Mahabharata Quiz - 89

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Question: 89

Can you sequence the events in a nutshell showing the difference in moon’s phase and appearance?

Answer:

The sequence is this:

# It was Krishna paksha (waning phase) in the lunar month of Karthika.

# On the evening of Pushya star, a shower of meteors was experienced by the people of Hastinapura. The running tithi was Krishna Shashthi.

# When people watched the moon that night, it appeared like Krishna Saptami with a reduced size of the moon. Whereas it should have been Krishna Shashthi.

# They also noticed a fresh mark on the plain region of the lunar disc where normally no marks are seen.

# The phases in the next days showed the moon going from Saptami to Ashtami, to Navami, Dasami, Ekadasi and Dwadasi.

# By the time of the next tithi, that is, Trayodasi, the moon completely disappeared from the sky indicating the onset of Amavasya.

# The star of that day was Vishakha while in normal course it should have been Jyeshtha – a star after Vishakha.

# Now the waxing phase starts which is called Margashira month. People were anxiously watching the growing phase of the moon.

# Usually, the growing phase will be bright as seen from Bharat because the plain regions will appear bright first. But they could see no brightness of the lunar disc.

# The mark that earlier appeared is not seen, but the entire disc appeared fiery red with the regular marks not seen.

# The phases were moving very fast with kshaya tithi often.

# The Fullmoon which ought to appear on Mrigashira star appeared earlier, on Karttika.

# Only the previous month of Karthika, the Full Moon appeared in Krittika star. But again, in Margashira month, the Full Moon appeared in Krittika star.

# So, for two consecutive months Full Moon appeared in Krittika star which is impossible happen.

If people consider Margashira as Margashira, it is not so because it was Karthika because the Full Moon occurred in Karttika (once again)

So, the inference is that a full lunar month has gone unaccounted for by this.

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Mahabharata Quiz - 88

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Question – 88

Did unusual Kshaya tithi-s cause Trayodasi Pournami? How did the moon appear then?

Answer:

The unusual repetition of kshaya tithi-s, apparently caused by the disturbance on the lunar orbit due to the comet-hit resulted in faster than normal movement of the moon. That it continued in the next phase is made out from the expression, “tat kṣayāya bhaviṣyati” which was seen by Vyasa day and night.

The other expressions given by Vyasa which were mistaken to mean an eclipse are taken up now. The phrase “alakṣyaḥ prabhayā hīnaḥ” is quoted by opponents to indicate an eclipse.  Taking the meaning of ‘alakṣyaḥ’ as ‘invisible’, the Mahabharata researchers thought it referred to an eclipse as there was a ‘reduction in the moonlight’ (prabhayā hīnaḥ). But Alakṣya is the opposite of Lakṣya with one of the meanings, “mark”. Alakṣya means without marks.

Here we must recall Vyasa’s verse on “Somasya lakṣma vyāvṛttaṃ” where he meant seeing changes in the marks on the lunar disc. So naturally he was expected to look intently at the waxing moon for the fresh mark that he had seen days ago. To his dismay, no marks were seen anywhere on the moon. Then what did he see? He explains it in the next line, “candro 'bhūd agnivarṇa” - the moon appeared in the colour of fire. Additionally, the increase in brightness day after day expected in the waxing phase was no longer happening. The lunar disc appeared entirely devoid of marks and bereft of light.

The verse under discussion (quoted in question - 85) perfectly expresses the dull appearance of the lunar disc that was recovering from a comet-hit. Two probable reasons can be cited for such appearance; one, related to the atmospheric aberrations in the observer’s location and two, disturbed lunar soil yet to settle down on the surface of the moon.

Mahabharata Quiz - 87

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Question – 87

What is meant by Kshaya tithi? How did it happen in the phase that followed Trayodasi Amavasya?

Answer:

The tithi at sunrise is counted as the tithi of the day. A ‘kshaya tithi’ is that which starts after the sunrise and ends before the next sunrise – by which that tithi is lost in counting. To give an example, suppose the tithi at sunrise is Dwitīya, then the tithi of the day is taken as Dwitīya only. Sometime after sunrise, Tritīya arrives but may end before the next sunrise when Caturthī has already started. By this the previous day had Dwitīya and the next day has Caturthī, and in between Tritīya is dropped from counting. Tritiya in this case is known as Kshaya tithi.        

