astronomy

[N. Ganesan]

  Early Tamil texts routinely talk of Karttikai as the
  first nakshatram and *not* Varahamihira's Ashwini as the
  first nakshatram. Example: Manimekalai & Tevaram.
  This information back-calculates to 2240 B.C. However,
  Man. and Tev. are regularly dated to 5th and 6th centuries A.D.
  respectively. Can a similar situation pertain to the
  Vedic texts like Sathapatha Brahmana, ... too?
  Or else, if the Vedic texts are pushed back deep into
  the past, soo too is Tamil chronology using similar arguments.

  Regards,
  N. Ganesan

Dr. K. Elst wrote:
<<<
I entirely agree with Prof. Witzel that we have better things to do
than look up things which interested list members can easily find for
themselves, or than answering all too elementary questions.  But the
question of the date of the Vedanga Jyotisha is not below a
professional indologist's dignity: it is fundamental, consequential
and as yet not the object of a consensus.
[...]
The really challenging point is: so far, all astro-chronological
information in Vedic literature, indirect and obscure as well as
direct and explicit, points consistently to a higher chronology.  That
is why astronomers both Western (since the late 18th cent., e.g. John
Playfair 1790) and Indian have attributed a high chronology to Vedic
literature.  To my knowledge, nobody has ever countered that by
pointing out even one astro-chronological hint in the texts confirming
a low chronology. The answer is invariably to deny the
astro-chronological information, either to deny that it has anything
to do with astronomy (possible in some cases, as the astronomical
terminology is mostly terms with ordinary meanings to which a
technical meaning is given by Vedic astronomy), or to deny, with
Romila Thapar and our friend Michael Witzel, that this information
pertains to the time when the text was composed.  But this implies
that the whole Vedic literature has a bizarre tendency to
systematically antedate itself (as if in a grand conspiracy to fool
future indologists), and to talk about ancient stellar configurations
all while disregarding the actual configurations visible to the
authors themselves.  This strange tendency is not in evidence in Hindu
astronomical writings which have been firmly dated, like Aryabhatta's.

Now, this is where the Vedanga Jyotisha comes in.  This is a manual
for priests concerning the astronomical aspects of their work.
Obviously, it deals with the actual stellar configurations, for it
tells its users where in the sky they should look to see if the time
has come for this or that ritual.  Moreover, it does not deal in
poetic metaphors, but in technical astronomy.  In verse 6, it locates
the winter solstice at ca. 23°20 of sidereal Capricorn, 47° from its
present position.  Taking into account the precession of 1° in 71
years, this indicates a date of ca. 3337 years ago. An inaccuracy of
1° makes a difference of 71 years less *or more*, but given the nature
of the text, it is likely that Lagadha tried to be precise.
>>>
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com