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Easy Journey to Other Planets
systems. Thus there are fourteen statuses of planetary systems within this universe, and the sun is the chief planet. The sun is described in the  Brahma-saṁhitā :
yaccakṣureṣa savitā sakalagrahāṇāṁ rājā samasta sura mūrttir aśeṣatejāḥ yasyājñayā bhramati saṁbhrṭakālacakro govindam ādi puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhājami
“I worship Govinda (Kṛṣṇa), the primeval Lord, by whose order the sun assumes immense power and heat and traverses its orbit. The sun, which is the chief among all planetary systems, is the eye of the Supreme Lord.” (Bs. 5.52) Actually, without the sun we cannot see. We may be very proud of our eyes, but we cannot even see our next-door neighbor. People challenge, “Can you show me God?” But what can they see? What is the value of their eyes? God is not cheap. We cannot see anything, not to speak of God, without sunshine. Without sunlight we are blind. At night, we cannot see anything, and therefore we use electricity because the sun is not present.
There is not only one sun in the universe, but there are millions and trillions of suns. That is also stated in the  Brahma-saṁhitā :  yasya prabhā prabhavato jagadaṇḍa koti . (Bs. 5.40) The spiritual bodily effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is called the  brahmajyoti , and in that  brahmajyoti  there are countless planets. Just as within the sunshine there are innumerable planets, similarly, in the shin-
Varieties of Planetary Systems
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ing effulgence of the body of Kṛṣṇa there are innumerable planets. We have knowledge of many universes, and in each universe there is a sun. Thus there are millions and billions of universes and millions and billions of suns and moons and planets. But Kṛṣṇa says that if one tries to go to one of these planets, he will simply waste his time.
Now someone has gone to the moon, but what will human society gain from it? If, after spending so much money, so much energy and ten years of effort, one goes to the moon and simply touches it, what is the benefit of that? One can remain there and call his friends to come, but even if one goes there and remains, what will be the benefit? As long as we are in this material world, either on this planet or other planets, the same miseries—birth, death, old age and disease—will follow us. We cannot rid ourselves of them.
If we go to live on the moon—assuming it is possible—even with an oxygen mask, how long could we stay? Furthermore, even if we had the opportunity to stay there, what would we gain? We might gain a little longer life perhaps, but we could not live there forever. That is impossible. And what would we gain by a longer life? Are not the trees living for many, many years? Near San Francisco I have seen a forest where there is a tree 7,000 years old. But what is the benefit? If one is proud of standing in one place for 7,000 years, that is not a very great credit.
How one goes to the moon, how he comes back, etc., is a great story, and this is all described in the