This phenomenon of kṣhaya tithi occurs due to variation in the speed of the moon. It would be faster at perihelion, by which a tithi (12 degree) gets ended between two sun rises. By this, three tithi-s are seen within two sunrises. Like the Kshaya māsa event, the Kshaya tithi would be followed or preceded by an extended tithi, known as Tri-dina sprukh that stretches beyond two sun rises. This occurs when the moon is at aphelion. Within a month the moon crosses both the perigee and apogee in its orbit around the earth by which the Kshaya tithi and Tri-dina sprukh occur in succession. At times Kshaya tithi is accompanied with Tithi-dvayam. But whenever a Kshaya tithi occurs, either a Tithi-dvayam or a Tri-dina sprukh is certain to occur a few days before or after the Kshaya tithi, in the same paksha (phase of the moon).

Particularly after Bodhayana Amavasya, which by itself is a case of early occurrence of a tithi, not matching with day and night, an extended tithi or Tithi-dvayam would occur within Pancami (the first 5 tithi-s). Strangely Vyasa was seeing only Kshaya tithi-s and no automatic adjustment by way of extended tithi-s. This means the moon was faster than normal.

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Mahabharata Quiz - 86

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Question – 86

Why can’t the claim of the other researchers that it was an eclipse be true?

Answer:

The claim of Eclipse cannot be true:

1.     The first point against the lunar eclipse is that it was seen by Vyasa ‘day and night’. Can the lunar eclipse that was going to happen in future (bhaviṣyati) be seen beforehand for day and night continuously?

2.     The second point is how the Full moon could occur in the star Kṛittika? Only the star is mentioned here, not the month. The Karthika month was already gone at the time Krishṇa left two days prior to the Full moon in Karthika. There was no eclipse at that time. But this Full moon occurred in the month of Margashira, after the Amavasya in Trayodasi. So, there is something wrong with it appearing in Kṛttika, the star. This is asambhavam – impossible, but it seemed it was going to happen; that is why Vyāsa kept watching day by night.

3.     The third point is against linking the term ‘Kshaya’ with eclipse (reduction in lighted surface during the lunar eclipse). ‘Kshaya’ refers to the tithi. Day and night Vyasa had been observing the tithi-s diminishing (kshaya) by which the Full Moon would appear ‘out of season’- expressed in another verse (aparvaṇi).

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Mahabharata Quiz - 85

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Question – 85

In which verse does Vyasa say that the next phase ended in Krittika star and happened to coincide with Trayodasi?

Answer:

Vyasa said that day and night he was watching the moon increase in size. This was after the unexpected early Amavasya in Trayodasi. The moon showed ‘Kshaya’. The marks on the moon appeared nil with the lunar disc appearing hazy and red in the color of agni. Since this is a crucial verse let me give the word by word meaning of this verse.

ahorātraṃ mayā dṛṣṭaṃ tat kṣayāya bhaviṣyati

alakṣyaḥ prabhayā hīnaḥ paurṇamāsīṃ ca kārttikīm

candro 'bhūd agnivarṇaś ca samavarṇe nabhastale (MB: 6.2.22-23)

Meaning:

ahorātraṃ = day and night, continually (dual number, neuter, vocative, singular, stem: ahorātra)

mayā = by me (deictic instrumentative, singular, stem: asmad)

dṛṣṭaṃ = is seen (SB 5.10.11), seen (SB 1.12.30), being seen, personally seen

tat = there, in that place (neuter, nominative, accusative, singular, stem: tad)

kṣayāya = for destruction (BG 16.9, SB 4.29.22), for the sake of diminishing (SB 2.7.22), diminution, decay, loss (dative, singular, stem: kṣaya)

bhaviṣyati = it will be (SB 11.7.4), will appear (SB 2.7.38) (locative, singular, future participle, stem: bhaviṣyat)

alakṣyaḥ = no particular marks (stem: lakṣyaḥ meaning mark), insignificant appearance.

Prabhayā = with its light (SB 10.51.29) (feminine, instrumentative, singular, stem: prabha)

hīnaḥ = bereft of (SB 4.14.39-40) (nominative, singular, past passive participle, stem: hīna)

paurṇamāsīṃ = Full moon (ī-stem, singular, accusative)

ca = and, also, moreover

kārttikīm = Full-moon in the constellation of Kṛttikā, Full-moon in the month of Kārtika (ī-stem, singular, accusative)

candro 'bhūd = candra (moon) abhūt = Root verb: bhū, appeared (SB 10.19.7, SB 9.24.12) (third person, singular, tense paradigm aorist class, parasmaipada)

agnivarṇaś = having the colour of fire

ca = and, also, moreover

samavarṇe = of the same colour (singular, locative)

nabhastale = sky surface, firmament (neuter, locative, singular)

Overall meaning:

“Day and night seen by me that the diminution will be happening; also, in the firmament Full-Moon in Kṛttikā without marks and bereft of light, appeared in the same colour, in the colour of fire.”

