Srila
Prabhuapda himself said different things at different times. Sometimes he
directly said they didn't go and it was some kind of hoax. And at other times
he said they didn't go to the moon because they didn't experience the higher
dimensional nature of the moon planet, which is a rational way to harmonize
the Vedic perspective with the idea of three dimensional space travel. At
other times he just said the whole idea was foolish and a waste of money.
He saw material space travel as a foolish attempt to reach higher dimensions
which can only be reached by yogic practice.
Srila Prabhupada had an amazing level of insight into the foolishness of modern
society and was able to so clearly expose it for what it was: "Simply
bluffing"
They
have not gone to the moon
excerpt from conversation with disciples, Perth,
May 12, 1975
Simply
bluffing, simply propaganda
Excerpt from conversation, Sydney, Apr 1, 1972
PRABHUPADA:The newspaper said that "Mr. such and such went
to moon planet." Oh, immediately believe. See? A newspaper, ten cent worth
newspaper. And in the Bhagavad-gita Krishna says, yanti deva vrata devan:
[Bg. 9.25] "One who can... One can go to the demigods planets by worshiping
them. You can go, yanti deva vrata devan, as others. Similarly, one
can come to Me by worshiping Me." Mad yajino 'pi yanti mam.So they
never worshiped Chandra, and how they can go to the Chandra planet, or moon
planet? Then Krishna is false. Krishna is imperfect. They become "perfect".
They are defying Krishna's instruction. They have gone to moon planet.
Then our whole propaganda, Krishnaconsciousness, becomes bogus. Therefore
I always protest.
SUDAMA: They have not gone.
PRABHUPADA: They have not gone. We
have got our tests. I am speaking from the very beginning, "They
have not gone." And practically you see, even if you have gone, what utility
you have made? They are simply planning, again planning. "We shall get petrol
from there. We shall have defense from there. "Simply bluffing, simply
bluffing. The Americans will go to the moon planet to defend his country
from the Russians. Just see. And we have to believe all these nonsense proposals.
What defense they will do from there? Is it not the proposal? Yes.
Devotee (2): Did they actually land on the moon, Srila Prabhupada?
Prabhupada: No, they cannot go there. What is the question of landing?
They cannot go there. It is far, far away. What you calculated?
1,600,000 miles away, up the sun planet. 1,600,000 miles above the sun. According
to your calculation, the sun is away from this planet by 93,000,000 miles.
And above that, 1,600,000 miles. Then you go to the moon. How it is possible?
Guru krpa: How is the moon behind the sun?
Prabhupada: Not behind, above.
(ACBSP. 27th May 1975. Morning Walk in Honolulu, Hawaii.)
May 11th 1975 Conversation:
Amogha: He says did they actually get to the moon or not?
Prabhupada: That I am doubtful. Always. [break] …doubt
always. They have… They might have gone… Mostly, most probably
they have not gone. Simply propaganda. But even they
have gone, not to moon. Maybe the Rahu planet. Or there are
so many other planets.
Amogha: Is that Rahu planet closer than the moon to the earth?
Prabhupada: Rahu planet orbit is in between moon and sun.
So when it comes in between moon and sun there is eclipse. At night it
is eclipse in the moon, and daytime it is eclipse in the sun
The Rahu planet comes in front of the moon
SB 4.29.69 P Talks Between Narada and King Pracinabarhi
In this connection, the darkness occurring before the full moon,
the lunar eclipse, can be explained as being another planet, known as Rahu.
According to Vedic astronomy, the Rahu planet, which is not visible, is accepted.
Sometimes the Rahu planet is visible in the presence of full moonlight. It
then appears that this Rahu planet exists somewhere near the orbit of the
moon. The failure of modern moon excursionists may be due to the Rahu
planet. In other words, those who are supposed to be going to the moon
may actually be going to this invisible planet Rahu. Actually, they are
not going to the moon but to the planet Rahu, and after reaching this planet,
they come back. Apart from this discussion, the point is that a living
entity has immense and unlimited desires for material enjoyment, and he has
to transmigrate from one gross body to another until these desires are exhausted.
