Sunday, October 31, 2010

THE ESSENCE OF BHARATVARSH


THE ESSENCE OF BHARATVARSH


Universal harmony, Unity of Consciousness and Love.

"This world is one family" (Vasudhaiva Kutumbaka) and
"The Universal Reality is the same, but different people can call it by different names" (Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti)--

--In these proclamations made thousands of years ago in ancient Vedic scriptures, we see the seeds of globalism and freedom of thought, years before the world was to become the global village of today.

Hence the true essence of India is not confined to its geographical boundary, it extends to the whole world at large. That's why India is not just a country. It is a "Living Essence" and a symbol of that unity, guided by the sum total of human wisdom that is not considered to be embodied in one person, or one book, or one period of human history. It is timeless. It is universal.

India -Incredible India


 
# India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization.

# India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

# India is the world's largest democracy.

# Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

# India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

# The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

# Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.

# Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.

# Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century.

# The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'.

# Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.

# The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.

# Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12).

# IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose and not Marconi.

# The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.

# According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called Sudarshana was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.

# Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.

# Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.

# When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).

# The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.

# The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

# India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World.

# India is the largest English speaking nation in the world.

ACHARYA KAPILA (3000 BCE) FATHER OF COSMOLOGY


ACHARYA KAPILA (3000 BCE) FATHER OF COSMOLOGY
 

Celebrated as the founder of the Sankhya philosophy, Acharya Kapila was born in 3000 BCE to the illustrious sage Kardama and Devahuti. 

He gifted the world with the Sankhya School of Thought. His pioneering work threw light on the nature and principles of the ultimate Soul (Purusha), primal matter (Prakruti) and creation. 

His concept of transformation of energy and profound commentaries on atma, non-atma and the subtle elements of the cosmos places him in an elite class of master achievers - incomparable to the discoveries of other cosmologists. 

On his assertion that Prakruti, with the inspiration of Purusha, is the mother of cosmic creation and all energies, he contributed a new chapter in the science of cosmology. Because of his extrasensory observations and revelations on the secrets of creation, he is recognized and saluted as the Father of Cosmology.

ACHARYA PATANJALI (200 BCE) FATHER OF YOGA


ACHARYA PATANJALI (200 BCE) FATHER OF YOGA

The Science of Yoga is one of several unique contributions of India to the world. 

It seeks to discover and realize the ultimate Reality through yogic practices. 

Acharya Patanjali, hailed from the district of Gonda (Ganara) in Uttar Pradesh, is considered to be the first to codify this ancient tradition. 

He prescribed the control of prana (life breath) as the means to control the body, mind and soul. This subsequently rewards one with good health and inner happiness. 

Acharya Patanjali's 84 yogic postures effectively enhance the efficiency of the respiratory, circulatory, nervous, digestive and endocrine systems and many other organs of the body. 

Yoga has eight limbs where Acharya Patanjali shows the attainment of the ultimate bliss of God in samadhi through the disciplines of: yam, niyam, asan, pranayam, pratyahar, dhyan and dharna. T

he Science of Yoga has gained popularity because of its scientific approach and benefits. Yoga also holds the honored place as one of six philosophies in the Indian philosophical system. Acharya Patanjali will forever be remembered and revered as a pioneer in the science of self-discipline and self-realization.

VARAHAMIHIR (499-587 CE) EMINENT ASTROLOGER AND ASTRONOMER


VARAHAMIHIR (499-587 CE) EMINENT ASTROLOGER AND ASTRONOMER

Renowned astrologer and astronomer who was honored with a special decoration and status as one of the nine gems in the court of King Vikramaditya in Avanti ( Ujjain ).

Varahamihir's book "panchsiddhant" holds a prominent place in the realm of astronomy. He notes that the moon and planets are lustrous not because of their own light but due to sunlight. 

In the "Bruhad Samhita" and "Bruhad Jatak," he has revealed his discoveries in the domains of geography, constellation, science, botany and animal science. 

In his treatise on botanical science, Varamihir presents cures for various diseases afflicting plants and trees. The rishi-scientist survives through his unique contributions to the science of astrology and astronomy.

Fancois Gautier (French Journalist, founder of FACT-INDIA) andW.J Grant (Spirit Of India) on sanatana dharma

Fancois Gautier (French Journalist, founder of FACT-INDIA) andW.J Grant (Spirit Of India) on sanatana dharma

~Fancois Gautier (French Journalist, founder of FACT-INDIA):

"The greatness of India is spiritual. The world has lost the truth. We have lost the Great Sense, the meaning of our evolution, the meaning of why so much suffering, why dying, why getting born, why this earth, who we are, what is the soul, what is reincarnation, where is the ultimate truth about the world, the universe... But India has kept this truth. India has preserved it through seven millennia of pitfalls, genocides, and mistakes. And this was meant to be India's gift to this planet in this century: to restore to the world its true sense, to recharge humanity with the real meaning and spirit of life. India can become the spiritual leader of the world, if only its own people will allow it.

Today India is in mortal danger, its eternal sanatana dharma is under threat from its own people. And if India dies spiritually, the world will die also. India is the last chance for the world to avoid pralaya- 'self-destruction'."

~W.J Grant (Spirit Of India):

"India indeed has a preciousness which a materialistic age is in danger of missing. Some day the fragrance of her thought will win the hearts of men. This grim chase after our own tails which marks the present age cannot continue for ever. The future contains a new human urge towards the real beauty and holiness of life. When it comes, India's Sanatana Dharma will be searched by loving eyes and defended by knightly hands."

"Our sublimest delusion is that India is backward. This predicates, of course, that we are progressive. If backwardness and progress depend on the rate at which one can gobble up vanities perhaps India does not need our aid.....India's devotion to being righteous rather than being clever comes nearer the heart of a true civilization. Cleverness dies on the tongue like a social pleasantry, goodness echoes round the universe in an un-extinguishable reality. We in the West are too busy to see that science without soul is like words without meaning."

ACHARYA SUSHRUT (600 BCE) FATHER OF PLASTIC SURGERY

ACHARYA SUSHRUT (600 BCE) FATHER OF PLASTIC SURGERY

 
A genius who has been glowingly recognized in the annals of medical science. 

Born to sage Vishwamitra, Acharya Sushrut details the first ever surgery procedures in "Sushrut Samhita," a unique encyclopedia of surgery. 

He is venerated as the father of plastic surgery and the science of anesthesia. 

When surgery was in its infancy in Europe, Sushrut was performing Rhinoplasty (restoration of a damaged nose) and other challenging operations. 

In the "Sushrut Samhita," he prescribes treatment for twelve types of fractures and six types of dislocations. 

His details on human embryology are simply amazing. Sushrut used 125 types of surgical instruments including scalpels, lancets, needles, cathers and rectal speculums; mostly designed from the jaws of animals and birds. 

He has also described a number of stitching methods; the use of horse's hair as thread and fibers of bark. 

In the "Sushrut Samhita," he details 300 types of operations. The ancient Indians were the pioneers in amputation, caesarian and cranial surgeries. 

Acharya Sushrut was a giant in the arena of medical science.

NAGARJUNA (100 CE) WIZARD OF CHEMICAL SCIENCE


NAGARJUNA (100 CE) WIZARD OF CHEMICAL SCIENCE

He was an extraordinary wizard of science born in the nondescript village of Baluka in Madhya Pradesh . 

His dedicated research for twelve years produced maiden discoveries and inventions in the faculties of chemistry and metallurgy. 

Textual masterpieces like "Ras Ratnakar," "Rashrudaya" and "Rasendramangal" are his renowned contributions to the science of chemistry. 

Where the medieval alchemists of England failed, Nagarjuna had discovered the alchemy of transmuting base metals into gold. 

As the author of medical books like "Arogyamanjari" and "Yogasar," he also made significant contributions to the field of curative medicine. 

Because of his profound scholarliness and versatile knowledge, he was appointed as Chancellor of the famous University of Nalanda . Nagarjuna's milestone discoveries impress and astonish the scientists of today.

A millennium before Europeans were thinking that the world was a few thousand years old, the Mayans were thinking of millions and the Hindus billions."