Counted from the previous Amavasya that ended in Vishakha, the Full moon happening in Krittika means, the regular tithi cycle was not over; the Full Moon had occurred earlier than normal, in Trayodasi tithi. 

This verse is misinterpreted by almost all the Mahabharata researchers as indicative of a lunar eclipse in 13 days! In support of this, they show ‘Kṣaya”, “Prabhayā hīna” and “agnivarṇa” in the verse!

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Mahabharata Quiz - 84

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Question – 84

How do you say that the waxing phase that started after Trayodasi Amavasya ended once again in Trayodasi tithi? Did Vyasa say so?

Answer:

Yes. Vyasa said about the shortening of the next phase by Trayodasi tithi while expressing the odd events to Dhritaraṣhṭra before the war started.

To understand this verse, let us recollect that Karthika Pournami occurred soon after Krishna started his mission. Based on the star of the day he started (Revati) we said in Question - 65 that he started the discussion with the Kauravas in their assembly on the Full moon day. That was in the Karthika month. The Full Moon occurred in Karthika star. The waning phase that started after the Full Moon ended in Trayodasi Amavasya when Vishakha star was running. The next day the waxing phase of Margashira month started. It must end up in Full Moon in Mrigashirisha star. Counted from the 1^st tithi after that Amavasya, Mrigashirisha is the 16^th star which is the time for Full Moon. But Vyasa said that it ended in Krittika star!

In other words, Vyasa indicated that Full moon occurred in the same star of Karthika for two consecutive months! Instead of Mrigashirsha star, the full moon occurred well before that in Krittika which is impossible to happen in nature, but it did happen on that phase following Trayodasi Amavasya. Once again, the moon had moved quickly or moved in a shortened orbit such that the Full moon occurred when Trayodasi must have been running. This shows that the hit suffered by the moon had caused the moon to attain a new equilibrium by which two consecutive phases ended in Trayodasi tithi-s.

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Mahabharata Quiz - 83

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Question- 83

What was Krishna’s reaction to the observation of Karna of odd events seen in Nature?

Answer:

That is the Ganesha moment for us to figure out Krishna's response  because Krishna did not react to those observations except by saying that Amavasya was due on Jyeshtha. It could not be so if he concurred with Karna’s version of earlier Gara Karana in Citra star. Perhaps Vyasa deliberately avoided giving us the detailed talk of Krishna regarding the change in Karana and tithi.

Krishna must have definitely concurred with Karna’s observation on earlier Amavasya and ended up saying – let us wait and watch. However, only his advice to Karna to get the war ritual done on Jyeshtha Amavasya was recorded by Vyasa in the text. Later just prior to his departure from this world, Krishna recalled the thirteenth tithi Amavasya before the Mahabharata war. Like this, somehow Vyasa has made it a point to repeat twice every controversial idea for us to have the Ganesha moment.

Failing to sense the need to think and rethink on this part of the Mahabharata, quite a few researchers have written that the war started on Jyeshtha Amavasya of Karthika, without giving a thought on further developments written by Vyasa.

One such development was about what Vyasa observed of the moon in the next phase. That phase also ended in Trayodasi tithi!

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Mahabharata Quiz - 82

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Question – 82

What other odd observation did Karna tell Krishna?

Answer:

Among the five astronomy observations, the second most bizarre one, other than the shift in the mark on the moon, is about the planet Mars. Karna said,

“The planet Angaāraka (Mars), wheeling, O slayer of Madhu, towards the constellation Jyeṣṭha, approacheth towards Anurādha, indicating a great slaughter of friends.” (MB: 5.141.8)

After Anusham (Anuradha), the star Jyeshtha comes. By having said that Mars wheeled towards Anuradha from Jyeshtha, a retrograde motion of the planet Mars is indicated. Almost all the Mahabharata researchers treated it as retrogression without realising the fact that it cannot.

Why it cannot?

Because the month was Kartika which means the Sun was in the sign of Scorpio. Anuradha and Jyeshtha are the stars located in Scorpio. The verse shows that Mars was also present in Scorpio. As per the rule of astronomy, Mars, an outer planet cannot retrograde in the sign where the sun is also located. The retrogression of Mars begins only away from Sun – that is when it transits 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th and the 9^th signs from the sun.

Retrogression can be explained by the following figure. The sun is in the centre. The blue dots are the locations of the earth, and the red ones are those of Mars. Note that Mars is on the side of the Sun and the earth.

The earth is in the inner circle and the Mars in outer circle. When they negotiate the curve, the earth in the inner circle will be ahead of Mars in the outer circle. The resultant positions are shown on the slide on our right. It shows that Mars seems to go backward as the earth takes the lead but ultimately takes a forward course. This phenomenon known as retrogression will happen when Mars is on the side of Sun and more so when it is in the same sign as the sun is.