740318mw.vrn
Conversations
Guru dasa: Why does the moon reflect? They say the moon is sandy, but this
sand here is not reflecting.
Prabhupada: That... They are not going to the moon planet.
They are going to some other planet, Rahu planet.
Guru dasa: Rahu?
Prabhupada: Yes. There are many planets invisible. So there is a Rahu planet
which comes in front of the moon planet, and that is called eclipse. So there
is a planet rotating. I think they are going to that Rahu planet, not to the
moon planet.
750301mw.atl Conversations
Balavanta: In the Srimad-Bhagavatam you say that the Rahu planet is visible
on the full moon night? The Rahu planet?
Prabhupada: No, when there is eclipse.
Balavanta: Oh, eclipse.
Prabhupada: Eclipse means Rahu planet comes in front.
SB 8.18.5 P Lord Vamanadeva, the Dwarf Incarnation
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, an expert astrologer, explains the word
naksatra-taradyah. The word naksatra means "the stars," the word tara in this
context refers to the planets, and adyah means "the first one specifically
mentioned." Among the planets, the first is Surya, the sun, not the moon.
Therefore, according to the Vedic version, the modern astronomer's proposition
that the moon is nearest to the earth should not be accepted. The chronological
order in which people all over the world refer to the days of the week--Sunday,
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday--corresponds to
the Vedic order of the planets and thus circumstantiates the Vedic version.
Apart from this, when the Lord appeared the planets and stars became situated
very auspiciously, according to astrological calculations, to celebrate the
birth of the Lord.
SB 5th canto:
Above the rays of the sunshine by a distance of 100,000 yojanas [800,000 miles]
is the moon, which travels at a speed faster than that of the sun. In two
lunar fortnights the moon travels through the equivalent of a samvatsara of
the sun, in two and a quarter days it passes through a month of the sun, and
in one day it passes through a fortnight of the sun.
PURPORT When we take into account that the moon is 100,000 yojanas, or800,000
miles, above the rays of the sunshine, it is very surprising that the modern
excursions to the moon could be possible. Since the moon is so distant, how
space vehicles could go there is a doubtful mystery. Modern scientific calculations
are subject to one change after another, and therefore they are uncertain.
We have to accept the calculations of the Vedic literature. These Vedic calculations
are steady; the astronomical calculations made long ago and recorded in the
Vedic literature are correct even now. Whether the Vedic calculations or modern
ones are better may remain a mystery for others, but as far as we are concerned,
we accept the Vedic calculations to be correct.
Vegetation and water on the moon
"It is understood from this verse that the predominating deity of the moon is the maintainer of all the trees and plants throughout the universe. It is due to the moonshine that trees and plants grow very luxuriantly. Therefore how can we accept the so-called scientists whose moon expeditions have informed us that there are no trees or vegetation on the moon? Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says, somo vrksadhisthata sa eva vrksanam raja: Soma, the predominating deity of the moon, is the king of all vegetation. How can we believe that the maintainer of vegetation has no vegetation on his own planet?" (SB 6.4.6, purport)
"If we hear from those who are actually self realized, then the nectarean rivers, like those which are flowing on the moon planet, will flow into our ears." (Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 10)
"So moon is not desert. These are simply rascals. They do not know anything, and rascals believe that the moon is desert, and the sun is desert. Only this planet is full of variety and beauty. No. We have to take lessons from the sastras." (Garden Conversation, October 9th, 1976, Aligarh)
Srila Prabhupada: ...the moon planet, there
is no rainfall?
Karandhara: No, according to scientists there is no (indistinct)
of rainfall on the moon.
Srila Prabhupada: Huh?
Bhagavan: It's very hot and very cold.
Yogesvara: Have they made another mistake?
Srila Prabhupada: And there is no water also.
Karandhara: No.
Bhagavan: No, water.
