BY: BAHUSHIRA DASA (ACBSP)
Dec 26, USA (SUN) — I often wondered about some of the mystical statements that Srila Prabhupada would make that would later be confirmed by science or by some intuitive individual. Here is an example. In a letter to Bhaktisvarupa Damodara dated April 27, 1976, Prabhupada wrote, “There are pathways leading from planet to planet made of gold and copper, etc.” When I first read this I thought that Srila Prabhupada’s statement was interesting because copper and gold are conductors of electricity, so I thought from this that there must be a grid of lines or something of this sort in space.
This was stored in the back of my memory, and then the other day I read a book review. The book was called Dark Matter by Dr. Percy Seymour, who is a retired UK astrophysicist and astronomer. According to Dr. Seymour, the reviewer says that “the universe is a tapestry whose threads are magnetic and electric lines of force that originate from planets and stars.” The reviewer says that “According to his theory, what we regard as particles are compacted bundles of these lines of force; and the electrical energy in these bundles gives rise to mass in accordance with Einstein’s E = mc2 equation.”
The reviewer continues:
“Dr. Seymour says that in ordinary space these force lines move from proton to electron, but in plasma space they move from electron to proton in very thin braided ropes encased in sheaths of insulating space. These sheaths behave like elastic tubes or spiral springs, and the fact that they can stretch means that they have energy stored within them. When combined in vast numbers, these encased lines of force create a criss-crossing web that produces the “quantum noise” of the universe…his fascinating thesis fits well with the electric universe theory.”
Looking at this from the Vedic angle of view, the statement, “the universe is a tapestry whose threads are magnetic and electric lines of force” is mentioned in the Rig Veda. This Veda (1.88.5) refers to the magnetic power in space as being under the control of the Maruts. All electro-magnetism in space is due to the Maruts. Again the Rig Veda (1.50.5) refers to the Maruts as men in the atmosphere of space and in 1.110.6 they are referred to as “the men living in the interstellar region.” As we can understand, these are demigods. But then who controls these demigods? That becomes revealed to the devotee in Bhagavad Gita, 10.2:
Na me viduh sura-ganah prabhavam na maharsayah
Aham adir hi devanam maharsinam ca sarvasah
“Neither the host of demigods nor the great sages know My origin, for in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and the sages.”
In Dr. Seymour’s words, “the universe is a tapestry whose threads…” reminded me of a verse I once read by Sripad Madhvacarya, who quotes Skanda Purana:
Yatha kantha patah sutra otah protas ca sa sthitah
Evam visnav idam visvam otam protam ca samsthitam
“Like two threads horizontal and vertical of which a quilt is manufactured, Lord Vishnu is situated as the vertical and horizontal cause of the cosmic manifestation.”
Dr. Seymour says, “The force lines move… in very thin braided ropes encased in sheaths of insulating space.” This brings to mind the words of Lord Krsna when He says in Bhagavad Gita, 7.7:
Mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya
Mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva
“Oh conquerer of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests on Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.”
In this verse the pearls on a thread are the very thin braided ropes mentioned by Dr. Seymour.
The other statement, “These encased lines of force create a criss-crossing web that produces the “quantum noise” of the universe. One may ask just who caused this web? The Mundaka Upanisad, 1.1.7 entertains us with an answer:
Yathorna nabhih srjate grhnateca
“(The Lord creates and destroys the cosmic manifestation) as a spider creates a web and draws it back within itself.”
Let us not forget the words of Brahma, the assistant creator of the universe, whose prayers were reintroduced to us by the hand of the Lord Himself, in the sastra Brahma Samhita. This Lord is none other than the great dancer, Gaura Nataraja:
Jagad-anda-caya yad-antah andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham
Govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
“All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.” (Brahma Samhita, 5.35)
So in conclusion, these threads or grid of threads stretching through space and the universes are all under the control of Lord Vishnu, which He uses as a web to make everything run like clockwork.