Indian astronomy
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The astronomy and the astrology of Ancient India (Jyotisha) is based upon sidereal calculations. The sidereal astronomy is based upon the stars and the sidereal period is the time that it takes the object to make one full orbit around the Sun, relative to the stars. This is considered to be an object's true orbital period.
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[edit] Coordinate system
In Hindu Astronomy, the vernal equinox (the First Point of Aries) is often calculated at 23° from 0° Aries (1950 CE), i.e. about 7° Pisces [1]. The constellation that marks this vernal equinox is the Uttarabhadra.
In the time of the Puranas, the vernal equinox was marked by the Ashwini constellation (beginning of Aries), which gives a date of about 300-500 CE. The Vishnu Purana (2.8.63) states that the equinoxes occur when the Sun enters Aries] and Libra, and that when the sun enters Capricorn, his northern course (from winter to summer solstice) commences, and the southern course when he enters Cancer.The Brahmanas place the Equinox in Krittika (Pleidas) and the Rig Veda in Mrigasira (Orion). These would indicate a time of around 1900 BCE and 4000 BCE, respectively.
In the Surya Siddhanta, the rate of precession is set at 54" (it actually is 50.3"), which is much more accurate than the number calculated by the Greeks [2].
The Hindus use a system of 27 or 28 Nakshatras (lunar constellations) to calculate a month. Each month can be divided into 30 lunar tithis (days). There are usually 360 or 366 days in a year.
It has been argued that Nilakantha Somayaji's (1444-1550) work shows a better equation of the center for Mercury and Venus "than was available either in the earlier Indian works or in the Islamic or European traditions of astronomy till the work of Kepler, which was to come more than a hundred years later."[3]
[edit] Heliocentrism
The earliest traces of a counter-intuitive idea that it is the Earth that is actually moving and the Sun that is at the centre of the solar system (hence the concept of heliocentrism) is found in several Vedic Sanskrit texts written in ancient India. The Shatapatha Brahmana (c. 9th–8th century BC) places Sun at "the centre of the spheres" (8.7.3.10): "The sun strings these worlds - the earth, the planets, the atmosphere - to himself on a thread."
The Aitareya Brahmana (c. 9th–8th century BC) also states: "The Sun never sets nor rises thats right. When people think the sun is setting, it is not so; they are mistaken." (2.7) This indicates that the Sun is stationary (hence the Earth is moving around it), which is elaborated in a later commentary Vishnu Purana (2.8) (c. 1st century), which states: "The sun is stationed for all time, in the middle of the day. [...] Of the sun, which is always in one and the same place, there is neither setting nor rising."
The 5th century scholar Aryabhata in his Aryabhatiya propounded a heliocentric model in which the Earth was taken to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were given with respect to a stationary Sun. He was also the first to discover that the light from the Moon and the planets was reflected from the Sun, and that the planets follow an elliptical orbit around the Sun, and thus propounded an eccentric elliptical model of the planets, on which he accurately calculated many astronomical constants, such as the times of the solar and lunar eclipses, and the instantaneous motion of the Moon (expressed as a differential equation).
Bhaskara (1114–1185) expanded on Aryabhata's heliocentric model in his astronomical treatise Siddhanta-Shiromani, where he mentioned the law of gravity, discovered that the planets don't orbit the Sun at a uniform velocity, and accurately calculated many astronomical constants based on this model, such as the solar and lunar eclipses, and the velocities and instantaneous motions of the planets. Arabic translations of Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya were available from the 8th century, while Latin translations were available from the 13th century, before Copernicus had written De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, so it's quite likely that Aryabhata's work had an influence on Copernicus' ideas.
