Hyderabad Meeting (Compatibility Mode)

The Indic intellectual tradition
Countering the Neo-colonialist Paradigm

Perspectives on the History of Science
Narrated by Kosla Vepa
ISERV Meeting, Hyderabad August 1st, 2009
నమ థ్ ె
©Indic Studies Foundation

August 1,2009 1
An overview of the ancient Indic contribution

In specific areas
Astronomy
Mathematics
Para Vidya
August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 2

The
h Indic
d Intellectual
ll l Tradition
d
I regard myself primarily as a Historian of science

My dharma is to report objectively and faithfully and
Interpret the data accurately and draw correct inferences.
My goals are to bring to the attention of future generations
th kknowledge
the l d ththatt was painstakingly
i t ki l gathered
th d b by th
the
ancients primarily because the Occident has deliberately
ignored or obfuscated this contribution.
Why did I develop this presentation

Why did I develop this presentation ?

Sheldon Pollock The William B. Ransford Professor of Sanskrit &
Indian Studies
Columbia University,
had written a paper titled
“Is there an Indian Intellectual History?”
Journal of Indian Philosophy,2009 ?
See http://www.columbia.edu/cu/mealac/faculty/pollock/
The title intrigued me

SOME YARDSTICKS TO GAGE INDIA´S INTELLECTUAL TRADITION

IIs there
th a systematic
t ti approach?
h?
Is it supported by Empirical observation
Is there an efficient taxonomy
Are the pprinciples
p ggeneralized to apply
pp y to a wide range
g of p
phenomena
Does the episteme stand the test of logical rigor
Is it confirmed by alternative approaches
Can it be verified by repeated experiment?
Is there emphasis on complete specification of assumptions
Are there unambiguous measures
Will ancient Indian wisdom satisfy these parameters ?
And finally, the issue with which the Occident is most obsessed with
When did it happen and does it claim precedence over Babylon

The Indic Intellectual Tradition
d
The story within the story

The Loin Cloth Syndrome
The Eurocentricity of the Occidental
The inability of the Occidental to recognize the
contributions of other civilizations.
In what direction did the transmission of knowledge
take place ? West to east or vice versa or was it
bidirectional

Th Indic
The I di Intellectual
I t ll t l Tradition
T diti
What we hope to cover today,

I tto presentt enough
Is h material
t i l so th
thatt we may answer
Some pertinent questions
Is there a unique nature to the Indic contributions
Did the ancient Indics borrow from the Greeks
Did the Occident borrow from India
What is the message(s) that the ancients are trying to
convey to us and how should we decipher it
Are we aping the Occidental in judging the literature of
the ancients or are we making a
Genuine attempt to understand the ancients
Faithfullyy transmit and faithfullyy interpret
p

The
h Indic
I di Intellectual
I ll l Tradition
di i
Our journey today will take us to

The Indian approach to Itihaasa
The importance of chronology
The Vedic Infrastructure
The Indic Weltanschauungg or Darshana The Sad Darshanas
Indic approach to creating knowledge – Vedic episteme or Pramana
The Astronomical heritage
ArchaeoAstronomy & Astrochronology
The concepts of Sunya and Infinity
The nature of mathematics

Why study history ?

What is History ?
The study of history
The
h Father
h off Historiography
h
Our Framework for writing history
History of Science

The study of History

Whyy studyy history?
y
It is the DNA of our civilization
•Gain access to laboratory of human experience,
• reveals data about the forces that affect our own lives
lives,
•Enables us to acquire some usable habits of mind
•Catalyzes the emergence of relevant skills
•Develop p enhanced capacity
p y for informed citizenship,
p,
•Develop critical thinking, and simple awareness.
•Wow, does it do all this ? Yes and more, the study of history is
like taking aspirin . It aids the development of Wisdom

Who were the founders of History and Historiography

• Writing
W iti iin th
the Muqaddimah
M ddi h in the 14th century,
i th t Ib Khaldun
Ibn Kh ld said id th
thatt
“All records, by their very nature, are liable to error” because of the
following reasons:
– They favor a creed or opinion (biased)
– It is difficult to determine the original intent or context
– History may have been written to favor a certain power
• Th trouble
The t bl with ith iinterpreting
t ti ththe pastt iis th
thatt we llookk att it th
throughh th
the
present. We must learn to put ourselves in their shoes.
• The Indics regard Veda Vyaasa as the father of historiography

The Traditional Definition

What do historians look for
What was said
What was written
What was physically preserved
The earliest oral record of a history is that of the
Veda
d (4000
(4000 BCE)) and d the
h earliest
l written record d is
the Cuneiform 3400 BCE

इितहासः Thus indeed ,in conformity with tradition
§ इितहासः itihaasaha Tradition has it that it stands for the epics

Ramayana and Mahabharata
Mahabharata. In other words these are our historical
narratives. Historical evidence or tradition which is recognized as proof
by the pauranikas
§ Historyy Helps
p Us Understand Peoplep and Societies
§ History Helps Us Understand Change and How the Society We Live in
Came to Be

What is history
• ु ि ि मााियकोदाहरणं
पराणिमितवृ ि ो धमर्थर् र्र्शां चेते ीिीितहासः
• Puraana (the chronicles of the ancients), Itivrtta (history),
Akhyayika (tales), Udaaharana (illustrative stories),
Dh
Dharmashastra
h t (th (the canon off Ri
Righteousht conduct),
d t) and
d
Arthashastra (the science of Government) are known by
(comprise the corpus of Ithihaasa ) History
• Kautilya
Kautilya’ss Arthashastra
Arthashastra, Book 1, 1 Chapter 5 (Kautilya is
presumed to have lived during the reign of Chandragupta
Maurya in 1568 BCE

• Kalhana’s Rajatarangini
• धमार्थ र्काममोक्षाणामपु देशसमितं ।

• ु  ं कथाय
परावृ ु िमितहासं ूचक्षते ।।
“Dharmaartha-kaama-mokshanaam upadesa-samanvitam |
P
Puraa-vrttam, k h
kathaa-yuktam
k I hih
Ithihaasam prachakshate
h kh ||”
History will be the narration of events as they happened, in the form of a story,
which will be an advice to the reader to be followed in life, to gain the
purusaarthas namely Kama the satiation of desires through Artha the tool, by
following the path of Dharma the human code of conduct to gain Moksha or
liberation.

Mahabharata Adi Parva 1.267,268
• ु
“इितहासपराणाभ्य़ां वॆदो समपु िॄंयते
• िबभॆ अौतु ादं वॆदो मामयं ूहिरित “
the Mahabharata (Adi-Parva1.267,268) and Manu-Samhita

state, "One should complement one's understanding of the
V d with
Vedas i h the
h help
h l off the
h Itihasas
I ih and
d the
h Puranas."
P " And
A d
elsewhere it is stated, "The Puranas are called by that name
because they are complete."

Why should we take a fresh look at History
The state of knowledge in various fields such as

Physics, Genetics, biology, chemistry, and forensics, is
such that they can now be brought to bear on the
questions that arise in the decipherment of history. No
l
longer iis one fforced
d tto guess, att lleastt iin an iincreasing
i
number of cases, the dates when an event took
place, as did the colonial overlord

Proposed chronology of the Vedics

A work in progress
What is the proper sheet anchor to use

 The sheet anchor the Western Indologists use is the ascension to the
throne of Chandragupta Maurya
 The Indics especially the Mathematicians preferred to use the end of
Mahabharata or the death of Sri Krishna as the reference year

Proposed chronology of the Vedics
A work in p
progress
g
Event Individual Date
Birth Veda Vyaasa ~3300 BCE
Apastambha 3200 BCE
Bi th
Birth
Birth
Baudhayana
Birth Aryabhata 2765 BCE
Lifespan Gautama Buddha 1888-1807 BCE
Coronation Chandragupta Maurya 1554 BCE
Coronation Asoka Maurya 1472 BCE
Coronation Kanishka 1294-1234 BCE
Era Andhra Satavahana 833 BCE -327
327 BCE
Coronation Chandragupta of Gupta dynasty 327 BCE
Pancha Siddhanta VarahaMihira 123 BCE
Reign Vikramaditya 102 BCE to 78 BCE
Birth Brahmagupta 30 BCE
Writings Bhaskara IISiddhanta Siromani 486 BCE

Caricaturization of the Indic I
• Religious beliefs of the Indic are the root cause of his misfortunes.
• The Indic is inherently incapable of adventurous behavior and will not
venture beyond the confines of the Indian subcontinent (Kaalapaani
y
syndrome) )
• The Indic is incapable of original, rational and creative ideas. The Indic is
incapable of independent thinking aqnd prone to exaggeration and
hyperbole and lacks precision
• The caste system is an artifact of the Indic religious belief system,
system and that
the Indic is inherently opposed to egalitarian ideas
• The Indic is especially unique and egregious in the manner in which he
exploits his fellow Indics

Caricaturization of the Indic II
• The Indic
Th I di is
i fundamentally
f d t ll nott tuned
t d to
t making
ki progress andd advancing
d i in
i
the modern world, and is lost in an ancient mind set
• Everything good and worthwhile in the Indian subcontinent has been
imported by the invaders, and the only indigenous characteristics are those
like caste that are inherent to the Indic civilization.
• The Indic is fatalistic and will not make an effort to change his destiny which
is written in stone the moment he is born
• The Indic is lazy and indolent
• The Indic has no sense of history and is even poorer at keeping records of his
historical past
• As a consequence of the above the Indic is socially backward, possibly
morally corrupt and perennially hence dependent upon Westernization to
reform the current problems in Indian society.

