Posted on: 27 January 2015

A brilliantly eloquent piece of writing by Shashi Tharoor on the achievements of ancient Indian science...

"Shashi Tharoor explains his tweets on ancient Indian Science"
NDTV - January 05, 2015

The unseemly controversy over ancient Indian science at the ongoing Indian Science Congress reflects poorly on all the parties involved, including the conference itself, which is now in its 102nd year without ever having discussed the ancient roots of our indisputable national scientific tradition till yesterday.

First, it reflects poorly on the traditionalists, who have turned revivalism into a form of revisionism with their outlandish claims of improbable Vedic accomplishments. The victory of Narendra Modi in the general elections this year has propelled a number of true believers of Hindutva into positions of unprecedented influence, including in such forums as the Indian Council for Historical Research, the University Grants Commission, and, it now seems, the programme committee of the Indian Science Congress, which scheduled a talk on "Vedic Aviation Technology" that elicited howls of protest from many delegates.

It has also given a licence to unqualified voices who gain in authority from their proximity to power - none more significant than the Prime Minister himself, who suggested in a speech at a hospital, no less, that Lord Ganesha's elephant head on a human body testified to ancient Indians' knowledge of plastic surgery. Such ideas, because they are patently absurd, except in the realm of metaphor, have embarrassed those who advance them, as well as those who cite them in support of broader, but equally unsubstantiated, claims to past scientific advances, from genetic science to cloning and inter-stellar travel. Petty chauvinism is always ugly, but never more so than in the field of science, where knowledge must be uncontaminated by ideology, superstition or irrational pride.

But the controversy also discredits the modernists who, in their contempt for such exaggerated and ludicrous claims, also dismiss the more reasonable propositions pointing to genuine Indian accomplishments by the ancients. As I pointed out on Twitter yesterday, it is not necessary to debunk the genuine accomplishments of ancient Indian science in order to mock the laughable assertions of the Hindutva brigade.

As I have been repeatedly saying, not everything from the government-sponsored right is necessarily wrong. A BJP government choosing to assert its pride in yoga and Ayurveda, and seeking to promote them internationally, is, to my mind, perfectly acceptable.

Not only are these extraordinary accomplishments of our civilization, but they have always been, and should remain, beyond partisan politics. It is only if the BJP promoted them in place of fulfilling its responsibility to provide conventional health care and life-saving modern allopathic medicines to the Indian people, that we need object on policy grounds.

Similarly, in asserting that ancient Indians anticipated Pythagoras, Dr Harsh Vardhan was not incorrect and should not have been ridiculed. In fact he could have added Newton, Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo as well, every single one of whom had been beaten to their famous "discoveries" by an unknown and unsung Indian centuries earlier.

The Rig Veda asserted that gravitation held the universe together 24 centuries before the apple fell on Newton's head. The Siddhantas are amongst the world's earliest texts on astronomy and mathematics; the Surya Siddhanta, written about 400 A.D., includes a method for finding the times of planetary ascensions and eclipses. The notion of gravitation, or gurutvakarshan, is found in these early texts. Lost Discoveries, by the American writer Dick Teresi, a comprehensive study of the ancient non-Western foundations of modern science, spells it out clearly: "Two hundred years before Pythagoras," writes Teresi, "philosophers in northern India had understood that gravitation held the solar system together, and that therefore the sun, the most massive object, had to be at its centre."

Aryabhata was the first human being to explain, in 499 A.D., that the daily rotation of the earth on its axis is what accounted for the daily rising and setting of the sun (his ideas were so far in advance of his time that many later editors of his awe-inspiring "Aryabhatiya" altered the text to save his reputation from what they thought were serious errors). Aryabhata conceived of the elliptical orbits of the planets a thousand years before Kepler, in the West, came to the same conclusion (having assumed, like all Europeans, that planetary orbits were circular rather than elliptical). He even estimated the value of the year at 365 days, six hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds; in this he was only a few minutes off (the correct figure is just under 365 days and six hours). The translation of the Aryabhatiya into Latin in the 13th Century taught Europeans a great deal; it also revealed to them that an Indian had known things that Europe would only learn of a millennium later.

