Limitations of astronomy software proved with 5561BCE of Mr. Oak as case study: Arundhati-Vasishtha model ( Supplement to Mahabharata date series -4)

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Recap:

Discussion on the non-suitability of the astronomy software for dating Mahabharata continues:

Three features were highlighted in Part 2.

(1) The division of the zodiac in the astronomy software is not the same as in the Vedic astrology. The equinoxes, the solstices and the signs shift with time in the simulator but they don’t shift in the same way in the Vedic system.

(2) The Tropical Julian day used in the astronomy simulator is shorter than the Vedic sidereal day. As a result, a date picked out in the astronomy software for a specific planetary combination cannot be the same in the Vedic system, both for the date and the planetary combination.

(3) The calculation of the location of the planets and the stars differ greatly between the two systems.

Having finished the first two features in the preceding parts, I will focus on the third feature in this part for which I will take up Mr. Nilesh Oak’s date of 5561BCE. His date suffers from all the defects highlighted so far in using the astronomy simulator. In addition to them he had committed a grave blunder in the use of the scientific concept for locating a star. 

The example I want to give in this regard is his claim that the star Arundhati went ahead of the star Vasishtha for 6000 long years.

What was the basis of this claim? The astronomy software and the star catalogs given by western astronomy sources are the basis.

All these calculate the star position from the vernal equinox of that time. Let me show a sample case in Figure 30 on the location of the star Sirius.

Figure 30: Determination of the star-position in western astronomy

(Source: http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~blackman/ast104/coordinates.html )

The location of a star is noted by Right ascension (celestial longitude) and declination (celestial latitude) in western astronomy. The right ascension (RA) is noted from the vernal equinox of the day. The figure shows the vernal equinox as of today, at Pisces. Note the first point of Aries with Aswini is at the point M, shown by an arrow in the figure. That is the point to which the Vedic society corrected the deviations by ayanamsa.[1] That location is of no concern to western astronomers. They always note the RA from the vernal equinox of a given time. It is presently at P - Pisces.

Now go back in time to Mr Oak’s date, 5561 BCE when Arundhati was said to have walked ahead of Vasishtha. Though RA alone does not decide the location of the star (Declination also is added as shown in Figure 30), one must remember that it was calculated from the vernal equinox of that time, that was derived by a standard formula of extrapolation of the coordinates of the current epoch (say, J2000) to 7561 years ago (5561 + 2000).

At the current rate of precession at 72 years per degree, the vernal equinox is located 105 degrees away from its current position on the ecliptic (7561 / 72).

Counted in forward direction from the current location, the vernal equinox can be located at Gemini 21 degrees for the year 5561 BCE. The star Punarvasu starts at that degree. That would be treated as the first point of Aries in the astronomy simulator! In other words, Punarvasu becomes the star Asvini from which the RA of Arundhati and Vasishtha would be calculated.

That was the first point of Aries in 5561 BCE in the tropical, western astronomy zodiac. Let me do an illustration of the star positions of that time from Gemini (Figure 31)

Figure 31: Aries around ‘P’ in Gemini in 5561 BCE

In Figure 31, Point P is Punarvasu. In the year 5561 BCE, Arundhati’s Right ascension is calculated from the vernal equinox on the ecliptic corresponding to ‘P’ in Gemini. The Arundhati – Vasishtha binary located in the north will be seen at a different angle from Gemini than from, say, at Aries. For that date, the simulator shows the ecliptic plane slightly tilted, causing the Saptarishi Mandala tilted than normal. The resultant modification in the RA of Arundhati is taken up by Mr. Nilesh Oak to justify Arundhati ‘walking’ ahead of Vasishtha.

Only in the western model RA is calculated from the vernal equinox of a given time. This is for astronomy purposes. There is no RA concept in Vedic astronomy. This is the first deviation from the Vedic astronomy.

The star having lower RA is said to cross the meridian at a given place earlier than the star having higher RA. This was calculated from mid-Gemini point in the year 5561 BCE. This is second deviation from the Vedic concept.

As per the rule a star is located by first measuring the RA on the celestial equator from the vernal point of the time, and then from there the declination is seen. Mr. Oak did not follow this rule of locating the star. He only noted the RA of Arundhati and Vasishtha and calculated the difference in RA of the two. This is the third deviation. Figure 32 is taken from Mr.Oak’s book on Mahabharata date. When RA of Arundhati minus RA of Vasishtha gave rise to a negative value, he treated it as a proof of Arundhati walking ahead of Vasishta. He identified 6000 long years running with this negative value as The Epoch of Arundhati. He located Mahabharata in this period. 

