THE EASTERN COSMOLOGY

SUNIL LAUDARI

TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY

JUNE 26th ‘13

CONTENTS

1. VEDIC ASTRONOMY2. INDUS VALLEY /HARAPPAN

ASTRONOMY3. TIME SCALE and DISTANCE

MEASUREMENT4. EARLY NEPALESE CONTRIBUTIONS

VEDIC COSMOLOGY/PHILOSOPHY

Approx. 2000-4000 BC Also known as the Eye of the Vedas,

Jyotirveda the “Science of Light.” Important Book on astronomy- Vedas, Jyotish,

Garun Puran, Rigveda, Brahmanda Puranas, Surya Siddhanta, Aranyakas Upanishads Bhagavata Geeta

COMPONENTS OF THE UNIVERSE(PANCHATATWO)

earth

water

airfire

Space

THE VEDIC BIGBANG SENARIO

"This beginningless and endless time cycle (Kal-Chakra) moves externally like a perpetual flow in which beings take birth and die but there is never birth or death for this”

-Mahabharat

"All embodied beings emanate from the Unmanifest at the commencement of Brahma’s day; at the commencement of his night, they merge in the same subtle body of Brahma, known as the Unmanifest”

-Bhagwad Gita

The earth is spherical and the sun is the main source of energy-Garun Purana

Proposed Oscillatory universe, a cosmic cycle between expansion and contraction from a point called bindu –Rig Veda

Surya Siddhanta about3000 bc based on geocentric theory which is the basis of NEPALI CALENDAR

The word used for the universe is Brahmanda which contains two words Brahma+Anda

Brha=expanding, Anda=egg Thus Brahmanda means expanding egg

according to Matsyapurana The universe collapsed seven times before

becoming steady such that the strength of fundamental forces got adjusted

‘Which has born first and which later ? How were they born ? who knows? They hold the universe by their strength and always keep rotating like a wheel…….. Rigveda

Visnu is shown as holding cakra in the hand. Cakra is a wheel. As Visnu is identified with the Universe. We can easily understand that cakra represents rotation of the Universe.

THE CONCEPT OF ZERO & ROLE OF PLACE VALUE

Roman Numbers are finite. These numbers are fit for nothing else other than decorating the digits on a clock

Zero is derived from Sanskrit word Shunya which means nothing

Einstein rightly said, the entire modern science and mathematics is based on these Hindu numerals (also called Hindu-Arabic Numerals)

" When I read Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous…… who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made”-Albert Einstein

Pythagoras is found in the Shatapatha Brahmanaas as well as the Sulba Sutra, the Indian mathematical treatise, written centuries before Pythagoras was born

THE EPR PARADOX IN VEDIC ERA Nothing even the light

can travel faster than the speed of light-S.R.

But if the departed one is spin up particle then its counter is spin down particle-Q.M.

Ancient Vedic texts speak about telepathy and conversations between people who were geographically located far away from each other

OM – THE UNIVERSAL VIBRATION AND STRING THEORY

The fundamental building block of matter is not pointlike but a one dimensional loop-String Theory

the entire universe is made up of vibrations, and the Vedic hymn Om symbolizes this universal vibration

"Modern physics has thus revealed that every subatomic particle not only performs an energy dance, but also is an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction. The dance of Shiva is the dancing universe, the ceaseless flow of energy going through an infinite variety of patterns that melt into one another, For the modern physicists, then Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter”

- Fritjoj Capra

THE E=MC2

J. Robert Oppenheimer-"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One. . . . Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds"-- Bhagvad Gita

The Rig Veda repeatedly asks, "How is it that though the Sun is not bound and is directed downwards, it does not fall?“ A question asked by Isaac Newton more than three thousand years later

Why does not sun fall down?- Rig Veda

Why does apple fall down?-Newton

DIFFRACTION OF LIGHT Seven horses draw

the chariot of Surya“- Rig Veda These seven horses are the seven colors compromising light

treats earth as a fixed point in space, and describes the seven traditional planets (the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn) as moving in orbits around the earth.