The Vedic civilisation subscribed to the idea of a spherical earth at a time when everyone else, even the Greeks, assumed the earth was flat. By the Fifth Century A.D., Indians had calculated that the age of the earth was 4.3 billion years; as late as the 19th Century, English scientists believed the earth was a hundred million years old, and it is only in the late 20th Century that Western scientists have come to estimate the earth to be about 4.6 billion years old.

India invented modern numerals (known to the world as "Arabic" numerals because the West got them from the Arabs, who learned them from us!). It was an Indian who first conceived of the zero, shunya; the concept of nothingness, shunyata, integral to Hindu and Buddhist thinking, simply did not exist in the West. Modern mathematics would have impossible without the zero and the decimal system; just read a string of Roman numbers, which had no zeros, to understand their limitations.

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Image source: Cambridge Digital Library


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Brilliant !Ingeniously explained :)

Thank u sir for sharing such a wonderful article !

His short stories are thought provoking. A resourceful writer.

Brilliant writer am an ardent fan:))

SUPERB.

My grandmaa and my grand father had told me story of old era of bhaaraata. Thay always talking about vishnu avataaraa. Thay told this 'one big sneak which name is "shesh naag" is holding the earth on his head'. and this entire universe is made and developed by "Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha". Bramha- is creator, Vishnu- surviver and Mahesha- is for destruction of bad and anti religious fundamentals. That time i felt wonder to hear that stories. But after with reading some Bharatiy books which is known as hindu religious holy book, i totally agreed and have faith in. Now my friend writer and his supporters what are you talking about....? You denying that so many thousand years "tapsya of saddus of HINDU dharm", you denying to vedas and puraanaas, and all that efforts had taken for establishing this strong destiny which we known as HINDUISM..........

I have a question about this 'zero' and that 'shunya; the concept of nothingness, 1. Can you explain, what is relativity within this two words.....? 2. What was that mathematical theory (please give dicument of that time in which we found explanation who explain that shunya; the concept of nithingness means todays "ZERO") in which that 'shunya; the concept of nothingness, was used....? 3. You have any document or any information about journey of this wonderful concept, 'zero; concept of nothingness, from epic era to till today...?.

Rahul search and read Sulbha sutra shastra if you can find it and even better understand it your answers will be there in it

Really an excellent unbiased article

Wonderful

Excellent , sharing it right away ...

Very very lucid article ma'am,thanks for sharing

It is an exercise in utter futility to credit our brilliant and ancient minds with knowledge they did not posses. Knowledge. especially scientific does not exist in a vacuum and it necessarily advances with newer techniques and technology. The brilliance of one Aryabhatta shins only in the context of his times and never without context. Shashi Tharur's piece eloquently presents a balanced view and it is up to us to investigate what our ancients said with respect to science and mathematics with the tools and knowledge at our disposal today. Only then can we truly marvel at the brilliance of our ancestors and resolve their messy writings in a language we do not understand easily. What we believe does not rest on facts and truth as reflected by facts but on what we like too believe. Science is not about beliefs but about walking on a path that leads to truth. Such paths cannot be shrouded in mysticism but must always be illuminated with reason and variication by any mortal. Science is never the preserve of the seer or the blessed. Is the right of any man who cares to verify and then believe. मुर्खहस्ते न माम् दद्यादिति वदति पुस्तकम्

Wonderfully put, Shekhar Sathe!

Shashi is correct. It is well and good to take pride in genuine old knowledge.

tks for sharing

The shadow of European colonial power eclipsed the indian mind for a long time. They were in their hearts fascinated by what they had found in India but the instinct of jealousy made them to show India in low profile. They censored indian literature for it was too erotic for them. They discovered the technology of metal casts of gods for temples. To the eye the white looked elevated than the brown to dark brown. That produced complexions in indian mind for centuries. Now India seems to go through a renaissance / reawakening !

Worth watching - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOJG9rNIcdI&list=PLE2B226260A885664

Let us have useful and effective ancient methods to our present context. How ancient mudras helps our health. is detailed in this video.health https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=886664434718866&set=vb.100001259523908&type=2&theater

The writer seems to have been educated in a Jesuit School . I advise him/her get back to School / College. Study in a Kendriya Vidyalaya &,JNU/ DU/ Jadavpur. I'm a secular anti BJP but call the "Criticize all that BJP does as PLAIN STUPID LOGIC"

This is a letter blog from me to My Son. Science through Religion!!! http://youthentertainmentnetwork.blogspot.de/2012/07/science-through-religion-ancient-indian.html?m=1 Open your jaundiced vision. Read A L Basham, Vedic Mathematics. Bhaskaracharya, Aryabhatta.