Figure 32: Difference in RA treated as a marker for Arundhati going ahead

The negative value was caused by the lower RA of Arundhati. Whenever Arundhati had lower RA than Vasishtha, she was crossing the meridian before Vasishtha – this is the scientific theory promoted by Mr. Oak.

Does science say so? Let us find out the answer.

In Figure 31, the star Sirius is located by both RA and Declination. The RA is a point on the Celestial equator shown in red and indicated by an arrow mark in red. The height of the star (declination) on north or south of the celestial equator is linked with the RA. In other words a star’s location is derived by two coordinates - RA and declination. 

Mr. Oak has conveniently dropped the declination factor. He has taken up ONLY the value of RA on the CELESTIAL EQUATORIAL plane. That will locate Arundhati on the celestial equator and not on her true location in the north near the Pole star.

Figure 33: Arundhati lies on the Celestial Equator in Oak’s theory

The RA extends from the vernal equinox of the day (point of intersection of the ecliptic and the celestial equator) on the celestial equator. Mr. Oak compared the RA of Arundhati and Vasishtha on the celestial equator. He did not take up the declination value into consideration. He stopped at the RA point on the celestial equator. In his model Arundhati just stops at the Celestial equator while the star is lying somewhere high up in the north of the ecliptic.

 Only when declination is also enumerated it would be known that the binary was circumnavigating the pole star on that date. In circumpolar motion there is no forward or backward position for the stars in a binary. Mr. Oak lost the opportunity to know about all that, by sticking to only the RA, but if he had added declination too, his ‘research’ would have been a non-starter. 

The problem is multi-faceted in Mr. Oak’s theory.

·         Use of tropical zodiac and tropical degrees.

·         Using only RA for locating the star.

·         For vernal equinox in Gemini, the summer solstice would be around the middle of Virgo.

·         Winter solstice (Uttarayana) would be around the middle of Pisces!

None of them are part of Vedic astronomy, nor of Mahabharata.

The additional problem is that the planetary positions are enumerated from the vernal equinox of the day. This is not so in Vedic astrology. The planetary positions shown by Mr. Oak or anyone else, from the astronomy software are tropical degrees not adjusted by ayanamsa - that I highlighted in Part 1

Vedic concept about the Arundhati-Vasishtha pair

Arundhati- Vasishtha and the Saptarishi Mandala were all the time circulating the Dhruva nakshatra. The name Dhruva is given to just one star and not to all the pole stars. Only three pole stars have been recognized by the Vedic society – Dhruva, Agni and Kashyapa – at times Agni, recognized along with Indra. They are in the tail of Shishumara, the Gangetic Porpoise. Among Dhruva , Agni and Kashyapa, Dhruva is the most excellent says, Vayu Puarana. Dhruva is remembered as the fourth after Agni, Indra and Kashyapa, says Brahmanda Purana. The count of the Northern pole stars does not go beyond Dhruva. The Saptarishis always go around them.

In the to and fro oscillation model of the equinoxes, the polar points also oscillate within 54 degrees and not go around for 360 degrees. The constellation, Ursa Minor is found to fit exactly with 54 degree span. The star Polaris at the end of this constellation matches with Dhruva. The oscillation can be depicted as in Figure 34.

Figure 34: Dhruva Mandala in Shishumara

The Saptarishi constellation moves around some point of the 54 degree span for all ages in the past and the future. However, only the middle and the two end points of Ursa Minor seem to be considered as the three Pole stars – Kashyapa, Agni and Dhruva. Figure 35 shows the Vedic conception of the Dhruva Mandala circumambulated by the Saptarishis.

Figure 35: Saptarishis revolve around the Dhruva Mandala in the Vedic system.

The long observational history of the Vedic ancestors not only enabled them to know about the to and fro oscillation of the equinoxes but also the everlasting circumambulation of the Saptarishis around the Dhruva Mandala, identified with ‘Shishumara’ (Ursa Minor) stretching to an extent of 54 degrees. The star Polaris at the tail of Shishumara was the star Dhruva, the son of Uttanapada. No other star was known as Dhruva. Vyasa’s reference to Dhruva having moved in the reverse direction was about this Dhruva, known as Polaris today. Ramayana reference to Saptarishis and Abhijit circumambulating Dhruva was about this Dhruva only.

