ON RIG VEDA
“It is remembered that Sun traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesa; giving light to all things, even to the moon and the planets, by night; for they are of a watery substance from which the rays of the sun are reflected.”He also adds "O Sun! You see all, create brightness and travel very fast. You brighten the whole sky."Yojana is an ancient Indian unit of length and nimesa is the unit of time.“Everybody knows the speed of light is 186,000 miles(which is actually discovered by Ole Christensen Rømer 25 September 1644, Århus – 19 September 1710, Copenhagen) was a Danish astronomer who in 1676 made the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light.). But the hymn 1.50 of the Rigveda on the Sun, says [O Sun] you who traverse 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesa.The usual meaning of yojana is about 9 miles as in the Artha´saastra and for nimisha. The measures of time are thus defined in the Puranas:
15 nimesa = 1 kastha
30kastha= 1kala
30 kala = 1 muhurta
30 muhurta = 1 day-and-night
A nimesa is therefore equal to 16/75 seconds. It does come very close to the correct figure of 186,000 miles per second.”
Upon conversion in modern units, this yields the value of 186,000 miles per second. Now it is well known that this is the velocity of light. Why would Sayana call this the velocity of Sun? It turns out that Sayana was following the ancient Indian tradition of codifying the knowledge. In this code Sun represents light. Until then light was taken to travel with infinite velocity.
The ancient Rishis of India explored and unraveled the mysteries of the universe thousands of years ago through meditation. They knew about the mechanics of quantum physics long long ago.Arthasastra defines it as being equal to 8,000 dhanus, which is equivalent to 9 miles. A nimesa is an ancient unit of time that is equal to 16/75 seconds. Thus 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesa is equal to 185,794 miles per second after conversion. The modern estimate of the speed of light is 186,281.7 miles per second.It is to be noted that Bhatta Bhaskara (probably in 10th century) made the same statement in his commentary on Taittiriya Brahmana, another Hindu Veda . He says this to be an old tradition.Lets get to the details now:-तरणिर्विश्वदर्शतो ज्योतिष्कृदसि सूर्य । विश्वमा भासिरोचनम् ॥taranirviśvadarśato jyotishkridasi sūrya viśvamā bhāsirocanam Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Surya, maker of the light; illuminating all the radiant realm. [RV: 1.50.4]yojana is a yoking or harnessing, that which is yoked or harnessed, a team or vehicle, or a course or path.yojana is a stage or the distance traversed in one harnessing or without unyoking.1 yojana is said to comprise either 4 or 8 krosha (a cry or shout, or the range of the voice in calling); and 1 krosha (or goruta ~ as far as a cow’s lowing may be heard, or a bull’s roar) may represent either 1000 or 2000 daNDa (a rod or staff).Sound radiates in all directions, so perhaps there is some confusion in regarding a krosha either as the radius of travel in one direction or as the full diameter of travel.Man is the traditional measure of all things, and 1 danda represents 1 pauruSa (a man’s length) which equals 1 dhanvantara (bow-string) or dhanu (bow).1 yojana measures either 4,000 or (more likely) 8,000 dhanus.Assuming that 1 paurusha is 6 ft long, then 1 yojana must represent a distance of about 14.6 km (or about 9 miles, as suggested by Monier-Williams).A full range of self-consistent units was anciently devised from the proportions of man’s own frame, although their exact conversion into modern units is unclear.The basic unit is an angula (digit or finger), and 1 danda was perhaps originally divided into 100 digits, although 108 is the traditional value, and Aryabhatta prefers 96.Assuming a 6 ft danda, Aryabhatta’s angula is exactly ¾ inch (or about 1.9 cm).It does appear that 1 angula has always measured around 1.8 to 1.9 cm, with 1 danda or dhanu ranging from 1.83 to 2.05 m, so that 1 yojana must extend somewhere between 14.6 and 16.4 km.nimeSa means shutting the eye or winking, and as a measure of time it is a wink of the eye or a moment.Kautilya’s Arthashastra (c.320 BC) defines 1 nimesha as 1/360,000th of a day and night ~ i.e. 0.24 seconds.2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha.Given that 1 yojana is between 14.6 and 16.4 km, 2,202 yojanas must represent between 32,149 and 36,113 km.Half a nimesha is 0.12 seconds.Sayana thus gives the speed of light as between 267,910 and 300,940 km/sec ~ the currently accepted value for the speed of light being 299,792 km/sec.Assuming that the true speed of light was actually known to Sayana, who presented “2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha” as a verity; and accepting Kautilya’s value for nimesha; then a perfect yojana would be exactly 16,337.4636 m and a perfect paurusha or danda exactly 2.0422 m in length.And (assuming 108 digits per danda) then 1 angula = 1.89 cm, 1 dhanurgraha = 7.56 cm, 1 dhanurmushti = 15.13 cm, 1 vitasti = 22.69 cm, and 1 hasta (cubit) = 51.05 cm.All discussion of Sayana’s comment has assumed that one yojana is about 14.6 km, and this is based on the western ideal of a 6 ft man. The ancient sacred Egyptian cubit measured 28 angulas or 52.92 cm; and the ancient sacred Babylonian cubit measured 51.03 cm ~ i.e. 27 angulas ~ and this cubit was well known in ancient India. There are 32,000 hasta or cubits in a yojana; and if the Sumerian sacred cubit is assumed, then one yojana is actually 16.33 km. Therefore, 2,202 yojanas measures 35,958 km, and the speed of light is properly calculated to be 299,648 km/sec ~ and western science did not match the precision of Sayana’s estimate until 1907 !The ordinary cubit measures 24 angulas (digits) or 6 dhanurgrahas (palms) or about 45 cm. The old Egyptian royal cubit measured 28 digits (each 1.8710 cm) or 7 palms (each 13.0970 cm) ~ i.e. 52.3881 cm. A copper bar from Nippur (c. 2650 BC) perhaps defined a Sumerian cubit of about 51.85 cm. The Persian cubit measured about 50.01 cm. The Harappan cubit was between 51.562 cm and 52.324 cm in length. Thus, an ordinary man is about 1.8 m tall, and his travel is measured by stages of about 14.5 km. The divine Egyptian ruler measured 2.09552 m, and his journey was by stages of 16.7642 km. The copper man of Nippur would perhaps have stood 2.074 high, with leaps of 16.592 km. The Persian paurusha was about 2.0004 m long, with stages or yojanas of 16.0032 km. The Indus standard was between 2.062 and 2.093 m, with yojanas from 16.50 to 16.74 km. Given the dictum of 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha, an ordinary man would judge the speed of light to be 266,075 km/sec; and the pharaoh’s photon would travel at 307,623.07 km/sec, but neither the royal Egyptian cubit of 28 digits nor the mortal human cubit of 24 digits is appropriate for this formula, which traditionally relies on a measure of 108 (i.e. 4 x 27) digits. The Nippur standard would provide a speed of 304,463.2 km/sec; the Persian standard gives us 293,658.72 km/sec; and the Sarasvati standard gives a figure somewhere between 302,775 km/sec and 307,179 km/sec. Assuming a perfect yojana, the constant of 2,202 could actually be any number from 2,182 to 2,222, and the resultant speed of light would still be accurate to within 1 percent. Very simply, light travels about 2,200 yojanas in half a nimesha; so that light travels about 2,200 x 720,000 yojanas in a day. And given a yojana of about 16.5 km, this means that the speed of light was anciently calculated to be about 302,500 km/sec. The modern accepted value for the speed of light is exactly 299,792.457 km/sec. A vast body of scientific information is hidden in ancient Hindu scriptures and Sanskrit texts. it has been pointed out that an ancient Sanskrit text of 14th century contains the value of the speed of light that is identical to the modern value.
The discovery of the Sayana code is described in the book Vedic Physics: Scientific Origin of Hinduism This subject has been discussed in detail in a scholarly article ("The Speed of Light and Puranic Cosmology", Subhash Kak, "Computing Science in Ancient India", editors T. R. N. Rao and Subhash Kak, 1998, pp 80-90). More information about the book is as followsComputing Science in Ancient Edited by T. R. N. Rao and Subhash Kak Published by Center for Advanced Computer Studies in 1998 University of Southwestern Louisiana 70504 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 98-86952 ISBN: 0-9666512-0-0
since in the era of Aryabhatt, the indians knew about the radius of the earth and the mean distance between the earth and the sun, and as we knew the Aryan mathematics is still ahead of today's arithmetic system and they had a good commanfd over it, and thus found out the speed by simple calculation.
If u read further, u will find that not only did they estimate the speed of light, but also the distance of sun from earth. They also say that sun is the center of the universe( solar system ) and that stars are no different from the Sun.Other ancient writings like those of aryabatta give very accurate methods of astronomical calculations.Hence, any chance of co-incedence can be ruled out.No scientific explaination has been found to date.The only possible answers may be:1. Since all these discoveries need Observations and experimentaions, and cnsidering the fact that there was no telescope at that time, we could conclude that ancient indians were very observative and curious about the cosmos.2. Since no proof of the methods of observation or discovery has been found, it could be assumed that those who made the discovery, met the same fate as of coppernicus.3. It is completely extra-terrestrial !!!!!!!
The speed of light was first measured by noticing that the moons of Jupiter took longer to appear in their predicted places when Jupiter was far from the Earth than they did when Jupiter was close. Olaf Roemer suggested this was because light took extra time to reach Earth when Jupiter was further away.This was before 1675.