In Kartika it was present with the Sun in Scorpio. So, it can never go retrograde at that time. But Karna noticed that it ‘wheeled’ backward towards Jyeshtha. This is impossible to happen in Nature, but it did happen following the comet-hit. Why?

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Mahabharata Quiz - 81

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Question – 81

Since Amavasya occurred on Trayodasi tithi, did it affect the entire tithi-star alignment?

Answer:

Yes. The Gara Karana which must have occurred on Uttara Phalguni advanced after the comet-hit on Pushya day. As a result, the next Karana cycle started early with Chatushpada and Nagava (Karana-s) coming on Trayodasi when Vishakha star was running.

The normal nakshatra-tithi-karaṇa alignment is shown in the left figure, based on Krishna’s starting of the journey in Revati nakshatra. The right-side table shows the changed alignment since Pushya day.

The table unmistakably reveals that Karṇa’s specific reference to Gara Karaṇa can be traced to the fact that 'Gara' which must have been running on Uttara Phalguni (the day of this conversation) was missing but found to be coming on the Citrā day with the phase of the moon showing quick reduction as to cause Amavasya on Vishakha.

After the comet-hit, the running Shashthi tithi on Pushya day changed into Saptami.

A tithi was lost forever thereafter.

No simulator can detect this.

No man, no scientist had ever known this.

Only the great Itihāsa of the Mahabharata has retained this information meticulously, that we Indians are ignorant of.

The cause of ignorance is the absence of subject knowledge used in these verses.

Knowledge of the subject is more important for dating Mahabharata!

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Mahabharata Quiz - 80

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Question – 80

What possibly Karna and Vyasa had seen as to say that the mark of the moon became separated or parted with?

Answer:

As seen from the earth, the Full moon has dark patches for nearly three-fourths of its surface. These dark patches are volcanic ‘seas’ that were formed during the early period of the formation of the moon. They have always remained the same. Any collision in that part is not detectable, but a powerful collision in the blank region on the lunar disc could create temporary marks formed by the scattered soil. That can be seen as a fresh mark on the face of the moon in the immediate aftermath of the collision.

The statement made by Karṇa and Vyasa - “somasya lakṣma vyāvṛttaṃ” (“The mark (sign) of the moon became separated or parted with”) goes to prove that the two had seen a fresh mark on the lunar disc on the night of Pushya. It is also possible that many had seen it, which is made out from the similar expression used by both Karna and Vyasa on different occasions. Vyasa could have repeated what everyone of that time must have been exclaiming anxiously.

On the night of Pushya, waning Shashthi tithi was running. On that evening the mishap had happened. The unexpected meteorite shower and accompanying events caused the people to watch the environment with fear and caution. By midnight, the waning Shashthi moon had risen which would appear as follows in normal times.

But the observers were shocked to see the dark mark shifted – this is what Karna and Vyasa said. This means a dark mark must have appeared on the usually blank surface that we see on our right in the above picture. We can identify region as in the following figure.

This is odd and that is why both have mentioned it as a ‘nimitta’ – a sudden unexplainable sighting which is likely to cause or indicate something bad. Generally, we find Vyasa repeating the odd events twice in the book of Mahabharata. This sighting is also repeated twice to stress the point that something indeed was noticed on the moon. 

This sighting made them keep looking up at the moon intensely and night after night. That is how they found that on the night of Trayodasi when the moon had to appear as a crescent in pre-dawn sky did not appear at all. The moon was missing even as early as Trayodasi when it must be seen lower in the eastern sky. That was the next shocking thing. But Karna seems to be well versed in astronomy that he foresaw the missing of the moon on Trayodasi by following the shift in the node, that is Rahu. Since the explanation about this is complex and lengthy, I request readers to read about it in my book. In this quiz section, let me move on to the next issue of loss of tithi.

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Mahabharata Quiz - 79

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Question – 79

It sounds odd that the broken comet or cometary pieces hit the moon and the earth simultaneously. Is there any precedence to this kind of hit? How did Karna and Vyasa know of the hit on the moon?

Answer:

As per current scientific knowledge, a cosmic collision simultaneously on the earth and the moon has a probability ratio of 23:1.  That means out of every 23 hits on the earth, there is at least one case of simultaneous hit on the moon as well. One such simultaneous hit occurred in the Mahabharata period on Pushya day in the Karthika month in the year 3136 BCE.

The fragments of a broken comet (Atlas Question - 76) seemed to have landed on the earth much like the comet Shoemaker-Levy that fell on Jupiter after getting trapped by the gravitational pull of Jupiter. In such events the fragments would be shattered into many pieces as they come closer and would crash land as a series of meteorites over a few days. The big chunks would cause heavy damage. One such big piece had fallen on Pushya day on the moon.

