DECIPHERING THE VEDIC SKY

R.N. IYENGAR
RAJA RAMANNA FELLOW
JAIN GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS
BANGALORE

(aareni@yahoo.com)

ARCAEOASTRONOMY SEMINAR OF TIFR

BOMBAY UNIVERSITY CAMPUS; MUMBAI 10-11 FEBRUARY 2009
 PREVIOUS EFFORTS
B.G. TILAK : ORION
JACOBI: FROG HYMN (RV 7.103)
STOCKWELL: Equinox Eclipse (20 Oct.3728 BC)
S.B.DIKSHIT: General
S.B.ROY: Intercalation
R. SHAMASHASTRY: Eclipses
P.C. SENGUPTA: Chronology
H.A.SHAH: Vedic Gods (ABORI 1936)
P.V.HOLAY: Nakshatriya Prajapati
 MOTIVATION
WHAT WAS THE STATUS OF
KNOWLEDGE OF ASTRONOMY BEFORE
THE SIDDHANTIC PERIOD ?

OUTSIDE VEDANGA JYOTISHA WHAT

CAN BE GATHERED ABOUT THE
IMPETUS PROVIDED BY THE RIG VEDA
SAMHITA TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
ANCIENT ASTRONOMY?
THE MYSTIC NUMBER 3339 OF THE
RIGVEDA IS THE COUNT OF TITHIS IN
THE DARK FORTNIGHTS BETWEEN
TWO SIMILAR LUNAR ECLIPSES: -

THE SO CALLED SAROS WRONGLY

ATTRIBUTED TO THE CHALDEANS

(RN IYENAGR: IJHS, DECEMBER 2005)

Claim Supported by Abhyankar, IJHS
2006. Also in his book on Presiddhantic
Astronomy
K.D. Abhyankar
Vrddha Garga (500 BC?)

lɤɧÉcÉ¢üqÉÉMüÉzÉå rÉjÉæuÉ mÉËUuÉiÉïiÉå |

MåüiÉÑcÉ¢Çü iÉjÉæuÉåSqÉÉMüÉzÉÉiÉç mÉËUuÉiÉïiÉå||||
Like the stellar wheel rotating (repeating) in the sky, the
comet-wheel also repeats in the sky.

Vr.Garga should have been a keen observer, as he says Dhūma-

ketu before setting, sends a jet of smoke away from the Sun

astamana-kāle tu raveh dhūmam vimuncati.

 KA & DHUMAKETU ALREADY APPEAR IN THE
RIGVEDA.
FLOODS ARE MENTIONED CLEARLY IN THE
SHATAPATHA BRAHMANA.
VARAHA MIHIRA QUOTES PARASHARA, GARGA,
ASITA DEVALA AND OTHERS TO MENTION
TVASHTA, VISHVARUPA, KABANDHA, TASKARA,
ANGIRASA, VIBHAVASU, TRISHIKHA, TRISHIRA
AS CELESTIAL OBJECTS (KETU).
ALL THE ABOVE NAMES APPEAR IN THE RIGVEDA.
TRADITIONALLY THEY ARE TAKEN AS EPITHETS OF
AGNI THAT IS FIRE.
Atharvaveda Samhitā; (19.9.8-10) Shanti Mantra:

zÉÇ lÉÉå pÉÔÍqÉÈ uÉåmrÉqÉÉlÉÉ zÉÇ EsMüÉÌlÉWïûiÉÇ cÉ rÉiÉç| zÉÇ lÉÉå aÉëWûÉÈ
cÉlSìqÉxÉÉ zÉÇ AÉÌSirÉ¶É UÉWÒûhÉÉ | zÉqÉç lÉÉå qÉ×irÉÑkÉÔïqÉMåüiÉÑÈ
zÉÇ ÂSìÉÈ ÌiÉaqÉ iÉåeÉxÉÈ|

Who are the Rudras mentioned here?

