How many kinds of Yugas are there?

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Abstract: In this article I explain the definition of Yuga as an alignment of celestial
bodies and show how the Yuga Durations differed in Various Astronomical
Siddhantas of India, depending on the number of luminary bodies that were taken
into consideration and their orbital periods. I show that the oldest siddhantas like
the Pitamaha Siddhanta had the shortest yuga durations, because they considered
the fewest luminary bodies. The latest ones siddhantas have the longest durations
because of the number of the larger number of luminary bodies (plus shadowy
bodies – the nodes), that have been taken into consideration. I try to find the yuga
durations that must have been referred to by Veda Vyasa in his compilations of the
Puranas and his authoring of the Mahabharata and the Srimad Bhagavatam.
(See :Kaliyuga duration 360000 years, 1200 divine years, Vishnu Puranam. Tracking
the growth of the Kaliyugam from 12 to 432000 years)
Background : The traditional view is incidentally the most modern one! As per
this, a mahayuga is a period of 4320000 years duration.
• Also called a chaturyuga, it has four subdivisions, krutha, thretha, dwapara
and kali.
• Dwapara is 2 times as long as Kali, Thretha is 3 times as long as Kali and
Krutha is 4 times as long as Kali Yuga.
• Krutha Yuga is a pure period and Kali Yuga is a bad time. (Some texts explain
that Dharma walks on four feet in Krutha/Satya Yuga, on 3 feet in Tretha
Yuga, on two feet in Dwapara Yuga and one foot in Kaliyuga.)
• At the end of this Kali Yuga, an avatar of Vishnu called Kalki will destroy all the
evil doers. It is also believed that there is one main avatar in each Yuga and
several minor avatars. The main avatar of Tretha Tyuga is Rama, the main
avatar of Dwapara yuga is Krishna.
• As per the Nannaya Bharatam, Vyasa started writing the Mahabharata in Year 1
of kaliyuga and completed it in year 4 of kaliyuga.
• We are now in the first of 4 quarters (padas) of KaliYuga. When we pray, we
say, “Jambudvipe, bharatha varshe, bharatha khande, Meroyah dakshina
digbhage”. We also give some geographical info giving our relation to rivers
and holy places. Then we give the calendar information like our kalpa,
praharardha, manvanatara and yuga pada. Svetta Varaha Kalpe, Dwitiya
Praharardhe, Vaiswata Manvantare, Kaliyuge prathama pade. After this we
give the name of the year in the 60 year cycle – Prabhava, Vibhava
etc” (2009-2010 is Virodhi Nama Samvatsara) and further go on with the the
tithi vara and nakshatra information, knowledgeable people may give even
more details of karana etc.
Definition of a Yuga : A Yuga means a joining or an alignment of planets and/or
stars and/or their apogees and perigees. Yugas have to do with alignment and the
more celestial bodies that have to line up, the more time it is going to take and the
more corrections it is going to take. For a further simpler explanation of the basics :
See : Two Kinds of Time and What is the difference between a graha yoga
(conjunction) and a yuga?
Whenever any Siddhanta defines a Yuga, it refers to the Mahayuga or the
Chaturyuga. While some of the Different siddhantas divide up the Mahayuga into
fractions in the ratio 4:3:2:1 or 1:1:1:1, all of them do not.
List of the Yugas described in this article :
1 Chandramana and Souramana Yugas: Lunar and Solar Years : Approximately
1 year duration. In use.
2 Vedic Yugas: Vedanga Jyothisham: Pitamaha (Brahma) Siddhantam: 5
years: (Dhanishta Nakshatram, Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon) are aligned: The
Pitamaha Yuga starts when Dhanishta is in Amavasya.) No longer in use.
3 Gavam Ayanam: (Chaturyuga has 4 years, each of exactly 365 1/4 solar
days, or 365 days + 1 pada) : (At the end of Kali, one pada gets added, … at
the end of Krutha 4 padas get added and the leap day is completed). No
longer in use.
4 Barhaspatyamana or Brhaspati Yugas: 12 years : (Surya, Chandra, Tishya
(Pushya), Brhaspati or are aligned The 12 year Kumbha Mela is based on
this.) Barhaspatyamana or Brhaspati Yugas: 60 year variant : (Surya,
Chandra, Pushya, Brihaspati plus Sani)
5 1000 year Chaturyugas : (The time taken for the starting point of the
moveable (tropical) zodiac, to pass one 1 complete nakshatram. Derived from
precession of equinoxes)
6 SaptaRishi Yuga : 2700 years. (A pointer through the bowl of the Saptarishi
Mandala moves to a different nakshatra, by the end of a century).
7 Romaka Siddhantam : 2850 years
8 Poorva Surya Siddhantham : 180,000 years or 1,800,000 years.
9 Surya Siddhantam : 4,320,000 years
10 Markandeya Yugas, as per the Mahabharata.
11 Sanjaya Yugas, as per the Mahabharata.
12 Naveena Siddhanthams : 4,320,000 years: (4:3:2:1 Ratio for Kruta, Treta,
Dwapara and Kali). In Use.
13 Aryabhatiyam: 4,320,000 years (Alignments of grahas as well as their nodes
etc, 1:1:1:1 Ratio for Yugapadas: Kruta, Treta, Dwapara, Kali are not
mentioned by name)