This object must have been huge enough to have caused a deep and wide penetration of the lunar surface sending plumes of lunar dust settling down on a wider region around the impact area. Since the object doesn’t burn in the atmosphere-less moon, the impact zone remains true to the size of the hitting object with the displaced lunar mud and dust settling down around. A very huge spill-over region on the moon could have been detected by a regular visual observer from the earth immediately after the collision.

More than half the moon was originally visible in Krishna Shashti /Saptami on Pushya day. It is possible for the observers on the earth (Karṇa and Vyasa) to have noticed a change in the marks on the moon on the very night of Pushya after the collision that disrupted the war ritual done by Duryodhana to make Bhishma as the Chief. The appearance of the waning moon on Krishna Shashti is shown in the picture below. 

Most regions are marked by dark patches. Only a small portion to our right appears plain. In that region a mark must have appeared which was reported by Karna and Vyasa.

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Mahabharata Quiz - 78

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Question – 78

You said that Karna made five odd observations. One was the early occurrence of Gara Karana. What were the other odd observations?

Answer:

Of the five observations, two were purely astronomy- based but three were odd sightings. One such observation was explained in the previous question. Now let me take up the oddest of all – a reference to the changed appearance of the moon. Karna said that the sign on the moon shifted position!

Karṇa said, “somasya lakṣma vyāvṛttaṃ” (MB: 5.141.10)

The same verse is repeated by Vyasa to Dhritarashtra just before the war,

“vyāvṛttaṃ lakṣma somasya” (MB: 6.2.32)

The words are jumbled but they mean the same.

This being an important verse let me do a word for word translation:

vyāvṛttaṃ = to be distinguished, to become separated, to diverge from, to divide, to part with, to wind in different directions.

lakṣma = a mark, sign, stain, bad mark, blemish (neuter nominative, accusative, vocative, singular, stem: lakṣman)

somasya = of the moon (masculine, genitive, singular, stem: soma)

Overall meaning:

“The mark (sign) of the moon became separated or parted with.”

This observation looks bizarre, but it refers to some abnormality with reference to the features found on the lunar disc. Not a shred of evidence of an eclipse in this meaning, yet most researchers treated this as evidence for a lunar eclipse.

This observation was given by Karṇa during the waning phase of the lunar Kartika month. So, any lunar eclipse suggested by researchers must have occurred on Kartika Full Moon. Just before the Kartika Full Moon, Krishna left Upaplavya in the star of Revati. But there is no mention of an eclipse soon after he started anywhere in the continuing descriptions.  Whatever we have been reading right from the time Krishna left Upaplavya was about natural calamities pointing to a cosmic impact.

Scientifically speaking, atmospheric turbulence on the earth can make the lunar surface appear to shimmer for naked eye observation under extreme conditions experienced at that time. The dark marks on the lunar surface could have appeared blinking or shaky. But here the observation is different. A new spot or a sign was seen in the featureless region of the moon giving the impression that a pre-existing sign got separated and moved to a new location. The analysis of this odd observation gives mind-boggling revelations.

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Mahabharata Quiz - 77

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Question – 77

Did the people of the Mahabharata anticipate the arrival of Amavasya earlier than normal, in Trayodasi tithi?  Has Vyasa given any indication of it?

Answer:

Yes. Ever since the comet shattered on Pushya day, with rains of meteors falling at the time of the ritual to appoint Bhishma as the chief of the army, everyone must have got disturbed. They started observing the surroundings to see that they were safe. More than seventy odd sightings were given in the name of nimitta-s only from this period. The earliest reference to the odd nature of things is found in the conversation between Karna and Krishna on the day of Uttara Phalguni when Krishna bid farewell to Karna before leaving Hastinapura.

Karna made five odd observations about planets and Karana! A Karana is half of a tithi. In Question - 36 we wrote about Vishti Karana coming in Krishna Saptami. There are 30 tithi-s covering 2 phases of the moon and 11 Karanas. Of the 11 Karanas, the first seven are known as Chara Karanas as they keep repeating. But while nearing Amavasya 4 other Karanas will appear which are known as Fixed (Sthira) Karanas. Particularly the Karana-s by names, Chathushpada and Nagava will always coincide with Amavasya. The Tithi- Karana relationship will never change but the background star will keep changing month after month as the moon moves. The normal sequence is given in the table below.

Karna was talking to Krishna on Uttara Phalguni day. As per the above table, Gara Karana must be running on that day. But no. Gara was going to appear in Citra, said Karna. He said,

“citrāṃ pīḍayate garaḥ” (5.141.9)

In the normal course, Gara Karana must coincide with Vishakha, but the location of the moon made him think that Gara Karana would come in the star Citra. This means the Karana related to Amavasya would appear in Vishakha.