ULKA appears in the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda.
Why earth is specially mentioned as hit by Ulka?
In contemporary worship following the Rigvedic branch, the prayer
for Ketu is in plural number as

mÉÉsÉÉzÉkÉÔqÉëxÉÇMüÉzÉÉlÉç iÉÉUMüÉaÉëWûqÉxiÉMüÉlÉç |
UÉæSìÉlÉç ÂSìÉiqÉMüÉlÉç bÉÉåUÉlÉç iÉÉlÉç MåüiÉÔlÉç mÉëhÉqÉÉqrÉWûqÉç ||

I bow to Ketū who are of the color of palāśa smoke, who have
starry heads, are ferocious, awesome and have Rudra for their
soul.

[Rgvedīya Navagraha Pūjā (Japa) Vidhi, Srimanmadhva

siddhanta granthaalaya, Udupi. 11th edition, 2004.]

The above uses plural number referring to several Ketus. The

version that replaces the Plural by the Singular is also available.

Ketuun is placed by Ketum etc. In any case this is the COMET

and not the lunar node!
SIDDHANTIC ASTRONOMY IS SILENT ABOUT
COMETS.
VARAHA-MIHIRA DECLARES THEY ARE
UNPREDICTABLE AND OUTSIDE
MATHEMATICS

HOW TO RECONCILE THIS WITH THE LIST OF

26 COMETS STATED WITH NAME AND YEAR
NUMBER GIVEN BY PARASHARA AND
VRIDDHA GARGA?

CAN WE FORM AT LEAST A QUALITATIVE

PICTURE OF THE SKY AS DESCRIBED IN
SOME OF THE RIGVEDIC HYMNS?
 WHAT TYPE OF AGNI IS MEANT BY
DHUMAKETU IN THE RIGVEDA?

WHY IS THIS SO CLOSELY RELATED TO

MARUTS AND VIBHAVASU?

ASSUMING RIGVEDA TO BE INTERNALLY

CONSISTENT
CAN MARUTS BE IDENTIFIED WITH
ANY OBJECTS OTHER THAN
METEORITIC SHOWERS?

IS THE INTERPRETATION OF MARUTS AS

WIND-THUNDER-STORM GODS WRONG?
 EDITED WITH CRITICAL NOTES BY A
TEAM OF TEN SCHOLARS

MYSORE PALACE EDITION

A SERIES IN 36 VOLUMES EACH OF 1000 PAGES

 Dictionary meaning of KETU: FLAG, INSIGNIA, HERALD,
COMET, KNOWLEDGE, MEMORY PROMPTER

DISTRIBUTION OF THIS WORD IN RIGVEDA

The word ketu and its derivatives occur eighty times in
RV, with the following distribution.
[I:19; II: 0; III:10; IV: 3; V: 8; VI: 7; VII: 8; VIII: 4; IX: 3;
X: 18]
What strikes here as significant is the absence of the
word in the second book and its increased use in the
first and the tenth books. Another feature of the first and
the tenth mandala is the use of the word dhūmaketu
which means comet in several Indian Languages.
AGNYUTPAATAU DHUUMAKETUH (AMARA KOSHA)
 DHUMAKETU
First book thrice (1.27.11, 1.44.3, 1.94.1)
Eighth book twice (8.43.4, 8.44.10)
Tenth book twice (10.4.5, 10.12.2).
Another interesting feature is the
occurrence, in the tenth book, of words
Bhāsāketu (10.20.3) and Vrsāketu (10.92.1)
which are particularization of the word Ketu
to specific nameable objects.
1.27 AGNI

In the first verse itself agni is likened to a horse with a

tail. MPRV which closely follows Sāyana rightly
comments that there can be no special similarity
between any type of fire and a tailed horse!
But, if it is understood as a celestial fire like a comet, its
characterization as having a tail (vaaravantam) would be
appropriate.
In the next verse this object is qualified as having wide
motion (pr.thupragaamaa), again hinting at a comet. The
11th hymn with the traditional meaning as given in
MPRV is
 1.27

May the great, illimitable, smoke bannered and brilliant

Agni, be pleased with our rite and inspire us.

