Canto 5: The Creative Impetus | Chapter 22: The Orbits of the Planets |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.22.2
sa hovāca
yathā kulāla-cakreṇa bhramatā saha bhramatāḿ tad-āśrayāṇāḿ pipīlikādīnāḿ gatir anyaiva pradeśāntareṣv apy upalabhyamānatvād evaḿ nakṣatra-rāśibhir upalakṣitena kāla-cakreṇa dhruvaḿ meruḿ ca pradakṣiṇena paridhāvatā saha paridhāvamānānāḿ tad-āśrayāṇāḿ sūryādīnāḿ grahāṇāḿ gatir anyaiva nakṣatrāntare rāśy-antare copalabhyamānatvāt
SYNONYMS
saḥ — Śukadeva Gosvāmī; ha — very clearly; uvāca — answered; yathā — just as; kulāla-cakreṇa — a potter's wheel; bhramatā — turning around; saha — with; bhramatām — of those turning around; tat-āśrayāṇām — being located on that (wheel); pipīlika-ādīnām — of small ants; gatiḥ — the motion; anyā — other; eva — certainly; pradeśa-antareṣu — in different locations; api — also; upalabhyamānatvāt — due to being experienced; evam — similarly; nakṣatra-rāśibhiḥ — by the stars and signs; upalakṣitena — being seen; kāla-cakreṇa — with the great wheel of time; dhruvam — the star known as Dhruvaloka; merum — the mountain known as Sumeru; ca — and; pradakṣiṇena — on the right; paridhāvatā — going around; saha — with; paridhāvamānānām — of those going around; tat-āśrayāṇām — whose shelter is that wheel of time; sūrya-ādīnām — headed by the sun; grahāṇām — of the planets; gatiḥ — the motion; anyā — other; eva — certainly; nakṣatra-antare — in different stars; rāśi-antare — in different signs; ca — and; upalabhyamānatvāt — due to being observed.
TRANSLATION
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī clearly answered: When a potter's wheel is moving and small ants located on that big wheel are moving with it, one can see that their motion is different from that of the wheel because they appear sometimes on one part of the wheel and sometimes on another. Similarly, the signs and constellations, with Sumeru and Dhruvaloka on their right, move with the wheel of time, and the antlike sun and other planets move with them. The sun and planets, however, are seen in different signs and constellations at different times. This indicates that their motion is different from that of the zodiac and the wheel of time itself.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness