Kali Yuga date forms the basis for determining the time line of events in
Mahabharata. Kali yuga date forms the boundary condition for Mahabharata date by which it is meant that if this is not fulfilled, there is no point in claiming that other references in Mahabharata have been 'successfully' corroborated. Without the knowledge of this basic requirement, or without fulfilling this requirement we find people blabbering around and forcing some date as Mahabharata date. It is a pity these researchers have never ventured into history, but only dabbled with their astronomy simulators - for, if they have, they would have come across thousands of inscriptions giving the date to the Kali Shaka year, thereby realizing how foolish their claims have been.
The absence of
knowledge of the inviolability of Kali date is the shocking proof of presence of non-practising Hindus
all around us – by non- practicing I mean the minimal requirement of doing
monthly Amavasya tarpan by those to whom it applies to or who have elders at home doing
this. The one who does pitru tarpan is supposed to keep track of time by using
Pancanga – the traditional one and not the ‘modern’ Pancanga promoted by these new age 'researchers' which does not
have five angas - by which he comes to know when
the Kali Yuga started. By 2020, we have completed 5121 years in Kali Yuga.
The connection between Kali Yuga date and the Mahabharata war date is such
that the war happened exactly 35 years before the start of Kali Yuga.
The date of
Kali Yuga:
22nd January 3101 BCE, Year Pramathi, Caitra, Amawasya,
Aswini, Thursday with all the planets except Rahu near the beginning of Aries
when the tropical vernal equinox coincided with the beginning of sidereal
Aries.
The
date of the Mahabharata War:
3136 BCE corresponding to the year Krodhi. Further details can be read in my
book Myth
of 'The Epoch of Arundhati' of Nilesh Nilkanth Oak
The following is excerpted from
my book:
The entry of Kali Yuga upon the exit of
Krishna is repeated in the first and the last chapter of Bhagavata Purana. The
entry of Kali is also revealed in the context of how Parikshit received
Kali Yuga.[1] Parikshit
being the immediate successor of Yudhishthira, after the latter relinquished
the throne on hearing the exit of Krishna, it goes without saying that the
entry of Kali Yuga coincided with the exit of Krishna.
Does Mahabharata give inconsistent views
on Yugas?
Mahabharata gives enough clues on two
kinds of Yugas, one, the 5-year Yuga that was in vogue for all practical
purposes and the other, the Chatur Maha Yuga for judging the scale of Dharma.
The 5-year Yuga is well revealed in the context of Bhishma justifying the
completion of incognito period of the Pandavas. The dates of Mahabharata war
and Bhishma Nirvana can be proven only on the basis of the 5-year system.
Many characters of Mahabharata also
speak about the Chatur Maha Yugas, for determining Brahma’s duration of life in
terms of solar years and also on how the Yuga is decided by the Dharma of the
King / ruler. There are instances found in Mahabharata of a fusion of Yugas and
one Yuga dharma appearing in another Yuga. An analysis of all these references
reveals that the 4 yugas from Krita to Kali were measured by the scale of
Dharma.[2] Dharma
was on the decline at the time of Mahabharata giving the semblance of Kali
Yuga, but it was not completely perceived as Kali Yuga due to the presence of
Krishna.
Vyasa was the first one to have grasped
the change of Time in terms of Yuga Dharma and expressed it explicitly. When
Arjuna informed Vyasa of Krishna’s exit, Vyasa spoke about the change of time
and that time has come for the Pandava brothers to leave the earth.[3] It
was only after meeting Vyasa, Arjuna went on to meet his brothers to convey the
news of Krishna’s exit.
From Mahabharata to Bhagavata Purana we
find a continuity of events following the exit of Krishna. In the very
beginning of Bhagavata Purana, Vyasa repeats the bad omens seen by Yudhishtira
at the exit of Krishna as was described in Mahabharata. When Arjuna brings the
bad news about Krishna’s departure, Vyasa says (in Suta’s narration) the Kali has manifest fully at the
exit of Krishna.
yadā
mukundo bhagavān imāṁ mahīṁ
jahau sva-tanvā śravaṇīya-sat-kathaḥ
tadāhar evāpratibuddha-cetasām
abhadra-hetuḥ kalir anvavartata[4]
jahau sva-tanvā śravaṇīya-sat-kathaḥ
tadāhar evāpratibuddha-cetasām
abhadra-hetuḥ kalir anvavartata[4]
Meaning:
“When the Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, left this earthly planet in His
selfsame form, from that very day Kali, who had already partially
appeared, became fully manifest to create inauspicious conditions for
those who are endowed with a poor fund of knowledge.”[5]
In the very next verse Vyasa says that
Yudhishthira having understood the arrival of Adharma (adharma-cakraṁ)
prepared to exit the world.[6] Vyasa
again repeats the arrival of Kali Yuga (kalinādharma), perceived by the
younger Pandavas prompting them to leave the earth.[7]
Thus there is consistency in the
narration on the change of the Yugas and the birth of a new Yuga, and the
narration continuing from Mahabharata and taken over to Bhagavata Purana by the
same author Vyasa. Vyasa had said without mincing words in the beginning of
Bhagavata Purana that Kali
which was partially manifest until then became fully manifest on the day
Krishna left the earthly plane.[8]
Evidence for Yudhishthira Shaka.
Let me reproduce the evidence[9] from
‘Ain I Akbari’ authored by Abul
Fazl Allami, a contemporary of Akbar. He mentions King Yudhishthira
as having started his own era which was followed by the eras of Vikrama and Shalivahana.
He continues to name the future Shaka eras as those of Vijayabhinanda,
Nagarjuna and Kalki – giving the total
number as six eras in the Kali Yuga. This includes the era of Yudhishthira.
The above narration continues further by
stating the arrival of Shalivahana and how he usurped Vikrama. For the gap of
135 years between the two, it is unrealistic to assume that Shalivahana
defeated Vikrama. May be it was a metaphoric way of expression of replacement
of an old Shaka with a new one, which I am not delving into, due to its
irrelevance in this context. What needs to be understood is the fact that a new
Shaka year was started; this is corroborated by numerous inscriptions that have
recorded the date from Shalivahana Shaka.
Abu Fazl continues to write that
Shalivahana didn’t interfere with the observance of Vikrama Era. So
simultaneously both Eras had existed, but inscriptional evidence shows that
Shalivahana Shaka was in widespread usage. Abul fazl’s narration cannot
rejected as invalid or ‘traditional belief’, for, it shows how time was
recorded by calculating right from the beginning of Kali Yuga.
Abul Fazl has given valuable inputs for
cross reference. At first he gives the Kali Yuga year as 4700 and later 4696 as
the elapsed years of Yudhishthira Shaka at the 40th year of Akbar’s
rule. The difference of only 4 years between the two Kali dates (Kali 4700 and
Yudhishthira 4696) goes to show that the first was the year of writing the book
and the second, the 40th year of Akbar’s rule. He also mentions the gap of 3044 years between Yudhishtira Shaka and Vikrama
Shaka.
For the 40th year of Akbar he
has given the corresponding years in Yudhishthira, Vikrama and Shalivahana
Shaka.
Akbar’s 40thyear = 4696 of
Yudhishthira Shaka.
Akbar’s 40th year = 1652 of
Vikrama Shaka.
Akbar’s 40th year = 1517 of
Shalivahana Shaka.
The 40th year of Akbar was
Hijri 1003-1004 corresponding to 1595 CE in Gregorian calendar.
Checking for the recent two eras (Shaka)
for which the date is not disputed we get
(1) Shalivahana 1517 + Shalivahana 78 CE
= 1595 CE
(2) Vikarama 1652 – Vikrama 57 BCE =
1595 CE
Since the year tallies correctly, the
year derived from the Yudhishthira date must be the true Kali Yuga date. Let me
deduct 1595 (CE) from Yudhishthira Shaka date of Akbar’s 40th year.
Yudhishthira 4696 – 1595 = 3101 (BCE)
This being the Yudhishthira Shaka, and
also the Kali Yuga start year, it becomes clear that the Shaka computation started after Krishna left
and Yudhishthira stepped down (which happened closely within a span of
few months). The
computation must have been initiated by Vyasa himself by stipulating the start
of the Kali Yuga as the date of exit of Krishna. The clear statement
of Kali Yuga start date in the first chapter of Bhagavata Purana[10]
explained earlier goes to show that VYASA was the originator of the Kali Yuga date. Time computation
must have been a far easier task for him as a knower of three times (past,
present and future) compared to other stupendous tasks for which is known –
compilation of the Vedas and authoring the Puranas and Mahabharata.
Concept of Shaka is old.
The word Shaka comes from the root
‘Shak’ meaning “be able”. The name Shakra for Indra comes from this
root. With the decadence of the concept of Indra expected in the Kali Yuga, the
sages had mooted the idea of Shaka in the place of
Indra. The Shaka ruler is one who has defeated
the enemies of Bharata varsha or Vedic culture or in other words,
non-Vedic people, according to a Telugu text “Vijnana Sarvaswamu”[11] and
Kalidasa’s “Jyothirvidabharana”.[12] Mahabharata
war was won by Yudhishthira by subduing many tribes of North West India who
were not followers of Vedic culture. He continued to be the Shaka Karta
until Vikrama repeated the same feat. Vikrama was replaced by Shalivahana
either because he defeated some non-Vedic, foreign ruler or he defeated the
previous Shaka ruler, in this case Vikrama. Though Abul Fazl refers to the
second probability, the gap of 135 years between Vikrama and Shalivahana makes
it improbable.
Quoting Tilak, it is said that
there is no inscription in the name of Yudhishthira Shaka.
The reasons are not hard to find. Engraving on the stones was a later development with most of the
stone inscriptions appearing in the Common Era only. In olden days writing in burja
patra was in vogue.[13]
Engraving in metals such as copper was also widely prevalent and it is
anybody’s guess why they were lost. The bottom-line is
that absence of inscriptions does not mean absence of the Era!
Janamejaya’s grant
refers to Yudhishthira Shaka
However, an inscription of King
Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit was quoted by Kota Venkatachela Paakayaaji in
his book[14]
from Indian Antiquary P.P. 383 334.The inscription states
“Svasti
Shree Jayabhyudaye Yudhsihtrashake”
The donation mentioned in that
inscription was made in the 89th year of Yudhishthira Shaka during
the reign of Janamejaya. The year concurs with Janamejaya’s rule as he
succeeded his father Parikshit who ruled for 60 years as per Mahabharata. This
grant was made in the 29th regnal year of Janamejaya, to Lord Sitarama temple
on the banks of Tungabhadra River, in today’s Hampi.
The inscription gives important
Panchanga[15]
details such as Plavanga year, Amawasya, solar eclipse, Saumya Vara and Sahasya month referring to
Pushya month. Only the star of the day is not given. These four out of five features of the
Panchanga were checked in astrology software.[16]
The horoscopy chart generated for these
details show that the day was Shukla Vara indicating a scribal or transmission
error. The four
features had co-existed on 2nd November 3013 BCE.
(Figure 2)
Figure
1: Simulated to current (Chitra-paksha) ayanamsa
Though all the features are present, the month is Margashira, not Pushya. Amavasya ended by sunrise.
Now let me give another simulated
version for the same Panchanga features corrected to the precession date
calculated from Surya
Siddhanta based on Makarandacharya’s Tables made in 1478 CE. In this,
the precession is taken as zero with vernal equinox coinciding with zero degree
Aries which was the case at the time of Kali Yuga according to tradition and
reiterated by Indic astronomers of the past. The simulation done with this
correction based on Surya Siddhanta for the Panchanga features of Janamejaya
grant is as follows:
Figure
2: Simulated to Sri Surya Siddhanta ayanamsa
Note two major changes: (1) the month is Pushya as given in the inscription, (2) the planetary positons are not the same as those for Chitra Paksha / Lahiri ayanamsa. Nearly a month-long difference is there between for the changed ayanamsa for the same Panchanga features.
This must be an eye opener for all the researchers working on dating
the past from astronomy simulators having no ayanamsa correction
for the Vedic sidereal
positions and no scope for knowing the Panchanga features.The
one using astronomy simulator hoping to date a past Indic event will be in
reality just groping in the dark with no idea of whether he /she had landed up
with the correct weekday, tithi and year name for a given star or solstice or
equinox position. Only Panchanga
features coupled with the correct ayanamsa offer the reality check
of a date which the Gregorian or the Julian calendar dates of the astronomy
software do not give.
With the Panchanga features of the date
of Janamejaya-grant synchronising with each other in the above simulation set
to Sri Surya Siddhanta (SSS) ayanamsa, we can rest assured of the authenticity
of the grant that was given on the last day of Plavanga year.
Aryabhata on Yuga and Kali Yuga
In his first chapter on 10 Gitika verses
that he proclaims to be capable of making the knower (of those verses) reach
the Supreme Brahman, Aryabhata had given two clues on Yuga.
In the 3rd and 4th
verses, he has given the number of revolutions of the planets that “commenced
at the beginning of the sign Aries on Wednesday at sunrise at
Lanka”[17]
This is variously interpreted by
commentators, but the number of revolutions given for the Sun in that verse is
43, 20,000and this is valid only for the Chatur Maha Yuga that started with
Krita Yuga. Therefore this verse implies that Krita Yuga started on a Wednesday with all the planets at the
beginning of Aries. In the next verse (no 5) he refers to the
elapsed Yugas at “Bharatāt Purvam”!
The above is the translator’s version,
but the verse refers to the lapse of 6 Manus, 27 Yugas and 3 quarter Yugas on a
Thursday at “Bharatāt Purvam.”
The three quarter padas refer to the
first three yugas of the Chatur Maha Yuga. Coming after the verse on Chatur
Maha Yuga, one can expect this to be about the beginning of the 4th
Yuga, i.e. Kali Yuga. But then why did he use the term Bharatāt Purvam instead
of Kaliyugāt Purvam? Let me give two
explanations.
(1) ‘Bhāratāt Purvam’ has been
interpreted by ancient commentators such as Bhaskara I and Suryadeva, as
refering to before the time when
Yudhishthira of Bharata dynasty relinquished the throne. This is a
reference to the traditional Kali Yuga date given the fact that Yudhishthira
came to know of the exit of Krishna only after seven months.
The sequence of events given in
Mahabharata shows that on the seventh day after Krishna’s exit, Arjuna left
Dwaraka along with the remaining population and settled them down in different
places. Then he went to the hermitage of Vyasa to convey the exit of Krishna.
Taking the advice of Vyasa that the time had come for him and his brothers to
leave the earth, Arjuna returned to the Kuru kingdom to meet his brothers. This
happened seven months after he left, says Srimad Bhagavatam.[18] Therefore the reference to ‘Bhāratāt Purvam’ is a date from
before the Bhārata (Pandavas) renounced their throne. Krishna’s exit was
the only important event before the renouncement of the throne – an event that
prompted them to renounce.
Aryabhata had succinctly conveyed that
event (the day of exit of Krishna) while giving the time-lapse at that time as the marker for the start of Kali Yuga. The mention of Thursday in that context as the weekday when
the new Yuga started is further proof of meticulous calculation of Time and the
record and remembrance of the same.
(2) According to another ancient
commentator Somesvara, ‘Bhāratāt Purvam’ refers to the first day of the Bharata
war! Kali almost started on the day of the war that was unjustifiably fought by
refusing to honour the agreement to give back the kingdom to the Pandavas at
the end of their exile. However this is not acceptable
given the time lapse mentioned in the verse that fits with the beginning of
Kali Yuga.
This chapter being designed to give
basic aphorisms, one can expect Aryabhata to give the universal view on the
basics, such as the beginning of Kali Yuga.
Kali Yuga Date derived from Aryabhatiya.
The third reference to Yuga comes in the
3rd chapter on Kalakriya Pada that exclusively deals with
time.
He has given the name of the month and
the phase (Shukla) but left out the Yuga name. It is not difficult to assume
that it is Kali Yuga (the entire chapter is on computations pertaining to Kali
Yuga) and the year was Pramathi. Most of the inscriptions found in North
India refer to Pramathi as the start of the counting of years in Kali Yuga. In
South India it is Prabhava, the reason being, the year clock was set
back to the first year of the 60-year cycle for counting the years from Kali
Yuga start date. This difference in North – South traditions has no
justification except that North India retained continuity, while Southern
tradition went back to the first year of the cycle. That is, when Pramathi was
running, it was Prabhava in the South and this continues till date. The switch over happening in
Pramathi signals that some event had happened in Pramathi that caused a new
cycle. And that event
was the exit of Krishna. The 36th year before that was the
year name of Mahabharata War. That happens to be Year Krodhi. The year name Krodhi must concur
with the other Panchanga details for deducing the time of Mahabharata war.
In the present context the week day and
the star of the day are not given. The week day seems to have been taken for
granted in the verse and this makes me think that it must be Thursday based on
the verse in the 1st chapter discussed earlier. When these four Panchanga
details (Pramathi, Chaitra, Shukla paksha beginning / Pratipat and Thursday)
were checked in the astrology software, it gave a remarkable concurrence for
the date 22nd January, 3101 BCE! That is the day from which Kali
Yuga is calculated!
Figure
3: Kali Yuga date simulated to (current) Chitra-paksha ayanamsa
The same Panchanga details simulated for
Sri Surya Siddhanta ayanamsa (SSS) gives the same date but Sun was at 2nd
degree of Aries!
Figure
4: Kali Yuga date simulated to Sri Surya Siddhanta ayanamsa (zero degree
Aries).
The date in modern calendar is
remarkably the same in figures 3 and 4 for current and SSS ayanamsa. However in
Figure 4, all the planets are at close degrees behind the Sun with Mars alone
within 5 degrees in front of the Sun. This is a remarkable concurrence with the traditional version and the
marker for the start of a Yuga when all planets would be together near the
beginning of Aries while vernal equinox would be at zero degree Aries.
The Surya Siddhanta based
Ayanamsa (used in simulating the above chart) is close to the ayanamsa of Kali
Yuga date and therefore highly reliable for dating Mahabharata events.
In Figure 3 for Chitra Paksha Ayanamsa
(current) the Panchanga details were the same, but planetary positions were
different, particularly that of the Sun. The ayanamsa was at 313 degrees in the
zodiac (in precession). This is 45 degrees short of 360 degrees thereby placing
Kali Yuga at Taurus 15 degrees. Now readers can know the havoc of not using the exact ayanamsa for
dating. When the correct ayanamsa and Panchanga
details match, all the planetary positions automatically match. That it is not possible to get all
the planetary positions right without the correct ayanamsa is what the people
engaged in this kind of dating research using astronomy software, have not yet
realised.
The difference of nearly a month in
Janamejaya grant issued at 89th year after the above Kali Yuga date
in the two simulations, one on chitra Paksha ayanamsa and another on Surya
Siddhanta ayanamsa, can be better understood now. On Kali yuga date (January
22, 3101 BCE) the ayanamsa was at zero degree Aries in SSS settings. After Kali
Yuga began, the ayanamsa moved forward in SSS whereas it was always in backward
motion in the Chitra Paksha settings. As such the ayanamsa was 1-20 degree (at
Aries) in SSS settings at the time of Janamejaya whereas it was 314-37 degree
(in Pisces) in the settings of Chitra Paksha. This is so in the western
astronomy software too. Between SSS (Surya Siddhanta) and Chitra Paksha the
difference was 313 degrees of the zodiac in presessional direction. The same
can be re-phrased as a gap of 45 degrees between 314- 37 (Chitra Paksha) and
1-20 degrees (SSS). This gap in ayanamsa accounted for a month and a change in
the position of the planets. Now
one can imagine the havoc of vast difference that the changed ayanamsa can
cause in dating an event.
It cannot be denied that the Panchanga
features synchronise for the date January 22nd, 3101 BCE.
This combination repeats
along with the same planetary positions only once in a Yuga. The next
time the ayanamsa was at zero degree Aries was on 21st March 499 CE
during Aryabhata’s times. But then the planetary combinations were different,
so also some of the Panchanga features. Though the year was Pramathi, as in
Kali start date, other Panchanga features were different. Fig 5 shows
Aryabhata’s time in Pramathi with zero ayanamsa as was at the time of start of
Kali Yuga, but the planets had not congregated at Aries. I am constrained to state that I
have not yet come across any one research on dating Mahabharata done with this
realisation.
Figure
5: Zero ayanamsa in 499 CE (SSS based)
Kali Yuga did start on a Thursday
The same verse on Bhāratāt Purvam states
that Kali Yuga started on
a Thursday. Today all the available calculations given in astrology
texts to derive a day in Kali Yuga finally ends up with dividing the derived
number by 7, and the weekday enumerated from the remainder starting from
Friday. If the remainder is zero, the
week day is Friday, if it is one; the day is Saturday and so on. This deduction
is possible only if Kali Yuga started on a Thursday. The unstated fact of this
deduction is that Kali Yuga started on a specific day that is neither
fictitious nor changeable.