I'm saying Dashavtara is nothing but Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

Bhagavatam Movement of the Planet Mars Srimad- Bhagavatam Canto 3 by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada SB 3.17.14, Translation and Purport: Ominous planets such as Mars and Saturn shone brighter and surpassed the auspicious ones such as Mercury, Jupiter and Venus as well as a number of lunar mansions. Taking seemingly retrograde courses, the planets came in conflict with one another. The entire universe is moving under the three modes of material nature. Those living entities who are in goodness are called the pious species—pious lands, pious trees, etc. It is similar with the planets also; many planets are considered pious, and others are considered impious. Saturn and Mars are considered impious. When the pious planets shine very brightly, it is an auspicious sign, but when the inauspicious planets shine very brightly, this is not a very good sign. SB Canto 5 SB 5.22 Summary: Above the moon by a distance of 200,000 yojanas are some stars, and above these stars is Śukra-graha (Venus), whose influence is always auspicious for the inhabitants of the entire universe. Above Śukra-graha by 200,000 yojanas is Budha-graha (Mercury), whose influence is sometimes auspicious and sometimes inauspicious. Next, above Budha-graha by 200,000 yojanas, is Aṅgāraka (Mars), which almost always has an unfavorable influence. Above Aṅgāraka by another 200,000 yojanas is the planet called Bṛhaspati-graha (Jupiter), which is always very favorable for qualified brāhmaṇas. Above Bṛhaspati-graha is the planet Śanaiścara (Saturn), which is very inauspicious, and above Saturn is a group of seven stars occupied by great saintly persons who are always thinking of the welfare of the entire universe. These seven stars circumambulate Dhruvaloka, which is the residence of Lord Viṣṇu within this universe. SB 5.22.14, Translation: Situated 1,600,000 miles above Mercury, or 8,800,000 miles above earth, is the planet Mars. If this planet does not travel in a crooked way, it crosses through each sign of the zodiac in three fortnights and in this way travels through all twelve, one after another. It almost always creates unfavorable conditions in respect to rainfall and other influences. SB 5.22.15, Translation: Situated 1,600,000 miles above Mars, or 10,400,000 miles above earth, is the planet Jupiter, which travels through one sign of the zodiac within the period of a Parivatsara. If its movement is not curved, the planet Jupiter is very favorable to the brāhmaṇas of the universe. SB 5.23.3, Translation: According to the description of this verse, the hundreds and thousands of stars and the great planets such as the sun, the moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter are not clustered together because of the law of gravity or any similar idea of the modern scientists. These planets and stars are all servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda or Kṛṣṇa, and according to His order they sit in their chariots and travel in their respective orbits. The orbits in which they move are compared to machines given by material nature to the operating deities of the stars and planets, who carry out the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by revolving around Dhruvaloka, which is occupied by the great devotee Mahārāja Dhruva. This is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.52) as follows: SB 5.23.7, Translation: On the upper chin of the śiśumāra is Agasti; on its lower chin, Yamarāja; on its mouth, Mars; on its genitals, Saturn; on the back of its neck, Jupiter; on its chest, the sun; and within the core of its heart, Nārāyaṇa. Within its mind is the moon; on its navel, Venus; and on its breasts, the Aśvinī- kumāras. Within its life air, which is known as prāṇāpāna, is Mercury, on its neck is Rāhu, all over its body are comets, and in its pores are the numerous stars. SB Canto 8 SB 8.21.31, Purport: According to the Vedic description of the planetary system, all the planets move from east to west. The sun, the moon and five other planets, such as Mars and Jupiter, orbit one above another. Vāmanadeva, however, expanding His body and extending His steps, occupied the entire planetary system. SB 8.23.29, Purport: The other three fourths of creation constitute the spiritual world. Among the innumerable planets in only one universe, the so-called scientists cannot understand even the Moon and Mars, but they try to defy the creation of the Supreme Lord and His uncommon energy. Such men have been described as crazy. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4). Such crazy men unnecessarily waste time, energy and money in attempting to defy the glorious activities of Urukrama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta CC Adi-lila CC Adi 13.89, Purport: The explanation of the horoscope given by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is that at the time of the birth of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu the planets were situated as follows: Śukra (Venus) was in Meṣa-rāśi (Aries) and the nakṣatra (lunar mansion) of Aśvinī; Ketu (the ninth planet) was in Siṁha-rāśi (Leo) and Uttaraphalgunī; Candra (the moon) was in Pūrvaphalgunī (the eleventh lunar mansion); Śani (Saturn) was in Vṛścika-rāśi (Scorpio) and Jyeṣthā; Bṛhaspati (Jupiter) was in Dhanu-rāśi (Sagittarius) and Pūrvāṣāḍhā; Maṅgala (Mars) was in Makara-rāśi (Capricorn) and Śravaṇā; Ravi (the sun) was in Kumbha-rāśi (Aquarius) and Pūrvabhādrapāda; Rāhu was in Pūrvabhādrapāda; and Budha (Mercury) was in Mīna-rāśi (Pisces) and Uttarabhādrapāda. The lagna was Siṁha.