Yogesvara: They say that the moon is covered by a very thick
layer of dust.
Srila Prabhupada: But according to our sastra, moon is one
of the heavenly planets. [break] ...is moon in any way? Because there is no
water?
Srila Prabhupada: So how you can say there is no water in
the moon planet?
Karandhara: Well, they can take samples in the desert and
find out if there is certain degree of moisture in the soil. They have taken
the same samples on the moon and say that there is no moisture.
Srila Prabhupada: So why the moon planet is bereft of? Material,
anything material, it is combination of earth, water, fire, air, ether. Anything
material. It is a combination.
Karandhara: Well, there are probably very minute quantities
of moisture on the moon. But they say nothing significant, nothing suitable
for agriculture.
Yogesvara: There are no plants growing on the moon. In the
desert we find some plants, but they have not found any vegetation on the
moon.
Srila Prabhupada: That means they have not gone thoroughly.
One portion of it.
Karandhara: Well, they have scanners on these satellites
which pick up vegetation or life. From hundreds miles away, it will show up
on a screen. And they sent it all around the moon, and it hasn't shown any
indication of any organic matter or life. They can send this satellite up
around the earth planet and they can locate fields of corn, fields of wheat,
from hundreds of miles away, just by the way it shows up on these different
electronic devices. [break] (Morning Walk,
June 3rd, 1974, Geneva)
COMMON SENSE
Sattava Guna means he can go higher planets. Meat-eaters, drunkards HOW they can go moon?
751128SB.DEL Lectures
You can utilize this body properly for higher standard of life. You can go
to the higher planetary system. The higher planetary system begins from the
sun. That is another subject matter. But so far we get information from Srimad-Bhagavatam,
there sun, then moon, according to Bhagavatam. And I think... We were talking
about these things, that whether the moon is the first planet or the sun is
the first planet. So far we understand from Vedic literature, the moon is
the second planet. The sun is the first planet. If we consider like that,
then moon is beyond the sun planet. The estimation is there in the Srimad-Bhagavatam:
1,600,000 miles above the sun the moon is situated. Now, if we take consideration
of the sun planet situated 93,000,000 miles from earth, then add 1,600,000
miles again, it comes to 15,000,000..., 95,000,000's miles away from the earthly
planet. And how you can reach there in four days, 95,000,000 miles away? If
we apply our common sense, then it appears they have never
gone to the moon planet. It is all bogus propaganda. It is not possible.
740620BG.GER Lectures
Prabhupada: Yes. (translator reads German translation) So our natural tendency
is to go to other, better planets. Therefore people are trying to go to the
moon planet. Similarly, you can go to the sun planet, heavenly planet. There
are so many. But the information is, even though you reach the topmost planet
of this universe, still, there the four principles of material life, namely,
birth, death, old age and disease, are there. So we can go to the topmost
planet. There is process how to go.
urdhvam gacchanti sattva-stha
madhye tisthanti rajasah
jaghanya-guna-vrtti-stha
adho gacchanti tamasah
If you keep yourself in sattva-guna, or in the modes of goodness, you are promoted to the higher planetary system. Even to the topmost planetary system. That is called urdhvam gacchanti sattva-sthah. And if you keep yourself in the modes of passion, you shall remain within the middle planetary system. This is middle planetary system. This earthly planet, it is called Bhurloka. Then, above this, there is Bhuvarloka. Then, above that, Svargaloka. That is heavenly planets. The heavenly planets begins from the moon planet. Jaghanya-guna-vrtti-stha adho gacchanti tamasah. And those who are in the modes of darkness, they go down, down, down. The animal life is also amongst the down, I mean to say, modes of life. So this human form of life is a chance to make our choice where we shall go next, in the higher or in the lower, or we shall remain here. So how to go to the higher planetary system, that is also mentioned. Yanti deva-vrata devan. Read this.
yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrn yanti pitr-vratah
bhutani yanti bhutejya
yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam
Prabhupada: So, if we like, we can go to the higher planetary system, heavenly planetary system. Just like we are trying to go to the moon planet, but we have not been successful. In this way we cannot go there. Each planet, each and every planet, has got different atmosphere. So unless your body is completely competent to live in such planet, you cannot go there. Just like the scientists say that in the moon planet the temperature is two hundred degrees below zero. Similarly, in the sun planet the temperature is very, very high, hundred and thousand times degrees above the normal. So in this way, every planet has got different atmosphere, different temperature, different standard of life, different duration of life. So one has to become competent to transfer himself in a particular type of planet. So we, as spirit soul, dehi, the possessor of this body... Dehi means one who possesses this body, or the occupier of the body, the spirit soul. That is eternal. Changing body only, but eternal. Therefore we should not be interested to these different types of temporary body. That is not very good intelligence. So we have to prepare our self. If we want... There is a full description of each and every planet. And we can prepare our self according to our desire, which planet we wish to go. But Krsna says, mad-yajino 'pi yanti mam. "Persons who are engaged in My occupational duties, they will come to Me."
The story of the grocer
Prabhupada: So he went to purchase something from a grocer.
The grocer asked him, “Why you are shaven-headed?” “Oh,
such person has..., is now dead.”
Trivikrama: Sargal Singh?
Prabhupada: No, I’ll come to that. So the grocer also thought, “Now
I also should shave.” Something saying like that. Then another man met
him. He also said. He also said. Then at last, one intelligent man, he asked,
“Who is this man?” Then again the news come back through the parampara,
(laughter) yes, who is this man. Then he called the man, first, who said.
He was a dhobi, and his ass was dead. The ass was dead, so hearing, it has
gone so far. The other men... The unintelligent persons are like that. They
do not know, inquire what is the real thing. Just like twenty years ago
I said, “This is all nonsense, moon-going.” And now they are
coming: “Oh, it is hoax.” So that is the difference. Twenty years
before and “This is all childish waste of money. This rascal will never
be able to go to the moon.” And now they are coming. That is the difference.
I said from common sense. Naknatranam aham sasi. And we read in the Bhagavatam
that to go to the moon planet, one has to execute such yajnas, karma-kanda.
We understand from sastra. And how this rascal with a machine will go there?
That is a common sense. But they do not believe in the words
of the sastra. Rascals, they were bluffed and they believe. Sastra-caknus.
Your eyes should be through the sastra. Yah sastra-vidhim utsrjya vartate
kama..., na siddhim sa... We believe in this. Therefore I said twenty years
before. That is the difference. We take the words of sastra, words of Krnna,
ultimate. That’s all. So we have no difficulty. They do not believe
in sastra. They do not believe in Krnna. So they were bluffed. That is the
difference. We have... I started this movement. It is not manufactured by
me. Take the words of authorities and spread. There is no adulteration. There
is no alteration. That is... Mahajano yena gatah... (end)
(ACBSP. 1st July 1977. Conversation with devotees, Vrindavana)
Svarupa Damodara: It also makes difficult for others to argue.
Prabhupada: (laughs) When there is argument? Nonsense, how you can argue?
And therefore you are rascal. And that is also forbidden. Acintyah khalu ye
bhava na tams tarkena yojayet: “Things which are beyond your conception,
don’t foolishly argue, rascal.” That will prove your rascaldom.
Better accept what the authority says. It is beyond your conception, rascal.
Why you are wasting time? That we want to say, that all of them are rascals,
and they are simply wasting time by false idea. Cheating. You know, there
are companies. They’ll... They have got photographic studio. So they
adjust their moon hoax. They’ll help you. If you have got particular
idea... They are going to the moon planet, Mars. Nowhere the rascals go.
There is no knowledge. How they can go? Teeny, imperfect. So if we can prove
that they have no knowledge of the universe, neither of the position of their...
(ACBSP. 21st June 1977. Room Conversation with Swarup Damodar, Vrindavana)
The story of the Himalayan mountain going to
deliver a child
Prabhupada: Vibhrama, the Sanskrit is vibhrama-milita-kriya.
