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Ancient History through VedicAstronomy

by NP Ramadurai

In his research paper, Prof. K Srinivasa Raghavan declared that Sapta Rishi Era commencedon 21-11-8576 BCE; Sri Ramas date of birth: 10-1-4439 BCE; Sri Krishnas date of birth: 27-7-3112 BCE; commencement of Kaliyuga 11-1-3104 BCE.

Such dates were not convincing to Ramadurai. He arrived at a particular reference date inwhich the first star Aswini, the first day of Chitrai month, the first day of Prabhava year andthe first bright lunar day synchronized. That date was 3-12-16495 BCE, Friday. He alsoanalysed the period of rotation of each planet and found that once in 12,160 years all theplanets align themselves on both sides of 300th degree within 120 degrees and occupy thesame position after each rotation. This particular duration is considered by him as the durationof one Mahayuga. He also found that the precession of equinox moves through 180 degrees in

12,160 years; and it takes another 12,160 years to complete the remaining 180 degrees ofone full cycle. The movement through 180 degrees is considered to be the day of Brahma andthe movement through 181 to 360 degrees is considered to be the night of Brahma.

Ramadurai observes that the Sapta Rishi Era commenced exactly on 13-10-15261 BCE. Healso found that Sri Rama incarnated on 17-1-10205 BCE; Sri Krishna incarnated on 23-7-3185BCE. This date belongs to the Kali yuga of the 28th Mahayuga cycle. And so, Lord Krishna isduly claimed and praised as Kaliyuga Purusha. The most important finding he has made isthat Kaliyuga of the 28th Mahayuga cycle ended on 27-12-3101 BCE.

After this date, the Kruta yuga of the 29th Mahayuga cycle commenced. It lasted upto 8-2-1765 CE and on 9-2-1765 CE, the Treta Yuga started, which is now in its onward movement.So we are actually in Treta yuga, not in Kali yuga, according to Ramadurai.

While Prof. Srinivasa Raghavan refers to Magha nakshatra cycle of 100 years, citing Rig-Veda1.24.9 which, according to him, says that Saptarishi stays in each nakshatra for 100 years,Ramadurai corrects this to 81 sidereal years. In the Tamil version of his work, Ramaduraiexplains why the 81 sidereal years`also match with the claim in the Puranas. The 81 siderealyears equal approximately 1002 chandramaana months. This computation has beenapproximated as 1000 chandra-s in the Puranas as the period of Sapta Rishis stay in eachnakshatra while moving in retrograde motion.

Note: RV 1.24.9 the rica for Varuna: A hundred balms are thine, O King, a thousand;deep and wide-reaching also be thy favours. Far from us, far away drive thouDestruction. Put from us e'en the sin we have committed. Varuna is beseeched (by thesinful) to destroy Nirriti and not to send them to Nirrti, the divinity of death. Nirrti andMrtyu are both referred to as death.

Prof. Srinivasa Raghavan calculates the Saptharishi Era as follows: Chronologically, theSaptarishi Era of Kali Yugadhi is 3101 BCE, and so this Saptarishi must be at MaghaNakshatra about 5000 years back, but it can only be about 5400 years back because itcan make only one revolution of 2700 years to come to Magha Nakshatra. So, if weadd 5400 years + 3104 + 76 years, it could only be 8576 BCE, i.e. in 8576 BCE.(Vishnu Purna says that ASaptarishi Era was in 76th year Magha Nakshatra).Chronologically, it is the 1st year of Magha Nakshatra and from the point of movementof Saptarishi in the first year from Magha Nakshatra in the reverse order.Astronomically also this is correct because at the end of 5475 years sidereally, thesidereal month and the lunation exactly agree with a difference of 45 minutes.

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According to Ramadurais computation, Sri Rama was born on Monday BCE 17-1-10205 inTreta Yuga after the completion of Kruta yuga of 28th Mahayuga commenced as SaptharishiEra by Vaivasvatha Manu from Friday BCE 13-10-15261.

mgha ukla pravttasya pauaka sampinyugasya pacamasyeha klajnm nibodhat (kjyotia, 32)

Trans. Five-year yuga begins with mgha ukla paka (bright half) and ends withpauakapaka (dark half) according to this calendar.

mgha cycle

According to Ramadurai, one Mahayuga cycle is of 12,000 yuga years + 160 yugasandhi years= 12,160 sidereal years.

