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CHAPTEE  LV.

ON  THE   ORDER  OP  THE  PLANETS,   THEIE  DISTANCES
AND   SIZES.
 

Traditional
view on the
sun being
below the
moon.
 

Popular
notions of
astronomy.

Page 232.
 

When speaking of the lokas, we have already given a
quotation from the Vishnu-Purdna and from the com¬
mentary of Patafijali, according to which the place of
the sun is in the order of the planets below that of the
moon. This is the traditional view of the Hindus.
Compare in particular the following passage of the
Matsyct-Purdna:—

" The distance of heaven from the earth is equal to
the radius of the earth. The sun is the lowest of all
planets. Above him there is the moon, and above
the moon are the lunar stations and their stars.
Above them is Mercury, then follow Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, the Great Bear, and above it the pole.
The pole is connected with the heaven. The stars can¬
not be counted by man. Those who impugn this view
maintain that the moon at conjunction becomes hidden
by the sun, as the light of the lamp becomes invisible
in the light of the sun, and she becomes more visible
the more she moves away from the sun."

We shall now give some quotations from the books

of this school relating to the sun, the moon, and the

. stars, and we shall combine herewith the views of the

astronomers, although of the latter we have only a very

slender knowledge.

The Vdyu-Purdna says: " The sun has globular
shape, fiery nature, and lOOO rays, by which he attracts