1. Chandramana and Souramana Yugas : 1 year duration. : This section will also
help you with the basics needed understand the other sections too.
First concept :The moon is concerned only with months and the it is the only the
sun that is concerned with years. So the month is concerned with the moon’s orbit
and the year is concerned with earth’s orbit. There is very little influence of the one
on the other. The concept of a lunar year creeps in, when you try to find out how
many lunar months can be acomodated in 1 year.
What is a Lunar Month? A lunar month has to do with the moon going around the
earth once. Then you say Define “Once”.
• A sidereal month, is the time it takes, for the moon to line up with the same
star. This takes 27.321661 solar days (27 d 7 h 43 min 11.5 s).
 • A synodic month is the time it takes for the moon to line up with the sun.
This takes 29.53 solar days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 2.8 seconds) and
is measured from New Moon to New Moon.
• There are many other kinds of lunar month.
What is a solar day? A solar day is the time duration of the earth’s orbit. In the
most ancient of times, it was the time between two sun rises.
What is a year ? A year is the duration of the earth’s orbit.
• A solar year is the time it takes for the earth to come back to the same point
in it’s orbit with respect to the sun. (365.25 days)
• A sidereal year is the time it takes for the earth to come back to the same
point in it’s orbit with respect to the same star (nakshatras).
• These two differ by a few minutes. In other words, it is the time the sun takes
to finish one Uttarayanam and one Dakshinayanam and to come back to ‘the
same place’. But what means ‘the same place’? It is the same place with
respect to the earth’s orbit around the sun. It is slightly off from the same
place with respect to the stars. Why is this? Not only are we spinning around
the sun, the sun is dragging us around the galactic center. It takes one
sidereal year for the sun to align with the same stars.
12 lunar synodic months fit into 1 solar year with 5.25 days to spare.
Ugadi means Yugadi: Kannadigas and Telugu people celebrate a Chandramana
(Lunar) Yugadi, and Tamils celebrate a Souramana (Solar)Yugadi, once a year, in
spring. Yugadi means, the beginning of a Yuga. In Telugu, it is frequently called
Ugadi, with ‘y’ dropped by scholars and laymen alike.
What is a Lunar Year? The time duration between two lunar yugadis is 12 synodic
months. This is a chandramana year. The time duration between two souramana
yugadis is 365 days.
Are all lunar (chadramana) years of the same duration? No! 12 lunar months are
354.36 days if you are using synodic months or 327.8599 days if you are thinking
sidereal months. Some lunar years are 13 months long! Every 3 years an Adhika
Masam is added, to make up for the difference in the lengths of the solar and lunar
years. (It is like adding a leap day into the solar calendar once in 4 years). But now
you have added 4.5 days too many. So the Sun, Moon and Stars are not perfectly
aligned, as before, yet. There is a lot of complex arithmetic, which tells you when to
add months (adhikamasas) and when to delete dates (tithikshayas). Some lunar days
are a little shorter than others and many other corrections are to be made. This is
what the Jyotisha Sastra Vedanga is all about.
2. Vedic Yugas: Vedanga Jyothisham: Pitamaha Siddhantam: 5 years:
(Dhanishta Nakshatram, Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon) are aligned: The Pitamaha
Yuga starts when Dhanishta is in Amavasya.) (See Brahma’s Yuga – Paitamaha
Siddhantha – from PancaSiddhantika)
• In the Uttarakanda of the Valmiki Ramayana, the word Pitamaha is used to
indicate Brahma, when used without qualification.
• 1830 solar days, 1860 lunar tithis, 62 lunar months, and 60 solar months.
There are 2 adhikamasas (extra lunar months), 30 tithikshayas (deletions of
tithis), 67 traverses of the moon among the stars. ie , each star ‘occurs’ 67
times.
• The Pitamaha Yuga starts when Dhanishta is in Amavasya.
• This will require a correction of 4.685 days in 5 years, which is done using a
 complex method. The explaination given as per Kautilya Artha Sastra is given
below below.
• The names of the years are: Samvatsaramu, Parivatsaramu,
Idaavatsaramu, Anuvatsaramu, Idvatsaramu. (Where is the reference to
Krutha, Tretha, Dwapara, and Kaliyugas? In modern days it is common to label
every year as samvatsaramu and take the names of each of the years from the
Brihaspati 60 year yugas)
• Place: As per this Sastra, on the day of Katakayanam (arrival of cancer), the
night was 2/3rds of the day. This happens in Gandhar and Kashmir. Time:
‘Prapadyate Sravishthadou, Suryachandramasavudak, sarparthe,
dakshinarkasthou, magha sravanayo sada. When Dhanistha Amavasya occurs,
Surya is in the North, and when Asleshartha amavasya occurs Ravi (Surya) is in
the South. This lead to a date of 3500 years ago. (Source : Translated and
explained from Vijnana Sarasvamu, 9th Samputamu Page 548-551).
• What does a Star Occurence mean?
◦ There are 27 Nakshatrams that cover 360 degrees of the zodiac, so
each nakshatram ‘covers’ or owns 13.33 degrees. The moon (Chandra)
moves past each of these nakshatrams, once every month. The Yuga or
Union of Chandra and any Nakshtra roughly lasts for approximately a
solar day.
◦ (Some scholars debate on whether it is midpoint to midpoint between
nakshatras that have to be considered or beginning to beginning. Think
about the idea that the stars are not geometrically exactly 13.33 degrees
apart, but only approximately so. If you were an astronomer-
mathematician of the ancient times, what would you have decided? How
would you have marked the mid-points between the nakshatras?) The
Chandra Nakshatra Yuga at SunRise determines the Nakshatra of the
day, as a general rule. So at the time the sun is rising, the moon is within
the 13 degrees of the Nakshatra of the Day!
▪ Hindu Astrologers use two kinds of ChandraNakshatra Yugas in
horoscopes. The JanmaNakshatra, refers to the ChandraNakshatra
Yuga at birth. The JanmaLagna refers to the ascendant nakshatra
or the nakshatra on the horizon at the incident of birth.
The Kautilya Arthasastra explains the details of the corrections to be applied
and gives how the yuga duration is 5 years. See Also : Measurements : Kautilya.
• It is in the month of Ashádha that no shadow is cast in midday.
• Ashádha, during the six months from Srávana upwards, the length of shadow
successively increases by two angulas and during the next six months
from Mágha upwards, it successively decreases by two angulas.
• Fifteen days and nights together make up one paksha. That paksha during
which the moon waxes is white (sukla) and thatpaksha during which the moon
wanes is bahula.
• Two pakshas make one month (mása).
• Thirty days and nights together make one month (prakarmamásah).
• The same (30 days and nights) with an additional half a day makes one solar
month (saura).
• The same (30) less by half a day makes one lunar month (chandramása).
• Twenty-seven (days and nights) make a sidereal month (nakshatramása).
 • Once in thirty-two months there comes one malamása defiled month, i.e., an
extra month added to lunar year to harmonise it with the solar.
• Once in thirty-five months there comes a malamása for Asvaváhas.
• Once in forty months there comes a malamása for hastiváhas.
• Two months make one ritu (season). Srávana and proshthapada make the
rainy season (varshá). Asvayuja and Kárthíka make the autumn
(sarad). Márgasírsha and Phausha make the winter (hemanta). Mágha
and Phalguna make the dewy season (sisira). Chaitra and Vaisákha make the
spring (vasanta). Jyeshthámúlíya and Ashádha make the summer (grishma).
• Seasons from sisira and upwards are uttaráyana, and (those) from varshá and
upwards are the winter solstice dakshináyana.
• Two ayanas make one year (samvatsara). Five years make one yuga.
• The sun carries off (harati) 1/60th of a whole day every day and thus makes
one complete day in every two months (ritau).
• Likewise the moon (falls behind by 1/60th of a whole day every day and falls
behind one day in every two months).
• Thus in the middle of every third year, they (the sun and the moon) make
one adhimása, additional month, first in the summer season and second at the
end of five years.
3. Gavam Ayanam: (Chaturyuga has 4 years, each of exactly 365 1/4 solar days,
or 365 days + 1 pada) : (At the end of Kali, one pada gets added, … at the end of
Krutha 4 padas get added and the leap day is completed).
• As per an article by ShamaSastry the Gavam Ayanam was in use from 3101 BC
to 1260 BC.
• The word ‘Go’ refers to an intercalary day. (like the extra day in a leap year).
• One solar orbit takes 365 and 1/4 days. A quarter is called a pada.
• The modern way consists of taking 365 days in an ordinary year and 366 days
in a leap year.
• One Vedic method was to take exactly 365 and a pada days.
• The first year was called Kali or Ekata and it started in the evening and ended
at midnight after 365 days and a pada.
• The second year was called Dwapara, or Dwita and started at midnight and
ended in the morning after 365 days and a pada.
• The third Yuga was thretha or tritha, started in the morning and ended in the
afternoon after 365 days and a pada.
• These 3 are called the Visnu padas.
• The fourth Yuga was called Krta or complete Yuga because it started in the
afternoon but ended in the evening after 365 days and a pada. Since it ended
properly in the evening, it was also called Satya or Rta Yuga.
4. Barhaspatyamana or Brhaspati Yugas: 12 years : (Surya, Chandra, Tishya
(Pushya), Brhaspati or are aligned. The 12 year Kumbha Mela is based on this.)
Barhaspatyamana or Brhaspati Yugas: 60 year variant : (Surya, Chandra, Pushya,
Brihaspati plus Sani)
See Also : Krutha (Krita, Krta) Yuga Definition in Vishnu Puranam
• Even in modern times, we use a 60 year cycle. The names of the years are the
same as the names of the years used in the Barhaspatyamana Yuga System.
• BUT, there is an offset.
◦ The Barhaspatyamana cycle starts with the year called Vijaya. The
 modern cycle starts with the year named Prabhava.
◦ But that is not all. The modern year name Vikrama nama samvatsaram
corresponds to Vijaya nama Samvatsaram in the Barhaspatyamana
system.
◦ Also the Guru transit occurs around May and does not coincide at all
with the March/April beginnings of the years of the modern cycle.
• Guru graha (Jupiter, Brhaspati), Sun, Saturn and Moon come back to the
original aligment every 60 years. (12 years is the mean planetary orbit time of
Guru, and 30 years is the mean orbital duration for Saturn. The L.C.M. (Least
Common Multiple) is 60 years. The Sun and Moon rise together (Amavasya) in
each rasi on an average of once a year. (There are intercalary days, months
and years, to account for alignment differences, that accrue over time.) So a
Surya, Chandra, Pushya, Brhaspati, Sani Yuga is 60 years.
• The 12 year Kumbha Mela Variant : You have Dhanishta, Guru, Chandra and
Surya, which align once in the 12 years. 2 Dhanishta Nakshatra padas in the
end of Makara Rasi and 2 Dhanishta Nakshatra padas are in the beginning of
Kumbha Rasi.
◦ Dhanishta (3rd and 4th Padas (quarters)) begin Kumbha Rasi (Aquarius).
It takes Jupiter (Guru), 12 years on an average to return to the same rasi.
Jupiter takes, on an average, 1 year to pass by each rasi or zodiac sign
and the sun takes on an average a month.
◦ Every 12th year Kumbha Mela is performed on a grand scale. The
religious believe that the Kumbha (meaning pot) refers to a Pitcher of
Amrta (nectar of immortality). There is a story of Amrtam being spilled at
the 4 Kumbha Mela Places. (Prayag (Allahabad), Hardwar, Nasik and
Ujjain). On a map they look like places of equidistant longitude. The
Kumbh Mela is generally held every three years in rotation, from east to
west at Prayag, Hardwar, Ujjain and Nasik.
• The names of the years are : Serial Number as per modern counting.
• 27. Vijaya • 14. Vikrama
• 28. Jaya • 15. Vrisha
• 29. Manmatha • 16. Chitrabhānu
• 30. Durmukha • 17. Svabhānu
• 31. Hemalambin • 18. Tārana
• 32. Vilambin • 19. Pārthiva
• 33. Vikārin • 20. Vyaya (2006-2007 AD/
CE)
• 34. Shārvari • 21. Sarvajit (2007-2008 AD/
CE)
• 35. Plava • 22. Sarvadhārin
• 36. Shubhakrit • 23. Virodhin
• 37. Shobhana • 24. Vikrita
• 38. Krodhin • 25. Khara
• 39. Vishvāvasu • 26. Nandana
• 40. Parābhava • 27. Vijaya
• 41. Plavanga • 28. Jaya
• 42. Kīlaka • 29. Manmatha
• 43. Saumya • 30. Durmukha
• 40. Parābhava • 27. Vijaya
• 41. Plavanga • 28. Jaya
• 42. Kīlaka • 29. Manmatha
• 43. Saumya • 30. Durmukha
• 44. Sādhārana • 31. Hemalambin
• 45. Virodhikrit • 32. Vilambin
• 46. Paritāpin • 33. Vikārin
• 47. Pramādin • 34. Shārvari
• 48. Ānanda • 35. Plava
• 49. Rākshasa • 36. Shubhakrit
• 50. Anala • 37. Shobhana
• 51. Pingala • 38. Krodhin
• 52. Kālayukti • 39. Vishvāvasu
• 53. Siddhārthin • 40. Parābhava
• 54. Raudra • 41. Plavanga
• 55. Durmati • 42. Kīlaka
• 56. Dundubhi • 43. Saumya
• 57. Rudhirodgārin • 44. Sādhārana
• 58. Raktāksha • 45. Virodhikrit
• 59. Krodhana • 46. Paritāpin
• 60. Akshaya • 47. Pramādin
• 1. Prabhava • 48. Ānanda
• 2. Vibhava • 49. Rākshasa
• 3. Shukla • 50. Anala
• 4. Pramoda • 51. Pingala
• 5. Prajāpati • 52. Kālayukti
• 6. Āngirasa • 53. Siddhārthin
• 7. Shrīmukha • 54. Raudra
• 8. Bhāva • 55. Durmati
• 9. Yuvan • 56. Dundubhi
• 10. Dhātri • 57. Rudhirodgārin
• 11. Īshvara • 58. Raktāksha
• 12. Bahudhānya • 59. Krodhana
• 13. Pramāthin • 60. Akshaya
• 14. Vikrama • 1. Prabhava
• 15. Vrisha • 2. Vibhava
• 16. Chitrabhānu • 3. Shukla
• 17. Svabhānu • 4. Pramoda
• 18. Tārana • 5. Prajāpati
• 19. Pārthiva • 6. Āngirasa
• 20. Vyaya (2006-2007 AD/CE) • 7. Shrīmukha
• 21. Sarvajit (2007-2008 AD/CE) • 8. Bhāva
• 22. Sarvadhārin • 9. Yuvan
• 23. Virodhin • 10. Dhātri
• 24. Vikrita • 11. Īshvara
• 25. Khara • 12. Bahudhānya
• 26. Nandana • 13. Pramāthin
 • 23. Virodhin • 10. Dhātri
• 24. Vikrita • 11. Īshvara
• 25. Khara • 12. Bahudhānya
• 26. Nandana • 13. Pramāthin
4.b. Maitreya Yugas as per Srimad Bhagavatam : (Details)
Rishi Maitreya learnt Time Measurements from Parasara (Vyasa’s father and
Vasishtha’s grandson) and taught them to Vidura.
5. 1000 year Chaturyugas : (The time taken for the starting point of the moveable
(tropical) zodiac, to pass one 1 complete nakshatram. Derived from precession of
equinoxes)
• Derived based on these 2 quotations, which refer the time elapsed, since
Revati and her father Revata, go to Brahma loka and return to Dwaraka. In thic
context, Revati is the name of the star 99h Psc, which is the brightest star
of Meena Raashi.
• Bhagavatam : “abhiyātaḥ — have passed; tri — three; nava — nine; catur-yuga
— four yugas; vikalpitaḥ — thus measured. ‘for many successions of ages
have passed away whilst you were listening to our songsters: now upon earth
the twenty-eighth great age of the present Manu is nearly finished, and the
Kali period is at hand.”
• Vishnu Puranam : “for many successions of ages have passed away whilst you
were listening to our songsters: now upon earth the twenty-eighth great age
of the present Manu is nearly finished, and the Kali period is at hand.”
Explanation :
• The fixed or the sidereal zodiac considers the nakshatras as its basis.
• Its first degree begins as the first degree of Mesha (Aries) from a particular
point in the Revati Nakshatram.
• There is another zodiac, however, which is reckoned from the Vernal equinox
point; here the first point of Aries begins from the Vernal equinox.
• This is called the movable or the tropical zodiac. The movable zodiac
continues to recede westward along the stars, which characterise the fixed
zodiac.
• This point, the first point of Aries or the vernal equinox, goes on receding
westward at a rate of approximately 50.26 seconds of arc each year. This is
called the precession of the equinoxes. See Also: http://www.aryabhatt.com/
vediclessons/vediclesson5.htm
• 360 degrees = 360*60 minutes = 360*60*60 seconds of arc = 1296000
seconds of arc
• 1296000 seconds of arc/50.26 seconds of arc/year = 25785.91 years
• So it takes 25785.91 years for 1 full circle – ‘ for Revati to ‘return”., (or for the
original alignments to be viewed.)
• If the technology of measurement at that time gave a figure of 48 seconds of
arc per year for the westward recession of Aries, then it would take
1296000/48 = 27000 years for Revati to return. 27000 years is the figure you
normally find in many articles. (This would mean a 4.5% relative error in
measurement in seconds of arc. Which is very small).
• If 27000 years give us 27 caturyugas, and if the ratio of the individual Yuga
lengths in each caturyuga is 4:3:2:1 with the Kaliyuga being a 100 years long,
then Each caturyuga is 1000 years long.
That gives 400 years of Krutha Yuga, 300 years of Thretha Yuga, 200 years of
Dwapara Yuga and 100 years of Kali Yuga.
6. SaptaRishi Yuga : 2700 years. (A pointer through the bowl of the Saptarishi
Mandala moves to a different nakshatra, by the end of a century).
Saptarsi’s motion is central to many Indian calendars and was used extensively in
many parts of Indian subcontinents including Kashmir and Nepal.
• Vishnu Purana IV, 24.105-106, Matsya Purana, 273, 42-44, Vayu Purana
99,421-423, Bhagvada Pura, XII, 2.27-32.
• For example, Bhgvad Purana, XII, 2.32, Vishnu Purana, IV, 24.112, where it is a
question of movement from the Magha to Purvashadha (d and e stars in
Sagittarius), which represents 10 centuries between Parikshit and King Nanda
of the Magadha dynasty.
• Incidentally, this estimate agrees with Vinu Purna, IV, 23.42, which places the
period more precisely between the birth of Pariksit and the royal consecration
of Nanda at 1,015 years).
Varahamihira quoted the views of Vrddha (Senior) Garga, in the 13th chapter of
his Brhat Samhita: Where he explained the movements of the Saptarishi
Mandala.
• The periodic movement of the Saptarishis : “The Sages traverse through each
lunar mansion for a period of 100 years (satam, satam varsah). Whichever
constellation makes them conspicuous when they rise to the east of it, in
that they are said to be situated” – (4) Therefore the Saptarishis have a period
(Yuga) of 2700 years. (This is caused by the wobble of the earth’s axis).
The oldest reference to the Saptarshi cycle is in Vishnu Purana. The relevent Shloka
from is reproduced here:
• “Take those two stars of Saptarshi (seven sages) which are seen first after the
rise. The nakshatra which is seen in the middle of it at equal distance at the
night, is said to be residence of Saptarshi for 100 years of man’s life. Oh great
brahmin they were in Magha (Regulus, Leo) at the time of Parikshit.” (Vishnu
Purana, IV 4.105-106)
• One interpretation that the pointer is passing through centre of the bowl
would mean that the observation was done around 3200 – 3100 BC. At that
time, the four stars (of the bowl) had declinations of 67 deg, 65 deg, 70 deg
and 74 deg respectivly, which means the observer should be certainly below
25 deg N and most probably below 16 deg N which passes through Goa and
lower Andhra Pradesh.
7. Romaka Siddhantam : 2850 years
8. Poorva Surya Siddhantham : 180,000 years or 1,800,000 years.
9. Surya Siddhantam : 12000 years of the Devas make a Caturyuga (set of 4
yugas). These 4 Yugas including their Sandhyas and Sandhyamsas (sixth part)
(eves, seams, period where one yuga ends and another begins) consist of 4,320,000
solar years. (12 Solar Months = 1 solar year and this makes 1 day of the Devas.
360 Ahoratras of the Devas make a year(vatsara) of the Devas.)
10. Markandeya Yugas, as per the Mahabharata.
Markandeya replied, ‘…..O best of kings and pre-eminent of men, after the
dissolution of the universe, all this wonderful creation again comes into life. Four
thousand years have been said to constitute the Krita Yuga. Its dawn also, as
well as its eve, hath been said to comprise four hundred years. The Treta-Yuga is
said to comprise three thousand years, and its dawn, as well as its eve, is said to
comprise three hundred years. The Yuga that comes next is called Dwapara, and it
hath been computed to consist of two thousand years. Its dawn, as well as its eve, is
said to comprise two hundred years. The next Yuga, called Kali, is said to comprise
one thousand years and its dawn, as well as eve, is said to comprise one hundred
years. Know, O king, that the duration of the dawn is the same as that of the eve of
a Yuga. And after the Kali Yuga is over, the Krita Yuga comes again. A cycle of the
Yugas thus comprised a period of twelve thousand years. A full thousand of
such cycles would constitute a day of Brahma. O tiger among men, when all this
universe is withdrawn and ensconced within its home–the Creator himself–that
disappearance of all things is called by the learned to be Universal Destruction.
See : 1200 year Kali yugam started in Parikshit’s time : Vishnu Puranam
1 kalpa (Brahma’s day or 12 hours of Brahma) constitutes 1000 Caturyugas or
Mahayugas.
11. Sanjaya tells Dhritarashtra about the Yugas, as per the Mahabharata.
चत्वािर भारते वषेर् युगािन भरतषभर्
कृतं तरेता दवापरं च पुष्यं च कुरुवधनर्
पूवर्ं कृतयुगं नाम ततस तरेतायुगं िवभॊ
संक्षेपाद दवापरस्याथ तथ पुष्यं परवतते र्
चत्वािर च सहस्रािण वषाणां र् कुरुसत्तम
आयुः संख्या कृतयुगे संख्याता राजसत्तम
तत्र तरीिण सहस्रािण तरेतायां मनुजािधप
दिवसहस्रं दवापरे तु शते ितष्ठित संप्रित
न परमाण सिथितर हय अिस्त पुष्ये ऽसिमन भरतषभ र्
गभस्थाश
र् च मिरयन्ते ऽतर तथा जाता मिरयिन्त च (Link)
In this passage the name of kaliyuga is given as puSya. The duration of Kruta Yuga
is 4000 years, Thretha is 3000 years, Dwapara is 2000 years and Pushya (Kali) Yuga
is 1000 years. This passage occurs in the Bhishma Parva, just before the Bhagavad
Gita.
12. Naveena Siddhanthams : 4,320,000 years: “All the planets started their
journeys at one common point in the sky.” That is, in the beginning, all the planets
were lined up along a ray drawn from the Sun. Then they began circling (the Sun) at
different speeds; different speeds because they are located at different distances.
Then the Indian astronomers suggested that the common point in the sky be
identified as the location where we find the star “Aswini,” the first of the twenty
seven stars (really, constellations) of the Hindu calendar. Stated differently, they
imagined a time when all the nine planets (mercury, venus, earth, mars, jupiter,
saturn, and the two shadow planets Rahu and Ketu), the apogees of their orbits, and
their nodes (i.e., the points where their orbits intersect the path of the Sun are all
near the star Aswini (or the modern Beta of Aries). They suggested that we use that
instance as the beginning of time for calendar purposes. Now suppose we count the
periods of orbital revolutions of the planets, roundoff the periods to the nearest
integers, and find their least common multiple (LCM). That number turns out to be
approximately 4.320 billion years, a number not too far from the length of a Kalpa,
defined earlier. One thousandth of this is 4.32 million years or a Maha Yuga. A tenth
of this Maha Yuga is the duration of Kali Yuga. Let us begin at the present time and
work backwards. The current era is called Kali Yuga. According to tradition, this era
began with the death of Krishna, about 5,000 years ago. According to the ancient
sages of India, Kali Yuga will last for 4,32,000 years. Immediately prior to Kali Yuga
was a stretch of time called Dwapar Yuga; it was twice as long as Kali Yuga, or 2 x
4,32,000 years. Prior to that was Treta Yuga of 3 x 4,32,000 years. Before that, it
was Krita Yuga with a duration of 4 x 4,32,000 years. All these four yugas together
is a Maha Yuga, the Great Era. So a Maha Yuga is 4.32 million years, ten times as
long as Kali Yuga. Incidentally, the beginning of the latest Maha Yuga coincides
roughly with, what modern science calls, the emergence of humanoids.
13. Aryabhatta was a genius. He worked out the time it would take for 5
planets, the Revati Nakshatram, the sun, the moon and Rahu, Ketu to align.
That is why the Yuga and Kalpa lengths that he calculated are of the same
order of magnitude as the big bang. He was able to do this because, he was a
brilliant astronomer and mathematician and he had also figured out that it is the
earth that goes around the sun and not vice versa. .post
Aryabhatta did this a VERY long time before Copernicus. (This is well established.)
Aryabhatta’s Yuga corresponds to the Mahayuga of the Naveena Siddhanthams.
However, he did not go with the 4:3:2:1 rule for the Krutha, Tretha, Dvapara and
Kali. He divided his Yuga into 4 parts called Yugapadas. In the Aryabhattiyam, he
said that 6 Manvantaras, 28 Yugas and 3 yugapadas had elapsed since the
beginning of this kalpa to the Bharata war. In the Naveena Siddhantams the last
yuga Kali yuga is only one tenth the duration of the Mahayuga. So the Naveena
siddhantams believe that 9 tenths of the 28th Mahayuga were over by the time of
the Bharata war. Aryabhatta says that only 3 fourths of the 28th Yuga (of 4,320,000
years) was over by the time of the Bharata war and that he was 23 yrs old 360
(or3600) years after the Bharata War.

Aryabhatta Yugas from Aryabhattiyam

Just as Markandeya had worked out the precession of equinoxes a VERY long time
before Hipparchus and Ptolemy. (Proof of this statement is pending,)
1 Which Yuga System was Vyasa was using? We know that Aryabhatta lived
after Vyasa and could not have influenced him. We know this because of a
statement that Aryabhatta made. He said that he lived 6×60 years after Kali
Yuga started. (Some people say that he said 60×60 years after Kali started.. is
the word shahtyabdanam shadbhih or is it shastyabdanam shahstih..? : Page
70; 9th samputamu, Vijnana Sarvasvamu, Telugu Encyclopedia) We believe that
he lived 360 years into kaliyuga and not 3600 years after. Either way, he lived
after Vyasa, who wrote the Mahabharatam from 1 year Kali to 4 year Kali.
2 When did Vyasa live? We know that Markandeya and Vyasa were
contemporaries. In the Mahabharata, Vyasa gives Markandeya’s explanation of
the Yugas and Markandeya talks to the Pandavas etc. Maya Danava’s Surya
Siddhantam was a Kruta Yuga composition available to Vyasa. In addition his
great grand father Vasishta, his father Parasara and Vyasa himself composed 3
of the 18 Astronomical Siddhanthams.
Some data points:
• Ravana’s grandfather, Pulastya was of Krutha Yuga (Uttarakanda, Ramayanam)
• Ravana annoyed Vedavathi in the Krutha Yuga and was killed by Sri Rama in
the Tretha Yuga. It is also said that Krutha Yuga ended at the time of
Vedavathi’s death. (Uttarakanda – Ramaynana)
• Sri Rama who killed Ravana and was younger to him, was of Threta Yuga.
(Source : general deduction).
• Sri Krishna was of Dwapara Yuga. His death marked the beginning of KaliYuga
(Mahabharatam and Bhagavatham)
• Veda Vyasa was born in the Tretha Yuga as the Dwapara Yuga was
approaching.
• Maya Danava composed the Surya Siddhantam towards the end of Krta Yuga.
He gave his daughter Mandodari in marriage to Ravana. He built the Maya
Sabha for the Pandavas in IndraPrastha in the Dwapara Yuga. So he lived for a
part of Kruta Yuga, the entire Tretha Yuga and a part of Dwapara Yuga. (If we
assume that he lived for 120 years, and that Tretha Yuga lasted for 60 years,
then we can imagine that he lived for the last 30 years of Krta, the 60 years of
Tretha and the first 30 years of Dwapara.. do we have any basis to assume
that the Brhaspati (Guru) Yugas were meant?
• Markandeya was present at Sri Rama’s wedding and till the end of the Bharata
war.
• (If we take a 60 year long duration for Kaliyuga 120 for Dwapara, 240 for
Tretha and 480 for Satya Yugas., then Mayasura and Markandeya would have
to live for more than 300 years….)
• (Krishna’s Descent and Ascent: It has been calculated by others that Sri
Krishna was born on Wednesday, the eighth day of second fortnight in
Sravana month in the year of Visvavasu (on July 19th 3228 BC (BCE)). He
lived for 125 years and discarded his mortal coils on February 18th 3102 BC
on the new moon night of Phalguna. His death was the onset of the current
age known as Kaliyuga. The year of his death must have been the Saumya
Nama Vatasara.
• In the 89th year of of Jayabhyudaya Yudhisthira Saka, in the Plavanga Akhya
(Samvatsara ), Janamejaya, a great-grandson of Arjuna (Krishna’s cousin) gave
a gift of land to some munis.)
• SB 9.14.49: O Maharaja Pariksit, at the beginning of Treta–yuga, King
Pururava inaugurated a karma–kanda sacrifice.
• “In the Treta age a violent war broke out between the Devas and the Asuras, in
which the former were vanquished. They consequently had recourse to Vishńu
for assistance, and propitiated him by their adorations. The eternal ruler of the
universe, Náráyańa, had compassion upon them, and said, “What you desire is
known unto me. Hear how your wishes shall be fulfilled. There is an illustrious
prince named Puranjaya, the son of a royal sage; into his person I will infuse a
portion of myself, and having descended upon earth I will in his person
subdue all your enemies.” (Vishnu Purana)
• Caksusha Manvantaram ends with the Matysa Avataram Flood, Vaivaswata
Manvantaram Begins : Srimad Bhagavatam.
• Vaivaswatha Manu to Revati Devi, wife of Balarama Deva : Srimad Bhagavatham
• Krutha (Krita, Krta) Yuga Definition in Vishnu Puranam
 • 1200 year Kali yugam started in Parikshit’s time : Vishnu Puranam
• See :Kaliyuga duration 360000 years, 1200 divine years, Vishnu Puranam.
Tracking the growth of the Kaliyugam from 12 to 432000 years
When did Kaliyuga begin?
Date of the MahaBharata War.
Kalahana’s Rajatarangini : Date of Mahabharata War
Generations between Rama and Krishna.
Generations previous to Sri Rama.
Revati, Yugas
Authorship and Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved: Satya Sarada Kandula
Revati’s father and Revati lost 27 chaturyugas (108 yugas), during a visit to Brahma:
.”abhiyātaḥ — have passed; tri — three; nava — nine; catur-yuga — four yugas;
vikalpitaḥ — thus measured. http://bhagavata.org/canto9/chapter3.html
‘for many successions of ages have passed away whilst you were listening to our
songsters: now upon earth the twenty-eighth great age of the present Manu is
nearly finished, and the Kali period is at hand. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/
vp/vp093.htm
How traditionalists explain this:
1 To explain this, we can go into the Time-Dilation story told in the
Bhagavatam. About how Revati’s father and Revati lost 27 chaturyugas (108
yugas), during a visit to Brahma, because Brahma is on a different time-scale.
2 Or we can go into another puranic theory which says that each of these stories
took place in different kalpas, or different manvantaras. According to this the
main events of the stories take place in every kalpa and there are finite
variations in any specific kalpa. That way everyone gets to be right in some
parallel universe or some time cycle.
I propose that an astronomical story has been overlaid with a legend. It is my
thinking that Revati, here refers to the star and not to the woman.