The 160 years constitute the mgha cycle of 160 sidereal years commencing as samvatsarayear on the first day of Tamil Kumba masi having mgha ukla prathama tithi and ravi a(avittam) star and ends with Idvatsara year on the last day of makara thai having pauyaamavasya. He notes that each mgha cycle of 160 sidereal years is equally divided into 1920sidereal months, 1979 luni-solar months, 2139 star months and 2299 yoga cycles as stated in

Viupura. One mgha cycle does not exceed 58441 days.

Precession cycle (one full day of Brahma)

All the planets orbit round the Sun in anti-clock-wise direction. However, the solar familycomprising the entire planetary bodies revolve round the Dhruva star in clock-wise direction.In each year the equinox the days when day and night are equal mves backwards therebycausing changes in the seasons in course of time. This rate of movement was calledprecession of equinox (ayanamsa).

This precession completed 180 degrees of movement backwards in one mahayuga of 12160sidereal years. It takes another mahayuga to complete the other half of 180 degrees and toreach the starting point. It takes two mahayugas of 24320 sidereal years for the solar familyto complete one full rotation. This period of 24320 sidereal years is divided into 6 seasons.

Day of Brahma starts in Vasanta ruthu and the night of Brahma starts in Sarad ruthu, asmentioned in Viupura.

Saptha rishi cycle

Seven stars which are positioned nearer to the Pole star in the north are known as SapthaRishis. They move from the east to west around the pole star in clock-wise direction. Theoriginal Puranas mention that these Saptha Rishis move backwards being associated with eachstar for a period of 81 sidereal years, in my calculation. They cover a period of 2187 siderealyears in all to traverse round the 27 stars backwards. Viupura mentions that theSaptha Rishis were for the 76th year in Magha star when Vaivasvatha Manu commenced theSaptha Rishi Era. The renowned astronomer Vriddha Garga who lived around BCE 2500,referred to the stay of Saptha Rishis in 67th year of Magha star at the time of transition ofDwapara and Kali yugas. Further Hisse Borla inscription of Vatsagulma located in Maharashtra

mentions that the Saptha Rishis were entering Uttaraphalguni star during the Yudhishtira SakaYear 3020. In my calculation it is found that these events correspond to BCE 15261 (start ofSapta Rishi Era), BCE 4317 (Sandhi of Dwapara and Kali) and BCE 120=119 (Hisse Borlainscription) respectively.

Astronomy and historical dates

As per Vedanga Jyotisha of the Rg Veda, the last yuga Kali of the 27th Mahayugacorresponding to the day of Brahma began on Wednesday BCE 5-10-16477 and ended after1216 sidereal years on Thursday BCE 12-10-15261, the last day of Makara Thai bearing



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Paushya AmavasyaSkandapurana praises Sri Murugas victory over the Asuras and of hisprotecting the manking during the end of Kali age of 27th Mahayuga. The first Tamil Academywas founded at about BCE 15300 in my calculation. After 40 years, the Kaliyhuga ended onBCE 12-10-15261, Thursday.

Sapta Rishi Era

Our Rishis commenced the Kruta yuga of 28th Mahayuga related to Night of Brahma as SapthaRishi Era only on Friday BCE 13-10-15261, the first day of Tamil month Kumba Masi in Sarvariyear bearing Magha sukla Prathama tithi and Sravishta (avittam) star in Sarad Ruthu as statedin Viupura.

Date of Sri Rama

The Treta yuga of the 28th Mahayuga commenced on BCE 12-11-10397 Thursday. During theTreta yuga the ruler of Ayodhya, Sri Rama was born around noon on Monday BCE 17-1-10205,the sixth day of Mesha Chittirai in Nala Year bearing PUnarpusam star and Chaithra suklaashtami followed by Navami tithi. This fact is proved by finding the Saptharishis spending their42nd year of stay in mid Bharani star. Further this date well suits the astronomical data givenby Valmiki.

Date of Sri Krishna

The Kali yuga of the 28th Mahayuga actually commenced on Friday BCE 20-12-4317. It islearnt from Vyasas Mahabharatha that Sri Krishna was born at Mathura around 12 oclock inthe night on Wednesday BCE 23-7-3185 of Simma Avani in Nala year bearing BadrapadaBahula Ashtami Tithi and Rohini star. It can be seen that Sri Krishna was born in 1132nd yearof Kali yuga, 12076 years after the commencement of the Saptarishi Era on Friday BCE 13-10-15261, that is 76th year of the 76th Maagha cycle.

In Mahabharata the fact that Kaliyuga had already begun has been confirmed in the statementof Vyasa to his mother in Adi Parva, of Hanuman to Bheema in Vana Parva and of Sri Krishnato Karna in Udyoga Parva and to Balarama in Salya Parva. King Nala who was said to havelived before the Pandavas was reported to have been afflicted with Kali impact. Therefore, wehave to conclude that Sri Krishna was born in Kaliyuga only and not as a person belonging to

Dwapara yuga as claimed by others.