Th Hegelian
The H li H Hypothesis
th i and d th
the
Greek Obsession
2 Key assumptions in Colonial Paradigm of history
1. Every noteworthy development was made by invaders (Hegelian

Hypothesis). The history of India is almost entirely a History of
I
Invasions
i
2. No discovery ought to be credited to the Indics prior to the advent

of the Golden age of Greece
Greece, circa 600 BCE

Inconsistencies I
• The inherent contradictions of the Aryan Invasion Theory by the mythic and
yet to be identified Aryan race.
• The insistence on clinging to a racial terminology even when it is widely
discredited and abandoned elsewhere
• The insistence that Indic astronomy , geometry and mathematics was not
autochthonous to India but was borrowed from the Greek or the
Babylonians
• The origin of the Brahmi script becomes a victim of the ‘anywhere but India’
syndrome
• Devaluation and denigration of the extent of the ancient Indic contribution
to Mathematics and Astronomy
• Dating of the Mahabharata
• Dating of the Satapatha Brahmana
• Dating of the Veda
• Datingg of the Vedangag Jyotisha
y

Inconsistencies II
• Dating
i off the
h Sulval sutras
• The beginning of the Vikrama era
• The dating of the Buddha
• The dating of the Arthashastra
• The dating of Chandragupta Maurya
• The dating of Panini’s Ashtadhyayi
• The dating of Aryabhata
• Inconsistencies in the chronology of the Indic historical narrative

Tradition
The IIndic
Th di civilization
i ili ti unique
i off greatt antiquity
ti it or a derivative
d i ti civilization
i ili ti
If we do not write our own history somebody else will (they will have no
compulsion to be true to our history). They will write it from their perspective
an account favorable to their civilization.
A History of a civilization is the record of all its experiences, mistakes and
successes (the DNA of the civilization). The INDIC SHOULD NEVER ACCEPT AN
ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN HISTORY WRITTEN BY THOSE WHO HAVE NO
ACCOUNTABLIITY .
Nations have gone to war in order to learn from an adversaries history
By not insisting on an accurate rendering of his own history the Indic is abdicating
his claim to being one of the unique civilizations of the world and as a result
will
ill b
be relegated
l t d tto th
the status
t t off a d derivative
i ti civilization
i ili ti

It must have been the Aryans !
Eurocentricity (a euphemism for a clearly racist attitude) gave

and still gives greater credit to Greece and later to Babylonian
mathematics rather than recognize Indic and Vedic mathematics on
its own merits .
Indics incapable of discovering and utilizing a gamut of

mathematical techniques.
Ergo, since the Indics were incapable, the discoveries were made
by a mythical race from elsewhere – the Aryans.
The Circular argument persists to this day – assumptions are

treated as facts and any conclusion contradicting the assumption is
therefore dismissed summarily as absurd .

The
h Indic
I di Intellectual
I ll l Tradition
di i

The Indian approach
pp to Itihaasa
The problem of Indic chronology
The Indic Weltanschauung or Darshana
Indic approach to creating knowledge –Vedic episteme or Pramana
Archaeoaastronomy & Astrochronology
Th concepts
The t off SSunya and
d IInfinity
fi it
The nature of the mathematics

The Problem of Ancient Indic Chronology
Created (for no discernible rationale) by Sir William Jones (1746-1794)

He single handedly retrofitted Indic History to fit his own misconceptions
L
Lopped d off
ff 1200 years from
f P
Puranici Itih
Itihaasa texts
t t
Mistakenly identified the identity of Sandrocottus, referred by Megasthenes
with Chandragupta Maurya.
Thus was born the subject of Indology analogous to Entomology, the study of
insects
There is no need for the Indic to hanker for the approval of those who have do
not have the accountability for the accurate History
Unlike many who belong to this civilization , I prefer to assume this was
Napoleons dictum at work - Attribute not to malice that which can be attributed
to Incompetence

TimeLine according to MaxMueller[

MaxMueller[4]
Chandas Rg Veda 1200 to 1000 BCE

Mantras later Vedas 1000 to 800 BCE
Brahmanas 800 to 600 BCE
Sutras 600 to 200 BCE
Timeline according to Keith[

Keith[5
5]
Taittiriya Samhita 500 BCE
Baudhayana 400 BCE
Ashvalayana 350 BCE
Sankhayana 350 BCE
Yaska 300 BCE
Apastambha 300 BCE
Pratisakhya 300 BCE
Panini 250 BCE
Katyayana 800to
800to 600 BCE
Why is chronology important

In the past , the Indic has been very cavalier about his chronology
Chronology must be internally and externally consistent,
Current History is both internally and externally inconsistent
A false chronology leads to false conclusions about our history
It denies us precedence in mathematical discoveries
If chronology is not important why is the occidental so tenacious in
denying our antiquity
The stigma of being characterized as a derivative civilization
The late David Pingree of Brown University was obsessed with
denying the ancient Indic the credit for independent discovery in
astronomy and mathematics.
We have been subjected to an
epistemic rupture of the vastest possible scale
• “…it is also a historical fact that Britain thereupon set out to colonize
Indian minds no less than Indian space, thereby producing what Sudipta
Kaviraj has characterized, without much exaggeration, as ‘‘an epistemic
rupture on the vastest possible scale—one of the greatest known in
history,’’ whereby Indian forms of thought of great antiquity and
complexity were summarily disqualified. ” Sheldon Pollock, Columbia
University
• To the various excesses and grotesqueries that arise from defects of the
Indian mind, according to A. A. Macdonell, is to be added the non-
existence of history. ‘‘The total lack of the historical sense is so
characteristic, that the whole course of Sanskrit literature is darkened by
the shadow of this defect …Early India wrote no history because it never
made any’’ (Macdonell 1900, p. 11)..


The Problem of Chronology
Th Sad
The S dD Darshanas
h
Archaeoastronomy & Astrochronology

The structure of Vedic Literature (continued)

Each Veda consists of Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas - speculation in the
solitude of wilderness eventually taking shape as the Upanishads,
To these were appended what were later called the Vedangas comprising of
Shiksha (phonetics) Sandhi rules
Chandas (meter)
Nirukta (etymology)
Vyakarana (grammar)
Jyotisha (astronomy and calendric functions)
KalpaSutras(Ritual procedures and the associated mathematics)
Note the emphasis on brevity throughout, Sandhi to make the content more
compact, phonetics for mnemonic purposes. Panini’s Ashtadhyayi is a tour de force
as the worlds oldest Grammar text and Nirukta for associativity
y in remembering
g the
meaning of words

The Vedic infrastructure - Sruti and Smrti

The Vedic Infrastructure continued

continued- Sutras are the
main mode of transmitting the Oral knowledge

The Structure of Indic Literature

We can only discuss what survived the millennia of wars and
destruction. Literally thousands of manuscripts were destroyed
when Ikhtiar Khalji rode into Bihar with a small band of looters
around 1200 CE
Indic Literature is derived from a Srautic Parampara – an oral
tradition, which is one reason that the original language has still
survived. Why was it an Oral Parampara ?
Hence there is great importance paid to brevity
The content needs to be maximized for a given number of
syllables hence the need for Sutras

A lot
l t off the
th material
t i l has
h been
b lost
l td due tto d
destruction
t ti and
dddecay


The problem of Indic Chronology
Th Indic
The I di W
Weltanschauung
lt h g or D
Darshana
h Th
The SSad
dDDarshanas
h

The Sad Darshanas
Those darshanas that

attest to primacy of the
Veda are known as
Astika,
Nyaya
Vaiseshika
Sankhya
Yoga
Purva Mimamsa
Uttara Mimamsa
while those that do not

are known as Nastika
Buddhism, Jainism,
Buddhism Jainism
Charvaka & others
Take Away
Ancient India always had a ‘loyal opposition’
Those who did not believe in the Vedic infrastructure .
Such diversity was inherent in the ethos of the Hindu, who has
always been comfortable in embracing the consequences of
such diversity. This is in marked contrast to the Occident where
the edict of exclusive adherence was the norm. Non compliance
in the Occident resulted in dire and fatal consequences
q to the
safety of the individual and the creation of new knowledge
We do not need lectures in dealing with diversity, it is part and
parcel of our Ethos or Hindutva


The Indian approach
pp to Itihaasa
The Sad Darshanas
Archaeoastronomy & Astrochronology
Th concepts
The t off SSunya and
d IInfinity
fi it

Pramaana – The Vedic Episteme- How do you create

Knowledge
The number of Pramaanas in each darshana are preset since the rule cannot be changed
once the debate has begun. They consist of a combination of the following,
Pratyaksha – perception ूत्यक्ष

Anumaana – Inference अनुमान
Sabda – Vedic Testimony, शब्द
Upamaana – Analogy,उपमान
Implication अथार्पिक्त
Arthaapatti – Implication,अथापिक्त
Anupalabdi – Non apprehension,अनुपलिप्द

The Vedanga Period

• Th Vedanga
The V d (IAST vedā
vedāṅ
dāṅ
dā ṅga
ga,, "member
" b off the
h VVeda")
d ")
• are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the
Vedas.
• Shiksha (śik ṣā): phonetics and phonology (sandhi
(śikṣ (sandhi))
• Chandas ((chandas): ) meter Pingala
g
• vyākaraṇa): grammar Panini
Vyakarana (vyākaraṇ
• Nirukta ((nirukta
nirukta):): etymology Yaska
• Jyotisha ((jyoti
jyotiṣṣa): astrology Lagadha
• Kalpa (kalpa
(kalpa):
): ritual Apastambha, Baudhayana,
• Katyayana , Manava
• The Vedangas are first mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad
• as topics to be observed by students of the Vedas.
• Later, they developed into independent disciplines,
• each with its own corpus p of Sutras.