[edit] Calendars
The beginning of the Saptarsi [4] calendar, which is still used in parts of India, is often placed at 3076 BCE[5], but references by Greek historians (Pliny and Arrian)[6] could possibly indicate an earlier beginning of the calendar at 6776 BCE.[7] These Greek historians wrote that 153 or 154 kings passed between between Dionysos and Chandragupta, and according to the Puranas there were about 143 kings during this period.[8] The Satapatha Brahmana says that the rsis and the Krittikas were married, and the Puranas says that the rsis are 100 years in each naksatra, which would amount to a cycle (cakra) of 2700 years. In some texts, Sravana is the first naksatra (which could be placed at the "Greek date" of 6676 BCE), and the Mahabharata War occurred with the Saptarsi in the Magha, or 2700 years later.[9] It was argued by Cunningham that during Pliny's and Arrians time, Asvini marked the beginning of the naksatras, as is the case in Surya Siddhanta 8.9. Thus one could calculate a date of 3976 BCE for the beginning of the cakra, or 2700 years after 6676 BCE.[10]
In the Vedanga Jyotisa, the year begins with the winter solstice.[11] The Hindu calendars know several year beginnings, and this might also have been the case in the Vedic period.[12]
[edit] Greco-Roman contributions
Greek astronomy is known to have been practiced at the doorstep of India in the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum from the 3rd century BCE. Various sun-dials, including an equatorial sundial adjusted to the latitude of Ujjain have been found in archaeological excavations there.[13] Numerous interactions with the Mauryan Empire, and the later expansion of the Indo-Greeks into India suggest that some transmission may have happened during that period[14]
Various Greco-Roman astrological treatises are also known to have been imported into India during the first few centuries of our era. The Yavanajataka ("Sayings of the Greeks") was translated from Greek to Sanskrit by Yavanesvara during the 2nd century CE, under the patronage of the Western Satrap Saka king Rudradaman I.
Later in the 6th century, the Romaka Siddhanta ("Doctrine of the Romans"), and the Paulisa Siddhanta ("Doctrine of Paul") were considered as two of the five main astrological treatises, which were compiled by Varahamihira in his Pañca-siddhāntikā ("Five Treatises").[15] Varahamihira wrote in the Brihat-Samhita: "The Greeks, though impure, must be honored since they were trained in sciences and therein, excelled others....."[16]
The Garga Samhita also says: "The Yavanas are barbarians, yet the science of astronomy originated with them and for this they must be reverenced like gods".
[edit] Terminology
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[edit] Seasons
- madhu, madhava in vasanta: spring
- sukra, suci in grisma: summer
- nabha, nabhasya in varsa: rains
- isa, urja in sarada: autumn
- saha, sahasya in hemanta: winter
- tapa, tapasya in sisira: freeze
[edit] Dating claims based on archaeoastronomy
In discussions of Hindu astronomy, it should be cleanly disambiguated whether actual ancient astronomical (or astrological, a distinction that did not exist in pre-modern India any more than in pre-modern Europe) treatises are discussed, or if archaeoastronomical claims are distilled from alleged codes or statements taken from the Vedas.
The chronology of Indian history and literature prior to the Middle Ages is notoriously uncertain, and attempts to employ archaeoastronomy go back to William Jones who tried to show, based on information gathered from Varaha Mihira, that Parasara Muni lived at 1181 BCE.[20] Jacobi (1909) has argued that in the Rigveda and Atharvaveda the sun was in Phalguni, and in the Sankhayana and Gobhila Grhyasutra the Full moon was in Bhadrapada during the summer solstice, which would have occurred at 4500-2500 BCE.[21] Jacobi and Tilak have both noted that the terms of the naksatras Mula (root), Vicrtau (dividers) and Jyestha (oldest) suggest that these names originated from a time when Mula marked the beginning of the year, i.e. about 4500-2500 BCE.[22] Tilak has also noted that the two week long pitrs period after the full moon in Bhadrapada occurred at the beginning of the pitryana, which would have been true at about 4500-2500 BCE.[23]. Such methods are generally rejected by mainstream scholarship, but since the 1980s have come to play a significant role in ideologically motivated literature in connection with Hindutva propaganda. Subhash Kak in his Astronomical Code of the Rgveda[24] dates the Rigveda to "4000-2000 BCE"; Kak's results have been criticized by Plofker[25] as having "no statistical significance whatsoever", even if overlooking their being based on the structure of the Iron Age shakha (recension) of Shakala rather than the content of the actual Rigvedic texts.