It has been seen that the astronomical numbers in the Puranas are much more consistent amongst themselves, and with the generally accepted sizes of the solar orbit, than has been hitherto assumed. The Puranic geography mustnot be taken literally.Sayana’s figure of 2,202 yojanas per halfnimesa is consistent with Puranic cosmology where the size of “our universe” is a function of the speed of light. This size represents the space that can be spanned by light in one day.It is quite certain that the figure for speed was obtained either by this argument or it was obtained by taking the postulated speed of the Sun in the Puranas and multiplying that by 18, or by multiplying the speed in standard yojanas by 2 × square(18). We do know that 18 is a sacred number in the Puranas,and the fact that multiplication with this special number gave a figure that was in accord with the spanning of light in the universe in one day must have given it a special significance.
The real question is, considering that
1. The Boolean algebra used in the modern computers is seen in the Vedic texts
2. The atomic structure is defined in the Vedas.
3. human language closest, and easiest to interface to machine language is Sanskrit
4. astronomical observations of Indians are exemplary
Another topic wanted to discuss is about 108.Below is an extract from rig veda as translated: "At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing. There was not air nor yet sky beyond. What was wrapping? Where? In whose protection? Was Water there, unfathomable deep? There was no death then, nor yet deathlessness; of night or day there was not any sign. The One breathed without breath by its own impulse Other than that was nothing at all. Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness, and all was Water indiscriminate, Then that which was hidden by Void, that One, emerging, stirring, through power of Ardor, came to be. In the beginning Love arose, which was primal germ cell of mind. The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom, discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing. A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing. What was described above it, what below? Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces, thrust from below and forward move above. Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it? Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation? Even the Gods came after its emergence. Then who can tell from whence it came to be? That out of which creation has arisen, whether it held it firm or it did not, He who surveys it in the highest heaven, He surely knows - or maybe He does not!" Above text is in Nasadiya Sukta from the Rig Veda (ancient Indian text). Thanks to Prof. Raimundo Panikkar.
The distance between the earth and the sun is approximately 108 times the sun's diameter. The diameter of the sun is about 108 times the earth's diameter. And the distance between the earth and the moon is 108 times the moon's diameter.Could this be the reason the ancient sages considered 108 such a sacred number? If the microcosm (us) mirrors the macrocosm (the solar system), then maybe you could say there are 108 steps between our ordinary human awareness and the divine light at the center of our being. Each time we chant another mantra as our mala beads slip through our fingers, we are taking another step toward our own inner sun.As we read through ancient Indian texts, we find so much the sages of antiquity could not possibly have known-but did. While our European and Middle Eastern ancestors claimed that the universe was created about 6,000 years ago, the yogis have always maintained that our present cosmos is billions of years old, and that it's just one of many such universes which have arisen and dissolved in the vastness of eternity.In fact the Puranas, encyclopedias of yogic lore thousands of years old, describe the birth of our solar system out of a "milk ocean," the Milky Way. Through the will of the Creator, they tell us, a vortex shaped like a lotus arose from the navel of eternity. It was called Hiranya Garbha, the shining womb. It gradually coalesced into our world, but will perish some day billions of years hence when the sun expands to many times it present size, swallowing all life on earth. In the end, the Puranas say, the ashes of the earth will be blown into space by the cosmic wind. Today we known this is a scientifically accurate, if poetic, description of the fate of our planet.The Surya Siddhanta is the oldest surviving astronomical text in the Indian tradition. Some Western scholars date it to perhaps the fifth or sixth centuries A.D., though the text itself claims to represent a tradition much, much older. It explains that the earth is shaped like a ball, and states that at the very opposite side of the planet from India is a great city where the sun is rising at the same time it sets in India. In this city, the Surya Siddhanta claims, lives a race of siddhas, or advanced spiritual adepts. If you trace the globe of the earth around to the exact opposite side of India, you'll find Mexico. Is it possible that the ancient Indians were well aware of the great sages/astronomers of Central America many centuries before Columbus discovered America?Knowing the unknowableTo us today it seems impossible that the speed of light or the fate of our solar system could be determined without advanced astronomical instruments. How could the writers of old Sanskrit texts have known the unknowable? In searching for an explanation we first need to understand that these ancient scientists were not just intellectuals, they were practicing yogis. The very first lines of the Surya Siddhanta, for of the Golden Age a great astronomer named Maya desired to learn the secrets of the heavens, so he first performed rigorous yogic practices. Then the answers to his questions appeared in his mind in an intuitive flash.Does this sound unlikely? Yoga Sutra 3:26-28 states that through, samyama (concentration, meditation, and unbroken mental absorption) on the sun, moon, and pole star, we can gain knowledge of the planets and stars. Sutra 3:33 clarifies, saying: "Through keenly developed intuition, everything can be known." Highly developed intuition is called pratibha in yoga. It is accessible only to those who have completely stilled their mind, focusing their attention on one object with laser-like intensity. Those who have limited their mind are no longer limited to the fragments of knowledge supplied by the five senses. All knowledge becomes accessible to them."There are [those] who would say that consciousness, acting on itself, can find universal knowledge," Professor Kak admits. "In fact this is the traditional Indian view."Perhaps the ancient sages didn't need advanced astronomical instruments. After all, they had yoga.
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