Question: In the text below from Srimad Bhagavatam 8.10.38, how is it possible that the blood in the battle field can go up to sun?
TRANSLATION
Because of the impact on the ground of the legs of the demons and demigods and the wheels of the chariots, particles of dust flew violently into the sky and made a dust cloud that covered all directions of outer space, as far as the sun. But when the particles of dust were followed by drops of blood being sprinkled all over space, the dust cloud could no longer float in the sky.
PURPORT
The cloud of dust covered the entire horizon, but when drops of blood sprayed up as far as the sun, the dust cloud could no longer float in the sky. A point to be observed here is that although the blood is stated to have reached the sun, it is not said to have reached the moon.
Apparently, therefore, as stated elsewhere in Srimad Bhagavatam, the sun, not the moon, is the planet nearest the earth. We have already discussed this point in many places. The sun is first, then the moon, then Mars, Jupiter and so on. The sun is supposed to be 93,000,000 miles above the surface of the earth, and from the Srimad Bhagavatam we understand that the moon is 1,600,000 miles above the sun. Therefore the distance between the earth and the moon would be about 95,000,000 miles. So if a space capsule were traveling at the speed of 18,000 miles per hour, how could it reach the moon in four days? At that speed, going to the moon would take at least seven months. That a space capsule on a moon excursion has reached the moon in four days is therefore impossible.
Answer [Supplied by one of our devotee scientists]: Even if we accept that the Sun is 100,000 yojanas above the earth, as indicated in the Srimad Bhagavatam, we would not expect drops of blood to spray that high, given our understanding of the laws of nature. Therefore, if the drops did spray that high, it must have occurred in the context of some higher natural laws, perhaps pertaining to the heavenly planets. It is worth noting that the battle between the demons and the demigods took place on the shore of the Milk Ocean, which is certainly a heavenly realm. The distance up to the Sun from the Milk Ocean must therefore be understood in terms of higher dimensional geometry and physics. It does not refer to distance in ordinary space from the surface of the earth globe as we know it.
In fact, the distance to the sun must be defined in relation to the plane of Bhumandala, and in this context to say that the Moon is higher than the Sun does not contradict modern astronomy. If Bhumandala refers to the ecliptic plane, then the Moon does go higher than the Sun in some parts of its orbit. However, the sending of drops of blood from Bhumandala to the Sun still requires some physics which is unknown to us. (Indeed, if there are living beings in or on the plane of Bhumandala, they must function in ways that are unknown in our experience.)