[edit] Rigveda
The samvatsara year in the Rigveda has 360 days and 12 months.[26] The Rigveda names the planets Jupiter (Brhaspati) and Venus (Shukra). It also mentions 34 lights, probably the sun, moon, the 27 naksatras and the five planets, and has references to "sapta suryah" (seven suns).[27] In RV 5.40.5-9, a solar eclipse is described.
[edit] Yajurveda
The sky altar and the sun are described as four-cornered in the Yajurveda 38.20., which could refer to the two solstices and two equinoxes.[28]
The Taittiriya Samhita situates 13 1/2 devanaksatras in the northern hemisphere, and 13 1/2 yamanaksatras in the southern hemisphere. According to Kak, this would point to a date of about 2300 BCE.[29]
[edit] Brahmanas
The visuvant (summer solstice) period is 21 days in Aitreya Br. and 7 days in Pancavimsa Br., the summer solstice being in the middle of the period. [30]
The gavam ayana ritual in SB 4.6.2. is based on the motion of the sun.[31] In Aitreya Br. 2.7., is probably a reference to the rotation of the earth.[32]
In the Brahmanas, the two solstices divide the year into two times 180 days, and probably into 181 (winter to summer solstice) and 184/5 days.[33] Subhash Kak has argued that the periods for the solstices described in the Brahmanas would suggest that the perihelion occurred before the summer solstice, and that as a consequence the Brahmanas should be dated to 2000-1000 BCE, taking into account that "the measurements in those times were not very accurate".[34]
The positions of the winter and summer solstice in the Maitrayaniya Brahmana Upanisad (6.14) would correspond to 1660 BCE.[35]
Aiyar has argued that in the Maitrayana Brahmana Upanishad the sun was in the Magha during the Summer solstice, which would correspond to the same period when the sun was in the Krittika during the Vernal Equinox.[36] According to Tilak, the Taittiriya Samhita (7.4.8) has the full moon in the Magha during the winter solstice, which would also be the case at about 2000 - 1000 BCE.[37]
[edit] Krittika constellation
Still earlier Hindu calendars begin with the Krittikas, thus suggesting that the vernal equinox was in the Krittika constellation at this time.[38] There are additionally references to the summer solstice in the Magha constellation. This could indicate a date around 2000 BCE. The Shatapatha Brahmana has the Krttikas (the Pleiades) "do not swerve from the east"[39][40]. This would have been the case with precision at 2950 BCE[41] and was true also about 2000 BCE[42], but was still true to within 8-13 degrees (viz., East by north) around 800 BC, the assumed date of the text's composition.[43]
[edit] Grhya Sutras
Jacobi (1909) has noted that the Gryha Sutras mention the dhruva (Polestar), and the Maitrayana Brahamana Upanishad says that even the polestar moves (over a long period of time).[44] Jacobi argued that these instances preserve memories from ancient times.
[edit] Vedanga Jyotisa
The positions of the solstices and equinoxes in the Vedanga Jyotisa would correspond to about 1370 BCE,[45][46][47], although most of the text in its present form is from a later date.[48] In this text, the sun is very close to the Krittika at the Vernal Equinox.[49]
It is probable that the Vedanga Jyotisha was written at a latitude of 34 degrees, which would correspond e.g. to Northern India.[50] It was also speculated on similar calculations that the Rigvedic hymns could had been arranged in its present form at a latitude of about 23 degrees (e.g. Gujarat).[51]
[edit] Mahabharata
Aryabhata dated the Mahabharata war to 3137 BCE, and Varahamihira to 2449 BCE.[52] According to the Puranic genealogies, the Mahabahrata War occurred at 1924 BCE (1500 years before the Nandas at 424 BCE).[53] This period would stand or fall according to who the Sandracouttus described by the Greek Megasthenes really is. Scholars normally assume that he is Chandragupta Maurya. However, it is a debatable issue by itself, since the Greek shows no knowledge of Kautilya. If it is Chandragupta Gupta, then the entire history of the dynasties of India would get pushed back by at least 600 to 1200 years
The Hindu astronomer Varahamihira, Garga (quoted by Somakara), the Mahabharata and the Vedanga Jyothish refer to the nakshatra Dhanishta (Shravishta) and thus to an ancient calendar that would have been used in 1280 BCE [54]. The Kaushitaki Brahmana and possibly the Atharvaveda refer to a similar calendar [55]. The Atharvaveda, the Tandya Mahabrahmana and Laugakshi (quoted by Somakara) may show knowledge of an earlier calendar, but still in the Magha constellation [56].
