date of mahabharata war using planetarium software

8/11/2019 Date of Mahabharata War using planetarium software

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Date of the Mah@bh@rata War

using planetarium software

MICROSOFT CORPORATION

August 29, 2014

Authored by: Narahari Achar


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Achar / Date of Mahabharata war / 1

B. N. Narahari Achar about 24000 wordsProfessor Emeritus

University of Memphis

Memphis, TN 38119

[email protected]

THE DATE OF THE MAHABHARATA WAR USING PLANETARIUM SOFTWARE

by

B. N. Narahari Achar


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ma


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8.2f Pair of eclipses within thirteen days .. 73

8.3 Date of$=a 758.4 Conjunction of"aniwith rohi#................................................ 76

Chapter 9. Various dates for the War and Simulations with Planetarium software. 77

Chapter 10. Epilogue.. 85

Acknowledgements 87Bibliography.. 89


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CHAPTER 1 PROLOGUE

The first presentation of determining the Date of the Mahabharata War using Planetarium

software was made thirteen years ago in 2001 at the International Conference in Montreal. The

software could project the view of the sky at any time at any place. At that time the software did

not have search capabilities. Yet the software could be used to discriminate and select from a

plethora of dates from about 4700 BCE to 400 CE for a possible date of the war. A set of

astronomical data from Udyoga Parvanwere chosen as benchmark data and if they could be

reproduced on a given date proposed by a scholar, that date could be considered a candidate and

rejected if the data were not reproduced. Four works by the following scholars, with the dates

proposed by them in parentheses were chosen for this purpose: Kochhar (955 BCE), Sidharth

(1131 BCE), Sengupta (2449 BCE) and Raghavan (3067 BCE). It was shown that the benchmark

data could be reproduced only for Raghavans date and no other. A few more random checks

with dates other than the four chosen also yielded negative results. It was proposed that 3067

BCE could be considered as the date of the war.

Subsequent work has shown that the astronomical information inBh&!aparvan(which has

been severely criticized by all scholars) can be interpreted in a consistent manner provided most

of the astronomical references corresponded to comets and not planets and that a unique date of

3067 BCE for the war results. These results were presented at the seminar on the date of the

Mahabharata war held at the Mythic Society in Bangalore in 2003.

This work is based on the astronomical information found in the epic itself and does not depend

on any other outside information. It uses the concepts of abhidh@/ lak&a#@ and vya0janato

properly understand the meanings of words such asgrahaand in so doing it is shown that theastronomical references are consistent and not contradictory as was alleged previously. A unique

date is derived as the date of the war and there are given copious illustrations of star maps

generated by the planetarium software. Many criticisms that have been hurled at this work have

been shown to be of not much significance.


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CHAPTER 2 ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE OF ANCIENT INDIA

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce some basic concepts of astronomy used in India from

the Vedic times and relate them to modern notions in using the planetarium software.

2.1The Celestial Sphere

Our experience of Time arises from three fundamental motions in Nature: the rotation of the

Earth on its axis, the revolution of the Moon around the Earth and the revolution of the Earth

around the Sun. These motions give us the units of Time, the Day, the Month and the Year,

respectively. Moreover, the axis of rotation of the Earth is inclined at an angle of 23and

degrees with respect to the perpendicular to the plane of the Earths orbit around the Sun. As a

result of this inclination, as the Earth goes around the Sun, there is a variation of the length of

day time during the year resulting in Seasons. Special mention may be made of the two

Equinoxes, the Spring and Autumnal equinoxes, when the day and night are of exactly equal

duration and the Summer and the Winter solstices when the duration of day time is the longest

and the shortest respectively. Furthermore, the Sun rises exactly in the East on the Spring

equinox. The point of sunrise continuously shifts towards North until the Summer solstice and

then begins to shift southwards. The length of day time continuously increases and on the

Summer solstice, it is the longest day. The point of sunrise begins to move southwards, with the

concomitant decrease in the length of day time. When it is Autumnal equinox, the Sun rises

exactly in the East again and the day and night are of equal duration. The point of sunrise

continues to move southwards, the length of day time continues to decrease until it is Winter

solstice. It is the shortest day and the Sun The ancient =&is had observed all these and their

observations were based on the Earth. So the Earth appeared to be stationary, all the heavenly

objects executed a daily or Diurnal motion, i.e., they rose in the East, moved across the sky andset in the West. In addition, the Sun appears to go round the Earth completing the path in one

year. So does the Moon, completing its path around the Earth in a month. These astronomical

phenomena are best understood in terms of the Celestial Sphere1representation.

1Standard textbooks on Astronomy deal with this material. See for example

E. Chaisson and S. McMillan,Astronomy Today,Prentice Hall, Engle wood NJ, 1993

M. A. Seeds, Foundations of Astronomy, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA. 1992


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In this picture the Earth is considered to be stationary (i.e., it does not move), The Sun, the Moon

and the Planets go around the Earth. The stars are very far away from the Earth and are

considered to be fixed to definite positions on the inside surface of a very large sphere centered

on the Earth. This large sphere is the Sky we see and is referred to as the Celestial Sphere. The

size of the sphere is unspecified, except that it is very large. All the stars are assumed to be at the

same distance from the Earth and at fixed locations on the inside surface. As the Sun, the Moon

and the planets move around the Earth they also appear to be moving in the Sky in the

background of the stars. A number of lines, circles and points drawn on the Celestial Sphere are

helpful in locating and observing the motions of various heavenly objects.

Imagine a single observer on Earth standing all alone and observing unhindered by earthly

objects such as trees, hills etc. Draw a large circle on the ground with a radius equal to the

distance as far as one could see (Figure 2.1). This horizontal circle is called the Horizon. The

observer O is at the center of this circle. Imagine a large sphere with the Horizon cutting into two

halves. The sphere is the Celestial Sphere. The upper half is the Sky we see, the Horizon

separating the part of the Sky we see from the part we dont. The stars are fixed on this Sphere

and hence their positions can be known by coordinates similar to the Latitude and Longitude weuse on Earth to locate cities, but these coordinates are fixed on the Celestial Sphere and not on

Earth and will be discussed later. When the observer looks above, the point directly overhead is

called the Zenith and the point directly below is called the Nadir. Note that the Earth is very

small compared to the size of the Celestial Sphere and is essentially a point at the center of the

Sphere.

The Earth rotates on its axis from west to east, but for the observer in Figure 1, the entire

Celestial Sphere with all the stars rotates from east to west. The axis of rotation of the Earth

when extended meets the Celestial Sphere at the points P (North Celestial Pole) and S (the South

Celetial Pole). A circle on the Celestial Sphere drawn so as to pass through the points Zenith, P,

Nadir, and S is called the Meridian Circle and it intersects the Horizon at the points N and S. The

Celestial Equator intersects the Horizon at the points E and W. These points indicate the cardinal

directions North, South, East and West.


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Figure 2.1. The Celestial Sphere, Horizon, Meridian Circle, Celestial Equator and the

Cardinal points indicating the directions North, East, South and West

The view of the Celestial Sphere above is called the Local view and its appearance changes from

location to location. In particular the North Celestial pole appears at an altitude (i.e., the angle


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Figure2. 2. Precession Currently Polaris is on the North Celestial Pole, in 3000 BCE, it was

Thuban.

2.3The Ecliptic

As the earth moves around the Sun, from the Earth the Sun appears to move among the stars.

This is seen in the next picture.

Figure 2. 3. Motion of the earth around the Sun and the apparent motion of the Sun from the

Earth.


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Sun continues to move further South, the days become shorter until he reaches Winter

Solstice(WS), when the Sun is as far South as possible. The Day is the shortest. Then the Sun

turns Northward again. That is the beginning of Uttar@ya#a1The seasons and the variation of

day time are illustrated in the next figure showing the position of the Sun at noon on various

dates. At noon the Sun is on the Meridian Circle, the notation of am and pm for the morning and

afternoon arising from the fact that the Sun is before reaching the meridian, ante meridian , in the

morning. It is post meridian or pm after having crossed the meridian. (Figure 2.5).

Figure 2. 5. Local view of the Sun at various positions along the Ecliptic.