Distances to the Planets by His Grace Mayesa dasa Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Part Six Sun Calculating the sun is done with the help of the number referred to in 5th Canto as the second axle. That number is 31,500,000 Vayu Purana tells us diameter of sun is 252,000,000 Diameter is twice radius therefore radius is 126,000,000 Twice radius times Pi or 3.141592654 is circumference therefore sun's circumference is 791,681,348.7 But sun has fast, slow and moderate speed. Therefore sun moves further around us than 791,681,348.7 and less also. That number is 31,500,000 Here is the formula: 137,509,870.8 X 31,500,000 / (21,600 / 2 / pI) = 126,000,000 126,000,000 x 31,500,000 / (21,600 / 2 / pI) = 115,453,530 Theses are radiuses of the sun. For each multiply by 2 and by Pi to get circumferences. We learn that the Sun's chariot is 28,800,000 That is sun's travel in a Muhurta. There are 30 muhurtas in a day so Sun's greatest travel is 864,000,000. The sun travels faster over greater distance around earth planet. Similarly the sun has a very slow path which is 725,415,924.2 We learn in Bhagavatam that there are 7 islands and 7 oceans below us ( not on this planet) When we calculate them and subtract the last ocean and half of Plaksa dvipa 5th Canto says sun is at middle path in the center of Manasottara mountain in the center of Plaksadvipa) we get sun at 126,000,000 radius as we should and as is confirmed by Vayu purana. Does sun continue upwards to lesser number? Yes 5th Canto mentions 760,800,000 which is beyond middle point. By mathematics we can understand then the path of the sun from 864,000,000 at 23.60928249 degrees south to 725,415,923.2 which is 23.60928249 degrees north. This movement of the sun causes seasons. Why? Because the sun is gathering water from our planet and other planets as well up to Dhruvaloka ( according to Matsya Purana) Then the sun having gathered water for six months expels water for six months. Modern scientists cannot fathom that the sun is expanding. When we view the Sun through a telescope it appears to be nothing but gasses. This is water boiling surrounding the sun. Scientists think the sun is nothing but gasses but we get information that the sun is having a civilization there. Krsna mentions speaking Bhagavad-Gita previously to the Sun-god. To understand the great distance to sun we divide 864,000,000 by 2 and by Pi and by cosine 23.60928249 which tells us that sun reaches to 150,071,147.4 miles away from us at greatest distance. Sukadeva thus reveals the sun's motion to us in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Of course sun has more than three speeds as it gradually spirals up and down. Sukadeva is not elaborating on the path of other planets but if we approach the 5th canto properly (if we know how mathematically) we will find not only the distances to the planets mentioned but to non-moving bodies as well. The Distances to the Planets From 5th Canto by Mayesa dasa

