Ancient History through Vedic Astronomy

by NP Ramadurai
In his research paper, Prof. K Srinivasa Raghavan declared that Sapta Rishi Era commenced on 21-11-8576 BCE; Sri Ramas date of birth: 10-1-4439 BCE; Sri Krishnas date of birth: 277-3112 BCE; commencement of Kaliyuga 11-1-3104 BCE. Such dates were not convincing to Ramadurai. He arrived at a particular reference date in which the first star Aswini, the first day of Chitrai month, the first day of Prabhava year and the first bright lunar day synchronized. That date was 3-12-16495 BCE, Friday. He also analysed the period of rotation of each planet and found that once in 12,160 years all the planets align themselves on both sides of 300th degree within 120 degrees and occupy the same position after each rotation. This particular duration is considered by him as the duration of one Mahayuga. He also found that the precession of equinox moves through 180 degrees in 12,160 years; and it takes another 12,160 years to complete the remaining 180 degrees of one full cycle. The movement through 180 degrees is considered to be the day of Brahma and the movement through 181 to 360 degrees is considered to be the night of Brahma. Ramadurai observes that the Sapta Rishi Era commenced exactly on 13-10-15261 BCE. He also found that Sri Rama incarnated on 17-1-10205 BCE; Sri Krishna incarnated on 23-7-3185 BCE. This date belongs to the Kali yuga of the 28th Mahayuga cycle. And so, Lord Krishna is duly claimed and praised as Kaliyuga Purusha. The most important finding he has made is that Kaliyuga of the 28th Mahayuga cycle ended on 27-12-3101 BCE. After this date, the Kruta yuga of the 29th Mahayuga cycle commenced. It lasted upto 8-21765 CE and on 9-2-1765 CE, the Treta Yuga started, which is now in its onward movement. So we are actually in Treta yuga, not in Kali yuga, according to Ramadurai. While Prof. Srinivasa Raghavan refers to Magha nakshatra cycle of 100 years, citing Rig-Veda 1.24.9 which, according to him, says that Saptarishi stays in each nakshatra for 100 years, Ramadurai corrects this to 81 sidereal years. In the Tamil version of his work, Ramadurai explains why the 81 sidereal years`also match with the claim in the Puranas. The 81 sidereal years equal approximately 1002 chandramaana months. This computation has been approximated as 1000 chandra-s in the Puranas as the period of Sapta Rishis stay in each nakshatra while moving in retrograde motion. Note: RV 1.24.9 the rica for Varuna: A hundred balms are thine, O King, a thousand; deep and wide-reaching also be thy favours. Far from us, far away drive thou Destruction. Put from us e'en the sin we have committed. Varuna is beseeched (by the sinful) to destroy Nirriti and not to send them to Nirrti, the divinity of death. Nirrti and Mrtyu are both referred to as death. Prof. Srinivasa Raghavan calculates the Saptharishi Era as follows: Chronologically, the Saptarishi Era of Kali Yugadhi is 3101 BCE, and so this Saptarishi must be at Magha Nakshatra about 5000 years back, but it can only be about 5400 years back because it can make only one revolution of 2700 years to come to Magha Nakshatra. So, if we add 5400 years + 3104 + 76 years, it could only be 8576 BCE, i.e. in 8576 BCE. (Vishnu Purna says that ASaptarishi Era was in 76th year Magha Nakshatra). Chronologically, it is the 1st year of Magha Nakshatra and from the point of movement of Saptarishi in the first year from Magha Nakshatra in the reverse order. Astronomically also this is correct because at the end of 5475 years sidereally, the sidereal month and the lunation exactly agree with a difference of 45 minutes.

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According to Ramadurais computation, Sri Rama was born on Monday BCE 17-1-10205 in Treta Yuga after the completion of Kruta yuga of 28th Mahayuga commenced as Saptharishi Era by Vaivasvatha Manu from Friday BCE 13-10-15261. mgha ukla pravttasya pauaka sampin yugasya pacamasyeha klajnm nibodhat (kjyotia, 32) Trans. Five-year yuga begins with mgha ukla paka (bright half) and ends with pauakapaka (dark half) according to this calendar. mgha cycle According to Ramadurai, one Mahayuga cycle is of 12,000 yuga years + 160 yugasandhi years = 12,160 sidereal years. The 160 years constitute the mgha cycle of 160 sidereal years commencing as samvatsara year on the first day of Tamil Kumba masi having mgha ukla prathama tithi and ravi a (avittam) star and ends with Idvatsara year on the last day of makara thai having pauya amavasya. He notes that each mgha cycle of 160 sidereal years is equally divided into 1920 sidereal months, 1979 luni-solar months, 2139 star months and 2299 yoga cycles as stated in Viupura. One mgha cycle does not exceed 58441 days. Precession cycle (one full day of Brahma) All the planets orbit round the Sun in anti-clock-wise direction. However, the solar family comprising the entire planetary bodies revolve round the Dhruva star in clock-wise direction. In each year the equinox the days when day and night are equal mves backwards thereby causing changes in the seasons in course of time. This rate of movement was called precession of equinox (ayanamsa). This precession completed 180 degrees of movement backwards in one mahayuga of 12160 sidereal years. It takes another mahayuga to complete the other half of 180 degrees and to reach the starting point. It takes two mahayugas of 24320 sidereal years for the solar family to complete one full rotation. This period of 24320 sidereal years is divided into 6 seasons. Day of Brahma starts in Vasanta ruthu and the night of Brahma starts in Sarad ruthu, as mentioned in Viupura. Saptha rishi cycle Seven stars which are positioned nearer to the Pole star in the north are known as Saptha Rishis. They move from the east to west around the pole star in clock-wise direction. The original Puranas mention that these Saptha Rishis move backwards being associated with each star for a period of 81 sidereal years, in my calculation. They cover a period of 2187 sidereal years in all to traverse round the 27 stars backwards. Viupura mentions that the Saptha Rishis were for the 76th year in Magha star when Vaivasvatha Manu commenced the Saptha Rishi Era. The renowned astronomer Vriddha Garga who lived around BCE 2500, referred to the stay of Saptha Rishis in 67th year of Magha star at the time of transition of Dwapara and Kali yugas. Further Hisse Borla inscription of Vatsagulma located in Maharashtra mentions that the Saptha Rishis were entering Uttaraphalguni star during the Yudhishtira Saka Year 3020. In my calculation it is found that these events correspond to BCE 15261 (start of Sapta Rishi Era), BCE 4317 (Sandhi of Dwapara and Kali) and BCE 120=119 (Hisse Borla inscription) respectively. Astronomy and historical dates As per Vedanga Jyotisha of the Rg Veda, the last yuga Kali of the 27th Mahayuga corresponding to the day of Brahma began on Wednesday BCE 5-10-16477 and ended after 1216 sidereal years on Thursday BCE 12-10-15261, the last day of Makara Thai bearing

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Paushya AmavasyaSkandapurana praises Sri Murugas victory over the Asuras and of his protecting the manking during the end of Kali age of 27th Mahayuga. The first Tamil Academy was founded at about BCE 15300 in my calculation. After 40 years, the Kaliyhuga ended on BCE 12-10-15261, Thursday. Sapta Rishi Era Our Rishis commenced the Kruta yuga of 28th Mahayuga related to Night of Brahma as Saptha Rishi Era only on Friday BCE 13-10-15261, the first day of Tamil month Kumba Masi in Sarvari year bearing Magha sukla Prathama tithi and Sravishta (avittam) star in Sarad Ruthu as stated in Viupura. Date of Sri Rama The Treta yuga of the 28th Mahayuga commenced on BCE 12-11-10397 Thursday. During the Treta yuga the ruler of Ayodhya, Sri Rama was born around noon on Monday BCE 17-1-10205, the sixth day of Mesha Chittirai in Nala Year bearing PUnarpusam star and Chaithra sukla ashtami followed by Navami tithi. This fact is proved by finding the Saptharishis spending their 42nd year of stay in mid Bharani star. Further this date well suits the astronomical data given by Valmiki. Date of Sri Krishna The Kali yuga of the 28th Mahayuga actually commenced on Friday BCE 20-12-4317. It is learnt from Vyasas Mahabharatha that Sri Krishna was born at Mathura around 12 oclock in the night on Wednesday BCE 23-7-3185 of Simma Avani in Nala year bearing Badrapada Bahula Ashtami Tithi and Rohini star. It can be seen that Sri Krishna was born in 1132nd year of Kali yuga, 12076 years after the commencement of the Saptarishi Era on Friday BCE 13-1015261, that is 76th year of the 76th Maagha cycle. In Mahabharata the fact that Kaliyuga had already begun has been confirmed in the statement of Vyasa to his mother in Adi Parva, of Hanuman to Bheema in Vana Parva and of Sri Krishna to Karna in Udyoga Parva and to Balarama in Salya Parva. King Nala who was said to have lived before the Pandavas was reported to have been afflicted with Kali impact. Therefore, we have to conclude that Sri Krishna was born in Kaliyuga only and not as a person belonging to Dwapara yuga as claimed by others. Date of Mahabharata war Mahabharata war was a landmark in the history of our country. Though many scholars of India as well as the West have laboured a lot to fix the date of this historic event, none could give an acceptable one as they could not understand the ingenuity of our Vedic astronomers in reckoning of time. The Mahabharata war commenced on Friday BCE 19-10-3139 the first day of Dhanur Margazhi month in Subha Kruthu year bearing Margasira Sukla prrathama tithi and Moolam star after Aravan was sacrificied on the previous day as per the custom and ended after 18 days on Monday BCE 15-11-3139. At that time Sri Krishnas age was 47. Bhishmashtami Bhishma ended his life around noon on Monday BCE 3-1-3138, the day associated with Magha Sukla Ashtami tithi and Rohini star in the beginning of Suns northward journey after the last day of Dakshinayana, namely Rathasapthami, was over the previous day. This day is even today observed as Bhishmashtami. Sri Krishnas Demise

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Sri Krishna breathed His last on Thursday BCE 6-2-3101, the 12th day of Meena Panguni in Tamil yar Pramathi bearing Chaithra sukla Prathama tithi and Uthara proshtapada (uttirattathi) star. In memory of his passing away, Jayabharatha Yudhishthira Saka was started from Thursday BCE 6-2-3101 in the luni-solar system and not Kali yuga. Kruta yuga of 29th Mahayuga (Day of Brahma) Astronomically the Kruta yuga of 29th Mahayuga related to Day of Brahma commenced on Sunday BCE 28-12-3101, the first day of Kumba Masi in Vikrama year having Magha Sukla Prathama tithi and Sravishta (Avittam) star as Samvatsara year in Vasantha Ruthu. The Kruta yuga completed the duration of 4864 years and ended on Friday 8-2-1765 CE. Conclusions My humble request is that as per Vedic astronomy, we are living through Treta yuga of 29th Mahayuga from 9th February, 1765 CE, Saturday. The astronomers who design the almanacs may give up the imaginarily fixed Kaliyuga as running from Tuesday BCE 25-2-3101 and project the Treta yuga fixed by me. Not depreciating the monumental works of our astronomers in India and abroad but on the contrary working on their works as the basis of my research, I humbly yet strongly recommend that the history of India should be rewritten from Friday BCE 13-10-15261. (Source: N.P. Ramadurai, 2003, Ancient History through Vedic Astronomy in: N. Mahalingam, ed., 2003, Saptha Rishi Era and Ancient Historical Dates, pp. 1-19). Ursa Major or Sapta Rishi

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

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[quote] It is the Rishis who mark the time and the periods of Kali-yuga, the age of sin and sorrow. See in the Bhagavata Purana XII., II, 2, 6, 32, and Vishnu Purana. Says the latter: "When the splendour of Vishnu (Krishna) departed for heaven, then did the Kali Yug, during which men delight in sin, invade the world. . . . . When the Seven Rishis were in Magha, the Kali Yug, comprising 1,200 (divine) years (432,000 years of mortals), began; and when from Magha, they shall reach Purvashadha, then will this Kali age attain its growth, under Nanda and his successors."* This is the revolution of the Rishis "when the two first stars of the Seven Rishis (of the Great Bear) rise in the heavens, and some lunar asterism is seen at night, at an equal distance between them, then the Seven Rishis continue stationary in that conjunction for a hundred years," a hater of Nanda makes Parasara say. According to Bentley, it is in order to show the quantity of the precession of the equinoxes that this notion originated among the astronomers. It was done "by assuming an imaginary line, or great circle, passing through the poles of the ecliptic and the beginning of the fixed Magha, which circle was supposed to cut some of the stars in the Great Bear. . . . The seven stars being called the Rishis, the Circle so assumed was called the line of the Rishis . . . . and being invariably fixed to the beginning of the lunar asterism Magha, the precession would be noted by stating the degree . . . of any moveable lunar mansion cut by that line or circle as an index" The saptha Rishis are the seven major stars of Ursa Major. Based on Varaaha Mihiras verses, we can easily identify starting from east, that Marichi is Arab Alkaid, Vasishta is Mizar, Angirasa is Alioth, Athri is Megrez, Pulasthya is Phecda, Pulaaha is Merak and Krathu is DuBhe. The companion star for Mizar is Alcor. Hence Arundhathi stands for Alcor. In the figure 1, Vasishta and Arudhathi (Mizar-Alcor) can not be seen separately. Varaaha Mihira in his Brihat-Samhitha, dedicates 13th chapter to Saptha Rishis. The relevant verses provide following descriptions roughly translated as; We have on Vriddha Gargas authority that in the Northern Sky, the Saptha Rishis revolve around Dhruva Nayaka like a necklace. From east to west the saptha muni's Marichi, Vasishtha, Angirasa, Athri, Pulasthya, Pulaaha and Krathu sit.

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Chaste Arundhathi accompanies sage Vasishtha. These descriptions provide us with adequate information about the explicit astronomical identity of the nine stars, called as Dhruva, Arundhathi & Saptha Rishiss. The Seven Sages are Marichi, vasishtha, angirasa, athri, pulasthya, pulaaha, and kruthu. Varaaha Mihira notes that Saptha Rishis circles around Dhruva naayaka (Ref 1), which clearly stands for Ursa Major & Polaris. He provides us the proper names of seven dominant stars, and attributes the origin of these names to sage Vruddha Garga. In all probability Vriddha garga is same as Gargya Rishi of Athrvana veda 19 kaanda 6-7 sooktha whose time was approximately 2400 BC.(Ref 2). Figure 1 and 2 illustrate a sky view of Ursa Major(Ref 3) from a modern astronomical software. This constellation in Northern Hemisphere appears to rotate around the pole star Polaris. Dhruva clearly is Polaris.

The seven Rishis According to the epic Mahabharata, composed in about 500 B.C., the stars of the Big Dipper were the seven sages called Rishis. These seven sages are said to be those who made the Sun rise and shine. They were happily married to seven sisters named Krttika. They originally all lived together in the northern sky. But one day, the god of fire, Agni, emerged from the flames of an offering performed by the seven Rishis and fell in love with the seven Krttika. Trying to forget his hopeless love for the Krttika, Agni wandered in the forest where he met Svaha. To conquer Agni's love, Svaha disguised herself as six of the seven Krttika. Svaha could mimic only six of the Krttika because the seventh sister Arundhati was too devoted to her husband to be imitated. After a while, Svaha gave birth to a child that she named Skanda. With his birth, rumors began to spread that six of the Rishis' wives were his mother. Six of the Rishis divorced their wives. Arundhati was the only one that remained with her husband as the star Alcor. The other six Krttika went away to become the Pleiades. [unquote] http://www.greatdreams.com/sacred/rishis.htm See Articles on Vedic Astronomy by Dr. S. Balakrishna http://www.vedicastronomy.net/stars_appendix.htm

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NAMES OF STARS FROM THE PERIOD OF THE VEDAS Appendix

Astronomical time marks in Atharva Samhita & Jyotishya shaastra. When was Atharvana Samhita composed? Though we consider that the Star system to be basically stationary with reference to Solar system, there is an earth wobble occurring at rate of 26000 years per revolution which makes the star system appear to move slowly with reference to Sun. This has been called Earth's Precession and was first identified nearly 2000 years ago by Ptolemy and Hipparchus. The position of Chitra (Spica), which is very near the ecliptic, was recorded by Hipparchus (circa 150 BC) on the autumnal Equinox day with reference to Sun. It was studied again by Ptolemy (circa 150 AD) nearly 300 years later on same autumnal Equinox day. Ptolemy found that Chitra appeared to have moved about 3 degrees toward Sun (Ref 4). Ptolemy decided that Sun was moving one degree for 100 years in reference to stars. This observation made nearly 2000 years ago, was probably the first documented recording of Earth's Precession. Today we know that Ptolemy was correct and that Earth's Precession rate is about 1.36 degrees for 100 years. This 2000-year old observation, confirms the uniformity of Earth's Precession validating the geocentric mathematical models that exist for motion of objects in the sky. It allows us to extrapolate backward and forward in time, positions of objects in sky using computer software like Load Star pro. Thus, any past Sun position records, on Equinox/Solstice days referring Sun position to stars, carries the astronomical time mark of the period (Ref-8). There are two possible definitions of a year as observed from Earth. A Sidereal year is time taken for Sun to move from one star, and then come back to same star. This is full 360 degrees movement of Earth around the Sun. A Solar year is the time taken by Sun in its passage from one equinoctical point back to same point. One would expect these two years to be same, but Solar year is shorter than Sidereal year by about 19 minutes and 50 seconds and is said to be caused by inertial effects. It is called Earth's Precession. First let us get a contemporary picture of the location of our solar system in the Milkiway galaxy. This is illustrated in figure below. Our solar system is located at the edge of the Milkiway disk of stars. The Milkiway is estimated to be about 50000 light years in its diameter. It consists of a large number of stars and other matter. The stars visible to our naked eye are generally within a few hundred light years around us. Some giant stars are located nearly 1000 light years are also visible to naked eye. Thus most of the 10000 stars visible to us are very near our solar system. In the illustration below, the center of Milkiway Galaxy is in the direction of Moola nakshatra. Thus bulk of the Milkiway matter is concentrated, as seen from earth, near stars Jyeshtha, Moola, Poorva/Uttarashadha.

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

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But the 359.864 degrees Solar year is relevant because of repeating weather and seasons and hence Solar year is a natural year. That means every solar year, the Sun position drops back by about 0.0136 degrees with respect to stars. Also, it may be noted that the earths spin polar axis also shifts by same angle of 0.0136 degrees per year in a coning motion. Most popular books on Stars illustrate this spinning top like coning motion property of Earth's Precession, but do not illustrate the apparent ecliptic plane motion of stars. The diagram below illustrates the star shift in the ecliptic due to Precession on spring equinox day. The diagram shows the 27 nakshatra's in a circle of diameter of the order of few hundred light years with sun at the center. The diagram below shows the effect of Earth's Precession on Sun/Star/Earth's position exactly at the time of Spring Equinox. In this diagram, the Sun is always on equator and the day time equals night. Diagram shows Earth's position from 2400 BC to 2000 AD. Every year, the Earth's seasons start occurring 0.0136 degrees (or roughly 0.0136 days) earlier. The diagram also shows twenty-seven Bharateeya nakshatra's in the infinite distance in the ecliptic plane. It should be noted that the Precession does not change the Equator position or the Earth's tilt of 23.5 degrees. It only changes the direction of polar axis.

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The Bhaarateeya Veda's have left some astronomical time marks in the texts. Amongst the Veda's, Atharvana Veda is considered to be chronologically the last. Based on the identification of the twenty-seven Baharateeya Nakshatra's, and using the astronomical time markers in Atharvana veda's 19th kaanda/ 7th sooktha. it is possible to to identify when the last of the veda's, Atharvana Veda was composed. The Atharva veda 19th kaanda/7th Sooktha reads, Atharvana Veda Kaanda 19 / Sooktam 7

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Gargya Rishi! Nakshatrani Devata! Trishtup-Bhurik Chandaha! Chitrani sakam divi rochanani sarisrupani bhuvanejavani turmisham sumatimichaamaano ahaani geerbhi saparyami nakam!1! suhavamagne krittika rohini chaastu bhadram mrigashirah Sham aardhrah ! punarvasu soonruta chaaru pushyo Bhaanur aslesha ayanam magha mey !2! punyam poorva Phalguni chottra hasta schittra shiva swaati sukho mey astu! raadhe vishaakhe suhav anooradha jyeshta sunakshatramarishta moolam !3! annam poorva raasataam aashadha oorja devy uttaraa aavahantu! abhijinma raasataam punyameva shravanah shravishtaah kurvatam supushtim!4! Aa mey maha chatabhishagam vareeya Aa mey dvaya proshtapadaa susharma! Aa reyvato chashvayujow bhagam ma Aa mey rayim Bharanya aavahantu!5! This Sookta dedicated to Nakshatra's was recorded (Drashtaara) by Gargya Rishi. The Sookta describes both astronomical and astrological elements. Twenty eight Nakshatras are identified starting with Krittika and reference is made to Ayanam occurring in Maghaa. A nakshatra Abhijit is shown between Uttarashadha and Shravana. Its use has been discontinued in the Jyotishya with only twenty seven identified currently. The authenticity of the Athrarvana texts is well accepted, by the very reverence shown towards precise learning. Hundreds of generations of Shrotreeya's have carried veda's down to us in its original language using oral traditions of Krama, Pada, Jatha, and Ghana Paatha so that distortions are nonexistent. Two major astronomical time markers are evident and implicit in the Sooktha. They are, 1. Rishi Gargya starts the list of twenty seven nakshatra's starting with Krittika. Choice of Krittika as the first of twenty-seven is very significant. In contrast Jyotishya Shaastra uses Ashwini as the first star. The choice of first Nakshatra must correspond to a logically first day of a solar year, which dictates the weather cycles. Which is the years first day? Astronomically

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

Compare this to Figure 14 which shows Sun 4400 years later, on March 21,2000 at same equator but Sun is on Poorva Bhadrapada. Thus Sun has Precessed by about 57 degrees in 4400 years since Rishi Gargya's Sooktha.

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

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

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Figure 15 shows the Sun at +23.5 degrees on June 21, 2400 BC. This is the day of Dakshina Ayana. Sun is clearly at Maghaa Nakshatra. Rishi Gargya's Ayana could also be Uttara Ayana, (Winter Solstice), but it fails because the first nakshatra would then have to be Hasta or Chitra and the date would be 22000 BC. The Soothra indicates Krittika as the first. The diagram below shows the picture of Earth's position over past 4500 years on Summer Solstice day when Sun reaches the peak northern position of +23.5 degrees and starts his southern movement (Dakshina Ayana). The Sun position as observed from earth in 2400 BC on this day would be at Maghaa. In circa 400 BC, Sun would be in Pushya. Today, Sun is between Mrigashira and Aardhra.

Hence Rishi Gargya's Atharvana Veda 19 Kaanda and Sooktha 7, clearly has two astronomical time markers and provide a clue as to when it was composed. It is easy dismiss that the starting of Nakshatra list with Krittika as an accident, but recording of star locations which are true for both Equinox and Solstice in same sookta can not be accidental. It suggests a well understood contemporary knowledge of motion of Sun, Moon and Stars in the skies. While such knowledge may have been more thoroughly documented in other texts, only a brief poetic indication of that knowledge appears to have been made in the veda's. Clearly, both the astronomical markers recorded by Rishi Gargya in Atharva Veda kaanda 19 sookta 7 would be correct only near about circa 2400 BC. This must certainly be

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incontrovertible proof that Rishi Gargya's Sookta was composed near 2400 BC, dating Atharvana Veda to at least 2400 BC. When was Jyotishya Shaastra brought to presently used form? As previously observed, the Earth's Precession makes the Sun move back one degree along the ecliptic in about 76 years with reference to star system. All Sun position references in past with reference to stars on days of Sun singularity, thus carry the astronomical time mark. Bhaarateeya Jyotishya shaastra probably was brought to the presently used form, at a time when old vedic chandramana and all other data was integrated with Raashi or Zodiac based concepts. The time at which this was done can be identified using following. 1. Jyotishya Shaastra starts the lists of Nakshatras with Ashwini, suggesting that Sun was at Ashwini on Spring Equinox day in that period. 2. Jyotishya states that Uttara Ayana starts exactly when sun enters Makara (Capricorn) suggesting that Sun was near Uttaraashadha on Winter Solstice day (Gregorian Dec 21). Sic'Yasmin Kshane sooryam gachati Makaram; tatah prabhruti shanmasa udagayanam. from Rudra Skanda Bashya (10th century AD) of Khadhira Grihya Sutra (4 century BC). Use of Load Star Pro and scan of Sun position over past few thousand years yields following results. Figure 16 shows the position of Sun on Spring Equinox day of 400BC (March 21).

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

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

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

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Thus the twin observations of Jyotishya Shaastra, (of the Spring Equinox and Winter Solstice) are valid only near 400 BC and hence that is the period when it probably took the present form. It is clear that Bharateeya astronomers who knew of the astronomical information carried down from vedic culture, looked at Western Zodiac based system and then merged the two to form present Jyotishya Shaastra. Hence Jyotishya uses both the 27 Nakshatra's and 12 raashi's. It should be noted that the Western Zodiac system appears to have been frozen at same time period. It uses Aries as the starting Zodiac in recognition of Spring Equinox occurring at time of entry of Sun to Aries. Astronomical identity of Saptha Rishi's, Dhruva & Arundhathi On the night of the marriage, Bhaaratheeya brides are shown a star called 'Arundhathi' in the night sky. Arundhathi is the wife of sage vasishtha. This couple is revered as a loving and ideal couple worthy of emulation, because of their devotion to each other and harmony. Vasishtha is one of the seven rishis. The seven stars in the northern sky was named 'saptha rishi mandala', and it is more popularly known as 'Ursa major' constellation. It is also called 'Great bear' or 'Big Dipper'. The astronomical identity of these stars is very easy to establish due to explicit definitions given by Varaha Mihira in his Brihat Samhita (circa 550 AD). There are two sets of definitions as to who the saptha Rishi's are. The vedic tradition is 'Gautama, Vishwamithra, Jamahagni, Bharadwaaja, Kashyapa, Vasishtha and Athri' are the saptha rishis. However, the saptha Muni's according to Varahamihira are' Marichi, Vasishtha, Angirasa, Athri, Pulasthya, Pulaaha, and Kruthu'. V.S.Apte in his famous Sanskrit-English dictionary (circa 1800) also concurs with later definition. Vasishtha and Athri figure in both the lists. However, V.S.Apte refers to Arundhathi being a star in the pleiades group or Krittika of our vedic tradition. Pleiades is far away from Ursa major. Clearly Apte's definition deviates from Varaaha Mihira's identity of Arundhathi. The later is more logical in that Arundhathi must accompany Vasishtha. Varaaha Mihira explicitly identifies the Ursa Major and provides the proper names of seven dominant stars, and attributes the origin of these names to sage 'Vruddha Garga'. In all probability 'Vriddha garga' is same as 'Gargya Rishi' of Athrvana veda 19 kaanda 6-7 sooktha whose time was approximately 2400 BC. He is referred to in Mahabharatha as the person who named Krishna, and is considered as Achaarya of vedic astronomy. Varaaha Mihira in his Brihat Samhitha, dedicates 13 kaanda to Saptha Rishis. The first six verses provide following descriptions translated as:

We have on Vriddha Garga's authority that in the Northern Sky, the Saptha Rishi's revolve around Dhruva Nayaka like a necklace. From east to west the Saptha Muni's Marichi, Vasishtha, Angirasa, Athri, Pulasthya, Pulaaha,, and Krathu sit. Chaste Arundhathi accompanies sage Vasishtha.