The arambha, arambha means endeavor. Very gorgeous. The result is sand and
rocks. Going to the moon planet, the arambha was so much expensive. And the
result is to bring some sand and rocks. This is hoax. And another: parvatan
munakodbhavah. Hoax. There was a great advertisement that the Himalayan mountain
is going to deliver a child. So people gathered on, to see, “Oh, such
a big mountain. The child must be a very big child.” So they went to
see there, and they saw one rat is coming from the hole of.... A rat is coming.
They expected another Himalayan mountain, and they saw from the holes, one
rat is coming. This is going on. And they are satisfied. “Now the Himalaya
has delivered the child.” One rat. (laughs) This attempt is like Himalayas
begetting a child. If some elephant would have come, it would have saved the...,
not even elephant, one rat. And in English, another is, “Much ado about
nothing.”
Hari-sauri: Shakespeare.
Prabhupada: Yes. The result is nothing. What is the meaning of “ado”?
(ACBSP. 18th June 1976. Room Conversation. Toronto)
Hari-sauri: When they originally started sending sputniks to the moon, they
couldn’t even land them properly. They would crash, they said that they
were crash-landing spaceships into the moon’s surface.
Prabhupada: Crashed?
Hari-sauri: Crash-landing. The spaceship was supposed to just smash into the
surface of the moon, like that.
Prabhupada: They have never gone. Simply propaganda.
Even they have gone, what is the result? Simply with big report that it is
inhabitable.
(ACBSP. 2nd July 1976. Room Conversation. New Vrindavana.)
Prabhupada: Oh, in the summer. Venus is very cold? Why they have selected
summer season? (laughter) [break] ...could not go to the moon, and Venus is
far above moon. How they will go?
Bali-mardana: They’re not going to Venus, are they?
Paramahamsa: Are they going to Mars?
Bali-mardana: No, they’re just going around the earth, right?
Ambarina: Yeah, they’re linking up in space.
Devotee (3): Prabhupada, when they said they went to the moon and they showed
films of them landing and walking on the moon, was this all a bluff?
Prabhupada: Yes, here they... All laboratory work, that’s all.
Devotee (3): They all made it up?
Prabhupada: Yes.
(ACBSP. 2nd June 1975. Morning Walk in Honolulu, Hawaii)
Madhudvina: The demons are trying to go to the heavenly planets by building
their skyscrapers higher and higher.
Prabhupada: Ravana’s, Ravana’s staircase for going to the heaven.
He promised that “Oh, what is the use of austerity? I shall make a staircase
directly. You can go.” As their... It is the same, Ravana’s staircase
and the modern attempt to go to the moon planet, the same thing. They will
never be able to go, but imagining that “We shall do it.” The
same process, Ravana’s process. For how many years they are going? Since
1950?
Devotee: To the moon expedition?
Prabhupada: Yes, moon expedition.
Devotee: Maybe 1955.
Madhudvina: 1955.
Devotee: The first moon landing was 1961.
Prabhupada: That is beginning. First of all they sent dog. (laughter)
Madhudvina: Space dog. Space mouse.
Prabhupada: Huh? Space mouse.
Devotee: Space monkey also.
Prabhupada: So since 1955 even. So twenty years, what they have done?
Devotee: Spent billions of dollars.
Prabhupada: Yes, simply they have brought little dust, that’s all.
Madhudvina: Now they have found that that same dust is here on the earth.
Prabhupada: Yes. Simply propaganda. They are not going. Now the Russian scientist
and American scientist are combined. Because both of them thieves, so one
thief is asking, “Don’t expose me. I will not expose you, so that
our business will go on.” This is the way. “Let us combine together
and cheat these rascals, and otherwise, if you expose me, then I will expose
you. Then our business will stop.”
Devotee: They are cooperating.
Prabhupada: Cooperating. Thief, thief’s cooperation.
(ACBSP. 21st May 1975. Morning Walk in Melbourne, Aus.)