 What kinds of knowledge did they develop and who were these individuals
 Yajnavalkya who wrote the Shatapatha Brahmana ( as well as the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad)in which he describes the motion of the sun and the moon and
advances
d a 95 year cycle
l to synchronize
h i the h motions
i off the
h sun and
d the
h moon
 Lagadha who authored the Jyotisha Vedanga
 Baudhayana the author of the Sulvasutra named after him
 Apastambha “
 Katyayana “
 Panini the Grammarian for the Indo Europeans
 Pingala Binary System of number representation
Aryabhatta the astronomer laureate of ancient India
 Varahamihira who synthesized the knowledge
 The author of the Jaina treatises the Suryaprajnapati,
Suryaprajnapati, Chandraprajnapati and the
seventh section of JambudvipaprajnapatiW

d
The Major
j contribution of the Indic to Mathematics
and astronomy
•the invention of the decimal place value system and
the creation of modern arithmetic;
•the invention of the sine and cosine functions leading
to the creation of modern trigonometry;
•The creation of algebra.
• The
h science
i off Algorithms
l i h – developing
d l i a sequence
of steps for calculation , that can be replicated by a
machine or computer
•Ancient Hindus were the master of the infinite series
•The science of Observational Astronomy
Apastambha Narayana Pandita

Aryabhatta I Nilakantha Somayaji
Aryabhatta II Panini
Ashvalayana Paramesvara India has had a tradition
Baudhayana Patodi of scholarship and
Bhadrabahu Pingala
Bhartrihari
Bh t ih i Pillai
Pill i knowledge creation
Bhaskara I Prthudakasvami throughout the millennia
Bhaskara II Puthumana Somayajee
Bose Rajagopal until it was extinguished
Brahmadeva Ramanujan
Brahmagupta Sankara
by the overt acts of British
Govindasvami Satananda colonial overlord
overlord. The
Harish--Chandra
Harish Sridharacharya
Hemchandra Suryaprajnaapati (author
major result – literacy in
Jagannatha unknown) the country plummeted
Jyesthadeva
Kamalakara Sripati to 6% in 1906 . We have
Katyayana Varahamihira
Lagadha V t
Vateswaracharya
h over 150 names in the
Lalla Vijayanandi area of Astronomy and
Madhava Virasena Acharya
Mahadeva Bhatta Henry Whitehead Mathematics. Many more
Mahavira Yajnavalkya than in the Occident
Mahendra Suri Yaska
M
Manava Yativrsabha
during a comparable
Manjulacharya Yatavrisham Acharya period
Yavanesvara

Aryabhata I A(the elder)

आयर्भट
Born 2765 BCE (based on modern research)
conventional dating (476 - 550 CE)
astronomer mathematician of the ancient world

Misdating of Aryabhata
"Aryabhata is the first famous mathematician and astronomer of Ancient India.
In his book Aryabhatteeyam, Aryabhata clearly provides his birth date. In the
10th
0 h stanza, off the
h Kalakriya,
l k i or the
h reckoning
k i off time
i
he says 60 x 6 = 360 years elapsed in this Kali Yuga, he was 23 years old.
The stanza of the sloka starts with “Shastyabdanam Shadbhiryada vyateetastra
yascha yuga padah.”“Shastyabdanam Shadbhi” means 60 x 6 = 360. While
printing the manuscript, the word “Shadbhi” was altered to “Shasti”, which
implies 60 x 60 = 3600 years after Kali Era
Era.
षष्टयब्दानाम षिद्भयर्दा व्तीतस्तर् यश्च युगपादाः ।

ऽयिधका िवंशित रब्दाःत दे वा मम जन्मनो अतीताः ।।

Aryabhata’s
A bh t ’ birth
bi th time
ti was fi
fixed
d as 476 A.D
AD
Since in every genuine manuscript, we find the word “Shadbhi” and not the
altered “Shasti”, it is clear that Aryabhata was 23 years old in 360 Kali Era or
2742 B.C.
This implies
p that Aryabhata
y was born in 337 Kali Era or 2765 B.C. and
therefore could not have lived around 500 A.D., as manufactured by the
Indologists to fit their invented framework. Bhaskara I is the earliest known
commentator of Aryabhata’s works. His exact time is not known except that
he was in between Aryabhata (2765 B.C.) and Varahamihira (123 B.C.)."
.

Question how many Aryabhata were there
Aryabhata I A the elder (referred to as such Al Biruni) who wrote the

Aryasidhanta
Aryabhata I B of Kusuma Pura (referred to as such by Al Biruni) who wrote
AryaBhateeya
Aryabhata II (950 CE)
See C N Srinivasa Iengar and AlBiruni among others
Whatever may be the true date, the currently accepted date of 476 CE is
unsustainable
bl ffor many reasons. CColebrooke
l b k places
l h
him most llikely
k l in the
h
BCE category

Aryabhata आयर्भट
Explains the causes of eclipses of the Sun and the Moon.

Moon
Estimated the length of the year at 365 days 6 hours 12 minutes

30 seconds is remarkably close to the true value which is about 365
d
days 6 hours.
h
book has four chapters:
(i) the astronomical constants and the sine table
(ii) mathematics required for computations
(iii) division of time and rules for computing the longitudes of planets
using eccentrics and epicycles
(iv) the armillary sphere, computation of eclipses.

Comparison of The Àryabhatiya of Àryabhata and Astronomic values.
Ast onom Constants

Astronomy AD 2000
2000.0
0 A abhati a
Aryabhatiya 1604 BC
Rotations per solar

366.25636031 366.2563589 366.25635656
orbit
Days per solar orbit 365.25636031 365.2563589 365.25635656
Days per lunar orbit 27.32166120 27.3216638 27.32166801
Rotations per lunar

27.39646289 27.39646514 27.39646936
orbit

Summary of Aryabhata’s work 2565 BCE (new and consistent

chronology)
 Approximation for PI
 "Āryabhatīya",
Āryabhatīya", a tour de force consisting merely of 108 verses
 de elo ed astronomical
developed t o o i l and d mathematical
the ti l theo
theories
ie iin which
hi h the Earth
E th
was taken to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were
given with respect to the sun (in other words, it was heliocentric) A
calculated the earth’s sidereal period to be 23 hrs 56 m 4.1 s.
(23.9344725428 h) remarkably close to the accurate value of 23 h 56 m
4.091 s
 Laid the foundation for a mathematical infrastructure to solve future
problems in the field of Astronomy including Trigonometry
 believed that the Moon and planets shine by reflected sunlight and he
believes that the orbits of the planets are ellipses.
ellipses.

Panini पािणिन
Based on new research 3100 BCE
conventional date (520 BCE - 460BCE)
Probably the single most influential individual in the linguistic and

symbolic mathematical development of India.
The worlds first Grammarian

the worlds first developer of Linguistics as a science
codified rules of Sanskrit grammar
first suggested alphameric symbols for numbers
Postulated use of zero and place value system ???

Sage Yajnavalkya (याज्ञवल्क्य) (c. 2000 BCE to 1200BCE)

of Mithila
advanced a 95-yeary cycle
y to synchronize
y the motions of
the sun and the moon.
credited with the authorship of the Shatapatha
Brahmana, in which references to the motions of the sun
and the moon are found.
1800 BC is sometimes suggested by the astronomical
evidence within the Shatapatha Brahmana, while some
Western scholars dispute his historicity.
j figure
major g in the Upanishads.
p His deep
ppphilosophical
p
teachings in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, and the
apophatic teaching of 'neti neti' etc. is found to be
startlingly similar to the Buddhist doctrine and to
modern science.

Bhartrihari
Bhartrihari (c.100 BCE?)
the conventional date for B'hari is at least a half a century later , but
if he is a brother of the famous Vikramaditya, it does not compute
Bhartrihari is the odd man out in India's anthology of the ancients.
First of, how does one categorize him.
Is he more important for his philosophical writings, or for being the first
ancient to study Linguistics after Panini or
was he best known for being a well known member of one of the most
illustrious ruling dynasties of India.
Here are 2 curriculum vitae until we have time to digest all that he has
produced
Author of Vaakyapaadiya,
y p y , Traya-Satakam
y
http://www.urday.com/bharatri.htm
http://www.iep.utm.edu/b/bhartrihari.htm

What the rest of the world said about Indic

contributions
The historian Florian Cajori, one of the most celebrated
historians of mathematics in the early 20th century,
suggested that "Diophantus, the father of Greek algebra,
got the first algebraic knowledge from India
India." This theory
is supported by evidence of continuous contact between
India and the Hellenistic world from the late 4th century
BC, and earlier evidence that the eminent Greek
mathematician Pythagoras visited India,
India which further
'throws open' the Eurocentric ideal.