The above is clearly the literal meaning. The word

animaanah is explained by Sāyana as an object without
any fixed size, shape or measure (niyata parimaan.a
varjitah).

If this agni were to have a tail, (Vaaravantam) have

perceptible movement and also be huge (mahaan)
without specific measure (animaano) it could as well be
a comet described aptly by the word Dhuumaketu
 1.44

Here agni is qualified as dhuumaketu and bhaarjika.

The latter word is interpreted as shining. For this,
Sayana cites the Nirukta (6.4) of Yaska: bhaarjikah
prasiddha-bhaah| dhuumaketuh samidhaa
bhaarjiikah ityapi nigamo bhavati. This may mean
one who is shining or may mean one who is famous
as Bhaa.
This agni is addressed in the next verse as Guest
(atithi) and later as Vibhaavasu who had shone
previously at many dawns (puurvaa anu us.aso
vibhavaso didetha)
This hymn ends in with a request to the fire-
tongued Maruts (agni-jihvaah) to be heard. This
hymn appears to be closely related with the
hymns of the 8th book quoted below. If the MPRV
tradition is accepted it follows, this hymn is an
invocation to Agni, the comet god, already deified
from previous memory or tradition.
 8.43

Individual forms of swift wind-impelled smoke-bannered fires

move in the sky. These separated fires shining in the front
appear like heralds of the dawn.
The next verse 6 is about the black dust raised by the feet of
Jaatavedas as he travels, when fire spreads on the earth.

As per Brihaddevata terrestrial fire is called Agni, fire in

the mid-space is Jaatavedas and the fire in the sky (divi)
is Vais’vaanara. No doubt there is a mystic meaning to
the word Jaatavedas, but the localization of this fire is
again mentioned in BD (2.31) with an extra information
that this fire is seen by all, created again and again in
mid-space.
 8.44

Sayan.a interprets the word vibhaavasu as

agni with the meaning ‘one having light for
wealth.’(diiptidhanam). If here also
dhuumaketu meant ordinary sacrificial fire,
why once again the composer refers to agni
as the banner of sacrifices?

On the other hand the matter-of-fact meaning

would be
We pray to the wise guileless (divine) invoker, the
comet (smoke bannered) Vibhaavasu, who is the
banner of sacrifices.

There is nothing in hymn 8.44 that would contradict

the above direct meaning.

In verse 7, agni is called ancient (pratnam) and

invoker (hotaaram) and the guest of honour in
sacrifices (adhvaraan.aam abhis’riyam).

In verse 10, quoted above, this ancient agni is in the

objective case as dhuumaketum vibhaavasum. The
use of the word ketu in the second half would be
appropriate in the sense of a herald.
 10.4.5

Where is the new agni born? He is present in the old

plants, grey haired, smoke-bannered. Though not
needing a bath, as he is pure, he rushes to water like a
bull….
This interpretation appears forced. The simple meaning
based on the context of the previous and later verses
would be of a fire that was white in color and stationed
above a forest. Its rush towards water may be a real
event of a fireball entering a water body. This matches
with Agni being called Jaatavedah later in the 7th verse,
the meaning of which has been seen to be a fire in mid-
space. On the whole, Dhuumaketu in this hymn remains
ambiguous, but is still linked to a fire that approaches a
water body, from above.
 Maruts
The brief review above brings out characters of
the original agni called Dhuumaketu, as well as
its connection with two other celestial objects
namely the Maruts and Vibhaavasu.

Maruts are a group of deities, usually known as

the Sons of Rudra. Traditionally Maruts are taken
as the counterparts of winds or thunder storms.

Modern scholars have accepted this

interpretation without critical evaluation of the
hymns.
 The key discriminatory feature of Maruts is that
they were a collection of individuals who could be
seen and hence countable in some sense.
They are said to be separated among
themselves.