213Nak&atras

The Moon also appears to move among the stars as it revolves around the Earth, the path of the

Moon being another circle on the Celestial Sphere, inclined at an angle of 5 degrees to the

Ecliptic. The Moon completes the orbit on the average in 27.3 days. Thus the Moon travels at

the rate of 13and 1/3 degrees per day. In order to track the motion of the Moon and the Sun on

the Celestial Sphere, the ancient sages chose 27 bright stars along the path as markers and these

are the nak&atras2. Later on at the time of ved@


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Moon spends about a day at each nak&atra1 Incidentally, when one talks about ones

jan!ank&atra/ one is referring to the fact that on the day of birth, Moon was at that nak&atra1

Each nak&atra is also associated with an adhidevata. A table of the list of 27 nak&atra./ together

with the associated adhidevata and an identification with the modern name3of the bright star

developed by the author4is given in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1 Identification of Vedic nak&atras

Nak&atra-s # of

stars

de!tificatio! of "ri!ci"a star $residi!g

Deity%&%& $rese!t$=ttik@ 6 'au 'au 4gni5ohi# 1 *au *au Praj@pati

M=ga"ir@ + -ri .au/ o!a*rdr@ 1 *-ri e/ 5%dra

P%narva.6 2 .e .e 4ditiP%&ya 1 3&!c 3&!c B=ha.pati*.le&@ 6 5ya 5ya arpaMakh@ 6 *eo *eo Pit=

p-ph@lg%# 2 3eo 3eo 4rya!@%-ph@lg%# 2 .eo .eo Bhaga

7a.ta 7 3&r8 ir/ avit@

8itr@ 1 *ir *ir 9ndrav@t 1 *oo ;ir +@y%+i"@kh@ 2 *ib *ib 9ndr@#

4n6r@dh@ 4 3


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As can be seen from Table 2.1, the present identifications for six nak&atra-. are different from

those given in the RCRC. That there is misidentification of some of the nak&atra-. has been

pointed out before6. In the RCRC list the identifications for .v@ti/ "rava#a/ and dhani&ha are

30 or more away from the Ecliptic, the identifications in the present work are closer to the

Ecliptic. The present identifications for three others, !=ga"ir@/ @rdr@ and ha.ta are brighter and

nearer to the Ecliptic than the RCRC list.

2.5Nak&atriya praj@pati

The passage in aittirya Br@h!a#a (1.5.2.2) depicts the figure ofPraj@pati constituting

certain nak&atras :

o vai nak&atriya> veda|%bhayorena> lokayorvid%;|ha.ta [email protected] ha.ta;| ?itr@ "ira;

ni&y@ h=daya>| 6r6 vi"@khe |prati&h@n6r@dh@;| e&a vai nak&atriya; praj@pati;|

The figure ofPraj@pati is to be seen in the background of stars as described in the above

passage, The nak&atra ha.ta represents the hand, ?itr@ the head, and ni&y@ (.v@ti) theheart; the dual vi&@kh@s represent his thighs and an6r@dh@ represents his feet. A free-hand

sketch of this figure is shown in the figure 2.6

6Abhya!kar (1991)


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Figure 2.6 Nak&atriya praj@pati

The figure is a classic yoga posture with the folded hands above the head, the nak&atras as

identified in Table 2.1 match the description very well. It also shows that the commonly accepted

identification of Arcturus (alpha Bootes) for .v@ti is to be rejected as it is too far from the

Ecliptic to represent the heart.

2.6ithi

As indicated earlier, the Sun moves along the Ecliptic at the rate of 1 per day and the Moon

moves at the rate of 13 and 1/3 per day. On the a!@[email protected] (New Moon day), the Sun and the

moon are together, i.e., they rise and set at the same time. The next day the Moon is ahead by a

little over 12. The Moon rises about 48 minutes later than the Sun and sets later by the same 48

minutes. The twelve degree separation between the Sun and the Moon is termed atithi1 The first

day it ispratipad/ the next day it is dvityaetc., each day the separation between the Sun and the

Moon is increasing by 12. After 15 days, it isPa%r#i!@/ (The Full Moon), the separation is

180. That is the Sun and the Moon are on opposite sides of the sky, the Moon is rising as the

Sun sets. Figure 2.7 shows the view of the sky on April 29, 2014 which happens to be an

a!@[email protected] Sun and the Moon are together at a.hvini1


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Figure 2. 7. Sun and the Moon are together on an a!@[email protected]

The nak&atraof the day gives the position of the Moon, tithi gives the position of the Sun

relative to the Moon. Together the tithi and nak&atra (these are two of the five elements of

pa0?@


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ka&yapa has not been seen by any except, the sagePr@#atr@ta/ son of arga/ who advises the

other sages to go to !ah@!er% from where ka&yapa does not move. Who are the seven suns?

Who is ka&yapa? How can we understand it as the basis for the model of seasons?

There are two motions involved in the phenomenon of seasons. The rotation of the Earth about

its axis, results in the appearance of the sun rising and setting and the phenomena of day and

night. This is described as the motion of the sun around the !er%/ corresponding to the motion

about the pole of the Celestial Equator. The second motion is the revolution of the Earth around

the sun, approximated as a circle, which appears for the observer on earth, as the sun moving

around the Earth. This is described as the sun moving around the !ah@!er%/ the pole of the

Ecliptic. The picture of eight suns is woven in an ingenious way to explain the phenomena of

seasons.

There are six =t%s (seasons) and correspond to different segments of the Ecliptic as the sun

travels along the Ecliptic. Each of the segments of the Ecliptic has a presiding deity, an adhipati/

who is dormant until the sun (the seventh sun who moves along the Ecliptic) is actually in the

segment. The seventh sun then assumes the identity of the lord of the segment and thus

activating him causes the phenomena pertinent to that =t%and then moves to the next segment.The current adhipati becomes dormant again while the next adhipati is activated.

Referring to figure 4, it can be seen that during half the year, the sun moves along the Ecliptic

from VE through SS to AE, the sun is to the north of the Celestial Equator, and during the other

half of the year, the sun stays to the south of the Celestial Equator. From AE to VE we have three

=t%s, each =t% is assigned a segment of the semicircle, the three segments haveBhr@ja/ Paara

and Pata


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The source of power of this moving sun, @roga;/ and hence of all the other six suns, is ka&yapa/

the eighth sun. The seven suns7get the light from ka&yapa1 o!a makes these suns free of

darkness and pure like a goldsmith making gold shine better with the help of bellows.

The eighth sunka&yapais at the intersection of the axes of the Equator as well as the Ecliptic

(both !er% and !ah@!er%), i.e., inside the Earth! This may be basis for thep%r@#i? story of

.agara and his sons being reduced to ashes by ka&yapa1

=here is !o reaso! to take these se8e! su!sE as .apta grah@sE, as soe schoars see to do he se8e!

su!s are used o!y to ode the seaso!s here is o!y o!e true su! As the su! o8es ao!g the eci"tic, he

assues the ide!tity of o!e of the other siC su!s Bho are the rege!ts of the sege!ts of the eci"tic


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CHAPTER 3 BACKGROUND

In the opinion of Pusalker8, theMah@bh@rata war is the central landmark in Indian traditional

history and fixing the date of the event will give a starting point for settling dates of events

occurring before and after it. According to tradition, as declared in the epic itself, the war

between the$a%ravas andPandavas took place at the junction ofDv@paraand$ali y%gas9,

around 3000 BCE.Bh@ratya-s never had any doubt about the historicity of the event and have

been celebrating the anniversaries of certain events connected with the epic such as t@jayanti

andBh&!@&a!ifor centuries. However, when Western scholars began to study the epics with

interest from a rationalist historic point of view, doubts were expressed about the war ever

having been a historic event. Some granted that the event was historic, but it was only a family

feud, which was exaggerated to epic proportions and doubted the remoteness of its date.

Western Scholars10

, while acknowledging that unlike other ancient civilizations, the ancient

traditions inBh@rathave been preserved without a break down to the present day, have generally

argued thatBh@ratya- s lack a sense of history and that there is a dearth of historical texts in

Bh@rata, that contain records of dates and events. These scholars have discounted the fact thattwo of the greatest epics of the world, 5@!@y@#a andMah@bh@rataare traditionally regarded as

[email protected] s, i.e., historic texts and that there are in addition, a host of supporting texts in the form of

P%r@#a- s. Ignoring the fact thatBh@rata has its own sense of history and its purpose11, the

scholars have systematically misrepresented the chronology ofBh@rata so as to fit some

misguided theory12

. A plethora of dates for the war derived on the basis of a number of diverse

methodologies and with no consensus, have been proposed. Thus began a cottage industry for

discovering the date of the Mahabharata war. Dozens of conferences have been held and nearly

two hundred research papers and books have been published on the topic of the date of the

Mah@bh@ratawar.

F$usaker (1996)

9antare ?aiva .a>pr@pte kali dv@parayorabh6t

.a!antapa0?ake y%ddha> k%r%p@#:ava .enayo;GGHh 29GG10

asha, A, (197+), The Wonder that was India,ro8e $ress !c, NeB Iork11

dhar!@rtha k@!a !ok&@#@> %pade"a .a!anvita>Gp6rvav=tta> kath@y%kta> [email protected]> pra?ak&ateGG12

the so caed Arya! !8asio! heory or A, !oB thoroughy discredited


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A number of methodologies based on linguistics, archaeology, astronomy, puranic genealogies

etc., have been employed to determine the date of theMah@bh@rata war, but the results have

been extremely disappointing. A range of dates ranging from about 5500 BCE to 600 BCE have

been proposed for theMah@bh@rata war, most of the Indian scholars prefer the date around 3000

BCE, while most of the Western scholars show a preference for much later dates between 1500

BCE to 1000 BCE. Figure 1 displays the distribution of the number of authors 13and the dates

proposed by them.

Figure 1. Distribution of the Number of authors (vertical axis) and the Dates proposed

(horizontal axis, in BCE years, with +/- 250 BCE years range) based on all

methodologies

Nearly 40% of all the authors base their results on the astronomical references14,15. However, it

has not been possible to arrive at a definite date on the basis of astronomical references either.