Part Two We have seen in part one that Sukadeva Gosvami has given us the distances and movements of the sun planet in the elaborate chapter "Movement of the Sun" But from this point on Sukadeva simply speaks of other universal objects as "above the earth" or "below the sun". In this way, we must proceed assuming that some sort of mathematical formula is indicated. One may certainly object that we must alter or use these numbers given in Srimad Bhagavatam but as no distance or declination is indicated in the text for any object other than the sun it is impossible to proceed without the consideration that Srimad Bhagavatam involves a formula in order to uncover the subsequent objects. This being true, not only Moon, Venus, Mercury etc can be calculated by mathematical formula but sun as well. We have seen how 31,500,000 can be used but that "second axle" is specifically for calculating the sun. We can or could transform that axle to an axle for the moon but we have been provided a different mathematical formula which will give us everything, including beginning with the sun. Below the earth planet is a large body of 7 islands and 7 oceans. The 5th Canto says the sun is 800,000 above earth. We cannot make it any easier, unfortunately to understand without addressing one by one the elements of the mathematical formula which will unveil the movement and distance of the planets. First 24,902 is the size of earth planet. Second our 5th Canto text says "above the earth by 800,000 miles" So we add 24,902 + 800,000 = 824,902 Now we have a second earth which consists of 7 islands and 7 oceans. Subtracting its last ocean so that we are "above the earth" we divide 824,902 by 952,530,892.3 which is the 7 islands and 7 oceans minus the last ocean. This will give us a decimal. This decimal number or fraction is now multiplied by a number to give us the sun's declination. Fortunately we know what the sun's declination is. That is 791,681,438.4 / 360 X 23.60928249 So, we can divide that sum by our decimal. This will give us a number 599..... That number, 599.... is another planet's circumference. In other words, The Srimad Bhagavatam 5th Canto is a "puzzle" This is necessarily so because we are given no declinations. We can look up in astronomy works (modern and ancient) the declination of moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, constellations, 7 sages and Dhruvaloka but we have no possible clue to distance and declination of heavenly realms or subterranean realms. Therefore it has to be clearly understood that to find these things the numbers must be provided to us either by another Purana (because they are not openly provided in 5th Canto Bhagavatam) or they "must" be obtainable by a mathematical process. This shall become clear as we proceed. Distances to the Planets

Part Three Moon and Constellations Our calculation for the sun looks like this 824,902 / 952,530,892.3 = .000866011 X 5,995,249,931 = 5,191,952.388 The number 5,995,249,931 is the circumference of a higher planet and the number 51,919,523.88 is the declination of the sun. When we divide 51,919,523.88 by 23.60928249 and multiply by 360 we get 791,681,348.4 We will now look at the moon and the constellations (that will help us to understand how 5,995,249,931 is the circumference of a higher planet.) The moon is said to be 800,000 miles above the sun and we already know sun is 800,000 miles above the earth. So we add 24,902 + 800,000 + 800,000 = 1,624,902 / 952,530,892.3 = .001715879 Now we need a circumference of an orbiting planet to multiply by this number to give us the declination of the moon. The circumference of Sivaloka (Siva has several planets) is 2,215,775,280. This shall be discussed later on in 5th Canto. .001715879 X 2,215,775,280 = 3,779,843.481/ This number 3,779,843 is the declination of the moon at 18.25 degrees So divide 3,779,643.481 by 18.25 and multiply by 360 to get moon's circumference of 745,612,960.7 To get the circumference of the constellations we follow the prescription for adding 4,000,000 to 24,902 and divide by 952,530,892.3 = .004225482 The universe has a circumference, which we will multiply this figure by to get the declination of the constellations. The universe is 12,566,370,610 so 12,566,370,610 X .004225482 = 53,098,972.84 This is the declination of the constellations at 8 degrees. So 53,098,972.84 / 8 X 360 = 2,389,453,778 Now we can understand Canin Majoris or Sivaloka at negative 21.97 degrees We multiply the constellations 2,389,453,778 X cos 21.97999992 = 2,215,775,280 (Although Sivaloka is below celestial zero or our equator we do not employ negative numbers for math) Now we can also better understand the number 5,995,249,931 which we said was a higher planet's circumference. Tapaloka, Satyaloka, Janaloka and Maharloka lie at the extreme north in our universe. The number 5,995,249,931 is perhaps Maharloka at 61.5 degrees on the circle of the universe. So 12,566,370,610 X cos (61.50468943 = 5,995,249,931 What have we learned? We have found sun, moon, constellations, Sivaloka, Maharloka in three calculations. When we diagram the moon and sun together we shall learn something else extraordinary. We shall see that when moon is at celestial zero and sun at 23.6 degrees north moon is further away from us than the sun. As we work these numbers we shall inevitably make some small error. The formula cleverly accounts for errors and allows us to perfect everything in its calculations for the subterranean planets. The Distances of the Planets by Mayesa dasa