Yet another inviolable feature connects the weekday with
solar ingress in Aries. The weekday advances at
the rate of one day per year – where the year is calculated in terms of
days, Ghatis, vighatis and vipalas taken by the sun to come back to the same
position at zero degree Aries. For instance, if the solar ingress in Aries
occurs on a Monday in a year, it will occur on Tuesday the next year, on
Wednesday the year after, and so on. However, with extra hours piling up, the
weekday will progress by two every fifth year.
That is, if Monday is the weekday in the first year, it will progress by
a day for the next four years, with Thursday becoming the weekday on the first
day of the 4th year. On the fifth year the weekday will not be next in
succession (Friday) but it will be Saturday.
This progression is based on another
rationale that if the solar ingress occurs at day time, the weekday at sunrise
is taken into account. If the ingress occurs at evening or night, the next day
is taken as the first day of the year. The implication of this relationship
between the weekday and the first day of the solar year (entry into Aries) is
such that the first day of Kali Yuga is an established one. If Kali Yuga
started on some other day or date, today cannot be what we see in the calendar.
The solar ingress is a
cosmic fact that none can change. That movement coinciding with specific
weekday is proof of inviolability of Kali Yuga begin- date. This
relationship between the year beginning and the running weekday at that time does not allow any tampering with the Kali Yuga date. The date is fixed and unalterable.
By this the reader must understand that the year of Mahabharata war is also
fixed and unalterable.
Aryabhata
again on Kali Yuga date.
A verse in the third chapter of
Aryabhatiya, giving the age of Aryabhata fixes the year of Kali Yuga 3600 years
before his date. By using the term ‘Yuga
pādā’ to refer to the lapse of the three previous yugas (Krita, Treta and
Dvapara), Aryabhata has made a clear statement on the date of Kali Yuga.
Sixty times the sixty years are 3600
years that Aryabhata recognises as the time elapsed since the beginning of Kali
Yuga when he was 23 years of age. Scholars had debated in the past on why Aryabhata
mentioned his age from Kali Yuga beginning. The basic reason is that any Tantra
Siddhanta[19]
must refer to time starting from the nearest Yuga, which is Kali Yuga in the
case of Aryabhata. The oft repeated justification by commentators is that at 3600
years after Kali Yuga date, the mean position of the planets given by Aryabhata
in the first chapter required no correction with zero rate of precession
running at that time! This means that the tropical vernal equinox coincided
with the sidereal equinox at zero degree Aries at his time. This conjunction
happens at the beginning of every Yuga which means similar conjunction or zero
ayanamsa had happened 3600 years before Aryabhata’s date! This is a clinching evidence for
the Vedic concept of equinoxes (explained earlier) that it does not go
permanently in 3600 years.
{The following
illustration is excerpted from my upcoming publication on precession of
equinoxes. Aryabhata’s 3600 years can be covered within abc (Indic) or ec (western astronomy). In the case of ec, Kali Yuga could not start at the beginning of Aries.}
Aryabhata’s
3600 years expressed in Indic and Western model
Let me reproduce the planetary and
Pancanga details from the astrology simulator for 3600 years after Kali Yuga
date. The year turned out to be Pramathi, the same year in which Kali Yuga
started as per tradition.
Aryabhata’s
age at 23 years.
The Sun’s entry into Aries happened on
Chaitra Krishna Saptami in the year Pramathi, when the moon was at Purvashadha.
The date was 499 CE in Gregorian calendar. The ayanamsa being zero degree, the
tropical vernal equinox had coincided with sidereal Sun at zero degree Aries on
this date. The mean positions of the planets given by Aryabhata are found to
hold good for zero degree ayanamsa. Sensing the importance of this rare date
Aryabhata had produced his Siddhanta. The reference to
Kali Yuga exactly 3600 years prior to this date endorses the view of Surya
Siddhanta on oscillating equinoxes
Evidence
of Kali Yuga date in Saptarishi cycle.