Beyond this Dhruva Mandala, Vishnu’s Paramam Padam is located. In reality, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy by name Ursa Minor Dwarf is found located there. This had “a straightforward evolutionary history with a single burst of star formation that lasted around 2 billion years and took place around 14 billion years ago”.[2] This galaxy right behind the Dhruva Mandala was the oldest in existence right from the time of Big Bang.

The Vedic concept of the Saptarishis and their movement being different, we cannot manufacture new ideas from the astronomy software and claim it to be Vedic. Let me show the mismatch of this concept with the western concept. Figure 36 shows the western concept of precession circle with the Saptarishis lying outside the circle.

Figure 36: Saptarishi Mandala in astronomy software

Each point in the precession circle in Figure 36 represents the Northern Celestial Pole (NCP). The star Thuban is rounded in the figure, beyond which lies the Saptarishi Mandala. In the case of continuous precession, Thuban becomes the likely pole star. The star Abhijit is noted at the bottom of the circle.

Figure 37: The path of the Saptarishis away from most NCPs

Figure 37 maps the path of the Saptarishis to show that it would be closely circulating the NCP of just one section of the circle, while it cannot be seen circulating many other points of the NCP, particularly Abhijit. One must imagine the visual appearance of the Saptarishis circulating the NCP as seen from the earth. When Abhijit became the NCP 10,000 years ago in this model, the Saptarishis could have crossed the sky from east to west and not circumnavigated Abhijit when seen from India.  Figure 38 shows this kind of movement at the date of Ramayana given by Mr.Oak when he theorizes Abhijit was the pole star. The picture is taken from Stellarium software. 

Figure 38: Saptarishis were not circling Abhijit in 12,209 BCE (Mr. Oak’s date of Ramayana)

One can compare Figures 37 and 38 to see the path taken by the Saptarishis if Abhijit becomes the pole star. Saptarishis are not going around Abhijit but only crossing the sky from east to west. This is never conceptualized in the Vedic society. The western astronomy model fails to fulfill the Vedic concept.

Suppose we take up the limited span of 54 degrees of Shishumara, the Saptarishis would be seen circulating any one star of that constellation at any time. (Figure 39)

Figure 39: Saptarishis around the Shishumara

The 54 degree span is marked on the circle coinciding with the ends of Shishumara (Ursa Minor). In this model, the Saptarishis would be perpetually circumambulating the pols stars identified in Shishumara, but Thuban could never be the Pole star. Thuban lies well outside the Shishumara and hence could never have been the pole star. 

The above digression from the core topic was to show the deviations in the star positions and their movement in the astronomy simulator. The Vernal equinox is dislocated to a distance in the western model. The location of the stars and the planets from the dislocated vernal point make them appear in ways that have never been stated by the Vedic rishis.

Only a society that had existed for long could have seen the Saptarishis always oriented towards Dhruva. This is completely beyond the comprehension of the westerners, of the astronomy software they designed. 

Astronomy softwares are of course accurate - for the settings and the purposes they are designed. Definitely they do not cater to the concepts of Vedic astronomy-astrology. The calculation of planetary positions is not the same as in the Vedic system. The signs and the equinoctial positions are not the same. The coordinates taken for calculating the planetary and the star positions are not the same. The faux pas by Mr.Oak in this point is completely unscientific.

By now I have established the unsuitability of the astronomy software for dating Mahabharata (applicable to Ramayana too) by two case studies, 3067 BCE of Dr. Manish Pandit and 5561BCE of Mr. Nikesh Oak. 

Every dating research based on astronomy software deserves to be rejected. Then how to go about deciphering the date of Mahabharata?  Only Kali Yuga date offers the clue to arrive at the year of Mahabharata war. But the current Indological community is allergic to the word Kali Yuga. Let me take up the issues around Kali Yuga date and mathematically prove the date in the next part.

(To be continued)

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[1] That is the presumed point of the beginning of Aries, and no one knows today the exact point identified by the ancient people. There may be slight deviations from this point for different ayanamsa systems.

[2] Ursa Minor Dwarf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Minor_Dwarf