Date of Mahabharata war

Mahabharata war was a landmark in the history of our country. Though many scholars of Indiaas well as the West have laboured a lot to fix the date of this historic event, none could givean acceptable one as they could not understand the ingenuity of our Vedic astronomers inreckoning of time.

The Mahabharata war commenced on Friday BCE 19-10-3139 the first day of Dhanur Margazhimonth in Subha Kruthu year bearing Margasira Sukla prrathama tithi and Moolam star afterAravan was sacrificied on the previous day as per the custom and ended after 18 days onMonday BCE 15-11-3139. At that time Sri Krishnas age was 47.

Bhishmashtami

Bhishma ended his life around noon on Monday BCE 3-1-3138, the day associated with MaghaSukla Ashtami tithi and Rohini star in the beginning of Suns northward journey after the lastday of Dakshinayana, namely Rathasapthami, was over the previous day. This day is eventoday observed as Bhishmashtami.

Sri Krishnas Demise



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Sri Krishna breathed His last on Thursday BCE 6-2-3101, the 12th day of Meena Panguni inTamil yar Pramathi bearing Chaithra sukla Prathama tithi and Uthara proshtapada(uttirattathi) star. In memory of his passing away, Jayabharatha Yudhishthira Saka wasstarted from Thursday BCE 6-2-3101 in the luni-solar system and not Kali yuga.

Kruta yuga of 29th Mahayuga (Day of Brahma)

Astronomically the Kruta yuga of 29th Mahayuga related to Day of Brahma commenced onSunday BCE 28-12-3101, the first day of Kumba Masi in Vikrama year having Magha SuklaPrathama tithi and Sravishta (Avittam) star as Samvatsara year in Vasantha Ruthu. The Krutayuga completed the duration of 4864 years and ended on Friday 8-2-1765 CE.

Conclusions

My humble request is that as per Vedic astronomy, we are living through Treta yuga of 29thMahayuga from 9th February, 1765 CE, Saturday. The astronomers who design the almanacsmay give up the imaginarily fixed Kaliyuga as running from Tuesday BCE 25-2-3101 andproject the Treta yuga fixed by me.

Not depreciating the monumental works of our astronomers in India and abroad but on thecontrary working on their works as the basis of my research, I humbly yet strongly

recommend that the history of India should be rewritten from Friday BCE 13-10-15261.(Source: N.P. Ramadurai, 2003, Ancient History through Vedic Astronomy in: N. Mahalingam,ed., 2003, Saptha Rishi Era and Ancient Historical Dates, pp. 1-19).

Ursa Major or Sapta Rishi

The stars of the Plough, shown linked by the thicker lines in the chart above, form one of themost recognised star patterns in the sky. Also called the Big Dipper, after the soup ladlesused by farmer's wives in America to serve soup to the farm workers at lunchtime, it formspart of the Great Bear constellation - not quite so easy to make out! The stars Merak andDubhe form the pointers which will lead you to the Pole Star, and hence find North.http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/public/nskyaug06.html



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[quote] It is the Rishis who mark the time and the periods of Kali-yuga, the age of sin andsorrow. See in the Bhagavata Purana XII., II, 2, 6, 32, and Vishnu Purana. Says the latter:"When the splendour of Vishnu (Krishna) departed for heaven, then did the Kali Yug, duringwhich men delight in sin, invade the world. . . . . When the Seven Rishis were in Magha, theKali Yug, comprising 1,200 (divine) years (432,000 years of mortals), began; and when fromMagha, they shall reach Purvashadha, then will this Kali age attain its growth, under Nandaand his successors."* This is the revolution of the Rishis "when the two first stars of the SevenRishis (of the Great Bear) rise in the heavens, and some lunar asterism is seen at night, at anequal distance between them, then the Seven Rishis continue stationary in that conjunctionfor a hundred years," a hater of Nanda makes Parasara say. According to Bentley, it is in orderto show the quantity of the precession of the equinoxes that this notion originated among the

astronomers. It was done "by assuming an imaginary line, or great circle, passing through thepoles of the ecliptic and the beginning of the fixed Magha, which circle was supposed to cutsome of the stars in the Great Bear. . . . The seven stars being called the Rishis, the Circle soassumed was called the line of the Rishis . . . . and being invariably fixed to the beginning ofthe lunar asterism Magha, the precession would be noted by stating the degree . . . of anymoveable lunar mansion cut by that line or circle as an index"

The saptha Rishis are the seven major stars of Ursa Major. Based on Varaaha Mihiras verses,we can easily identify starting from east, that Marichi is Arab Alkaid, Vasishta is Mizar,

Angirasa is Alioth, Athri is Megrez, Pulasthya is Phecda, Pulaaha is Merak and Krathu isDuBhe. The companion star for Mizar is Alcor. Hence Arundhathi stands for Alcor.

