“Vedic Insights On Space Travel”

In recent years the public has received many reports of flights through outer space made by manned and unmanned vehicles launched from the United States and Russia. These include manned and unmanned orbital flights around the earth and journeys by robot vehicles to Venus, Mars, and other planets. And, of course, the most spectacular of these adventures in outer space were the Apollo flights to the moon. In this subsection we will discuss what Śrīla Prabhupāda had to say about these flights. We will begin by discussing the Vedic idea of space travel.
The Vedic literature contains many references to the idea of traveling from planet to planet through outer space. For some beings, such as great yogīs and demigods, it is possible to travel from one part of the universe to another by the direct use of mystic siddhis. No machines are required, and the empowered being is able to transcend the constraints of ordinary space and time. However, as we mentioned in Chapter 5, machines are also used for interplanetary travel, and it would seem that many beings who are capable of traveling through space on their own also customarily make use of such machines.

We can gather from various references that these machines, which are typically called vimānas, or airplanes, fall into a number of different categories, including literal space ships (ka-pota-vāyu) and also mind ships (ākāśa-patana) (SB 4.12.27p). In SB 4.6.27p, vimānas run by mantric hymns are mentioned, and in CC AL 5.22p, it is stated that the airplanes in Satyaloka are controlled not by gross mechanical means (yantra) but by psychic action (mantra). The higher-dimensional milieu of the upper planetary systems is the natural domain of flying machines of this type. It is interesting to note that Brahmā’s swan carrier is apparently a subtle mechanism of this kind, and not a sentient living entity (SB 3.24.20p). Also, even though yogīs are capable of traveling through space under their own power, we read that at the time of annihilation, the yogīs living on Maharloka use airplanes to escape from the fire emanating from Ananta and fly to Satyaloka (SB 2.2.26).

In SB 2.2.23p, Śrīla Prabhupāda states that it is not possible to go beyond Svargaloka or Janaloka by either gross or subtle mechanical means. This suggests that in the heavenly planets below the level of Tapoloka and Satyaloka there are classes of subtle machines that are not capable of reaching these higher realms. There are many references to the vimānas of the demigods, which typically seem to be used as celestial pleasure craft. These vehicles, like the demigods themselves, must operate at a level beyond the limits of our ordinary, gross senses. However, the existence of still more powerful vehicles is indicated by the story of Kardama Muni’s flying city (SB 3.33.15p), and also, of course, by the accounts of transcendental vimānas, such as the one that carried Dhruva Mahārāja to Vaikuṇṭha (SB 4.12.34p).

Up to the time of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, vimānas of the demigods regularly visited the earth (SB 1.19.18p), and persons such as Śālva would occasionally acquire remarkable flying machines by performing penances to satisfy demigods. It would seem that during this period, even materialistically inclined people were well aware of the existence of higher beings, and thus instead of trying to develop their own technology, such people would naturally turn to the demigods to satisfy their material desires. However, with the advent of the Kali-yuga, the earth (or at least the portion of the earth known to us) was placed under celestial quarantine, and access to higher planets was largely cut off (SB 2.6.29p).

It does seem, however, that flight to other planets is sometimes possible for human beings during the Kali-yuga. In SB 2.7.37 we read, “When the atheists, after being well versed in the Vedic scientific knowledge, annihilate inhabitants of different planets, flying unseen in the sky on well-built rockets prepared by the great scientist Maya, the Lord will bewilder their minds by dressing Himself attractively as Buddha and will preach on subreligious principles.” According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, this remarkable verse refers to a different Kali-yuga than the present one. We gather from the nature of the rockets and the name of their designer that in this age, atheistic people of this earth had mastered some techniques of higher-dimensional travel and were able to challenge the authority of the demigods.

The Moon Flight

Śrīla Prabhupāda has often said that the astronauts have never actually visited the moon. Since this is a very controversial topic, we will discuss his various statements on this issue at some length. As we will see, these statements mainly fall into two categories. These are (1) that the demigods will not allow human beings to enter higher planets because human beings are not qualified to do so, and (2) that the astronauts have not experienced the celestial opulences actually existing on the moon, and therefore they could not have gone there.
In SB 1.5.18p Śrīla Prabhupāda states, “Some are trying to reach the moon or other planets by some mechanical arrangement…. But it is not to happen.

By the law of the Supreme, different places are meant for different grades of living beings according to the work they have performed.” He has said that the moon, Venus, and the sun are inaccessible to the “inexperienced scientists” because they are higher planets that can be attained only by works done in the mode of goodness (SB 2.8.14p). He has described the attempt of the scientists of this earth to reach the moon as being as demonic as the attack of Rāhu (SB 5.24.3p), and has said that such travel will be barred by Indra, who has a standard policy of preventing unqualified people from reaching the heavenly planets (SB 8.11.5p). Thus the immigration policy of the demigods is one important reason Śrīla Prabhupāda gives for why the astronauts could not have gone to the moon.

Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently uses the fact that the astronauts did not experience the celestial conditions on the moon as evidence that they did not go there. Thus he points out that the astronauts did not meet anyone on the moon, “what to speak of meeting the moon’s predominating deity” (SB 4.22.54p). In SB 6.4.6p and 8.5.34p he comments that since the moon-god is the presiding deity of vegetation, there must be vegetation on the moon, and yet the scientists say that it is a barren desert. In SB 2.3.11p, 8.2.14p, and 8.22.32p, he cites the scientists’ lack of knowledge of the variety of life on other planets as evidence that the moon trip failed. And in SB 10.3.27p he argues that those who reach the moon attain a life of 10,000 years, and thus the astronauts could not have gone.

Śrīla Prabhupāda makes several statements suggesting that higher-dimensional travel is needed to reach the moon. Thus in SB 1.9.45p he refers to the futility of trying to use mechanical spacecraft, and says that finer methods are needed. In SB 3.32.3p he points out that “it is not possible to reach the moon by any material vehicle like a sputnik,” even though it hardly seems impossible to hurl a gross material object over a few thousand miles of space, or even several million. Finally, he indicates that to reach the orbit of the moon, it is first necessary to cross the Mānasa Lake and Sumeru Mountain (LB, p. 48). As we have already pointed out, no ordinary trajectory to the moon will pass by these particular landmarks.

We therefore suggest that when Śrīla Prabhupāda says that the astronauts did not go to the moon, he is referring to higher-dimensional travel to the celestial realm of the moon. From the Vedic point of view it is natural to interpret “travel to the moon” as travel in this sense. After all, if the moon is actually a celestial planet, then a journey to a place full of nothing but dust and rocks certainly couldn’t count as a trip to the moon.

In an interview with a reporter in 1968 Śrīla Prabhupāda stressed that the human body is not suited to live in the atmosphere of the moon. When asked whether spacesuits could make up for this deficiency, he said that if we could use scientific methods to change the nature of our bodies, then we might be able to visit the moon. But he regarded this possibility as very remote, and said that the spacesuits would not be sufficient.

When the reporter asked whether the inhabitants of the moon would be visible or invisible, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that they would be “almost invisible,” with subtle material bodies (CN, p. 179). This implies that the world of the demigods, including their dwellings, food, conveyances, and so on, would also be invisible to us. By definition, such a world is higher-dimensional: it is invisible to us but not to the beings living in it. To enter into it, we would indeed require more than a spacesuit: we would also need an “invisible” bodily form that could interact with the world of the lunar demigods.

This leaves open the question of whether or not the astronauts traveled in three-dimensional space to the moon that we directly perceive in the sky. We have pointed out that a higher-dimensional location can have a three-dimensional projection, just as a three-dimensional office address in New York City (given by avenue, street, and floor) has a two-dimensional projection (namely avenue and street). Thus the astronauts may have gone to the three-dimensional location of the moon without making the higher-dimensional journey needed to actually reach the kingdom of Candra. This would be comparable to visiting Vṛndāvana on the earth without being able to perceive the spiritual world that is actually there.

This is a definite possibility, although we do not know for certain whether it is true. A second possibility is that the astronauts may have been deluded by the demigods at some stage of their journey and may never have reached the gross moon planet. Thus, Śrīla Prabhupāda has suggested that the astronauts may have been diverted to the planet Rāhu (SB 4.29.69p). A third possibility, of course, is that the true story of the moon trip has been obscured by manmade illusions. Śrīla Prabhupāda has expressed doubt as to the honesty of the moon explorers, both in the Bhāgavatam 5.17.4p and in private conversations.

This brings us to the question of whether or not there was a moon hoax. Obviously, this is a very touchy question, and we have no definite evidence that settles it one way or another. Here we will simply give one piece of evidence suggesting that published reports of the moon landings may not have been fully honest. Figure 18 shows an official published picture of the Apollo lunar module on the surface of the moon (MSF, p. 397). The clearly visible footprints confirm the astronauts’ statements that the lunar surface was soft and dusty. The rocket engine of the lunar module can be seen beneath the craft, a few feet above the surface.

As the lunar module descended to the surface of the moon, these rockets would have been firing continuously to break the vehicle’s downward motion and also support its weight. Under the lunar gravitational pull (which is 1/6 as strong as the earth’s gravity) the module would have weighed some 1,300 kg after expending most of its descent-stage propellant (MSF, p. 298). The question is, With the engine firing with enough power to support this much weight and break the module’s fall, why do we see no disturbance caused by the rocket exhaust in the soil beneath the engine? The engine was supposedly shut down when the vehicle was about 1.52 meters above the surface (MSF, p. 300). One would think that its exhaust would have left some recognizable streaks or markings on the soft lunar soil. Yet none can be seen in this picture or in other, similar ones.

In summary, Śrīla Prabhupāda rejected the idea that men had visited the moon on the grounds that these men were not qualified to enter a higher planet and that their descriptions of their journey indicated they had not done so. He also indicated that their gross mechanical methods were not suitable for entering a higher planet. Apart from these firm conclusions, Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned a few tentative possibilities as to what might have actually transpired on the moon flight, and he expressed general doubts as to the honesty of the people involved with space exploration. In this area there are many opportunities for cheating, and there is evidence suggesting that some cheating has taken place. However, to obtain conclusive proof of large-scale cheating would be very difficult, and possibly dangerous.