They increased by two and three and their count

varied from twenty-one (1.133.6) to forty-nine
(8.28.5) to sixty three (8.96.8). They could even
be seen in waves of thousands.

If these properties were to be reconciled with a

physically possible natural object, Maruts are to
be taken as a shower of meteorites.
Maruts are erfered more than 500 times in RV. 33 complete hymns are dedicated
to them. They appear in all the mandalas. They are the fourth most cited deities of
RV
. 1.37.7
To withstand your ferocious journey man has strengthened his
dwelling with columns. Even rugged hills get crushed (at your
approach).

Maruts have mowed down men on earth and have made

mountains fall. Wherever the group of Maruts goes, everyone is
sure to hear their roaring sound (1.37.12, 13). Maruts come from
the sky to the earth, but not the other way round (1.38.2). That
Maruts could not go back from earth is ingeniously expressed in
the next verse, (1.38.4)

Hey! Children of Pr.s’ni you may become mortals, but let those
who laud you remain not dead.
If these deities were really harbingers of monsoon
rainfall, the following descriptions appear out of
place.

At the roar of the Maruts, every house on the

earth shook. The people also trembled. (1.38.10)

When you overthrow what is stable and whirl

away what is heavy, your course is through
forests and through the mountains. (1.39.3)
Nodha Gautama describes Maruts in 1.64 as
having fearful forms. They are drops (falling
objects) and shining like suns (asuraah
ghoravarpasah drapsin.ah suuryaa iva s’ucayah|
1.64.1).
His description indicates that Maruts induced
winds and rains before their arrival. In the hymns
1.86, 1.87 and 1.88 Gotama Raahugana
mentions that Maruts were being worshipped by
people since many years seeking protection.
Maruts are described as having wheels of gold
and rushing like boars with tusks of iron
(ayodamstraan vidhaavato varaahuun).
The hymns 1.166 onwards, by Agastya further reveal the real
physical nature of Maruts. Agastya says, all creatures on earth
along with the dwellings shake in fear that they will get hit by the
weapons of Maruts. The tearing weapons of Maruts hit animals
like well aimed darts. Maruts are visible at a distance shining like
stars.

1.166.11

They come down to earth together effortless, with

burning looks and shake the mountains

svayuktah divah vrthaa ava āyayuh…bhrājadrstayah drlhāni

cit acucyuvuh || 1.168.5.

The next verse, indirectly mentions that they enter the sea
patatha tvesham arn.avam. 1.168.6
 1.172

Maruts on their approach gleam like serpents

(ahi bhaanavah).

Far be from us, your impetuous shaft. Far

from us be the stone you hurl (1.172.2)

If one agrees to the principle of internal

consistency as an approach for
understanding an ancient text like RV, one
can not assign different meanings to the
same word used in similar contexts.
 Traditionalists take the word parvata in
connection with Maruts to be mountains in
some verses but as clouds in other places.
Example of this contradiction is in hymn
3.26 attributed to Vishvaamitra.
Sayana assumes Maruts produce rain of
water and hence takes the word parvataan
to mean clouds,
There is nothing in the three verses 3.26.4-
6 to indicate ordinary rainfall.
 The phrase marutah pravepayanti
parvataan should mean that Maruts shake
the mountains. This would be consistent in
all places if Maruts are understood to be
representing a strong shower of meteorites.
In the 5th book Maruts are called
vaas’imantah (5.57.2). As per Yaska this
refers to weapons made of stones or to
voice (vaas’ibhi ashma mayibhi iti vaa
vaagbhiriti vaa|| Ni-4.19). Clearly, the
epithet refers to stony meteorites or to their
rumbling sound
 The hymn 6.66 is about Maruts by
Bhaaradwaaja Baarhaspatya. Here the poet
describes Maruts as samaanam in the first
verse.
Sāyana comments: Maruts are always of
the same form (marutah sadaa
samaanaruupaah) and quotes RV 5.60.5
highlighting there are no elders and
youngsters among them (ajyesthaaso
akanisthaasa ete). The next verse
mentions that Maruts shone like fires and
increased by two and three
 (8.7.34-36)
(As the Maruts arrive) hills get hit and disturbed in their
position. Even mountains get controlled. Speedy
carriers bear the flying Maruts through space. They are
givers of riches to the worshipper. Agni was born
previously (among gods) bright like the sun. Then the
Maruts stood surrounding him with their lights.