In the figure 1, Vasishta and Arudhathi (Mizar-Alcor) can not be seen separately.

Varaaha Mihira in his Brihat-Samhitha, dedicates 13th chapter to Saptha Rishis.The relevant verses provide following descriptions roughly translated as;

We have on Vriddha Gargas authority that in the Northern Sky, the Saptha Rishis revolvearound Dhruva Nayaka like a necklace.

From east to west the saptha muni's Marichi, Vasishtha, Angirasa, Athri, Pulasthya, Pulaahaand Krathu sit.



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Chaste Arundhathi accompanies sage Vasishtha.

These descriptions provide us with adequate information about the explicit astronomicalidentity of the nine stars, called as Dhruva, Arundhathi & Saptha Rishiss.

The Seven Sages are Marichi, vasishtha, angirasa, athri, pulasthya, pulaaha, and kruthu.

Varaaha Mihira notes that Saptha Rishis circles around Dhruva naayaka (Ref 1), which clearlystands for Ursa Major & Polaris. He provides us the proper names of seven dominant stars,and attributes the origin of these names to sage Vruddha Garga. In all probability Vriddhagarga is same as Gargya Rishi of Athrvana veda 19 kaanda 6-7 sooktha whose time wasapproximately 2400 BC.(Ref 2). Figure 1 and 2 illustrate a sky view of Ursa Major(Ref 3) froma modern astronomical software. This constellation in Northern Hemisphere appears to rotatearound the pole star Polaris. Dhruva clearly is Polaris.

The seven Rishis

According to the epic Mahabharata, composed in about 500 B.C., the stars of the Big Dipperwere the seven sages called Rishis. These seven sages are said to be those who made the Sunrise and shine. They were happily married to seven sisters named Krttika. They originally alllived together in the northern sky.

But one day, the god of fire, Agni, emerged from the flames of an offering performed by theseven Rishis and fell in love with the seven Krttika. Trying to forget his hopeless love for theKrttika, Agni wandered in the forest where he met Svaha. To conquer Agni's love, Svahadisguised herself as six of the seven Krttika. Svaha could mimic only six of the Krttika becausethe seventh sister Arundhati was too devoted to her husband to be imitated.

After a while, Svaha gave birth to a child that she named Skanda. With his birth, rumorsbegan to spread that six of the Rishis' wives were his mother. Six of the Rishis divorced theirwives. Arundhati was the only one that remained with her husband as the star Alcor. Theother six Krttika went away to become the Pleiades. [unquote]

http://www.greatdreams.com/sacred/rishis.htm

See Articles on Vedic Astronomy by Dr. S. Balakrishnahttp://www.vedicastronomy.net/stars_appendix.htm



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NAMES OF STARS FROM THE PERIOD OF THE VEDAS

Appendix

Astronomical time marks inAtharva Samhita &Jyotishya shaastra.

When wasAtharvanaSamhita composed?

Though we consider that the Star system to be basically stationary with reference to Solarsystem, there is an earth wobble occurring at rate of 26000 years per revolution which makesthe star system appear to move slowly with reference to Sun. This has been called Earth'sPrecession and was first identified nearly 2000 years ago by Ptolemy and Hipparchus.

The position ofChitra (Spica), which is very near the ecliptic, was recorded by Hipparchus(circa 150 BC) on the autumnal Equinox day with reference to Sun. It was studied again byPtolemy (circa 150 AD) nearly 300 years later on same autumnal Equinox day. Ptolemy foundthat Chitra appeared to have moved about 3 degrees toward Sun (Ref 4). Ptolemy decidedthat Sun was moving one degree for 100 years in reference to stars. This observation madenearly 2000 years ago, was probably the first documented recording of Earth's Precession.Today we know that Ptolemy was correct and that Earth's Precession rate is about 1.36degrees for 100 years.

This 2000-year old observation, confirms the uniformity of Earth's Precession validating thegeocentric mathematical models that exist for motion of objects in the sky. It allows us toextrapolate backward and forward in time, positions of objects in sky using computer softwarelike Load Star pro. Thus, any past Sun position records, on Equinox/Solstice days referringSun position to stars, carries the astronomical time mark of the period (Ref-8).

There are two possible definitions of a year as observed from Earth.