[edit] See also
- Aryabhata
- Yuga
- Indian mathematics
- Jyotish (Vedic astrology)
- Vedic timekeeping
- Hindu calendar
- Chinese astronomy
- Hindu cosmology
- History of astronomy
- Vedic fire altar
- Surya Siddhanta
[edit] Notes
- ^ (Frawley 1991:148)
- ^ (Frawley 1991:148)
- ^ Ramasubramanian et al. 1994, cited in Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ (seven rsis, stars of the Ursa Major)
- ^ Kak 1994:64, Cunningham, A. 1883. A Book of Indian Eras. Kalhana (1150 CE).
- ^ Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 6.59-60, Arrian, Indica, 9.9
- ^ (about 3600 years before 3076) Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000. Mitchiner, J.E. 1982. Traditions of the seven Rsis. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
- ^ Kak 1994:65
- ^ Kak 1994:66
- ^ Kak 1994:66-67
- ^ Bryant 2001:253
- ^ Bryant 2001: 253
- ^ "Afghanistan, les trésors retrouvés", p269
- ^ "Les influences de l'astronomie grecques sur l'astronomie indienne auraient pu commencer de se manifester plus tot qu'on ne le pensait, des l'epoque Hellenistique en fait, par l'intermediaire des colonies grecques des Greco-Bactriens et Indo-Grecs" (French) Afghanistan, les trésors retrouvés", p269. Translation: "The influence of Greek astronomy on Indian astronomy may have taken place earlier than thought, as soon as the Hellenistic period, through the agency of the Greek colonies of the Greco-Bactrians and the Indo-Greeks.
- ^ "the Pañca-siddhāntikā ("Five Treatises"), a compendium of Greek, Egyptian, Roman and Indian astronomy. Varāhamihira's knowledge of Western astronomy was thorough. In 5 sections, his monumental work progresses through native Indian astronomy and culminates in 2 treatises on Western astronomy, showing calculations based on Greek and Alexandrian reckoning and even giving complete Ptolemaic mathematical charts and tables. Encyclopedia Britanica Vol12, p269 Source
- ^ ":Mleccha hi yavanah tesu samyak shastram idam sthitam
- Rsivat te api pujyante kim punar daivavid dvijah
- -(Brhatsamhita 2.15)
- ^ Nighantu 1.15. Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ Nighantu 1.15. Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ Bryant 2001:251
- ^ Bryant 2001:254; Jacobi 1909
- ^ Bryant 2001:255
- ^ Bryant 2001:255
- ^ S. Kak, The Astronomical Code of the Rgveda. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan 1994.
- ^ Plofker, K. Review of Kak (1994), Centaurus 38 (1996), 362-364; see also Michael Witzel, "Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts," Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, Vol. 7 (2001) issue 3 (May), §28
- ^ Bryant 2001:253
- ^ Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000. Kak 1994:103.
- ^ Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997
- ^ Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000. Sastry 1985
- ^ Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997
- ^ Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997
- ^ Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997
- ^ Cf. Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997
- ^ Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997
- ^ Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ Bryant 2001:257-8
- ^ Bryant 2001:342
- ^ e.g., Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997; Bryant 2001:255
- ^ ŚBM 2.1.2.1: kṛttikāsv agnī ādadhīta ... etā ha vai prācyai diśo na cyavante "One should found one's fires under the Krttikas ... These do not swerve from the eastern direction...All other Nakshatras deviate from the Eastern direction."