Saad al-Andalusi,
t e first
the st historian
sto a ofo Science
Sc e ce who
o in 1068
068 wrote
ote Kitab
tab Tabaqut
abaqut
al-Umam in Arabic (Book of Categories of Nations) . A native
of Andalusia in Moorish Spain (7000 miles away)
Translated into English by Alok Kumar in 1992
To their credit, the Indians have made great strides in

the study of numbers (3) and of geometry. They have
acquired immense information and reached the zenith
in their knowledgeg of the movements of the stars
(astronomy) and the secrets of the skies (astrology) as
well as other mathematical studies. After all that, they
have surpassed all the other peoples in their knowledge
of medical science and the strengths
g of various drugs,
g ,
the characteristics of compounds and the peculiarities
of substances.
Our jjourneyy todayy will take us to

The Sad Darshanas
A h
Archaeoastronomy
t & Astrochronology
A t h l

Th C
The Celestial
l i l Timekeepers
Ti k
Or
How to design a calendar
By Observing the Sun and the Moon

There are basically 3 kinds of calendars in the world

1 Lunar Calendar keeps track of the phases of the
1.
moon
2. Solar Calendar keeps track of the seasons of the
year
3. Luni Solar Calendar –attempts to do both
Other ways of classifying calendars
Arithmetical Metonic Intercalation
Astronomical Use astronomical phenomena to
determine intercalation

Definitions (see figure)

 Ecliptic –comes from the word Eclipse the great circle on the celestial sphere
that lies in the plane of the earth's orbit (called the plane of the ecliptic). Because of the
earth's yearly revolution around the sun, the sun appears to move in an annual journey
through the heavens with the ecliptic as its path
path.
 Celestial sphere or armillary imaginary sphere enveloping the earth appears

to turn as the earth rotates
 Celestial equator
 equinox (ē´kwĬnŏks) , क्तांतीोुत्त (Kranthivruth)
either of two points on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic and the celestial equator
intersect.
 Periodicity of the saptarishi or Great Bear constellation or the Ursa Major
 equatorial coordinate system
 Line of Declination
 Line of right ascension

The Celestial
sphere
Known also
K l as the
th Armillary
A ill
sphere or Gola in Sanskrit)
Showing the ecliptic and its
inclination to the celestial
equator and is the
inclination of the earths
axis to the axis
perpendicular to the plane
of the ecliptic
About 23.5 degrees
g

The Armillary or Celestial sphere

(Gola)
depicts the way the ancients saw the universe, as
they gazed at the sky. Armillary spheres have
concentric rings to indicate planetary orbits, the
zodiac band of constellations, and terrestrial and
celestial measurement circles such as the Tropics of
Cancer and Capricorn and the equator. Sometimes
they are mounted with an Orrery inside. Sometimes
they are mounted as garden sundials.
A Ptolemaic armillary sphere has an earth globe at

the center, surrounded by celestial circle and zodiac
armillary rings, demonstrating the geocentric theory
of the universe developed by Ptolemy and others in
ancient Greece and Rome
Rome. The latest view is that
Ptolemy was certainly not the first or the only one to
develop a calculation algorithm based on a
geocentric model. The Indics were already there, no
pun intended, as were probably the Chinese

Equatorial coordinates

Different Coordinate systems in use

UTC date and time of solstices and equinoxes[1]

year Vernal equinox Solstice Autumnal Equinox Solstice
Mar June Sept Dec
This table gives the date day time da

y
time day time day time
and time of the solstices 2002 20 19:16 21 13:24 23 04:55 22 01:14
and equinoxes for a few 2003 21 01:00 21 19:10 23 10:47 22 07:04

of the years from the
present. Note the
2004 20 06:49 21 00:57 22 16:30 21 12:42
durations of the seasons 2005 20 12:33 21 06:46 22 22:23 21 18:35
are not equal and neither 2006 20 18:26 21 12:26 23 04:03 22 00:22
should we expect them to 2007 21 00:07 21 18:06 23 09:51 22 06:08

be , because of variation
of the Earths velocity, as
2008 20 05:48 20 23:59 22 15:44 21 12:04
enunciated in Keplers 2009 20 11:44 21 05:45 22 21:18 21 17:47
laws 2010 20 17:32 21 11:28 23 03:09 21 23:38
2011 20 23:21 21 17:16 23 09:04 22 05:30
2012 20 05:14 20 23:09 22 14:49 21 11:11
2013 20 11:02 21 05:04 22 20:44 21 17:11
2014 20 16:57 21 10:51 23 02:29 21 23:03

Effects of the tilt of the earth’s
earth s axis of rotation
to the orbital plane
Results in seasons (Fall , winter, spring and summer) see

figure
As a result of gy
gyroscopic
p forces arising g out of the tilt, the
earths rotation about its own axis, and the rotation around the
sun in the orbital plane, there is a precession of the axis,
which causes the axis to point towards a perceptibly different
direction every thousand years.
This also results in the precession of the Vernal and Autumnal
Equinox, another manifestation of the precession of the axis.

Effects of the tilt of the earth’s axis of rotation
to the orbital plane Precessional wobble affecting
the location of polestar

Effects of the tilt of the earth’s
earth s axis of rotation
to the orbital plane Precession of the equinoxes
पू.भा
3092 1837 477 401 1623 2221 3247 3835

CE CE CE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE

The results of Precession

Did the Vedics know about precession
Alpha Draconis was the pole star 4000 years ago – described in
RG 10.82.2 as being
g very
y near to Ursa Major
j – Jacobi calculates
2780 BCE as the probable date of the verses\
The first point of Aries has moved due to precession

The chasingg of Rohini by y Prajapati
j p ((tenth Mandala))

The difference between

the sidereal day and the
solar day from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia
For the same reason the

sidereal year is longer
than the solar or tropical
year by about 20
minutes.
We will come back to this
when we discuss the
precession of the
equinoxes

Values for the Lunar sidereal orbit and the Lunar Synodic orbit are given in Table
below
COMPARISONS Lunar sidereal orbit Lunar synodic orbit
AD 2000.0 27.32166156 29.53058888
AD 498 27.3216638 29.530591
Àryabhata 27.321668 29.530582
Paulisa Siddhanta 27.321673 29.530587
1604 BC 27.321668 29.530595

Some more definitions

Sidereal Year Ysd = 365.256363634259 (2007 CE) days
Solar or tropical Year Y = 365.2421988 (2007 CE)
Synodic Month M = 29.530587946 days

Sidereal Month Msd = 27.32166156 days
Sidereal Day = 23 hrs 56 mts 4.091
4 091 sec = 86,164.091
86 164 091 seconds
Civil or Solar Day = 24 hours = 86,400 seconds
Metonic cycle 19 tropical years is 234.997 synodic months, which is very close to
an integer. So every 19 years the phases of the moon fall on the same dates (if it
were not for the skewness introduced by y leap
pyyears).
) 19 y
years is therefore called
a Metonic cycle (after Meton, an astronomer from Athens in the 5th
century B.C.E.).
Yajnavalkya cycle advances a 95 year cycle to synchronize the moon and the sun,
which is of course a multiple of the Metonic cycle. The Vedics because of their
superiority in Algebraic notation and the number system had the more accurate
measurements

Calendar and Tithi

The Indian Almanac or Panchangam( 5 limbs) has 5 concepts imbedded within it.
Five items are named for each day of the week (vara), the tithi, the Nakshatra, the
Karana , and the Yoga at sunrise and sunset.
sunset The Indian calendar uses lunisolar
parameters.
The month that is used is a Synodic month, and such a month has a period of
29.5306 days (the 24 hour day or solar day)and the year used is a sidereal year
(365.2563604) days
The lunar day begins at sunrise and the length of the lunar day is determined by
the length of time between sunrises –defined as the angular distance between
the sun and the moon (12 degrees)
The waxing
Th i and d waning
i phases
h are known
k as Shukla
Sh kl and
d Krishna
K i h Pakshas
P k h and
d
each comprise 15 days
The lunar date is referred to as the Tithi.

Àryabhata
ASTRONOMIC Surya
(from Clarke and
AUTHORITY Siddanta
Kay)
Years in Cycle 4,320,000 4,320,000
Rotations of the earth 1,582,237,500 1,582,237,828
Days 1,577,917,500 1,577,917,828
Lunar Orbits 57,753,336 57,753,336
Kay notes 57,753,339 lunar orbits rather than 57,753,336 per Clarke.
Synodic Months 53,433,336 53,433,336
Mercury 17 937 920

17,937,920 17 937 060
17,937,060
Venus 7,022,388 7,022,376
Mars 2,296,824 2,296,832
Jupiter 364,224 364,220
Saturn 146,564 146,568

Comparison of Astronomical constants
Àryabhata (from
ASTRONOMIC QUANTITY Surya Siddanta 2007
Clarke and Kay)
Years in Cycle ,MY 4,320,000 4,320,000 4,320,000
Rotations,R 1,582,237,500 1,582,237,828
Days in a MY, DMY=R-MY 1,577,917,500 1,577,917,828
Mean Rotations of the earth in 366 2586805556

366.2586805556 366 2587564815
366.2587564815 366 2587565
366.2587565
a SiYr R/MY=1 +DSiYr
Lunar Orbits one MY,LO 57,753,336 57,753,336
Days in a Sidereal month,DSiM = 1577917500/57753336 = 27.32166848
Kaye notes 57,753,339 lunar orbits rather than 57,753,336 per Clarke.
Synodic Months MSyn in a MY= 53,433,336 53,433,336

LO-MY
Days in a synodic month DSynM = 1,577,917,500/53,433,336=29.53058181
days=DMY/MSyn
Comparison of Astronomical constants
Àryabhata (from
ASTRONOMIC QUANTITY Surya Siddanta 2007
Clarke and Kay)
Mercury orbits in 1 MY 17,937,920 17,937,060 17,937,033.867

Orbital Period of Mercury in 88.20631534 88.21054443 87.969
sidereal days
V
Venus O
Orbits
bit in
i 1 MY 7 022 388
7,022,388 7 022 376
7,022,376 7 022 260 402
7,022,260.402
Orbital Period of Venus (days) 225.3133589 225.313744 224.7
Mars Orbits in 1 MY 2,296,824 2,296,832 2,296,876.453

Orbital Period of Mars days 688.8807449
688 8807449 688.8783455
688 8783455 686.2
686 2
Years 1.880858089 1.880851538 1.88
Jupiter Orbits in 1 MY 364,224 364,220 364,195.066

Orbital Period of Jupiter,
Jupiter 11 86083289 years
11.86083289 11 86096315 years 11.86
11.86096315 11 86 years
Years
Saturn Orbits in 1 MY 146,564 146,568 146,562.19
Orbital period of Saturn, 29.47517808 years 29.47598253 years 29.46 years
Years
English calendar weekdays Indian calendar weekdays