The above rendering closely follows Sayana, with the word

girayah here being taken as hills by him also. The word
aaksnayaavaano is explained by Sayana as traveling faster
than the eyes. However, akshna- may mean axles,
figuratively describing the tumbling of the falling objects.
Taurids annual meteor shower
associated with the comet Encke

Thunder Storm
MARUTS FORM A
GANA THAT IS A
GROUP. CAN
THUNDER/LIGHTNING
BE CONSIDERED SO?
 METEOR SHOOTS ACROSS
THE EAST COAST OF
ORISSA. THE STATESMAN,
27TH SEPTEMBER 2003.

*FOR A FEW SECONDS

IT APPEARED TO BE
DAYLIGHT!
*SOME HEARD A
RUMBLING SOUND.
*ONE DEAD
*ELEVEN INJURED
Dure drsho ye divyaa iva strbhih, 1.38. *HUNDREDS FLEE
*THATCHED HOUSES
BURNT
*STONY DEBRIS
RECOVERED.
 The Perseid Meteor Shower A Thunder Storm

Move like the nave of a wheel with spokes (rathaanaam na ye

araah sanaabhayah | 10.78.4).
Saayana : even though Maruts are many, they move equally
spaced like spokes connected to the same point at the center
of a wheel.
Can such picturesque descriptions be valid for any event other
than a shower of meteorites ?
 GEOGRAPHICAL MARKERS

RV PROVIDES INFORMATION ON WHERE THE

MARUTS WERE OBSERVED. THE MOST LIKELY
PLACES OF THEIR LANDINGS ARE ALSO HINTED
AT.
1)RV I.186 IS ABOUT MARUTS FLYING OVER IRIN.A
WITH THEIR SPARKLING MISSILES.
IRIN.A IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RAN-OF-KUTCH.
“GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF VEDIC IRIN.A”
RNI AND BPR, J GEOLOGICAL SOC. IND., 70,
November 2007, 699-705.
2) Sarasvati is followed by Maruts (3.54.13;
2.30.8)

3) Maruts over Rivers Parushni and Yamuna

(4.30)

4) Marut’s wheels break hills near River Parushni.

(5.52.9)

5) Susome śaryanāvatyārjike pastyāvati | yayuh

nicakrayā narah || (8.7.29)

Maruts went downwards to Susoma, Rijika,

śaryanāvati full of dwellings.
FURTHER COMET IMAGERY R.V. I.162
READS LIKE AN
EYE WITNESS
ACCOUNT OF
SEEING A
CELESTIAL
OBJECT.

IN THE SKY LIKE

A LINE OF
SWANS…GOLD-
HORNED, IRON
FOOTED,
MOVING FAST…
HE WAS A
LESSER INDRA.
The famous hymns 1.162 and 1.163 on
Ashva by Auchathya are traditionally taken
to refer to horse-sacrifice (ashvamedha).
But these typically describe a bright horse-
like object moving in the sky.
In hymn 1.162, the celestial horse, a replica
of which is sacrificed in the Ashvamedha is
described.
This horse is the medhyaashva born out of
Tvas.t.aa (1.162.19). [Sayana Bhashya]
This particular verse has two meanings referring
to both the divine horse which was killed by
gods and the terrestrial animal which is similarly
sacrificed, by men.
MPRV clarifies the close relation ship between
Tvas.t.aa and Arvan, the Horse by quoting Taitt.Sam
5.1.11
tvastā vīram devakāmam jajāna tvasturarvā
jāyata āśuraśvah
Birth of the Horse in the sky appears in MBh also.