Lord Vishnu who represents the unconscious, unmanifest universe is said to rest in the coils of Ananta, the great serpent of Infinity, while he waits for the universe to recreate itself.

Carl Sagan (SCIENTIST): "The Hindu religion is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond, to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long. Longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang. And there are much longer time scales still.

A millennium before Europeans were thinking that the world was a few thousand years old, the Mayans were thinking of millions and the Hindus billions."

India is the only culture in the world where the words for strength and power are "feminine"



India is the only culture in the world where the words for strength and power are "feminine"
-"Shakti'' means "power'' and "strength.'' All male power is said to come from the feminine.

 
Hence it is significant to note that only Indians worship God in the form of "Divine Mother". In Hinduism the deities for knowledge, learning and material wealth are female and not male. The past social inconsistencies and injustices in India did not arise from Hindu scriptures, but from humans who failed to correctly incorporate the teachings of the scriptures, such as the Vedas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, into their social philosophy.

No other scripture in the world has ever venerated women as such like Goddesses.

Will Durant (American historian/philosopher) and Swami Vivekananda on Indian Traditions

Will Durant (American historian/philosopher) and Swami Vivekananda on Indian Traditions
 
"Civilizations have arisen in other parts of the world. In ancient and modern times, wonderful ideas have been carried forward from one race to another...But mark you, my friends, it has been always with the blast of war trumpets and the march of embattled cohorts. Each idea had to be soaked in a deluge of blood..... Each word of power had to be followed by the groans of millions, by the wails of orphans, by the tears of widows.

This, many other nations have taught; but "India" for thousands of years peacefully existed. Here activity prevailed when even Greece did not exist... Even earlier, when history has no record, and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past, even from until now, ideas after ideas have marched out from her, but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it and peace before it. We, of all nations of the world, have never been a conquering race, and that blessing is on our head, and therefore we live....!"

~Swami Vivekananda

Tina ૐ Sadhwani ‎"Perhaps in return for conquest, arrogance and spoliation, "India" will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of the mature mind, the quiet content of the unacquisitive soul, the calm of the understanding spirit, and a unifying, a pacifying love for all living things."

~Will Durant (American historian/philosopher)

Science Of Consciousness

Science Of Consciousness

ACHARYA KANAD (600 BCE) FOUNDER OF ATOMIC THEORY

ACHARYA KANAD (600 BCE) FOUNDER OF ATOMIC THEORY

As the founder of "Vaisheshik Darshan"- one of six principal philosophies of India - Acharya Kanad was a genius in philosophy.

He is believed to have been born in Prabhas Kshetra near Dwaraka in Gujarat . He was the pioneer expounder of realism, law of causation and the atomic theory.

He has classified all the objects of creation into nine elements, namely: earth, water, light, wind, ether, time, space, mind and soul. He says, "Every object of creation is made of atoms which in turn connect with each other to form molecules."

His statement ushered in the Atomic Theory for the first time ever in the world, nearly 2500 years before John Dalton.

Kanad has also described the dimension and motion of atoms and their chemical reactions with each other. The eminent historian, T.N. Colebrook, has said, "Compared to the scientists of Europe, Kanad and other Indian scientists were the global masters of this field."

"The Brahma Vaivarta Purana" (Ancient Mystical Hindu Texts on Cosmology)

"The Brahma Vaivarta Purana" (Ancient Mystical Hindu Texts on Cosmology):


"O King of Gods. I have known the dreadful dissolution of the universe. I have seen all perish, again and again, at the end of every cycle. At that terrible time, every single atom dissolves into the primal pure waters of eternity, whence originally all arose. Everything then goes back into the fathomless, wild infinity of the ocean, which is covered with utter darkness and is empty of every sign of animate being. Ah, who will count the universes that have passed away, or the creations that have risen afresh, again and again, from the formless abyss of the vast waters? Who will number the passing ages of the world, as they follow each other endlessly? And who will search through the wide infinities of space to count the universes side by side, each containing its Brahma, its Vishnu, and its Shiva?"

Tina ૐ Sadhwani The Indian mind has a vision of eternity and infinity. It is aware of the vast cycles of creation and destruction that govern the many universes and innumerable creatures within them.

BHASKARACHARYA II (1114-1183 CE) GENIUS IN ALGEBRA, FOUNDER OF GRAVITY.

BHASKARACHARYA II (1114-1183 CE) GENIUS IN ALGEBRA, FOUNDER OF GRAVITY.

Born in the obscure village of Vijjadit (Jalgaon) in Maharastra, Bhaskaracharya's work in Algebra, Arithmetic and Geometry catapulted him to fame and immortality. 

His renowned mathematical works called "Lilavati" and "Bijaganita" are considered to be unparalled and a memorial to his profound intelligence. Its translation in several languages of the world bear testimony to its eminence. 

In his treatise "Siddhanta Shiromani" he writes on planetary positions, eclipses, cosmography, mathematical techniques and astronomical equipment. 

In the "Surya Siddhanta" he makes a note on the force of gravity: "Objects fall on earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellations, moon, and sun are held in orbit due to this attraction." Bhaskaracharya was the first to discover gravity, 500 years before Sir Isaac Newton. 

He was the champion among mathematicians of ancient and medieval India. His works fired the imagination of Persian and European scholars, who through research on his works earned fame and popularity.

India is the only country which has known God and if anyone wants to know God he must know India







"India is the only country which has known God and if anyone wants to know God he must know India." ~Vecente Avelino
 
The Vedas expound 'ONE' Supreme Reality and hence the understanding of God in the Vedas is that which is 'infinite', 'whole' and 'indivisible'.
~Vishnu represents the unconscious, unmanifest universe.
~Brahma represents the manifest material universe.
~Shiva represents the dynamic processes of creation and destruction of the universe.

~Vecente Avelino who was the Consul General for Brazil in India in 1930, said-
"India is the only country which has known God and if anyone wants to know God he must know India."

THE HINDU THEORY OF WORLD CYCLES- In the Light of Modern Science

THE HINDU THEORY OF WORLD CYCLES-
In the Light of Modern Science


 


According to Hindu scriptures, "With the start of Brahma's day, this multitude of living creatures is created, and with the arrival of Brahma's night, they are all destroyed"...Now according to "human measurement", a thousand ages together make one Brahma's day, and his night lasts just as long. One Yuga cycle lasts 4,300,000 years. It is estimated that twelve Brahma's hours equal 4,300,000 times 1000 years, and the duration of Brahma's night is just the same. One month is comprised of thirty such days, and one year of twelve months. Brahma lives a hundred such years...Destruction of the material world happens in two ways. Partial destruction of the world occurs every 4,300,000*1000 sun years, or at the end of Brahmaloka. During this partial destruction, the highest planets such as Brahmaloka are not destroyed, but at the end of every period of 4,300,000*1000*2*30*12*100 sun years, the entire cosmic manifestation sinks into immaterial body..." One can note here that the terms "space" and "time" are treated as completely equal, serving to describe the same reality, which westerners can only wonder at (and admire).

Hudson Smith--"India includes so much because her soul being infinite excludes nothing. It goes without saying that the universe that India saw emerging from the infinite was stupendous.
While the West was still thinking, perhaps, of 6,000 years old universe – India was already envisioning ages and eons and galaxies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The Universe so vast that modern astronomy slips into its folds without a ripple."

Traditional Hindu scriptures view history as cyclical in character, with vast repeating series of ages. Each age has its own particular qualities. Interestingly, this system seems to be taken literally by modern Yoga masters such as Swami Muktananda, Baba Hari Dass, Swami Vishnu Tirtha, and so on. As a Western devotee, I found myself wondering exactly what the full system of Hindu cycles is, and how it relates to the findings of modern science. Following is my attempt to explain what I found out.
Traditional Puranic Model

The Hindu Puranas describe a number of cycles within cycles. Discussions of these cycles can become confusing because different cycles are measured in different types of units. For example, the cycles are often described in units of deva years, each of which equals 360 human years.

The following description starts with the smaller cycles and works up to the larger ones. The length of each cycle is given in ordinary human (earth) years, as well other units where appropriate. Large numbers are described using the conventions of American English: thus, a million is a thousand thousand, a billion is a thousand million, a trillion is a thousand billion.