Sunday Raviwar
Monday Somwar (Chandrawar)
Tuesday Mangalwar
Wednesday Budhwar
Thursday Guruwar
Friday Shukrawar
Saturday Shaniwar
Chaitra
Vaishakh
Jeshta
Ashadh
Shrawan(Sawan)
Bh d
Bhadrapad(Bhado)
d(Bh d )
Ashwin
Kartik
Margshirsh
Paush
Falgoon (Fagan)


Th Indic
T diti
Zodiac Sanskrit Sector Sector end

sign Name begin
Aries Mesha 00 30
T
Taurus V i h bh
Vrishabha 30 60
Gemini Mithuna 60 90
Cancer Karka 90 120
Leo Simha 120 150
Virgo Kanya 150 180
Libra Tula 180 210
Scorpio Vrishchika 210 240
Sagittarius
g Dhanus 240 270
Capricorn Makara 270 300
Aquarius Kumbha 300 330
Pisces Meena 330 360

Precession Equation 50".29 + 2".22 T
where T = Number of centuries from AD 2000
Ayanamsa and Precession
The ayanamsa is
Th i ddefined
fi d as theh angle l b
by which
hi h the
h sidereal
id l ecliptic
li i llongitude
i d off a
celestial body is less than its tropical ecliptic longitude. The ayanamsa is mostly
assumed to be close to be 24° today, according to N. C. Lahiri 23.85° as of 2000.
This value would correspond
p to a coincidence of the sidereal with the tropical
p
zodiac in or near the year 293 CE, roughly compatible with the assumption that
the tradition of the tropical zodiac as current in Western astrology was fixed by
Ptolemy in the 3rd century.
The sidereal ecliptic longitude of a celestial body is its longitude on the ecliptic
defined with respect to the "fixed" stars.
The tropical ecliptic longitude of a celestial body is its longitude on the ecliptic
defined with respect to the vernal equinox point.

Th Indic
T diti
Ahargana
((the equivalent
q is the Julian dayy number}}
Ahargana, is the number of civil days from a certain epoch to
another date, and is an important quantity in Hindu
astronomy because the knowledge of ahargana on that date
and the knowledge of the mean position of the planets at
the time of the epoch, from which the ahargana has been
calculated, enable the astronomer to find the mean position
of the planet on the later date. All astronomers have given
various methods of calculatingg the ahargana.
g Vateshvara has
devoted a whole chapter to this subject.
Names of the Months

Month Name Month day 1 Number Season
Devanagari
(Maas) (Gregorian) of days Ritu
1 caitra च ैऽ March 22 30 Vasanta
2 vai¾¡kha वैशाख April 21 31 Grishma
3 jyai½¿ha ै May 22 31 Grishma
4 ¡¾¡¢ha आशाढ June 22 31 Varshaa
5 sr¡va³a
¡ ॐावण J l 23
July 31 V h
Varshaa
6 bh¡drapada भािपद August 23 31 Sharat
7 ¡¾vina आिन September 23 30 Sharat
8 k¡rtika काितर्क October 23 30 Hemanta
m¡rga¾§r½a र् र्
मागर्शीषर्
अमहायण
9 November 22 30 Hemanta
agrah¡ya³a
10 pau½a पौष December 22 30 Sisir
11 m¡gha माघ January 21 30 Sisir
12 ph¡lguna फानु February 20 30 Vasanta

1.Aswini , α,β Arietis, 15.Swati , αBootes, Arcturus

The Nakshatras, the
2.Apabharani , δArietis , Botein
concordance with 3.Krittika ,η,π Taurii, Pleiades, 16.Visakha, α, χLibrae
theZodiac is shown in Alcyone
the next slide 4.Rohini, αTauri, Aldebaran 17.Anuradha, δ Scorpii
5.Mrigasirsha , β Taurii 18.Jyeshta ,α Scorpii
6.Ardhra α Orionis, Betelgeuse 19.Mula ,λScorpii
7. Punarvasu βGeminorium, Pollux 20.Purva Ashadha ,δ Sagittarii
8.Tisya Or Pusya , δCancri 21.Uttarashadha,τ Sagittarii

9.Aslesha , αCancri 1,2 22.Sravana , αAquilae
10 Magha , αLeonis.
10.Magha αLeonis Regulus 23 Dhanishta , αDelphini
23.Dhanishta
11.Purva Phalguni , δLeonis 24.Satabhisaj ,λ Aquarii
12.Uttara Phalguni , 25.Bhadrapada ,α Pegasi, Markab
βLeonis,Denebola
13.Hasta , δ Corvi 26.Uttara Bhadrapada, α
Andromeda
14.Chitra ,αVirginis, 27.Revathi , η Piscium
Spica
2 1 27
26
The Indic Intellectual
XII
Tradition
25
3
4 I
24
XI
5 II
23
6
III X 22
Cancerककर् Note that the

7
Sidereal Zodiac
21
represented by
IV IX
integer
g
8 20 numbers is
rotating
19 anticlockwise
9 relative to the
10 V 18 Solar Zodiac at
VIII the rate of 1
degree every 72
The Solar and Sidereal 11 VI 17 years and will
12 VII
Zodiac or the Nakshatras move 30
16
13 degrees every
14 15 2160 years
Western zodiac Name of Indian zodiac Name of lunar month Position in

Zodiac(figure 10)
Taurus, Bull Vrushabha jyai½¿ha I
Gemini, Twins Mithuna
h ¡¾¡¢ha
¾ II
Cancer, Crab Karka (greek Karkinos) sr¡va³a III
Leo,Lion Simha bh¡drapada IV
Virgo, Virgin Kanya ¡¾vina V
Libra, Balance Tula k¡rtika VI
Scorpius, Scorpion Vrushchik m¡rga¾§r½a,agrah¡ya³a VII
Sagittarius, Archer Dhanu pau½a VIII
Capricornus,Goath
Capricornus Goath Makara m¡gha IX
orn
Aquarius,Waterpou Kumbha ph¡lguna X
rer
Pisces,fish
, Meena caitra XI
Aries, ram Mesha vai¾¡kha XII

When was the conception
p of the present
p Yuga
g system
y
• It is the conventional wisdom as mentioned in the history of astronomy by SN

Sen and KS Shukla that the system of 4 Yugas and the total period of
4,320,000 years was set up by Aryabhata and or Brahmagupta. But it is safe to
say that by the time Arybahata came along these Mahayuga periods were
well ensconsed, because Aryabhata proposes rationalizing them
• First we need to understand whether the Yuga system is of Pauranik Origin
(Markandeya Purana, Vayu Puraana, Matsya Purana) or is it of Siddhantic
Origin.
• The great age or kalpa of Brahma 4,320,000 can be traced to the Satapatha
Brahmana (LCM includes the great precession cycle of circa 25877 years)
• Then there is the question of the proper interpretation of the Divyabda =360
civil years
• Precession is ascribed to Hipparchos 125 BCE, but the Hindus and the
Babylonian Kidinnu ( Chaldeans)may have had a good idea as well as
quantitative measurements far earlier
q

A Day in Brahma’s Life 0f 1 Kalpa
1 Brahma
B h Day
D (day
(d and
d night)
i ht) = 2 Kalpa
K l
1 Kalpa = 4,320,000,000 earthly years (Y) =14 Manus + 1Kritayuga = 1000 MY =14*71.4+.4
Mahayugas
Kaliyuga = 432,000 Y = 1KY = 1200 divine years (DY) = 1 Yuga
1 DY = 360 Y
Dwapara = 864,000 Y = 2KY = 2400 DY
TretaYuga = 1,296,000 Y = 3KY = 3600 DY
Kritayuga = 1,728,000 Y =4 KY = 4800 DY = 0.4 MY =.4/71.4 = 5.6022408964e-3
Mahayuga (MY) = 4,320,000 earthly years = 10 KY = 12000 DY
1Manvantra (M) = 71 MY = 306.72 million years
Delay in creation = 47,400 divyabdas = 47400*360 = 1,706,4000 civil years
1 Manu
M = 1M + 1 KritaYuga
K it Y = 308.448
308 448 million
illi years = 856,800
856 800 DY
1 Kalpa = 14 Manus + 1KritaYuga = 14*71.4 +.4 = 1000 MY = 12,000,000 DY = 4.32 billion years
Y = solar or tropical year
DY = 360 Y = divine year (Divyabda)
KY = 432,000 = Kaliyuga
MY = 10 KY = Mahayuga

How old is the universe
As of Vaisakhapratipada of 2009 CE, May 1 we are in the second quarter of

B h
Brahma d (िद्वितय पराथर् ),
day ) called
ll d Shweta
Sh V h Kalpa,
Varaha K l seventh
h
Manavantaras named Vaivasvata and entered into the first quarter of the
28th Kaliyuga. Already 5110 years of this 28th KY have passed. so the time
elapsed in this Kalpa is 6 Manus =1,850,688,000 Y =
[6*(306
[6 (306,420,000+1,728,000)]
420 000+1 728 000)] = 6 Manus (includes 6 Jala pralayas or
sandhis, periods between Manavantaras) And 27 MY = 116,640,000 Y (27
* 4,320,000)=27/71.4M = 0.3781512605 M
Add 1 Jala Pralaya(depending on origin of cycle) = 1,728,000 Y
And 28th (Krta+Treta +Dwapara) = 3,888,000 Y (9*432,000) =0.9 MY =.9/71.4

= 0.012605042M
5110 Y of Kaliyuga = 5110 Y = 5110/4,320,000 MY = 1.1828703704
(10* 3) MY
(10*-3)
the current year 2009 CE = 1,850,688,000 + 116,640,00 +1,728,000 +
3,888,000 + 5110 =
1 ,972,949,110 Y or Solar years or 1.972949110 Billion years
= 426+27+(.4*7)
426 27 ( 4*7) + .99 +.001182703704
001182703704 = 456.701182703704
456 701182703704 MahaYugas
M h Y

Babylonian Astronomy - A very brief TimeLine

Reign of Hammurabi Enuma Elish 1700 BCE
Ob
Observation
i off Venus
V
Kassite Dynasty 1500 – 1200 BCE Enuma Anu Enlil
Nabunassar - record of eclipses 800 BCE
Ashur bani Pal , the Assyrians
Assyrians, 700 BCE Mulapin
Chaldean Dynasty 600 BCE astronomical diaries
Equal Sign Zodiac – regularization of calendar Persian Rule
Seleucid dynasty (after Alexander) Planetary theory

History of the Babylonians and the region of Babylonia (Babylon)

Chronology And History is not adequate to fill in the gaps
An essential condition for adequate knowledge of an ancient people

is the possession of a continuous historical tradition in the form of oral
or written records
records. This,
This however
however, in spite of the mass of contemporaneous
documents of almost every sort, which the spade of the excavator has
unearthed and the skill of the scholar deciphered, is not available for
scientific study of Babylonian or Assyrian antiquity. From the far-off
morning of the beginnings of the two peoples to their fall, no historians
appeared to gather up the memorials of their past, to narrate and preserve
the annals of these empires, to hand down their achievements to later days.