Figure 2 shows the distribution of dates from more than forty scholars who have made use of the

astronomical data. It is clear that there is as much variation in the dates based on astronomical

references alone as the dates based on diverse methodologies. Practically every scholar has

1+


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criticized the astronomical references in the epic as conflicting and self-contradictory, so that no

satisfactory and acceptable result can be obtained from these data16.

A new research tool in the form of Planetarium Software17

became commercially available about

fifteen years ago. These software products can project the view of the sky at any time and place

on the world from about 10000 BCE to about 10000 CE and the research using astronomical

methods was reduced from tedious calculations to just clicking the mouse of a personal

computer. However, the new tool has not brought the results any closer. Three of the most recent

publications, all based on astronomical methods and all using planetarium software have

proposed dates of 5500 BCE18, 1798 BCE19and 1198 BCE20respectively.

Figure 2. Distribution of Number of authors (vertical axis) and the Dates proposed

(along the horizontal axis, in BCE years, range +/- 250 BCE)on the basis of astronomicalreferences

The author pioneered successfully the use of the planetarium software products to study the

astronomical references in the Vedic texts and in the epicMah@bh@rata1The purpose of this

16$usaker (1996)

1=


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monograph is to present the results of a research program undertaken to determine the date of the

Mah@bh@rata war on the basis of the astronomical references in the epic and their simulation

using the planetarium software. The reason for the wild variation for the date of the war is to be

found in the source statements about the astronomical references and their interpretation. It has

been recognized that the Critical Edition ofMah@bh@rata which was compiled from a variety of

sources painstakingly by a host of scholars under the leadership of Dr. Suktankar should be taken

as the framework for identifying the astronomical references in the text. The proper

interpretation of the word graha depends on the context and it may refer to a planet or a comet.

The planetarium software provides a powerful tool for the exploration. With these points in mind

the monograph sets out to demonstrate that a unique date for theMah@bh@rata war can be

obtained. It will be shown that contrary to the general belief, the astronomical references in the

Bh&!aparvanand Udyogaparvanwhich constitute the astronomical references most pertinent

to the war, form a very consistent set and in the context of omens as indicating impending

calamities, agree closely with the tradition of omens in4tharvavedaand its ari"i&ha-s. The

astronomical references lead to a unique date for the war, 3067 BCE and all other astronomical

references in the epic are consistent with this date. This date had also been proposed earlier byProfessor Raghavan

21and his collaborators. This date forms the sheet-anchor for the chronology

ofBh@rata1

The plan of the monograph is as follows. A brief description of the salient features of the

planetarium software products commercially available will be given in the next chapter. The

limitations of the simulations are also discussed. The following chapter discusses the set of

astronomical references in the Udyogaand theBh&!aparvan-s. The consistency of the

references within theBh&!aparvanis discussed. It is shown that most of the astronomical

references in this set pertain to comets and that the few truly planetary references are identical to

the ones in Udyogaparvan and that these common references lead to the uniquedate of the war.

The consistency of the other astronomical references in the epic is illustrated by star maps

generated by the planetarium software. In the final sections there is a consolidation of the

21%agha8a! (1969)


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traditions ofBh@gavata p%r@#a/ .aptar&i Era, and beginning of$aliy%ga/ and response to

criticisms that have been directed towards this work.


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CHAPTER 4 THE PLANETARIUM SOFTWARE

The term Planetarium Software refers to a collection of computer programs which can

generate and display on the screen of a computer monitor thousands of stars and other heavenly

objects as seen in the sky at any given location and at any given date and time (between 9999

BCE and 9999 CE), all at the touch of a mouse. These software programs draw from the most up

to date star catalogues and are based on the current theories of planetary and stellar phenomena.

They are routinely used for telescopic applications both in manual and computer controlled

modes of operation, for they can project at which part of the sky and what time a desired object

becomes visible in the sky and direct the telescope accordingly. They are also used for satellite

tracking and space exploration applications routinely. Details of such applications are available

in the instruction manuals. Literally hundreds of such programs are available in the market to suit

any need for astronomical applications. There are several popular products commercially

available22

: The Sky, SkyMap Pro, Red Shift, Cybersky, Starry Night etc., for PC applications

and Voyager for Apple McIntosh applications. These software products can also be used as tools

of research in exploring ancient astronomy as has been shown by the author in severalpublications

23. The author has found SkyMap Pro to be most suited for current applications, but

has used Red Shift, Cybersky and occasionally, The Sky as supplementary tools. The author

gratefully acknowledges that many figures that are given in this essay would not have been

possible without the help of these software products. He has also found useful another computer

program24, Pancang2, which can calculate tithiand nak&atrafor any day on the Gregorian

(Julian calendar, for dates between 3000 BCE and 1580 BCE) calendar. This program has been

used only as a check and has not been used for any calculations other than for just verification

purposes.

The simulations provided by the planetarium software are extremely reliable and they are

based on the most recent star catalogues and planetary information. However, some caution has

22here are a!y "a!etariu softBare "roducts !oB coerciay a8aiabe hey are "eriodicay re8ieBed

i! the agaKi!e


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to be exercised in using these programs to compute eclipses at dates going back several

thousands of years in time. Let us assume that the periods of planets and the moon are known

accurately to six decimal places, say for example. The sixth place is somewhat uncertain. When

the data is extrapolated to 3000 BCE, a time span of 5000 years, some 60000 revolutions of the

Moon would have been considered, but only 200 revolutions of Saturn. The accuracy of the last

decimal place is very important for the Moon, but not for Saturn. Thus in a simulation

corresponding to 3000 BCE, the extrapolated position of Saturn is very reliable, but that of the

Moon is somewhat uncertain. This becomes evident in simulating the exact moment of new

moon, for example. There is a spread of about 12 hours among the times for the New Moon

given by the SkyMap Pro, Redshift and Cybersky. The time given by another software product

The Sky is off by seven days! There are other factors to be considered. This has to do with the

slowing off of Earths rotation. This is small, but results in a correction known as T, but there is

an uncertainty in the estimation of T itself. This introduces an uncertainty of about 12 hours25

in the occurrence of an eclipse when extrapolated to 3000 BCE. This means one cannot calculate

the occurrence of a solar eclipse within an accuracy of several hours. This would in turn cause

the location of a total solar eclipse also uncertain. It should be emphasized here that theoccurrence of the solar eclipse itself is quite certain, but what is uncertain is the exact location

where it occurs. In view of this, it would be difficult to choose a date based solely on the

occurrence of an eclipse at a given location. In the present work therefore, planetary positions

such as that of Saturn are considered most reliable. When it comes to eclipses, it is considered

sufficient if an eclipse occurred, and not much weight is given to the exact location of visibility

as per the simulation. Conversely, those works, which determine the date of the war solely on the

basis of occurrence of a solar eclipse at$%r%k&etrashould be accepted with caution. The

maximum duration of a solar eclipse is only about 7 minutes and the uncertainty runs to several

hours. The extrapolated planetary positions on the other hand, are highly reliable.

27Host rece!t estiatio!s are soe Bhat saer, about 2=7 hours i! +000 &L


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CHAPTER 5 ASTRONOMICAL REFERENCES IN THE EPIC

It is well known that there are a large number of references to astronomical events, totaling to

more than one hundred and fifty, scattered throughout the epic and have been catalogued26.

Figure 3 shows the distribution of the number of astronomical references (along the vertical axis)

among the eighteenparvan-s of the Epic (along the horizontal axis). Admittedly most of the

references are astrological in nature and the possibility that some of them may be later

interpolations cannot be overruled. However, there must be a few genuine events that were

observed and noted in view of the importance of the war. In fact, the majority of the

astronomical references occur in Udyoga andBh&!a parvan-s, pertaining to events just before

or at the start of the war and will be examined in detail.

Figure 3. Distribution of the Number of astronomical references among the

EighteenParvan.of the Epic. Udyoga(#5) andBh&!a (#6) contain the largestnumber of astronomical references pertaining to the war.

5.1 Astronomical References in Udyoga Parvan

There is a coherent chronology of astronomical events starting with$=as departure for his

diplomatic mission for peace to7a.tin@p%ra before the war and this mission must have been

considered very important for the astronomical references for this event have been recorded in

26


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great detail. The references quoted here are numbered with (i), (ii),with the appropriate

reference to the verses in the Epic.

(i)$=a leaves for7a.tin@p%raon the diplomatic mission27for peace in the !aitr !%h6rtain

the month of k@rtkaon the day of revatnak&atraC

tato vyapete ta!a.i .6rye vi!ala %dgate

!aitre !%h6rte .a>pr@pte !=dva?i&i div@kare//

ka%!%[email protected] revaty@> "aradante hi!@ga!e

.phta.a.ya.%khe k@le kalya; .atvavat@> vara;// MB(V. 81. 6-7)

Then, when the"arad=t% had ended and he!anta=t% was just beginning, in the month of

k%!%da (k@rtika), on the day of revati nak&atraand in the !aitr!%h6rta/that ever-ready hero

of heroes (set off) in the tender rays of the sun (for7a.tin@p%ra).