Revati is the name of the star 99h Psc, which is the brightest star of Meena Raashi.
There are 27 stars, in the Hindu zodiac. The story is one of Revati ‘returning’ to a place
after 27 units of time, 27 Mahayugas or Chaturyugas. It demonstrates a knowledge of the
precession of equinoxes.
Some background and calculations:
1 The fixed or the sidereal zodiac considers the nakshatras as its basis. Its first degree begins as the first degree of Mesha (Aries) from a
particular point in the Revati group of stars.
2 There is another zodiac, however, which is reckoned from the Vernal equinox point; here the first point of Aries begins from the Vernal
equinox. This is called the movable or the tropical zodiac.
3 The movable zodiac continues to recede westward along the stars, which characterise the fixed zodiac.
4 This point, the first point of Aries or the vernal equinox, goes on receding westward at a rate of approximately 50.26 seconds of arc each
year. This is called the precession of the equinoxes.
5 360 degrees = 360*60 minutes = 360*60*60 seconds of arc = 1296000
seconds of arc
6 1296000 seconds of arc/50.26 seconds of arc/year = 25785.91 years
7 So it takes 25785.91 years for 1 full circle – ‘ for Revati to ‘return”., (or for the original alignments to be viewed.)
8 If the technology of measurement at that time gave a figure of 48
seconds of arc per year for the westward recession of Aries, then it would
take 1296000/48 = 27000 years for Revati to return. 27000 years is the
figure you normally find in many articles. (This would mean a 4.5% relative
 error in measurement in seconds of arc. Which is very small).
9 If 27000 years give us 27 caturyugas, and if the ratio of the individual Yuga
lengths in each caturyuga is 4:3:2:1 with the Kaliyuga being a 100 years long,
then Each caturyuga is 1000 years long.
The 18 Ancient Astronomical Siddhantas.

4 Votes

The 18 Ancient Astronomical Siddhantas are as follows. While the general view is
that the oldest Siddhanta is the Surya Siddhanta, it is stated in the Sambhu Hora
Prakasa that Soma Siddhanta is the first, Brahma Siddhanta is the second and that
Surya Siddhanta is the third.
1 Surya
2 Brahma
3 Vyasa
4 Vasishtha
5 Atri
6 Parasara
7 Kasyapa
8 Narada
9 Garga
10 Marici
11 Manu
12 Angirasa
13 Lomasa
14 Pulisa
15 Cyavana
16 Yavana
17 Bhrgu
18 Saunaka or Soma

Uttarayanam: Shift from Makara Sankramanam to

Dhanur Masam
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula
Meaning of Uttarayanam:
• The moon traverses 27 nakshatras in one lunar month. The sun traverses 27
nakshatras in one year.
• If you live in the Northern Hemisphere: Look towards the east every morning,
and you can see that the sun rises in the general direction of the east, but a
little more to the north and slightly sooner everyday after the winter solstice,
 and a little more to the south everyday and slightly later after the summer
solstice. Twice a year, the sun rises exactly in the east.
• Uttarayanam or Uttarayana Punya Kalam is the period during which each
sunrise is just a little more to the north. Similarly Dakshinayanam is the period
during which each sunrise is just a little more to the south.
• Traditionally, we celebrate Uttarayanam from Mid-Jan to Mid-July and
Dakshinayanam from Mid-July to Mid-Jan.

Tutulemma: Solar Eclipse Analemma Credit & Copyright: Cenk E. Tezel and Tunç
Tezel (TWAN) (APOD, NASA)
The day on which the sun ‘changes direction’ and starts rising towards the
north, is called the Winter Solstice, Uttarayanam. This was the day that Bhishma
was waiting for, so that he could leave his mortal coils.
Meaning of Makara Sankramanam:
The day when the Sun traverses from the first pada (quarter) of Uttarashada
Nakshatra to the second pada (quarter) of the Uttarashada Nakshatra is called
Makara Samkramanam (entering Capricorn.)
See Also : Moola Karthe, Dhanur Masam, Sri Maha Vishnu
Date of the Uttarayanam now and then:
• At one time Uttarayanam and Makara Sankramanam occured on the same day.
• Nowadays, the Winter Solstice, no longer corresponds to Makara
Sankramanam.
• The Winter Solstice (Real Uttarayanam) takes place on the 22nd or 23rd of
December. And Makara Sankramanam occurs in the middle of January.
•

• The solstices, ‘slip’ past the nakshatrams at a definite rate. This is called
the precession of the equinoxes. (The equinoxes are the days on which
dates and nights are of equal length. The solstices are days on which the sun
changes its north-south direction.)
• The equinoxes and the solstices define our seasons, spring, summer, autumn
and winter and are therefore important for seasonal celebrations.
•
Let us say that Dec 22nd, you wake up at sun rise and note down which
constellation (nakshatram), the sun points to. Next year, same day, same time, you
will find that the alignment is off by 50.3 seconds of arc. 71.6 years later, you will
find that your measurement is off by a whole degree, and that you are closer to the
previous nakshatram. It will take 25,700 years, for your descendants to see the
same alignment that you did.
Some Very Very Rough Arithemetic: Part 1:
1 The equinox shifted from Jan 14th to Dec 22nd – 22 days approximately.
2 Therefore the equinox that is supposed to take place when the sun is aligned
 with Uttarashada Second Padam, now takes place 22 days/365 days * 27
nakshatrams * 4 padams/nakshatram = 6.5 padams earlier.
3 That is it takes place when the sun is aligned with Moola Makshatram 3rd
Padam.
4 ie, it takes place in Dhanur Masam.
Some Very Very Rough Arithemetic: Part 2:
1 In 1 year the equinox shifts by 50.3 seconds.
2 To shift by 22/365*360 degrees, ie 21.7 degrees, it takes : 21.7
degrees*3600 minutes per degree / 50.3 seconds per year. 1553 years.
When did Uttarayanam and Bhishma Ekadasi coincide? Quoted From : http://
www.ias.ac.in/currsci/dec252005/2174.pdf
“It is stated that Bhisma died on Maga S 8 on the winter solstice day, i.e. at the start
of Uttarayana. At present, this tithi occurs between 20 January and 20 February,
which differs from the date of winter solstice, 22nd December, by 29 to 60 days.
This difference is caused by the precession of the earth’s axis around the ecliptic
poles in the retrograde circuit in 25,725 years, as stated earlier. It causes a slow
backward shift of equinoxes and solstices with respect to the nakshatras and the
lunar months at the rate of one day in 71 years. As it would take 2060 to 4260
years to produce a shift of 29 to 60 days, the date of Bhisma’s death would be 1200
± 1000 BC. This date can be pushed back to the Krtttikâ epoch of 2300 BC, if we
put the beginning of Dhanisthâ exactly opposite to Maghâ (Alpha Leonis).”
Uttarayanam and Christmas coincided approximately 2000 years ago: Quoted
from: http://www.dattapeetham.com/india/talks/christDatta.html“
“In december the sun will be in Dhanus Raashi (Sagittarius). On 14th January every
year sun moves to the next sign i.e. Makara (Capricorn). From that day (14th
January) the period of Uttaraayana commences (Uttarayana is the period from 14
January to 14 July). The commencement of this Uttarayana happens on January 14th
in the system of Nirayana only (Sidereal calculations). But in Sayana system
(Tropical calculations), Sun starts his Uttarayana period in the last week of
December. The system of Sayana observes the movement of sun and corroborates
and finalises the astrological calculations on sun. Presently, this movement of Sun to
Uttarayana happens either on 22nd or 23rd of December. But about 2000 years ago
(possibly when Jesus was born) this change used to happen on December 25th every
year.”
Why the number 108 is special : The number 108 is very special to Hindus.
Ashtottara SataNama means 108 names. Sri Vishnu and most of the Devas and
Devis are worshipped with 108 names. Some people have japamalas with 108 beads
to help them keep count. There are 27 nakshatras (constellations) and each has 4
padas or quarters. This makes 108 padas in all.
Southern Most Rasi is not (no longer) Makara!

Source Srimad Bhagavatham 9th Canto :

Vaivaswatha Manu undertook meditation, to get more sons after Sudyumna (Ila)
entered Vanaprastha Asrama.
Let us consider two of the famous sons of Vaivaswatha, Ikshvaku, the ancestor of
Sri Rama and Saryati, the ancestor of Revati Devi, the sister-in-law of Sri Krishna.
Saryati’s daughter Sukanya married Bhrgu’s son Cyavana.
Saryati had a son called Anarta, a grandson called Revata, a great grandson called
Raivata Kakudmi and a great-great- grand daughter called Revati Devi. Thus Re-
vati Devi is the 7th generation from Saryati and 8th from Vaivaswatha Manu.
Revata built Kusasthali in the ocean, which Sri Krishna later converted into
Dwaraka.
Raivata Kakudmi and Revata visited Brahma. In the duration of listening to a con-
cert, while waiting for him, 27 Caturyugas passed as well as the Krutha and Treta
Yugas of the 28th caturyuga. On Brahma’s advice, Revati Devi was given in mar-
riage to Balarama.
1 I initially tried using relativistic equations to determine how fast Brahma loka
was moving away from Bhu Loka. But I later felt that the explanation may
have been simpler.
2 I later did an analysis based on precession., treating this story as an
“overload” on the term Revati as the lady and the nakshatram so that this was
a story that encoded astronomy.
▪ Revathi Nakshatram
▪ Revati and 27 CaturYugas
3 I think currently that Vyasa needed to explain what happened in the 27 miss-
ing caturyugas between the Matsya Avataram and the start of our Caturyuga.
Vyasa had no problem in conceptualising time travel and Indians believe in
time cycles as opposed to time lines. And he used this to make a scale and
origin correction in the calendar. To my mind… it is the Matsya Avataram
that had to be “back-dated” to solve some other problem. (May be to accomo-
date his greater knowledge of astronomy, after all Vyasa composed one of
the astronomical Siddhantas).
4 Currently, I think that that the Matsya Avataram and the end of the Caksusa
Manvantaram, took place at the beginning of our Kruta Yugam.
1 See : Caksusha Manvantaram ends with the Matysa Avataram Flood,
Vaivaswata Manvantaram Begins : Srimad Bhagavatam.
2 See Also : How many kinds of Yugas are there?
5 This puts the historic Vaivaswatha Manu, spanning time from the end of the
historic Caksusa Manvantaram to the beginning of our Krutha Yuga, which is
the first Caturyuga of the Vaivaswata Manvantaram. (The astronomical Cak-
susa Manvantaram is still 27.9 caturyugas ago.)
6 The Kruta and Tretha Yuga together covered 6 generations. Vaiwasvatha,
Saryati, Anarta from Krutha Yuga., Revata, Raivata and Revati from Tretha.
This causes no difficulty if we take 60/100 year yugas. We also have to de-
cide whether to take the 4:3:2:1 or 1:1:1:1 ratios for the yuga durations. (How
many kinds of Yugas are there?)
7 It also validates these analyses.
 ▪ Generations between Rama and Krishna.
▪ Generations previous to Sri Rama.
▪ How long did ancient Indians live?

Caksusha Manvantaram
ends with the Matysa
Avataram Flood,
Vaivaswata Manvantaram
Begins :
Srimad Bhagavatam.
December 24, 2009Ancient Indians, Avataram, Caksusha, caturyugam, Dravidesvara,
Dwapara, Flood, krutha, Manu, Manvantaram, Matsya Avataram, Matysa, satya sarada
kandula, Satyavrata, Sri Rama, Srimad Bhagavatam, treta, Vaivaswata, Vasishtha,
YugaAncient Indians, Avataram, Caksusha, caturyugam, Dravidesvara, Dwapara, Flood,
krutha, Manu, Manvantaram, Matsya Avataram, Matysa, satya sarada kandula, Satyavrata, Sri
Rama, Srimad Bhagavatam, treta, Vaivaswata, Vasishtha, Yuga
.entry-meta
.entry-header
There was a flood at the end of the Cakshusha Manvantaram (6th Manvantaram).
Then the Dravidesvara, Satyavrata, Vaivasvatha Manu, the ancestor of Sri Rama
and disciple of Vasishtha, was rescued by Matsya Avataram. After this it was the
Vaivaswatha Manvantaram. (See Also: http://oldthoughts.wordpress.com/kalpas-
yugas-manvantaras/ ).
Please find below the original sanskrit sloka and translation from the Srimad Bha-
gavatham.
Significance :
Traditionally, we are at the beginning of the kaliyugam of the 28th caturyugam of
the Vaivaswata Manvantaram. Thus there are 28 caturygas minus the duration of
1 kaliyuga, that separate us in time from the Matsya Avataram flood. For the dif-
ferent durations types and durations if yugas you may see : How many kinds of Yu-
gas are there?
Calculations : We have to select the right scale and origin.
Let us suppose that the Brahma Yugam of 5 years was used from the time of Brah-
ma till the beginning of our Kruta Yuga. Then for theKrutha, Tretha and Dwapara
Yuga, the 60 year Barhaspatya Yuhas were used.
1 Then we have 27*(5*4) = 540 years till the beginning of our Krutha yuga,
from the Matsya Avataram Flood.
2 And we have 60*3 = 180 years, from the Krutha Yuga beginning to the end
of Dwapara Yuga (the Avarohanam (Ascent) of Sri Krishna) and the begin-
ning of our Kaliyuga
3 I think that at this time, we adopted the astronomical scale, that includes
more astronomical bodies. So our Kaliyuga is 4320000 years long instead of
60 years long. It is possible that some of the early.
We have indpendent reasons for agreeing with 3102 BCE as the start date of our
Kaliyuga. (See : Date of the Mahabharata War).
Translating to Common Era Dates : using the scales above. (We can recalculate
variously using different scales and origins. And pick the one that matches the evi-
dence of the Saptarishi calendar, the Saraswathi river and other astronomical and
geographical data.)
▪ Beginning of Vaiwasvatha Manvantaram : 3102 BCE + 180 + 540 = 3822
BCE
▪ Starting of the 28th Caturyugam : 3102 + 180 = 3282 BCE
▪ Beginning of our Tretha Yugam : 3102 + 120 = 3220 BCE
▪ Beginning of our Dwapara Yugam : 3162 BCE
▪ Beginning of our Kaliyugam : 3102 BCE
A 60 year dwapara yuga is too short to accomodate all the events that took place in
it. See Also : Vaivaswatha Manu to Revati Devi, wife of Balarama Deva :
Srimad Bhagavatham
Source : Srimad Bhagavatham : 1.3.15
“rūpaḿ sa jagṛhe mātsyaḿ
cākṣuṣodadhi-samplave
nāvy āropya mahī–mayyām
apād vaivasvataḿ manum :
rūpam — form; saḥ — He; jagṛhe — accepted; mātsyam — of a fish; cākṣuṣa
— Cākṣuṣa; udadhi — water; samplave — inundation; nāvi — on the boat; āropya
— keeping on; mahī — the earth; mayyām — drowned in; apāt —
protected; vaivasvatam — Vaivasvata; Manum — Manu.
When there was a complete inundation after the period of the Cākṣuṣa Manu and
the whole world was deep within water, the Lord accepted the form of a fish and
protected Vaivasvata Manu, keeping him up on a boat.”