A Sidereal year is time taken for Sun to move from one star, and then come back to samestar. This is full 360 degrees movement of Earth around the Sun.

A Solar year is the time taken by Sun in its passage from one equinoctical point back to samepoint.

One would expect these two years to be same, but Solar year is shorter than Sidereal year byabout 19 minutes and 50 seconds and is said to be caused by inertial effects. It is calledEarth's Precession.

First let us get a contemporary picture of the location of our solar system in the Milkiwaygalaxy. This is illustrated in figure below. Our solar system is located at the edge of the

Milkiway disk of stars. The Milkiway is estimated to be about 50000 light years in its diameter.It consists of a large number of stars and other matter. The stars visible to our naked eye aregenerally within a few hundred light years around us. Some giant stars are located nearly1000 light years are also visible to naked eye. Thus most of the 10000 stars visible to us arevery near our solar system.

In the illustration below, the center of Milkiway Galaxy is in the direction ofMoola nakshatra.Thus bulk of the Milkiway matter is concentrated, as seen from earth, near starsJyeshtha,Moola, Poorva/Uttarashadha.



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Because of Earth's Precession, the angle of earth's motion to come back exactly to samelatitude (Solar year) is only 359.864 degrees around the sun. Solar year is the classicaldefinition of a year, as the 23.5 degrees earth's tilt controls the weather, seasons and theposition of Sun in its north-south traverse. A notional 360 degrees Sidereal year is irrelevantto us.



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But the 359.864 degrees Solar year is relevant because of repeating weather and seasons andhence Solar year is a natural year. That means every solar year, the Sun position drops backby about 0.0136 degrees with respect to stars. Also, it may be noted that the earths spinpolar axis also shifts by same angle of 0.0136 degrees per year in a coning motion. Mostpopular books on Stars illustrate this spinning top like coning motion property of Earth'sPrecession, but do not illustrate the apparent ecliptic plane motion of stars. The diagram belowillustrates the star shift in the ecliptic due to Precession on spring equinox day. The diagramshows the 27 nakshatra's in a circle of diameter of the order of few hundred light years withsun at the center.

The diagram below shows the effect of Earth's Precession on Sun/Star/Earth's position exactlyat the time of Spring Equinox. In this diagram, the Sun is always on equator and the day timeequals night. Diagram shows Earth's position from 2400 BC to 2000 AD. Every year, theEarth's seasons start occurring 0.0136 degrees (or roughly 0.0136 days) earlier. The diagramalso shows twenty-seven Bharateeya nakshatra's in the infinite distance in the ecliptic plane.It should be noted that the Precession does not change the Equator position or the Earth's tiltof 23.5 degrees. It only changes the direction of polar axis.



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The BhaarateeyaVeda's have left some astronomical time marks in the texts. Amongst theVeda's,Atharvana Veda is considered to be chronologically the last. Based on the identificationof the twenty-seven Baharateeya Nakshatra's, and using the astronomical time markers in

Atharvana veda's 19th kaanda/ 7th sooktha. it is possible to to identify when the last of theveda's, Atharvana Veda was composed. The Atharva veda 19th kaanda/7th Sooktha reads,

Atharvana Veda Kaanda 19 / Sooktam 7



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Gargya Rishi! Nakshatrani Devata! Trishtup-Bhurik Chandaha!

Chitrani sakam divi rochanani sarisrupani bhuvanejavani

turmisham sumatimichaamaano ahaani geerbhi saparyami nakam!1!

suhavamagne krittika rohini chaastu bhadram mrigashirah Sham aardhrah !

punarvasu soonruta chaaru pushyo Bhaanur aslesha ayanam magha mey !2!

punyam poorva Phalguni chottra hasta schittra shiva swaati sukho mey astu!

raadhe vishaakhe suhav anooradha jyeshta sunakshatramarishta moolam !3!

annam poorva raasataam aashadha oorja devy uttaraa aavahantu!

abhijinma raasataam punyameva shravanah shravishtaah kurvatam supushtim!4!

Aa mey maha chatabhishagam vareeya Aa mey dvaya proshtapadaa susharma!

Aa reyvato chashvayujow bhagam ma Aa mey rayim Bharanya aavahantu!5!

