Mahabharata Quiz - 32

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Question - 32

Any clues from astronomy or date features found in the Mahabharata to identify the day the Pandava-s set out for exile? 

Answer:

Sufficient date features for the day of ending the exile is found in the Mahabharata. Based on that the beginning day can be deduced. 

For example, the month and tithi of the day they ended the exile are decipherable from the text of the Mahabharata. From that we understand that they started on the same month and tithi 13 years  ago. So without a discussion on the ending day features, we cannot talk about the date features of the beginning day. 

This is very important, because only one hint is found for the beginning day which needs extra inputs to decipher the date. It is said in the text that on that day,

“Meteors fell from the sky, and Rahu by swallowing the Sun unseasonably alarmed the people terribly” (MB: 2-72-21).

Rahu swallowing the Sun in this verse is interpreted by other scholars as indicative of solar eclipse on the fateful day Draupadi was humiliated and the Pandava-s were made to go on exile. 

If this is true, then there must have been Amavasya running then. This can be cross checked only from the last day features of the exile. It should also be an Amavasya. If not this reference to Rahu swallowing the Sun is only figurative and not true. 

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