The Kassites
The Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern tribe who gained
control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire
after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC (short chronology). They could
have been the last migration out of India following the dessication
of the Saraswati river. They had the longest dynasty , ruling for
over 500 years,
years contemporaneous with Asoka in India.
India It Is
possible they transmitted the Astronomical Knowledge from India.
But this is to be treated as an assumption

Greek Astronomy - A very brief TimeLine

Hesiod 700 BCE
Meton and Euctemon Parapegma 450 BCE
Eudoxus (first planetary theory
Hipparchus (solar and lunar heories) credited with discovery of
Precession 150 BCE
Ptolemy (Planetary theory)
Pappus (commentary on Ptolemy)
Theon of Alexandria,
Alexandria father of Hypatea (300 CE)

Babylonian Astronomy, Chaldeans, Kidinnu
Tablet with a list of eclipses between 518 and 465 BCE,

mentioning the death of king Xerxes (British Museum)
Kidinnu or Cidenas: famous Babylonian astronomer (fourth
century BCE?), one of the most important persons in the
history of science.
The Greek geographer Strabo of Amasia (64 BCE-c.23
BCE c 23 CE) gives
a description of the life of the Babylonian astronomers, whom
he calls the Chaldeans.


The problem of Indian Chronology
The Indic Weltanschauung or Darshana The Sad Darshanas
Indic approach to creating knowledge –Vedic
Vedic episteme or Pramana

ArchaeoAstronomy & Astrochronology Use of Multiple disciplines
ArchaeoAstronomyy is the studyy of Archaeological

g artifacts to see
whether their Architecture reveals their age .e.g. in Angor Vat
there is a particular alignment of the Suns shadow during the
Vernal Equinox. There are many other examples in the world of such
structures,including the pyramids, the Stonehenge etc.
Astro-chronology is the retrodiction of astronomical observations

d i specific
during ifi events
t using
i PlPlanetarium
t i software.
ft W
We will
ill show
h
several examples of this.

These correspondences are current. Correspondences at the time of Al Biruni will differ by about 14 degrees , (2009 –
1030)/71.3 = 13.7 degrees, due to precession of the equinoxes
Western Zodiac name Sidereal Sanskrit Deity Sector in deg,min Sidereal Position of Meaning
Number longitude Yogatara in the
lune of the
nakshatra
1. α Arietis, Hamal Aswini (Asvayjau) Asvinau 00 00 13 20 13 49 +0 29 A Horse’s head
2. δ Arietis, Βοtein ApaBharani Yama 13 20 26 40 26 59 + 0 19 Yoni or Bhaga
3. η Tauri, Alcyone Krittika Agni 26 40 40 00 36 08 9 28 Razor
4. α Tauri, Aldebaran Rohini Prajapati 40 00 53 20 45 54 5 54 A wheel carriage
5. 112 , Beta Tauri, ElNath Mrigasirsha Soma 53 20 66 40 58 43 5 23 The head of an

antelope
6. α Orionis, Betelgeuse Ardhra Rudra 66 40 80 00 64.53 -1 87 A gem
7
7. β Geminorium,
G i i P
Pollux
ll P
Punarvasu Adi i
Aditi 80 00 93 20 89 20 9 20 A house
h
8. δ Cancri, Assellus Pushya Brihaspati 93 20 106 40 104 51 11 31 An arrow

Australis
9. ζ Ηydrae, 16 HYA Aslesha Sarpah 106 40 120 00 110 44 4 04 A wheel
10. α Leonis Magha Pitarah 120 00 133 20 125 58 5 58 Another house
11. δ Leonis Purva Phalguni Aryaman 133 20 146 40 137 23 4 03 A bedstead

(Bhaga)
12. β Leonis Uttara Phalguni
g Bhaga
g 146 40 160 00 147 42 1 02 Another bed stead
(Aryaman)
13. γ Virginis, Prorima Hasta Savitar 160 00 173 20 166 16 6 16 A hand

14. αVirginis(spica) Chitra Indra (Tvastr) 173 20 179 59 6 39 A pearl
186 40
15. π Hydrae Svati Vayu 186 40 194 48 8 48 A piece of Coral

200 00
16. β Librae, Vishaka Indragni 200 00 205 29 5 29 A festoon of leaves
Zubeneschamali 213 20
17. δ Scorpi,Dschubb Anuradha Mitra 213 20 218 42 5 22 An oblation to the Gods
226 40
18. α Scorpi, Antares Jyeshta Indra (Varuna) 226 40 225 54 -0 46 A rich ear ring
240 00
19. λ Scorpi, Shaula
h l Moola
l Pitarah
h 240 00 240 43 0 43 The
h tailof
l f a ffierce llion
253 20
20. δ Sagittari. Kaus Poorvashada Aapah 253 20 250 43 -2 37 A couch
Media 266 40
21. τ Sagittari . 40 Uttarashada Visvedevah 266 40 260 58 -5 42 The tooth of a wanton
280 00 elephant,
22. β Capricornus, Sravana Visnu 280 00 280 11 0 11 The three footed step of
Dabih 293 20 vishnu
23
23. δ capricornus,
i Dh i ht
Dhanishta V
Vasavah
h 293 20 299 40 6 24 A tabor
t b
Deneb algeidi (Sravistha) 306 40
24. λ Aquar,Hydor Satabhishaj Varuna 306 40 317 42 11 02 A circular jewel
320 00
25. α Pegasi,Markab Poorvabhadrapad Aja Ekapad 320 00 329 42 9 42 Aa two faced image
a (prosthapada) 333 20
26. α Andromeda Uttarabhadrapad Ahirbudhya 333 20 Another couch
(Uttara 346 40
August
27. 1,2009
η Piscium,Kullat Revathi ©Indic Studies
Pusan Foundation
346 40 02 58 +2 58 A small sort 101
of tabor
Nunu 360 00
Assumptions
Rate
R t off P
Precession
i 956 years per naksatra
k t (13.333
(13 333 degrees),
d )
Mean value of 25,812 years per revolution or 71.7 years per degree ,
6453 years to precess from equinox to solstice or vice versa
Currently , the equinoxes and solstices occur in the following nakshatra.
These numbers mayy not be the most accurate , however , since the
Great cycle of Precession of 25812 years has been chosen to be the
nearest integer that is commensurate with 27*4 (1^1 * 2^2 *3^3), i.e. is divisible by 27 and
4.This approximation allows us to deal consistently with integers in the table, the resulting
percentage error is a very small number for the 25,812 years we consider.
Vernal Equinox - Revathi or ζ Piscium 2156 CE
Summer Solstice - Punarvasu β Gemin orium, 1917 CE
Autumnal Equinox – Chitra, Spica, 1678 CE
Winter Solstice – Purva Ashadha, delta sagittarii, 2395 CE.
The next 2 tables give the retrodicted values of the 4 events in the year namely WS, VE, SS,
AE for all 27 Nakshatras. We shall call this table the Retrodicted Nakshatra Event Table
(RNET). The actual a ssumptions made by the Voyager program are far more accurate and
this is just a simplified snapshot summarized for brevity.
Nr Nakshatra Western Zodiac Winter solstice Vernal Equinox Summer solstice Autumnal equinox
name
1 Aswini α ,β Arietis Feb 11, 7313 BCE, Dec 3, March 25,401 BCE, November 5, 20362 September 9,
18310 CE(25,623) Feb 19,25098 CE BCE 11693CE
(25499) June 17, 5721 CE Dec 26,14244 BCE
(26,083) (25937)
2 Apabharani δ Arietis, Musca April 4,1623 BCE June 19,4786 CE
3 Krittika η,π,Tauri,Pleiades, ,feb 22, 8947 BCE April 8,2220 November, 21891 15622 BCE
Alcyone 27 or 28 16738 CE, Dec 5 BCE,Feb 22,23291 BCE,June 19,4139 CE 10308 CE, (25928)
Tauri ((25686)) (
CE(25511) ) (26030) p
September 13
4 Rohini α Tauri, Feb 28, 9654 BCE April, 16,3247 BCE June 20,3442 CE Sep 13,9904 CE
Aldebaran
5 Mrigasirsha, (Jacobi 112 β Taurii, El Dec 7, 15150 CE April 21, 3835 BCE June 21, 2531 CE SEP 14,8696 CE
N th
Nath M 6,
Mar 6 10608 BCE
6 Ardhrã α Orionis March 9,11038 BCE April 30,5011 BCE June 20,2089 CE September 15,8911
Betelgeuse Dec 8,14739 CE CE
7 Punarvasu β Geminorium, Dec 10,13008 CE May 7, 6048 BCE June 21,332 CE September 18, 6517
Pοllux CE
8 Tisya or Pusya δ Cancri Dec 11,11936 CE May 17, 7414 JUNE 30, 790 BCE September 19,5631
(Pargiter, Siddharth) BCE(Sidharth p.73) CE
9 Aslesha α Cancri 1,2 Dec 13,11543 CE May 20, 7953 BCE July 3, 1149 BCE Sep 20, 5443 CE
10 Magha α Leonis,Regulus Dec 13,10465 CE May 27, 8953 BCE July 13 2324 BCE September 21,4132
CE
11 Purva Phalguni δ Leonis Dec 15,9648 CE May 30, 9306 BCE July 19, 3151 BCE September 21,2880
CE
12 Uttara Phalguni, β Leonis Dec 16, 8933 CE June 4, 10131 July 24, 3903 BCE September 23, 2212
Jacobi BCE (Jacobi)Tilak CE
13 Hasta Γ Virginis. Porrima Dec 18, 7647 CE June 15, 11814 Aug 2, 5271 BCE September 16,1185
BCE CE
(1) WS VE SS AE
14 Chiträ α Virginis, Spica Dec 20,6690 CE Jun 21,12973 Aug 8, 6284 BCE September 22,
BCE 349 CE
15 Sväti Pi Hydrae Dec 20 , 5654 CE Mar 15, 11534 CE June 6, 18243 CE Sep 28, 370 BCE
June 1,738 bce9 BCE
(25632)
16 Visãkhã β Librae. Dec 20,4888 CE Mar 15,11409 Aug 20,8147 BCE October 8, 1847
CE BCE
17 Anurãdhã δ Scorpi , Jacobi Dec 22, 3955 CE Mar 16,10190 August 26, 9135 October 12, 2476
CE BCE BCE
18 Jyeshta α Scorpi, Antares Dec 22, 3443 CE July 11, 16303BCE August 29, 9667 BCE October 14, 2921
BCE
19 Mula λ Scorpi 12/22/2387CE Mar18,8299 CE Sep 5,10766 BCE October 20, 3702
BCE (Jacobi)
( bi)
20 Pürvä Asãdhã δ Sagittari 12/21/1671 CE Mar 18,7828 CE Sep 9,11489 BCE October 27, 4682
BCE
21 Uttara AsädhA τ Sagittari 12/16/935 CE July 24 18805 Sep 13,12236 BCE Oct 31 5484 BCE
BCE
22 Sravana β Capricornus 12/25/453 BCE Mar 19,6111 CE Jun 11,12268 CE Nov 10, 7228
,Dabih BCE
23 Dhanisthã(Sravishta) Δcapricornus Ja n 5 , 1861 BCE Mar 19 4512 CE Jun 24, 10903 CE Nov 18, 8419
(1) Deneb al Geidi BCE
24 Satabhisaj λ Aquarii Jan 14, 3181 BCE 03/21/3303 CE Jun 28,10234 CE Nov 26, 9604
BCE
25 Purva Bhadrapada( α Pegasi 01/19/4072 BCE (Jacobi) 03/20/3092 CE 06/16/8836 CE Dec 7,11412 BCE
Jacobi) (Markab)
26 Uttara Bhadrapadã αΑndromeda 01/30/5616 BCE 03/20/1837CE 06/16/7377 CE Dec 19

19, 13187 BCE
(Alpharetz)
27 Revathi η Piscium 12/1/19075 CE, 03/21/238 CE 06/16/6483 CE 09/09/12585 CE
02/05/6507 BCE 12/19/13304 BCE
Events described in the Samhitas, Aranyakas,
Puranas, Brahmanas, Kalpa Sutras that lend
themselves to Astro-chronological verification

-10,000 BCE Taittiriya Brahmana 3.1.2 refers to Purvabhadrapada nakshatra’s rising due east, a phenomenon
occurring at this date (Dr. B.G. Siddharth of the Birla Science Institute), indicating earliest known dating of the sacred
Veda.
- 8948 BCE Taittiriya Samhita 6.5.3 places Pleiades asterism (Krittika) at winter solstice, suggesting the antiquity of
this Veda.
-5776 BCE Start of Hindu king’s lists according to Greek references that give Hindus 150 kings and a history of 6,400
years before 300 BCE; agrees with next entry.
-6000 BCE Rig Veda verses (e.g., 1.117.22, 1.116.12, 1.84.13.5) say winter solstice begins in Aries (according to D.
Frawley), giving antiquity of this section of the Vedas.
-5500 BCE Date of astrological observations associated with ancient events later mentioned in the Puranas (Alain
Danielou).
-4000 BCE Jacobi and Tilak, independently come up with the same answer for the age of certain mandalas of the Rg
-3928 July 25th BCE: the earliest eclipse mentioned in the Rig Veda (according to Indian researcher Dr. Sri P.C.
Sengupta).
-4000 BCE – Origin of Luni Solar Calendar

-3200 BCE In India, a special guild of Hindu astronomers (nakshatra darshas) record
in Vedic texts citations of full and new moon at winter and summer solstices and
spring and fall equinoxes with reference to 27 fixed stars (nakshatras) spaced
nearly equally on the moon’s ecliptic (visual path across the sky). The
precession of the equinoxes (caused by the mutation of the Earth
Earth’s
s axis of
rotation) makes the nakshatras appear to drift at a constant rate along a
predictable course over a 25,800-year cycle. Such observations enable
specialists to calculate backwards to determine the date the indicated position
of moon, sun and nakshatra occurred.

“-10,000

References in the Veda – Samhita, Brahmana, the Aranyaka and the Upanishad (2)
-3139 BCE Reference to vernal equinox in Rohini (middle of Taurus) from some Brahmanas, as
noted by B.G. Tilak, Indian scholar and patriot. Now preferred date of Mahabharata war and life
of Lord Krishna
- 2221
222 BCEC Reference
f to vernall equinox
i iin Krittika
i ik (Pleiades
( l i d or early
l Taurus)) ffrom Yajur
j and
d
Atharva Veda hymns and Brahmanas. This corresponds to Harappan seals that show seven
women (the Krittikas) tending a fire. ()
-2350 BCE Sage Gargya (born 2285 BCE), 50th in Puranic list of kings and sages, son of Garga,
initiates method of reckoningg successive centuries in relation to a nakshatra list he records in the
Atharva Veda with Krittika as the first star. Equinox occurs at Krittikia Purnima. A complete
Nakshatra list is in ubiquitous use by this date
-1255 BCE King Suchi of Magadha sets forth Jyotisha Vedanga, dating it by including an
astronomical note that summer solstice is in Ashlesha Nakshatra.
-850
850 BCE The Chinese are using the 28 28-nakshatra
nakshatra zodiac called Shiu,
Shiu adapted from the Hindu
jyotisha system.” (Siddharth, p.87) .Prior to that they used a 23 nakshatra system. The Weber
manuscript discovered around 1890 CE near Yarkand in Sinkiang Province, describes the 28
nakshatra system of the Atharva Veda, as described by an Indian scholar Pushkarasardi (see SB
Roy Ancient India).

Investigators who have commented on the
Astronomical prowess (or lack)of the Indics
Anquetil du Perron Sudhakar Dvivedi Subhash Kak

William Jones Otto Neugebauer David Frawley
Thomas Henry Colebrook David Pingree Narahari Achar
Hallstead Sheldon Pollock R N Iyengar
Thibaut Kim Plofker K D Abhyankar
William Brennand Bhao Dhaji Yukio Ohashi
Bentley Hegel Gautam Sidharth
Albrecht Weber Rajesh Kochhar Narahari Achar
Jean Filliozat Ebenezer Burgess Ramasubramanian
Van der Waerden Jean Sylvain Bailly Sreeramula Rajeswara Sarma
Fritz Staal Roger Billard K V Sarma
Abraham Seidenberg AlBiruni Michio Yano
G R Kaye Saad Al Andalusi Srinivas M D
John Playfair Hipparchus ChristopherMinkowski
Herrman Jacobi Aristarchus Agathe Keller
Claudius Ptolemy Victor Kat
Katz Setsuro Ikeyama
William Dwight Whitney Bal Gangadhar Tilak Takao Hayashi

The VJ system of a 5 year Yuga was a very awkward
system. In use since the Vedic era.
A d had
And h d tto d
do with
ith yajnas
j
The Calendar during Vedanga Jyotish Era

The Vedanga Jyotish attributed to Lagaddha is a relatively short document
and is available in 2 rescensions the Yajur and the Rg.
The Yuga is of five year duration.Commences on shukla Pratipada, in the
month of Magha, when the Sunan the Moon are together in Sravishta later
called Dhanishta and when the Uttarayana (WS) takes place. RNET gives us
a date 0f 1861 B CE for this
Number of Years 5
Number of sayana or civil days 5*366 = 1830 days
Number of solar months = 60
Number of Lunar (synodic months) = 1830/29.53059= 61.96963894
Number of Lunar month (sidereal) = 1830/27.3 = 67
Number of intercalary lunar months 62-60 = 2
Tithis (lunar days) = 62*30 = 1860
N
Number
b off omitted
itt d or K
Kshaya
h Tithi
Tithis = 1860
1860-1830
1830 = 30
Number of nakshatra days 67*27 = 1809.
A day had to be added after 5 years since 62*29.53059= 1830.8965 and to
keep it consistent the additon of a day had to be omitted every 10th yuga’
Furthermore the p phases of the moon would continuouslyy change
g with
reference to the calendar days. So ther had to be a correction for that

Probable date of Vedanga Jyotisha 1861 BCE
VE in Markab,α
Pegasi,Purva
Bhadrapada 3092 ce
Bhadrapada,
Markab

VE in Uttara Bhadrapada,
Alpharetz,α Andromeda,March
20,1837 CE

Question is Revathi ζPiscium (not visible to
naked eye)
ζPiscium
VE in ζPiscium, 477
CE, Revathi ?