It is to be noted that$=a leaves Upaplavya nagarafor7a.tin@p%raon the day of

revati nak&atra in the month of k@rtika1 It means that it is only a couple of days before the full

moon of k@rtika/ which should happen when the moon is near k=ttik@ nak&atra1

(ii) On the way he halts at a place called +=ka.thalaand reaches7a.tin@p%raon the day of

Bhara# nak&atra1That night happens to be the full moon and also a lunar eclipse takes place onthis k@rtikafull moon, which is referred to below by$ar#ain this parvan and again by [email protected] in

his conversation withDh=tar@&train the nextBh&!aparvan1

(iii)$=ameets with various people to discuss the conditions of averting the war. On the day of

p%&ya/ D%ryodhanarejects all offers of peace.

(iv)$=a leaves7a.tin@p%ra,$ar#a accompanies him in his chariot and has a lengthy

conversation with him. At the end of the conversation$=asends a message through$ar#ato

Bh&!a and others that a!@[email protected] on the seventh day hence ($=a leaves7a.tin@pura four

days after the peace talks fail on the day ofp%&ya1 Professor Raghavan infers that it is on the day

of %ttaraph@lg%#1 The tithimust correspond to k=a pak&a a&a!/ the third quarter moon, as

the new moon is to follow in seven days) and that war rituals be started on that day:

.apta!@??@pi diva.@d a!@[email protected]@ bhavi&yati

.angr@!a> yojayettatra t@>hy@h%; "akradevat@>// MB(V. 140. 18)

2=he


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Seven days from now falls the New Moon day, with9ndraas the Deity for the nak&atraof the

day. (i.e.,'ye&h@ nak&atra). Let the war rituals be started on that day.

This is a very important piece of astronomical reference.$ar#a says there is going to be

a solar eclipse on that day. Thus, there is a sequence of eclipses referred to here, first a lunar

eclipse on the full moon of k@rtikafollowed by a solar eclipse at'ye&h@ nak&atra1During this

conversation$a=#a describes the positions of the planets at that time in the following verses

while talking about the omens foretelling an impending disaster to the k%r%family:

(v) pr@j@patya> hi nak&atra> graha. tko !ah@dy%ti;/

"anai"?ara; p:ayati p:ayan pr@#inodhika>// MB(V.141. 7)

The noxious and much lustrousgrahaSaturn, which always afflicts people severely, is

afflicting the nak&atrapresided bypraj@pati.

(vi)k=tv@ ?@ jye&h@y@> !adh%.6dana/

an6r@dh@> pr@rthayate !aitra> .a>"a!ayanniva// MB(V.141. 8)

Mars has performed a retrograde near Antares, oh, !adh%.6dana/and appears

to be praying for an6r@dh@s friendship, as if to pacify it.

(vii)n6na> !ahadbhaya> k=a k%r6n@> .a!%pa.thita>/vi"e&e#a v@reya ?itr@> p:ayate graha;// MB(V. 141. 9)

Indeed a great danger awaits the k%r% family and is indicated by thegraha afflicting Spica.

(viii) .o!a.ya lak&!a vy@v=tta> r@h%rarka !%pe&yati/ MB(V. 141. 10)

The moon lost its luster and r@h% is approaching the Sun.

Here$ar#adraws attention to the lunar eclipse that had already occurred and a solar

eclipse yet to happen, but makes no reference to the number of days in the interval between the

two eclipses. Apparently there is nothing special about this pair of eclipses. Furthermore, special

attention should be paid to the message of$=a/which is sent toBh&!a,Dro#a, and$=pa/ but

not toD%ryodhana1It is not a declaration of war, which can only be made either by D%rydhana

or %dhi&hirato each other, and certainly not by$=a1Thus there is no reason to assume that

the war started on the a!@[email protected]. Hence, E.a yojayetFcan only refer to the

beginning of war rituals and not the war itself. This will be more discussions on this aspect later.


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5.2 Astronomical References in theBh&!aparvan

As is well known, [email protected] withDh=tar@&traon the eve of the war and describes to

him a whole set of ill omens he has seen. These descriptions of ill omens run over two chapters

in theBh&!aparvan/ and the astronomical references occur in four separate segments:"loka.

(20-23) and"loka (32) in chapter 2, and"loka. (11-17) and"loka. (24-29) in chapter 3. On the

face of it these refer to planetary positions which are obviously contradictory and inconsistent

among themselves and astronomically impossible. This is best illustrated by a table given by

Sengupta28

which shows the positions of the planets as inferred from the references in both

Udyoga andBh&h!a parvan.based on the translation of the wordgraha as planet. Glaring are

the inconsistencies inBh&!a parvanwhen the same planet appears at two different positions in

the same night!

Table 1. Planetary positions near nak&atra. as inferred from the two references

Planet Udyoga parvan Bh&!a parvan

Saturn 5ohi# P6rvaph@lg%# or +i"@kh@Mars 4n6r@dh@ !akh@or rohi#

Sun 'ye&h@ or k=ittik@ 5ohi# or dhani&@

Moon $=ttik@ 'ye&h@

Venus p%rvabh@drapada or ?itr@

Jupiter "rava#aor vi"@kh@

5@h% 'ye&h@

Unnamed planet ?itr@ Between ?itr@ and .v@t

The scholars who have studied these astronomical references have tried to explain the

apparent contradictions by regarding them as interpolations. Because the descriptions appear in

four different segments, some29have suggested that they belong to interpolations done at

2F


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different times. Some scholars30have even suggested that some of the"loka-s belong to

.abh@parvanand not toBh&!aparvan perhaps due to mix-up in later editing operations.

Sengupta, exasperated by these inconsistencies declared them as hopelessly inconsistent

astrological effusions of evil omens fit for Mother Gooses tales only and hence no faith

can be put in any of these statements. So he completely ignores the planetary positions or

eclipses.

However, the author was in for a pleasant surprise by a simulation of the statement

Edh6!aket%r !ah@ghora; p%&ya! @kra!ya ti&atiF1Kane31had suggested that

dh%!aket%F here may refer to Halleys Comet. When the author looked for the position of

Halleys Comet, in 3067 BCE, it was in fact near p%&ya/ -cancri. However, this could not be

taken as proof that it was the same Comet that was observed and recorded in the epic. Soon the

author32

realized that the astronomical references in theBh&!a parvan are in fact very

consistent and that [email protected] is very systematic in his treatment of these omens and the difficulties

are due to the translation of the wordgrahaalways as a planet. It is not so, because it can mean a

planet, a comet or an asteroid, any heavenly object that can grasp (=grah) a nak&atra1 The

correct meaning can be assigned by following the intricate rules of abhidh@/ lak&a#@ andvyaketo abhidh@). It is abhidh@ through which we understand

the meaning which belongs to the word by common consent. This meaning is the principal

meaning. Sometimes the direct use of the primary meaning leads to a contradiction or absurdity.

Then it becomes b@dhit@, and a secondary or alternative meaning or an indirect significance of

the word is to be used. This is indicated by lak&a#@1(!%khy@rthabadhe r6:hitotha prayojan@t

anyortho lak&yate yat .@ lak&a#@ropit@ kriy@) Thus when the primary meaning,graha=planet

leads to an absurdity, the alternate meaninggraha= Comet is to be used. However, Comets are

denoted asgrahap%tra-s in astronomical texts. Thus the interpretation becomesgraha

grahap%traComet. Thus "aniC omet, son of"ani1The use will be further explained later.

+0 ye!gar (2004)

+1Ja!e (197F)

+2Achar(2004)


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The astronomical references can be grouped into four different segments because they

pertain to four different aspects of the ill omens as will be shown below. The tradition of

recognizing astronomical ill omens can be traced to4tharvavedaGGand itsPari"i&a.G3and the ill

omens described in the epic are consistent with the tradition.

5.2a The First segment

"loka s (20-23) of chapter 2 constitute the first segment. [email protected] describes the omens

foretelling the imminent war. Before describing the ill omens, he makes it clear that a great

disaster is bound to occur just as indicated by the ill omens:

iha y%ddhe !ah@r@ja bhavi&yati !ah@ pa"y@!i bh@rata/

%[email protected]!ane .6rya> kabandhai; pariv@rita>// MB(VI. 2. 20)

OhBh@rata/I observe the sun every day both morning at sunrise and in the evening at

sunset and have seen him as if encircled by long arms (i.e., encircled by a comet).

(x) "vetalohita paryant@; k=agrv@; .avidy%ta;/

trivar#@; parigh@; .andha% bh@n% !@v@rayanty%ta// MB(VI. 2. 21)

I see the sun surrounded by halos on all sides, halos which are tri-colored, dark in the

middle and white and red towards the edges and accompanied by lightning.

(xi) jvalit@rkend% nak&atra> nirvi"e&a dinak&apa>/

ahor@tra> !ay@ d=&a> tatk&ay@ya bhavi&yati// MB(VI. 2. 22)

++


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I have been watching days and nights the fierce sun, the moon and the stars shining

incessantly and have been unable to distinguish between day and night. This surely

forebodes utter destruction.