In reply to him, Krishna said that Amavasya would occur in seven days from then in Jyeshtha (not Vishakha, the second previous star). Based on that observation only, we deduced that this conversation was happening on Uttara Phalguni day. 

They had different views. Karna expected Amavasya on Vishakha, but Krishna thought it would come on normal time, that is on Jyestha. If we go by Karna’s observation of Gara Karana coming in Citra, the further sequence will be as follows:

If Gara Karana comes in Citra star, the fixed Karana-s namely, Chathushpada and Nagava would come on Trayodasi itself when Vishakha was running. If Chathushpada and Nagava were running, it means the time was Amavasya! But it was Trayodasi in normal course!

So, this conversation was not a casual one, for, it was impregnated with a serious judgement of tithi- Karana- star alignment. This was a Gaṇesha moment for Krishna and for us too. But Karna succeeded in guessing right about the early arrival of Amavasya.

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Mahabharata Quiz - 76

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Question: 76

Is there any scientific evidence of a comet-hit in the Mahabharata in 3136 BCE?

Answer:

Yes. On 19th August 2021, the NASA website published an article* that a comet that visited the solar system 5000 years ago, had broken up as it turned around the sun but managed to leave the solar system.   Its remnant was identified as comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) when it first appeared at the beginning of 2020. Unexpectedly this comet disintegrated farther from the sun at more than 100 million miles defying the laws for such breaking up. A comet is likely to break-up near the sun when it is at perihelion but not at aphelion.

This made the scientists work on the path and the past of this comet, leading to the discovery that the parent comet had broken off near the sun, closer than the innermost planet, Mercury. For how it managed to escape, the article says, “One possibility is that streamers of ejected material may have spun up the comet so fast that centrifugal forces tore it apart. An alternative explanation is that it has so-called super-volatile ices that just blew the piece apart like an exploding aerial firework.” 

This gives a scenario of broken parts strewn around, some of them racing towards the earth and the moon and hitting them over a period of 13 days, with the bigger fragments falling on the 1st and the 9th day. This parent comet was seen by the earthlings, claims the article. Vyasa’s assertion “Dhūmaketur mahāghoraḥ puṣyam ākramya tiṣṭhati” (MB: 6.3.12) goes to prove that the people had seen the Comet and also seen it appear horrible on Puṣya day after which it was no longer visible. That is why he used the term ‘tiṣṭhati’. The visible comet turned invisible by the Puṣya day, though the initial broken pieces started descending on the earth from the day of Revati.

When I contacted Dr. Quanzhi Ye, the corresponding author of this research paper reported by the NASA website, he wrote that the parent comet did not cross the earth’s orbit and was at a distance of 0.63au from the earth.  From the Mahabharata description of the south- westerly wind on the first day of impact, it is deduced that the break-up must have happened at south – below the ecliptic plane – after crossing the sun, with the broken pieces strewn all over – and a group of such pieces racing towards the direction of the earth with more energy infused by the blast and the earth- moon system catching them within their gravity.

With the initial impact on the Revati day, the major impact had taken place on the 9th day when the moon was crossing Pushya, by which time the parent comet had become invisible.

The impact on the first day seemed to have occurred at Mohenjo-Daro, on the banks of the Sindhu River which we explained from Question 59 to Question 62  

*https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/comet-atlas-may-have-been-a-blast-from-the-past

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Mahabharata Quiz - 75

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Question – 75

What is Bodhāyana Amavasya? How can it be related to Trayodasi Amavasya of the Mahabharata?

Answer:

Answering the second question first, the unusually earlier Amavasya coming on Trayodasi tithi upset the regular sequence of tithi-s in existence until then. Seeing the anomaly, and to retain in memory the earlier than normal Amavasya, rishi Bodhayana of the Mahabharata period conceived the idea of an earlier Amavasya which came be to be called in his name as Bodhayana Amavasya. The details of this are incorporated in Bodhayana Sutra.

Usually, a day is recognized by the tithi or star that is prevalent at sunrise. With the sequence of tithi-s getting disturbed by the Trayodasi Amavasya, that is, with Amavasya starting on the day of Trayodasi itself, the subsequent phases of the moon had seen the starting of Amavasya earlier than the regular time. Since the time taken to cover a tithi differs depending upon the moon’s transit in perigee or apogee, it was seen at times that the Amavasya tithi started a little early than it was in the previously existing scheme - by starting on the evening of Caturdasi and ending before the evening of the next day. Such an Amavasya was picked out by rishi Bodhāyana who suggested special tarpan rules to be observed on those Amavasya-s.