This description is based on numerous sources, which are given in the "References" section at the end of this document.
Maha Yugas

The smallest cycle is called a maha yuga. A maha yuga is 4,320,000 human years. Each maha yuga is subdivided into the following four ages, whose lengths follow a ratio of 4:3:2:1:
Satya Yuga (also called Krita Yuga)
This first age is 1,728,000 human years. Also known as the Golden Age or age of Truth. The qualities of this age are: virtue reigns supreme; human stature is 21 cubits; lifespan is a lakh of years, and death occurs only when willed.
Treta Yuga
This second age is 1,296,000 human years. Also known as the Silver Age. The qualities of this age are: the climate is three quarters virtue and one quarter sin; human stature is 14 cubits; lifespan is 10,000 years.
Dvapara Yuga
This third age is 864,000 human years. Also known as the Bronze Age. The qualities of this age are: the climate is one half virtue and one half sin; lifespan is 1,000 years.
Kali Yuga
The fourth and last age is 432,000 human years. Also known as the Iron Age. This is the age in which we are presently living. The qualities of this age are: the climate is one quarter virtue and three quarters sin; human stature is 3.5 cubits; lifespan is 100 or 120 years.

Toward the end of a Kali Yuga, various calamities cause a good deal of destruction. Baba Hari Dass states that creation disappears at the end of a Maha Yuga and remains in seed form inside Brahma. However, other sources do not suggest anything so drastic; it is possible that Hari Dass was really thinking of the end of Brahma's daytime or Brahma's life when he wrote this description.
Brahma Days (Kalpas)

A kalpa is a single daytime period in the life of Brahma, the creator god. Two kalpas are a day and a night of Brahma.

Each kalpa is composed of 1,000 maha yugas. A kalpa is thus equal to 4.32 billion human years.

At the end of Brahma's daytime period, the Three Worlds (Bhuloka, Bhuvarloka, Swarloka) and the seven underworlds (of the nagas) are temporarily dissolved (pralaya); that is, the same folks can be reincarnated when the next day of Brahma begins.

The Vishnu Purana states that at the end of the daytime period of Brahma, a dreadful drought occurs that lasts 100 years, and all the waters are dried up. The sun changes into seven suns, and the three worlds (Bhurloka or Earth, Bhuvarloka or the lowest heaven, and Svarloka or the next higher heaven) and the underworlds are burned bare of life. The inhabitants of Bhuvarloka and Svarkloka flee to the next higher heaven, Maharloka, to escape the heat; and then to the next higher heaven, Janaloka.

Then mighty clouds form and the three worlds are completely flooded with water. The lord Vishnu reposes on the waters in meditative rest for another whole kalpa (4.32 billion years) before renewing the creation.

The destruction that takes place at the end of a daytime of Brahma is referred to as naimittika, which is incidental or occasional. The characteristic of this destruction is that the three worlds continue to exist but are made uninhabitable. The souls of individuals also continue to exist to be reincarnated in the next daytime of Brahma.
Brahma Years

A year of Brahma is composed of 360 day/night cycles of Brahma, or 720 kalpas, or 8.64 billion human years.
Brahma Life

The lifespan of Brahma is 100 Brahma years, or 72,000 kalpas, or 311.04 trillion human years.

At the end of the life of Brahma, all worlds are completely dissolved (mahapralaya). No one is reincarnated from these worlds ever again.
Manvantaras

Another cycle that overlaps the others is that of manvantaras. Each kalpa is reigned over by a succession of 14 Manus, and the reign of each Manu is called a manvantara. A single manvantara is approximately 71 maha yugas.

Coomaraswamy states: "Each Manvantara is followed by a Deluge, which destroys the existings continents and swallows up all living beings, except the few who are preserved for the repeopling of the earth."
Our Position in History

We are located in the fifty-first Brahma year of the life of our Brahma.

Within that Brahma year, we are in the first Brahma day, called the Varaha kalpa.

Within that Brahma day, we are in the seventh manvantara, and in the 28th maha yuga of that manvantara. This would place us at about the 454th maha yuga of the 1,000 maha yugas that comprise this day of Brahma.

Within this maha yuga, we are in Kali Yuga. The 5100th year of Kali Yuga will correspond to the year 2,000 A.D. That means that we are fairly early in Kali Yuga and this age will continue more than 426,000 more years.
Variant Interpretations of Hindu Chronology

The "Traditional Puranic Model" described above is agreed upon by most authors on Hinduism and Yoga. Six different authors, listed at the end of this paper, describe this model identically.

However, several other authors, some of them well-known Hindu teachers, have published descriptions of the cycle of ages that differ from the traditional Puranic model. These variant theories are described below.
Sri Yukteswar

In the introduction to his book The Holy Science, Sri Yukteswar describes an interesting variant of the Hindu theory of ages. According to him,

...the sun, with its planets and their moons, takes some star for its dual and revolves around it in about 24,000 years of our earth-a celestial phenomenon which causes the backward movement of the equinoctial points around the zodiac. The sun also has another motion by which it revolves round a grand center called Vishnunabhi, which is the seat of the creative power, Brahma, the universal magnetism. Brahma regulates dharma, the mental virtue of the internal world.

Yukteswar goes on to explain that the sun's 24,000 year revolution around its companion star takes the sun progressively closer, and then progressively further away from the mystic center Vishnunabhi. In his system, dharma increases as we approach Vishnunabhi and decreases as we draw away from it. The cycle of yugas takes place twice in each 24,000 year revolution. As the sun recedes from Vishnunabhi, the ages pass in the usual order: Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali. As the sun approaches Vishnunabhi, the ages pass in the opposite order: Kali, Dvapara, Treta, Satya.

The length of the yugas is: Satya Yuga, 4800 years; Treta Yuga, 3600 years; Dwapara Yuga, 2400 years; and Kali Yuga, 1200 years. The yugas during the approach to Vishnunabhi he calls 'ascending' yugas; those during the retreat from Vishnunabhi he calls 'descending' yugas. The most recent ascending Kali Yuga began in 499 A.D. Since 1599 A.D. we have been in the ascending Dwapara Yuga, with consequent advances in human culture and knowledge.

Yukteswar goes on to say that the Hindu almanacs, which correspond to the traditional Puranic model described previously, are in error. The error crept in during the dark years of Kali Yuga when scholars misinterpreted the scriptures. Regarding the conventional view that we are currently in Kali Yuga, Yukteswar says flatly that it is not true.

Yukteswar's model thus differs from the traditional in the following respects:
A cycle of four yugas takes 24,000 years instead of 4,320,000.
The yugas alternate between ascending and descending trends instead of always proceeding in the same order. This alternation becomes necessary once you posit that the ages result from our changing distance from Vishnunabhi, rather than a deliberate divine intervention at the end of Kali Yuga.
The greater cycles like kalpas, manvantars, and lifespan of Brahma go unmentioned.
Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda was a disciple of Sri Yukteswar and one of the best-known Hindu teachers ever to visit the West. He wrote the perrenial bestseller Autobiography of a Yogi.

In the latter book, Yogananda describes and endorses Yukteswar's theory of world cycles. However, in a footnote, Yogananda adds the following:

The Hindu scriptures place the present world-age as occurring within the Kali Yuga of a much longer universal cycle than the simple 24,000 year ecquinoctial cycle with which Sri Yukteswar was concerned. The universal cycle of the scriptures of 4,300,560,000 years in extent, and measures out a Day of Creation. This vast figure is based on the relationship between the length of the solar year and a multiple of pi (3.1416, the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle).

The life span for a whole universe, according to the ancient seers, is 314,159,000,000,000 solar years, or "One Age of Brahma."

The Hindu scriptures declare that an earth such as ours is dissolved for one of two reasons: the inhabitants as a whole become either completely good or completely evil. The world mind thus generates a power that releases the captive atoms held together as an earth.

This statement seems at first to reconcile Yukteswar's theory with the traditional view, but in fact actually contradicts both.

Regarding Yukteswar's theory, in his own writing he clearly states that the traditional Hindu almanacs are in error and suggests how the error came about. He states that the length of the yugas, given in ordindary years in the scriptures, were misinterpreted by later scholars as being counted in units of "deva years" which are much longer. This method led the scholars to believe that the yugas are much longer than they really are. Yukteswar's theory is thus clearly intended to replace, not to supplement, the traditional interpretation.