This Sookta dedicated to Nakshatra's was recorded (Drashtaara) by Gargya Rishi. The Sooktadescribes both astronomical and astrological elements. Twenty eight Nakshatras are identifiedstarting with Krittika and reference is made toAyanam occurring in Maghaa. A nakshatra

Abhijitis shown between Uttarashadha and Shravana. Its use has been discontinued in the

Jyotishya with only twenty seven identified currently. The authenticity of theAthrarvana textsis well accepted, by the very reverence shown towards precise learning. Hundreds ofgenerations ofShrotreeya's have carried veda's down to us in its original language using oraltraditions ofKrama, Pada, Jatha, and Ghana Paatha so that distortions are nonexistent. Twomajor astronomical time markers are evident and implicit in the Sooktha. They are,

1. Rishi Gargya starts the list of twenty seven nakshatra's starting with Krittika. Choice ofKrittika as the first of twenty-seven is very significant. In contrastJyotishya Shaastra uses

Ashwinias the first star. The choice of first Nakshatra must correspond to a logically first dayof a solar year, which dictates the weather cycles. Which is the years first day? Astronomically



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speaking, the spring Equinox day in Northern Hemisphere temperate zone is a logical one. Itheralds the arrival of the spring, in temperate zone of northern hemisphere of the earth.Vasantha ritu, the spring has always been considered as beginning of a year from Rig-vedictimes. Hence, the first observation implicit in Rishi Gargya's sooktha is that on spring Equinoxday, Sun was at Krittika Nakshatra. Figure 13 shows Sun location on March 21, 2400 BC fromLoad Star Pro. The Sun is on equator and is pointing to Krittika nakshatra.

Compare this to Figure 14 which shows Sun 4400 years later, on March 21,2000 at sameequator but Sun is on Poorva Bhadrapada. Thus Sun has Precessed by about 57 degrees in

4400 years since Rishi Gargya's Sooktha.



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2. Rishi Gargya refers toAyana occurring in Maghaa during his time.Ayana refers to apparentdirection of Sun's North-South motion. The day of direction reversal is called anAyana day(Uttara and Dakshina Ayana). When Rishi Gargya refers toAyana he is clearly referring to aSolstice day and that Ayana occurred when Sun is at Maghaa.

It could be either Dakshina Ayana(Summer Solstice ) or Uttara Ayana(Winter Solstice). Let uslook at Load Star pictures of Sun at Daskhina Ayana (Summer Solstice) 4400 years ago.



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Figure 15 shows the Sun at +23.5 degrees on June 21, 2400 BC. This is the day ofDakshinaAyana. Sun is clearly at MaghaaNakshatra.

Rishi Gargya's Ayana could also be Uttara Ayana, (Winter Solstice), but it fails because thefirst nakshatra would then have to be Hasta or Chitra and the date would be 22000 BC. TheSoothra indicates Krittika as the first.

The diagram below shows the picture of Earth's position over past 4500 years on SummerSolstice day when Sun reaches the peak northern position of +23.5 degrees and starts hissouthern movement (Dakshina Ayana). The Sun position as observed from earth in 2400 BCon this day would be at Maghaa. In circa 400 BC, Sun would be in Pushya. Today, Sun isbetween Mrigashira andAardhra.

Hence Rishi Gargya's Atharvana Veda 19 Kaanda and Sooktha 7, clearly has two astronomicaltime markers and provide a clue as to when it was composed. It is easy dismiss that thestarting ofNakshatra list with Krittika as an accident, but recording of star locations which aretrue for both Equinox and Solstice in same sookta can not be accidental. It suggests a wellunderstood contemporary knowledge of motion of Sun, Moon and Stars in the skies. Whilesuch knowledge may have been more thoroughly documented in other texts, only a briefpoetic indication of that knowledge appears to have been made in the veda's.

Clearly, both the astronomical markers recorded by Rishi Gargya inAtharva Vedakaanda 19sookta 7 would be correct only near about circa 2400 BC. This must certainly be



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incontrovertible proof that Rishi Gargya's Sookta was composed near 2400 BC, datingAtharvana Veda to at least 2400 BC.

When wasJyotishya Shaastra brought to presently used form?

As previously observed, the Earth's Precession makes the Sun move back one degree along

the ecliptic in about 76 years with reference to star system. All Sun position references in pastwith reference to stars on days of Sun singularity, thus carry the astronomical time mark.Bhaarateeya Jyotishyashaastra probably was brought to the presently used form, at a timewhen old vedic chandramana and all other data was integrated with Raashior Zodiac basedconcepts. The time at which this was done can be identified using following.

1.Jyotishya Shaastra starts the lists ofNakshatras withAshwini, suggesting that Sun was atAshwinion Spring Equinox day in that period.

2.Jyotishya states that Uttara Ayana starts exactly when sun enters Makara (Capricorn)suggesting that Sun was near Uttaraashadha on Winter Solstice day (Gregorian Dec 21).