It boils down to faith in either God or the scientists
excerpt from morning walk conversation, Los Angeles, Jun 11, 1976
PRABHUPADA:...If we don't believe that they have gone
to moon planet, they will reject us. They will immediately take as "Oh,
these people are crazy. "Even if you give sufficient reason or argument, they
will not take it. That is their obstinacy.
RAMESVARA: They're convinced by the photographs.
PRABHUPADA: Eh?
RAMESVARA: They have some photographs of the men in the spacesuits walking
around on that other planet.
KIRTANANANDA: But they are convinced because the scientists have told them.
They believe the scientists. They have faith, and the scientists can tell
them anything, and they'll believe it.
PRABHUPADA: Yes, that is.... That is the disease.
KIRTANANANDA: They have put faith. Everyone has faith. You cannot live without
having faith in somebody. So they put their faith in the scientists, and we
are saying it is wrong.
HARI-SAURI: Nobody could possibly believe that the scientists would cheat
them. They think they are very intelligent, honest men.
PRABHUPADA: No, we have got our faith—in Krishna. Similarly, they have
got their faith—in scientists.
HARI-SAURI: That article in the last BTG [Back to Godhead magazine].... Sadaputa,
he said, "So what it boils down to is they are putting their faith in chance,
and we are putting our faith in God."
PRABHUPADA: Yes. That is statement of the scientists. Adau shraddha:
in everything, faith is the beginning. Adau shraddha. Without faith
you cannot make any progress.
A staged production
excerpt from evening conversation, Puri, Jan 25, 1977
SATSVARUPA: What about our promise, in the future also, that you go to Krishna
in the future?
PRABHUPADA: We have got proof. Krishna says. We believe in Krishna. You believe
in some rascal; we believe in Krishna. That is the difference. Krishna says,
tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti [Bg. 4.9]. So we believe
that. That's all. We have got evidence. Youhave no evidence. You are simply
suggesting in future you'll do. But wehave got evidence.
GARGAMUNI: Sometimes they ask, "Show us somebody who's come [back from there]."
PRABHUPADA: Hm?
GARGAMUNI: "Show us someone who has come from there."
PRABHUPADA: Many.
GARGAMUNI: "But we don't find any."
PRABHUPADA: Many. It is in the shastra. "He was formerly like this,
and now he has become this." There are many.
GARGAMUNI: Well, that's in the shastra. They say now we want...
PRABHUPADA: But shastra is the proof. Our proof is shastra.
Your proof is your "shastra". Did you go to the moon planet or you
believe the newspapers? Have you gone?
GARGAMUNI: No.
PRABHUPADA: Then if you can believe newspaper, why shall I not believe in
the Veda, Vedanta?
GARGAMUNI: No, but one man has come.
PRABHUPADA: So one man... You have not done. You have no experience. So one
man you believe authority.
GURUKRPA: But we saw the television. They showed on the television.
PRABHUPADA: No. Television could not show that. You can
arrange in thelaboratory such television, cheat others. And you have done
it. But anyway, television or man or newspaper—you believe on others.
You have not personally gone. So you believe some authority. We believe some
authority. What is the difference? You take newspaper as authority. We take
Vedic literature as authority. Where is the difference? You have personally
not gone. How do you believe? The difference is that you believe somebody,
we believe somebody. I asked this question to Professor Kotovsky, that "You
believe Lenin; we believe Krishna. Then where is the difference between philosophy?"
Now it is to be judged whether Lenin is all right or Krishna is all right.
That is another thing. But the principle is there. "You believe in Lenin;
we believe in Krishna. The process is the same. So where is your improvement?"
The value of seeing
760706r2.wdc Conversations
Prabhupada: Why do they speak about seeing? What is the
value of your seeing? I have seen the Atlantic Ocean, that means I have
seen everything? This is ludicrous.
Rupanuga: They may simply speculate from a distance, that "Here is the surface,"
like here...
Prabhupada: That's all. Real business is speculation.