Regarding the "much longer universal cycle" that Yogananda describes, he states that a Day of Creation is 4,300,560,000 years. This is close but not identical to the traditional number, which is 4,320,000,000 years. Similarly, Yogananda gives 314,159,000,000,000 years the the life of Brahma, whereas traditionally the number is slightly different: 311,040,000,000,000 years. It seems likely that Yogananda arrived at these different figures because he wanted to derive them from some multiple of the ratio pi. The exact manner in which pi enters into the calculation is, unfortunately, not explained in his footnote.
David Frawley

David Frawley is a Westerner who has become a scholar of Vedic scriptures, Jyotish (Indian astrology), and Ayurveda (Indian medicine). He has written a number of books on various aspects of Vedic culture and wisdom.

Like Yogananda, Frawley adopts Yukteswar's 24,000 year maha yuga and views it as a smaller cycle within the larger maha yugas described traditionally. Frawley likewise introduces some twists in the way he interprets both the smaller and the larger cycle.

With regard to the 24,000 year cycle, Frawley begins like Yukteswar by ascribing the cycle to the sun's revolution around a companion star. Frawley says that this revolution varies the amount of cosmic light we receive from the galactic center. Thus, he seems to have identified Yukteswar's Vishnunabhi with the center of the galaxy, which Yukteswar never explicitly does. Still, it is a plausible interpretation.

Unfortunately, a 24,000 year orbit would make only a negligible difference in our sun's distance from the galactic center, which is at a vast remove from us. Presumably because of this, Frawley abandons Yukteswar's notion that it is our varying distance from Vishnunabhi that causes the cycles of yugas. Instead, he posits that our companion star is a dark star, and when it passes between us and Vishnunabhi, tends to eclipse some of the cosmic light from that source, thus causing the decline into the less inspired ages like Kali Yuga.

In describing the greater cycle, Frawley states

The greater cycle consists of 8,640,000 years, and what it corresponds to astronomically is not now known. In this cycle we are in a dark or Iron age, whose duration is 432,000 years. Exactly when it began or when it will end are not clearly known either. (Some begin it at 3102 B.C. but this is just to confuse it with the beginning of the Bronze age or the dark half of the lesser cycle.)

In this passage, Frawley gives the traditional length for Kali yuga while giving double the traditional length for the cycle as a whole. Why? Presumably he considers that the greater cycle follows the same pattern as the lesser, with both ascending and descending yugas. Thus a full cycle would consist of Satya-Treta-Dvapara-Kali-Kali-Dvapara-Treta-Satya. Presumably also the whole cycle follows as a result of our overall revolution around some object more distant than the "companion star" or "dark star."
Alain Danielou

Alain Danielou has written a number of books on the spiritual traditions of India. In the book While the Gods Play, he quotes the Linga Purana and derives numbers from it much different than those in the traditional interpretation described previously. In this version, the life span of the gods is 4,320,000 human years. This period is divided into 71.42 manvantaras. Each manvantara is divided into the four yugas: Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali. As a result, the length of these yugas is as follows:
Satya (or Krita) Yuga: 24,195 human years.
Treta Yuga: 18,146 human years.
Dvapara Yuga: 12,097 human years.
Kali Yuga: 6,048,72 human years.

By Danielou's reckoning, Kali Yuga began in 3012 B.C. and will end in 2442 A.D. By that point, the last traces of the present human race will have disappeared. We are supposed to be the seventh manifestation of the human race; the previous ones appeared in 419,964 B.C.; 359,477 B.C.; 298,990 B.C.; 238,503 B.C.; 178,016 B.C.; and 118,529 B.C. Our race appeared in 58,042 B.C., which according to Danielou corresponds to the advent of Cro-Magnon man. Danielou also suggests that Neanderthal man might be the race that precedes ours.

Danielou's version thus differs from the usual theory in the following ways:
He takes 4,320,000 as the lifespan of the gods, rather than the length of a maha yuga.
He divides the 4,320,000 period into 71.42 manvantaras, rather than dividing a kalpa into 14 manvantaras. His manvantaras are thus much shorter than in the usual version.
He states that each manvantara contains a single mahayuga, instead of the usual 71 maha yugas. His maha yugas are thus much shorter than in the usual version.

Danielou makes a couple of other comments worth mentioning. On the subject of why the scriptures portray a year as 360 days in length, he states

The number of days in a year is not constant. The rhythm of the earth's rotation varies over very long periods. A figure of 360 is considered to be the average.

In referring to the cyclical nature of the ages, Danielou also makes the following very interesting statement:

The circle is an illusion, for the cosmic mechanism is in reality always formed of spirals. Nothing ever returns to its point of departure. However, the circle does give us a simplified image.

Unfortunately, he does not expand on this concept any further.
Rishi Singh Gerwal

Rishi Singh Gerwal was the author and apparently also the publisher of a small pamphlet on ancient prophecies, published in Santa Barbara in the 1940s. The pamphlet contains translations of various prophetic portions of the Mahabharata.

In the Introduction, Gerwal gives the following numbers:

1 kalpa = 22 septillion, 394 sextillion, 880 quadtillion human years.

1 kalpa = 2 manvantaras (traditionally this would be 14 manvantaras)

1 manvantara = 71 maha yugas (this is the same as the traditional reckoning)

Gerwal goes on to give the traditional lengths for the Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali Yugas. He then states that the present Kali yuga has 210,000 years to go. He also states that 22,394,880,000,000,000,000,000,000 years have already passed since the start of the kalpa. Since this number is the same one he gave as the length of a kalpa, we are presumably at the very end of this present kalpa.

Oddly enough, if you multiply maha yugas of 4,320,000 years times 71 to make a manvantara and then times 2 to make a kalpa, the result is only 613,440,000 years rather than the 22 septillion Gerwal states as his total.

The 22 septillion number is far greater than the traditional length of a kalpa, and the statement that 2 manvantaras make a kalpa is far fewer than the traditional number of 14.
Yugas and Science

If we restrict our attention to the traditional interpretation, we find that it makes a number of significant predictions that can be compared with the findings of modern science.
Great Culture Preceded Us

Beginning about 3,894,000 years ago, there is supposed to have been a great civilisation in which people were happier, taller, and much longer lived than they are today.

By contrast, scientists currently believe that homo sapiens evolved from more primitive forbears about 300,000 to 400,000 years ago. Humanity is supposed to have domesticated plants about 12,000 years ago, and animals shortly thereafter. Prior to that point, humans are thought to have been hunter-gatherers and possibly scavengers.

The scientific view is based on fossil evidence. The mystery is how an advanced civilization posited by the Hindu theory could have vanished without leaving any trace for us to find.
Cyclic Catastrophes

A number of periodic catastrophes are described in the Hindu scriptures:
At the end of each Kali Yuga, some type of destruction takes place. The most recent instance would be a bit under 4 million years ago. Other instances should be found every 4,320,000 years before that.
At the end of each manvantara, a great flood wipes out most life on earth. The most recent occurrence would be 120,534,000 years ago. Other instances would occur at intervals of 306,720,000 years.
At the end of the kalpa, all life on earth is destroyed. The most recent instance would be 2,267,574,000 years ago.
At the end of a life of Brahma, the entire universe and all its heavens and hells are destroyed. The current universe would have come into existence more than 150 billion years ago.

Interestingly, current scientific research does support the existence of occasional mass extinctions in earth's history. These include the following major extinctions:
At the Ordovician/Silurian transition, about 425 million years ago.
Near the Devonian/Carboniferous transition, about 345 million years ago.
At the Permian/Triassic transition, about 230 million years ago.
At the Triassic/Jurassic transition, about 180 million years ago.
At the Cretaceous/Tertiary transition, about 63 million years ago.

Additionally, some scientists have identified what they believe is a cycle of periodic mass extinctions occurring every 26 million years.

Unfortunately, none of these specified dates corresponds to the catastrophes called for by the Hindu theory.

Current scientific estimates of the age of the universe range from 7 billion to 20 billion years. By contrast, the Hindu theory calls for a universe more than 150 billion years old.