- ^ The SB reference was first noted by Sankar B. Dikshit (Bryant 2001:256). Dikshit, Sankar B. 1985. "The Age of the Satapatha Brahmana" Indian Antiquary 24:245-6
- ^ Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ (or during the third millennium BCE) e.g., Kak, Subhash: Archaeoastronomy and Literature, Current Science, vol. 73, no.7, 1997
- ^ Texts of the Brahmana period do only distinguish intermediate directions, viz. eighths of the compass, and the rising of the Pleiades fell into the Eastern eighth until well after the Vedic period. See also Michael Witzel, The Pleiades and the Bears viewed from inside the Vedic texts, EVJS Vol. 5 (1999), issue 2 (December) [1] (Witzel speculates that the reference may be based on centuries old priestly traditions of times when the Pleiades were even closer to due East) and Witzel EJVS Vol. 7 (2001) issue 3 (May) [2]
- ^ Bryant 2001:258
- ^ Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ Sastry 1985
- ^ Bryant 2001:259. Keith 1912
- ^ Kak 2000:87
- ^ Bryant 2001:255
- ^ Bryant 2001: 261. Kak 2000. Yukio Ohashi 1997
- ^ Kak 1994:100-101.
- ^ Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000
- ^ (see Frawley 1991: 152 ff.)
- ^ (Frawley 1991)
- ^ (Frawley 1991)
[edit] References
- S. Kak. "The Speed of Light and Purāṇic Cosmology". In T. R. N. Rao and S. Kak, Computing Science in Ancient India, pages 80–90. USL Press, Lafayette, 1998. Available as e-print physics/9804020 on the arXiv.
[edit] Further reading
- Aiyar, B.V. Kamesvara. 1922. "The Age of the Brahmanas". Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society 12.
- Billard, R. L'Astronomie Indienne. Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, Paris, 1971.
- Bryant, Edwin (2001), The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture, Oxford University Press
- Duke, Dennis. 2005. "The Equant in India: The Mathematical Basis of Ancient Indian Planetary Models." Archive for History of Exact Sciences 59: 563–576.
- Koenraad Elst: Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate. 1999.
- Filliozat, Jean. 1969. "Notes on Ancient Iranian and Indian Astronomy." Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Research Institute 42:100-135.
- David Frawley. 1991. Gods, Sages, and Kings, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-37-7
- Kak, Subhash: The Astronomical Code of the Rigveda
- Kramrisch, S. The Presence of Siva. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1981.
- Jacobi, Hermann. 1909. "On the Antiquity of Vedic Culture." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 721-726.
- N.N. Law. 1965. Age of the Rgveda. Calcutta: Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay.
- Pingree, David. 1978. "History of Mathematical astronomy in India." Dictionary of Scientific Biography, vol. 15, pp. 533–633, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
- de Santillana and von Dechend: Hamlet's Mill. Gambit, Boston 1969.
- Seidenberg, A. "The origin of mathematics" Archive for History of Exact Sciences 18: 301-342, 1978.
- Sengupta, P.C. Ancient Indian Chronology. Calcutta: University of Calcutta Press, 1947.
- Sen, S.N., and K.S. Shukla, eds. 1985. History of Astronomy in India. New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy.
- Tilak, Bal Gangadhar: The Orion or Researches into the antiquities of the Vedas, The arctic home in the vedas, Vedic Chronology and Vedanga Jyotisha. Poona: Messrs Tilak Bros.
- Sri Yukteswar Giri. The holy science. Los Angeles, Ca: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1984.
[edit] Translations
- Burgess, Ebenezer (tr.) The Surya Siddhanta. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1989 (1860)
- Kuppanna Sastry, T.S., Vedanga Jyotisha of Lagadha. Indian National Science Academy, Delhi 1985.
- Vidyalankara, V. Satapatha Brahmanastha Agnicayana Samiksa. Bahalgarh, 1985.
[edit] External links
- Online course material for InSIGHT, a workshop on traditional Indian sciences for school children conducted by the Computer Science department of Anna University, Chennai, India.
- http://www.bharatvani.org/books/ait/ch22.htm
- http://www.sanskrit.org/Astronomy/Astronomy%20Index.htm
- http://www.jqjacobs.net/astro/aryabhata.html
- Rig Veda Riddles In Nomad Perspective
- The Cosmological Insights of the Vedic Seers
