Some glimpses on Ancient Indian Astronomy
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Astronomy has always been believed a modern subject, as it cannot be made possible without advance telescope observatories because astronomy is all about planets and studying the behaviour of Universe which is not possible without seeking into outer space again which is not possible without advancements. But India, The land of culture, Gods, Scholars, and Saints and Sages had deep knowledge of astronomy and cosmology dated way back in the Vedas and other old scriptures!
Let us take some glimpses in the amazing Ancient Indian Astronomy!
A example can be seen when in ancient times the cities in Europe were build irregular (as required). The city of Mohenjodaro, Harappan civilization was build well planed and even had facilities like private bathrooms and drainage systems.
For a very long period in the past it was believed that the earth was flat and earth was stationary and everything rotated around it, even today we have a community of people who believe that the earth is flat, it was discovered somewhere around 5th century BC by the Greek Astronomers, But if we check out for the Sanskrit word for Earth is Bhugol(भूगोल) where Bhu(भू) means
Bhumi (भूमी) – Earth
Gol (गोल) – Round
Bhugol(भूगोल) means the Earth is round.
The other synonym for Bhugol(भूगोल) or Earth is Jagat (जगत), the word Jagat (जगत) means ‘that which moves’, it was known that back that the earth is not stationary and is always moving.
Even it was mentioned by Lord Sri Krishna that the world is round, this phrase was said in a philosophical manner that what Karma or deeds that you do, the result comes back to you.
Sanskrit is more than 10000 years old; dating that back it was mentioned that the earth is round!
The Sanskrit term for Solar system is Suryamalika(सूर्यमलिका), Surya (सूर्यमलिका) meaning Sun Malika (सूर्यमलिका) meaning Garland.
The ancients already knew that sun was in the center and planets were moving like a garland around the sun.
If we take a look at the Navgraha(नवग्रह) Statues that which are seen in the ancient- ancient temples of India, it can be seen that the sun is kept in the centre. The ancients already had a heliocentric view of the Solar system.
If we take a look at moon, we always see that the color of the moon is white, isn’t it? But there is a Sloka in Aathurveda that says
चद्रंमधिकृष्णं।
Chandra Madhi Krishnam,
Which means the soil of the moon is black, isn’t it? Indeed!
The soil of the moon is black, which was not discovered until when humanity first landed on the moon and a sample was bought from the moon!
In the Scorpio constellation there is a star called Antares. It is the 10th or 15th brightest object visible in the sky, if a thing is not that bright we can imagine that it is smaller than the other brighter objects in the sky,
Antares is called Jestha(जेयष्ठ), which means the oldest or the biggest and indeed Antares is so big that if replace instead of Sun it will be till the orbit of Mars or Jupiter.
Do you know which the closest star from Earth is; obviously it is Sun but other than Sun, outside our solar system, it is Proxima Centauri, which is in the Centaurs constellation. Proxima Centauri was called Mitr(मित्र) by the ancients, which means closest or friend, ancients also knew the difference between stars and planets, isn’t that a coincidence? No! It is a deep insight knowledge which saints, sages and scholars attained through meditation and getting control over mind and harnessing the power of the great mind!
The speed of light is the fastest thing in the universe; it was discovered by a Danish Astronomer Ole Roemer (1644-1710) in 1676, by timing the eclipses and studying the motion of Jupiter’s moon Io.
After so much research the speed of light in modern days is believed to be 186,282.397 miles/sec.
But it was mentioned in our Vedas way back.
तथाचस्मर्यतायोजनानांसहस्त्रंद्वेद्वेशतेद्वेचयोजने।
एकेननिमिषअर्धेनक्रममाननमोस्तुते।।
Meaning-Salutations to the Sun.
The traveler of 2022 Yojanas in half a Nimisha
One Nimisha (निमिष)is the amount is takes to blink our eyes.
One Yojana (योजना) is around 8 or 9 miles.
Then if we consider the Sloka above, it is a formula to calculate the speed of light.
Ancient value of speed of light 185,096.165 miles/sec.
Isn’t it amazing? It is remarkably close to the modern value of speed of light!
When people get married In traditional way In India, in some traditions after getting married the bride and groom are asked to step out of the mandapam and look in the sky in the direction of a particular star called Arundhati-Vasistha.
Rishi Vasistha and Arundhati were considered the ultimate married Couple. Arundhati-Vasistha star is called Alcor-Mizar in modern astronomy; it is situated In the Ursa Major constellation. Arundhati and Vasistha are very beautifully illustrated in the twin star system of Alcor and Mizar, it is a twin star system, both Alcor and Mizar rotate around each other, and none of the two is stationary. The relation of husband and wife is beautifully illustrated in this!
The age of Earth and Universe Is also predicted in the Vedas. According to modern sciences it is 4.54 billion years old. It is mentioned in the scriptures that the age of the earth is one day of Lord Brahma which is called a Kalpa (Aeon) which is 4.32 billion years old. And even the age of universe is also closely depicted in our ancient scriptures. Even the Multiverse and Parallel Universes Theory is depicted in Bhagvatam Gita, the Big Bang Theory is also depicted in the Hymn of Creation of Rigveda.
India had scholars like Aryabhatta and Maharishi Kanand, Bhakaracharya and many more scholars who had an important contribution in science, mathematics, medical and many other fields, we also had geniuses like Srinivasa Ramanujan!
Then why are people running towards Western Culture? India is a land of culture, scholars and gods! Indeed India is the best!
Why people have a stereotype that Indian are good at Math and Science? Why people with vivid talents are found in the land of India? Because of our great scholar ancestors!
So, my request is that please know our culture and respect our culture!
– Keval R Mandalia
Grade: iX D
School: Shree Satya Sai Vidhyalaya, Jamnagar, Gujarat