On the other hand, the dates ascribed by scientists to the various geologic periods have been revised a number of times on the basis of new evidence, and could possibly be revised again in the future. Further, cosmology could reasonably be described as an infant science, and the age it ascribes to the universe as a whole might also change on the basis of new theories and evidence.
Downward Trend

By far the greater divergence from modern science is in the overall pattern of the Hindu theory. The Hindu and scientific patterns differ in the following ways:
The main pattern in the Hindu theory is one of cycles.
In the Hindu theory, life follows a downward trend most of the time, from the finest age to the worst. At the end of the worst age, Kali Yuga, divine intervention rapidly destroys the wicked and restores everything to its pristine state.
In the Hindu theory, humanity is always present. The concept of evolution is confined to spiritual evolution; that is, each soul takes life in a series of lower to higher animal forms before finally incarnating as a human being.

By contrast, the fossil record of life on earth indicates that life began with very simple forms and later developed more complex organisms. The advent of humanity appears to be an extremely recent development when compared to the history of life on earth. Humanity itself does not appear to have existed long enough to have participated in the vast cycles of ages posited by Hindu theory.
Conclusion

There is no scientific support for the Hindu theory of world cycles. Further, current scientific theory contradicts Hindu theory in many respects. It is best to begin by acknowledging this truth, as such an acknowledgement can form the basis for interesting discussions of the different ways of knowing that underly the more specific differences. Such, however, must be the substance of another paper.


References
Traditional Puranic Chronology

(Anonymous), Introduction to Kashmir Shaivism. S.Y.D.A. Foundation, Oakland, California, 1977. See pp. 69-70.

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy & Sister Nivedita, Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1967. See pp. 392-395.

Baba Hari Dass, Silence Speaks. Sri Rama Foundation, Santa Cruz, California, 1977. See pp. 79-80.

Cornelia Dimmitt & J.A.B. van Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas. Rupa & Co., Calcutta etc., 1983. See pp. 19-24, 36-43.

Swami Vishnu Tirtha Maharaj, Devatma Shakti (Kundalini): Divine Power. Pub. Swami Shivom Tirth, 1962. See pp. 29-30.

W. J. Wilkins, Hindu Mythology. Rupa & Co., Calcutta etc., 1983. See pp. 353-360.
Variant Interpretations of Hindu Chronology

Alain Danielou, While the Gods Play: Shaiva Oracles and Predictions on the Cycles of History and the Destiny of Mankind. Inner Traditions International, Rochester, Vermont, 1987. See pp. 194-199.

David Frawley, Vedic Astrology Correspondence Course, Part I, Section 1. Vedic Research Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1986. See pp. 16-18.

Rishi Singh Grewal, World Prophecies: Dictators and Taxation Foretold in Ancient Hindu Philosophy, pub. Rishi Singh Grewal, Santa Barbara, California, 1941. Esp. pp. 1-5.

Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi. Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles, 1979. See pp. 193-194.

Jnanavatar Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, The Holy Science: Kaivalya Darsanam. Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles, 1984. See pp. 7-20.
Summaries of Scientific Theory

Funk & Wagnall's New Encycopedia, 1986 revision. Various articles.

Rick Gore, "Extinctions," National Geographic, June 1989.

VEDIC CIVILIZATION THE PROGENITOR OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION by Amlan Roychowdhury


VEDIC CIVILIZATION THE PROGENITOR OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
by Amlan Roychowdhury

Archaeological and literary evidence indicates that Egypt's science, technology and spirituality was sourced from ancient Vedic India.
Author has a masters degree in anthropology from Kolkata University. His website http://amlanroychowdhury.webs.com

Posted: Jul 16, 2009 |

http://www.articlesbase.com/culture-articles/vedic-civilization-the-progenitor-of-egyptian-civilization-1043661.html

In one of my earlier article, which I wrote probably a year back, I have mentioned about the similarities, that I came across, between the Vedic Civilization and that of the Egyptian Civilization. Even then I would like to enumerate a few of the striking similarities to keep my readers informed and hence it will be easier for them to understand the context of this article.

I was reading a book by Bob Bryer, a renowned Egyptologist, titled “The Murder OF Tutankhamun”. While reading the book I found that there were some very fundamental similarities between the then Egyptian civilization and that of the present Vedic civilization i.e. the Hindus living wherever they are.

The similarities can be enumerated as follows:

When Tutankhamen’s Father Akhenaten, the pharaoh, shifted his capital to a place called Amarna and erected a temple dedicated to the Sun god and naming the temple as The Karnak Temple. The sun god in the Hindu pantheon is an important deity and a temple dedicated to the Sun God is situated in the state of Orissa build in 1278 CE by Narasimha Deva. This temple is called KARNAK TEMPLE. We do see a similarity don’t we?

3 In the Egyptian phonetics the word “Wadi” prounced as waadi means beautiful valley, lush and green . In the devnagri phonetics of which the language Hindi is a derivative the word “Wadi” also means the same thing.

Seeing these similarities I had a mind to do a more or less detailed study of these two civilization with an eye to the antiquity of the vedic civilization.

The two most important epics of the vedic civilization is the “Mahabharata” and “The Ramayana”. These two epics are not just a figment of somebody’s imagination but are in fact, FACTS that has been chronicled. The Ramayana is dated some 8000 years BC and The Mahabharata is dated to 5000 years BC. (refer my articles on Ramayana and Mahabharata). These dates do indicate that the Vedic civilization was a reality and a civilization that was thriving with all its majesty and grandeur all along the banks of Saraswati River, Indus River, and the Ganges. This civilization was technically very advanced. The vedic literature including the four Vedas and the Upanishads have volumes of scientific treatise known as “Kala”. There are in fact thirteen such Kalas written by various sages.

The first that needs to be mentioned is the encyclopedic Shastra which was called Akshara-Laksha. This was written by sage Valmiki. All kinds of mathematics including modern geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry, Physics, Applied mathematics, mineralogy, Hydels, the methods of measuring air heat and even electricity, and geography are said to have been treated in this treaties. 

The next science of importance is the Sabda –Shastra written by Kandika Rishi which deals with sounds, echoes of moving and non moving objects in creation.It also deals with mechanically reproducing sound, measuring their pitch and velocity.

Sage Sakatayana is the author of Lakshana Shastra which deals with the science of determinig the sex in animate and inanimate creation.

Sage Kashyapa is the author of Shilpa Shastra and it comprises of 22 chapters.307 varieties of shilpas including 11 types of construction like Temples, Palaces, Hall, etc. Earlier writers on this subject were Vishwakarma, Maya, Maruti and Chayapurusha their thoughts have been incorporated in the above Shastra.

The science of Metal called the dhatuvada was written by ashwini kumaras.In it are 7 chapters which deals with dhatus or the primary substances their combinations and transmutation. Alchemy or converting copper into gold etc has been described in this work.

Ashwini Kumar was a great rishi who also authored the Visha Shastra. This is also an exhaustive work where 32 different types of poison their properties, their preparation and their antidotes.

The next in line is the science of fine arts which was composed by sage Bhima and this treatise is called chitra karma shastra. The uniqueness of this science was that students were taught to recreate a person after seeing a single strand of hair or nail. Highly advanced form of forensic science?

Then there is the Mala Shastra which deals with gymnastics and sports necessary for preservation of health .

Sage Vatsyana has composed a work on Ratna Pariksha which means testing of gems.

Sage Vyasa is said to have composed a work on artha shastra which had three chapters on ways of earning money legitimately.

Sage agastya[agastya muni] is the originator of Shakti Shastra. Atomic fission and nuclear science formed a part of this science.

Yantra Shastra by Sage Bharadwaj explains 339 types of terrestrial vehicle,783 types of boats and ships and 101 types of airships by use of mantras Tantras and artificial means.

I have just mentioned a few of the Kalas only to impress upon my readers that this civilization was far more superior than any other inhabitation during that period. AND somewhere during this period there was a global catastrophe that compelled this civilization to shift base and somewhere during this period Egypt emerged.

