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Hindu astronomy

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Hindu astronomy is one of the ancient astronomical systems of the world.

The astronomy and the astrology of India is based upon sidereal calculations. The sidereal astronomy is based upon the stars and the sidereal period is the time that it takes the object to make one full orbit around the Sun, relative to the stars. This is considered to be an object's true orbital period.

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[edit] Hindu astronomy

In Hindu Astronomy, the vernal equinox (the First Point of Aries) is often calculated at 23° from 0° Aries (1950 CE), i.e. about 7° Pisces <ref>(Frawley 1991:148)</ref>. The constellation that marks this vernal equinox is the Uttarabhadra.

In the time of the Puranas, the vernal equinox was marked by the Ashwini constellation (beginning of Aries), which gives a date of about 300-500 CE. The Vishnu Purana (2.8.63) states that the equinoxes occur when the Sun enters Aries] and Libra, and that when the sun enters Capricorn, his northern course (from winter to summer solstice) commences, and the southern course when he enters Cancer.

In the Suryasiddhanta, the rate of precession is set at 54" (it actually is 50.3"), which is much more accurate than the number calculated by the Greeks <ref>(Frawley 1991:148)</ref>.

The Hindus use a system of 27 or 28 Nakshatras (lunar constellations) to calculate a month. Each month can be divided into 30 lunar tithis (days). There are usually 360 or 366 days in a year.

It has been argued that Nilakantha Somayaji's (1444-1550) work shows a better equation of the center for Mercury and Venus "than was available either in the earlier Indian works or in the Islamic or European traditions of astronomy till the work of Kepler, which was to come more than a hundred years later."<ref>Ramasubramanian et al. 1994, cited in Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref>

[edit] Heliocentrism

The earliest traces of a counter-intuitive idea that it is the Earth that is actually moving and the Sun that is at the centre of the solar system (hence the concept of heliocentrism) is found in several Vedic Sanskrit texts written in ancient India. Yajnavalkya (c. 9th–8th century BC) recognized that the Earth is spherical and believed that the Sun was "the centre of the spheres" as described in the Vedas at the time. In his astronomical text Shatapatha Brahmana (8.7.3.10) he states: "The sun strings these worlds - the earth, the planets, the atmosphere - to himself on a thread." He recognized that the Sun was much larger than the Earth, which would have influenced this early heliocentric concept. He also accurately measured the relative distances of the Sun and the Moon from the Earth as 108 times the diameters of these heavenly bodies, close to the modern measurements of 107.6 for the Sun and 110.6 for the Moon. He also described a calendar in the Shatapatha Brahmana.

The Vedic Sanskrit text Aitareya Brahmana (2.7) (c. 9th–8th century BC) also states: "The Sun never sets nor rises thats right. When people think the sun is setting, it is not so; they are mistaken." This indicates that the Sun is stationary (hence the Earth is moving around it), which is elaborated in a later commentary Vishnu Purana (2.8) (c. 1st century), which states: "The sun is stationed for all time, in the middle of the day. [...] Of the sun, which is always in one and the same place, there is neither setting nor rising."

The Indian astronomer-mathematician Aryabhata (476–550), in his magnum opus Aryabhatiya, propounded a heliocentric model in which the Earth was taken to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were given with respect to a stationary Sun. He was also the first to discover that the light from the Moon and the planets was reflected from the Sun, and that the planets follow an elliptical orbit around the Sun, and thus propounded an eccentric elliptical model of the planets, on which he accurately calculated many astronomical constants, such as the times of the solar and lunar eclipses, and the instantaneous motion of the Moon (expressed as a differential equation). Bhaskara (1114–1185) expanded on Aryabhata's heliocentric model in his astronomical treatise Siddhanta-Shiromani, where he mentioned the law of gravity, discovered that the planets don't orbit the Sun at a uniform velocity, and accurately calculated many astronomical constants based on this model, such as the solar and lunar eclipses, and the velocities and instantaneous motions of the planets. Arabic translations of Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya were available from the 8th century, while Latin translations were available from the 13th century, before Copernicus had written De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, so it's quite likely that Aryabhata's work had an influence on Copernicus' ideas.

[edit] Speed of light

The Indians held the speed of light to be finite. Sayana is claimed to have mentioned the speed of light c, in the following comment he wrote on verse 1.50 of the Rig Veda:

"Thus it is remembered: [O Sun] you who traverse 2202 yojanas in half a nimesa."

According to Kak these ancient units translate into a speed of 186,536 miles/second, a value amazingly close to the modern value of c of 186,282.397 miles/second. Apparently[1] a similar comment about the speed of light was also made by Bhatta Bhaskara around the 10th century on the Taittiriya Brahmana.