(xii) alak&ya; prabhay@hna; pa%r#[email protected]?a k@rtik>/

?androbh6dagnivar#a"?a .a!avar#e nabha.thale// MB(VI. 2. 23)

On the full moon night of k@rtika, the moon with fiery tinge was hardly visible, devoid

of glory, and the horizons were also of the same hue.

It is clear that the intent of [email protected] to impress uponDh=tar@&trathat there is an

imminent war, the armies are standing facing each other ready to fight and that war will bring

about utter destruction. This has also been indicated by the ill omens.

[email protected] by saying that he observes the Sun every day both in the morning at sunrise

and in the evening at sunset. He has noted the appearance of halos and some comets, which

appear to enclose the Sun as if with long arms. The moon had become lusterless on the lunar

eclipse day of k@rtika p6r#i!a1The class of omens thought to indicate an imminent war is quite

consistent with the tradition going back to4tharva veda Pari"i&a1

Consistency with traditionThe verses quoted above can be compared with similar verses (given below with a free

flowing translation) from the chapter 64 of atharvaveda pari"i&a . According to the editor Rai35,

the material presented in this chapter follows the teachings of4


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Given below are some verses extracted from this chapter %tp@ta lak&a#a/ verses

describingy%ddha.6?akalak&a#a/omens indicative of war, and verses from other chapterswhich are pertinent to this issue:

(a) arkebhra parigh@dn@> parive&orka ?andrayo;

(b) l@k&@lohita var#atva> .arve&@0?a vi?@ra#a>// AP (64. 5. 7)

One should always consider the line of clouds and halos around the sun and the moon

and observe whether they appear red or not in color.

(c) nlalohita paryanta> k=agrva> .avidy%ta>/ AP (61. 1. 4)

which are blue and red towards the edges and dark in the middle and accompanied by

lightning

(d) trivar#e parighev@pi trivar#airv@ bal@hakai;

%[email protected]!aya!iy@dyad .6rya; kad@?anai// AP (61. 1. 15)

(e) p=thivy@> r@java>"y@n@> !ahad bhaya! %pa.thita>// AP (61. 1. 15)

Whenever the sun is surrounded at sunrise or sunset by tri-colored clouds,

(the balahaka clouds), it indicates great calamity to the earth and royal families.

(f) ta!ro bhavati "a.tr@yaHHH11


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dh6!ravar#o gnivar#o v@ gr@!e&% nagare&% v@// AP (53. 5. 1-2)

the color of the moon (at the time of eclipse)indicates a battle if it is red and disaster to

cities and villages if it is smoky or fiery. Here only the relevant words have been quoted

the words left out are indicated by the dots and not that the remaining text is missing.

The omens described by [email protected] entirely consistent with the description in

atharvaveda pari"i&a. It may be noted that except for the Sun and the Moon, no other

planets have been mentioned in this segment.

5.2b The second segment

In the second segment, consisting of two"loka s, [email protected] the ill omens

foretelling the great harm to the k%r% dynasty and refers to the lunar eclipse, which occurred on

the Full moon day at k=ttika, followed by a solar eclipse. The earth experiences constant tremors.

He also refers to Saturn afflicting rohi#i (Aldeberan) and"vetagrahatransgressing ?itr@/which

indicates the selective destruction of the k%r%clan.

"vetagraha is usually translated as the planet Venus.

(xiii) roho#> p:ayanne&a .titho r@jan "anai"?ara;/

vy@v=tta> lak&!a .o!a.ya bhavi&yati !ahadbhaya>// MB(VI. 2. 32)Oh King, Saturn is harassing Aldebaran and the spot on the Moon has shifted from its

position. Something terrible will happen.

(xiv) abhka> ka!pate bh6!irarka> r@h%[email protected]/

"veto graha.tath@ ?itr@> .a!atikra!ya ti&ati// MB(VI. 3. 11)

The Earth is experiencing tremors intermittently and Rahu has seized the Sun.

"vetagrahahas transgressed Spica.

Consistency with the references in %dyogaparvan

These are almost identical to the omens described by$ar#aearlier in

Udyogaparvan ($a=#a includes in addition the retrograde motion of Mars) at the time of his

riding with$=ain MB (V.141. 7)- MB (V. 141. 10) quoted earlier.This clearly shows that the

second segment in [email protected] toDh=tar@&tra inBh&!aparvan/of ill omens pertaining

to the danger to the k%r%-s is consistent with the astronomical references in %dyogaparvan1 It

may be noted that there is a reference to agraha afflicting ?itr@ in both cases, except here it is

referred to specifically as"vetagraha1


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5.2c The third segment

[email protected] describes in the third segment further indicators of the calamity to the entire army

(.enayora"iva> ghora>11F). It is this segment that has caused much difficulty to the scholars in

that the planets appear to have been described as being at two or more locations at the same time.

It is possible that the apparent ambiguity and confusion in the stated planetary positions arise

because of the implicit interpretation that the wordgrahameans a planet. When the intricacies of

assigning meaning to a word in Sanskrit are fully realized it will be seen that there are no

inconsistencies in the astronomical references in thisparvan1

The wordgraha(from the rootgrah=to grasp or to seize) refers to any heavenly object,

which can move and hence can grasp or seize a star. Thus, the word refers to a planet or a comet,

although in much later times in Indian Astronomy, during the early years of CE, it came to be

associated with only a planet.

But, [email protected] no doubt to the fact that here the wordgraha refers to a comet:

Egraha% t@!r@r%#a"ikha% prajvalita%F MB (VI. 3. 24)

the [email protected] with coppery and red hair.

It may be noted that the word comet itself derives from the Greek word for hair. Thewordgraha with red hair in the context here can only refer to a comet. Thus the astronomical

references can be understood as references to comets.

Furthermore, as noted by +ar@ha!ihiraGA, the ancient astronomersPar@"araand arga

had studied and classified comets which were all thought to indicate mainly impending

calamities. They referred to comets as grahap%tra-s, specifically as sons of Sun, sons of

Moon, sons of Mercury, sons of Venus, sons of Mars, Children of Jupiter and Children of Saturn.

This practice of considering a comet as grahap%tra can be found in atharvaveda pari"i&aGI

also. Moreover, this can be compared to the practice followed even in modern astronomy.

According to this practice, the one hundred or so short period comets are classified as belonging

to Saturn-family, Jupiter-family etc., depending on whether their aphelia (farthest points from the

Sun in their elliptic orbits) lie within the orbit of Saturn or within the orbit of Jupiter etc.

+=hat (19F1)

+F%ai (19=6)


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Sometimes inBh&!a parvan/the word"ani is used to indicate"anip%tra1 There is

authority from =gvedafor such usage. For example, !ar%dga#a-s are referred to as r%dr@s

instead of r%drap%tr@;, because ofjananjanakayorabhed@t-non difference of the parent from

the son. So the question arises, how should one interpret the word say,"ani? A planet? Or a

comet? The guidelines are provided through abhidh@/ lak&a#@ and vya


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Some scholars have interpreted this to mean that the planet Mars and the planet Jupiter

are the ones executing retrograde motion, (some interpret that only Mars is retrograde)

implying total confusion and contradiction with other"lokas in this section.

(xvii) bh@gya> nak&atra !@kra!ya .6ryap%tre#a p:yate

"%kra; pro&apade p6rve .a!@r%hya vi"@> pate

%ttaret% parikra!ya .ahita; praty%dk&ate// MB(VI. 3. 14)

The son of Surya has crossed the asterismp%rva-phalg%#/and is vexing. Oh King, [son

of]"%krahas enteredp%rva-pro&apada/going around %ttara-pro&apadaand is rising in

both.

(xviii)"y@!o graha; prajvalita; .adh6!a; .ahap@vaka;

aindra> teja.vi nak"atra> jye&@!@kra!ya ti&ati// MB(VI. 3. 15)

"y@!agrahais luminous and together with dh6!aandp@vakahas crossed over to

jye&@, the bright asterism ruled by9ndra.

"y@!agraha has been interpreted as planet Mercury, leading to confusion. All the three ,

"y@!agraha/ dh6!a andp@vaka refer to comets.

(xix)

dhr%va; prajvalito ghora> apa.avya> pravartate/[email protected]@tyantare ?aiva dhi&ita; par%&o graha;// MB(VI. 3. 16)

The luminous dhr%vahas moved to the right ofghora. Thepar%&a graha

has established itself between ?itr@ and .v@ti.

It is obvious that dhr%vahere cannot refer to the polestar.

(xx) vakr@n%vakra> k=tv@?a "rava#e p@vaka prabha;/

brah!ar@"i> .a!@v=tya lohit@


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(xxii) k=ttik@.% graha.tvro nak&atre pratha!e jvalan/

vap6>&yapaharan bh@.@ dh6!aket%riva .thita;// MB(VI. 3. 26)

The comet tvrablazing in the first constellation k=ttika, and concealing forms with

luster resembles dh6!aket%.

