Additional presentations and papers offers recent work by a number of scholars associated with the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies (BIHS) exploring Purāṇic and jyotiṣa cosmological accounts, and their interrelationship.
1) Toward a Comprehensive Picture of the Nature of Spacetime and the Origin and Fate of the Universe by Doug Watson
Abstract:
The Big Bang inflationary model was introduced to solve some of the long-standing problems associated with the original Big Bang theory of the early 1900s; however, the popular inflationary model is fraught with its own set of empirical (and philosophical) problems. Recent theoretical work has aimed to demonstrate how the inflationary paradigm may be resolved with particular kinds of models that may be compatible with Vedic perspectives of a cyclic universe and their teleological implications.
Publication Info: Pūrva-pakṣa: Fine Tuning Opposing Views, Vol. 1, (Alachua, FL: RLTA, 2024), 1–8.
Notes: Based on a presentation given at the BIHS Cosmology Workshop 3: “The Nature of Spacetime and the Evolving Universe: Exploring Puranic Cosmology,” February 19–20, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida.
Doug Watson has a PhD in Physics from Vanderbilt University, where his research focused on a theoretical framework for the formation and evolution of galaxies in the universe. Doug was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, an award that supported independent research in cutting-edge theoretical physics, as well as education initiatives for underserved communities. During his undergraduate years at the University of Wisconsin, he was a member of the men’s soccer team, which won both the NCAA and Big Ten Championships.
2) A Proportionality Approach to the Relevance of “Height” in the Puranic Cosmos by Vasyl Semenov and Evgeniya Semenova
Abstract:
This presentation explores several simple mathematical transformations that highlight possible connections between Purāṇic and Siddhāntic cosmologies, thus suggesting that the ancient Purāṇas may indeed contain relevant information about our perceivable universe.
Publication Info: Pūrva-pakṣa: Fine Tuning Opposing Views, Vol. 1, (Alachua, FL: RLTA, 2024), 21–37.
Notes: Based on a presentation given at the BIHS Cosmology Workshop 2: “Models and Memes and Maps: A Modern Journey through Ancient Cosmography,” November 21–22, 2020 in Gainesville, Florida.
Vasyl Semenov obtained his PhD degree in Acoustics from the Institute of Hydromechanics at the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (2004) and a second PhD in Computational Mathematics from the Institute of Cybernetics at NAS in 2020. Vasyl holds the positions of Senior staff scientist at Kyiv Academic University and Professor at the American University Kyiv. He has been teaching Vedic Mathematics and other courses at the Kyiv Krishna Consciousness Academy since 2013, and has served as a member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies since 2019.
Evgeniya Semenova obtained her PhD degree in Mathematics from the Institute of Mathematics at NAS in 2009, where she has been working at the Computational Mathematics Department since 2004. She received scholarships from the Institutes of Mathematics at Linz (Austria) and Lubeck (Germany) and took part in the EU AMMODIT program. Since 2016, she has been teaching the ISKCON Disciple Course at the Kiev Krishna Consciousness Academy.
3) Fifth Canto Cosmology as a Vision of the Virāṭ-rūpa by Michael Cremo
Abstract:
The cosmology chapters of the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are a description of a universal form. In some places in the Bhāgavatam, the universal form is characterized as imaginary. This creates a difficulty in detecting correspondences between modern astronomy and cosmographic depiction of the universe given in the Bhāgavatam. The problem is solved if we understand there are three kinds of universal forms: those that are directly perceived, those that are authoritatively described, and those that are imagined. The Fifth Canto account is an authoritative description, and therefore the astronomical details should not be taken as imaginative.
Publication Info: Pūrva-pakṣa: Fine Tuning Opposing Views, Vol. 1, (Alachua, FL: RLTA, 2024), 57–63.
Notes: Based on a presentation at the BIHS Workshop 1: “Taking the Fifth Canto,” November 1-3, 2019 in Gainesville, Florida.