1200 year Kaliyugam

started in Parikshit’s time :
Vishnu Puranam
January 18, 2010Ancient Indians, Kaliyugam, Parikshit, satya sarada kandula, Vishnu
PuranamAncient Indians, Kaliyugam, Parikshit, satya sarada kandula, Vishnu Puranam
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Reference :
1 Vishnu Puranam Page : 334; 4th Amsa – 24th Adhyaya.
2 How many kinds of Yugas are there? (In the Mahabharata, Markandeya
gives KaliYuga length as 1200 years)

1200 year Kaliyuga duration : Vishnu Puranam

And Then, oh brahman, began Kali (Yuga) of twelve hundred year duration,
(… next… when the Amsa of Vishnu, (Sri Krishna) went to heaven.)
When I compare this with Krutha (Krita, Krta) Yuga Definition in Vishnu Puranam
which we can calculate to 12 years approximately, it strikes me that this update
was made after Parikshit’s time and the rishi of this shloka accepted a kaliyuga
length of 1200 years.
See Also :
1 Parikshit to Nanda – 1050 years – Vishnu Puranam
2 Saptarishis in Maghaa Nakhstaram at Parikshit’s time : Vishnu Puranam
3 Definition : Saptarishis in or indicating a nakshatram as per Vishnu Puranam
4 Saptarishi (Great Bear) Positions according to Varahamihira and Vateswara

Location of Sumeru :
Kavana Sarma,
Satya Sarada
.entry-header
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Kavana Sarma, Satya
Sarada Kandula
Meru Beliefs :
Nowadays many people who wish for good things to happen to them keep a small
image of the Meru Mountain, made of 5 different kinds of metal and painted gold
in colour, in their puja room and worship it everyday. It is believed that Sri or Devi
or Adi Sakthi is present on this mountain. Since that mountain is of a beautiful
colour – Su Varna and since suvarna has come to mean gold over time because of
its good colour, many people believe that SuMeru is a mountain of gold.
Possible Meru Locations outside India:
▪ There are two mountains named Meru in Africa and one named Meru in
Sumeria, Iran-Iraq.
▪ There is a Meru mountain in Africa, in the middle of Kenya, 37.65 E longi-
tude and 0.05N deg latitude. It is very near the equator also called bhu mad-
hya rekha in sanskrit.
▪ There is another Meru mountain near Kilimanjaro mountain range. It is in the
‘Arusha’ (aRSa? RSa?) forest of Tanzania. It is approximately on the same
longitude as the Kenyan Meru and slightly to the south of the equator. In our
childhood the sound “R” was taught as “aru” in pronounciation. So aruSa
could well be RSa. It is well knowm that RSis, Rshis, Rushis, Rishis, inhabit
the Meru mountain amd meditate there.
▪ In Sumeria (Mesopotamia, Iran – Iraq) there is a great mountain
called Sumeru. This is to the north west of the Himalayas and on the other
side of Himalayas with respect to Mithila. Therefore this is a strong candidate
to be the Meru Parvatham that is indicated in the Devi Bhagavatham. There
is so much similarity in the languages, customs and stories of the Hebrews,
Persians and the Ancient Indians. (See the post : Halloween, Karthika
Pouranami, Yama Deepam). The word Yehovah is like the sanskrit yah vah,
It means He is who has expanded into the universe. Just
as Vaivaswatha Manu went north to the Himalayas when the east coast of
dravida – andhra was flooded, similarly it is said that several millenia later,
Noah also saved his people in a boat. (See also the post on : Pralaya Katha
Vinayaka and Mata: Kruta Yuga Flood Narrations).
▪ There is an Asur town in Sumeria. The vedic word Asura originally meant
 strong. Even Indra has been described as Asura in 9 hymns. With time the
word Asura took a negative meaning. There is an Arka and a RSanAbha in
the stories of that region. They also have saptaRSis. Persians used to worship
fire just as Brahmins do.
Searching For Meru in India :
We thought there must be a Meru Parvatham in India also and looked through our
own ancient sanskrit texts. Knowledgeable people recognise that the more ancient
texts have fewer data interpolations in them and preserve the data of that time
more exactly.
Meru as the earth’s axis : Surya Siddhantam :
According to the SURYA SIDDHANTAM of Maya Danava, the father-in-law of
Ravana, Meru is not a mountain at all. It is an axis of the earth that passes through
the North and South Poles of the earth. The earth revolves around this axis and
therefore it appears as if the sun and the moon revolve around this axis. (It is poeti-
cally said that the suna nd the moon do pradakshinams around Meru, since Devi is
to be found there.) Our ancient astronomers connected the north and south poles of
the earth along the surface of the earth through the Rohitaka peak, Kurukshetram
and Lankapuri of Sri Lanka and called it the zer0 longitude. Everything to the east
of this zero longitude was east and everything to the west of this line was west. It is
believed that Meru is at the “centre of the earth”. This must have been the reason
for that belief. Can you really think of a central point on the surface of a sphere?
Any point can be defined as the centre.
Meru as a mountain to the North or North-West of Himalayas : Devi
Bhagavatham, Mahabharatam
After Veda Vyasa completed his work of the compilation and division of the
Vedas, he sat on the Meru mountain and meditated on Devi. (Vyasa’s meditation
and Suka’s birth : Devi Bhagavatham : 10th and 14th Adhyaya of the
First Skanda). When Vyasa’s son Suka, completed his education under Brihaspati,
Suka was advised to visit Raja Janaka, Sita’s Father as per Devi Bhagavatham.
Suka took 2 years to cross the Mount Meru and 1 year to cross the Himalayas to
reach Mithila.
(Kisari Mohan Ganguli’s translation of the Mahabharatam, says he crossed 2
‘varshas’ as in geographical areas and not ‘years’) Either way we can surmise
that the Meru mountain is to the North or Northwest of the Himalayas.
The Mahabharatam tells us that there are 9 varshas in Jambudwipa of which Bhara-
ta Varsha is one and it is to the south of the Himalayas. The hiranmaya (golden)
varsham is near the Himalayas. Nila, Sringa and Sveta Parvatas are there. In the
centre of these parvatas is the Meru Parvatam., like the centre of a lotus. It was also
considered the middle of mother earth. This means that Meru Mountain, was in the
centre of Jambudwipa but not in India at all as per the Mahabharatam.
Meru as a mountain in South India : Valimiki Ramayanam , Bhavishya Puranam
The Valmiki Ramayanam tells us that there was a mountain on which gold could
be found in Kishkinda. Kishkinda is to the south of the Vindhyas and today we be-
lieve it to be in the area of Karnataka-Andhra-Bellary (Hampi). Therefore the
“golden mountain” must refer to Kolar. Kolar is very close to the ancient Indian
zero longitude. (Interestingly Chanakya had said that gold and precious tones were
to be found in the south and not in the north as some of his seniors had believed).
(The Sri Maha Vishnu Puranam tells us that the area to the south of the Himalayas
and to the north of the seas is the Bharata Varsha.)
Of all the Puranas the Bhavishya Puranam is written in a unique style. Each new
narrator of the Bhavishya Purana uses the voice of the original narrator and there-
fore some events are described as predictions. Thus the Bhavishya Puranam grew
in size with time. Suka continues the narration after Vyasa and other narrators con-
tinue after Suka, in Suka’s voice.
This Bhavishya Puranam says that Meru Parvatam is in Tailanga Desam and that
the Narmada River flows alon the Meru Parvatham and to the South of it. Thus the
Bhavishya Puranam says that the Meru Parvatham is in the ‘middle’ of Bharata
Varsha, India.
While the Europeans concluded that they came here, it is equally possible that we
went there. This needs to be examined in a little greater detail.
The National geographic genographic project has given some maps of the routes
which represent their conclusionthat humans first originated in Africa and then
spread to other parts of the world, first via land and then by boat and then by land
again. (Look at the interactive map for a quick and easy grasp of their concept.
Click here for a photograph of the Adaltu Skull found in Ethiopia, which is estimat-
ed to be 160,000 years old.) The basis given for this Out-Of-Africa theory is a
study of genetic markers. There are some differences and some commonalities be-
tween the people of Africa and India. The people in the middle regions have some
features belonging to both groups. Since people have already assumed that the first
people originated in Africa, the direction of migration was assumed to be from
Africa to India.
A very old part of the world is the forest of the Gonds, called Gond-Vanam or
G0ndwana. The Narmada Valley Excavations, have revealed a human skull in the
volcanic ash layers between 750,000 years to 75000 years old. The skull was locat-
ed closer to the 750,000 year layer, and is estimated to be 600,000 years old. It is
possible that first humans spread to all parts of the world from Narmada Valley in
Gondwana (the forest of the Gonds). (In this context you may find this data also
interesting : Myanmar fossil primate, Ganlea megacanina).
The Bhavishya Purana tells us that Adama was banished from a garden of 64
square yojanas, by his father Kardama along with his wife Havyavati (Eve). Their
descendants are the ‘mlecchas’ of our puranas. It is recorded that after some
years, their descendants Kasyapa and Aryavati returned to India and that their de-
scendants and kinsmen came to be known as/ became Aryans (as their ancestors?)
by learning the Vedas. The biblical flood occurred about a 100 years before the
date given for Aryans arriving in Kashmir, as per the Bhavishya Purana., about a
1000 years after the Mahabharata war.
A researcher by name John Sassoon has written a book called, “From Sumeru to
Jerusalem the forbidden Hypothesis”. This book tells us that initially the bible was
preserved word for word and in later times, the percieved meaning was given more
importance than the words. The original texts say that the Hebrews came into
Sumer from the East. The later texts were altered to say that the Hebrews came
into Sumer from the west.
“Ancient Traditions that have been preserved unaltered for thousands of years
have an uncomfortable habit of turning out to be based on a core of truth” – John
Sassoon.
If the Jews came to Sumer from the east and Adam was banished from Kardama
Asrama in India to the west, the data fits pretty well.
Therefore, it is necessary to look for the Meru Parvatham in the Narmada Region,
in what was once Gondwana. I also recommend interested readers to read : Indian
History – A New Construct

Source : http://www.scotese.com/newpage8.htm
Location of Sumeru : Telugu Essay : Kavana Sarma, Satya Sarada.

Map: Greece to Cambodia:

Our Neighbours
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Authorship and Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

First let us attempt to understand the European angle on Indian History.

Geography: In the map below, I want us to look at the land route from Greece to
India, through Istanbul, Turkiye (Turkey), Persia (Iran, Iraq), Gandhar (Afgan-
isthan), Kekeya (Pakisthan)., or Arabia and the Indian Ocean. The British could
have heard about us only through the Europeans, who could have only heard of us
through the Persians and the Arabians. They had no real direct idea about us. The
Spanish being the ‘western most’ Europeans, hoped they could find a sea route to
India via the Atlantic Ocean, because they underestimated the size of the earth and
they wanted to be free of Arab control. The ‘Mediterranean Sea Religions’ Jews
(Judaism – 1500 BC), Christianity (0 BC), and the “Red Sea Religion” Islam (600
AD) are all from the west coast of ancient Arabia. (The Mediterranean coast be-
longs to Israel now, I want us to focus on geography for a bit and not the political
boundaries.)
Why Europeans know Egypt:
▪ The Mediterranean sea closely connects the South of Europe (Spain, France,
Italy, Greece etc) to the North of Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Libya and
Egypt). It is no surprise that the Europeans are aware of Egypt and accept its
antiquity.
▪ The Jews left Egypt around 1500 BC and Jesus is said to have lived there
with his parents till King Herod died. So they were familiar with Egypt.
Alexander, Seleucus, Megasthanes : The first Greek Contact
▪ There is evidence from non Greek sources, that Alexander defeated a weak-
ened Persia and Egypt. See Map: http://www.worldreligions.psu.edu/maps-
alexander.htm
▪ Alexander the Greek did not cross The Sindhu River and the Hindu Kush
mountain range in modern Pakisthan.
▪ Plutarch collected Oral Legends much after Alexander’s death and wrote the
biography of Alexander.
▪ There are only legends concerning his battle with Porus (Puru) of Kekeya
(Pakisthan) with both sides claiming victory. Whoever won, it is clear that
Puru not only retained his kingdom but also got a piece of Taxila, which al-
lied with Alexander. Is it because Alexander lost the battle OR because the
man who slaughtered his own mercenaries after the battle was all of a sud-
den generous in victory, unlike in Persia and Egypt?
▪ Either way Alexander went back, and his general Seleucus lost another battle
before concluding a treaty with Sandrokottus.
▪ Alexander tooks some Brahmans back with him and some account of these
conversations you can find here.
The net effect of this is that to Europeans, India became “real” only after Alexan-
der. Since they believe only their legends and not ours, they dismiss everything be-
fore Alexander as mythical with the single exception of Buddha’s birth. Which is a
pity! Annoying but a pity nevertheless. The real pain is our Macaulay affected
mainstream historians to whom anything that the Europeans say is gospel and any-
thing that Indians say is a myth. :( :( :(

Now let us take a look at Africa.

Somalia being the eastern-most African country and being closest to us is addition-
ally interesting because Ravana’s maternal grandfather’s name was Sumali. The
sea route from Somalia to Kerala and Sri Lanka is practically on the same
latitude. The presence of Meru mountains in Africa as well as Murugan as a deity
there are points of interest.
And now let us take a look at Arabia.

Sur (Oman) is the closest point to India on almost the same latitude as a direct sea
route to Dwaraka from Arabia.
Let us come back to our eastern neighbours again at a later time.

Ancient India Map (3)

Rama’s Journey
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See Index : Ancient Maps
These maps have been taken from the historical work in novel form Ramakandam
by Prof. Kandula V.N. Sarma (Kavana Sarma). It is copyrighted. You may use it
for your personal use, but may not reproduce it without his permission.

ramakandam 016

2nd kandam bharathudu raaka 014

Maps in English :

My corrections for Kabandha’s place : Please see. Kabandha asks Sri Rama to go
West to Pampa. Flora and Fauna description. (via Kishkinda – Ancient
Deccan Civilization)
I also think that Sri Rama passed through Amarkantak.
▪ Travel : Amarkantak (Part 3) : Karna’s Sun Temple, Pataleshwar, Bhrigu Ka-
mandal and Narmada Kund on Karthika Somavaram
▪ Travel : Amarkantak (Part 2) : Visiting Narmada’s play ground on
Karthika Somavaram
 ▪ Travel : Amarkantak (Part 1) : Jai Narmada! : Where Narmada is born.

Kaliyuga and Caturyugas.

.entry-header
This article has been modified and integrated into this article : How many kinds of
Yugas are there? and this article Date of the Mahabharata War.
1 The Mahapralaya (Universal Dissolution) that Markandeya told the Pandavas
about was 1200 short of 12000 years before their time, it was 10,800 years
ago as per Markandeya. If Kaliyuga did start in 3102 BC as indicated
above then The Mahapralaya was 15,910 years ago. See: http://nature.ca/
notebooks/english/iceage.htm
2 Aryabhata never mentioned either kaliyuga, or saka era by name in the
Aryabhatiyam. He spoke of The Date of the Bharata War with respect to the
fourth Yuga Pada and his own age with respect to that event. There is an in-
correct or false attribution – correlation floating around the internet.

Connecting Science and Scriptures : Satya Sarada Kandula : All Rights Reserved
erase this line if you want to turn the bubble off
Date of the Mahabharata War
Authorship and Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula
(Veda Vyasa wrote the Mahabharata,
• while The Saraswathi River was still flowing but not as forcefully as before,
• after the Bharata war was over, and
• after Dwaraka was submerged in the ocean,
• after Sri Krishna died and
• after the Pandava Mahaprasthanam – walk to Swarga (Indra) Loka. He took 3
years to write it.)
Traditional Date : Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy By Richard L. Thompson
• On Feb 18th, 3102 BC, at midnight on the meridian of Ujjain, the seven grahas
(grav-itational bodies – surya, chandra, kuja, guru, sani, budha and sukra)
lined up, on the other side of the earth in such a way that they could not be
seen. The chaya (shadow) graha Rahu was directly overhead.
• All the 7 grahas were lined up with Revati Nakshatram at this time. This is the
start point of the Kaliyuga. Acc. to Aryabhatta, Kaliyuga started at sun-rise
(not mid-night).
• Using Computer programs, it has been determined that, at that time, 5 grahas
were within 10 degrees of the Vedic reference star (Revati) , with Mercury
(Budha) at 19 deg, Sani (Saturn at -27 degrees) and Rahu being within 18 deg
of the position opposite to Revathi.
• Such alignments or even near alignments are rare. Only 3 ten year alignments
have been found from then to now.
Saraswathi River Drying Up Date :
An important factor to consider in dating the Vedas is Geography. See: http://
ancientindians.wordpress.com/saraswathi-river/
• What emerges from a geological analysis is that the Sarswathi which flowed in
full form around 9000 BC started drying up from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC.
The geological events that contributed to the rise of the Himalayas, also
cut off the the tributaries, major and minor, to Saraswati and the march to oblivion
commenced around 3000 BC.
Unique Eclipse Pair Combination just before the Bharata War and other events.