Sic'Yasmin Kshane sooryam gachati Makaram; tatah prabhruti shanmasa udagayanam. from

Rudra Skanda Bashya (10th century AD) ofKhadhira Grihya Sutra (4 century BC).

Use of Load Star Pro and scan of Sun position over past few thousand years yields followingresults. Figure 16 shows the position of Sun on Spring Equinox day of 400BC (March 21).

The sun is on equator and is clearly atAshwini Nakshatra. This explains as to whyJyotsihyaShaastra starts the nakshatra list from Ashwini. The figure showing the position of Earth,Sunon Spring Equinox Day in previous section also confirms the fact that Sun would atAshwini. Asalready illustrated now sun is at Poorva Bhadrapada. Nakshatra listing today must start fromPoorvaBhadrapada.



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Figure 17 shows the position of sun on Gregorian December 21(winter Solstice),the start ofUttara Ayana in 400 BC. Clearly the sun is at +23.5 degrees and near Uttara Aashadha nearMakara Raashi. This supports theJyotishya statement that Uttara Ayana occurred when Sunentered Makara near about 400 BC.

Compare this to figure 18, which shows the position of sun on December 21, 1998. Thus sunis clearly at Dhanu Raashiand not at Makara.



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Thus the twin observations ofJyotishya Shaastra, (of the Spring Equinox and Winter Solstice)are valid only near 400 BC and hence that is the period when it probably took the presentform. It is clear that Bharateeya astronomers who knew of the astronomical informationcarried down from vedicculture, looked at Western Zodiac based system and then merged thetwo to form presentJyotishyaShaastra. HenceJyotishya uses both the 27 Nakshatra's and 12raashi's.

It should be noted that the Western Zodiac system appears to have been frozen at same timeperiod. It uses Aries as the starting Zodiac in recognition of Spring Equinox occurring at timeof entry of Sun to Aries.

Astronomical identity of Saptha Rishi's, Dhruva & Arundhathi

On the night of the marriage, Bhaaratheeya brides are shown a star called 'Arundhathi' in thenight sky.Arundhathiis the wife of sage vasishtha. This couple is revered as a loving and idealcouple worthy of emulation, because of their devotion to each other and harmony.

Vasishtha is one of the seven rishis. The seven stars in the northern sky was named 'saptharishi mandala', and it is more popularly known as 'Ursa major' constellation. It is also called'Great bear' or 'Big Dipper'. The astronomical identity of these stars is very easy to establish

due to explicit definitions given by Varaha Mihira in his Brihat Samhita (circa 550 AD).

There are two sets of definitions as to who the saptha Rishi's are. The vedic tradition is'Gautama, Vishwamithra, Jamahagni, Bharadwaaja, Kashyapa, Vasishtha and Athri' are thesaptha rishis. However, the saptha Muni's according to Varahamihira are' Marichi, Vasishtha,

Angirasa, Athri, Pulasthya, Pulaaha, and Kruthu'. V.S.Apte in his famous Sanskrit-Englishdictionary (circa 1800) also concurs with later definition. Vasishtha andAthrifigure in both thelists. However, V.S.Apte refers to Arundhathi being a star in the pleiades group or Krittika ofour vedic tradition. Pleiades is far away from Ursa major. Clearly Apte's definition deviatesfrom Varaaha Mihira's identity ofArundhathi. The later is more logical in that Arundhathi mustaccompany Vasishtha.

Varaaha Mihira explicitly identifies the Ursa Major and provides the proper names of seven

dominant stars, and attributes the origin of these names to sage 'Vruddha Garga'. In allprobability 'Vriddha garga' is same as 'Gargya Rishi' ofAthrvana veda 19 kaanda 6-7 sookthawhose time was approximately 2400 BC. He is referred to in Mahabharatha as the person whonamed Krishna, and is considered as Achaarya of vedic astronomy.

Varaaha Mihira in his Brihat Samhitha, dedicates 13 kaanda to Saptha Rishis. The first sixverses provide following descriptions translated as:

We have on Vriddha Garga's authority that in the Northern Sky, the Saptha Rishi'srevolve around Dhruva Nayaka like a necklace.

From east to west the Saptha Muni's Marichi, Vasishtha, Angirasa, Athri, Pulasthya,Pulaaha,, and Krathu sit. ChasteArundhathiaccompanies sage Vasishtha.

These descriptions provide us with adequate information about the explicit astronomicalidentity of the nine stars, called as Dhruva, Arundhathi & saptha Rishis's. Figure 19, 20 and 21illustrate Load Star Pro views of the 'Ursa major', with zoom in to 'Vasishta-Arundhati' pair.This constellation is known in Northern Hemisphere as rotating around the pole star Polaris.