Michael Cremo has been involved with the Bhaktivedanta Institute since 1984 and the TOVP for some time. He is the co-author, along with Richard L. Thompson, of Forbidden Archeology (1993), and has authored many books since then, including the recent collection, My Science, My Religion: Academic Papers (1994-2009). He has given invited talks at Royal Institution in London, the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow, and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
4) Time in Vedic Culture as Presented in the Teachings of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda by Christopher J. Hayton
Abstract:
The exotic lifestyle, beliefs, and practices of the Hare Krishna devotees primarily generated interest from anthropology-related fields. This paper focuses on one area of Vedic culture, ‘time,’ that so far has received relatively little attention. Using translations and commentaries published by Bhaktivedanta Swami during the 1960s and 70s as primary source material, details of the Vedic system of time presented through the Gaudiya Vaishnava line are described. Ancient Sanskrit texts: Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Isopanishad, and Brahma Samhita, and the medieval Bengali text, Caitanya-caritamrta, are examined, revealing frameworks for contemplation on a cosmic scale. Expressed in culture-specific imagery seemingly at odds with Western science, the Vedic sages reach across time to reveal that ancients grappled with questions familiar to present day thinkers.
Publication Info: Pūrva-pakṣa: Fine Tuning Opposing Views, Vol. 2, (Alachua, FL: RLTA, 2024), 57–63.
Notes: Based on a presentation at the BIHS Vedic Cosmology Workshop III: “The Nature of Spacetime and the Evolving Universe: Exploring Puranic Cosmology,” February 19–20, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida.
Christopher Hayton holds a BSc in Zoology from Cardiff University, and a MA and PhD in Social Work from Florida State University. He presently serves as a research associate for the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies, as well as a production manager for GN Press. He has taught at Florida State University, and has also worked as a clinical social worker in community mental health, and in the field of archeology.
5) The 2019–22 BIHS Workshops on Vedic Cosmology by Prishni Sutton
Abstract:
The international BIHS 2023 conference, “Cosmology of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Current Research on History, Philosophy, and Science,” was a natural outgrowth of three prior Vedic cosmology workshops – “Purāṇic Cosmography: Taking the 5th Canto!” (2019), “Models and Memes and Maps: A Modern Journey through Ancient Cosmography” (2020), and “The Nature of Spacetime and the Evolving Universe: Exploring Purāṇic Cosmology” (2022). These workshops examined traditional and contemporary studies of cosmological issues in relation to Sanskrit texts such as the Purāṇas (notably Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam), the Jyotiṣa Śāstras, and the Mahābhārata. They also inspired publications that feature the recent work of scholars associated with these projects, including the journal Pūrva-pakṣa: Fine-Tuning Opposing Views (Volumes 1 and 2) and Vedic Cosmography in a Modern Context: Virodha-parihāra Revisited. This article gives a brief overview of these workshops.
Publication Info: ISKCON Communications Journal, Vol. 14, edited by Tattvavit Dāsa and Rūpa Sanātana Dāsa (ISKCON Communications Europe, 2023), 129–39.
Prishni Sutton graduated with a double-major in Mathematics and Chemistry in 1971 from the University of Illinois, and became involved with ISKCON shortly thereafter. Since 2014 she has been the archivist for the Richard L. Thompson Archives, and she has been the Secretary/Treasurer for Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies since its formation in 2015.
6) Is There Really “Only One Sun”? by Richard J. Cole
Abstract:
Preliminary research explores several “unique” features of our sun as support for Śrīla Prabhupāda’s numerous statements concerning “only one sun” in the universe, such as “within this universe there is only one sun.” This brief report analyzes scientific data, śāstric perspectives, redshift research, the special conditions of the “Goldilocks” zone, and the poetic use of metaphor, which combine to suggest that the many singular characteristics of our sun give credence to it's Vedic designation as the only sun in the universe.
Publication Info: Posted on the ISKCON News website on May 26, 2024.
Richard Cole (Radha Mohan Das) graduated from Manchester University in 1992, and is currently the Communications Officer at Bhaktivedanta Manor near London, where he specializes in media, public relations, interfaith, and drama. He also produces a popular YouTube channel, Vedic Science and History, and has been an associate of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies since 2019.