See: Unique eclipse pair combination just before the Bharata War! : based on “http://
www.boloji.com/astro/00325a.htm : DrS.Balakrishna February 23, 2002
• “The first and oldest eclipse pair from 3129 BC is unique. These fit the
Puranic description that Sri Krishna passed away in 3102 BCJ, which is 27
years after the war. The study confirms that Kaliyuga could have started in
3102 BCJ. There are 5 other pairs that may fit the bill, though not as well
as this one.
Saptarishi Calendar.
See :
• Where are the Saptarishis (Big Dipper) today?
• Parikshit to Nanda – 1050 years – Vishnu Puranam
• Saptarishis in Maghaa Nakhstaram at Parikshit’s time : Vishnu Puranam
• Saptarishi (Great Bear) Positions according to Varahamihira and Vateswara
• Nanda came to power when the Saptarishis indicated Purvashaada :
Vishnu Puranam
• Which Nanda was indicated by the Saptarishis in Purvashaada Nakshatram :
Vishnu Puranam
• The Saptarishi Calendar is a way of naming the centuries after the Nakshatras.
Yudhisthira’s period was “Saptarishis in the Magha”, Nanda was “Saptarishis in
Purvashada” and this century is “Saptarishis in Makha”. Based on this calendar,
the Bharata war took place about 3100 BC.
Date of the Mahabharata War as per Aryabhatta
It is very important to note that no reference is made either to Saka Era as some
claim or to Kaliyuga as others claim. It is also important to note that as per
traditional estimates 1/10th of a Mahayuga (Kaliyuga duration) was remaining at the
end of the Bharata war and as per Aryabhatta 1/4th of the Mahayuga (Yuga Pada)
was remaining at the end of the Bharata War. Brahmagupta did not agree with
Aryabhatta on this point. It is certain that Aryabhatta had access to the
Bhagavatham and the Bharatam, since he lived after the Bharata war. It is important
again to note that the phrase translated as 60 times 60 in the image below is
debated and translated as 6 times 60 by one school of thought.

Date of Mahabharata War as per Aryabhatta

Winter solstice at Dhanishtha. -1424 BC.
• Mahabharata War occurs (dated from reference in the Mahabharata citing winter
solstice at Dhanishtha, which occurs around this time). (conflicts with the 3139 BC) – I
need to verify this….

Where are the Saptarishis (Big Dipper) today?

7 Votes

In this image east and west are reversed from the way it appears in bangalore..., but
relative positions are okay.

http://www.astronomy.org/StarWatch/June/index-6-08.html
The Saptarishi Mandala or the Big Dipper Circle is to the north of the Nakshatra
Mandala or the circle of Fixed Stars. (Ashwini, Bharani etc.. See Also : Nakshatras,
Grahas, Varas, Rasis, Masas, Rtus). The Nakshatra Mandala is distributed on both
sides of the ecliptic. If you look at the picture above, you can see that the
Saptarishis are ‘Next To’ or “IN” Kanya (Virgo) and Simha (Leo). The colonials, not
having a background in Indian astronomy, took this a little too literally, and
dismissed it. The word “IN” means “rises and sets with”. (Saptami vibhakthi is used
to indicate “while” as well as “in”.)
The deal is that there is a relative motion between the Saptarishi Mandala and the
Nakshatra Mandala. So the Saptarishis are “next to” different rasis in different
centuries. Our Ancient Indian Astronomers (Vrddha Garga, Varahamihira,
Vateswara ) knowing that 2 rasis (zodiac signs), was not specific enough, picked one
nakshatram, and said that in every century, the saptarishis were “IN” one particular
nakshatram. If you look at the picture above, you will see that different pairs of the
saptarishis point to different nakshatras.

https://oldthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/definition-saptarishis-in-or-
indicating-a-nakshatram-as-per-vishnu-puranam/
Dr. Satya Prakash Saraswat says that Visakha is presently indicated by the
Saptarishis (The present position of the Saptarishis). He opines that middle means
“perpendicular”. I am not so sure of this. I thought it might be Arudra, but I am not
sure of that either at this time. The answer to this question is important in dating
the Mahabharata War.
This is what Varahamihira said : “The Sages traverse through each lunar mansion
(nakshatram) for a period of 100 years (satam, satam varsah). Whichever
constellation makes them conspicuous when they rise to the east of it, in that
they are said to be situated” – (4) Varahamihira quoted the views of Vrddha
(Senior) Garga in the 13th chapter of Brihat Samhita.
By this definition, we are the Saptarishis are “IN” makha nakshatram again.
• By Varahamihira’s one century per constellation rule : we have 5400 years for
the date of the Mahabharata War (2 cycles).
• Using Vateswara’s correction to this rule and using 94 years, 6 months
and 20 days per Nakshatram.. 2 cycles take 5111.4 years, which matches
very well with our present date for the start of Kaliyuga!!
• Date of the Mahabharata War
• Saptarishi Calendar
•

Parikshit to Nanda – 1050

years – Vishnu Puranam
January 17, 2010Ancient Indians, Bhavishyat Puranam, Danasasana Patram, Gonanda,
Janamejaya, Kalahana, Kashmir, Magadha, Mahapadma Nanda, Parikshit, Rajatarangini, satya
sarada kandula, Sri Krishna, Srimad Bhagavatham, Thiruvalangadu Copper Plates, TimeLine,
Uncategorized, Vishnu PuranamAncient Indians, Bhavishyat Puranam, Danasasana Patram,
Gonanda, Janamejaya, Kalahana, Kashmir, Magadha, Mahapadma Nanda, Parikshit,
Rajatarangini, rimeline, satya sarada kandula, Sri Krishna, Srimad Bhagavatham,
Thiruvalangadu Copper Plates, Vishnu Puranam
.entry-meta
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Reference : Vishnu Puranam Page : 334; 4th Amsa – 24th Adhyaya.

This shloka tells us that 1050 years was the gap between Pariskshit’s birth, the end
of the Mahabharata War and the coronation of Nanda.
Who was Parikshit?
Parikshit was the son of Abhimanyu and Uttara. Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna
and Uttara was the daughter of Virata Raja, where the Pandavas spent their year of
exile in disguise. (See : Brihannala!)
See Also : Janamejaya’s Dana Sasana Patram : Janamejaya was the son of Parikshit
who performed the Sarpa Yaga.
When was Pariskhit born ?
Parikshit was born at the end of the Mahabharata War, Sri Krishna saved his life
while he was yet in his mother’s womb. Based on other data we belive that this
was 3138 BCE.
Who was Nanda ?
▪ Let us look for a Nanda who lived 1050 years after Parikshit.
▪ There is a Nandivardhana among the Pradyotanas who comes close to this
 date. He had a son called Nandi. See Jarasandha to Asokavardhana Maurya to
Andhra Kings: Vishnu Puranam
▪ It is one possibility that the Nanda in the verse above could refer to the
Pradyotana Nandivardhana and not at all to Mahapadmananda as has
been suggested.
▪ This is because both references come from the same amsa and adhyaya
of the Vishnu Puranam.
▪ This gives a period of 1050 years for 23 kings approx (or about 45
years per king).
▪ The other possibility will become clear after studying the rest of the
shlokams which refer to the Saptarishi positions.
You can also see :
▪ Magadha kings as per Bhavishyat Purana
▪ Magadha after Jarasandha : Srimad Bhagavatham
▪ Jarasandha to Asokavardhana Maurya to Andhra Kings: Vishnu Puranam
▪ Andhra historical evidence before the Satavahanas
▪ Kalahana’s Rajatarangini : Kings from Sri Krishna’s time to Gonanda 3 the
founder of Gonanda dynasty : The Date of Mahabharata War
▪ Tiruvalangadu Copper-Plates of Rajendra-Chola I: Ikshvakus to Karikala
(Kalikala) Chola:
▪ India after Sri Krishna
Definition : Saptarishis in or indicating a
nakshatram as per Vishnu Puranam

1 Vote

Reference : Vishnu Puranam Page : 334; 4th Amsa – 24th Adhyaya.

Time of this shlokam : Based on the shlokas that this verse is with, we can assume
that it was written after the coronation of Nanda. See : Parikshit to Nanda – 1050
years – Vishnu Puranam.
It is relatively easy to understand the terms, when the sun or moon are in this
nakshatram or the other. See : Nakshatras
It is much harder to understand how a set of 7 stars outside the zodiac belt can be
‘in’ or can ‘point to’ one of the fixed stars. I reproduce this diagram and explanation
from Saptarishi Calendar. The first diagrams shows how different pairs of the
saptarishis point to different nakshatrams. The second picture shows how different
pairs of nakshatrams rise first during different seasons.
Which Nakshatram is presently indicated by the Sapta Rishis?
As you can see in the image below, different nakshatra-pairs of the Saptarishis
indicate different nakshatras. In the picture below, it is not alpha and beta, but
gamma and delta that point to Regulus or Makha Nakshatram, today. Eta indicates
Arcturus (Swati) (yellow line). The pink line from Swati takes you to Spica (Chitra).
The green line from epsilon takes you to Denebola (Uttara/Uttara Phalguni). Of
course the line joining the alpha and beta line always points to polaris (Dhruva),
north pole star.

http://souledout.org/nightsky/bigdippernavigation/bigdippernavigation.html

Image source: http://stars5.netfirms.com/ourse.jpg

The Saptarishis rotate in the same direction as the 27 nakshatrams but much more
slowly because they are closer to the axis through the pole star (Dhruva). So it
appears as if they were “moving backwards” with respect to the fixed stars. Every
hundred years it appears as if they were indicating the previous nakshatram. ie 25
years per nakshatra pada. (3.3333 deg), which is observable in a single life time. In
fact Varahamihira quotes Vrddha Garga on this.

Saptarishi (Great Bear) Positions according to

Varahamihira and Vateswara

Reference : Saptarishi Calendar,

See Also : Nakshatras, Grahas, Varas, Rasis, Masas, Rtus
Note : I am in the process of finding and verifying some original sources (Vishnu
Puranam etc).. in order to clear up some matters. For eg : from the data below it
appears that Kaliyuga Raja Vrttantam is counting “backwards” from Makha to
Aslesha and that Vishnu Puranam is counting “forwards” from Makha to
Poorvashada.
• Saptarishi Position at the Time of Parikshit’s Birth and Yudhisthira’s
Coronation : 74/75 years after Makha beginning : 3138 BCE
◦ Varahamihira‘s Brihat Samhita, and Vishnu Purana, IV 4.105-106 : ok
• Saptarishi Position at 0 Kaliyuga : 3102 BCE
◦ Aslesha (given : computed by author ): direction counting backwards
by 25 years
◦ Kaliyuga Raja Vruttantam
• Saptarishi Position at MahaPadma Nanda (Chanakya): Poorvashada middle
(observed):
◦ This is calculated as 10.5 centuries.. direction of counting forwards..
◦ Taking the direction of counting backwards, and using 100 year per
Nakshatra Rule, I get 1650 years after Kaliyuga to the middle of
Purvashada (1552 BCE);
▪ Vishnu Purana, IV, 24.112)
 ◦ For resolution see : Which Nanda was indicated by the Saptarishis in
Purvashaada Nakshatram : Vishnu Puranam
• Saptarishi Position at the beginning of the Saka Era referred by Varahamihira :
(beginning 2526 years after Yudhisthira.. as calculated by Varahamihira, using
the 100 year per nakshatra rule given by Vrddha Garga and quoted by
Varahamihira).
◦ We calculate Aslesha counting forwards.
◦ We calculate Poorvaphalguni counting backwards.
▪ Brihat Samhita
• Saptarishi Position at the beginning of Saka Era referred by Vateswara :
◦ Vateswara Siddhanta
◦ 4000-3102 = 898 BCE
◦ 4000 years corresponds to a movement of 42.3 nakshatras as per
Vateswara; 42.3-27=15.3
◦ This brings us to the beginning of Uttarashada (counting backwards).
◦ This brings us the to the beginning of Uttarabhadra (counting forwards).
Saptarishi Position presently : Poorva Phalguni as per Vateswara, Hasta as per
Varahamihira, counting backwards.
• Arudra according to me.. just looking at the sky map,, I may be wrong
• If Arudra is right then Bharata War is 58 centuries ago, not 51 centuries ago…

Nanda came to power

when the Saptarishis
indicated Purvashaada :
Vishnu Puranam
January 21, 2010Ancient Indians, Nanda, Purvashaada, Saptarishis, satya sarada kandula,
Uncategorized, Vishnu PuranamAncient Indians, Nanda, Purvashaada, Saptarishis, satya
sarada kandula, Vishnu Puranam
.entry-meta
.entry-header

Nanda came to power when the Saptarishis indicated Purvashaada

Reference :
1 Vishnu Puranam Page : 334; 4th Amsa – 24th Adhyaya.
2 Saptarishi Calendar
These are the shlokas that tell us that the saptarishis were observed to point to
Poorvashaada Nakshatram at Nanda’s time.
See Also :
1 Parikshit to Nanda – 1050 years – Vishnu Puranam
2 Saptarishis in Maghaa Nakhstaram at Parikshit’s time : Vishnu Puranam
3 Definition : Saptarishis in or indicating a nakshatram as per Vishnu Puranam
4 Saptarishi (Great Bear) Positions according to Varahamihira and Vateswara
5 1200 year Kali yugam started in Parikshit’s time : Vishnu Puranam
6 Kaliyuga started, with Sri Krishna’s Ascent : Vishnu Puranam

Which Nanda was

indicated by the Saptarishis
in Purvashaada
Nakshatram :
Vishnu Puranam
January 22, 2010Ancient Indians, Astronomy, Date, History, Mahapadma Nanda, nakshatram,
Poorvashaada, Saptarishis, satya sarada kandula, Vishnu PuranamAncient Indians, Astronomy,
Date, History, Mahapadma Nanda, nakshatram, Poorvashaada, Saptarishis, satya sarada
kandula, Vishnu Puranam
.entry-meta
.entry-header
References :
1 Definition : Saptarishis in or indicating a nakshatram as per Vishnu Puranam
2 Saptarishi (Great Bear) Positions according to Varahamihira and Vateswara
3 Saptarishi Calendar
4 Parikshit to Nanda – 1050 years – Vishnu Puranam : (Nandivardhana
Pradyotana)
5 Saptarishis in Maghaa Nakhstaram at Parikshit’s time : Vishnu Puranam
6 Nanda came to power when the Saptarishis indicated Purvashaada :
Vishnu Puranam : (Which Nanda?)
Apparent Conflict :
 ▪ Wilson assumed that both shlokas 104 and 112 of the 4th Amsa, 24th Ad-
hyaya of Vishnu Puranam refered to the same Nanda. (Maha Padma Nanda)
This conflicted with totals from the 23rd Adhyaya.
▪ While Shloka 104 (Parikshit to Nanda – 1050 years – Vishnu Puranam )
mentions 1050 years – the totals in 23rd Adhyaya give (See : Magadha from
Jarasandha to Satavahanas as per Vishnu Puranam) :
Magadhá kings 1000 yrs.

Pradyota, &c. 138

Śiśunága, &c. 362

1500
▪ Others have assumed that Saptarishis in Purvashaada Nakshatram refers to
the same Nanda. This creates even a bigger problem, because the only way to
get 1050 years from Maghaa to Purvashaada is to count forwards, whereas
Kaliyuga Raja Vrttantam tells clearly that we should count backwards.
Counting back wards give us 1650 years. For Details See : Saptarishi (Great
Bear) Positions according to Varahamihira and Vateswara
Resolution :
▪ The shorter duration of 1050 years refers to the Nanda of the Pradyotana dy-
nasty
▪ The longer duration of 1500 or 1650 years refers to MahaPadma Nanda
(whose children were replaced by Chanakya). That is why the phrase Nandat
Prabhrutyah in sholka 112.
Discrepancy between 1500 and 1650 years :
▪ The period of Sahadeva, the son of Jarasandha was at least partly in Dwapara
Yuga
▪ Vatesvara also gave a correction for the duration of Saptarishis indicating
each Nakshatram from 100, as given by Varahamihira and Vrddha Garga to
94 years 6 months and 20 days. (See : Vatesvara, an ancient Kashmiri As-
tronomer, his Karanasara and Siddhanta : R.N. Rai, INSA ) This explains a
difference of 90 years (approx) in the total.
▪ Assuming that there must be some more small correction figures, arrived at
by later astronomers, we can take the figure of 1500 years between Parikshit
and Mahapadma Nanda as quite accurate.