When we talk of Vedic civilization’s geographical distribution we do not put them in the political boundary of India as it is today. Vedic civilization extended from Iran in the west through Afghanistan Pakistan, India, Tibet, Nepal all the way to Burma and Java Borneo Sumatra archipelago in the East. Therefore it would not have been difficult for the large group of people to shift to Egypt from, let’s say, Iran.

Now when the large group shifts to a new place and starts to settle what will change in them is their material culture as that is determined by the environment and the prevalent conditions. What will not change is the social organization, the rituals, the religious process, and the language.

The name Egypt comes from the word “Ajap” which in Sanskrit is Ajapati which signifies Lord Ram as the most illustrious forbearer of the Aja clan. Aja was the grandfather of lord Ram. The word Ram means God and like the Vedic tradition where the rulers were considered as being representatives or descendants of God, the Egyptians also considered their Pharaoh as God or their descendants and their Pharaoh was also named as Ramesis I or II. Here I would like to mention one of the interesting fact about the sphinx. The pyramids have been dated as 3000 years BC and the Sphinx is dated to be 6000 Years BC. This means that when the pyramids were being made, the sphinx stood in front of them as a reminder of a civilization which was antique to them and full of intrigue.

Dr.S.K.Balasubramaniam in his book “Hindu Mythology as prehistory” says that the history of Egypt goes back to thousands of year in time to the period of Yayati who had two wives namely devayani and Sharmishtha. Yayati,by some forces of nature became prematurely old and was thus very depressed. He asked his Eldest son Yadu who was from Devayani to relieve him from his predicament by exchanging his youth with the old age. Yadu refused to do the needful and so did all other sons. It was Puru the youngest and the son from Sharmishtha who agreed to help his father. Henve he was crowned the sovereign of the world superceding his elder brothers. Purus decendants were the Puravas later became known as the Pharaohs of Egypt who ruled over his father’s domain with the elder brothers as subject to him.

According to Count Biornsttierna in his book “The theogony of the Hindus” has lot of information on the Vedic culture in ancient Egypt. It says that the temples of upper Egypt are of greater antiquity than those of the lower Egypt and consequently the religion of Egypt, according to the testimony of those monument, came from India. The chronicles found in the temple of Abydos and Sias testify that the religion of Egypt proceeded from India. Professor Brugsh agrees with this view and in his book “The History Of Egypt” mentions, “We have a right to more than suspect that India, in 8000 Years BC, sent a colony of emigrants who carried with them their art and advanced civilization into what is known as Egypt. The Egyptians came according to their records from a mysterious land now known to lie on the shores of Indian ocean” In this context it will not be prudish on my part to say that 8000 years BC was the period when Lord ram ruled over the Indian subcontinent and that is why Egypt got its name from Lord Ram’s grandfather “Aja”.

In Nav Bharat Times ( A reputed news paper in India ) dated 18th April 1967 reported that in one of the excavation that was being conducted in the Egyptian Pyramid date 3000 years BC and engraved verse from Bhagawad Gita was found. The verse was “vasami jirnani yatha vhiaya” This means “as a person puts on new garment, giving up the old ones, the soul similarly accepts a new material body giving up the old and the useless ones”. This actually explains the ritual of the mummy making and the elaborate burial system in the Egyptian civilization where efforts are made to make the soul comfortable with all necessary things because they believed that the soul will need all these till it finds a material body. Reincarnation in short. Among the vedic people,The Hindus of today, each and every one believes in this concept. This find certainly boost the idea that Egypt was either a part of Vedic culture or was formed by the emigrants from India.

Professor P.N.Oak in his world famous book “world vedic Heritage” says that the Egyptians called India as the land of Punt or rather Pankht and regarded it as their divine land peopled by Punts meaning Pundits, sages, seers, and Gods. Further evidence of the Vedic roots of the Egyptian area, as mentioned in the book “ Proof of Vedic Cultures Global Existence” by Stephan Knapp, is noticed when we understand that Rama was spelled as Rham in the west. Later the “R” was dropped and consequently the African school text books asserting that Africans are Kushites ( Subject of Kush son of Ram ) mention Ham as the father of Kush. The twin brother of Kush was Luv and the region named after him was known in Sanskrit as Laviya, now pronounced as Libya.

Count Biornsttierna again says ,in the same book, “ on comparing the religious system between the Egyptian civilization and the Vedic civilization we are struck by theie resemblance to each other.The principal of trinity with that of unity, the pre-existence of the soul,its transmigration, the division of caste into priest, warriors, traders, and agriculturists are the cardinal points of both system. Even the symbols are same on the shores of The Ganges and The Nile. Thus we find the Lingam of the shiva temples of India in the Phallus of the Ammon temples of Egypt. We find the lotus as a symbol of the sun both in India and in Egypt, and we find symbols of immortality of the soul both in India and Egypt. The power of rendering barren women fruitful is ascribed to the Temple of Shiva in India is also ascribed to the temple of Ammon in Egypt.”

Indian contacts with the Western world date back to prehistoric times. Trade relations, preceded by the migration of peoples, inevitably developed into cultural relations. Evidence of Indian contact with the ancient civilizations to her west, however is certain. Knobbed pottery vases came to Sumer from India and so did cotton. In the Akkadian tongue, Indian cotton was expressed by ideographs meaning "vegetable cloth." Assurbanipal (668-626 B.C) cultivated Indian plants including the "wool-bearing trees" of India. According to the Skandha Purana, Egypt (Africa) was known as Sancha-dvipa continent mentioned in Sir Willliams Jones' dissertation on Egypt. At Alexandria, in Egypt, Indian scholars were a common sight: they are mentioned both by Dio Chrysostom (c. 100 A.D.) and by Clement (c. 200 A.D.) Indirect contact between ancient India and Egypt through Mesopotamia is generally admitted, but evidence of a direct relationship between the two is at best fragmentary. Peter Von Bohlen (1796-1840) German Indologist, compared India with ancient Egypt. He thought there was a cultural connection between the two in ancient times. There are elements of folk art, language, and rural culture of Bengal which have an affinity with their Egyptian counterparts and which have not been explained satisfactorily in terms of Aryan, Mongolian, or Dravidian influences. There are similarities between place names in Bengal and Egypt and recently an Egyptian scholar, El Mansouri, has pointed out that in both Egypt and India the worship of cow, sun, snake, and river are common.

Recently, more definitive evidence suggesting contact between India and Egypt has become available. A terracotta mummy from Lothal vaguely resembles an Egyptian mummy and a similar terracotta mummy is found also at Mohenjodaro. In this context it is of interest to note that the Egyptian mummies are said to have been wrapped in Indian muslin. Characters similar to those on the Indus seals have also been found on tablets excavated from Easter Island. Of all the Egyptian objects and motifs indicating some contact between India and Egypt during the Indus Valley period, "the cord pattern occurring in a copper tablet in the Indus Valley and on three Egyptian seals is the most striking link between the two countries. Gordon Childe has said, "In other words, in the third millennium B.C. India was already in a position to contribute to the building up of the cultural tradition that constitutes our spiritual heritage as she notoriously has done since the time of Alexander."

Neither historical events nor cross-cultural currents can explain the unique parallels in the myths and imagery of ancient Egypt and India. Walafrid Strabo (c. 809–849) German scholar has said: "The lotus flower, sacred to Buddha and to Osiris, has five petals which symbolizes the four limbs and the head; the five senses; the five digits; and like the pyramid, the four parts of the compass and the zenith. Other esoteric meanings abound: for myths are seldom simple, and never irresponsible." In fact, Hinduism's pervading influence seems to go much earlier than Christianity. American mathematician, A. Seindenberg, has, for example, shown that the Shulbasutras, the ancient Vedic science of mathematics, constitute the source of mathematics in the antique world of Babylon to Greece: "The arithmetic equations of the Shulbasutras were used in the observation of the triangle by the Babylonians as well as in the edification of Egyptian pyramids, in particular the funeral altar in the form of pyramid known in the Vedic world as smasana-cit."The flower so prolific in the imagery of both India and Egypt, grows out of the waters and opens its petals to be warmed by the sun: to be fertilized. From the earliest imagery in stone at Sanchi, of the first century BC in India, the lotus is associated with Sri, the goddess of fertility, who is later invoked as Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and abundance - being worshipped by Buddhists, Jains, and Hindus alike. The lotus is held in each hand by Surya, signifying the fertilizing powers of the sun as he travels through the universe.