A yojana is an ancient unit of length used in India: it equals 4 kose. The definition and value of a kose varied depending on region and time period, and the lack of strong standardisation meant that the meaning of "kose" changed from Vedic times to the period of the medieval Islamic empires. However, a practically reliable definition puts each kose at 8000 yards, making a yojana 32,000 yards or 29,300 metres. The definition of the time unit "nimesa" can be found in Srimad Bhagavatam (III, 11-3 to 10), where it is mentioned that 15 nimesas make 1 kashta, 15 kashtas make one laghu, 30 laghus make 1 muhurta and 30 muhurtas make 1 diva-ratri. A diva-ratri (literally 'day-night') is 24 hours. Which means half a nimesa is 1/405000 day, and 2202 yojanas is about 64,400,000 m. This gives the speed of light to be about 302,000,000 m/s—an amazingly close answer.

[edit] Calendars

The beginning of the Saptarsi <ref>(seven rsis, stars of the Ursa Major)</ref> calendar, which is still used in parts of India, is often placed at 3076 BCE<ref>Kak 1994:64, Cunningham, A. 1883. A Book of Indian Eras. Kalhana (1150 CE).</ref>, but references by Greek historians (Pliny and Arrian)<ref>Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 6.59-60, Arrian, Indica, 9.9</ref> could possibly indicate an earlier beginning of the calendar at 6776 BCE.<ref>(about 3600 years before 3076) Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000. Mitchiner, J.E. 1982. Traditions of the seven Rsis. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass</ref> These Greek historians wrote that 153 or 154 kings passed between between Dionysos and Chandragupta, and according to the Puranas there were about 143 kings during this period.<ref>Kak 1994:65</ref> The Satapatha Brahmana says that the rsis and the Krittikas were married, and the Puranas says that the rsis are 100 years in each naksatra, which would amount to a cycle (cakra) of 2700 years. In some texts, Sravana is the first naksatra (which could be placed at the "Greek date" of 6676 BCE), and the Mahabharata War occurred with the Saptarsi in the Magha, or 2700 years later.<ref>Kak 1994:66</ref> It was argued by Cunningham that during Pliny's and Arrians time, Asvini marked the beginning of the naksatras, as is the case in Surya Siddhanta 8.9. Thus one could calculate a date of 3976 BCE for the beginning of the cakra, or 2700 years after 6676 BCE.<ref>Kak 1994:66-67</ref>

In the Vedanga Jyotisa, the year begins with the winter solstice.<ref>Bryant 2001:253</ref> The Hindu calendars know several year beginnings, and this might also have been the case in the Vedic period.<ref>Bryant 2001: 253</ref>

[edit] Hindu astronomy, Hindu texts and Indian chronology

In discussions of Hindu astronomy, it should be cleanly disambiguated whether actual ancient astronomical (or astrological, a distinction that did not exist in pre-modern India any more than in pre-modern Europe) treatises are discussed, or if archaeoastronomical claims are distilled from alleged codes or statements taken from the Vedas. Astronomical references in Hindu texts may also record older traditions, and wouldn't therefore indicate the date of the text itself.<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref>

[edit] Rigveda

The samvatsara year in the Rigveda has 360 days and 12 months.<ref>Bryant 2001:253</ref>

There are claims, like that of Subhash Kak of an Astronomical Code of the Rgveda<ref> S. Kak, The Astronomical Code of the Rgveda. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan 1994.</ref> dating the Rigveda to 4000-2000 BCE; Kak's results have been criticized by Plofker<ref>Plofker, K. Review of Kak (1994), Centaurus 38 (1996), 362-364; see also Witzel EJVS Vol. 7 (2001) issue 3 (May) [2]</ref> as having "no statistical significance whatsoever", even if overlooking their being based on the structure of the Iron Age shakha (recension) of Shakala rather than the content of the actual Rigvedic texts.

The Rigveda knows the names of Brhaspati (Jupiter) and Vena or Sukra (Venus).<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000. Kak 1994:14, 103</ref> It also mentions 34 lights, probably the sun, moon, the 27 naksatras and the five planets, and has references to "sapta suryah" (seven suns).<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000. Kak 1994:103.</ref> In RV 5.40.5-9, a solar eclipse is described.<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref><ref>Sengupta 1947</ref>

Jacobi 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.<ref>Bryant 2001:254; Jacobi 1909</ref> 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.<ref>Bryant 2001:255</ref> 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.<ref>Bryant 2001:255</ref>

[edit] Yajurveda

The sky altar and the sun are described as four-cornered in the Yajurveda 38.20., which could refer to the two solstices and two equinoxes.<ref>Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997</ref>