Kalahana’s Rajatarangini :
Date of Mahabharata War
December 31, 2009Asoka, Asokeswara, Balarama, brahmans, buddhist, Caitya, chakram,
Damodara 1, Date, gandhar, Godhara, Gonanda 1, Gonanda 2, Jalauka, Janaka, Jarasandha,
Jyestesa, Kalahana, Kamsa, Kashmir, Kerala, Khagendra, Kusa, Mahabharata, mathura,
Mleccha, Naga, Nandisa, Parvati Devi, Rajatarangini, WarAsoka, Balarama, brahmans, Date,
gandhar, Janaka, Jarasandha, Kalahana, Kashmir, Kerala, Kusa, Mahabharata, mathura,
Mleccha, Naga, Rajatarangini, Sacinara, Sakuni, Sindhu, Siva, Sri Krishna, Srinagari,
Surendra, Suvarna, Suvarnamani, Ujjhatadimba, Vijayesa, Vijayeswara, War, Yadavas,
Yasovati
.entry-meta
.entry-header
Reference : Kalahana’s Rajatarangini. Translation by Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, Fore-
word by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Publishers : Sahitya Akademi. ISBN :
81-260-1236-6, Rs 200, first published in 1935, latest reprint 2006. The expert
Scholar Sri R.S. Pandit is incidentally and interestingly the husband of Smt. Vijay-
alakshmi Pandit, the first woman President of the United Nations General Assem-
bly (My mother was named after her :) ).
Who was Kalahana? Kalahana was a Kashmiri Historian, who composed the histo-
ry of Kashmiri Kings (Rajatarangini) in Sanskrit.
Why is it important to us? He has provided a links between the Kashmiri Kings,
and the Yadava kings as well as his estimate of the date of the Bharata war.
What does he tell us?
King Gonanda 1 was a great Kashmiri king. He was
invited by Jarasandha to attack Mathura after the death
of Kamsa. In the battle between Balarama (Sri
Krishna’s brother) and Gonanda, Balarama won
(embraced the goddess of victory) and Gonanda I died
(embraced the earth).
King Damodara 1 inherited the kingdom of Kashmir
from his father Gonanda I and was waiting for an
opportunity to hit back at the Yadavas. At this time the
Yadavas were invited to Gandhar, on the banks of the
Sindhu, for a swayamvar of a princess. He attacked the
Yadavas with a huge army before the Swayamvar. In
the battle, Sri Krishna killed him with his chakram
(battle – disc).
Yasovati was the widowed and pregnant wife of
Damodara I. Sri Krishna had her crowned the queen of
Kashmir, by brahmans. The yadavas did not like this.
They wanted to press their advantage and take over the
kingdom. But Sri Krishna explained to them that the
land of Kashmir is Parvati Devi and that the ruler is an
Amsa of Siva and he should not be disregarded even if
he is a bad man.
Gonanda 2, the son of mother Yasovati was crowned
king while yet a boy whose dangling legs could not
reach the foot stool from the throne. He was not invited
either by the Kauravas or the Pandavas to fight in the
war, because he was a kid. Thus Kashmir did not
participate in the Mahabharata War.
35 were the kings after Gonanda 2 whose names and
deeds disappeared without a trace.
Lava, the next king constructed 84 lakhs of stone
houses and founded the city of Lolor.
Kusa, Khagendra, Surendra, Godhara, Suvarna,
Janaka, Sacinara were the kings who followed Lava.
Both Lava and Kusa gifted Agraharas to brahmanas.
Khagendra waged wars against the Nagas. The others
expanded in kashmir founding viharas and gifting
agraharas. Suvarna constructed the canal
Suvarnamani in Kerala. Sacinara died without a son.
Asoka was the great grandson of Sakuni and the son of
Sacinara’s great-uncle. He was the next king. He
accepted Buddhism, and covered s’uSkaletra and
vitastAtra with stupas. He built a very large Caitya in
Dharmaranya Vihara. he founded the magnificent city
of Srinagari with 96 lakh houses. He rebuilt the
prakaras of Vijayesa with stone and built 2 temples to
Asokeswara within the stone rampart.
Jalauka was born to Asoka with the blessings of Siva.
When the mlecchas (foreigners – people of indistinct
speech ) overran his country, Asoka performed a
penance to please Bhutesa and was blessed with
Jaluaka. Jalauka could transform materials and had
plenty of gold to gift. He froze the waters, entered the
Naga kingdoms and delighted many Naga girls. In his
court, was an erudite philosophers who defeated many
puffed up, powerful, buddhist debators. Jalauka was
devoted to Vijayeswara and Jyestesa in Nandisa
kshetra. He had a naga friend. He drove out the
mlecchas. The place where the invasion was repelled
is called Ujjhatadimba. He instituted the constitutional
system of Yudhisthira.
…… and so on….. this brings us to Gonanda 3; who
became the first of the Gonanda dynasty.
▪ Kalahana tells us that 52 kings passed into oblivion
from the time of the Kauravas and The Pandavas to
this Gonanda 3.
▪ He tells us that, some people have calculated 2268
years from the Mahabharata War to the time of this
Gonanda 3. (Giving on an average of 43-44 years
per king)
▪ This he says is based on the wrong assumption that
Mahabharata War took place at the end of the
Dwapara Yuga.
▪ He says that the Bharata war took place in year
653 of Kaliyuga (not 36 years before Kaliyuga,
which is the assumption made by others. See Date
of the Mahabharata War)
▪ He says ” Of the laukika era, in the 24th year at
present, 1070 years of the Saka Era have gone by.
(See : How many kinds of Sakas (Eras) are there?)
▪ “Roughly commencing from Gonanda 3, 2330
autumns have now elapsed.”
▪ “1266 years is the duration of time which, it is
believed is the duration of 52 kings “
▪ Then he refers to Varahamihira’s Brhat Samhita
and says that since the Saptarishi Mandala moves
from one nakshatra to the other in 100 years, and
the Saptarishis stood in (indicated) Magha
(Regulus) during the time of Yudhisthira, “2526
 years prior to the Saka Era was the epoch of his
reign”. See Saptarishi Calendar.
▪ Varahamihira’s Pancasiddhantika refers to 427
Saka Era (1.8.10 of pancasiddhantika), in a
calculation to arrive at the Ahargana. :
Varahamihira – Really 427 of Saka Era? :
Pancha Siddhantika
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights
Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula
Notes:
1 In giving 1226 years for 52 kings, Kalahana is assuming an average of 23-24
years per king, which is close to the assumption that many historians make.
2 1226+2330 = 3556 years is Kalahana’s estimate for the time between The
Bharata War and himself. Pulakesin equates 3735 years after the Bharata
War with 556 years of the Sakam that he was living in The Aihole Inscription.
3 Kalahana says that he is in 1070 Saka Era., which gives 3556-1070 = 2486
years between the Bharata war and the start of Kalahana’s Saka Era. Pu-
lakesin says that 556 years of the Saka era have passed, this gives us 3179
years between the Bharata war and the start of the saka Era referred by Pu-
lakesin.
▪ If Pulakesi’s Saka Reference = Kalahana’s Saka Reference, then date
of Bharata War as per Pulakesin is 3179 years before the start of the
Sakam, and 2486 years as per Kalahana. Pulakesin who lived before
Kalahana, clearly used Vyasa’s date for the Bharata War.
4 In the Brihat Samhita Varahamihira is speaking of a Sakam whose zero point
is 2526 years after Yudhisthira was made king. (Bharata War).
5 Vyasa said that Sri Krishna’s ascent and Kaliyuga beginning was 36 years
after the Bharata war. Kalahana says that the Bharata war took place in year
653 of Kaliyuga. This implies that his date for Sri Krishna’s ascent is 689
kaliyuga.
6 Traditional Indian calendars give the start of Kaliyuga as 3102 BCE. (BC)
▪ Vyasa’s date for Bharata War : 3138 BCE. (2102+36)
▪ Kalahana’s Date for Bharata War : 2449 BCE (3102-653)
▪ Start of Saka Era referred to by Varahamihira : 612 BCE (3128-2526)
(Assuming Vyasa’s date for the war)
▪ Start of Saka Era referred to by Varahamihira : 77 CE (AD)
 (2449-2526) (Assuming Kalahana’s date for the war. Kalahana took it
that Varahamihara’s Saka was the same as his own Saka and post dat-
ed the Bharata War. So this is a circular reference.)
▪ Start of Saka Era referred to by Pulakesin : 41 CE (AD)
(3735-3138-556) (Assuming Vyasa’s date for the war)
▪ Start of Saka Era Referred to by Kalahana : 73 CE (AD)
▪ Arybhatta’s date for himself (3600 or 360 years after Bharata War) :
2778 BCE or 462 AD (CE): (using Vyasa’s date for the war)
▪ Varahamihira referred to 427 Saka Era in Panca Siddhantika. (Kala-
hana took it that Varahamihara’s Saka was the same as his own Saka
and post dated the Bharata War.) Using Vyasa’s date for the war, Vara-
hamihira’s date is later than 185 BCE (612-427). Using Kalahana’s as-
sumption of the Saka equivalence, Varahamihira’s date is later than
500 CE (AD). This is the calculation that Al-Biruni used. This equiva-
lence is not accepted by many scholars., but appears to have been ac-
cepted by mainstream historians.
▪ Pulakesin’s date for himself : 597 AD (CE) (using Vyasa’s date for the
war)
▪ Kalahana’s Date for himself : 1143 AD (CE)
7 Modern Indian calendars give 78 CE (AD) as the start of the Saka Era.

Generations between Rama

and Krishna.
.entry-header

Sri Rama : Photograph by Satya Sarada Kandula : All Rights Reserved

1 Brahmarshi Vasishtha lived from the time of Satyavrata Manu, to the time of
Sri Rama. In “How long did Ancient Indians live?” we worked out that it was
reasonable to suppose that the long lived people of ancient India lived for
about 120 years. It is possible, that they lived longer, but it is not necessary
to assume it, if you look at the brahman lineages instead of the kingly lin-
eages.
2 We know that Vasishtha’s son Sakthi, had a son called Parasara and that
Parasara had a son called Veda Vyasa. So we know that Vasishtha was the
great grandfather of Vyasa.
3 Veda Vyasa was the great grandson of Vasishtha and Sri Rama was Va-
sistha’s very young student.
4 Sri Krishna was the cousin of the Pandavas, younger than Yudhisthira and
Bhima, but older than the Arjuna. So Sri Krishna was of the age of Vyasa’s
grandsons.
5 Sri Krishna was named by Garga, the son of Bharadwaja, who was quoted by
Parasara in the 21st chapter of the Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra. So Garga was
at least of Sri Krishna’s great grandfather’s generation if not older.
6 Viswamitra was Sri Rama’s teacher and taught him all about the weapons of
the Devas. Viswamitra’s sister, Satyavati, was the grandmother of Parasura-
ma. So Viswamitra was the grand-uncle of Parasurama.
7 Viswamitra and Vasishtha were contemporaries, they lived at the same time
and fought each other and became friends. Of the two, Viswamitra is
younger. When Parasurama fought a lot of kings, he spared Dasaratha, the fa-
ther of Sri Rama. So Parasurama was one generation earlier to Sri Rama. At
Sri Rama’s wedding, Parasurama challenged him to hold the Vishnu Chapam
– the bow of Sri Vishnu. Parasurama killed Karthavirya Arjuna, who had pre-
viously defeated the mighty Ravana.
8 Parasurama’s student was Agnivesha and Agnivesha’s student was Drona.
Parasurama gave his axe to Drona. Drona was the teacher of Vyasa’s grand-
children, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Drona’s father was the sage
Bharadwaja, and Bharadawaja was the student of Valmiki. Drona’s son Ash-
wathhama was a friend of the Kauravas. Drona was like an uncle’s age to the
Pandavas, Kauravas and Sri Krishna and Bharadwaja was of a grandfather’s
age to them, like Vyasa. Though Bharadwaja was Valmiki’s disciple, he may
have been older than Valmiki. Bharadwaja’s daughter was Visravas’s wife,
the mother of Kubera, the elder half-brother of Ravana, so she must have
been much older to Dronacharya. Drona was born late to Bharadwaja.
9 Valmiki was a friend of Sri Rama. He not only wrote the Ramayanam, but he
also looked after Rama’s wife Sita and raised Rama’s children. The Ut-
tarakanda of the Valmiki ramayana also tells us that Valmiki was a friend of
Dasaratha.
10 So far, we have worked out that Vyasa, Sri Rama and Valmiki were of the
same generation, which makes Sri Rama of the grandfather generation of Sri
Krishna. We also know that Vyasa was senior to Sri Rama.
11 Bhishma’s father Santanu, married Vyasa’s mother Satyavati after both of
them were born. Vyasa’s parents were Parasara and Satyavati., and Bhish-
ma’s parents were Santanu and Ganga Devi. So Bhishma was a brother to
Vyasa and of the same generation as Sri Rama.
12 Ravana’s grandfather Pulastya, explained the story of creation to Bhishma at
Gangadwar. (Padma Puranam). Since Sri Rama and Ravana were of the same
 generation, and as Bhishma was of the same generation as Sri Rama, Pulastya
was of a grandfather’s generation to Bhishma!
13 Bhishma fought the older Parasurama, over Amba’s marriage issue.
14 Sahadeva, the youngest Pandava, went on a victorious campaign of the South
after Yudhisthira’s campaign. When he came up to Rameswaram, he sent a
respectful message to Vibhishana of Sri Lanka, asking about his welfare and
paying his respects. Vibhishana, Ravana’s brother was Sri Rama’s generation
and of a grandfather generation to Sahadeva and the Pandavas.
15 Dhaumya who was the priest of the Pandavas, visited Sri Rama at the time of
his coronation. (Uttarakanda, Valmiki Ramayana)
16 Many Rig Vedic Rishis, the authors of the Rig Veda, were Sri
Rama’s elders. They were Vasishtha, Viswamitra, Kanva (who raised
Viswamitra’s daughter), Agastya (who gave Sri Rama, weapons from Indra
and directed him southward), Atri (whose wife Anasuya, gave Sita ornaments
and advice), Bhardwaja (grandfather of Ravana’s half brother and Valmiki’s
disciple), Kasyapa, (Indra’s father), Bhrigu (Parasurama’s great grandfather
(Parasurama-Jamadagni-Richika-Bhrgu)), and Gauthama (Sri Rama re-
deemed his wife Ahalya).
17 Durvasa was the son of Atri and Anasuya. He predicted Sri Rama’s separa-
tion from Sita. (Uttarakanda). He gave Kunthi the mantra for invoking the
Devas to beget sons. He visited the Pandavas when they were in exile. (Ma-
habharata). He pronounced a curse on Sakuntala, the daughter of Viswamitra.
(Abhignyana Sakuntalam).
18 Vaivaswatha Manu (Satyavrata Manu) was a contemporary of Vasishtha
(Matsya Avatara). His son Saryati was of Sakthi’s generation, grandson,
Anarta was of Parasara’s generation, great-grandson Revata was of Vyasa’s
generation. Revata’s son, Raivata Kakudmin was of Pandu’s generation. Rai-
vata’s son-in-law Balarama and Pandu’s sons, the Pandavas were of the same
generation and very close together in age as well.
19 Jambavantha fought alongside Indra, when young, fought in Sri Rama’s army
when he was old enough to feel his age, and had a wrestling match with Sri
Krishna and gave his daugther, Jambavathi, in marriage to Sri Krishna. He
was of a grandfather’s generation to Sri Krishna.
20 Janamejaya, the greatgrandson of Yudhisthira, and great grand nephew of Sri
Krishna was enthroned in Kishkinda. Mainda and Dwivida, Vanara heroes
who fought alongside, Sri Rama, were killed by Balarama when they attacked
Dwaraka. (Sri Rama had left Kishkinda with the Vanaras, Sugriva and Anga-
da, but the Yadus/Purus took control of it).
21 The Upanishadic period overlapped with the Vedic period and extended
slightly beyond it. Sri Krishna gave us the Bhagavad Gita which is said to be
the essence of all the Upanishads. The Katha Upanishad itself is a conversa-
 tion between Gauthama’s great grand son Nachiketas and Mrtyu (the god of
death). Naachiketas was of Drona’s generation, one generation before Sri
Krishna.
22 Maya Danava composed the Surya Siddhantam towards the end of Krta
Yuga. He gave his adopted daughter Mandodari in marriage to Ravana. He
built the Maya Sabha for the pandavas in IndraPrastha in the Dwapara Yuga.
23 Balarama, the brother of Sri Krishna, visited Raja Janaka, Sita Devi’s father,
at Mithila. It was there that he trained Duryodhana in Gada Yuddha (battle
with the maces).
Brahmanas, very accurately preserved their own lineages without distortion. The
father-son and the teacher-disciple relationships are consistent across the
puranas. The possible causes of errors made by other historians are given below.
First cause of commonly made errors: The defenceless brahmins of the later peri-
ods may have been under a lot of pressure from the armed rulers, trying to claim
kshatriya lineage, to include the names of their ancestors into important
lineages. So, the Puranas put so many kings into this duration, and each purana put
in a different number of kings. This is because, all kings wanted to derive their de-
scent from Surya, the sun, and Chandra, the moon. And Everyone wanted to be-
long to the Ikshwaku Dynasty and everyone wanted to be the directly related to ei-
ther Sri Rama or Sri Krishna. Some historians, looked at the lineage of the kings,
got confused and said that Indians did not respect history. Adding lots of kings into
the direct ancestry of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna, made it necessary to meaningless-
ly prolong the lifespan of the brahman rishis, to thousands of years.
Second Cause of Commonly Made Errors: In addition, Sri Rama was said to be of
the Tretha Yuga, which can also be translated as the Third Yuga, though it general-
ly refers to the second yuga. Sri Krishna is said to be of the Dwapara Yuga, or the
yuga after the second. Actually both of them could have been of the third yuga.
(Interestingly in another manner of counting, Kali is ekatha, the first, Dwapara is
the second, Thretha is the third, and Krutha is the 4th, the complete or Satya yuga:
please see the link below on how many kinds of Yugas are there.)
Third Cause of Commonly Made Errors: Today we use Aryabhatta‘s durations for
Yuga lengths. Aryabhatta lived either 360 or 3600 years after Vyasa. So the yuga
durations referred to in the Uttarakanda and the Mahabharata, are likely to be dif-
ferent from the yuga durations we use today. In this article on ‘how many kinds of
yugas are there’ we see that there are many different kinds of yugas and durations.
Vyasa Siddhantam – his astronomical treatise is not available to us, to my knowl-
edge.
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All rights reserved. Satya Sarada Kandula.
1 In Yoga Vasishtam, Valmiki reports a conversation between Viswamitra and
Sri Rama, where Viswamitra narrates an incident where Suka, the son of
Vyasa approaches Raja Janaka, the father of Sita Devi for a philosophical dis-
 cussion. At this time Dasaratha is alive and Vyasa is sitting next to him. I am
currently rejecting this incident because Sakthi, the father of Parasara was
present at Sita’s oath taking ceremony, as per Uttarakanda of the Valmiki Ra-
mayanam. Vyasa’s father, Parasara was born shortly after the death of his fa-
ther Sakthi, the son of Vasishtha.)
2 Lineages and Contemporaries : Uddalaka (Aruni), Dhaumya, Svetaketu, Ash-
tavakra, Vandin, Varuna, Pandavas, Draupadi, Jayadratha, Janaka
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Generations previous to
Sri Rama.
.entry-header
See First: Generations between Rama and Krishna.
Brahma:
1 Brahma’s son was Pulastya, Pulastya’s son was Visravas, Visravas’s son was
Ravana, who Sri Rama killed. Brahma gave Varams (boons) to Ravana and
his brothers.
2 Brahma’s son was Vasishtha, his son was Sakthi, his son was Parasara and
his son was Vyasa who was older than Sri Rama.
3 Brahma gave varams (boons) to Hiranyakasipu, Prahlada’s father.
4 Brahma was the grandfather of Kasyapa who was the father of the Devas.
5 The Devas were his great grandchildren as were the Daityas, Danavas, as
also Ravana and his siblings and Vyasa.
6 Brahma’s children, the sanatkumaras and Narada are known as brahmacharis.
Bhrgu: (Bhrigu also called Kavi)
1 Bhrgu was the son of Brahma. (Mahabharata, Pauloma Parva)
2 Bhrgu was the father of Sukracharya, the grandfather of Devayani and the
great-grandfather of Yayati and the great-great-grandfather of Yadu. Indra’s
daughter Jayanti was married to Bhrgu’s son Sukracharya (also called
Kavya). (Devi Bhagavatham)
3 Bhrgu was the grandfather Rchka (Richika), great-grandfather of Jamadagni,
great-great-grandfather of Parasurama. Rchka was the son of Cyavana. (Ma-
habharata). This makes Parasurama and Yadu cousins.
4 *Parasurama killed Kartavirya Arjuna in revenge for his murder of
Jamadagni. Kartavirya Arjuna is said to be a Haihaya and Haihayas are said
to be a branch of Yadavas. I think that maybe Haihayas claimed to be Ya-
 davas but were not Yadu’s descendants exactly. Parasurama may have been a
very young cousin of Yadu. Kartavirya Arjuna proved far more powerful
than Ravana in a small challenge.
5 Bhrgu’s wife Pauloma was the mother of their son Cyavana, who married
Sukanya. Sukanya was Anarta’s sister. Anarta was Raivata’s grandfather.-
Cyavana’s father-in-law, ie Sukanya’s father was Saryati, and his father was
Vaivaswatha Manu. That makes Saryati and Bhrgu: sambandhis or
viyankulu..
6 Bhrgu and Bharadwaja had discussions on many subjects. (Mahabharata).
Vasishtha:
1 Vasishtha was a son (manasa putra) of Brahma.
2 He was one of the rishis present at the time of the Ksheera Sagara Mathanam
and acquired the cow Nandini that was the daughter of the cow Kamadhenu
that emerged from the Ksheera Sagara Mathanam.
3 He was a contemporary of Satyavrata Manu of the Matsya Avatar and was
one of the saptarishis that was saved on the boat.
4 He was a contemporary of Ikshwaku, Manu’s son.
5 His wife was Arundhati.
6 Vasistha was a contemporary of Sri Rama’s ancestors and Sita Devi’s
ancestors.
7 He was great grandfather to Vyasa and therefore, the 6th generation ancestor
of the Kauravas.
8 Vaivaswatha Manu (Satyavrata Manu) was a contemporary of Vasishtha
(Matsya Avatara). His son Saryati was of Sakthi’s generation, grandson,
Anarta was of Parasara’s generation, great-grandson Revata was of Vyasa’s
generation. Revata’s son, Raivata Kakudmin was of Dhritarashtra’s genera-
tion. Raivata’s son-in-law Balarama and Dhrtarashtra’s sons, the Kauravas
were of the same generation and very close together in age. (This is as per
Bhagavatham.)
9 Ikshvaku Sakthi and Saryati must have been of the same generation.
Dasaratha must have been of Parasara’s and Anarta’s generation. Revata
must have been of Vyasa’s and Sri Rama’s generation. Raivata Kakudmin of
Dhrtarashtra’s and Lava Kusa’s generation. Balarama, Sri Krishna, Pan-
davas and the Kauravas must have been of the generation of children of
Lava and Kusa. (This is my speculation – needs to be verified with data –
Satya.)
10 Vasishtha may have been 50-60 years older than Sri Rama and may have
served as a purohita for 3-4 generations of Ikshvakus prior to Sri Rama’s
time. Dasaratha was definitely one of them. Therefore between Dasaratha and
Ikshwaku, we cannot count too many kings.
11 Vasistha was angry with King Nimi, Janaka’s ancestor that he employed
 Gauthama Maharshi in his stead for a Yajna. Satananda the Janaka’s puro-
hita was the son of Gautham and Ahalya. Devarata the eldest son of Nimi re-
ceived the Siva Dhanus from the Devas after the Daksha Yajna nasanam. (So
Sakthi and Devarata may have been of the same generation). Gauthama was
a contemporary of Nimi and Satananda was a contemporary of Raja Janaka.
Devarata may have been of the generation between Nimi and Janaka, but
again, we cannot count too many kings between Nimi and Janaka.
12 Vasishtha, Vaivaswata and Nimi; Sakthi, Ikshvaku and Devarata; Parasara,
Dasaratha and Janaka; Vyasa, Rama and Sita. (This is my speculation –
needs to be verified with data – Satya.)
13 Nahusha, Vasishtha; Yayati, Sakthi; Yadu, Kuru, Puru, Parasara; (No one
from vasishtha’s generation? Check) Santanu, Dushyanta, Ganga, Satyavati,
Sakuntala; Bhishma, Vyasa, Sarvadamana Bharata, Rama…. some issue
here…….
14 Kartavirya Arjuna was killed by Parasurama, he was a Haihaya, a descen-
dant of Yadu as per Vishnu Purana.
Viswamitra :
1 Madhavi, the daughter of Yayati was the wife of Viswamitra and the mother
of 3 lines of kings.
Possible causes of errors in the Puranic Lineages as variously listed:
1 Purvaja:Purvaja simply means the one born earlier. It can be an elder brother,
uncle or ancestor. It need not always be taken as ancestor.
2 Pressure on brahmans: Brahmans had to eschew wealth and power to contin-
ue their intellectual pursuits. Dependent on the Kshatriyas they had to modify
the lineage lists to suit the rulers. Frequently, it only meant adding a few
names in a list without altering the texts. Many Jains and Buddhists also find
themselves swelling the ranks of the Ikhsvakus.
Yayati, Rama and Hanuman were contemporaries : Hanuman defended Yayati
against Sri Rama’s anger by using the Rama Namam as defence against the Rama
Banam. the conflict was created by Viswamitra.
YouTube Error: bad URL entered