(xxiii) tri&% p6rve&% .arve&% nak&atre&% vi"@>pate/

b%dha; .a!patate bhka> janayan .%!ahadbhaya>// MB(VI. 3.27)

[son of] Mercury is falling under all the three earlier constellations and

causing a great terror.

[email protected] specifically twelve comets,"veta/ dh6!aket%/ !ah@graha/ par%&a/

p@vaka/ dh6!a/ lohit@


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month and within an interval of thirteen days, and at an aparva#i moment (i.e., not at the

moment of exact conjunction or opposition of the sun and the moon).

(xxiv)

?at%rda"> pa0?ada"> bh6tap%rv@> ?a &o:a">/

i!@>t% n@bhij@n@!i a!@[email protected]@> trayoda">// MB(VI. 3. 28)

(xxv) ?andra.6ry@v%bha% gra.t@[email protected] trayoda">

aparva#i grah@veta% praj@; .a>k&apayi&yata;// MB(VI. 3. 29)

I know New Moon coinciding with fourteenth, fifteenth and also on the sixteenth day,

but I have never known it coinciding with the thirteenth day. In one and the same month,

both the Sun and the Moon are eclipsed on the thirteenth. These ill-timed eclipses

indicate destruction of the people. Here the wordgraha%refers to the two planets Sun

and the Moon.

This is the famous reference to two eclipses occurring within a month with an interval of thirteen

days. It may be remembered that there was already a reference to a lunar eclipse occurring on

k@rtika pa%r#i!@with a solar eclipse on the following new moon at jye&ha/by$ar#a but

nothing had been said about the time interval between those two. The eclipse at thirteen day

interval must therefore refer to a third eclipse observed later by [email protected] the same eclipseseason. This is borne out by the simulations with the planetarium software and will be discussed

later.

This can be compared with a description from atharvaveda pari"i&aC

yadi t% r@h%r%bha% "a"[email protected]%

gra.ati pak&a!anantara!antata;/

p%r%&a"o#ita karda!a v@hin

bhavati bh6rna ?a var&ati !@dhava;// AP(53. 3.5)

It is clear that the omens described by [email protected] four different segments refer to different

aspects: (i) an imminent war, (ii) calamity to the k%r% dynasty, (iii) destruction of the entire

army, and finally, (iv) danger to the entire population. As such they involve different

astronomical happenings. The truly planetary positions are indicated in the omens pertaining to

the calamity to the k%r%family and in this case the descriptions given by$ar#a in

%dyogaparvanare identical to the descriptions given by [email protected] inBh&!aparvan1The alleged


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great confusion and ambiguity in planetary positions seen by scholars pertain to the third

segment, which describes omens of a great danger to the entire army. This segment does not

refer to planets, but to comets and has been made explicitly clear by [email protected], but scholars have not

taken note of it. Explicit references by specific names to comets have been mistranslated as

planets, leading to confusion. Compounding the confusion is [email protected] reference to comets as off

springs of planets, but denoting them by the names of the parent planets. But, once it is

recognized that comets are implied here there is no confusion or ambiguity and everything falls

into place. There is no necessity for introducing adhoc hypotheses such as those advanced by

Sharma42, or Iyengar43to account for the ambiguity, because, it is non-existent. The description

of omens turns out to be a coherent account. It is evident that criticism directed against the

descriptions is unwarranted. It may be remarked in passing that other non-astronomical omens in

these two chapters can also be found in atharvaveda pari"i&a

42


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CHAPTER 6. METHODOLOGY OF DETERMINING THE DATE OF THE WAR

6.1 Planetary positions for determining the date of the war

It is abundantly clear that the true planetary positions described are common to both %dyoga

parvan andBh&!a parvan represent a great calamity to the k%r%family.

It is regarded that planetary positions are most reliable for determining the date of the war and

eclipses are not so reliable. Comets cannot be relied at all44

. Thus"aniat rohi# (Saturn at

Aldeberan) is the most reliable configuration and has been stressed in bothparvan-s. The next is

a


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6.2 Applications of Planetarium Software

A search is made for the years in which there is a conjunction of Saturn ("ani) with

Aldebaran (5ohi#) between 3500 BCE and 500 CE. As Saturn takes an average of 29.5 years to

go around the sun once, the event also repeats with the same period. There are 137 such

conjunctions during the interval specified above. A search is then made for those years from

among these 137 dates when Mars (a


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Table 6.1 . Chronology of events according to Raghavan

$=a. departure from Upaplavya nagaraon mission of peace Sept 26, 3067 BCE

$=a reaches7a.tin@p%ra Sept 28, 3067 BCE

Lunar eclipse Sept 29, 3067 BCE

$=a rides with$ar#a Oct 8, 3067 BCE

Solar eclipse Oct 14, 3067 BCE

War begins Nov 22, 3067 BCE

Fourteenth day of War continued till wee hours of morning Dec 8, 3067 BCE

Balarama returns Dec 12, 3067 BCE

Winter Solstice Jan 13, 3066 BCE

Bh&!a.expiry Jan 17, 3066 BCE

The star maps in figures 6.1-6.11 show that the astronomical events are reproduced. In

figure 6.1, the day$=a starts on his diplomatic mission, it is clearly seen that moon is near

revati/ and"ani is atrohi#1Figure 6.2 shows the full moon in k@rtika, it also happens to be a

lunar eclipse day. For the next couple of days$=ais busy with the peace talks in7a.tin@p%ra1


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Figure 6.1.$=a.Mission for Peace: Departure on September 26, 3067 BCE.

Figure 6.2. Full Moon of$@rtika1Lunar eclipse Day September 29, 3067 BCE


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Figure 6.3 Lunar eclipse of September 29, 3067 BCE (Redshift 7)

Figure 6.4 shows the star map for October 8, 3067 BCE, when$=arides with$ar#aafter the

failure of the peace mission, it is %ttaraph@lg%#. Seven days from that day, it will be a!@[email protected]

atjye&ha.$=asends the message toBh&!a,Dro#aand$=pa to start the war rituals that day.

Figure 6.4.$ar#a ride. ith $=a %ttara ph@lg%ni nak&atraOctober 8, 3067 BCE

(The thick diagonal line across is the ecliptic)


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The retrograde loop of Mars in that year is shown superposed on the star map for October 8,

3067 BCE in figure 6.5. The track of Mars is shown from December 8, 3068 BCE to October 8,

3067 BCE. The retrograde motion of Mars before reaching'ye&ha had occurred several months

earlier in February. It lasted until May when the motion became pro-grade again. On October 8,

Mars is way past'ye&h@ near"rava#a1 When$=a refers to the coming a!@[email protected] at'ye&h@/

$ar#a remembers this retrograde excursion of Mars which had taken place earlier. The reference

to an6r@dh@> pr@rthayate !aitra> .a!"a!ayanniva is perhaps a poetic pun on the failed

mission.

Figure 6.5 Starmap for October 8, 3067 BCE with track of Mars superposed.

Figure 6.6 shows the star map for October 14, 5067 BCE. The solar eclipse occurs at jye&h@1


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Figure 6.6 Starmap for October 14, 3067 BCE, solar eclipse atjye&h@

Figure 6.7 shows the star map for November 22, 3067 BCE, the day the war starts: moon is at

bhara#1Figure 6.8 shows the star map for December 8, 3067 BCE, the fourteenth day, when the

war continues until the wee hours of the morning and stops when the moon rises.

Figure 6.7 Starmap for November 22, 3067 BCE. The war begins


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Figure 6.8 Starmap for December 8, 3067 BCE at the time of Moon rise.

Figure 6.9 shows the star map for December 12, 3067 BCE, the last day of the war, it is "rava#a

nak&atraandBalar@!a returns.

Figure 6.9 Star map for December 12, 3067 BCE. Last day of War


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Figure 6.10 shows the star map for January 13, 3066 BCE, the day of winter solstice and figure

6.11 shows the star map for January 16, 3067 BCE, the day of Bh&!as expiry:"%kla a&a!/

rohi# nak&atra1

Figure 6.10 Starmap for January 13, 3066 BCE, winter solstice day


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of the war with the beginning of kaliy%ga in 3102 BCE which the astronomers who make the

pa0?@


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Figure 6. 13 shows the star map for October 8, 3137 BCE. It is a New Moon day, but it occurs

near an6r@:h@and notjye&h@/ it is not an eclipse day. Mars is nearjye&h@, but is never

retrograde that year and Saturn is atp6rv@&@:ha1 The solar eclipse had occurred near !akh@in

July 3137 BCE. The lunar eclipses occurred near Uttara ph@lg%# andp6rv@bh@draand not near

k=ttik@1 In other words, the astronomical events of 3137 BCE do not correspond to those

described in the epic.

Figure 6.13 Star map for October 8, 3137 BCE. New Moon at an6r@:h@

Figure 6.14 shows the star map for September 1, 3139 BCE . The solar eclipse takes place at

?itr@1The lunar eclipse on August 16, 3139 BCE takes place at %ttar@bh@draand the one on

September 15 takes place at a"vin1 Saturn is near !6la and Mars is near ?itr@1 Moreover, Mars

never goes retrograde that year. It is obvious that the date of 3139 BCE does not satisfy the

astronomical events described in the epic.