Here the ratio of distances equals the ratio of circumferences, since the circumference of a circle is 2 pi times its radius. The ratio of distances is equal to the distance from Venus to the sun in AU

THE SOLAR SYSTEM ACCORDING TO THE SURYA SIDDHANTA

INDUS VALLEY/ HARAPPA CIVILIZATION

Early astronomy motion of sun moon tstars planets their altering appearances used in agriculture ritual calendar astrological prognostication Early astronomy motion of sun moon tstars planets their altering appearances used in agriculture ritual calendar astrological prognostication

Early astronomy used motion of sun, moon, stars, planets. Their

altering appearances were used in agriculture,

ritual ,calendar ,astrological prognostication

Early astronomy motion of sun moon tstars planets their altering appearances used in agriculture ritual calendar astrological prognostication

THE BAILEY AT DHOLAVIRA SLOPES UP TOWARDS THE NORTH AND HAS TWO CIRCULAR STRUCTURES ALIGNED TO CARDINAL DIRECTIONS WITH OPENINGS IN EXACT NORTH AND EXACT WEST. THESE TWO STRUCTURES HAVE LAYOUT, ONE OPENING IN EXACT NORTH AND THE OTHER IN EXACT EAST, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANT IN ITSELF THE INTERPLAY OF IMAGE AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE STRUCTURE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS ALL SEEM TO SUGGEST THAT IT IS CONSISTENT WITH BEING AN OBSERVATORY

Dholavira people were able identify days of solar calendar such as summer and winter solstice and use that information to conduct business, farming and other activities.

Calendar stone at MohenjodaroPossible use of calendar

stone for astronomical obervation

: A stone circle at Dholavira with a possible astronomical association

THE ZODIAC & CONSTELLATIONS

Primitive civilization recognized the fact that different constellation are visible at different times of the year Seven

human figure in the seal probably are seven sages of the Great Bear or Saptarsi

CONSTELLATIONS

The ecliptic represents the apparent path of the sun around the Earth-apparent because in fact the sun doesn’t spin around the Earth at all. It just looks that way.Like a circle the ecliptic is divided into 360 degrees-and each degree is in turn divided into 60 minutes.The first 30 degrees of the ecliptic are Aries, the next 30 degrees are Taurus, and so on.The stars that are scattered like dust along the entire length of the ecliptic form the constellations of the zodiac

The Vedic seers were also keen observers of the sky. They were well aware of the motion of the Moon, the path of the Sun, occurrence of eclipses and solstices, and had developed luni-solar calendars with methods of intercalation. More importantly, they formulated a stellar frame of reference, in terms of 27 or 28 naksatras or asterisms (star groups) lying along or near the ecliptic, in order to follow the path of the Moon and Sun

The period from one moon rise to the next or from one moon set to the next was known as tithi(lunar day), which is somewhat different from our present concept of tithi

The sidereal period is the time required for the moon to

complete one orbit against the background of stars.

The synodic (lunar month)

period is the time from new moon to new moon. The

nodal period is the time required for the moon to pass from

ascending node back to ascending node. The sidereal period of the

nodes is the time for the ascending node to make one revolution

with respect to the background of stars. (This is negative since the

motion of the nodes is retrograde.)

LUNAR MONTHS AND LUNAR MANSION

The moon's path is divided into 27 equal parts, although the moon takes about 27 1/3 days to complete it. Each of these parts was called a nakshatra.

LUNAR MONTHS AND LUNAR MANSION

LUNAR MONTHS AND LUNAR MANSION

It appears that the months were introduced after the fullmoon at Krittika(Pleiades). Further Krittika was considered as the east point on the equator or equinox point . The months names, Karttika, Mrgasira , Pusya ,Magha ,etc directly follow from the star names Krittika, Mrgasirsa pusya magha resp. Morever identification of Krittika and Visakha asterisms in opposition indicates that possible 27 or 28 asterisms were already known at the time of civilization

THE TIME SCALE Satyayuga =1,728,000 yrs Tretäyuga = 1,296,000yrs Dväparyuga =864,000yrs Kali-yuga= 432,000 yrs1 kalpa =Mahayuga( 4 yuga * 1000) =4.32 billion years =1 day of Brahma2 kalpa=8.64 billion years =1 day and night of Brahma1 year of Brahma=3.1104 trillion years(Mahā-

Manvantara)

Compare this to present age of the earth!

The Puranas describe time units from the infinitesimal

truti, lasting 1/1,000,0000 of a second to a mahamantavara of 311 trillion years.

Nuclear time scale to

Cosmological time scale

SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE 8 mile = 1 yojana 1mile=1609m

The Surya-siddhanta gives the circumference of Brahmanda or universe,:

=18,712,080,864,000,000 yojanas ~1021 cm

Compare present

size of the universe!

EARLY NEPALESE CONTRIBUTION Stone hinge at tehrathum

erected in lichhavi dynasty used for time keeping

Umbrellas in temple of acham used for time keeping purpose{by measuring the shadows}

Positions of stupas may show some astronomical pattern

SUMATI TANRA 576-880CE =first astronomical book published in Nepal

Legendary artist Araniko collaborated with another legendary Chinese astronomer Guo Shoujin

Contribution to astronomy is unclear

THANK YOU!