Sri Lakshmi’s elder sister Jyeshta.. Nakshatram?

Index Page : Astronomical Interpretations of Puranas, Vedas and Traditions
Jyeshta means elder.. (The North Indian word Jettani is derived from jyESTa.)
In common tradition, Jyeshta Devi is considered the elder sister of Lakshmi Devi.
She is also called alakshmI. She is considered more beautiful while leaving, while
Lakshmi Devi is considered more beautiful while coming.
The nakshatram following Jyeshta Nakshatram is Moola Nakshatram. (This moola
nakshatram points to the center of the milky way, our galaxy. In my article on
Moola Nakshatram, we have explored the significance of the Dhanur masa early
morning rituals. At sunrise in Dhanur masam, the sun is in line with
Moola Nakshatram, which is in line with the galactic centre where Vishnu lies in the
khseera samudram. )
It is said that Jyeshta Devi rose out of the sea before Lakshmi Devi on the day of the
ksheera sagara mathanam.
In this article Ksheera Sagara Mathanam (Location), I have presented the idea the
sthala purana that gives Antarvedi in Andhra Coast as the location of the Ksheera
Sagara Mathanam on earth. I have written that on the east coast of India, you do see
the moon rising out of the ocean. This is not possible on the west coast. I have also
written in one of my posts that the kalpavruksham etc that ‘came out of the ocean”
on that daywere the various constellations that rose into the sky, one after another,
through the night.
Now, both Jyeshta and Chandra (Moon), rose before Lakshmi (see Sri Suktham :
Lakshmi as Light), out of the ocean and after the churning.
I think that first Jyeshta Nakshatram rose, and then Chandra making
everything bright and thus Lakshmi came next. This would mean that the
Nakshatram of the Day was either Jyeshta or Moola.

Revati, Yugas
Authorship and Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved: Satya Sarada Kandula
Revati’s father and Revati lost 27 chaturyugas (108 yugas), during a visit to Brahma:
.”abhiyātaḥ — have passed; tri — three; nava — nine; catur-yuga — four yugas;
vikalpitaḥ — thus measured. http://bhagavata.org/canto9/chapter3.html
‘for many successions of ages have passed away whilst you were listening to our
songsters: now upon earth the twenty-eighth great age of the present Manu is
nearly finished, and the Kali period is at hand. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/
vp/vp093.htm
How traditionalists explain this:
1 To explain this, we can go into the Time-Dilation story told in the
Bhagavatam. About how Revati’s father and Revati lost 27 chaturyugas (108
yugas), during a visit to Brahma, because Brahma is on a different time-scale.
2 Or we can go into another puranic theory which says that each of these stories
took place in different kalpas, or different manvantaras. According to this the
main events of the stories take place in every kalpa and there are finite
variations in any specific kalpa. That way everyone gets to be right in some
parallel universe or some time cycle.
I propose that an astronomical story has been overlaid with a legend. It is my
thinking that Revati, here refers to the star and not to the woman.

Revati is the name of the star 99h Psc, which is the brightest star of Meena Raashi.
There are 27 stars, in the Hindu zodiac. The story is one of Revati ‘returning’ to a place
after 27 units of time, 27 Mahayugas or Chaturyugas. It demonstrates a knowledge of the
precession of equinoxes.
Some background and calculations:
1 The fixed or the sidereal zodiac considers the nakshatras as its basis. Its first degree begins as the first degree of Mesha (Aries) from a
particular point in the Revati group of stars.
2 There is another zodiac, however, which is reckoned from the Vernal equinox point; here the first point of Aries begins from the Vernal
equinox. This is called the movable or the tropical zodiac.
 3 The movable zodiac continues to recede westward along the stars, which characterise the fixed zodiac.
4 This point, the first point of Aries or the vernal equinox, goes on receding westward at a rate of approximately 50.26 seconds of arc each
year. This is called the precession of the equinoxes.
5 360 degrees = 360*60 minutes = 360*60*60 seconds of arc = 1296000
seconds of arc
6 1296000 seconds of arc/50.26 seconds of arc/year = 25785.91 years
7 So it takes 25785.91 years for 1 full circle – ‘ for Revati to ‘return”., (or for the original alignments to be viewed.)
8 If the technology of measurement at that time gave a figure of 48
seconds of arc per year for the westward recession of Aries, then it would
take 1296000/48 = 27000 years for Revati to return. 27000 years is the
figure you normally find in many articles. (This would mean a 4.5% relative
error in measurement in seconds of arc. Which is very small).
9 If 27000 years give us 27 caturyugas, and if the ratio of the individual Yuga
lengths in each caturyuga is 4:3:2:1 with the Kaliyuga being a 100 years long,
then Each caturyuga is 1000 years long.

Uccha, Neecha, Exaltation, Debilitation

and Declination
Let us continue with our study of geo-centric or “observable” or ancient Indian
astronomy.
Zero Length Shadows : To cast a zero length shadow the Sun or Moon must be
exactly overhead. This can happen only at noon, but not every where, on everyday
of the year. Please Read : http://daphne.palomar.edu/jthorngren/tutorial.htm for a
very clear and basic explanation. Beyond the tropic of cancer and the tropic of
capricorn, towards the poles, the sun is never directly overhead. When the sun is
directly overhead at the tropic of cancer, the sun is at a 66.5 degree angle at the
equator. At the North Pole on the summer solstice, the sun circles around all day
23.5 degrees above the horizon.

http://daphne.palomar.edu/jthorngren/tutorial.htm
When we talk of declination of a graha, we are talking of its angle above the
horizon.
A graha is exalted, when it’s angle is as great as possible and it is debilitated when
it’s angle is as small as possible. We always think of the Northern Hemisphere with
respect to Ancient Indian Astronomy.

Source :
Graha Uccha Rashi Neecha Rashi
Surya (Sun) Mesha (Aries) Thulam
Chandra (Moon) Vrishabha (Taurus) Vrischika
Mangal (Mars) Makara (Capricorn) Kartakam
Budha (Mercury) Kanya (Virgo) Meena
Guru (Jupiter) Kartakam (Cancer) Makara
Shukra (Venus) Meena (Piesces) Kanya
Shani (Saturn) Thulam (Libra) Mesha
Rahu (Moon’s Node : Vrishabha (Taurus) Vrischika
Dragon’s head)
Shukra (Venus) Meena (Piesces) Kanya
Shani (Saturn) Thulam (Libra) Mesha
Rahu (Moon’s Node : Vrishabha (Taurus) Vrischika
Dragon’s head)
Ketu (Dragon’s tail) Vrischika (Scorpio) Vrishabha
Mesha starts in March – April.
The Sun is exalted in Mesha., therefore we are talking about the Spring Equinox,
when the equator gets the direct rays of the sun at noon.
Therefore, the points of exaltation described below are with respect to the equator
and not with respect to say, Ayodhya.
Astrologically speaking, a graha is most powerful when it reaches its degree of
exaltation.
Precession of Equinoxes means Precession of Exaltation :
• If the Spring Equinox shifted Kritika Nakshatram to Aswini Nakshatram, then
the Sun’s Exaltation point as abserved at the equator also shifted from Kritika
Nakshatram to Aswini Nakshatram.
• If at one point, the Sun was Exalted (Equator) in Revathi, that means that
particular spring equinox occurred approx 26000 years ago.
Nakshatra of Sun’s Exaltation varies with the earth’s latitude :
• Today, if I SEE that the sun is exalted in Mesha Rasi, Ashwini Nakshatram, then
I may be sitting on the equator.
• Today, if I SEE that the sun is exalted in Karkata Rasi, Punarvasu Nakshatram,
then I may have in mind, a place on the tropic of cancer.
• Today, if I SEE that the sun is exalted in Makara Rasi, Dhanishta Nakshatram,
then I may be sitting on the tropic of capricorn.

Nakshatra refers to an area of the sky in the Vedas

The image below shows a Rg veda mantram of which Vasishtha is the Rshi.
It explains how the sun (Suryah) on rising at dawn illuminates the nakshatras. Since
the sun illuminates the sky and not constellations, as it rises, I believe this mantra
supports the definition of nakshatra, as a region of the sky as given below by
Chatterjee and Chakravarthy.
What is a nakshatra?
To indicate day to day position of the moon in relation to the stars, the zodiac has
been divided into 27 equal parts, from a fixed initial point in the ecliptic. Each part
is known as a nakshatra or nakshatra division. and it covers 13 deg 20 min or 800
min of arc of the ecliptic.
Each Nakshatra division is named after a selected star which is generally prominent
or traditionally well known and is broadly equally spaced in the zodiac. These
identifying stars are called yogataras.

Locating Purusha (Vishnu) : Using Purusha Suktham

(Rig Veda)
 http://rajandraws.wordpress.com
The 90th suktham of the tenth mandala of Rg Veda Samhita, is the puruSa sUktam.
The Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Shukla Yajur Vedam, the Taittriya Aranyaka of the
Krishna Yajur Vedam, the Sama Veda, and the Atharvana Veda, also contain the
Purusha Suktham with slight variations.
Free Audio Online : http://www.vedamantram.com/audio/purusha.mp3 (with Yajur
Veda Swara Chanting)
The Purusha Suktam is one of the Pancha Suktams of the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya
or tradition. The other four are the Narayana Suktam, Sri Suktam, Bhu Suktam, and
the Nila Suktam. In South India, the Purusha Suktam, Vishnu Suktam, Sri Suktam,
and Narayana Suktam are generally chanted together in paarayanam. The Sri
Rudram, Purusha Suktam, Upanishads, the Gita, and the Vishnu Sahasra Naamam
are also recommended for daily paarayanam – chanting. Since the Purusha Suktam
is seen in all Vedas, it is cited as the essence of all Srutis by Veda Vyasa in the
Mahabharata. Saunaka, Apastamba, and Bodhayana have also written concerning the
use of the Purusha Suktam. (Source)
Starting from the first mantram of the puruSa sUktam, there are variations in
translations provided by various sources.
Mantra :

sahasra s’IrSA puruSah | sahasrAkSah sahasrapAt |

sa bhUmim vis’vato vRtvA | atyatiSTat das’Angulam || 1 ||
Translation :
The puruSa has thousands or infinite (sahasra) of heads (s’IrSA), thousands of eyes
(AkSah) and thousands of feet (pAt). (See : Many eyes, many arms, many heads and
many feet)
He, having encircled (vRtvA) the earth (BUmim) with the universe (vis’vato : from all
sides) (See : Agne yam yagnyam adhvaram visvatah paribhurasi)
Stood beyond it at a distance of 10 thumb lengths. (This line is variously
interpreted. Word by word given below.)
ati = beyond, atisTat = stood, dasa = 10, angula = inch, length of a thumb. See :
The Harappan angulam | varnam
The Meaning :
The Purusa of infinite capabilities (intelligence, strength, skill etc), enveloped the
earth with the universe (stars, galaxies.. etc) and stood beyond at about 10
inches’ (a foot approx), length.
Interpretation :
Vishnu is beyond Dhruva (Polaris), the furthest observable star to the north along
the earth’s axis, which makes tiny revolutions about the axis. That is where He
stands.
The reference to 10 thumbs may have to do with angular measurements that can be
made by hand. See Measuring distances in degrees in the sky using your hand.
10 thumbs would be 20 degrees.