This Amavasya is identified as one that starts in the afternoon or the evening of Caturdasi tithi but ends before sunset the next day. Since Amavasya means the conjunction of the sun and the moon, the presence of Amavasya for the whole night was taken as a pointer. In this case, the Prathma tithi starts on the night of Amavasya (which was present at sunrise). The appearance of initial phases of moon will skip days in this case. One may recall the Islamic practice of seeing the crescent moon to start their month of Ramadan or break their fast but failing to see it at times. This happens after Bodhayana Amavasya.

Though the Prathama (first) phase starts at night, the moon will not be seen because the conjunction with the sun had just ended. The moon may not be visible in the next night also. On the third night only, the crescent moon will be visible.

Following Bodhayana Amavasya, there will be a Tithi-Dvayam within the first five tithi-s. Tithi-Dvayam means two tithi-s must run in a day, particularly in the afternoon time (aparāhna kāla), both being the Śrāddha tithi-s. This brings us to the next issue of Śrāddha tithi that appear on the same day. This did not happen before the Trayodasi Amavasya in the Kartika month in 3136 BCE.

Considering the new development of occasional anomalies in the starting of Amavasya tithi, the concept of Bodhayana Amavasya was introduced. The followers of rishi Bodhayana started observing this Amavasya. The kind of tarpan done by them once again reiterate that some calamity had happened then because they do tarpana for Acārya-s, teachers, friends and departed persons of other families too, whereas in regular tarpana only one’s own ancestors are offered oblations. Perhaps families were wiped away in the calamity at that time, prompting others to do the tarpana ceremony for all those known to them.

The introduction of Bodhayana Amavasya since the time of Mahabharata thus stands as a living testimony for an abnormal Amavasya, coming before normal time.

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Mahabharata Quiz -74

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Question – 74

Is there any other source – outside the Mahabharata - referring to the earlier than normal Amavasya falling in Trayodasi in the Mahabharata?  

Answer:

Yes, there is an oral as well as a written legend suggesting an unusually earlier Amavasya. This story related to the Bodhāyana Amavasya is traced to the Trayodasi Amavasya of the Mahabharata.

As per this story, one of the Pandava-s, Sahadeva was good at astrology. He was approached by Duryodhana to fix a date favorable for the Kaurava-s to win the war. Sahadeva suggested the upcoming Amavasya.

On coming to know of this, Krishna decided to prevent the advantage to the Kaurava-s and started doing Tarpana well before Amavasya started. The entire world was stunned. Perplexed by Krishna’s action, the sun and the moon approached him saying that the Amavasya had not yet come.

Krishna asked: What does Amavasya mean?

The Sun and the Moon: The coming together of the sun and the moon.

Krishna: Both of you had come together now. So Amavasya now!

Saying so, Krishna started doing Amavasya tarpana and others also followed suit.

Since Amavasya had come earlier than the expected day, when the Kaurava-s were getting ready for the rituals to grab the advantage of winning the war, they lost the war.

This story has a flaw. Krishna could not have done the tarpana because his father lived as long as he lived. But the main theme is the arrival of Amavasya well before the normal time. Importantly the story is about the advanced Amavasya.

The written story found in a Jyotisha book in Tamil refers to Yudhishṭhira doing tarpana as directed by Krishna and the sun and the moon appearing together to ask Krishna why he made him do tarpana when Amavasya had not yet started.  This story makes people remember the unusual Amavasya.

This story orally transmitted for generations was depicted in the Tamil movie ‘Karna’.

The unusually earlier Amavasya was immortalized into memory forever by evolving the concept of Bodhāyana Amavasya

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Mahabharata Quiz - 73

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Question – 73

Like any celestial body, the moon will also wobble as it moves in its orbit. Why can’t such wobble cause the Amavasya earlier in Trayodasi?

Answer:

It is true that the moon doesn’t go in a fixed orbit but wobbles forth and back as it moves. As per current knowledge, the moon is 252,088 miles away from us at the farthest distance and 225,623 miles when it is at the closest. The average orbital distance is 238,855 miles. At the average distance 30 phases occur that correspond to 30 tithi-s (15 in waxing and 15 in waning phase).

The duration of a phase at average distance = 238,855 / 30 = 7961.8 miles.

Now let us find out the range between the farthest and the closest distance.

252088 - 238855 = 13233 miles.

This is divided by the distance covered in a single tithi, i.e., 7961.8 miles.

13233 divided by 7961.8 = 1.66 tithi-s

This means that between the closest and the farthest orbit of the moon, the phases can vary within 2 phases (1.66) only.