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Figure 6.14 Star Map for September 1, 3139 BCE

Figure 6.15 shows the star map for September 12, 3102 BCE. The solar eclipse takes place at

.v@ti ad notjye&h@1 Saturn is atp6rv@bh@dra and not rohi#1 Mars is near !akh@ and does not

go retrograde the whole year. In short, 3102 BCE is not the date of the war.

Figure 6.15 Starmap for September 12, 3102 BCE


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Thus these dates, 3102 BCE, or 3138 BCE, with the +/- 1 variation, even though they appear to

follow the tradition, are not the dates for the war. These authors peg the date to the astronomers

kaliy%ga a topic discussed in greater detail later. It has thus been demonstrated that there is

serious noncompliance with the astronomical data of the epic for all dates other than 3067 BCE

that have been proposed as the date of the war. Additional details can be obtained from several

publications of the author.46

From a historic point of view, any date around 3000 BCE can be accepted as the date of the

war. It will be argued later that, it appears from an astronomical point of view, the war could not

have taken place much earlier than 3000 BCE, nor could it have taken place much later than

2000 BCE. These two dates form sort of upper and lower limts for the date of the war.

46Achar (2004a, 2004b, 2007)


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CHAPTER 7 ADVERSE OPINIONS

Ever since the presentation was made by the author in Bangalore in 2003, there have been

several criticisms of this date for the war, 3067 BCE. The first vicious attack was made by

Chandrahari47

. His comments and the authors response to it were published in the same

publication referred to earlier. Another attack was made by Kaul48

both on the internet and in a

personal communication. Iyengar49

wrote a scathing review and both the review and the authors

response have been published. Other criticisms voiced both on the internet and by personal

communication are those of Koch50

, Vartak51

, and Bhattacharjya52

, which have all been

responded to. It was thought that it was important to present at one place all these adverse

opinions and the authors response as these opinions are not based on unbiased critical analysis.

It may be noted that all of these authors have their own dates to promote for the Mahabharata

war, except Chandrahari. Chandrahari does not believe in the historicity of the Mahabharata war

and has declared on the internet that perhaps the war took place in the sky and not on land.

Iyengar advocates a date, 1478 BCE for the war. Koch who supports the AIT theory promotes a

date of 1198 BCE. Kaul does not advocate any particular date. Vartak proposes a date of 5500

BCE and Bhattacharjya, 3139 BCE. It is worth discussing the validity of these criticisms in the

context of the dates proposed by these scholars. The main points are discussed below.

The first concern is the veracity of the primary planetary positions which form the basis for

determining the date of 3067 BCE, namely,"ani at rohi#/ a


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been pronounced by every scholar from Dikshit, Kane and Vaidya onwards and as stressed by

the exasperation of Sengupta:

All this is hopelessly inconsistent astrological effusion of evil omens fit for

Mother Gooses Tales only

and

We cannot put any faith in any statement of this chapter.

However, scholars have attempted to make sense of the astronomical references and arrive at

some possible date as has been done in the present work also. The approach taken in this work is

based on the well-known rules of interpretation in Sanskrit. If there is a conflict in the meaning

between two statements, the one to be accepted is determined by the relative strength, bala/ of

the statements and the second statement should be interpreted according to rules of abhidh@/

lak&a#@ and vya0jan@v=tti. Some statements could be rejected altogether if they are totally

irrelevant.

7.1C""e!ts a#$t pla!etar% psiti!s

7.1a"ani at rohi#

When there are several statements containing the same word, which statement should beconsidered to refer to the principal meaning of the word? This is decided by the bala or

strength of the statement.

A statement by a main character of the epic such as $=a/ $ar#a or [email protected] considered to be

intrinsically of more bala than a statement made by a secondary character such as M@rka#deya

or @lava1

.apta!@??@pi diva.@d a!@[email protected]@ bhavi&yati

.angr@!a> yojayet tatra t@>hy@h%; "akradevat@>// MB(V. 140. 18)

Seven days from now falls the New Moon day, with9ndraas the Deity for the nak&atraof the

day. (i.e.,'ye&h@ nak&atra). Let the war rituals be started on that day.

This statement made by$=ato$ar#a in %dyogaparvan is of very high importance, and is so

recognized by all, including Sengupta. However, the point that needs further discussion is

whether the statement refers to starting of the war itself on that a!@[email protected] or only to the war

rituals. In any case it is clear that the war took place on or after the a!@[email protected] atjye&h@

nak&atra, which follows thepa%r#i!@ of k@rtik@.


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The statement in %dyogaparvan uttered by$ar#a:

pr@j@patya> hi nak&atra> graha. tko !ah@dy%ti;/

"anai"?ara; p:ayati p:ayan pr@#inodhika>// MB(V.141. 7)

is very strong in terms of bala. Almost identical statement by [email protected] inBh&!aparvan:

roho#> p:ayanne&a .titho r@jan "anai"?ara;/ MB (VI. 2. 32) is equally strong. We have

interpreted it to mean a conjunction of"ani with rohi#1 The fact that these two statements are

identical, makes the statement of the position of"ani at rohi#a doubly strong statement. Hence,

the primary meaning the planet"ani is at rohi# applies here. Furthermore, it follows that if there

is any reference to position of"aniwhich is in conflict with this position near rohi#, then the

word"ani in the second context should be interpreted differently.

Iyengar also accepts this position of"ani at rohi#1 But his own date for the war, 1498 BCE, does

not satisfy this condition. But some of the other scholars53do not accept this configuration for

Saturn, even though it is doubly strong.

7.1b Lunar eclipse on k@rtika pa%r#i!@ and solar eclipse atjye&h@

During the conversation with$=a/ $ar#amakes the following statement:

.o!a.ya lak&!a vy@v=tta> r@h%rarka !%pe&yati/ MB(V. 141. 10)The moon lost its luster and r@h% is approaching the Sun.

He is referring to the lunar eclipse that has already occurred on k@rtika pa%r#i!@and the solar

eclipse atjye&h@ nak&atra is yet to occur.

Almost identical statements are made by [email protected] inBh&!aparvan/

vy@v=tta> lak&!a .o!a.ya bhavi&yati !ahadbhaya>// MB(VI. 2. 32)

the spot on the Moon has shifted from its position. Something terrible will happen.

and by the statement

H1arka> r@h%[email protected]// MB(VI.3.11) ,

[email protected] to the solar eclipse atjye&h@which has already taken place by the time he meets

Dh=tar@&tra.

7+he "hrase "anai"?ara; p:ayati has bee! i!ter"reted o! the basis of astroogy as referri!g to vedh@E of

"ani1


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[email protected] leaves no doubt that he referred to the lunar eclipse on k@rtika pa%r#i!@:

alak&ya; prabhay@hna; pa%r#[email protected]?a k@rtik>// MB (VI. 2. 23).

These statements clearly indicate that first there was a lunar eclipse on k@rtika pa%r#i!@

followed by a solar eclipse atjye&h@ nak&atraand that the solar eclipse had already taken place

by the time [email protected] makes these statements. Since [email protected] meetsDhr=tar@&trabefore the war, and

the solar eclipse has already taken place/ this is another reason why the war could not have

started on the a!@[email protected] atjye&h@1

Some interpret the statements to mean that the [email protected] metDh=tar@&tra on the eve of k@rtika

pa%r#i!@/ but this cannot be taken seriously as the k@rtika pa%r#i!@ event had already

happened even before$=a rides with$ar#a1

In criticizing my paper, Iyengar denies that there is a reference is to a lunar eclipse on k@rtika

pa%r#i!@1 He also expresses a doubt that$ar#a could predict a solar eclipse. He asserts that

there is no mention of a solar eclipse injye&h@1 He further claims that the occurrence of a lunar

eclipse on k@rtika pa%r#i!@ followed by a solar eclipse injye&h@ is an extrapolation in the

realm of possibility but not attested by the Mahabharata text, in spite of the source statements

just quoted. Yet, in his own paper, he counts the$ar#as statement as the second referenceamong the eight references to solar eclipses in the epic he mentions in his paper. He thinks that

these statements about k@rtika pa%r#i!@ refer to some unspecified optical anomaly. While he

accepts a solar eclipse in the year of war, he does not say when this occurs. In his date 1498

BCE, the solar eclipse occurs inp%narva.6/ and not atjye&h@1He accuses the author of ignoring

the solar eclipse referred to in .abh@parvan/ at the time of the [email protected] y@ga(one of the three

solar eclipses ranging an interval of nearly fifty years that he bases his calculations on, the other

two being the one in the year of the war and the one 36 years later). He forgets that the eclipse at

[email protected] time happened a long time ago before the war and is not immediately relevant as an

omen for the war. Naturally, the eclipse he determines in 1498 BCE is irrelevant to the epic as it

occurs inp%narva.6/ at a time far removed from the month of k@rtika/the time of conversation

between$=a and Kar#a. Koch does accept the lunar and solar eclipses as described in the text,

but in his date 1198 BCE, the solar eclipse occurs first and is followed by the lunar eclipse.

