Mahabharata Quiz -14

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Question - 14

What kind of Calendar (Time scale) was used by the Mahabharata people? 

Answer:

The 5-year Yuga calendar was used by the Mahabharata people. 

This is the same as the Lagadha Jyothisha whereby the year started on the day of conjunction of the sun and the moon in the star of winter solstice (Uttarayana). Due to difference in the speed of these two grahas, the moon will complete one month and one day in every solar month (of 30 days). By 12 solar months, the moon completes 12 months (1 year) and 12 extra days. In 24 months (2 years), 2 lunar years and 24 days are covered by the moon. By two and a half years the moon completes 2  years and 30 days (1 lunar month). When this stage is reached this month is treated as Adhika Maasa and dropped from counting. 

In another 2 and a half years another Adhika maasa comes up, but by then, the sun and the moon come back to the same to star of Uttarayana as it was 5 years ago. 

Each of these 5 years are given a name such as Saṃvatsara, Parivatsara, Idāvatsara, Idvatsara and Vatsara. This sequence also appears as Saṃvatsara, Parivatsara, Idvatsara, Anuvatsara and Vatsara. Since the names Samvatsa and Vatsara are in common use today to denote a year, we must not take those names casually if found in the text of the Mahabharata. They could mean the 1st and the 5th year in the Mahabharata calendar. 

The year name Samvatsara appears in a context which all the researchers treated merely as 'year', but it refers to the first year in the 5-year Yuga.

That crucial verse appears for the year of the Mahabharata war indicating that the war was fought on the 1st year of the 5-year Yuga. That means the Yuga and the year began at the exact location of Uttarayana of that day. In other years it will not be the exact Uttarayana star. 

saṃvatsarasthāyinau ca grahau prajvalitāv ubhau
viśākhayoḥ samīpasthau bṛhaspatiśanaiścarau  (6.3.25)

It says that the two planets Jupiter and Saturn staying in their own houses at the beginning of Samvatsara cast their aspects on Vishakha. Jupiter from its house in Pisces and Saturn from its house in Capricorn cast their respective aspect on Vishakha. 

This kind of observation is in tune with the year-long predictions made today from the New year (Mesha sankramana) chart. 

This Yuga seems to have been used for calculating one’s life. From a reference in Ṛig Veda on the sage Dīrghatamas that he grew old (or perished) in the 10^th Yuga, it is understood that one’s age was expressed in terms of this Yuga.

Dīrghatamas appearing before the Ramayana times, it is deduced that this 5-year Yuga was in vogue during Rama’s period. It continued to be in use in the Mahabharata period.

Based on this Yuga, Bhishma calculated that the Pandava-s had spent additional days in exile. So, the time calculations found in the Mahabharata pertain to the 5-year yuga system only.

This fact practically rules out any scope for the use of the astronomy simulators which are not developed to calculate the 5-year yuga with two adhika maasa in each cycle. 

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