Adi parv.66.36
Further, the poet describes the sequence in which he saw the
horse. In (v.5) he says; I saw your reins (te bhadrā raśanā
apaśyam). Next the poet saw the head of this horse. MPRV
reports two types of arranging the words of (v.6), to yield
meanings applicable to the earthly horse and the heavenly horse
respectively. In the derived meaning, the horse is said to be going
from the earth by way of heavens to the sun. The primary
meaning is; the poet in first person says that he saw the head of
the horse in the sky flying down towards the earth (divā avah
patayantam patatri….. śirah apaśyam || 1.163.6). This is
continued in the next verse to inform: I beheld your best form at
the cow’s foot (te rūpam uttamam apaśyam……ā pade goh).
Sayana takes the word goh pade to mean the sacrificial place on
earth, which is the secondary meaning of the hymn as per the
sacrificial tradition. However, primarily for an object seen in the
sky it should have been natural to mention its location with respect
to the stars and hence one should take cow’s-foot as the naksatra
with that meaning which is prostha-pada (Pegasi).
Sun Cover
There are too many hymns and legends about this event for one to ignore the
absence of sunlight as a poetic license to describe the dark night of the human soul
or as the prolonged winter at northern latitudes. In RV (1.51.4) Indra is said to
have established sun after destroying Vrtra. In RV (1.86) maruts are prayed to
remove the darkness and create the light for which people were longing. Hymn
(1.175) is about Indra stealing Sun’s wheel, which is a euphemism for the absence
of normally expected rise, movement and setting of the sun. Hymns (1.183 & 184)
refer to the ending of a period of darkness. In the second book hymn (2.15) is
about Indra crushing the vehicle of Usas, which is a metaphor for a continuous
dawn like condition without a visible sun. Indra had to be supplicated by men who
struggled to get sunlight (2.19). Indra found the sun dissolving in darkness near
the cow’s-foot (sūryam viveda tamasi ksayantam | 3.39.5). In (4.16.9) Indra is
implored in the battle for sunlight. Indra is said to have hurt Usas, daughter of the
sky, near River Vipāśa (4.30.9-11), which refers to absence of day break.

Maruts should have had an important role to play in these

natural events, since they are said to reduce heat and
conduct a sacrifice in the heavens (5.54.1). In (5.59.5) the poet
says that maruts are capable of blocking the sun by their
showers (sūryasya caksuh pra minanti vrstibhih).
This has been routinely taken, by many translators, to be a cloud
cover during a rainy day. However, this interpretation does not
match with the immediate next verse, which refers to a special
event in the sky.
Like line of birds they flew in lengthened lines from heaven’s
ridges to the borders of the sky. Rudra’s children are all similar
with none younger or older. (5.59. 6, 7)
The above could have been a wide meteoritic ring or tail of a
comet obstructing the sun’s orb being seen from the earth. In
(6.7.5) vaiśvānara is praised to have freed and set the sun in the
sky for all to see. A similar statement occurs in (10.156.4)
mentioning that agni has made Sun mount the sky.

One of the most cryptic descriptions of the sun being covered up

is in the seventh book,
tānīdahāni bahulānyāsan yā prācīnamuditā sūryasya |
yatah pari jāra ivācarantyuso dadrkse na punaryatīva ||
(7.76.3)
This has been routinely taken, by many translators, to be a cloud
cover during a rainy day. However, this interpretation does not
match with the immediate next verse, which refers to a special
event in the sky.
Like line of birds they flew in lengthened lines from heaven’s
ridges to the borders of the sky. Rudra’s children are all similar
with none younge or older. (5.59. 6, 7)
The above could have been a wide meteoritic ring or tail of a
comet obstructing the sun’s orb being seen from the earth. In
(6.7.5) vaiśvānara is praised to have freed and set the sun in the
sky for all to see. A similar statement occurs in (10.156.4)
mentioning that agni has made Sun mount the sky.

