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OCTOBER, 1968
It will be seen that in the traditional view, candramandala is an independent sphere, and the Moon is not just a satellite of the Earth. In the Jaina view, a distinction is drawn between prakirṇa-tārās on the one hand, and nakṣatra on the other; but there is no such distinction in the Hindu view. In the Hindu view, the Dhruva and Saptarşi are placed top-most. Most interesting is, however, the location of the Sun in the traditional order which is next to the Earth; in the modern notion of the Solar System, Mercury and Venus intervene between the Earth and the Sun. In the traditional system, the other planets including the Sun and the Moon and the rest are moving round the central Earth, but in the modern notion, they are moving round the Sun as the satellites are moving round their respective planets. The traditional view also does not agree with the suggestion that the Moon is a dead thing, deriving its light from the Sun and having no lighting arrangement of its own.
Jain Education International
95
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