Archaeoastronomy and Vedic chronology
Encyclopedia
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
archaeoastronomical dating of the Vedic period
Vedic period
The Vedic period was a period in history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed. The time span of the period is uncertain. Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas, was composed roughly between 1700–1100 BCE, also...
or Hindu Time Cycles, are based on early references to astronomy in Vedic scriptures.
History
The chronology of Indian history and literature prior to the Middle Ages is notoriously uncertain, and attempts to employ archaeoastronomy go back to William JonesWilliam Jones
-Academics and authors:* William Jones , Welsh mathematician who proposed the use of the symbol π* Sir William Jones , English philologist who proposed a relationship among Indo-European languages...
who tried to show, based on information gathered from Varaha Mihira, that Parashara
Parashara
' is a Rigvedic Maharishi and author of many ancient Indian texts. Parāśara was the grandson of Vashista, the son of Śakti Maharṣi, and the father of Vyasa. There are several texts which give reference to Parāśara as an author/speaker...
muni lived at 1181 BCE.
Jacobi (1909) has argued that in the Rigveda and Atharvaveda the sun was in Phalguni, and in the Sankhayana and Gobhila Grhyasutra the Full moon was in Bhadrapada during the summer solstice, which would have occurred at 4500-2500 BCE. Jacobi and Tilak have both noted that the terms of the naksatras Mula (root), Vicrtau (dividers) and Jyestha (oldest) suggest that these names originated from a time when Mula marked the beginning of the year, i.e. about 4500-2500 BCE. Tilak has also noted that the two week long pitrs period after the full moon in Bhadrapada occurred at the beginning of the pitryana, which would have been true at about 4500-2500 BCE.
Subhash Kak
Subhash Kak
Subhash Kak is an Indian American computer scientist, most notable for his controversial Indological publications on history, the philosophy of science, ancient astronomy, and the history of mathematics...
in his Astronomical Code of the Rgveda dates the Rigveda to "4000-2000 BCE"; Kak's results have been criticized by Plofker as having "no statistical significance whatsoever", even if overlooking their being based on the structure of the Iron Age shakha
Shakha
A shakha , is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school. An individual follower of a particular school or recension is called a ...
(recension) of Shakala rather than the content of the actual Rigvedic texts.
Samhitas
In RV 5.40.5-9, a solar eclipse is referred to: SuryaSurya
Surya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
is obscured by an Asura
Asura
-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asuras constitute a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. The Daityas and Danavas were combinedly known as Asuras. The Asura were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa...
called Svarbhanu ("self-luminous"), but recovered by the Atris
Atris
Atris may refer to:* a'tris, an alternative rock band* Atris, a fungus moth genus, nowadays synonymized with Infurcitinea* the descendents of Atri in Rigvedic mythology* Atri , a gotra of Rishi Attri...
.
"The One" referred to in the Nasadiya Sukta
Nasadiya Sukta
The Nasadiya Sukta is the 129th hymn of the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda. It is concerned with cosmology and the origin of the universe. It is known for its skepticism...
and other hymns has been suggested to have originally referred to the axis mundi
Axis mundi
The axis mundi , in religion or mythology, is the world center and/or the connection between heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet...
, and "The One who dwells beyond the seven sages
Saptarshi
The Saptarishi are the seven rishis who are extolled at many places in the Vedas and Hindu literature. The Vedic Samhitas never actually enumerate these rishis by name, though later Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas and Upanisads do so. They are regarded in the Vedas as the patriarchs of the...
" as the polar star, at the time referring to Thuban
Thuban
Thuban also known by its Bayer designation Alpha Draconis is a star in the constellation of Draco. A relatively inconspicuous star in the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere, it is historically significant as having been the north pole star in ancient times...
(α Draco
Draco (constellation)
Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky. Its name is Latin for dragon. Draco is circumpolar for many observers in the northern hemisphere...
nis).
The samvatsara "full year" in the Yajurveda has 360 days, and 12 (TS) or 13 (VS) months.
Brahmanas
The visuvant (summer solstice) period is 21 days in Aitreya Br. and 7 days in Pancavimsa Br., the summer solstice being in the middle of the period.The gavam ayana ritual in SB 4.6.2. is based on the motion of the sun.
In the Maitrayana Brahmana Upanishad
Maitrayaniya Upanishad
The Maitrayaniya Upanishad or the Maitri Upanishad belongs to the Maitri or Maitrayaniya shakha of the , though some texts assign it to the . It figures as number 24 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads under the name of the Upanishad, which is included there as a Upanishad, associated with...
(6.14), the year is said to be into two portions, with the part from Magha to half of Śraviṣṭha associated with Agni, and the part from Sārpa to half of Śraviṣṭha associated with Varuna
Varuna
In Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...
and Saumya (the moon). Aiyar has argued that Agni suggests the warm half and similarly Varuna the cool half of the year, suggesting the summer solstice at the beginning of Maghā and thus implying the vernal equinox in Kṛttikā. This, according to Kak, would correspond to 1660 BCE.
Shatapatha Brahmana
The Shatapatha Brahmana is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina and Kanva , with the former having the eponymous 100 adhyayas,7624 kandikas in 14 books, and the latter 104 adhyayas,6806 kandikas in 17...
mentions that the Krttikas (the Pleiades
Pleiades (star cluster)
In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...
) "do not swerve from the east". This would have been the case with precision at 2950 BCE and was true also about 2000 BCE, but was still true to within 8-13 degrees (viz., East by north
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
) around the 8th to 6th centuries BC, the assumed date of the text's composition.
Vedanga Jyotisa
The positions of the solstices and equinoxes in the Vedanga JyotishaVedanga Jyotisha
The ' is an Indian text on Jyotisha, redacted by Lagadha .The text is foundational to the Vedanga discipline of Jyotisha. It is dated to the final centuries BCE...
, with the sun very close to the Krittika at the Vernal Equinox., would correspond to about 1370 BCE, although the text in its present form is from a later date.
The Vedanga Jyotisha, in common with Mesopotamian texts, asserts a 3:2 ratio between the durations of daylight on the longest and shortest days of the year. This corresponds to a latitude of about 35 degrees. A latitude of 34 degrees would correspond to Northern India.
Literature
- David FrawleyDavid FrawleyDavid Frawley is an American Hindu author, publishing on topics such as Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda. He is the founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and Hindu astrology...
. 1991. Gods, Sages, and Kings, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-37-7 - Kak, SubhashSubhash KakSubhash Kak is an Indian American computer scientist, most notable for his controversial Indological publications on history, the philosophy of science, ancient astronomy, and the history of mathematics...
, The Astronomical Code of the Rigveda (1994, 2000). - Tilak, Bal GangadharBal Gangadhar TilakLokmanya Tilak –, was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer and independence fighter who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities derogatorily called the great leader "Father of the Indian unrest"...
. The Orion or Researches into the antiquities of the Vedas, The Arctic home in the vedas, Vedic Chronology and Vedanga Jyotisha. Poona: Messrs Tilak Bros.
External links
- The Cosmological Insights of the Vedic Seers
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMGPwHcuPc8