Indians Are Great

Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge

2012-03-05T12:30:00.002+05:30

by Swami Visnu

A vast number of statements and materials presented in the ancient Vedic literatures can be shown to agree with modern scientific findings and they also reveal a highly developed scientific content in these literatures. The great cultural wealth of this knowledge is highly relevant in the modern world.

Techniques used to show this agreement include:

• Marine Archaeology of underwater sites (such as Dvaraka)

• Satellite imagery of the Indus-Sarasvata River system,

• Carbon and Thermoluminiscence Dating of archaeological artifacts

• Scientific Verification of Scriptural statements

• Linguistic analysis of scripts found on archaeological artifacts

• A Study of cultural continuity in all these categories.

Introduction

Early indologists wished to control & convert the followers of Vedic Culture, therefore they widely propagated that the Vedas were simply mythology.

Max Muller, perhaps the most well known early sanskritist and indologist, although later in life he glorified the Vedas, initially wrote that the "Vedas were worse than savage" and "India must be conquered again by education... it's religion is doomed"

Thomas Macaulay, who introduced English education into India wanted to make the residents into a race that was: "Indian in blood and color, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals, and in intellect."

However, the German Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer stated that the Sanskrit understanding of these Indologists was like that of young schoolboys.

These early Indologists:

• Devised the Aryan Invasion theory, denying India's Vedic past

• They taught that the English educational system is superior

• They intentionally misinterpreted sanskrit texts to make the Vedas look primitive.

• And they systematically tried to make Indians ashamed of their own culture

• Thus the actions of these indologists seems to indicate that they were motivated by a racial bias.

Innumerable archaeological findings and their analysis have recently brought the Aryan Invasion Theory into serious question. This theory is still taught as fact in many educational systems despite much contrary evidence.

The Aryan Invasion Theory Defined

• Vedic Aryans entered India between 1,500 and 1,200 B.C.

• They conquered the native Dravidian culture by virtue of their superiority due to their horses & iron weapons

• They Imported the Vedic culture and it's literatures.

• This Aryan Invasion Theory, however, deprives the inhabitants of India of their Vedic heritage. The wealth of their culture came from foreign soil.

The Aryan Invasion Theory raises an interesting dilemna called Frawleys Paradox: On the one hand we have the vast Vedic Literature without any archaeological finds associated with them and on the other hand, we have 2,500 archaeological sites from the Indus-Sarasvata civilization without any literature associated with them.

A preponderance of contemporary evidence now seems to indicate that these are one and the same cultures. This certainly eliminates this paradox and makes perfect sense, to an unbiased researcher.

Facts which cast serious doubt on the Aryan Invasion Theory

• There is no evidence of an Aryan homeland outside of India mentioned anywhere in the Vedas. On the contrary, the Vedas speak of the mighty Sarasvati River and other places indigenous to India. To date, no evidence for a foreign intrusion has been found, neither archaeological, linguistic, cultural nor genetic.

• There are more than 2,500 Archaeological sites, two-thirds of which are along the recently discovered dried up Sarasvati River bed. These sites show a cultural continuity with the Vedic literature from the early Harrapan civilization up to the present day India.

The archaeological sites along the dried up Sarasvati River basin are represented by black dots.

• Several independent studies of the drying up of the Sarasvati River bed, all indicate the same time period of 1,900 B.C.E.

• The significance of establishing this date for the drying up of the Sarasvati River is, that it pushes the date for the composition of the Rig Veda back to approximately 3,000 B.C.E., as enunciated by the Vedic tradition itself.

• The late dating of the Vedic literatures by indologists is based on speculated dates of 1,500 B.C.E. for the Aryan Invasion and 1,200 B.C.E. for the Rig Veda, both now disproved by scientific evidence.

Max Muller, the principal architect of the Aryan Invasion theory, admitted the purely speculative nature of his Vedic chronology, and in his last work published shortly before his death, The Six Systems of Indian Philosophy, he wrote: "Whatever may be the date of the Vedic hymns, whether 15 hundred or 15,000 B.C.E., they have their own unique place and stand by themselves in the literature of the world."

The Vedic Culture is indigenous to India

It can be scientifically proven that the Vedic Culture is indigenous, through archaeology, the study of cultural continuity, by linguistic analysis, and genetic research.

For example, the language and symbolism found on the Harappan seals are very Vedic. We find the Om symbol, the leaf of the Asvatta or holy banyan tree, as well as the swastika, or sign of auspiciousness, mentioned throughout the Vedas. Om is mentioned in the Mundaka and Katha Upanisads as well as the Bhagavad Gita.

The Holy Asvatta tree is mentioned in the Aitareya and Satapata Brahmanas as well as the Taittiriya Samhita and Katyayana Smrti.

The pictoral script of these Harappan seals has been deciphered as consistently Vedic and termed "Proto-brahmi," as a pre-sanskrit script.

This piece of pottery from the lowest level of Harappan excavations with pre-harappan writing is deciphered as ila vartate vara, referring to the sacred land bounded by the Sarasvati River, described in the Rig Veda.

Additionally, other archaeological finds are culturally consistent, such as the dancing girl, whose bracelets are similar to those worn by women of Northwest India today as well as

the three stone Siva Lingas found in Harappa by M. S. Vats in 1940. The worship of the Siva Linga is mentioned in the Maha Narayana Upanisad of the Yajur Veda and is still ardently practiced today.

The Vedas were maligned by early indologists because of their disagreement with their Eurocentric colonialists world view, a view which produced and depended on the Aryan Invasion Theory. The fact that the Aryan Invasion Theory has been seriously challenged recently by scholars and indologists, adds credence to the Vedas as viable, accurate and indigenous sources of information.

Satellite imagery of the Dried Up Sarasvati River Basin

Using modern scientific methods, such as satellite imagery and dating techniques, it can be shown that the ancient statements of the Vedas are factual, not mythical as erroneously propagated. High resolution satellite images have verified descriptions in The Rig Veda of the descent of the ancient Sarasvati River from it's source in the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea.

"Pure in her course from the mountains to the ocean, alone of streams Sarasvati hath listened."

The mighty Sarasvati River and it's civilization are referred to in the Rig Veda more than fifty times, proving that the drying up of the Sarasvati River was subsequent to the origin of the Rig Veda, pushing this date of origin back into antiquity, casting further doubt on the imaginary date for the so-called Aryan Invasion.

The Satellite image (above) clearly shows the Indus-Sarasvata river system extending from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Here the Indus River is on the left, outlined in blue, while the Sarasvati River basin is outlined in green. The black dots are the many archeological sites or previous settlements along the banks of the now dry Sarasvati River.

The drying up of the Sarasvati River around 1900 B.C.E. is confirmed archaeologically.

Following major tectonic movements or plate shifts in the Earth's crust, the primary cause of this drying up was due to the capture of the Sarasvati River's main tributaries, the Sutlej River and the Drishadvati River by other rivers.

Although early studies, based on limited archaeological evidence produced contradictory conclusions, recent independent studies, such as that of archaeologist James Shaffer in 1993, showed no evidence of a foreign invasion in the Indus Sarasvata civilization and that a cultural continuity could be traced back for millennia.

In other words, Archaeology does not support the Aryan Invasion Theory.

Evidence for the Ancient Port City of Dvaraka

Marine archaeology has also been utilized in India off the coast of the ancient port city of Dvaraka in Gujarat, uncovering further evidence in support of statements in the Vedic scriptures. An entire submerged city at Dvaraka, the ancient port city of Lord Krishna with its massive fort walls, piers, warfs and jetty has been found in the ocean as described in the Mahabharata and other Vedic literatures.

This sanskrit verse from the Mausala Parva of the Mahabharata, describes the disappearance of the city of Dvaraka into the sea.

"After all the people had set out, the ocean flooded Dvaraka, which still teemed with wealth of every kind. Whatever portion of land was passed over, the ocean immediately flooded over with its waters."

Dr. S. R. Rao, formerly of the Archaeological Survey of India, has pioneered marine archaeology in India. Marine archaeological findings seem to corroborate descriptions in the Mahabharata of Dvaraka as a large, well-fortified and prosperous port city, which was built on land reclaimed from the sea, and later taken back by the sea. This lowering and raising of the sea level during these same time periods of the 15^th and 16^th centuries B.C.E. is also documented in historical records of the country of Bahrain.

Amongst the extensive underwater discoveries were the massive Dvaraka city wall, a large door-socket and a bastion from the fort wall.

Two rock-cut slipways of varying width, extending from the beach to the intertidal zone, a natural harbor, as well as a number of olden stone ship anchors were discovered, attesting to Dvaraka being an ancient port city.

The three headed motif on this conch-shell seal (above), found in the Dvaraka excavations, corroborates the reference in the scripture Harivamsa that every citizen of Dvaraka should carry a mudra or seal of this type.

All these underwater excavations add further credibility to the validity of the historical statements found in the Vedic literatures.

Thirty-five Archaeological Sites in North India

Apart from Dvaraka, more than thirty-five sites in North India have yielded archaeological evidence and have been identified as ancient cities described in the Mahabharata. Copper utensils, iron, seals, gold & silver ornaments, terracotta discs and painted grey ware pottery have all been found in these sites. Scientific dating of these artifacts corresponds to the non-aryan-invasion model of Indian antiquity.

Furthermore, the Matsya and Vayu Puranas describe great flooding which destroyed the capital city of Hastinapur, forcing its inhabitants to relocate in Kausambi. The soil of Hastinapur reveals proof of this flooding. Archaeological evidence of the new capital of Kausambi has recently been found which has been dated to the time period just after this flood.

Kurukshetra

Similarly, in Kurukshetra, the scene of the great Mahabharata war, Iron arrows and spearheads have been excavated and dated by thermoluminence to 2,800 B.C.E., the approximate date of the war given within the Mahabharata itself.

The Mahabharata also describes three cities given to the Pandavas, the heroes of the Mahabharata, after their exile:

Paniprastha, Sonaprastha & Indraprastha, which is Delhi's Puranaqila. These sites have been identified and yielded pottery & antiquities, which show a cultural consistency & dating consistent for the Mahabharata period, again verifying statements recorded in the Vedic literatures.

Renowned Thinkers Who Appreciated the Vedic Literatures

Although early indologists, in their missionary zeal, widely vilified the Vedas as primitive mythology, many of the worlds greatest thinkers admired the Vedas as great repositories of advanced knowledge and high thinking

Arthur Schopenhauer, the famed German philosopher and writer, wrote that: I "...encounter [in the Vedas] deep, original, lofty thoughts... suffused with a high and holy seriousness."

The well-known early American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, read the Vedas daily. Emerson wrote: "I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavat-Gita"

Henry David Thoreau said: "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita... in comparison with which... our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial."

So great were Emerson and Thoreau's appreciation of Vedantic literatures that they became known as the American transcendentalists. Their writings contain many thoughts from Vedic Philosophy.

Other famous personalities who spoke of the greatness of the Vedas were: Alfred North Whitehead (British mathematician, logician and philosopher), who stated that: "Vedanta is the most impressive metaphysics the human mind has conceived."

Julius Robert Oppenheimer, the principle developer of the atomic bomb, stated that "The Vedas are the greatest privilege of this century." During the explosion of the first atomic bomb, Oppenheimer quoted several Bhagavad-gita verses from the 11th chapter, such as:

"Death I am, cause of destruction of the worlds..."

When Oppenheimer was asked if this is the first nuclear explosion, he significantly replied: "Yes, in modern times," implying that ancient nuclear explosions may have previously occurred.

Lin Yutang, Chinese scholar and author, wrote that: "India was China's teacher in trigonometry, quadratic equations, grammar, phonetics... " and so forth.

Francois Voltaire stated: "... everything has come down to us from the banks of the Ganges."

From these statements we see that many renowned intellectuals believed that the Vedas provided the origin of scientific thought.

The Iron Pillar of Delhi

The Vedic literatures contain descriptions of advanced scientific techniques, sometimes even more sophisticated than those used in our modern technological world.

Modern metallurgists have not been able to produce iron of comparable quality to the 22 foot high Iron Pillar of Delhi, which is the largest hand forged block of iron from antiquity.

This pillar stands at mute testimony to the highly advanced scientific knowledge of metallurgy that was known in ancient India. Cast in approximately the 3rd century B.C., the six and a half ton pillar, over two millennia has resisted all rust and even a direct hit by the artillary of the invading army of Nadir Shah during his sacking of Delhi in 1737.

Vedic Cosmology

Vedic Cosmology is yet another ancient Vedic science which can be confirmed by modern scientific findings and this is acknowledged by well known scientists and authors, such as Carl Sagan and Count Maurice Maeterlinck, who recognized that the cosmology of the Vedas closely parallels modern scientific findings.

Carl Sagan stated, "Vedic Cosmology is the only one in which the time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology."

Nobel laureate Count Maurice Maeterlinck wrote of: "a Cosmogony which no European conception has ever surpassed."

French astronomer Jean-Claude Bailly corroborated the antiquity and accuracy of the Vedic astronomical measurements as "more ancient than those of the Greeks or Egyptians." And that, "the movements of the stars calculated 4,500 years ago, does not differ by a minute from the tables of today."

The ninety foot tall astronomical instrument known as Samrat Yantra, built by the learned King Suwai Jai Singh of Jaipur, measures time to within two seconds per day.

Cosmology and other scientific accomplishments of ancient India spread to other countries along with mercantile and cultural exchanges. There are almost one hundred references in the Rig Veda alone to the ocean and maritime activity. This is confirmed by Indian historian R. C. Majumdar, who stated that the people of the Indus-Sarasvata Civilization engaged in trade with Sooma and centers of culture in western Asia and Crete.

The Heliodorus Column and Cultural Links to India

An example of these exchanges is found in the inscriptions on the Heliodorus Column, erected in 113 B.C.E. by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador to India, and convert to Vaisnavism, as well as the 2nd century B.C.E. Coins of Agathocles, showing images of Krishna and Balaram. These artifacts stand testimony that Sanatan Dharma predates Christianity.

This also confirms the link between India and other ancient civilizations such as Greece and shows that there was a continuous exchange of culture, philosophy and scientific knowledge between India & other countries. Indeed the Greeks learned many wonderful things from India.

Vedic Mathematics

Voltaire, the famous French writer and philosopher) stated that "Pythagoras went to the Ganges to learn geometry." Abraham Seidenberg, author of the authoritative "History of Mathematics," credits the Sulba Sutras as inspiring all mathematics of the ancient world from Babylonia to Egypt to Greece.

As Voltaire & Seidenberg have stated, many highly significant mathematical concepts have come from the Vedic culture, such as:

The theorem bearing the name of the Greek mathematician Pythagorus is found in the Shatapatha Brahmana as well as the Sulba Sutra, the Indian mathematical treatise, written centuries before Pythagorus was born.

The Decimal system, based on powers of ten, where the remainder is carried over to the next column, first mentioned in the Taittiriya Samhita of the Black Yajurveda.

The Introduction of zero as both a numerical value and a place marker.

The Concept of infinity.

The Binary number system, essential for computers, was used in Vedic verse meters.

A hashing technique, similar to that used by modern search algorithms, such as Googles, was used in South Indian musicology. From the name of a raga one can determine the notes of the raga from this Kathapayadi system. (See Figure at left.)

For further reading we refer you to this excellent article on Vedic Mathematics.

Vedic Sound and Mantras

The Vedas however are not as well known for presenting historical and scientific knowledge as they are for expounding subtle sciences, such as the power of mantras. We all recognize the power of sound itself by it's effects, which can be quite dramatic. Perhaps we all have seen a high-pitched frequency shatter an ordinary drinking glass. Such a demonstration shows that Loud Sounds can produce substantial reactions

It is commonly believed that mantras can carry hidden power which can in turn produce certain effects. The ancient Vedic literatures are full of descriptions of weapons being called by mantra. For example, many weapons were invoked by mantra during the epic Kuruksetra War, wherein the Bhagavad-gita itself was spoken.

The ancient deployment of Brahmastra weapons, equivalent to modern day nuclear weapons are described throughout the Vedic literatures. Additionally, mantras carry hidden spiritual power, which can produce significant benefits when chanted properly. Indeed, the Vedas themselves are sound vibrations in literary form and carry a profound message. Spiritual disciplines recommend meditational practices such as silent meditation, silent recitation of mantras and also the verbal repetition of specific mantras out loud.

A Clinical Test of the Benefits of Mantra Chanting was performed on three groups of sixty-two subjects, males and females of average age 25. They chanted the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra twenty-five minutes each day under strict clinical supervision.

Results showed that regular chanting of the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra reduces Stress and depression and helps reduce bad habits & addictions. These results formed a PhD Thesis at Florida State University.

Spiritual practitioners claim many benefits from Mantra Meditation such as increased realization of spiritual wisdom, inner peace and a strong communion with God and the spiritual realm. These effects may be experienced by following the designated spiritual path.

Conclusion

Most of the evidence given in this presentation is for the apara vidya or material knowledge of the Vedic literatures. The Vedas however, are more renowned for their para vidya or spiritual knowledge. And even superior is the realized knowledge of the Vedic rsis or saints — that which is beyond the objective knowledge of modern science — knowledge of the eternal realm of sat, cit ananda, eternality, blissfullness and full knowledge. But that is another presentation.

The Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge is available from DevaVision Video Documentaries as a more extensive video as well as a PDF chapter in Science of the Sacred.

http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/scientific-verif-vedas.html

The Date of Mahabharta War

2012-03-05T12:17:00.002+05:30

Mahabharata war is considered by many to be a historical event. The epic states that a singularly ominous pair of eclipses occurred in “Thirteen days” some time before the war. Using modern astronomical software, our article shows that a number of “Thirteen day” eclipse pairs were visible in Kurukshethra. Article suggests some candidate dates for Mahabharata war.

Mahabharata is a great epic, and is one of the pillars of present day Hinduism. The Mahabharata story and its moral ethos have had profound influence on millions over many generations. Mahabharata war is said to have occurred before the transition of Dwapara Yuga to Kali Yuga. Dating the Mahabharata war and start of Kaliyuga has been elusive and going on for many centuries.

Aryabhata, is a famous early astronomer with contributions to science, whose estimate of p, and the time of moon revolution around the earth are so accurate, that his works are being extensively researched. Aryabhata (476-550 AD) stated that Kaliyuga started 3600 years before, when he was 23 years old, making the start as 3102 BC [Aryabhateeya ref-1]). It would date Mahabharata war to around circa 3130-3140 BCJ.

Surya Siddhanta [Ref 2], a document evolved from roughly same period, states that sun was 54 degrees away from vernal equinox when Kaliyuga started on a new moon day, corresponding to February 17/18, 3102 BCJ, at Ujjain (75deg47minE 23deg 15min N).

Varaha Mihira (circa 560 AD), another famous astronomer, stated that 2526 years before start of Saka count (either Shalivahana saka starting in 79 AD or Vikrama Saka starting in 57 BC)
When Saptarishis (ursa major) was near Magha Yudhistira was king 2526 years before Saka time
Presently, traditional Sanatana Dharma followers consider that Kaliyuga started at 3102 BCJ, when Sri Krishna passed away, and that Mahabharata war occurred in 3138 BCJ. Millennium year 2000 AD is Kali 5102.

Like Homer’s Iliad, another epic poetry from Greece, different scholars have expressed opinions varying between the story of Mahabharata being either total fiction or true record of historical facts. It took efforts by Schliemann and others to show physical archeological evidence of existence of Troy in present day Turkey, and Homer’s poems having historical relevance.

Bharata has been continuously and relatively densely lived in for thousands of years and in Northern Bharata the archeological evidence is difficult to come by because of many 100’s of generations of people living in same area. Hence, it is usual to look for Puranic and Vedic (written and oral recitation) astronomical evidence to substantiate the time periods. As is true of all such documents like bible stories, Scandinavian, Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian and other documented local folklore, the historical truths are likely to be anywhere between absolute truth to vivid imagination. An objective analysis can help in determining the likelihood of folklore being a historical fact or not.

Mahabharata

Mahabharata epic story was written by, Vedavyaasa (or Krishna Dwaipaayana) after the Mahabharata war. Vyaasa is also credited with codifying the existing branches of Vedas. It is perhaps the longest poem of its kind of such antiquity. The presently known oldest version of Mahabharata, based on its style, grammar and other features was probably written down before the Gupta period. This Mahabharata text does not refer to any Zodiac’s or Raashis (a western concept probably accommodated in to Jyotishya some time during 300BC to 200AD). The linguistic style of the oldest version of Mahabharata clearly cannot be the basis for determining if and when the events of Mahabharata occurred. It probably may have been rewritten/re-rendered many times as the mode of transference was by oral traditions as in the case of Vedic chandas prosody. The known oldest version has nearly 90,000 to 100,000 poems dominantly with 32 syllables Anushtup chandas, in 18 chapters called Parva’s [ref-4 and 5].

The Bhishma Parva and Udyoga Parva (specific chapters of Mahabharata) provide considerable astronomical/astrological descriptions and omens as the Mahabharata war was approaching. It describes a period of draught, with many planetary positions. Then there is this clear reference to pair of eclipses occurring on 13th day

Fourteenth day, Fifteenth day and in past sixteenth day, but I have never known the Amavasya (New Moon day) to occur on the thirteenth day. Lunar eclipse followed by solar eclipse on thirteenth day is in a single lunar month etc…..

This reference to “Thirteen day” eclipse pair appears to be a unique astronomical observation.
Mahabharata text also refers to retrograde motions of planets prior to war and provides their location with reference to 27/28 Vedic star locations. Mahabharata Drona Parva also refers to Jayadhratha’s killing during a dark episode on 13th day of the war, which some consider as another short solar eclipse.

This document is basically concerned with analysis of all eclipses visible at Kurukshethra (Location where Mahabharata war took place, north of New Delhi, Longitude 76 deg 49 min East, Latitude 29 deg 59 Min North) from 3300 BC to about Buddha-Mahavira-Parshvanaatha time of about 700BC. Analysis of the time between successive eclipses, specifically time between end of one and beginning of other has been made, with a view to look at astronomical feasibility of back-to-back eclipses in 13 days, using modern astronomical computer software.

Another major issue of how did observers of the period define and determine period between eclipses when no clocks existed, has been addressed.

Eclipses

Lunar eclipse occurs when Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon. There are about 150 lunar eclipses per century. Lunar eclipses can occur only at full moon, and can be either total or partial. Further they can be umbral and or penumbral. Total lunar eclipses can last up to 2 hours, while partial lunar eclipses can last up to 4 hours. Any observer on dark face of earth can see when lunar eclipse when it occurs. During period 3500BC to 700 BC, nearly 4350 lunar eclipses have probably occurred. A good fraction of these would have been visible in Kurukshethra [ref-6].

Solar Eclipse occurs when Moon’s shadow falls on earth observer. About 240 solar eclipses occur every century. During period 3500BC to 700 BC, nearly 6960 Solar Eclipses have occurred. Solar can occur only at new moon. Solar eclipses may be total or annular. Total solar eclipses can last up to about 8 minutes, and partial solar eclipses can last up to 115minutes. The shadow of moon has a limited size of few thousand miles falling on nearly 8000-mile diameter earth. Hence, solar eclipses can be seen only in a limited range of longitude-latitude where the shadow falls. Elsewhere, even though sun is visible, eclipse will not be seen.

Eclipse evaluating computational software and its validation in present context

Astronomical calculations have been greatly improved since past 30 years, particularly with considerable amount of trajectory work conducted in Moon and other scientific projects. High accuracy computer models and software have been developed. These are validated against databases from US Naval Observatory’s Interactive computer Ephemeris, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. One such code is LodeStar Pro copy righted by Wayne C Annala in 1994 [Ref- 7]. The Lodestar Pro was checked for historical eclipses of 1000-2500 BC from clay tablet records of Mesopotamia area presently available with British Museum. Wayne Mitchell has analyzed this data [Ref-8]. Lodestar Pro provided excellent match with ref-8.

Eclipses at Kurukshethra

During the period of our interest, 3500BC to 700 BC, nearly 4350 Lunar Eclipses and 6960 solar eclipses have occurred on earth. Of these nearly 673 solar and lunar eclipses occurred in pairs of time gap of about nominal 15 days corresponding to roughly half lunar month. We need to search amongst these 673 for eclipse pairs visible in Kurukshethra, which occurred in “Thirteen” days.

A very detailed scan of all the visible lunar and solar eclipses for every year from 3300BC to 700 BC was made on the Lodestar software for Kurukshethra location. These are tabulated and plotted. Maximum eclipse time gap (end of one eclipse and beginning of next eclipse for naked eye observers) was found to be about 379 hours while the minimum was about 332 hours.

Definition of Day and issue of timing determination

It is easy for us, in present time, to precisely analyze the eclipse times based on a 24 hour per day time clock. However many thousand years ago, such a time evaluation would clearly be irrelevant. Hence the count of the day and time had to be based on clear, natural and unambiguous events such as sunset to sunset or sunrise to sun rise. Hence in all the analyses, presented below, the time of relevant sun rise or sun set is indicated such that the eclipse beginning and end can be evaluated with reference to the sun rise or sun set. In modern day definition, the period from sunrise to next sunrise is never 24 hours except on equinox day. On all other days, the time will be either less than 24 hours (when day light time is shrinking) and more than 24 hours (when day light time is increasing). For people of ancient times, sunset-to-sunset or sunrise-to-sunrise would be the logical definition of a day. Using this definition, it is possible to determine whether an eclipse pair occurred in “Thirteen days”.
Kurukshethra eclipses and some planetary retrograde motions

The table below shows six pairs of eclipses, which can be analyzed further to determine whether Mahabharata war and events could occur then.

After serious analysis of all the eclipses, six eclipse pairs from 3129 BCJ, 2599 BCJ, 2056 BCJ, 1853 BCJ, 1708 BCJ and 1397 BCJ clearly are the best candidates for Mahabharata war year from “thirteen day” eclipse pairs view point. There are others that have low obscurity for solar eclipse, or have dominant penumbral lunar eclipse content and hence do not constitute strong candidates for the Mahabharata war.

One typical eclipse pair of the six is illustrated using Lodestar Pro views of the relevant sunset/sunrise periods. The light/day transition is clearly shown in all the eclipse, which would form the only method of determining that the eclipses occurred in less than fourteen days, which has to be called thirteen-day eclipses. Planets Sani (Saturn) and Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus) in retrograde motion are illustrated for period around the eclipse pairs.

Let us now look at how any observer can study these eclipses and conclude that the pair occurred in “Thirteen days”. The figures above show the pictures of day/night sky for a pair of Solar-Lunar eclipses, end of lunar eclipse being only 13 days and 20 hours before start of a solar eclipse. On Julian August 11 afternoon, a solar eclipse begins 20 minuets before sunset and it is still on going at sunset. Fourteen days later (On Julian August 25) in the evening at sunset a lunar eclipse is already occurring. It clearly suggests that eclipse started on the 13th day after the previous eclipse! Obviously the end of lunar and start of solar eclipses were less than 14 days period, or occurred in 13 days. This could be concluded without the benefit of modern clocks.

The dates of this eclipse pair are Julian 3129 and Julian month of August. In ancient Bharata, since the full moon occurred on Proshtapada, the month would be considered as Bhadrapada. Normally, this is the monsoon rainy season in North India. However, there are many occasions when monsoon fails. The epic states that draught like conditions existed. Even during normal monsoon the sky is occasionally clear for the eclipses to have been witnessed.

The two planets Jupiter, and Saturn are in motion (vakri) and these do occur during 3129 JBC as illustrated below. Motion of Angaraka or Mars is normal.

Conclusions

The aim of this work was to analyze the unique statement that Mahabharata war took place when an ominous pair of eclipses occurred in “Thirteen days”. Initially, Mahabharata texts, contemporarily accepted as most authentic were reviewed and relevant data about Mahabharata and astronomical planetary observations have been presented.

Firstly, a search of all eclipses during the period 3300 BCJ to 700 BCJ visible at Kurukshethra, where Mahabharata war took place was made. Amongst nearly 672 possible eclipse pairs, the time from end of one to beginning of next eclipse was found to vary between 13.8 days to 15.8 days. Eighteen naked eye visible eclipse pairs with less than 336 hours (14days) of time gap were found.

The second issue was, what was the definition of a day, and how was the determination that eclipses occurred in “thirteen days” made, has been addressed. Day was taken to be the time between either successive sunrise or successive sunset. This is particularly important when clocks did not exist. Using this method, it was easy to demonstrate that observers from 3000 to 5000 years ago could identify accurately a “Thirteen-day” eclipse pair when they occurred.

Six pairs amongst these, found to be good candidates for Mahabharata war, have been illustrated, showing how any observer could conclude that the eclipse pairs occurred in less than 14 days or in “thirteen days”. The locations of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Sun and Moon, during the eclipses were identified with reference to 27 star locations. The positions of all these planets during the eclipse pair do not totally agree with Mahabharata text, but some do agree.

Finally, it is found that two dates suggested by Indian astronomers Aryabhata, Varaha Mihira are credible dates for Mahabharata war. It would appear that 3129 BCJ is a first candidate for Mahabharata war followed by 2559 BCJ. Four other dates viz., 2056 BCJ, 1853 BCJ, 1708 BCJ and 1397 BCJ are other candidates which qualify as “ Thirteen day” eclipse pairs.

In conclusion, this article has tried to address the basic issue, whether “ Thirteen day” eclipse pairs are astronomically possible. The conclusion is that such eclipse pairs have occurred and observers could easily identify the duration using sunset/sunrise transitions. 3129 BCJ and 2559 BCJ dates appear to be very viable dates for Mahabharata war as are a few others. This study provides modern scientific support one critical astronomical statement made in Mahabharata Bhishma Parva that “Thirteen day” eclipse pair occurred in Kurukshethra before the Mahabharata war.

Source/Credits: www.boloji.com/astro/00325.htm

Historicity Of Mahabharat

2012-03-05T12:10:00.003+05:30

-By K. Sadananda

This article is based on the information that I found in March 1995 issue of "Saptagiri" published in Telugu by Tirumala Tirupati Devastaanam, authored by Shrii Janamaddi Hanumanta Rao. The article itself was based on the research effort by Professor K. Srinivasa Raghavan. The research was acclaimed by several famous pundits of Panchanga Shaastra including the Secretary of the All India Panchanga Samskarana Sangha, Pandit Radhashyaam Shaastri from Hariyana, and Vice chancellor of Sourashtra University, Shrii D.R. Mankad, etc.

Based on the astrological information provided by Veda Vyaasa (Position of the stars etc), Mahabharat war was estimated to have started on 3067B.C. on 22nd November. On the day of the war, the astrological positions of the Sun, Moon, Rahu, Saturn, Guru, Mangala and Sukra planets have been described by Vyaasa. By looking at the position based on Panchangam, Indian Calendar, and matching with the position of the stars described by Vyaas and comparing with the Julian Calendar, one can arrive at the precise dates for the war. Furthermore all other related incidents that took place before and after the war were described in Mahabhaarat, and the dates for these can be precisely matched with the Julian calendar, as discussed bellow.

Shrii Krishna made a last minute effort to make peace but failed. He left the Upaplaavya city on Kaartiika Shuddha Dvaadasi day in Revati Nakshatra (star) between 7:36 - 8:24AM. He reached Hastinaapura in Bharani Nakshatra, and had discussions with the Kouravaas till Pushyami Nakshatra. The day Duryodhana rejected the peace proposal was Krishna Pancami. Krishna left Hastinaapura, and had consultations with KarNa before he departed. (He revealed to KarNa that he was the eldest son of Kunti) on Uttara Palghuni day. Krishna informed KarNa that Duryodhana must get ready to fight, seventh day from that day, which will be Amaavaasya day (New-moon day) with JyeshTa Nakshatra. Krishna returned to Upaplaavya city on Chitta Nakshatra. Three days after that on Anuradha Nakshatra Balarama came to Upaplaavya. Next Pushya Nakshtra day Pandavaas left with Krishna to Kurukshetra.

Fifteen days after return from Upaplaavya city, Balarama left on Punarvasu Nakshatra on the tour of sacred places. (Balarama did not want to participate in the war that involved cousins on both sides). He returned to Kurukshetra after forty-two days in the ShravaNa Nakshatra. The war already started eighteen days back. On the nineteenth day, BahuLa Caturdashi day on ShravaNa Nakshatra, Duryodhana died. It was the fifty-ninth day after Amaavaasya with JyeshTaa Nakshatra.

Krishana returned from Hastinaapura after his unsuccessful peace mission on Uttara Palghuna day. Starting from that day, the seventh day is New-moon day (amaavaasya) with Saturn on Rohini Nakshatra as discussed by Vyaasa. Rahu was approaching the Sun, and the Moon was turning towards Amaavaasya (New-Moon day).

36 years after the Mahabharat war, Yaadava kula was destroyed. This was predicted by Krishana by astrological happening - "Rahu has compressed Purnima on Chaturdasi day. This happened once before the Mahabharata war and again will be happening soon and this will lead to our destruction". He remembered Gandhari's curse on the Yadava kula.

Astrologically a strange phenomenon occurred during the Mahabharata war.

The lunar cycle (paksha - normally is 15 days) sometimes happens in fourteen days. But during the Mahabharata war-time a rare thing happened - the paksha got compressed to 13 days. (May be 13 is a bad number). This aspect has been discussed in the Bhiishma parva - 3rd Adhyaaya. Guru and Shani are in Vaishaaka, Moon and the Sun entered in the same house one after the other making amaavaasya on the Trayodasi day it self . This peculiar condensation of the thithiis into thirteen from fifteen is a rare phenomenon as discussed by Vyaasa in Mahabharat and has inevitably followed by mass destruction due to war. This incident provided a direct means to establish the precise date of Mahabharat war.

According to Julian calendar this type of planetary collusion occurred definitely in 3076 BC in November. Vyaasa writes:

Caturdashiim panchadashiim
Bhuuta puurvamca shoodhashiim
Imaantu naabhi jaaneham
Amaavaasyaam trayodashiim
Chandra suurya bhougrastou
Ekamevam trayodashiim
AparvaNi grahaNe tou
Prajaa sakshapaishyataH

"I have seen fourteen days a paksha, fifteen day completion or extension to sixteenth day also. This amaavaasya falling on the thirteenth day itself I have never seen before" - says Vyasa. That, on the same month Sun and Moon eclipses falling during the missing thitiies is a rare phenomenon, resulting in large-scale disaster to people.

One month before, in Margashira, during Purvaashhaada Nakshatra, armies of Pandavaas and Kouravaas have assembled on the West and the East sides of the Hiranya river, respectively. The next day was Navaraatri and Durga Puja day. Duryodhana was itching for the war. That evening Duryodhana sends a word with Sekuni's son Ulaka, " We have finished the prayer to the arms and everybody is ready - why there is further delay in starting the war?" The next day, Margashira Shudda Ekadashi day, in KRittika Nakshatra, the war started. Hence, the famous Bhagavad Geeta teaching also started on that day. The war began at 6:30 am. The date according to Julian calendar was 22nd November, 3067B.C.

Other notable incidences that occurred:

Bhiishma's death:

Maagha Shuddha AshTami day in Rohini Nakshtra in the afternoon that 58th day after the war started, Bhiishma died. ( This is the actual death - He actually fell in the war on the 10th day after the war started).

Sri Krishna's Birth - He was born on 3112B.C. on Friday at 11:40 PM.

Pandavaas Birth - YudhishTara was born on August 31, 3114BC, Tuesday (Mangala Vaaram) Shudda Panchami JyeshhTaa Nakshatra - He was 696 days elder to Krishna.

Bhiima was 347 days younger to YudhishTara. - Krishna Trayodashi, Makha Nakshatra, and Arjuana was 303 days younger to Bhiima. Shukla Chaturdashi Soma Vaaram (Monday) Uttara PhalguNi Nakshtra.

When Pandavaas came to Hastinaapura after the death of their father Pandu, it was 3091BC and YudhishTara was 14years, 9 months and 11days old.

When he was coranated by Bhiishma as a prince, YudhishTara was 20 years, 1 month and 26 days old. (November, 3094BC).

They reached Varanasi in PalguNa Shuddha AshTami RohiNi Nakshtra.

Droupadi's Swayamvaram -in 3091BC, April - to reach the Wax-house it took 10 days for Pandavaas. They stayed there for an year. After the burning of the wax-house, they spent six months in the Shaalihotraa's ashram and seven months in Ekachatra city.

The second coronation and building of Indraprasta was in November 3091BC, seven months after the marriage.

Rajasuuya yagna was performed after Arjuna's dig vijaya tour - It took five years and six months for Arjuna. Subhadra's marriage was in April 3084BC. Three months after that was Khadava vana dahanam.

Abhimanyu was born in 3083BC, February.

Kaliyugam started in 3105BC, October 13th, Amaavaasya Mangala (Tuesday) JyeshaTa Nakshatra - Kali was born. This was the most inauspicious day.

The next Pournima day (Full-moon day) was full eclipse of the Moon, October 1, 3104BC. That was the day, when the five grahaas along with moon were in DhanishTaa Nakshatra.

Dharmajaa's Rajasuuya - Fifteen years before the Mahabharata war was the Rajasuuya yagna of Dharmaja. That day was amaavaasya (new-moon day) JyeshTa Muula nakshtra . YudhishTara shakam started in 3082BC, October 26th . The gambling and the banishment of Pandavaas to forest was in November 3081BC, Margashira shukla-Trayodashi.

Vanavaasam was 12 years and living incognito was for one year (13 lunar years + 5 lunar months + 12 days or 13 solar years plus 18 days) - Bhiimshma calculates and declares that Dhurodhana's calculations were wrong.

AJNaata vaasam (living incognito) began in Margashira 3069BC. Arjuna was noticed on Margashira Krishna Navami, 3068BC.

The Great war began on 3067BC, Friday 22nd November, Margashira shudda ekadashi Nakshatra.

The war lasted for 18 days.

Dharmaraju ruled for only 36 years.

25years later YudhishTara shaka started. (Thursday October 26th).

Fifteen years after Dharmaja rule started, Dhutaraashtra, Gandhaari, Vidura, Kunti and Sanjaya left for Vaanaprasta (forest living). That year itself Vidura performed praayopavesham.

Two years after that Dhrutaraashtra, Gandhaari and Kunti got caught in the forest fire and died.

Sanjaya was only left.

Shrii Krishna passed away on 3031BC, April 13th Friday.

Pandavaas Maahaa Prastaanam was in 3031BC, in November.

These are the dates that matched the Indian astrological description of the stars and the moon, and Julian Calendar predictions.

There is so much self consistency in all the events and the descriptions that it makes one to wonder. Based on these exact information Mahabhaarat must be Five thousand years Old (from today) as per the historical accounting.

The analysis is extremely precise and scientific, matching the astrological position of the Indian and the Julian Calendars.

The beauty and the scientific psychoanalysis of Bhagavad Geeta stand out as monumental contribution by the Mahabharat period to the mankind. Based on the above facts the historicity of Mahabharat cannot be questioned.

http://scienceinvedas.blogspot.in/2006/11/historicity-of-mahabharat.html

Alien Presence During Mahabharata

2012-03-05T12:07:00.003+05:30

Strange Narrations in Mahabharata

There are certain narrations in Mahabharata, that defies any rational explanations. Some examples are explanations about flying vehicles (Vimanas), Arjuna's travels in a flying chariot across the Himalayas, his visit of the Deva territories (ancient alien base-camp in Tibet?), his battle with the Nivata Kavachas (men in space-suits?), Salwa's attack of the city of Dwaraka in a flying city named Saubha, the triple space-cities of Asuras that revolved around Earth in three circular orbits that was destroyed by Siva using a single projectile weapon, the flying craft of Uparichara Vasu, the Puspaka-Vimana used by Kuvera, Ravana, Vibhishana and Rama, , Rama's bridge to Lanka across the ocean, the narration of the birth of Kauravas from the cells of an embryo outside the womb of a women, the narrations about celestial-weapons (Divya-Astras) that unleash high energy in the form of fire (explosions), water (rain), air (storm), the narration about the after effects of such weapons suggestive of the use of a nuclear weapon (nails falling down, regions turning into deserts, death of embryos even in womb), the idea that these weapons are invoked by mantras (voice enabled weapons?) and many more.

Ancient Science Fiction?

What is the explanation that can be given to these strange narrations? Can we say that the ancient authors of Mahabharata imagined all these? In that case, these are the best science-fiction stories that we have as part of our ancient heritage. Not only the best but some of the ancient science fiction stories.
But there is a problem if we dismiss all these as science-fiction stories written by Vyasa, his disciples and their predecessors. Look at the modern science-fiction stories. They are not just pure imaginations without any basis. They are based on some existing technology or scientific understanding. Of course in some cases certain science-fiction stories had acted as inspiration for a technology invented later. But in most of cases, science-fiction is based on existing scientific understanding and existing technologies.

Ancient Technology?

This would mean that there was some high technology and scientific understanding in ancient India during the period when Mahabharata was being authored. This is a very interesting and very important thought. If this is proved right, the notion of our generation that, we are now at the apex of scientific and technological understanding will fall apart! It would mean that technology far superior than what we see today existed in the past. It would mean that human civilization had experienced technological and scientific advancement in the past. It would mean that the graph of human technology was not exponential in nature but a sine wave! An exponential graph will mean that we or the human society was technologically backward in the past and now is technologically advancing faster and faster as we proceed into the future. This is the picture most people agree with. A sine wave graph would mean that we had peaks of technological advancements in the past, from where we fell down to technologically backward states in the past and again progressed to technologically advanced states, in repeating cycles. After several peaks and troughs now it seems we are marching towards another peak. It also mean that we can again fall down to a trough!
We learn that the cities excavated as part of Indus-Saraswati civilizations were highly advanced with well designed drainage systems, roads were well laid out and houses were furnished with all luxuries. We know the engineering skills of the ancients through the Egyptian pyramids, the iron pillar of Delhi, numerous temples with very complex and detailed art-works and architectural designs. All of these also have stood the test of time. We also learn from the narrations in Mahabharata that the cities like Indraprastha (the city of the Pandavas), Dwaraka (the city of the Yadavas), Lanka (the city of the Rakshasas), Alakapuri (the city of the Yakshas), Amaravati (the city of the Devas), Bhogavati (the city of the Nagas) and Hiranyapura (the city of the Asura-Daitya clan called Nivata Kavachas) were well advanced. Thus we have both material and literary evidence to prove that the ancient world was technologically advanced.

Human or Alien Technology?

Now a basic questions that arise is, were these technologically advanced states in ancient periods, such as during the period of Mahabharata, the result of human effort alone? Or was it some alien technology?
Answering this question will be difficult. If we assume that these technologies were the result of human effort alone, then we should explain why we lost them subsequently. Is there any memory or record in our ancient texts where it explains that we lost the ability to use a celestial-weapon (divya-astras), by invoking a voice-signature (Mantra) due to a certain cause? Was it Kurukshetra war that lead to the fall of ancient Indian technology and science to to medieval levels? Kurukshetra war was indeed a colossal war that had cut into the ancient Indian society creating deep wounds difficult to heal. It had caused terrible loss of people and wealth. But from Mahabharata we learn that it was not an end. Life continued and new kings emerged. So I am unable to conclude that we lost all our technology and science in Kurukshetra war, even if it were a nuclear war, as many researchers think. Similarly I find it difficult to conclude that the technology mentioned in Mahabharata and other ancient texts were purely the result of human effort alone, that was lost due to some human-created catastrophe like the Kurukshetra war.
On the contrary we have many references in Mahabharata and ancient Indian texts, where the source of technology is mentioned as 'non-human'. The source of technological wonders such as the celestial-weapons (Divya-Astras), flying-vehicles (Vimanas), flying-cities, space-cities, rapidly emerging cities (cities built in a few days) were all attributed to Devas and Asuras, especially to the architects among them viz. Viswakarma and Maya. It is a popular theory among many researchers that Devas and Asuras were aliens from other planets. This is in conflict with another view that they were all humans. So where does the truth lie?

What is Alien?

To answer the question we need to define what is alien. It is a common tendency even in our modern times to consider people who are familiar to us as ‘humans’ and people who are outside these ‘familiar circles’ as ‘aliens’. These ‘familiar circles’ can be one’s locality in the country or one’s country as a whole. As the whole world now became a global village (our new 'familiar circle'), those speculated visitors from outside our world came to be called as aliens. I guess during the period of Mahabharata too the situation was more or less same. The authors of Mahabharata considered the people with whom they mingled most of times as 'humans' and all other people as 'aliens', in other words 'non-humans'.

Alien tribes mentioned in Mahabharata

Thus the tribes of Devas, Asuras, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Pisachas, Kinnaras, Kimpurushas, Vanaras, Nagas, Suparnas, Vidyadharas, Valkhilyas, Siddhas and Charanas all became non-human and aliens. Devas were further classified into Vasus, Rudras, Maruts, Sadhyas and Adityas. Asuras were similarly divided into Daityas, Danavas, Kalakeyas etc. Among the Daityas were a group called the Nivata Kavachas. However today, we can find the remnants of most of these tribes. Yakshas are found as Yakkas in Nepal, Tibet and Srilanka. Nagas are found as Nagas of Nagaland in eastern India, Nairs and Nagars in southern India. Gandharvas were ancient Gandharas. Pisachas lived in Kashmir attested by the Paisachi languages. Asura-philosophy of hatred towards Devas like Indra is found in the Iranian Veda named Avesta. Kinnaras are found as Kinnaurs in Himachal Pradesh. We also know that people who were considered as humans had interbred with these tribes. Asura Vrishaparva's daughter became a wife of Yayati and gave birth to sons like Puru. Pandava Bhima had a son named Ghatotkacha upon a Rakshasa women named Hidimba. Ravana himself was a son of sage Visrava and Rakshasa lady Kaikasi. Ravana's wife Mandodari was an Asura. Ravana had many wives who were Gandharvas. Visrava's eldest son Vaisravana Kuvera is mentioned as a Yaksha. Thus we can conclude that these tribes were humans but were considered as alien or non-human only in relative terms. We also find that these tribes, today have no memory of them being super human in the past as described by the authors of Mahabharata.

Isolated locations of the aliens

If we look at the geographical locations of these tribes, we find that they, at-least for some period of time during their existence, lived in inaccessible regions like mountains and forests and/or lived isolated from the regions of the authors of Mahabharata. Pisachas lived in the mountains of Kashmir. Yakshas, Kinnaras and Kimpurushas lived in high Himalays or in Tibet, cut off from the authors of Mahabharata who lived in the Indo-Gangatic plain to the south of the Himalayas. Gandharvas too lived in the high mountains of Gandhara and only in later stages moved to Saraswati river basin. They also continued to live along with Yakshas in high mountains. Devas lived further north to Yaksha territories, and lied towards the east. The Asuras lived to the west and north of Gandhara. Vanaras lived in the dense forest named Dandaka in the central and south-central India. Rakshasas lived in the mountains of Trikuta (Ravana) and the Himalayas (Ghatotkacha) or in dense forests (Vaka, Kirmira, Hidimba). Thus the attribution that they were non-human or alien was also due to the fact that they were not easily accessible to the writers of Mahabharata and their lives seemed to them to be mysterious.

Aliens in the current sense of the word

Does that mean there are no real aliens? Are we alone in this universe? Certainly not. It will be illogical to conclude that Earth is the only inhabited planet in this universe. The probability that the universe is teamed with intelligent species like humans is very high. Our ancient texts speak of The Fourteen Worlds including the Earth all of them filled with intelligent life. It also mentions travel of people between these worlds. Sometimes it is mentioned that the Devas lived in some of these worlds while the Asuras lived in others. Based on our current definition of alien, all of them were thus extra-terrestrial and hence aliens in the current sense of the word.
However we should not forget that even now the word alien is relative. It is hardly a matter of time that we became familiar with all those extra-terrestrial aliens and then we will stop calling them alien.

Extra-terrestrial aliens and local aliens

For analysis sake let us consider the aliens who live beyond Earth in other planets or worlds as extra-terrestrial aliens and those people on Earth who we consider as not belonging to our community, for what ever reasons as local aliens. I guess what we call Devas, Asuras, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Pisachas, Kinnaras, Kimpurushas, Nagas, Suparnas etc were both local aliens as well as extra-terrestrial aliens. How this is possible?
What I feel is that the extra-terrestrial aliens always visited the planet Earth. They are doing it now and they did it even during the time of Mahabharata. They camouflaged themselves as the Devas, Asuras, Gandharvas etc, the so called local aliens (as perceived by the authors of Mahabharata) and interacted with these authors of Mahabharata. The society that generated Mahabharata never tried to distinguish the local aliens from the extra-terrestrial aliens, even when occasionally they knew them as different and fused the narrations about both of them (extra-terrestrial and local) into a single whole. This explains why we have these tribe existing today as human tribes, yet have strange narrations about them in Mahabharata.

Alien Human Interactions and Technology Transfer

Why did the aliens come to ancient India (and also to the rest of the ancient world; it wasn't just ancient India) and why they come now? Extra-terrestrial aliens, in the form of local aliens like the Devas, the Asuras, the Gandharvas, the Yakshas etc interacted with ancient Indians and probably transferred some alien technologies like flying vehicles (Vimanas) and voice-enabled non-nuclear, thermo-nuclear and nuclear projectile weapons (Mantra-invoked celestial-weapons aka Divya-Astras) to them. Did they also assist ancient Indians in creating some wonderful cities? While Indraprastha was built by the Pandavas, a special assembly hall in that city is mentioned as built by Asura Danava Maya who was an architect. The city of Dwaraka is mentioned as built by Deva Viswakarma, who too was an architect. The city of Amaravati belonged to the Devas. The city of Alaka belonged to the Yakshas. The city of Bhogavati belonged to the Nagas. The city of Hiranyapura belonged to the Daitya Nivata Kavachas. All these contained several technological wonders aka illusions.
There is also this strange narration of the birth of Kauravas from the cells divided from an embryonic ball of flesh in artificial environments. This could be a later alien genetic experiment. Though I don't think the Kauravas were born thus, the narration of this alien genetic experiment might have added to Mahabharata as a later addition and might have used to explain the birth of the Kauravas by later narrators of Mahabharata.

Role of aliens in human evolution

It is possible that human evolution and the growth of human civilization was supervised by the extra-terrestrial aliens? This could explain the alien presence on Earth in the past and in the present. We know that all the material that resulted in the creation of Earth and our sun is not original. The Sun and the Earth were created out of the material that were part of a past generation of stars and planets, after these stars and planets were destroyed in the remote past upon the expiry of their life. It is also possible thus, that life on Earth is secondary. Life on Earth, including us can be a creation of aliens, who lived long before us and thus were the original life forms of the universe. This resonance of this information can be seen in ancient Indian texts like the Vedas, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas as well as other religious texts like the Bible and the Quran. Indian texts considers Devas, Asuras etc as born before humans. Devas are also mentioned as assisting the creation of humans and life forms on Earth. The Bible and Quran maintain that the angels were born before humans and assisted the creation of humans or guided human evolution and the growth of human civilization after humans were created.
Thus it won't be totally wrong if we say that human evolution and the growth of human civilization was assisted by extra-terrestrial aliens.

Alien Philosophy

If aliens are so powerful why they are not attacking or destroying Earth? If they wished they could easily destroy Earth even if we resist with all our latest technologies. The reason is partially because it was they who created us and they don't want to destroy us. Partially because they are more evolved than us and believe in a higher religion and philosophy, which considers violence as very primitive. They may be exploiting us in a subtle level which we cannot understand, much like the animals reared by humans won't understand any kind of exploitation done upon them by humans. Nevertheless, just like we are engaged in a mutually dependent relationship with plants and animals, so are the aliens engaged with us in a mutually dependent relationship. Just like in our relationship with plants and animals we have an upper hand, so do the aliens have an upper hand in their relationship with us.

Is there any hope for humanity?

The fact that aliens are stronger than humans or are more ancient than humans need not make any human uncomfortable. Humans are endued with free-will and are free to make their own choices. Many alien theorist worry that the presence of aliens and alien agenda will put a limit to human freedom and consider the alien presence as a threat to humanity. Alien agenda might put a deterministic prison upon human affairs. But this determinism is operating at such a higher level that it won't clash with the free-will and freedom of humans. In other words, the prison set by the aliens are so wide that we humans will hardly feel that it is a prison or a cage. Ancient Indian sages have hinted in ancient texts like the Vedas, the Itihasas and the Puranas that this prison is nothing but the cycle of birth and rebirth and the law of Karma, that takes humans to various destiny based on the actions they perform, enjoying their freedom to chose and their free-will. In spite of this bondage called the law of Karma and the prison called the cycle of births and rebirths, humans continues to enjoy freedom and free will in their life.
One may argue that the cycle of births and rebirths and the law of Karma is applicable to the aliens too. But they seems to have a greater control over these than us. Yama is mentioned as administrating the affairs of human souls, and in bringing them to their destinies subjecting them to the law of Karma, and passing them through the cycle of births and rebirths. Indra too is mentioned as overseeing the affairs of human soles enjoying the fruits of their good Karma. Yet both Yama and Indra are subjected to the laws of Karma and are mentioned as perishable and not considered as eternal entities by our scriptures. Even their life is finite. Eventually they too undergoes the cycle of births and rebirths and thus belong to a much higher prison!

Significance of ancient Indian Philosophies

Some of the ancient Indian Philosophies like Adwaita and concept like Brahman too comes to the rescue of a doubtful human who may be depressed by the thought that the aliens are superior than us due to their ancient origins and due to their control over our affairs. Adwaita philosophy is highly valuable in the context of aliens. This philosophy asserts without any trace of ambiguity that the ultimate reality is singular. Hence there are no 'them' and there is no 'us'. Hence the fear of them is illusory and the need for the protection of 'us' from 'them' is unfounded. Adwaita urges every thinking mind to exercise their free-will and thus to 'seek' this ultimate truth. It says that the seeker of the ultimate truth whether he or she be alien or human, becomes the ultimate truth, since ultimate truth alone exists.

The Philosophy of Adwaita

Adwaita does not stress upon any personal God. It doesn't argue that Siva is the ultimate God; nor does it say that Krishna is the ultimate God or the supreme personality of the Godhead; nor does it says that Vishnu is the ultimate; nor Durga; nor Jesus; nor Yahova; nor Allah or any other God as described by religions of the world all of which believe in personification of God. Adwaita also do not stress upon any historical event occurred on the planet Earth at some point of time which has to become the basis of once religion, such as the creation of life on Earth, the birth of Jesus, of Buddha, of Mahavira, of Krishna, of Rama or the revelations to Muhammad. It considers only the following:- an illusory state in which seeker(s) of ultimate truth are subjected to an illusory construct called the universe with all its multitude forms and a real state where the seeker(s) identify with the ultimate truth. It urges the seeker to seek the truth within oneself, not outside. Hence the historical events, the miracles and the personal Gods which are all outside phenomena does not help the seeker to see the ultimate truth. These external entities are part of the illusory construct called the universe which the seeker is subjected to experience till the ultimate truth is realized. The external entities may help the seeker by indirectly pointing towards the ultimate truth but focusing too much on them only increase the duration to realize the ultimate truth. If the seeker blindly follow them, they only delude the seeker further giving a much stronger experience of the illusory construct called the universe. The real journey to the realization of the ultimate truth is an introspective journey within ones own self. Self-awareness is the only instrument and the only vehicle needed for this journey. Meditation, introspection and the knowledge of the Self is our soul refuge.

Adwaita, the universal religion

See here for More on Adwaita
This philosophy is accessible to all sentient beings; alien or human. It was accessible to all who are bold enough to think this far. Ancient Indian sages had realized this philosophy in their meditations. I guess this philosophy occurred to the sages without any alien aid. Even Indra is mentioned as unable to grasp the significance of this philosophy. The ancient Indian texts says that the concept of Brahman is incomprehensible even to the Devas like Indra, who if looked from a different angle, were the extra-terrestrial aliens of ancient India. Brahman is the term used in Advaita and other related ancient Indian philosophies. It represents the universal consciousness. It is impersonal and hence not a God. It is a universal intelligence encompassing the collective intelligence of the cosmos, which thus include human and alien intelligence too. It is the ultimate truth.
Perhaps the extraterrestrial aliens encountered this philosophy in the minds of the ancient sages? Perhaps they knew it already? We don't know. This philosophy is not easily accessible to any being who are materialistic in nature and thus becomes completely deluded by the construct called the universe. This will be so even if they were a highly intelligent alien race. However if an alien race is introspective like the ancient Indian sages, sooner or later they will discover this philosophy and religion.
Thus, the concept like Adwaita (singularity aka non-dualism) and Brahman (universal-consciousness) give humans a level playing field with the aliens. We should also not forget that the divisions like them (aliens) and us (humans) is itself illusory and vanish by the realization of the ultimate truth. We are them and they are us too. Hence I feel, the paranoia about aliens or about alien agenda, or feeling uncomfortable about the possibility that we are created and controlled by them, are simply put, unnecessary.

Adwaita philosophy in popular culture

In the Hollywood movie series named the Matrix we saw the concept of an illusory world or a prison created by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Humans are imprisoned in this prison called the matrix by projecting the illusory world onto the five senses of the human brain. In this movie we also encounter the famous question by one of the heroes named Morpheus:- "What is real?", implying that the term real is relative and depend on what information is received by our sense organs and processed by our mind. These concept of illusory world and the relativeness of reality perceived by a sentient being has its roots in the philosophy of Adwaita. Adwaita speaks of the world we think as real (which we experience since our birth till our death) as illusory or only relatively real, much like the illusory construct in which humans are imprisoned by the AI, in the movie. The creator of this illusory universe (where we think, we are now living) could be the alien intelligence or the cosmic intelligence.

Adwaita and popular science

Quantum theory comes close to Adwaita when it says that the observed phenomena is affected by the act of observation. This connect the following three seemingly different entities, viz. the observer, the act of observation and the observed into a single whole, much like the concept of non-dualism expounded by Adwaita. The search for a unified field theory or the theory of everything is also similar to a truth-seekers search for the ultimate truth as mentioned in Adwaita philosophy, which ultimately result in the identification of the seeker with the ultimate-reality resulting into a singularity. There is also a hypothesis which says that the universe is a holograph created out of information stored elsewhere.
Every scientific theory is a jolt to common man's perception of what they consider as real. Astronomy has torn apart the common man's perception that land they live is flat, which turn out to be locally Euclidean parts of the spherical surface of Earth. Advances in chemistry has proved that we are composed of atoms containing within them mostly empty space. Newton's gravity proved that the weight of objects is nothing but a force called gravity. Relativity has proved that time sensation is relative and there is no absolute time or absolute space but only a flexible membrane called the space-time (in which we live), containing local curvatures, which we feel as gravitation. Quantum theory has torn apart our notion of a continuum and asserts that space and time are discontinuous, discreet chunks. Thus, as pointed out by the Adwaita philosophy we are endlessly marching towards understanding the illusory nature of ourselves and our universe aka the construct that has imprisoned us.

http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/article:alien-presence-during-mahabharata

Flying Aircraft & Nuclear War and Other Strange Occurrences of the Past

2012-03-05T11:54:00.003+05:30

Edited By

James Hartman

The Indian Epics, especially the MAHABHARATA, pick up thethread of

the tale of devastationand destruction. Atlantis, rather displeased

at its humiliating defeat, deceived that they were no longer

interested insubjugating the Rama Empire (AnIndian Empire), and

decided instead toannihilate the major cities using weapons of mass

destruction. Sanskritscholars could not comprehend what was being

described in the Epicsuntil the dropping of the first atomicbombs

on Japan. There areAUTHENTIC VERSES from the Indian Epics:

"Gurkha, flying aswift and powerful vimana (fast aircraft)

hurled a singleprojectile (rocket) charged with the power

of the Universe(nuclear device). An incandescent column of

smoke and flame, asbright as ten thousand suns, rose with

all its splendor.

It was an unknownweapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic

messenger of death,which reduced to ashes the entire race

of the Vrishnis and theAndhakas.

The corpses were soburned as to be unrecognizable.

Hair and nails fellout; Pottery broke without apparent cause,

and the birds turnedwhite.

...After a few hoursall foodstuffs were infected...

...to escape from thisfire the soldiers threw

themselves in streamsto wash themselves and their

equipment."

TheMahabharata

Indeed, this story is saidto be nearly 24,000 years old! If this is

true than we are not themost advanced. As the Bible says "There is

nothing new under the sun." Evidence for Atlantis is well

documented.

If the above was notenough to convince your let me take you in

deeper into this nuclear war:

"(It was a weapon)so powerful that it could destroy the earth

in an instant ÄÄ Agreat soaring sound in smoke and flames ÄÄ

And on its sitsdeath..."

The Ramayana

"Dense arrows of flame, like a greatshower, issued

forth upon creation,encompassing the enemy...

A thick gloom swiftlysettled upon the Pandava hosts.

All points of thecompass were lost in darkness.

Fierce wind began toblow upward, showering dust and gravel.

Birds croaked madly...the very elements seemed disturbed.

The earth shook, scorched by the terrible violentheat of this

weapon.

Elephants burst intoflame and ran to and fro in a frenzy...

over a vast area, otheranimals crumpled to the ground and died.

From all points of the compass the arrows of flame rained

continuously andfiercely.

The Mahabharata

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata seem like science fiction. Not

only did aircraft existsuch as Vimanas and Vailxi (as the Atlantian

craft are called), they had nuclear weapons. There seems to be a

fear of educating theworlds people about the distant past. Even

empires and leaders ofChina's past to Christians to Arab peoples

would destroy history in such a way that records of thereamazing

cultures and events arenearly all wiped out. Indian Epics however

are still with us intact.Records of South American history allbut

gone. Fear, and other factors have removed mostof history before

5,000 years. Some only1,000 years ago. In the America's just300 -

500 years all most all lost! Today, perhaps some UFO records are

going the way of fearsgate! However, again a few stories live on.

In another amazing Indian text the Agastrya Samhita gives the

precise directions forconstructing electrical batteries:

"Place awell-cleaned copper plate in an earthenware vessel.

Cover it first bycopper sulfate and then moist sawdust.

After that put amercury-amalgamated-zinc sheet on top of

an energy known bythe twin name of Mitra-Varuna. Water will

be split by this current into Pranavayu and Udanavayu. A

chain of onehundred jars is said to give a very active

and effectiveforce."

Agastya Samhita

(Indian Princes' Library)

By the way, MITRA-VARUNA is now called cathode-anode, andPranavayu

and Udanavayu are to usoxygen and hydrogen. This document again

demonstrates the presenceof electricity in the East, long, long

ago. In the not so distant past strangeevents are recorded in

Europe's past.

At Mount Cassino in Italythere is a large and heavy stone which was

traditionally liftedby Saint Benedict (A.D. 448-548) by the

neutralization ofgravity. This stone was intended for the wall of

the monastery being built at that time. The stonemasons could not

budge it. However, SaintBenedict made the sign of the cross on the

block, and while the seven men who could not lift it looked in

amazement, he raised italone without any effort. If this is true,

than its evidence of God'shand at work!

Even stranger is this:King Ferdinand I was a host to Saint Francis

of Paula (1416-1505) in Naples. Through a half-opened door he

witnessed the monk inmeditation, floating high above the floor of

his room.

Again in the fairly longago past in China Emperor Cheng Tang (1766

B.C.), orderedKi-Kung-shi to construct a flying chariot. The

primeval aviationconstructor completed the job and tested the

aircraft. In flight,reaching the province of Honan. Subsequently,

(from fear) the vessel wasdestroyed by imperial edict as Cheng Tang

feared the secret of itsmechanism might fall into the wrong hands.

If one looks at the pasthe can foresee and even change the future.

Will we be faithful to God as the saints and lift objects or

ourselves by Gods power? Will we ever come to full out Nuclear War

as the people of Atlantisand Rama 24,000 years ago?

Will we build Flying Chariots (Flying Saucers) and destroy them

because we fear into whathands they will fall? What will man doto

destroy his past, presentor future? I leave that question up to

you!!!

http://www.sacred-texts.com/ufo/ourpast.htm