Part Four Venus Before we attack the numbers for Venus we should remember that we are working with a system that is designed by an intelligent brahmana or more than that not to "find" the planets but to encapsulate or encode them in a system. That is why the round figures of 800,000 or 16,000,000 are used (though we have already changed a measurement called yojana to 8 miles) To make it more plain, the distances were known and then the system developed. Venus is adding to our previous number of 4,000,000 the number 1,600,000 and also the earth planet, which is 24,902 This is stated in the Bhagavatam itself and we are following directions. Then divide by 952,530,892.3 = .005905217 Now we are looking for a number to multiply by our decimal number which will give us the declination of Venus, however we will need two numbers for two separate declinations because Venus travels around the sun as Venus travels around the earth planet. So first we multiply .005905217 by 1,064,464,461 to get 62,858,936.31 That is declination of Venus so to get the circumference we divide 62,858,936.31 by 27.8 and multiply by 360 = 81,400,061.41 This is good as the circumference is beyond the sun's circumference of 791,681,348.4 But we also need a circumference for Venus inside the Sun's circumference (Bhagavatam text for Venus says Venus sometimes travels behind and sometimes in front of the sun) So our second multiplication is as follows: .005905217 X 1,006,090,881 = 5,941,184.974 As before we now divide this by Venus's declination of 27.8 and multiply by 360 = 769,362,083. If we wish we can subtract 769,362,083 from 814,000,614.1 to get the circumference of Venus around the sun itself. In other words, Venus revolves around earth as does the sun but Venus also revolves around the sun at the same time. The numbers we used to multiply by the decimal number will prove later to be numbers of other planetary circumferences. Mercury is located in an even more spectacular way. The Distances of the Planets by Mayesa dasa

Part Five Mercury Before we find the distance of Mercury we must understand something about the Moon. The Moon travels 346.823 degrees of a circle around the earth everyday. The sun travels 360 degrees everyday but not the moon. Therefore the moon has two circumferences-its real circumference of 346.823 degrees and its potential circumference. We shall show how to get these but let us understand the concept. Suppose you have a race track that is 360 miles around and one car travels 360 miles in 24 hours and another car travels 346.823 miles in the same time. This is an apt comparison. We have found the moon's circumference as 745,612,960.7 in an earlier chapter. This is the potential circumference or rather this is the path the moon is travelling but only completes 346.823 degrees of it. To derive the actual number of miles Moon travels at zero celestial degrees we divide 745,612,960.7 by 360 and multiply by 346.823 = 718,321,455.2 This is essential to know in order to gain understanding the movement of planets (all planets have their potential and their actual travel) and as we shall see both these numbers will uncover the two distances to Mercury ( as Mercury similar to Venus travels around the sun as it travels around the earth ) We begin by adding (24,902 + 7,200,000) / 952,530,892.3 = .007584953 Now we multiply this decimal by both the potential and actual circumferences of the moon. Thus we derive 5,448,434.477 / 25.6 X 360 = 766,186,098.3 from the actual circumference of the moon. Our second calculation multiplies the decimal by 745,612,960.7 = 5,655,439.263 / 25.6 X 360 = 795,296,146.4 Now we have moon at 745,612,960.7 then Venus then mercury then sun then mercury then Venus and we have derived it all from a simple formula. The Distances to the Planets by Mayesa dasa Part Six Mars and Mar's Opposition Our distances so far obtained should read as follows: Moon 755,000,000 (approx) Venus 769,362,083 Mercury 776,791,454.9 Sun 791,681,438.4 Mercury 806,304,143.7 Venus 814,000,614.1 Mars begins as usual by adding the miles that the text says to add in this case we get 8824902 / 952,530,892.3 = .009264688 We can multiply the lowest circumference of Venus by our decimal which gives us 804,262,037.2 which is Mars' declination so divide by 27.2 and multiply by 360 = 1,064,464,461 as circumference of Mars. Mars moves around us completing its revolution in 686 days or something like that but 72 days of that Mars has an opposition. Opposition means Mars apparently reverses course for a short time before correcting itself. Modern scientists think Sun is center of universe so they can explain Mars feat as the movement of the earth and do. But we who are using this geocentric model cannot say that. For us we have to say that Mars does indeed loop. It is interesting in the Srimad Bhagavatam text there is mention of Mars moving in a "curved way, sometimes" Mathematically we can account for this loop by multiplying the lowest circumference for Mercury which is 880763604.8 by our decimal thus giving us a declination of 8,160,000 Next of course we divide by 27.2 and multiply by 360 = 108,000,000 If we subtract 1,064,464,461 from 1,080,000,000 we get 15,535,539 for the size of Mars' Opposition One may ask where we are getting our declinations for the planets. That we can get from an Ephemeris which contains the declinations for every day of the main planets and we are using the greatest declination for each planet save the moon which we are using its shortest of 18.2 However we derive them we are deriving the zero degree celestial circumference of the planets.

