ज्योतिर्गणानां गभस्तयोऽर्वाचीनांस्त्रीँ ललोकानावितन्वाना न कदाचित्पराचीना
भवितुमुत्सहन्ते तावदुन्नहनायामः ॥३७॥
sa loka-trayÄnte parita Ä«Å›vareṇa vihito yasmÄt sÅ«ryÄdÄ«nÄá¹ dhruvÄpavargÄṇÄá¹ jyotir-gaṇÄnÄá¹ gabhastayo 'rvÄcÄ«nÄá¹s trÄ«n lokÄn ÄvitanvÄnÄ na kadÄcit parÄcÄ«nÄ bhavitum utsahante tÄvad un-nahanÄyÄmaḥ
saḥ - that mountain; loka-traya-ante - at the end of the three lokas (BhÅ«rloka, Bhuvarloka and Svarloka); paritaḥ - all around; Ä«Å›vareṇa - by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa; vihitaḥ - created; yasmÄt - from which; sÅ«rya-ÄdÄ«nÄm - of the sun planet; dhruva-apavargÄṇÄm - up to Dhruvaloka and other, inferior luminaries; jyotiḥ-gaṇÄnÄm - of all the luminaries; gabhastayaḥ - the rays; arvÄcÄ«nÄn - on this side; trÄ«n - the three; lokÄn - planetary systems; ÄvitanvÄnÄḥ - spreading throughout; na - not; kadÄcit - at any time; parÄcÄ«nÄḥ - beyond the jurisdiction of that mountain; bhavitum - to be; utsahante - are able; tÄvat - that much; unnahana-ÄyÄmaḥ - the measure of the height of the mountain.
By the supreme will of Kṛṣṇa, the mountain known as LokÄloka has been installed as the outer border of the three worlds — BhÅ«rloka, Bhuvarloka and Svarloka — to control the rays of the sun throughout the universe. All the luminaries, from the sun up to Dhruvaloka, distribute their rays throughout the three worlds, but only within the boundary formed by this mountain. Because it is extremely high, extending even higher than Dhruvaloka, it blocks the rays of the luminaries, which therefore can never extend beyond it.
When we speak of loka-traya, we refer to the three primary planetary systems — Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ — into which the universe is divided. Surrounding these planetary systems are the eight directions, namely east, west, north, south, northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest. LokÄloka Mountain has been established as the outer boundary of all the lokas to distribute the rays of the sun and other luminaries equally throughout the universe.
This vivid description of how the rays of the sun are distributed throughout the different planetary systems of the universe is very scientific. Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« described these universal affairs to MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it as he had heard about them from his predecessor. He explained these facts five thousand years ago, but the knowledge existed long, long before because Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« received it through disciplic succession. Because this knowledge is accepted through the disciplic succession, it is perfect. The history of modern scientific knowledge, on the contrary, does not go back more than a few hundred years. Therefore, even if modern scientists do not accept the other factual presentations of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, how can they deny the perfect astronomical calculations that existed long before they could imagine such things? There is so much information to gather from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. Modern scientists, however, have no information of other planetary systems and, indeed, are hardly conversant with the planet on which we are now living.
