Astronomy

[Vishal Agarwal]

MW wrote: Texts cannot be dated according to their *oldest* materials, but
according to their general level, and as far as redaction is concerned,
according to their late(st) materials. For example, the KRttikA (Pleiades)
evidence from Shatapatha Brahm. ("They
do not move from the eastern direction") could point to the 3rd mill. BCE
--- but unfortunately the S'B is an IRON AGE text throughout, just about
pre-Buddhist.  Which puts its smack into the first half of the first mill.
BCE.
VA: 'Just about pre-Buddhist'--> Please give a date for the text (centuries)
and let us know which of your principles you have adopted for this date
(date of redaction, general level etc.). Where is Krishna Ayas/Syama Ayas
mentioned in the text? Throughout? Is it mentioned in connection with some
important applications or just by the way, with other metals? Does 'Iron'
play an important role in this 'Iron Age' text? Do the passages of Shatapath
Brahman mentioning Syama Ayasa belong to the 'general level' or the 'date of
redaction' or the 'core' or the 'later interpolation'? If the antiquity of
Bhagvan Buddha is reduced by 1-2 centuries, as stated by Dr. Ganesan, how
will it affect the date of this 'just pre-Buddhist' text? If the BU is one
of the oldest Upanishad, then the 'late Upanishads' all post date this 'just
pre-Buddhist' text? Is the only reason to place an Iron Age text after 1200
B.C.E. the non-discovery of Iron before that date? (An argument of silence).
If in future Iron is indeed found before that date, then will the date of
Sat Br. be affected? If yes, then what is the use of linguistic theories in
dating texts? Considering that chemically, Iron is one of the highest metals
in the reactivity series (After K, NA, Mg, Al, Zn--> Zn passivates on
oxidation) and the fact that Fe2O3 is porous and its hydroxide is
gelatinous, how sure are we that iron artifacts can indeed survive several
millenia in a humid environment where the water table is very high?
_____________

MW: Items such as the KRttikA sentence are REMINISCENCES or school wisdom.
You cannot put me into the early 15th cent CE (or still earlier)  when I
say: "Looking at my digital watch, I noticed that the sun rose at 6:30". The
digital watch gives me away as a person of the late 20th c., not of the
14th, where one still could speak of the sun actually rising (and not of the
earth turning eastwards)... Kak etc. would have me as a medieval person...
strange, for natural scientists...
VA: Well, that certainly reminds me of the argument of the Eminent Historian
Dr. Romila Thapar (who, according to you has made an uncritical use of
Pauranic data) who says "The position of constellations might have been
remembered and passed on from generation to generation. Therefore,
astronomical data in the RV does not constitute a proof of their antiquity."
Well, I am sure that IE speakers had more important things to pass on over
centuries (ballads on military victories, 'vague memories of a distant
homeland', stories of migrations.... ) than some obscure astronomical data.

MW: (The matter of KRttikAs not moving from the East actually is more
complicated as a look at any astronomical computer program will show).
VA: Which computer program? Please email me a file or snail mail me your
charts and calculations. Mention what special software applications are
required.Explain each and every such passage in Sanskrit literature.

Otherwise, this is just another 'haughty dismissal'!

Best wishes

Vishal


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