Rupanuga: Here it says, here, this is some great, here...
Prabhupada: Oh, that is "I am not stealing."
Rupanuga: Twelve hundred miles above the surface. Now they want to speculate
what is there.
Prabhupada: Who asked him that who is stealing? But he said "I am not stealing."
Rupanuga: That is perfect, Srila Prabhupada.
Prabhupada: Why he brings Arizona? Who asked him? That means that their business
in Arizona.
Rupanuga: They have exposed themselves.
Prabhupada: Rascals, how they are cheating people.
Rupanuga: Such a big hoax. They have spent billions of dollars for such a
hoax.
Prabhupada: Now you consider whether I am right or wrong. The moon planet
is also Arizona. (laughs) All their business asset is there.
Rupanuga: So one of the things we want to do is expose this cheating. Should
we expose this kind of thing directly like this, or should we indirectly deal
with it?
Prabhupada: No, you do scientifically. I give you the hint.
(laughter)
Svarupa Damodara: If we say that, they will be mad at the...
Prabhupada: Give psychology. Say "Who asked him about Arizona? Why he is speaking
Arizona?" That means they are in Arizona.
Seeing through the eyes of shastra
excerpt from conversation, Vrindaban, Jul 1, 1977
Prabhupada: ...Twenty years ago I said, "This is all nonsense,
moon-going." And now they are coming: "Oh, it is hoax." So that is the
difference. Twenty years before and "This is all childish waste of money.
This rascal will never be able to go to the moon." And now
they are coming. That is the difference. I said from common sense. Nakshatranam
aham shashi. And we read in the Bhagavatam that to go to the moon planet,
one has to execute such yajñas, karma-kanda [sacrifices, pious
activities]. We understand from shastra [revealed scriptures - the
words of the Supreme Personality of Godheadand His representatives, the Acharyas
and saintly persons]. And how this rascal with a machine will go there?
That is a common sense. But they do not believe in the words of the shastra.
Rascals, they were bluffed and they believe. Shastra-chakshus.
Your eyes should be through the shastra. Yah shastra-vidhim utsrijya
vartate kama-karatah, na sa siddhim avapnoti [Bg. 16.23]. We believe
in this. Therefore I said twenty years before. That is the difference. We
take the words of shastra, words of Krishna, ultimate. That's all.
So we have no difficulty. They do not believe in shastra. They do
not believe in Krishna. So they were bluffed. That is the difference.
Did NASA fake the moon landing? A program aired on British television explored
the possibility
This subject matter is naturally interesting to many devotees
because Srila Prabhupada himself was doubtful about the moon landing. A section
of the program was dedicated to analyzing NASA photographs, which curiously
depict shadows that are inconsistent with the direction of the sunlight. The
program clearly proved that shadows in the photographs fall at different angles
and at different lengths in the same pictures, as though illuminated by more
than one light source close to the scene. Had they actually been on the moon,
of course, this would have been impossible as there was no other light source
other than the sun. Some photographs taken of the astronauts facing in the
shadows are illuminated as if by fill-in lighting.
Experts quoted on the show pointed out that the moon pictures were perfectly
framed and exposed even though the cameras used had no viewfinder or exposure
meter and were strapped to the astronauts' chests.
According to moon landing sceptics, there are also numerous inconsistencies
between the live TV record and the photographs that were published later.
For example, several photographs, which were supposed to be taken on different
parts of the moon's surface, have identical background landscapes. This suggests
that they used the same backdrop for several photos supposedly in different
areas. Some rather amusing NASA film footage includes the American flag apparently
flapping in the wind, a strange phenomena given that, at least according to
the modern understanding; there is no atmosphere and therefore no wind on
the moon.
One of the most convincing arguments used against the moon landing relates
to an official NASA photograph of the Lunar Module on the moon's surface.
The photograph shows that there was clearly no sign of disturbance on the
soft lunar surface caused by the exhaust of the Lunar Module's powerful descent
engine. A crater should have been created in the soft lunar dust.