In Egypt, the blue lotus appears in the earliest wall paintings of the VI Dynasty at the pyramids of Saqqara and in all funerary stelae. They are offered to the deceased, and held in the hand as thought they possess the power to revitalize them: to bring the deceased back to life. Carved out of blue lapis, along with the golden falcon and the sun that are the symbols of the god Horus, the lotus appears among the funerary treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamen.

The lotus then, becomes a leitmotiv, a symbol most apt since its links the waters with the sun, the earth to sky - signifying fertility and regeneration in both Egypt and India. For, it is the seed of the plant which spells out the cycle of birth-decay-death and rebirth that forms the essential pattern of belief in these two riverine and agricultural societies. In India and Egypt, the rivers Saraswati and Ganga and the Nile have brought sustenance to the land and nourished these civilizations which have survived five millennia. Both these rivers, the Ganga and the Nile, are personified and worshipped. They provide the dramatic backdrop against which myths and indeed created, to explain the topographic conditions of the land.

From its source in the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, the Ganga flows some two thousand five hundred kilometers, through the rich deltaic region which is known as Aryavarta, in the most densely populated area of India. Puranic myths recount the divine origins of Ganga, as she fell from heaven to earth in response to penance performed by the sage Bhagiratha: to bring the powers of water to an earth parched for over a thousand years. At the seventh century seaport of Mahabalipuram in south India, this epic theme is entirely carved out of a granite rock spanning almost fifty feet. A natural cleft in the rock allows the rain water to pour down in great torrents - as though this were the descent of a mighty river. Besides this cleft are carved the serpentine forms of the naga devatas (snake divinities), the sun and the moon, the gandharvas and kinnaras (celestial beings), the hunters and animals of the forest - all of them rejoicing in this great event where the divine rive is celebrated as the savior of all mankind. Here is a spectacular instance of the way in which myth is used to relate man to the environment. In this myth one senses an acute awareness of the ecological balance which needs to be maintained: of the vapors of the sea rising to the sky through heat, described in the myth as tapas, and then falling back to earth as the divine river, to flow down through the matted locks of Lord Shiva, on to the Himalayas, to flow back into the ocean.

As in India, so in Egypt, the river is personified in human form. A sandstone relief from the temple of Rameses II at Abydos depicts Hapi, god of the Nile, holding a pair of blue lotus stalks in his hands; suspended from the god's right arm is the ankh, the symbol of life. Unlike the Ganga, the blue god of the Nile is male, but with one female breast to symbolize his role as nourisher - releasing the waters each year to provide sustenance to mankind. The main presiding deity of the Egyptian pantheon is Osiris, like Yama, god of the dead, whose story of life, death and regeneration has been transmitted to us in great detail by Plutarch. Some extraordinary parallels with the Osirian myth are found among the myths and images of India. Lord Vishnu lied recumbent on the bed of the ocean asleep, as indeed Osiris lied prostate and dead on a bier. The Hindi word for cow means also "ray of illumination," and in Egyptian lore a cow is sometimes depicted as the source of light in the sky.

Significant also is the fact that Lieutenant Speake, when planning his discovery of the source of the Nile, secured his best information from a map reconstructed out of Puranas. (Journal, pp. 27, 77, 216; Wilford, in Asiatic Researches, III). It traced the course of the river, the "Great Krishna," through Cusha-dvipa, from a great lake in Chandristhan, "Country of the Moon," which it gave the correct position in relation to the Zanzibar islands. The name was from the native Unya-muezi, having the same meaning; and the map correctly mentioned another native name, Amara, applied to the district bordering Lake Victoria Nyanza.

"All our previous information," says Speake, "concerning the hydrography of these regions, originated with the ancient Hindus, who told it to the priests of the Nile; and all these busy Egyptian geographers, who disseminated their knowledge with a view to be famous for their long-sightedness, in solving the mystery which enshrouded the source of their holy river, were so many hypothetical humbugs. The Hindu traders had a firm basis to stand upon through their intercourse with the Abyssinians." (source: Periplus of the Erythrean Sea - W.H. Schoff p. 229-230).

Modern scholars claim that Akhenaton was the worlds first known monotheist. However, the fact is, he was actually reviving an ancient monotheistic religious tradition. Unknown to most is the true nature of this religion. This religion was not only vedic, but was actually an indiginous Egyptian form of Vaisnavaism. Research has proven Akhenaton's vedic roots through his familial connections to the Hurrian/Mitanni peoples. Everyone agrees that the Mitanni were a Sanskrit speaking and writing people and they worshipped the vedic gods. What is forgotten is the fact that Akhenaton's father, his mother, and wife were all related to the vedic Mitanni. Thus, it is no surprise that Akhenaton's religion has so many vedic similarities. The research of BhaktiAnanda Goswami has proven the Vaishnava nature of his religion. In ancient Egyptian religion, creation began from the form of NHRYN (Narayan) lying on the primordial waters. A lotus grows from His navel, and on this lotus appears the four armed and four headed Heliosphanes (Brahma) who speaks creation. Ancient Mediterranean Vaishnavism can be properly understood when we compare it to the authentic Vaishnava scriptural sources especially Bhagavad-Gita, and Srimad Bhagavatam, where the viratarupa (Universal Form) conception of the Supreme Lord is revealed. For example, Krishna's self revelation in the "I Am" verses of the Bhagavad-Gita directly parallels the great hymns of HR-Heri of ancient Egypt. Therefore, ancient Egyptian religion considered HR-Heri the origin of all gods and deities. That is why they used the name HR-Heri or Asu (Vasu) along with deities considered to be aspects of Heri. Thus, the god of wealth was called KPHR/Kepe-Heri because in the Gita Krishna says "·I am Kubera".At the age of eighteen years, he came into complete power of the Kingdom. It was at this time that he proclaimed his faith in One God-The Sun, which he designated by the name of Aton, ie. The Disk or Fiery Orb. He publicly proclaimed his faith in Aton, as the God of Gods. Some have claimed that as a Sun worshipper, Akhnaton was more of an Animist Nature worshiper rather than a devotee of a Supreme Godhead. However Akhnaton's own words confirm that this is not the case. Akhnaton spoke of the Sun disk as being the Eye of Aton and a representative of Aton's Power. In the Bhagavad Gita, the Sun is described as one of the unlimited eyes of God's Universal Form. In the Brahma-Samhita the Sun is also described as the Eye of God. Akhnaton's reverance of the Sun is properly understood in this context.

The symbol of Aton, as presented by Akhnaton, was an image of the Sun Disc with many sunrays extending out, ending in hands, in a kind of triangle shape. Some scholars have also pointed out that the shape of the Pyramids represents the Sun's beams shining down to Earth, in a triangle shape, with the top being the Source and spreading out ever wider as it reaches the Earth. The similarity between Akhnaton's Aton and Surya is indeed striking. The Sanskrit description of the Divine source of light corresponds perfectly with the picture of Aton given in the Egyptian King's hymns.

The Puranas have a remarkable connection with one of the most important discoveries of the 19th century. In 1858, John Hanning Speke (1827-1864) – Speke was commissioned in the British Indian Army in 1844 – made the discovery that Lake Victoria was the source of the River Nile in Africa. Speke wrote that to some Indian Pundits (Hindu scholars) the Nile was known as Nila, and also as Kaali. Nila means blue and Kaali means dark – both apt descriptions for the Nile near its source. These are mentioned in several Puranas including the Bhavishaya. This went against the conventional wisdom, for Lake Victoria was unknown at the time. Sir Richard Burton, the leader of the Nile expedition, had identified Lake Tangyanika as the source. Speke, however, following upon the advice of a Benares (Varansi) Pundit, insisted that the real source was a much large lake that lay to the north. Following this advice Speke went on to discover Victoria. The Pundit had also told him that the real source were twin peaks as Somagiri, ‘Soma’ in Sanskrit stands for moon and ‘giri’ means peak, and Somagiri therefore are none other than the fabled Mountains of the Moon in Central Africa! The Pundit must have known all this. He published his book Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile in 1863.