Kochs solution? After a long discussion, he concludes that [email protected] was probably confused! He


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lists three different eclipses which occurred in several different years that could have been

incorporated into the epic.

7.1c Retrograde motion of Mars nearjye&h@

Finally,$ar#a tells$=a about the retrograde motion of Mars:

k=tv@ ?@ jye&h@y@> !adh%.6dana/

an6r@dh@> pr@rthayate !aitra> .a>"a!ayanniva// MB(V.141. 8)

Mars has performed a retrograde near Antares, oh, !adh%.6dana/and appears

to be praying for an6r@dh@s friendship, as if to pacify it.

Motion of Mars described in 3067 BCE in the paper has been criticized by Chandrahari, Iyengar

and Koch as not according to the description given in the epic. Furthermore, Iyengar adds that

the position of Mars on 8th

of October 3067 BCE, near"rava#a as shown in figure 6.5, was not

visible to$ar#a1

This criticism is based on the following interpretation of the verse MB(V.141.8) quoted

above:

(a)

Hars becoes retrograde i! Pjye&h@F a!d o8es toBard Pan6r@dh@Q i! retrograde otio!

(b)

his e8e!t ha""e!s at the tie of the co!8ersatio! betBee!$=a a!d$ar#aa!d the "ositio!of Hars shoud be betBee!jye&h@ a!d an6r@dh@

(c)

his e8e!t takes "ace at the tie of the eci"ses a!d is obser8ed by$ar#a as such hese are

eC"icity stated by &ha!drahari a!d i"ied by ye!gar

A moments reflection will show that this interpretation and hence the criticism based on it are

beset with a number of astronomical impossibilities. First of all the conversation between $=a

and$ar#a takes place seven days before the new moon injye&h@. Hence the Sun must be near

an6r@dh@ and moving towardsjye&h@ so as to reach it in seven days.If Mars also were to be

moving fromjye&h@ to an6r@dh@ at the same time, Mars would be near the Sun, in conjunction

and hence invisible; how could$ar#atell that Mars is moving fromjye&h@ to an6r@dh@?

Furthermore, for retrograde motion Mars would have to be in opposition to the Sun and not in

conjunction. So the retrograde motion of nearjye&h@ cannot take place at the same time when

the Sun is nearjye&h@, but only when the Sun is near k=ttik@ or rohi#1 So the retrograde motion

must have taken place sometime earlier and Mars must have moved past an6r@dh@1 This is

exactly what figure 6.5 shows. Only Koch understands correctly the astronomy involved.


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Chandrahari and Iyengar do not appear to appreciate the astronomical difficulty in interpreting

that Mars was retrograde nearjye&h@ at the time of$=a-$ar#a dialogue. Furthermore,

Iyengars comment about Mars as shown in figure 6.5 was invisible to$ar#ais plainly wrong,

as the Sun set at 6:34 pm that evening and Mars set at 9:46 pm and was visible for nearly three

hours as an evening star.

The proper interpretation would recognize that the reference tojye&h@ nak&atraby$=a

reminds$ar#aof the retrograde motion of Mars which had taken place some months earlier and

the reference to prayer to an6r@dh@ for friendship is a poetic pun based on !itra/ its adhipati

and the failed mission for peace of$=a1

Thus the criticisms of the basic planetary positions on which the date of 3067 BCE is derived are

not valid and the basis of the derivation is on firm ground.

7.2Observability of the eclipses at$%r%k&etra

7.2a Solar eclipse of October 14, 3067 BCE

Iyengar completely discounts the calculated solar eclipse on October 14, 3067 BCE (figure 6.6).

Chandrahari and Kaul say the solar eclipse is possible but not observable at k%r%k&etra1

Koch says that his calculations show that the solar eclipse begins at a latitude of 18.7 N andends at a latitude of 17.8 S and it takes place far too west of India and would not be visible and

is in the not possible category.

Iyengar, in echoing Chandraharis comment adds that it is the authors wishful thinking that this

eclipse was the one referred to in the epic.

The response to this criticism is that there is a lot of uncertainty in eclipse calculations and this

has already been alluded to in Chapter 4. As already discussed, because of the great uncertainty

in eclipse calculations it was decided to accept the occurrence of an eclipse as sufficient without

worrying about the visibility or not at a particular place. As against this statement, Chandrahari

and Kaul declare that the calculated eclipse was invisible at$%r%k&etra and hence inadmissible

as evidence for the validity of 3067 BCE as the date. Iyengar joins them in this argument, even

though he does not even accept the solar eclipse at jye&h@ as a fact. Kochs argument is better

than the three others. He at least shows that according to his calculations, the solar eclipse of

October 14, 3067 BCE occurs, but does not pass the test for observably possible category.


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When eclipse calculations for times long gone by are made, the positions of the Sun, the Moon

and the earth are determined by solving certain equations with codes extrapolating over long

periods of time. For visibility calculations accurate knowledge of a certain quantity called Delta

T(= difference between what is called Terrestrial Time ,TT, and Universal Time, UT) is

essential. However, when calculations are extrapolated to BCE years, there is an uncertainty in

Delta T itself. According to estimates, when extrapolated to 3000 BCE, the values of Delta T

range from 18.3 hours to 27.3 hours, with a variation of about 9 hours 54 in the estimates of Delta

T. Table 7.1 lists the actual values of Delta T used in the calculation of the solar eclipse on

October 14, 3067 BCE by two software products and by Kaul. The difference between the

largest and the smallest values is seen to be 13000 seconds (3.6 hours). As a consequence, the

location of the eclipse becomes uncertain. This uncertainty is inherent in any calculation and

cannot be avoided. There is no way one can definitely answer is this eclipse visible? without

pointing to the uncertainty. The implications are obvious when the maximum duration of a total

solar eclipse is only little over 7 minutes at any location but the uncertainty is several hours. All

that the calculations can do is to show that an eclipse occurred, which will be certain, but leave

the question of visibility somewhat uncertain. Different software products could yield differingresults. For example, the New Moon on October 14, 3067 BCE occurs at 8:32 (UT) according to

SkyMap Pro, but at 11:33 (UT) according to Cybersky, a difference of three hours.

The eclipse map in figure 7.1 shows the regions of totality and partial eclipse visibility as

computed by Redshift 7. As shown in figure 7.1, the central line shows that the eclipse begins at

a latitude of 2103N and longitude 7333W and ends at a latitude of 1554S and longitude 24

17E., differing from Kochs results. According to this map also, the eclipse would not be visible

in India as indicated by the upper and lower limiting visibility lines. However, a rotation of the

earth by an angle of 75 (5 hours in time)55would bring the eclipse to a partial eclipse in the

likely visible category in India. The eclipse is likely to have been visible at k%r%k&etra1 It is

not authors wishful thinking as mentioned by one of the critics, but an acceptable piece of

evidence within the uncertainty of calculations. Uncertainties of this nature are inherent in any

74Joch argues that the u!certai!ty is saer a!d is about 2=7 hours i! +000 &L, but see abe =2

77his is ess tha! 2 C (u!certai!ty i! Deta ) e8e! taki!g the saer 8aue of Joch of 2=7 hrs


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eclipse calculation extrapolated to thousands of years ago. It is incredulous to demand an exact

answer. The author rejects the criticisms of Kaul and Koch as being not valid.

Table 7.1 Values of Delta T for the solar eclipse calculation of October 14, 3067 BCE

Calculation using SkyMap Pro Cybersky Kauls software

Delta T 87874 seconds 77032 seconds 74836 seconds

Figure 7.1. Eclipse map for the solar eclipse of 14 October, 3067 BCE. (Redshift 7)

7.2b Lunar eclipse of Sept 29, 3067 BCE (k@rtika pa%r#i!@)

Chandrahari claims that there was no lunar eclipse on September 29th

at all and Iyengar simply

quotes Chandrahari in criticizing this date. Koch and Kaul accept the possibility of lunar eclipse,

but they calculate a magnitude of 0.14 and hence declare that to be beyond human capacity to

observe it as it is less than the required magnitude 0.6. Again the uncertainties in eclipse

calculations on dates so long ago cannot be stressed more. Here Chandraharis calculation gives

no eclipse at all, but Kauls and Kochs calculations yield a possible eclipse of magnitude 0.14,

which they say is beyond the visibility limit. My own calculations yield a magnitude of 0.246 for

the eclipse. Figure 7.2 shows the eclipse of September 29, 3067 BCE as obtained from Redshift

7.


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Figure 7.2 Lunar eclipse of September 29, 3067 BCE (Redshift 7)

7.2c Lunar eclipse of October 28, 3067 BCE

The lunar eclipse of October 28, 3067 BCE was actually first seen by the author by simulation

and the star map for this date is shown in figure 7.3. The eclipse is shown in figure 7.4. This

formed the third eclipse in the eclipse season and the author proposed it as a solution to the

problem of two eclipses occurring within 14 days56

. When in 3031 BCE, 36 years after the war,

the same sequence of eclipses was repeated, it was considered a validation of the interpretation.

Unfortunately some scholars (Upadhyaya57) ha

date of mahabharata war using planetarium software

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