Many things we take as irrevocable facts can actually be different or even opposite in different contexts. For example, we all learn that water boils at 100 degrees celsius and this can easily be proved by just boiling some water and checking the temperature with a thermometer, right? Well, not exactly. For most of us, the water will not boil at 100 degrees, but at 99.5, 98, 95, or even 87, according to the altitude one lives. One would have a hard time cooking a meal on top of Mount Everest, for example, since there the water boils at just 68 degrees!
Things are also different according to the point of view. For example, we understand that the earth is round. However, for one who is standing on the ground, it appears quite flat. Since the earth is so big, the curvature can only be seen if one goes quite high. Although the earth is round, islands and continents are not, therefore one who lives on an island like Mauritius or Seychelles actually lives in a flat structure that is part of a round planet.
Similarly, the round earth is part of a flat structure: the solar system, which in turn is part of an also relatively flat structure: the milky way galaxy. Therefore, one’s concept of living in a flat or spherical structure, as well as any description created by him, can vary, according to which level he is speaking about. One can say that he lives on a flat island, that is part of a round planet, that is part of a flat solar system, and the three statements are going to be simultaneously true.
Such apparent contradictions are also found in the Vedic literature, where our cosmic house is described as round or flat according to the context. The earth itself is described as Bhu-gola, which can be translated as “the earthly globe”, but it’s also stated that our planet is part of a bigger structure called Jambudvipa, which in turn is part of an even bigger structure called Bhu-Mandala. Both Jambudvipa and Bhu-Mandala lie on a flat plane. Such structures cannot be observed from our dimension, therefore when we look into the sky we see only the vastness and darkness of space, but according to the Vedas, higher beings can see such subtle structures, and thus their view of reality is very different than ours. We discussed this point in our other video about the Vedic Universe.
Therefore, just like one can simultaneously live on a flat island, on a round planet, and on a flat solar system, one also lives simultaneously on a round earth which is part of a larger flat structure. There is the round Bhu (Bhu-Gola) and the flat Bhu (Bhu-Mandala), and both exist simultaneously. As human beings, we have access only to the gross dimension, and thus we can see only the earthly globe where we live, but higher beings can see more, and their understanding of reality is different from ours. Their view of the Universe is conveyed in books like the Bhagavata Purana, and thus such books of knowledge describe a reality that does not directly correspond to what we can observe using our human senses.
Thus, different levels of reality are described with the same words, and one can pick one or the other according to his level of understanding. This is simultaneously one of the most intriguing, and one of the most difficult to understand aspects of the Vedic literature.