These descriptions provide us with adequate information about the explicit astronomical identity of the nine stars, called as Dhruva, Arundhathi & saptha Rishis's. Figure 19, 20 and 21 illustrate Load Star Pro views of the 'Ursa major', with zoom in to 'Vasishta-Arundhati' pair. This constellation is known in Northern Hemisphere as rotating around the pole star Polaris. Thus 'Dhruva' clearly is Polaris. The saptha Rishi's are the seven major stars of Ursa major. We can easily identify from figure 19, that 'Marichi' stands for Alkaid, 'Vasishta' stands for Mizar, 'Angirasa' stands for Alioth, 'Athri' stands for Megrez, 'Pulasthya' stands for Phecda, 'Pulaaha' stands for' Merak and 'Krathu' stands for DuBhe. The companion star for Mizar is

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

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

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The star Arundhathi is difficult to separate from Vasishta for people with poor eyesight. Arundhathi's brightness is 4 and is within 0.2 degrees of Vasishtha whose brightness is 2.2. This makes it difficult to separate them. Other name Alkaid Mizar Alioth Megrez Phecda Merak DuBhe Bayer Identity 85 UMa 79 UMa 77 UMa 69 UMa 64UMa 48 UMa 50 UMa 80 UMa 1 UMa Henry Draper HD 120315 HD 116656 HD 112185 HD 106591 HD 103287 HD 95418 HD 95689 HD 116842 HD 8890

Nakshatra Marichi Vasishtha Angirasa Athri Pulasthya Pulaaha Krathu

SAO

Brightness

44752 1.86 28737 2.27 28553 1.77 28315 3.31 28179 2.44 27876 2.37 15384 1.79 308 4.01

Arundhathi Alcor Dhruva Polaris

28751 2.02

The table above provides the modern astronomical identity of the nine stars from vedic period which are not in the ecliptic. Dhruva is not illustrated in any of the figures, as its identity is very well known in the sky. In Bhaaratheeya culture, anecdotally people who are approaching death can not separate Arundhathi from Vasishta and hence can not see Arundhathi. The gap between Vasishtha -

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Arundhathi is said to be widening due to proper motion and it is now a days relatively easier to see them seperately, while few thousand years ago it was more difficult. In other cultures of the world also, historically in ancient times, keenness of eyesight was measured by the ability to distinguish the two stars Vasishtha-Arundhathi (Mizar-Alcor). Astronomical identity of Vedic star Agasthya While the 27/28 daily stars Krittika to Bharani are in the ecliptic plane, the Saptha Rishis in the extreme north near the Dhruva/Polaris, only one star in the southern sky has been named during vedic period. It is Agasthya (canopus). Agasthya Rishi crossed vindhya mountains southwards and it is a major event in the vedic chrononlogy. He is held in great reverence in the south and associated with Lopamudhra his wife. Thus it is not surprising that a star in southern extreme is named after Agasthya. The astronomical identity of Agasthya can be determined based on Varaaha Mihira's work Brihat Samhita(Ref 12). He has dedicated the whole of 12th kaanda (chapter) to Agasthya Rishi. Varaaha Mihira(550 AD) again refers to the authority of Rishi Vriddha Garga (2400 BC ) in identifying Agasthya. This identity is not as explicit as the Saptha Rishi's, but he gives the season in which Agasthya is visible. That means the star was not visible during nearly 4-5 months near summer at Ujjain where Varaaha Mihira was located. Based on this, it is very easy to identify the star as Canopus in constellation Carina as Agasthya. Canopus is 53 degrees south, and in summer when earth tilts 23.5 degrees north, people north of Tropic of Cancer can not see Canopus, because of daylight and being down in horizon. The figure 22 shows the star Agasthya Rishi.

Agasthya is so far south that people in Northern Hemisphere, like New York, Athens etc can never see Agasthya. Agasthya and Constellation Carina are not even shown in popular star charts and books sold in USA. Agasthya is best visible in the winter months near winter solstice for people living south of 25-30 degree latitude as the dark period increases in Northern Hemisphere. People living in Australia, can easily see Agasthya most of the time. The brightness of this star is very high at -0.72. Amongst the 37 stars (including daily stars Krittika to Bharani, Saptha Rishi's, Arundhathi, Dhruva and Agasthya), Agasthya is the brightest of them all. Following table provides the formal astronomical identity of Agasthya.

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Nakshatra

Other name

Bayer Identity 1 CAR

Henry Draper HD 45348

SAO

Brightness

Agasthya Canopus

234480 -0.72

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

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