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An opinion on Dr. Vartak's Dating of the Mahabharat ...
I had earlier mentioned that the Mahabharat War initiated on the 16th
October 5561 B.C, i.e., approximately 7500 years since today. The
Vedas have been mentioned in the Mahabharat (as well as in the
Ramayan), the Yogic sciences were also prevelant at that time, .. it
follows that the Saunskrut language was also known, mathematics was
quite advanced as astronomical positions were used to record events.
It is probable that the entire chronology of Indian History, which
basically has been built upon the dates stated by Western scholars,
needs to be re-evaluated based upon the current archaeological find-
ings, astronomical calculations etc. Gautam Buddha who is mentioned to
have existed around 580 B.C may go further beyond to 1800 B.C!
Mahaveer Jain before that.....the instituion of Shankaryacharya could
pre-date Christ and so on and so forth!!!!
Dr. P.V Vartak has done a commendable job calculating the date of the
Mahabharat War. Here-under produced is an opinion on his work.
The Correct Date of the Mahabharat War
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(By : Wrangler G.L. Chandratreya)
Quite a number of efforts have been made by various scholars to find
the date of the Mahabharat War. Various methods have been used, using
historical references in the Puranas, language conditions, archaeolog-
ical findings etc. A few have used astronomical methods to determine
the time of Mahabharat. It is possible to determine the date of an
astronomical reference by considering the movements of planets includ-
ing the Sun and the Moon in the various constellations of the sky, the
movement of the Earth with its axis inclined to the ecliptic and the
precession and nutation of this axis as well as the seasonal changes
refered to in the text
I had the pleasure of going through the work done by Dr. P.V. Vartak,
"The Scientific Dating of the Mahabharat War" and I find it very
interesting. The astronomical references in the Mahabharat have been
gone through carefully and the positions of the planets Saturn,
Jupiter etc. in the constellations are finalized by properly under-
standing the distribution of the Sayan and Nirayan systems. This has
been done by considering the references from the view point of con-
sistency. A particular period has been obtained from the references to
various dynasties to Kings, accounts to writings of foreign visitors
to India and the references in those countries in this connection like
Greece, Egypt and Persia.
The periods of the various planets being known, have been used to find
the positions of the planets, including Rahu and Ketu in the
constellation of the sky by mathematical method. These positions agree
with those in the Mahabharat text. The agreement cannot be by chance
and so it is reasonable to argue that the date of the Mahabharat War
is as given by Dr. P.V Vartak, i.e., 16th October 5561 year B.C.
The seasonal references to various incidents in the Mahabharat are
investigated and they also agree with the calculations of the exact
dates during the period mentioned. The Tropical year and the Sideral
year have been used for verifying these dates. Thus the references to
the Equinoxes and the Solstices (Aayans) have also been accounted for.
I am unable to say if all the references (astronomical) have been
taken into account. But it is quite reasonable to to conclude that the
dates as obtained by Dr. P.V. Vartak are correct. It has been shown
that the other dates are inconsistent with the references.
Additional efforts will have to be put in by calculating the positions
of the planets at some other times and verifying the methods used. It
is possible to find the dates of other works, medieval and ancient,
and verifying these with the actuals as known to us. It will also be
useful to determine the changes in the seasons mentioned and comparing
to the period mentioned by applying the principle of the two systems
of calender - Solar and Luni-Solar and calculating the difference due
to the precession of earth's axis.
All in all, it is possible to state that the dates derived by Dr. Var-
tak are more correct than the various other dates propounded by other
workers in the field who have been carried over by the statements made
by Western scholars. They have been prejudiced against the richness of
the Indian Civilization in the past and have always tried to attribute
much later dates and consequently denigrate the glorious past of
India.
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