[edit] 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. <ref>Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997</ref>

The gavam ayana ritual in SB 4.6.2. is based on the motion of the sun.<ref>Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997</ref> In Aitreya Br. 2.7., is probably a reference to the rotation of the earth.<ref>Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997</ref>

In the Brahmanas, the two solstices divide the year into two times 180 days, and probably into 181 (winter to summer solstice) and 184/5 days.<ref>Cf. Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997</ref> Subhash Kak has argued that the periods for the solstices described in the Brahmanas would suggest that the perihelion occurred before the summer solstice, and that as a consequence the Brahmanas should be dated to 2000-1000 BCE, taking into account that "the measurements in those times were not very accurate".<ref>Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997</ref>

[edit] Upanishads

The positions of the winter and summer solstice in the Maitrayaniya Brahmana Upanisad (6.14) would correspond to 1660 BCE.<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref>

[edit] Grhya Sutras

Jacobi (1909) has noted that the Gryha Sutras mention the dhruva (Polestar), and the Maitrayana Brahamana Upanishad says that even the polestar moves (over a long period of time).<ref>Bryant 2001:258</ref> Jacobi argued that these instances preserve memories from ancient times.

[edit] Vedanga Jyotisa

The positions of the solstices and equinoxes in the Vedanga Jyotisa would correspond to about 1370 BCE,<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref><ref>Sastry 1985</ref><ref>Bryant 2001:259. Keith 1912</ref>, although most of the text in its present form is from a later date.<ref>Kak 2000:87</ref> In this text, the sun is very close to the Krittika at the Vernal Equinox.<ref>Bryant 2001:255</ref>

It is probable that the Vedanga Jyotisha was written at a latitude of 34 degrees, which would correspond e.g. to Northern India.<ref>Bryant 2001: 261. Kak 2000. Yukio Ohashi 1997</ref> It was also speculated on similar calculations that the Rigvedic hymns could had been arranged in its present form at a latitude of about 23 degrees (e.g. Gujarat).<ref>Kak 1994:100-101.</ref>

[edit] Mahabharata

Aryabhata dated the Mahabharata war to 3137 BCE, and Varahamihira to 2449 BCE.<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref> According to the Puranic genealogies, the Mahabahrata War occurred at 1924 BCE (1500 years before the Nandas at 424 BCE).<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref>

[edit] Naksatras

The Taittiriya Samhita situates 13 1/2 devanaksatras in the northern hemisphere, and 13 1/2 yamanaksatras in the southern hemisphere. According to Kak, this would point to a date of about 2300 BCE.<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000. Sastry 1985</ref>

[edit] Dhanisththa nakshatra

The Hindu astronomer Varahamihira, Garga (quoted by Somakara), the Mahabharata and the Vedanga Jyothish refer to the nakshatra Dhanishta (Shravishta) and thus to an ancient calendar that would have been used in 1280 BCE <ref>(see Frawley 1991: 152 ff.)</ref>. The Kaushitaki Brahmana and possibly the Atharvaveda refer to a similar calendar <ref>(Frawley 1991)</ref>. The Atharvaveda, the Tandya Mahabrahmana and Laugakshi (quoted by Somakara) may show knowledge of an earlier calendar, but still in the Magha constellation <ref>(Frawley 1991)</ref>.

[edit] Krittika constellation

Image:Vedic pleiades.png Still earlier Hindu calendars begin with the Krittikas, thus suggesting that the vernal equinox was in the Krittika constellation at this time.<ref>e.g., Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997; Bryant 2001:255</ref> There are additionally references to the summer solstice in the Magha constellation. This could indicate a date around 2000 BCE. The Shatapatha Brahmana has the Krttikas (the Pleiades) "do not swerve from the east"<ref>ŚBM 2.1.2.1: kṛttikāsv agnī ādadhīta ... etā ha vai prācyai diśo na cyavante "One should found one's fires under the Krttikas ... These do not swerve from the eastern direction...All other Nakshatras deviate from the Eastern direction."; The emphasis on "due east" is due to the 14th c. commentary by Sayana.[citation needed]</ref><ref>The SB reference was first noted by Sankar B. Dikshit (Bryant 2001:256). Dikshit, Sankar B. 1985. "The Age of the Satapatha Brahmana" Indian Antiquary 24:245-6</ref>. This would have been the case with precision at 2950 BCE<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000</ref> and was true also about 2000 BCE<ref>(or during the third millennium BCE) e.g., Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997</ref>, but was still true to within 8-13 degrees (viz., East by north) around 800 BC, the assumed date of the text's composition.<ref>Texts of the Brahmana period do only distinguish intermediate directions, viz. eighths of the compass, and the rising of the Pleiades fell into the Eastern eighth until well after the Vedic period. See also Michael Witzel, The Pleiades and the Bears viewed from inside the Vedic texts, EVJS Vol. 5 (1999), issue 2 (December) [3] (Witzel speculates that the reference may be based on centuries old priestly traditions of times when the Pleiades were even closer to due East) and Witzel EJVS Vol. 7 (2001) issue 3 (May) [4]</ref>

