348
Śrimad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 5, Ch. 22]
TEXT 11
तत उपरिष्टाद्विलक्षयोजनतो नक्षत्राणि मेरुं दक्षिणेनैव कालायन ईश्वरयोजितानि सहाभिजिताष्टाविंशतिः ॥११॥
tata upariṣṭād dvi-lakṣa-yojanato nakṣatrāṇi merum dakṣiṇenaiva kālāyana īśvara-yojitāni sahābhijitāṣṭā-vimśatiḥ.
tataḥ—from that region of the moon; upariṣṭāt—above; dvi-lakṣa-yo-janataḥ—200,000 yojanas; nakṣatrāṇi—many stars; merum—Sumeru Mountain; dakṣiṇena eva—to the right side; kāla-ayane—in the wheel of time; īśvara-yojitāni—attached by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; saha—with; abhijitā—the star known as Abhijit; aṣṭā-vim-śatiḥ—twenty-eight.
TRANSLATION
There are many stars located 200,000 yojanas [1,600,000 miles] above the moon. By the supreme will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are fixed to the wheel of time, and thus they rotate with Mount Sumeru on their right, their motion being different from that of the sun. There are twenty-eight important stars, headed by Abhijit.
PURPORT
The stars referred to herein are 1,600,000 miles above the sun, and thus they are 4,000,000 miles above the earth.
TEXT 12
तत उपरिष्टाद्विलक्षयोजनत उपलभ्यते पुरतः पश्चात्सहैव वार्कस्य शैघ्यमान्यसाम्याभिर्गतिभिरर्कवच्चरति लोकानां नित्यदानुकूल एव प्रायेण वर्षग्रंशरेणानुमीयते स वृष्टिविष्टम्भग्रहोपशमनः ॥१२॥
tata upariṣṭād uśanā dvi-lakṣa-yojanata upalabhyate purataḥ paścāt sahaiva vārkasya śaighrya-māndya-sāmyābhir gatibhir arkavac carati lokānām nityadānukūla eva prāyeṇa varṣayamś cāreṇānumīyate sa vṛṣṭi-viṣṭambha-grahopaśamanaḥ.