At the farthest it is 15 +1 (16th tithi, i.e., Sodashi tithi)

At the closest it is 15-1 (14th tithi, i.e., Caturdashi tithi)

That is why Vyasa said, "This (Amavasya) in Caturdashi, Pañcadashi and also formerly happened in Ṣoḍashi but I have not known until now Amavasya in Trayodashi.” (Refer Question-70) 

It is stated in any text of astrology that Amavasya (no-moon) or Paurṇami (full moon) can happen on the 13th tithi. If the 13th tithi phase occurs, then it means the moon has come closer to the earth, by a reduction in its orbital circumference by 6000 + miles. This drift can happen over millions of years but not in a day and within a phase or two, i.e., within a month.

It occurred in the lunar Kartika month soon after the unusual natural events on Pushya day.

Vyasa makes a specific reference to Dhritarashtra of a Dhūmaketu falling on the day of Pushya!

“dhūmaketur mahāghoraḥ puṣyam ākramya tiṣṭhati” (MB: 6.3.12b)

Only if a comet had hit the moon’s surface also, a change could have happened in the speed of the moon, thereby causing a change in its path. This may sound unprecedented, but the Mahabharata is explicit in the description of the events as indicative of a terrible comet-hit on the earth which had not spared the moon as well.

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Mahabharata Quiz - 72

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Question – 72

Why shouldn’t Amavasya occur on Trayodasi?

Answer:

Amavasya is a segment in the lunar orbit when the moon comes in between the sun and the earth. The lunar orbit is divided into 30 parts (360 degrees) with each part known as a Tithi. Halfway through it, that is, at the 15^th tithi, Paurnamī occurs (covering 180 degrees). In the next 15^th tithi, Amavasya occurs (Another 180 degrees). Each tithi is given a Sanskrit name, based on the number of tithi-s. But one should know that the Sanskrit names used for the numbers are NOT adopted for the tithi.

For example, Ekam for number 1 is Pratipat or Prathama when it represents the 1^st tithi.

Similarly, Dve is for 2, which is Dwitiya for the second tithi.

Treeni for 3, is Tritiya for the third tithi.

Now for double digit numbers,

Dasha is for 10, but it is Dashamī for the 10^th tithi.

Ekadasha for 11, but it is Ekadashī for the 11^th tithi.

Dwadasha for 12, while it is Dwadashī for the 12^th tithi.

Trayodasha for 13, but it is Trayodashī for the 13^th tithi.

In the Mahabharata, Vyasa states, “trayodaśīm Amāvāsyāṃ” which he had never heard of (MB: 6.3.28).

So, he refers to the 13^th tithi of the moon’s phase and not the 13^th day.

A day is different from tithi.

The day is dina or divasa or saura, measured by the movement of the sun whereas as a tithi is the phase of the moon, measured by the distance travelled by the moon, away from the sun.

A day has more or less the same duration because it is dependent on the motion of the earth which is perceived by the time between one sun rise to the next sun rise.

But tithi may take different lengths of time within a lunar month depending on the perigee and apogee of the lunar orbit. Because of this three tithi-s can occur in two days (called Tri-dina spruk) or two tithi-s may measure less such that one of them would end well within two consecutive sun rises (Kshaya tithi).

Now we will see how a tithi is measured.

A tithi has12-degree length. This is calculated by the distance between the sun and the moon. For example, the first tithi, Prathama starts at the point the moon leaves the edge of the sun as seen from the earth. The moon may not be exactly crossing the sun and may be higher or lower than the location of the sun as seen from the earth. We consider what is called the longitude of the sun. The moment the moon leaves that longitude, the first tithi, known as Shukla (waxing) Prathama starts. Even as the moon is moving ahead, the sun will also be moving in the same direction. The gap between the moon and the sun, when it completes 12 degrees, the first tithi is over and the second tithi, namely Dwitiya starts. Like this, the moon crosses 14 tithi-s to enter Paurnamī (Full Moon Day) which is the 15^th tithi.

Counted from Paurṇamī, the 15^th part occurs on the No-moon day (Amavasya) between 168 and 180 degrees. At times Amavasya had started before 168 degrees but ended up between 168 and 180 degrees (from 14^th to 15^th phase), but it can never start in the 13^th phase, i.e., Trayodaśī (between 144 and 156 degrees). If Amavasya had started on Trayodaśī, it clearly implies that something went wrong with the moon and that its orbit had changed.

This is a terrific Ganesh moment, for, such a pre-occurrence of Amavasya before 156 degrees can never happen in Nature.

Vyasa did not spoon-feed us will all the details. He wanted us to think and explore. That is why he seemed to have inserted the Ganesha part to send a message to all the future readers of the Mahabharata to strain their grey cells to pick out the extraordinary events that happened in the months prior to the war.

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