A Nature Deity? The Ṛgvedic Savitṛ Revisited

Chakrabarti, Dilip K. (ed.) History of Ancient India, Vol. IX: Science and Technology, Medicine , 2023

The research dealing with ancient India, has put less emphasis on the ‘geographical thought’ and metaphysical context, which may be compared with the scientific notion of modern geography; some such examples are presented here. The Vedic sages, living close to nature were enlightened by the inherent messages that they communicated, taught, professed, and transferred to the seekers and followers through writings and sacred teachings. Among such thoughts, different attributes and dimensions are narrated; here the chosen ones included narrating the manifestation of the cosmos and human transcendence, illustrated with evolution and unity, the eternity of time, spirality of the cosmic rhythm, spiritual correspondences, the Mother Earth as Goddess, and some messages for the sustainable future are described in nutshell. Together with the physical order exists an invisible principle of order linking the human soul to the earth and further up to the stars. This way one can propose micro-, meso- and macro cosmos. The harmonic integrity in Cosmos Spirit Man has been a major issue of debate in ancient mythologies. Let us re-interpret, re-orient, and re-appraise the deep issues of Indian thought, so as to make the prophecy a reality. Keywords: manifestation, eternity, transcendence, sacredscape, Kālī, Vedas, Purāṇas.

History of Science in South Asia, 2019

Among the sixty-four aṅgas of the large recension of the Gārgīyajyotiṣa (also known as the Gargasaṃhitā), celestial omens and planetary science (including astrology and narrative) occupy the greatest portion of the text. Some of these materials are widely cited later on in works such as Varāhamihira's Bṛhatsaṃhitā as well as Buddhist works such as the Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna and Amoghavajra's Xiuyao jing, and are considered some of the oldest sources of early, pre-siddhāntic Indian astral science. In this paper, I shall highlight some of the unique characteristics of the unedited chapters of the work where such materials are found, with focus on the planetary science and the methods of time-reckoning.

The Outlook: Journal of English Studies, 2021

Vedas, in common perception, are understood as purely cultural texts even to the academic province with the logic that they provide purely religious and theological knowledge, however the quest of spiritual truth is the prime concern of Vedas. The real problem on such understanding is that the scientific part of the Vedas is always under the shadow. This is partly from the Vedic scholars, as they have not properly revealed the scientific part of the Vedic knowledge; and partly it is the weakness of scientists because they have heavy concentration just on the facts that they have little time to keep eyes on the Vedic science. The question is always unaddressed whether religion has science. This study tries to unearth the part of science veiled within the Vedic texts, especially seeing the Vedic science of ecology, biodiversity, physics and cosmology using physico-theology as the tool of observation.

Chapter 23 in Science and Civilization in India, Vol. 1, 2001

The possibility of some transient celestial object being described by the word dhûmaketu in the R . gveda is studied in this paper. It is found that the well known Vedic deities, maruts through their physical actions stand for meteoritic showers or storms. In some places the description reads like extra terrestrial objects hitting the earth. This goes against the traditional interpretation of maruts as thunderstorm and wind gods. It is demonstrated that vibhâvasu also stands for a transient object in the sky, which in one place in the R . gveda is said to be like a big rock. Importance of the above results for tracing the early history of Indian Astronomy is highlighted. Ancient Vedic people appear to have been preoccupied with celestial fires in the form of meteoritic swarms and comets which would have necessitated regular ritualistic observation of the sky, gradually leading to the calendar and later to the knowledge of the planets.

We use Varanasi, the paradigmatic holy city of India, as an illustration of the incorporation of visual astronomy into Hindu culture. In the city the Sun is honored in three ways: at morning worship, during pilgrimage, and as an icon in temples. Specific attributes of the Sun are symbolized by the Adityas, represented by fourteen temples which were destroyed during the years of Mughal occupation of the city after C.E./A.D. 1192. According to local tradition the locations of these temples remained in the communal memory of the city and are marked today by Sun disks, lotus-form stones or images of Surya that are set into the walls of houses or installed in shrines or temples. Many of the sites are included in pilgrimage routes of the city. With the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) we have mapped the positions of the Adityas and find that most lie along the sides of a triangle which surrounded the original center of the city. The major text that deals with Varanasi and its spiritual traditions, the Kashi Khanda, gives the myths, stories and rituals associated with each of the former Sun temples and reveal the significance of the Sun for inhabitants and pilgrims. The Sun is understood to be a caring and protective deity, providing relief from life’s ordinary problems such as skin disease, infertility, hunger and the problems of old age and death. The Kashi Khanda also includes references to probable observations of naked-eye sunspots, meteor showers, and the total solar eclipse of C.E./A.D. 1054.

Astronomy in popular perception is about stars, planets, sun, moon, eclipses, comets, meteorites and associated observable phenomena. Something of all of these was known to our ancients though not in the same form and detail as it is available now. In the context of India, the question is what was known, in what detail and when. For the siddhānta period, roughly starting with the Common Era, (CE) such questions have been fairly well answered. This has been possible since several texts of the period, specifically devoted to astronomy are available for systematic study. But for the more ancient period we have no exclusive texts other than Lagadha’s Vedānga Jyotiṣa (c 1400 BCE) which is a calendar with no reference to eclipses or planets. Hence when one talks of Vedic Times several precautions are necessary..... In the following articles we investigate briefly how comets, meteorites, and eclipses were experienced and pictured in the Vedic texts. Over a long period of time the effect of precession was also felt as with the loss of importance for the constellation Śiśumāra (Draco) and shifting of the Pole Star Dhruva. The astral descriptions and the religious lore behind the above astronomical entities provided the inspiration for the development of observational and mathematical astronomy in India. Some portion of the present study has appeared in the Indian Journal of History of Science (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) in the form of papers. However, considerable new information, beyond the published material, can be found in the following pages

Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, 2020

Since its beginning, Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa, the historical kingdom of the Brahmaputra valley had a close association with the Sun worship and other forms of Astrolatry, which is apparent from the available literary, inscriptional and archaeological evidences. Traces of Navagraha worship, which was prevalent in central and eastern India during the early medieval period, could be seen in Assam as well. A total of seven temple door lintels with Navagraha depiction observed at various sites of the Brahmaputra valley stand out in terms of their artistic execution and iconographic precision. These Navagraha panels of Assam carry some distinctive native features and as well as show certain similarities and differences with their counterparts from Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. Availability of Navagraha panels along with numerous Surya sculptures reiterates the presence of a strong solar sect in the Brahmaputra valley during the early medieval period. This paper also highlights the popularity and extent of Navagraha worship in the valley.

History of Science in South Asia, 2017

This article forms a preliminary report on the work by an international group of scholars on Garga, an important early authority on astral science (jyotiṣa). Reviewing past research on the texts associated with this figure, we focus especially on the earliest text, the Gārgīyajyotiṣa (ca. first century CE?), a compendium of material on astral and terrestrial omens, ritual, horoscopy, and astronomy, that prefigures Varāhamihira's well-known Bṛhatsaṃhitā. The contributions include text-critical observations based on select chapters, remarks on astral omens and their relevance to the possible dating of the text, and a discussion of the texts potential for the study of Hindu ritual. The article also begins to disambiguate the broader Garga corpus by including a chapter summary of a somewhat later Gargasaṃhitā, containing mainly astronomical materials.