The similarities of Egyptian civilization’s, science and religion with the Vedic knowledge are even more amazing than the ones mentioned about the Jews. Specifically,in the philosophical and religious field. The details of the temple worship practiced in Egypt are strikingly similar to Vedic temple worship, including the three sandhya meditations on the sun (Ammon-Ra, the main Deity in Egypt), the form of God as both male and female (Osiris/Isis, assimilated with the Sun and the Moon), the bathing, dressing and decoration of the Deity (with red cloth, still considered in India as the traditional color of cloth to be offered to Deities), arati with the offerings of food and incense, etc. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is an almost exact replica of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which is coming to us through the Yaksa Saivite Tantric tradition of Himalayas, which strongly influenced the Vajrayana Buddhism or Lamaism. Egyptian priests had a complicated knowledge about the various subtle bodies and astral traveling (as Tantric Buddhists do), and some bits of knowledge about yoga, too. Egyptian priests were strictly vegetarian (not even eating eggs), followed brahmacarya vows and abstained from intoxicants, and went through several initiations in order to practice their service. Meat was only consumed by them in later periods, and exclusively coming from fire sacrifices. (It is therefore very misguiding to say that Brahmins "became vegetarian" in a later period, after detaching themselves from their "origins" as Jews).

They were also in charge of medicine and astrology, and had an immense knowledge about both. Even the temple decorations used the lotus flower as a symbol of purity and beauty. The list could go on and on. Many ancient Greek scholars (including Plato, Pythagoras, etc.) traveled both to Egypt and to India to get their knowledge. While reading Plato's and Pythagoras' teachings, we find exactly the same Vedic knowledge explained in Greek language. Now we know from the Puranas that at the times of Parasurama avatara, the ksatriya kings of Bharata varsa were scattered all over the planet while fleeing the avatara's killing wrath. We know that a group of such ksatriyas, followed by their family priests and retinue, reached ancient Egypt and established a kingdom there. Other groups settled in South America, Mesopotamia, Northern Europe, and in the lost continent of Atlantis mentioned by Plato and others. Striking similarities can be observed, for example the pyramids that can be found almost exactly identical in South America, Mesopotamia and Egypt. And which also resemble the large and high domes of the most ancient Vedic temples.

There are evidences galore that Vedic civilization was the precursor of all major civilization in the world. Similarities between the Egyptian civilization and the Vedic civilization and the evidence of the later being the progenitor of the earlier is but one example.

There are plenty of similarities between Vedic and Celtic civilization, between Vedic and Anatolian civilization, between Vedic and Mayan civilization etc. The question is the similarities between one and many.

Bibliography:

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/India_and_Egypt.htm

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/christianity's_similarities_with_hinduism.htm

http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/connections/Judaism.php

Proof of Vedic Culture’s Global existence by Stephen Knapp

History of India by John Keay

Underworld by Graham Hancock

World Vedic Heritage By Prof: P.N.Oak

(ArticlesBase SC #1043661)

Ancient Indians (Aryabhatt 476 CE, Acharya Kanad 600 BCE, etc) were the first to suggest a "heliocentric solar system" 1000 years before Copernicus published his theory

Ancient Indians (Aryabhatt 476 CE, Acharya Kanad 600 BCE, etc) were the first to suggest a "heliocentric solar system" 1000 years before Copernicus published his theory

  1. Ancient Indians (Aryabhatt 476 CE, Acharya Kanad 600 BCE, etc) were the first to suggest a "heliocentric solar system" 1000 years before Copernicus published his theory. 
  2. Speed of light was calculated as 1,85,016 miles/sec. 
  3. They even calculated the distance between Earth and Moon as 108 diameters of Moon and Earth and Sun as 108 diameters of Sun (close to modern day values). 
  4. All these were stated several thousand years before famous scientist Galileo postulated in the West that the sun was the center of the planetary system and Earth was not flat. 
  5. Ancient Indians also calculated the age of the Earth as 4.3 billion years. The modern estimate is 4.5 billion years.
  6. In india u say boogole to geography since ages which means earth is round 

ARYABHATT (476 CE) MASTER ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN

ARYABHATT (476 CE) MASTER ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN


Born in 476 CE in Kusumpur ( Bihar ), Aryabhatt's intellectual brilliance remapped the boundaries of mathematics and astronomy. In 499 CE, at the age of 23, he wrote a text on astronomy and an unparallel treatise on mathematics called "Aryabhatiyam." He formulated the process of calculating the motion of planets and the time of eclipses. Aryabhatt was the first to proclaim that the earth is round, it rotates on its axis, orbits the sun and is suspended in space - 1000 years before Copernicus published his heliocentric theory. He is also acknowledged for calculating p (Pi) to four decimal places: 3.1416 and the sine table in trigonometry. Centuries later, in 825 CE, the Arab mathematician, Mohammed Ibna Musa credited the value of Pi to the Indians, "This value has been given by the Hindus." And above all, his most spectacular contribution was the concept of zero without which modern computer technology would have been non-existent. Aryabhatt was a colossus in the field of mathematics.

Tina ૐ Sadhwani Indian mathematics and the numeral system is the forerunner of modern science , technology and mathematics.

We have to be grateful to the Indians for teaching us how to count without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
-----Albert Einstein

"It is a fact that before the advent of the Indian numeral system and algebra in Europe , the Roman numeral system was used , which could not have been used for cumbersome scientific calculations. They are even today counting 1 , 2 , 3 , etc to zero, after Sanskrit figures.

It was Indian mathematics, which provided the base for the growth of European science and technology to its present standards.

If it weren't for Indian mathematics, Europe would still would have been using the Roman numeral system, and in all probability , would still have been in the Dark Ages as well."

Upanishads: The mystical, esoteric doctrines of Vedic India

Upanishads: The mystical, esoteric doctrines of Vedic India.


According to the Upanishads, Brahman or Supreme Reality cannot be defined because it is infinite. It is beyond thought and beyond imagination. It is nothing in the mind and nothing outside the mind, nothing past or present or future. These are only conceptions in time and space. But the nearest conception of Brahman we can have is to say that it is a state of consciousness beyond time when SAT, CIT and ANANDA- Being, Consciousness and Bliss are one.

-Paul Deussen (1845-1919) a direct disciple of Arthur Schopenhauer:
"Whatever may be the discoveries of the scientific mind, none can dispute the eternal truths propounded by the Upanishads. Though they may appear as riddles, the key to solving them lies in our heart and if one were to approach them with an open mind one could secure the treasure as did the Rishis of ancient times"

Arthur Schopenhauer: "In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads.The Upanishads have been the solace of my life, they will be the solace of my death."

असतो मा सद्गमय, तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय, मृत्योर् मा अमृतं गमय
"Lead me from the unreal to the real. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad I.3.28)

Romain Rolland (French Nobel laureate, professor of the History) on The vast and tranquil metaphysics of India is unfolded; her conception of the universe, her social organization, perfect in its day and still capable of adaptation to the demands of modern times......

Romain Rolland (French Nobel laureate, professor of the History) on The vast and tranquil metaphysics of India is unfolded; her conception of the universe, her social organization, perfect in its day and still capable of adaptation to the demands of modern times......

"The vast and tranquil metaphysics of India is unfolded; her conception of the universe, her social organization, perfect in its day and still capable of adaptation to the demands of modern times; the solution which she offers for the feminist problem, for the problems of the family, of love, of marriage; and lastly, the magnificent revelation of her art. The whole vast soul of India proclaims from end to end of its crowded and well ordered edifice the same domination of a sovereign synthesis.

There is no negation. All is harmonized. All the forces of life are grouped like a forest, whose thousand waving arms are led by Nataraja, the master of the Dance. Everything has its place, every being has its function, and all take part in the divine concert, their different voices, and their very dissonances, creating, in the phrase of Heraclitus, a most beautiful harmony. Whereas in the West, cold, hard logic isolates the unusual, shutting it off from the rest of life into a definite and distinct compartment of the spirit. India, ever mindful of the natural differences in souls and in philosophies, endeavors to blend them into each other, so as to recreate in its fullest perfection the complete unity. The matching of opposites produces the true rhythm of life."

~Romain Rolland (French Nobel laureate, professor of the History)

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