The Distances to the Planets by Mayesa dasa Part Six Mars and Mar's Opposition Our distances so far obtained should read as follows: Moon 755,000,000 (approx) Venus 769,362,083 Mercury 776,791,454.9 Sun 791,681,438.4 Mercury 806,304,143.7 Venus 814,000,614.1 Mars begins as usual by adding the miles that the text says to add in this case we get 8824902 / 952,530,892.3 = .009264688 We can multiply the lowest circumference of Venus by our decimal which gives us 804,262,037.2 which is Mars' declination so divide by 27.2 and multiply by 360 = 1,064,464,461 as circumference of Mars. Mars moves around us completing its revolution in 686 days or something like that but 72 days of that Mars has an opposition. Opposition means Mars apparently reverses course for a short time before correcting itself. Modern scientists think Sun is center of universe so they can explain Mars feat as the movement of the earth and do. But we who are using this geocentric model cannot say that. For us we have to say that Mars does indeed loop. It is interesting in the Srimad Bhagavatam text there is mention of Mars moving in a "curved way, sometimes" Mathematically we can account for this loop by multiplying the lowest circumference for Mercury which is 880763604.8 by our decimal thus giving us a declination of 8,160,000 Next of course we divide by 27.2 and multiply by 360 = 108,000,000 If we subtract 1,064,464,461 from 1,080,000,000 we get 15,535,539 for the size of Mars' Opposition One may ask where we are getting our declinations for the planets. That we can get from an Ephemeris which contains the declinations for every day of the main planets and we are using the greatest declination for each planet save the moon which we are using its shortest of 18.2 However we derive them we are deriving the zero degree celestial circumference of the planets.

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K Venugopal Menon people like u think that if we cant understand means all thing i ls false. Arre with ur limited and imperfect senses u aretryingto understand the Supereme absolute thruth without even approaching it bonafide scripture and Guru who comes under bonafide Displic succession. See keep in mind u and i and all are like a worm inside the apple and are trying to ubderstand the apple by studying apple frim inside which is impossible if u want to know apple means whoke creation u have to cime out of this apple material world from her Mide of nature or u may knw it throught person who is out of its nature so scriptures ar not manmade things bcz rhis vast knowledge cant be given by humans at all only thing is we should approach to binafide guru amd rrad binafide scripture then we will understand the thing clearly so plz now keep in mind to kniw gid his creation by your modern study its like puting ocean in cup of glass which is immposible If u want to know the Vedic scritpture clearlly first do systmatic study then bark. Today south india especially kerala and tamil nadu is bcmng wordt and are accpting chirstianity which is fully unscientific religion no reason at all ask them when adam and eve were white skinned people how cme then in world there black skin people exist bcz scientifically its impossible

पठनीय ही नहीं गंभीरता पूर्वक मननीय आलेख। शशि थरूर बधाई, साधुवाद के पात्र हैं अपने इस आलेख के लिये। पर क्या जयपुर के आयोजन में सम्मिलित लेखक तथा विद्वज्जन भी इसे स्वीकार करेंगें,यह भी विचारणीय होगा।

If we do not stand up and claim what is rightfully ours ...Nobody is going to do it !! Very well written !! Shashi sir !!

Agree wid u K Venugopal Menon

Nice book by Benoy Sarkar - "Hindu achievements in exact science" https://archive.org/stream/cu31924031220126#page/n5/mode/2up