The Atharvaveda, the Taittiriya Brahmana, the Shatapatha Brahmana, the Maitrayaniya Upanishad, the Baudhayana Srauta Sutra<ref>Bryant 2001:257</ref> and the Vishnu Purana show such a constellation in the Krittika<ref> (Frawley 1991)</ref>. Jean Filliozat has argued that similar conclusions can be derived from Buddhist texts, that incorporated material from earlier Hindu texts.<ref>Bryant 2001:260</ref>

Aiyar has argued that in the Maitrayana Brahmana Upanishad the sun was in the Magha during the Summer solstice, which would correspond to the same period when the sun was in the Krittika during the Vernal Equinox.<ref>Bryant 2001:257-8</ref> According to Tilak, the Taittiriya Samhita (7.4.8) has the full moon in the Magha during the winter solstice, which would also be the case at about 2000 - 1000 BCE.<ref>Bryant 2001:342</ref>

Additionally, the legend of the cutting off of Prajapati's head by Rudra could possibly indicate a date when Mrgasirsha marked the beginning of the year.<ref>(and when the sun rose in Orion at the Vernal Equinox. Kak 1994:80) Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000 </ref> Possibly, the beginning of the year was later marked by Rohini, Prajapati's daughter.<ref>Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000. Kak 1994:80. Santillana and Dechend (1969).</ref>

[edit] Varaha Mihira

William Jones tried to show, based on information gathered from Varaha Mihira, that Parasara Muni lived at 1181 BCE.<ref>Bryant 2001:251</ref>

[edit] Terminology

[edit] Seasons

  • madhu, madhava in vasanta: spring
  • sukra, suci in grisma: summer
  • nabha, nabhasya in varsa: rains
  • isa, urja in sarada: autumn
  • saha, sahasya in hemanta: winter
  • tapa, tapasya in sisira: freeze

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

<references/>


[edit] References

  • S. Kak. "The Speed of Light and Purāṇic Cosmology". In T. R. N. Rao and S. Kak, Computing Science in Ancient India, pages 80–90. USL Press, Lafayette, 1998. Available as e-print physics/9804020 on the arXiv.

[edit] Further reading

  • Aiyar, B.V. Kamesvara. 1922. "The Age of the Brahmanas". Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society 12.
  • Billard, R. L'Astronomie Indienne. Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, Paris, 1971.
  • Bryant, Edwin (2001), The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture, Oxford University Press
  • Duke, Dennis. 2005. "The Equant in India: The Mathematical Basis of Ancient Indian Planetary Models." Archive for History of Exact Sciences 59: 563–576.
  • Koenraad Elst: Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate. 1999.
  • Filliozat, Jean. 1969. "Notes on Ancient Iranian and Indian Astronomy." Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Research Institute 42:100-135.
  • David Frawley. 1991. Gods, Sages, and Kings, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-37-7
  • Kak, Subhash: The Astronomical Code of the Rigveda
  • Kramrisch, S. The Presence of Siva. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1981.
  • Jacobi, Hermann. 1909. "On the Antiquity of Vedic Culture." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 721-726.
  • N.N. Law. 1965. Age of the Rgveda. Calcutta: Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay.
  • Pingree, David. 1978. "History of Mathematical astronomy in India." Dictionary of Scientific Biography, vol. 15, pp. 533–633, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
  • de Santillana and von Dechend: Hamlet's Mill. Gambit, Boston 1969.
  • Seidenberg, A. "The origin of mathematics" Archive for History of Exact Sciences 18: 301-342, 1978.
  • Sengupta, P.C. Ancient Indian Chronology. Calcutta: University of Calcutta Press, 1947.
  • Sen, S.N., and K.S. Shukla, eds. 1985. History of Astronomy in India. New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy.
  • Tilak, Bal Gangadhar: 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.
  • Sri Yukteswar Giri. The holy science. Los Angeles, Ca: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1984.

[edit] Translations

  • Burgess, Ebenezer (tr.) The Surya Siddhanta. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1989 (1860)
  • Kuppanna Sastry, T.S., Vedanga Jyotisha of Lagadha. Indian National Science Academy, Delhi 1985.
  • Vidyalankara, V. Satapatha Brahmanastha Agnicayana Samiksa. Bahalgarh, 1985.

[edit] External links

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