Date of Jyotisa Vedanga

[Michael Witzel]

K.Elst:
>... some reasons why the Vedanga Jyotisha
>most be "late-Epic" and at any rate post-Vedic.  That fits very neatly in an
>over-all higher chronology which puts the Vedas themselves well before 1400
>BC.

No, it does not. (a) see discussion by Pingree and Gonzalez-Reimann on this
list.
(b) the astronomical system --if indeed of 1400 BCE / cf the Krttika
equinox of the 3rd mill.and your own note below--  can of course predate
the texts by a long shot.
We have been through this many times. Also on this list. Why always the
link between text and 'astronomical content'? The Satapatha case clearly
argues AGAINST such links.
When I write here "today the sun rose at 6:30 a.m." would that make me
pre-Copernican? Nope, since I wrote this sentence by computer... Old habits
of speech, calendars, rituals, etc. die slow.

>the 1st millennium AD Tamil texts mentioning Krttika as the beginning
>of the lunar calendar:...  calendars once
>established tend to be preserved for ages ...  The Chinese system
>of lunar asterisms started ca. 2400 BC with Krttika at the head...


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Michael Witzel                          Elect. Journ. of Vedic Studies
Harvard University                  www1.shore.net/~india/ejvs
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