Thus 'Dhruva' clearly is Polaris. The saptha Rishi's are the seven major stars of Ursa major.We can easily identify from figure 19, that 'Marichi'stands for Alkaid, 'Vasishta' stands forMizar, 'Angirasa' stands for Alioth, 'Athri' stands for Megrez, 'Pulasthya' stands for Phecda,'Pulaaha' stands for' Merak and 'Krathu' stands for DuBhe. The companion star for Mizar is



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Alcor. Hence 'Arundhathi' stands for Alcor. In figure 19, Vasishta andArudhathi(Mizar-Alcor)can not be seen separate.

As we zoom in, illustrated by figures 20 and 21, the separation between Vasishtha andArundhathibecome evident.



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The star Arundhathi is difficult to separate from Vasishta for people with poor eyesight.Arundhathi's brightness is 4 and is within 0.2 degrees ofVasishtha whose brightness is 2.2.This makes it difficult to separate them.

NakshatraOthername

BayerIdentity

HenryDraper

SAO Brightness

Marichi Alkaid 85 UMa HD 120315 44752 1.86

Vasishtha Mizar 79 UMa HD 116656 28737 2.27

Angirasa Alioth 77 UMa HD 112185 28553 1.77

Athri Megrez 69 UMa HD 106591 28315 3.31

Pulasthya Phecda 64UMa HD 103287 28179 2.44

Pulaaha Merak 48 UMa HD 95418 27876 2.37

Krathu DuBhe 50 UMa HD 95689 15384 1.79

Arundhathi Alcor 80 UMa HD 116842 308 4.01

Dhruva Polaris 1 UMa HD 8890 28751 2.02

The table above provides the modern astronomical identity of the nine stars from vedic periodwhich are not in the ecliptic. Dhruva is not illustrated in any of the figures, as its identity isvery well known in the sky.

In Bhaaratheeya culture, anecdotally people who are approaching death can not separateArundhathifrom Vasishta and hence can not seeArundhathi. The gap between Vasishtha -



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Arundhathiis said to be widening due to proper motion and it is now a days relatively easier tosee them seperately, while few thousand years ago it was more difficult. In other cultures ofthe world also, historically in ancient times, keenness of eyesight was measured by the abilityto distinguish the two stars Vasishtha-Arundhathi(Mizar-Alcor).

Astronomical identity of Vedic star Agasthya

While the 27/28 daily stars Krittika to Bharaniare in the ecliptic plane, the Saptha Rishis inthe extreme north near the Dhruva/Polaris, only one star in the southern sky has been namedduring vedic period. It isAgasthya (canopus).Agasthya Rishi crossed vindhya mountainssouthwards and it is a major event in the vedic chrononlogy. He is held in great reverence inthe south and associated with Lopamudhra his wife. Thus it is not surprising that a star insouthern extreme is named afterAgasthya.

The astronomical identity ofAgasthya can be determined based on Varaaha Mihira's workBrihat Samhita(Ref 12). He has dedicated the whole of 12th kaanda (chapter) toAgasthyaRishi. Varaaha Mihira(550 AD) again refers to the authority of Rishi Vriddha Garga (2400 BC )in identifyingAgasthya. This identity is not as explicit as the Saptha Rishi's, but he gives theseason in whichAgasthya is visible. That means the star was not visible during nearly 4-5months near summer at Ujjain where Varaaha Mihira was located. Based on this, it is very

easy to identify the star as Canopus in constellation Carina asAgasthya. Canopus is 53degrees south, and in summer when earth tilts 23.5 degrees north, people north of Tropic ofCancer can not see Canopus, because of daylight and being down in horizon. The figure 22shows the starAgasthya Rishi.

Agasthya is so far south that people in Northern Hemisphere, like New York, Athens etc cannever seeAgasthya.Agasthya and Constellation Carina are not even shown in popular starcharts and books sold in USA.Agasthya is best visible in the winter months near wintersolstice for people living south of 25-30 degree latitude as the dark period increases inNorthern Hemisphere. People living in Australia, can easily see Agasthya most of the time. Thebrightness of this star is very high at -0.72. Amongst the 37 stars (including daily starsKrittika to Bharani, Saptha Rishi's, Arundhathi, Dhruva andAgasthya), Agasthya is thebrightest of them all. Following table provides the formal astronomical identity ofAgasthya.



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NakshatraOthername

BayerIdentity

HenryDraper

SAO Brightness

Agasthya Canopus 1 CAR HD 45348 234480 -0.72

http://www.vedicastronomy.net/stars_appendix.htm

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