VE in α Arietis, Hamel, Ashvini are considered to be β,γ
Arietis,401
, BCE

VE in Delta Arietis, Apabharani, 1623 BCE, April 4

VE in Krittika, Alcyone, Pleiades,April8,2221 BCE

VEin Aldebaran, Rohini, April 16,3247 BCE

VE in Lambda Orionis, Mrigashira, April 26, 4542 BCE

VE in Ardhra, Betelgeuse, April 30, 5011 BCE

AE in BETELGEUSE, ARDHRA, September 14 , 8910 CE

SS in Betelgeuse, Ardhra, June 20, 2089 CE

The Nay Sayers

The majority of those who studied the Ancient Indic Episteme have
applied a very severe yardstick and have concluded the glass is half empty
or even in some cases completely empty
empty,(Whitney,
(Whitney Neugebauer
Neugebauer, Albrecht
Weber, David Pingree and many others)
The latest to pronounce judgement is Kim Plofker on the use of Astro-
chronology usιng modern Planetarium software to retrodict past observed
astronomical events.
events She claims that the absence of unambiguous
identification of accurately observed events, renders such methods
useless. The few examples she gives do not support this all or nothing
stance. In reality there is very little ambiguity in several instances which
makes this method of dating events , at least as efficacious as Carbon
dating and in many instance more accurate then Carbon dating. But even
Kim Plofker try as she might is unable to conclude that India borrowed
anything from Babylon and that ultimately we are reduced to arguing over
probability and plausibility
plausibility. We have no rational objection to such a
stance, which is substantially at odds with the views of David Pingree who
seemed to be considerably more certain.
We have been meticulous in removing possible

ambiguities in the data
We have reconstructed the concordance of the 27
Nakshatras with IAU classified stars.There are 7 Yogataras
that lie outside the lune of the individual Nakshatra.
The Nakshatra is considered a region spanning an angular
distance of 13 degrees and 20 minutes along the ecliptic
of the solar system. We have simulated the dates of the 4
major events (VE, SS, AE, WS) and we are confident that
the
h resultsl reflect
fl reality.
li ItI would
ld require
i extraordinary
di
odds to assert that all the dates so arrived at are mere
coincidence

Yogataras that lie outside the lune of a Nakshatra in our scheme

Ashwini
Apabharani
Ardhra
Jyeshta
Purvashadha
Uttaraashadha
Revathi

Our journey
O j today
t d will
ill ttake
k us tto
The problem of Indian Chronology
The Indic Weltanschauung or Darshana The Sad Darshanas

Different Meanings of Sunya

Purely literary
Speculative
Referential
Place Value Numeration
Computable number
Non scalar or higher mathematical entity

The Present Decimal Place Value System

A positional numerical notation with a concrete zero symbol
Plays the following 3 roles successfully
Medial or internal -the classical internal role of a blank space e.g 205, 2005 etc.
final or terminal -the more stringent role
e.g. 250, 2500
initial -a superfluous
p role ordinarily,
y, 025.. But in computers
p this role is also
important

Purna and infinity
ॐ पूण र्मदः पूण र्िमदम पू् णार्त पू् ण र्मदते

ु |
पूण र् पूण र्मादाय पूणमर् वे ाविशते ||
ॐ शािः,
शािः शािः,शािः शािः ||( Isa Upanishad)
That (pure consciousness) is full (perfect); this (the manifest universe of matter; of names
and forms being maya) is full. This fullness has been projected from that fullness. When this
fullness merges in that fullness, all that remains is fullness.
—Peace invocation—Isa Upanishad h d
Contains in it the mathematical definition of infinity

Rules for the arithmetic of the Zero

First codified by
y Brahmagupta
g p in Brahmasphuta
p Siddhanta


The problem of Indic Chronology
The Indic Weltanschauung g or Darshana The Sad Darshanas

A Historical Perspective of Sunya
Even while conceding that the decimal place value system, the
Occidental is loathe to accord the antiquity of this system,
Quote Michel Danino, who is more receptive than most
Occidentals has this to say
““There
h is always
l confusion
f when
h we speakk off the h invention off zero. As a symbol
b l ffor nill value,
l it
was invented by the Babylonians long before there was any sign of it in India. The Mayans also
had it. But it was only Indians who were able to turn it into a mathematical operator and
integrate it in the decimal place-value system of numeral notation. This transformation took
place sometime in the 4th centuryy AD. (See
p ( below.)) In anyy case Aryabhata
y has nothingg to do with
it (in fact, we can prove that he knew of the decimal-place value system, although he does not
use it explicitly in the Aryabhatiya).

What kind of Math problems did the Sutrakaras tackle

geometry for practical use in the construction of alters and
places of sacrifice.
construction of squares and rectangles of equivalent squares
and rectangles, construction of equivalent circles,
construction of squares equal to the sum of two given squares
or the difference of the two given squares.
they knew the theorem which is today attributed to Pythagoras.
Familiar with surds like sqrt 2 and transcendental numbers like
PI complex numbers using the imaginary number ‘i’ or π1−
For obtaining the diagonal , the rule given in the Sulva Sutras is
to multiply the side of the square by

The Indian Mathematicians of the ancient era primarily

number theorists.
Excelled in Diophantine Equations
ax + by = 1: this is a linear Diophantine.
X**n + y**n = z**n: For n = 2 there are infinitely many solutions
(x,y,z), the Pythagorean triples. For larger values of n, Fermat's last
theorem states that no positive integer solutions x, y, z satisfying the
above equation exist.
X**2 - n y**2 = 1: (Pell's equation) which is named, mistakenly,
after the English mathematician John Pell by Leonhard Euler. He named
it after studying the manuscripts of the Hindu mathematicians
It was studied by Brahmagupta and much later by Fermat

E
Example
l off B
Brahmi
h i script
i t

So, who invented the Zero and the decimal place value
system
Was it Yajnavalkya ?
Pingala perhaps ?
Was it Panini ?
Or Apastambha ?
Or was it Aryabhata ?
Or perhaps none of the above

Apastambha
Author of SulvaSutras
References
Books:
G G Joseph, The crest of the peacock (London, 1991).

Articles:
R P Kulkarni, The value of p known to Sulbasutrakaras, Indian

J. Hist. Sci. 13 (1) (1978), 32-41.
G Kumari, Some significant results of algebra of pre-
Aryabhata era,
era Math.
Math EdEd. (Siwan) 14 (1) (1980)
(1980), B5
B5-B13.
B13
A E Raik and V N Ilin, A reconstruction of the solution of
certain problems from the Apastamba Sulba Sutra
Apastamba (Russian), in A P Juskevic, S S Demidov, F A
Medvedev and E I Slavutin
Slavutin, Studies in the history of
mathematics 19 'Nauka' (Moscow, 1974), 220-222; 302.


The Sad Darshanas
The Indic approach to creating
knowledge –
Vedic episteme or Pramana
The
h concepts off SSunya andd Infinity
f
Concluding remarks

Colonialism and its forms of knowledge

The command of Language and the Language of Command
Sir William Jones learning Sanskrit from Indian Pundits

What can we conclude from this high level overview

What if anything is the essence of the message from the
Ancient Indic
There are indeed common characteristics that transcend the various
disciplines that the Indics studied.
The ancient Indic was eminently practical , for instance the rules of the
cord.
The Indic took a Holistic view, in engineering parlance he was using a
systems engineering approach
The Indic was far from other worldly. In fact he did not believe in
entombing the dead with artifacts, needed for the living or creating
extravagant mausoleums
Was he markedly different and unique from other Civilizations
Kaun banega Karodepathi
Can the modern Indic maintain this historically prodigious

pace of creating knowledge ?
इस ूंन का सवाल आप िक मिु  मॆ है ।

ICIH2009, January 9-11,2009, IIC,Delhi
पराणिमितोत्तमाख्याियकोदाहरणं
पु राणिमितोुत्तमाख्याियकोदाहरण
धमार्थश
र् ास्तर्ं चेतीितहासः
History
ICIH2009
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The Indic intellectual tradition

Countering the Neo-colonialist Paradigm

ISERV Meeting, Hyderabad August 1st, 2009

©Indic Studies Foundation

An overview of the ancient Indic contribution

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 2

I regard myself primarily as a Historian of science

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 3

Why did I develop this presentation ?

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 4

SOME YARDSTICKS TO GAGE INDIA´S INTELLECTUAL TRADITION

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 5

The story within the story

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 6

What we hope to cover today,

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 7

Our journey today will take us to

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 8

Why study history ?

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 9

The study of History

August 1,2009 ©Indic Studies Foundation 10

Who were the founders of History and Historiography

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The Traditional Definition

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§ इितहासः itihaasaha Tradition has it that it stands for the epics

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• धमार्थ र्काममोक्षाणामपु देशसमितं ।

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Mahabharata Adi Parva 1.267,268

the Mahabharata (Adi-Parva1.267,268) and Manu-Samhita

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Why should we take a fresh look at History

The state of knowledge in various fields such as

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Proposed chronology of the Vedics

What is the proper sheet anchor to use

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Caricaturization of the Indic I

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Caricaturization of the Indic II

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2 Key assumptions in Colonial Paradigm of history

1. Every noteworthy development was made by invaders (Hegelian

2. No discovery ought to be credited to the Indics prior to the advent

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It must have been the Aryans !

Eurocentricity (a euphemism for a clearly racist attitude) gave

Indics incapable of discovering and utilizing a gamut of

The Circular argument persists to this day – assumptions are

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Our journey today will take us to

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Created (for no discernible rationale) by Sir William Jones (1746-1794)

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TimeLine according to MaxMueller[