In response to these accusations, a NASA spokesman on the show said, "There
are too many seeming inconsistencies for me to answer to right now."
Sadaputa das, in his book "Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy" writes on this
subject in a sub-chapter entitled "Moon Flight." I will summarize it's contents:
Srila Prabhupada often said that the astronauts have never actually visited
the moon. His reasoning was that 1) Demigods do not allow human beings to
enter the higher planets because human beings are not qualified to do so.
2) The astronauts did not experience the celestial opulence’s actually
existing on the moon, and therefore could not have gone there.
Srila Prabhupada also described the attempt of the scientists to reach the
moon as being as demoniac as the attack of Rahu (SB 5. 24. 3p), and said that
Indra would bar such travel. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 6, Chapter 4,
purport to text 6 and Canto 8, Chapter 5, purport to text 34, he comments
that since the moon-god is the presiding deity of vegetation, there must be
vegetation on the moon. Yet the scientists say it is a barren desert.
Srila Prabhupada also made statements suggesting that higher-dimensional travel
is needed to reach the moon and he refers to the futility of trying to use
mechanical spacecraft. Finally, he indicated that to reach the moon it is
first necessary to cross the Manasa Lake and Sumeru Mountain.
So as ISKCON devotees we are left with various possibilities:
1) Astronauts did indeed land on the moon, but they did not perceive the world
of the demigods (Candraloka) because it is invisible to gross sense perception.
2) The astronauts were deluded by the demigods at some stage in their journey
and diverted to the planet Rahu. (SB 4. 29. 69p)
3) The entire moon-landing story is a complete conspiracy, which has fooled
millions of people all over the world for over 30 years. (Some say that they
filmed the "moon's surface" in a place in America known as Area 51, according
to the TV program.)
Perhaps in the near future we will never know for sure, but it is logical
to suggest that at some time in the future we will. If the truth is indeed
different to how NASA has been portraying it, ISKCON is in a prime position
to say something about it.
SB 10.14.7: In time, learned philosophers or scientists might
be able to count all the atoms of the earth, the particles of snow, or perhaps
even the shining molecules radiating from the sun, the stars and other luminaries.
But among these learned men, who could possibly count the unlimited transcendental
qualities possessed by You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who have descended
onto the surface of the earth for the benefit of all living entities?
FAITH in our BONAFIDE Guru Srila Prabhupada - Prabhus. It requires
FAITH. THAT personality who has SEEN Krsna FACE TO FACE - AND - COMES FROM
GOLOKA - HIS WORDS ARE TO BE TRUSTED NOT SOME RASCAL WHO IS DETERMINED TO
HEAR ABOUT movie made in ARIZONA DESERT "moon landing".
Fake Dutch 'moon rock' revealed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8226075.stm
A treasured piece at the Dutch national museum - a supposed moon rock from the first manned lunar landing - is nothing more than petrified wood, curators say.
It was given to former Prime Minister Willem Drees during a goodwill tour by the three Apollo-11 astronauts shortly after their moon mission in 1969.
When Mr Drees died, the rock went on display at the Amsterdam museum.
At one point it was insured for around $500,000 (£308,000), but tests have proved it was not the genuine article.
The Rijksmuseum, which is perhaps better known for paintings by artists such as Rembrandt, says it will keep the piece as a curiosity.
"It's a good story, with some questions that are still unanswered," Xandra van Gelder, who oversaw the investigation that proved the piece was a fake, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
"We can laugh about it."
The "rock" had originally been been vetted through a phone call to Nasa, she added.
The US agency gave moon rocks to more than 100 countries following lunar missions in the 1970s.
US officials said they had no explanation for the Dutch discovery.
MoonFaker:
Australia & The Conspirators
The
mon landing hoax I
The moon
landing hoax II
ApolloHoax-www.billkaysingtribute.com.pdf
Srila
Prabhupada a conditioned soul?
Why Pratyatosa is criticising Srila
Prabhupada?