Source : http://books.google.co.in/books?
id=fU1VpG1tT9AC&lpg=PP1&ots=9qD8Wcw4bb&dq=a%20walk%20through%20the%
20heavens%20-%20heifetz&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q=&f=false
 Lune
Not all Yogataras are located in the lune of the nakshatra division. for eg Ardra,
Swati, Jyesta, Poorvashada, Uttarashada, Sravana and Dhanishta.
The word Nakshatra in the context of panchangas means the nakshatra division
signified by that Nakshatra.
Reference : History of Astronomy in India. Indian National Science Academy.1985.
Chapter 9. Indian Calendar from Post-Vedic period to AD 1900. Page 274: S.K.
Chatterjee and A.K. Chakravarthy.
See Also :
• Nakshatras, Grahas, Varas, Rasis, Masas, Rtus,
• https://oldthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/nakshatras/
• Rg Veda Samhita Translation by H.P. Venkata Rao, Samhita, Pada Patha, Sayana
Bhashya, Pada artha, tatparya and english translation
• My Translation of Rg Veda 7th Mandala (Vasishta) 7.081.02 : the mantram
illustrated below.
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

Vedic Meaning of Nakshatram

Astronomical Dating of the Vedas as per Tilak.

In 1893, Lokamanya Balagangadhar Tilak wrote a book called: The Orion: the
antiquity of the Vedas.
https://oldthoughts.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/the-orion-the-antiquity-of-the-
vedas/
In this book he establishes that the Vedas are earlier than 4000 BC. (Don’t worry
about the use of the word Aryan in those days people believed in the AIT. When you
see the word Aryan just think Indian or person of the Vedic period and civilization. )
Max Muller believed that Buddhism was 400 BC. He thought that Vedic literature
was of 4 periods each 200 years long, the last ending with Buddhism. He thought
that these 4 periods were.. Chandas, Mantra, Brahmana and Sutra. Therefore he
thought that Vedas were earlier to 1200 BC. Dr. Haug, thought that each period was
500 years long and therefore thought that the Vedic period started in 2400 BC.
Their reasoning was clearly arbitrary.
Whenever verses related to astronomy were found in the Vedas, there was a
tendency of colonial historians to label them as interpolations, added later. The
Vedas are considered apaurusheyas (not by created by men) and no Hindu would
care/dare to tamper them. Even today, I observe that in the Veda Pathasalas, the
Vedas are taught as they are first for many years and only many years later will a
few students become eligible to learn the meaning. (Can you think of an American
historian deliberately editing their Declaration of Independence?)
The Vedic Indians were well versed in astronomy and the early yagnyas, customs
prayers were tied to seasons and astronomical events.
Tilak presents an argument that the new Year began in those days with the spring
equinox and that the devayanam or uttarayanam also began with the spring
equinox. (Even today, among the Telugu and Kannada people, the new year
((Y)Ugadi) begins in Spring). Tilak tells us that the shift of the new year from the
spring equinox to the winter solstice, occured later. He tells us that the word
Uttarayanam is not found in the Rg Veda.
Tilak tells us that the period called Devayana originally consisting of the period from
the spring equinox to autumn equinox, over time, came to be identified with
Uttarayana which is from winter solstice to summer solstice.
In Varahamihira’s time, the spring equinox coincided with the end of Revati and the
summer solstice was in Punarvasu. In the Pancha Siddhanthika, Varahamihira says
“in earlier times, the summer solstice was in the middle of Aslesha, but now it is in
Punarvasu”. Tilak also tells us that when Bhishma waited for the beginning of
Uttarayanam (the winter solstice) it took place in the first fortnight of the Magha
Masa.
Nowadays the Uttarayanam takes place in Dhanur Masam. As per Tilak, our present
calendars begin with the supposition that the spring equinox takes place at the end
of Revathi Nakshatram. As per Prof. Whitney, this event happened in 490 AD. (This
matches my rough calculations).
Tilak says that there is plenty of evidence to show that before the ancient indians
started with the calendar mentioned above (Spring Equinox – Revati), they used to
use a calendar in which the winter solstice was in Magha masa and the spring
equinox was in the Kritikas). He says that this is corroborated by the Vedanga
Jyotisha and other works. There are some Hindu astronomers who date the
Mahabharata to this period, when the spring equinox was in the Krittikas.
As per Prof. Whitney’s calculations, using the krittika vernal (spring) equinox, the
date of the Taittireya Samhita would be 2350 BC. Between the Taittireya Samhita
and Vedanga Jyotisha, there was a precession of 13 deg 20 min or roughly 14
degrees. The Vedanga Jyotisha gives the spring equinox at 10 deg of Bharani and
this matches. (10 deg + 3 deg 20 min).

Old Thoughts
Connecting Science and Scriptures : Satya Sarada Kandula : All Rights Reserved
erase this line if you want to turn the bubble off
Voltaire on Pythagoras’s Visit to India : Science
from East to West

8 Votes

There is a a very strong school of thought that knowledge originally went from India
to Greece and to China. Here are some pointers to that, as well as a glance at the
nobel lauretes, scientists and writers who belong to that school of thought. It also
shows the connection that those thinkers found between modern physics (quantum
and relatavistic) and upanishadic thought. See: Sushruta and Cataract Operations:
Pythogoras and Democritus (Atomic Theory) and Empedocles visited India
Some of the quotations given below in this post may also be verified at :

http://krishnascience.com/ : Albert Einstein, W. Heisenberg (German Physicist,

1901-1976), Prof. Brian David Josephson (1940 – ) Welsh physicist, the
youngest Nobel Laureate, Pierre Simon de Laplace, French mathematician,
philosopher, and astronomer.
http://www.here-now4u.de/eng/science_and_vedanta.htm : Josephson.
The quotations :
.

Jospephson was a visiting professor to IISc in 1984. He won half the Nobel Prize,
Physics, in 1973 “for his theoretical predictions of the properties of a supercurrent
through a tunnel barrier, in particular those phenomena which are generally known
as the Josephson effects”. He currently heads the mind matter unification project the
university of cambridge: http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~bdj10/

Agni Nakshatram (Kruttika

Nakshatram, Karthikeya)

Agni Nakshatram : There is only one Nakshatram that is dedicated to the Vedic
Luminary Agni (Energy). That Nakshatram is Krutika (Kritika, Krttika).
• It is Agni Deva who carried the burning Siva Bijam that became Karthikeya
(Shanmukha) to Ganga who bore him and the Krutika Sisters who raised him.
(Amar Chitra Katha Version)
• In the Vedic times Nakshatras were dedicated to Vedic Luminaries such as
Indra, Agni, Bhaga and so on. (See Nakshatradhipatis from Vedic deities to
Grahas, after Valmiki’s Ramayana).
• In later day astrology and vimsottari dasa systems, Nakshatras were dedicated
to grahas such as sukra, kuja etc. The graha nakshatridhipathi for Krutika is
Kuja, Mangal or Mars.
• It is interesting to note that: Kuja is now also considered a son of Siva, just
like Karthikeya, the adopted son of the Krutika sisters and the slayer of
Tarakasura. And just as Karthikeya was a War-Lord-God who led the Devas to
victory, so also Kuja is considered warrior like.
• It is interesting to note that the Mongols, actually call themselves, “Mangals”
and they were at one time very fierce and warrior like.
Krittika Nakshatram (Astronomy and Dating) : refers to the set of six ‘sister’
stars.
• This set of stars is identified by classical European system as Plaeidis.
 • Brightest amongst them is called Alcyone by Arabs.
• If a single star has to be identified as representing Krittika Nakshatra, best
candidate is 25hAries AlCyone.
• Arundhati Nakshatra (though not a part of the 27 day pointing fixed stars) is
near the Krittitka. It is said to be the eighth star in the cluster Krittika.
(Nakshatras, Masas, Rtus, Varas, Rasis, Specialities)
• Kruthika nakshatra (constellation) constitutes last padam of Mesha (Aries) and
the first 3 padams of Vrishabha (Taurus). ( kruthika: Location = Alcyone,
Celaeno, Electra, Taygete, Maia, & Asterope:(Pleiades) Eta, 16, 17, 19, 20, &
21 Tauri)
• The Vedanga Jyothisha begins the count of Nakshatras from Krithika
Nakshatram. Today we count beginning from Aswhini Nakshatram. This can be
interpreted to mean that the spring equinox occured in Krithika Nakshatram
at the time that verse was composed.
◦
• R.V. 1.164 Autumn Star Agni (Krittika, Alcyone 59.5 long) : Dirgha tamas Rshi.
(See : Date of Veda Mantras and Equinoxes and Dating Vedas)
Some Background and Technical Terms :
1 The nakshatras always appear to to rise and set along the same celestial line
or longitude. That is why they are called in general fixed stars.
2 Surya (The Sun) and Chandra (The Moon) do NOT rise and set along the same
celestial line or longitude. The sunrise or moon-rise position, is to the north
or south relative to the previous day.
3 The moon passes by every nakshatra once a lunar month and spends an
average of one day close to any given nakshatra. Each day is that named
after a nakshatra.
4 Similarly the sun passes by every nakshatra once a year and spends on an
average one fortnight near any given nakshatram. That fortnight is called the
kArte of that nakshatram.
5 Thus day-nakshatra names depend on the longitude of the moon, fortnight
karte names depend on the longitude of the sun. The names of the lunar
months depend on the longitude of the full moon. Each lunar month is
named after that nakshatram on which the full moon day (pournami) day
occurs. Since the full moon depends on the relative angular separation of the
sun and the moon and the nakshatram depends on the moon and the
nakshatrams, tehy never match exactly. So we take the nakshatram that
most frequently occurs near the full moon and name the lumar month
after that.
Kruthika Nakshatram and the Moon : Karthika Masam (Lunar Month):
The lunar month Karthika Masam is named after the Kruthika Nakshatram. This
usually occurs in or close to the english calendar month of November.
• List of Karthika Masam Celebrations in Andhra :
◦ Om Namah Sivaya. Karthika Somavaram and Karthika
Pournami today.,
◦ Ksheerabdi Kanya – Sree Mahalakshmi – Ksheerabdi Dwadasi
• Connecting Karthika Masam Celebrations of USA and India : Halloween,
Karthika Pouranami, Yama Deepam
Kruthika Nakshatram and the Sun : Kruthika Karte :
The fortnight called Kruthika Karthe occurs in the month of May.
• Kruthika Karthe Clebraions in Tamil Nadu: Tamilians, who follow the solar
calendar, celebrate Kruthika Karthe, under the name Agni Nakshatram
Festival. It is celebrated in honour of Siva’s son Karthikeya also revered as
Murugan, Palani, Subrahmanya, Kumaraswamy among many other names.
• Source : “Agni Nakshatram is a 14-day period in May, the hottest part of the
year. It is the season when devout persons go round the hill in the Giri Veedi
as much out of faith as for reasons of health, in the early morning (1 am. to 10
a.m.) and evening (4 to 10 pm) in large numbers. Just now, the kadamba trees
(Eugenia Racemosa), favourite flora of Murugan, are in full bloom all around
the hill shedding their fragrance and conveying healing properties to all the
walkers. At Kodumudi (Periyar District), ardent devotees by the thousands
collect Cauvery water in scorching sun and bring it in kavadis for abhishekam
of the deity and the sanctum sanctorum at the hill is a large pool of water! It is
so cool that one forgets the summer-heat. The water bearers are accompanied
by artistes in a variety of folk-music and folkdance items. Their procession by
itself is colorful and difficult to forget. On the concluding day, the festival
deity of the Periyanâyaki Temple marches to the Adivaram and there is a
majestic procession round Giri Veedi.”

Connecting Biblical and

Indian personalities as per
Bhavishya Purana
September 6, 2009Adama, ancient, Bhavishya Purana, Biblical, Connecting, Dharma,
Havyavati, History, Indian, indians, Isa, Kumari, Masiha, Mleccha, Nyuha, Personalities,
Salivahana, VikramadityaAdama, ancient, Bhavishya Purana, Biblical, Connecting, Dharma,
Havyavati, History, Indian, indians, Isa, Kumari, Masiha, Mleccha, Nyuha, Personalities,
Salivahana, Vikramaditya
.entry-meta
.entry-header
Source: Bhavishya Purana
Note : I don’t yet have access to the Bhavishya Purana Sanskrit Text, I am sharing
some data that I found interesting from the Source given above.
Adam and Eve : are connected with Adama and
Havyavati. Adama was the son of Vishnu Kardama.
Kardama was the father of Kapila of our Sankhya
Philosophy. The “serpent” that tempted the couple to
eat the “apple” (of the PapaVrksha) was Kali
Purusha. If all these connections are accurate that
would make Adam a younger brother of Kapila. The
“Eden”: was in a forest on the eastern side of Pradan
city where there is a a big God-given forest, which was
16 square yojanas in size. The Mlecchas are
descendants of Adama.
Noah : Nyuhah was descended from Adama. (Adama-
Svetanama-Anuta- Kinasa-Malahalla-Viradha-
Hamuka-Matochhilla-Lomaka-Nyuhah). Noah cannot
in any way be coonected with Satyavrata Manu. Each
had their own seperate flood.
Mleccha Dharma : Having good behavior, wisdom,
qualities like a brahmana and worship of God, these
things are called mleccha-dharma. The great souls have
declared that the dharma of the mleccha is devotion to
God, worship of fire, nonviolence, austerity and control
of the senses.
Jesus as a Contemporary of Salivahana :
Pratisarga Parva, Chaturyuga Khanda Dvitiyadhyayah,
19th Chapter, Texts 17 to 32 : The shlokas are from the
Source and the translation is mine.
Note : The author of this source identifies the grandson
of Vikramaditya, mentioned below with Salivahana
(the reason is that the divitiya adhyaya is titled the age
of Salivahana).
vikramaditya-pautrasca
pitr-rajyam grhitavan
jitva sakanduradharsams
cina-taittiridesajan
The grandson of Vikramaditya, acquired the kingdom
of his fathers. He defeated the Sakas, Chinese, the
Taittiris,
bahlikankamarupasca
romajankhurajanchhatan
tesam kosan-grhitva ca
danda-yogyanakarayat
and (defeated) the bahlikas, the kamarupas, the
romajas, the khurajas and chhatas.
sthapita tena maryada
mleccharyanam prthak-prthak
sindhusthanam iti jneyam
rastramaryasya cottamam
mlecchasthanam param sindhoh
krtam tena mahatmana
ekada tu sakadiso
himatungam samayayau
He determined the mlecchadesa as the other side of the
Sindhu and named the AryaDesa which was this side of
the Sindhu as Sindhusthanam.
Texts 22 :
ekadaa tu shakadhisho
himatungari samaayayau
hunadeshasya madhye vai
giristhan purusam shubhano
dadarsha balaram raajaa
Once upon a time the subduer of the Sakas, went
towards Himatunga and in the middle of the Huna
country (Hunadesh – the area near Manasa Sarovara
or Kailash mountain in Western Tibet), the powerful
king saw an auspicious man who was living on a
mountain. And saw “balaram raajaa”.
Texts 23 :
ko bharam iti tam praaha
su hovacha mudanvitah
iishaa purtagm maam viddhi
kumaarigarbha sambhavam
When asked who he was, he smilingly said that he was
the son of Isa, born of Kumari.
Text 24 :
mleccha dharmasya vaktaram
satyavata paraayanam
iti srutva nrpa praaha
dharmah ko bhavato matah
“I am the propounder of the Dharma of the Mlecchas.
And a practitioner of Truth.” Then the king asked him,
what is your Mata? (Mata means accepted view point:
translated loosely and commonly as religion, in modern
times).
Texts 25 – 26
shruto vaaca mahaaraaja
praapte satyasya samkshaye
nirmaaryaade mlechadeshe
masiiho ‘ham samagatah

iishaamasii ca dasyuunaa
praadurbhuutaa bhayankarii
taamaham mlecchataah praapya
masiihatva mupaagatah
Hearing the king’s questions, he answered, “having
observed the destruction of Truth in the Mleccha
Desas, I became a Masiha (Messiah).”
Texts 27 – 29
mlecchasa sthaapito dharmo
mayaa tacchrnu bhuupate
maanasam nirmalam krtva
malam dehe subhaasbham
King! Listen to the Dharma that I have established in
the Mleccha Desa. Having made your mind and body
pure….. (2 slokas of the mata skipped)
Text 30
isha muurtirt-hradi praptaa
nityashuddha sivamkari
ishamasihah iti ca
mama nama pratishthitam
My name has stabilized as Isa – Masiha, because I
have attained the form of Isa, which is pure and
auspicious in my heart.
This term Isa – Masiha, Prophet of the Lord, the
founder of the religion of the Mleccha Desa, is
connected with Jesus Messiah. The son of Isa (the
Lord, yah-vah, Siva) and Kumari (a girl – ?mari
Kumari is also a name of the Devi), is perhaps another
reason for connecting the personalities.
If this connection is accurate, then we can know that
Vikramaditya’s grandson and Jesus were
contemporaries and that Jesus came east after already
being known as the Messiah.
After this, Salivahana requested Isa – Masiha to
remain in Mleccha Desa. He performed th Aswamedha
Yajna and ruled for 60 years.
Further Research is Necessary. This is just data
gathered from one source.