he statements of sastra. “Very highly intelligent persons, thoughtful persons, philosophers, scientists, mathematicians — they are called also muni. They came also to satisfy the Lord. Not these ordinary munis, but very exalted munis and siddhas from Siddhaloka. There are many lokas, Caranaloka, others. They are all described. So if there is chance, we shall present these lokas, how they are situated, where they are situated, how they are moving, how the sun is moving around them. The sun is not fixed up; sun is moving. All these things, we have got such dream to show. If there is opportunity, we shall do. The modern scientists or astronomers, they say, ‘Sun is fixed up. The earth is moving.’ So we don’t say that. It has got its orbit. So there are so many things to be known still from Vedic literature, it is not yet unfolded, but we are trying.”
A TRANSCENDENTAL DIARY Vol. 1 - February 15, 1976, Mayapur
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online