One of the most cryptic descriptions of the sun being covered up

is in the seventh book,

tānīdahāni bahulānyāsan yā prācīnamuditā sūryasya |

yatah pari jāra ivācarantyuso dadrkse na punaryatīva || (7.76.3)
Many days were over before the old sun rose again. In this period
Usas was seen behaving like a maiden with her lover.

The above is a plain statement that once, there was a long gap
between dawn and sun rise. It also implies that the Vedic seers
considered this period to be usas or dawn only. Since nothing is
said about the nights, it is conjectured that they could recognize
the passage of time as implied in the key phrase ahāni bahulāni
(many days). The immediate next verse (7.76.4) mentions about
the ancestors of the poet rejoicing after discovering the hidden
light of sun. This incident and the above verse are the basis for all
later legends associating Prajāpati (Creator) with Usas (his own
creation figuratively called daughter) as in the Vedic Brāhmana
literature
 SUMMARY
THE RIGVDIC SKY WAS MORE ACTIVE THAN WHAT
WE SEE TODAY. RV DESCRIBES ONE OR MORE
SPACTACULAR EVENTS WITH THE PRESENCE OF
COMETS, NEO’S, FIRE BALLS, METEORITIC
SHOWERS, DUST VEILS, and SUN COVER.
THIS WAS THE START OF THE CONCEPT OF YAJNA
WHERE LIFE WAS SACRIFICED TO PLEASE THE
FEROCIOUS GODS, SIMILAR TO WHAT GODS
THEMSELVES DID ONCE IN KURUKSHETRA
(Maitrayani Samhita)?
ASHVAMEDHA ON EARTH IS REPLICA OF A CELESTIAL
EVENT IN WHICH A COMET (ENCKE) SPLIT ? TVASHTR
MEANS ONE WHO SPLITS or CLEAVES (CARPENTER)
KETU STANDS FOR NOT ONLY FIRE, FLAG,COMET
BUT ALSO FOR KNOWLEDGE. COULD THIS BE THE
SIGNATURE OF THE TIME WHEN VEDIC
INTELLECTUAL DISCORUSE BIFURCATED INTO
PURVA AND UTTARA MIMAMSA
OR
KARMA KAANDA AND JNAANA KAANDA?

In the Maitrayani Upanisad (1.4) the questions

raised are: “why do the oceans dry up, why do
the mountain peaks fall down, why the Polestar
drifts, why the earth moves from its position….”
before discussing Prana, Atman & Brahman.
 COMETARY CATASTROPHES, COSMIC DUST AND
ECOLOGICAL DISASTERS IN HISTORICAL TIMES:
THE ASTRONOMICAL FRAMEWORK
BILL NAPIER is an astronomer at Armagh Observatory. In his
paper 'Giant comets, catastrophes and civilisation.’ we read:

The Taurid Complex of meteors, meteoroids, asteroids

and Comet Encke has probably been a significant and
regularly visible celestial hazard from the last Ice Age
through to the present day. These data lead to the
expectation that history has been punctuated by: (i)
Tunguska-like impacts, singly or as part of fireball
swarms; (ii) freezing events of decadal duration, due to
cometary dusting of the stratosphere; and (iii) occasional
disastrous inundations of coastal areas due to small-
body ocean impacts.
 Conclusion
There is still considerable disagreement about
the detailed nature and date of this
catastrophe. Growing number of scholars
agree that we are indeed dealing with an
abrupt natural disaster with devastating effects
on civilizations in India, West Asia, Europe and
North Africa,… perhaps a global event.

PRESERVED INFORMATION IN THE VEDIC

AND PURANIC LITERATURE POINTS TO
EVENTS OF SIMILAR NATURE
HARMONIZING BROADLY WITH THE SAME
EPOCH.