The Saptarishi cycle comes into
reckoning in the discussion on Kali Yuga date for two reasons. According to all
available versions, the Sapta Rishi cycle started 25 years after the start of
Kali Yuga. This offers excellent cross- reference to validate the Kali Yuga
date. The second reason can be traced to a specific verse in Brihat Samhita on
the location of the Saptarishis in the time scale of
Yudhishtira Shaka. The verse says,[20]
(Word for word translation of this
verse)
आसन् मघासु
मुनयः शासति
पृथ्वीं युधिष्ठिरे
नृपतौ।
षड्-द्विक-पञ्च-द्वि (२५२६) युतः शककालस्तस्य राज्ञस्य॥
आसन्= āsan =
Halting, stopping, abiding, staying, sitting
(third person plural present imperfect class 2 parasmaipada √as )
मघासु = maghāsu = in
the lunar mansion Maghā (feminine locative plural stem: magha)SB 12.2.31
मुनयः = munayas = the
sages (masculine nominative, vocative plural stem: muni)
शासति = śāsati -= to
command, to control (third person plural
present present class 2 parasmaipada √śās)
पृथ्वीं = pruthvim =
earth (Accusative)
युधिष्ठिरे
= in Yudhihsthira (singular masculine locative)
नृपतौ = king
(singular masculine locative)
षड्-द्विक-पञ्च-द्वि
= 2526
युतः = yutas =
Binding, fastening, attaching, going (masculine nominative singular past
passive participle stem: yuta)
शककालस्तस्य
= shaka kālas tasya – his shaka kaala,
Tasya = about this (SB 10.89.2), at him
(SB 11.23.9), by him (SB 1.9.17, SB 9.14.42, SB 10.70.24)
राज्ञस्य = by (of) the
king (singular masculine Genitive)
Overall
meaning:
“The
earth was controlled by the king Yudhishthira in his shaka kala of 2526 (years)
(when) the Saptarṣis (muni) were in Maghā (star).”
2526 years of the Yudhishthira Shaka is
575 BCE. (3101-2526) At this year the Saptarishis were in Magha.
Since the Saptarishis Era started 25
years after the start of Kali Yuga, it had started in 3076 BCE. From 3076 BCE to 575 BCE, the
Saptarishis had travelled for 2501 years. We
must see if we are able to get the beginning of the Saptarishis era from this.
There are two views given in the Puranas
on the duration of this Era. One view is that that the Saptarishis
stay for 100 years in a star, by which they complete one round around
the zodiac of 27 stars in 2700 years. A second
view found in Brahmanda Purana is
that the Saptarishis take 3030
human years to complete one round.[21] In
this context it gives the year of the Dhruva as 3 times this duration, i.e. 9090
human years.
Taking up the first view (2700 years),
the Saptarishis were yet complete one Era by 199 years at
the time they were in Magha in the year 575 BCE. (2700 – 2501) In the second
case the Saptarishis were lagging by 529 years to
complete an era at the time they were in Magha (3030-2501).
Since the Saptarishis travel in anti-clockwise direction
in the northern sky, let me go backward in the reverse from Magha for 199 years
(for 2700 year cycle) and 529 (for 3030 year cycle). Since the Saptarishis move
an average of 100 years per star in the 2700 year cycle, they would have
completed / started the Era in Pushya star, by moving through two stars in 199 years.
In the second case of 3030 year cycle
with an average of 112 years per star, they
could have crossed 4.7
stars, i.e. would be in the 5th star in the reverse. This
places the beginning of the Era in Mrigashirsha!
Saptarishi
Era at Kali year 25.
Of the two probabilities (Pushya and
Mrigashirsha) on the beginning of the Era, Mrigashirsha is backed up by cross
evidences.
The star Mrigashirsha signifies ‘path’, the Mārga of the
Universe. Conceptually this concurs well with the idea of Sapta Rishi
that they lead mankind in the Universe. Among the months, Krishna identified
himself with Mrigashirsha.[22] Culturally celebration of Full Moon in
Mrigashirsha in Kashmir where Saptarishi Era was followed in olden days adds
credence to the beginning of this cycle at Mrigashirsha[23]in the
solar month of Margashira.
This also solves the mystery around “Agrahāyana” which means
“first movement” (Agra = first, ayana = movement) occurring at Mrigashirsha.
The ‘first movement’ was about the beginning of the cycle of Saptarishi Yuga at
Full Moon in Mrigashira. This puts at naught the view
that Agrahāyana could refer to the equinox. The oscillating equinox
cannot go beyond Krittika 1st pada. Agrahāyana being the other name for the month of Margashira, its importance
as the first one is known from the Saptarishi Era. The yearly
celebration of the Full Moon in Margashira in Kashmir marks the day as the New
Year day and the month as the first month in the Saptarishi Calendar.
The Era starting with the Saptarishis at the star Mrigashirsha in Kali year 25 offers yet another evidence of the inviolability of Kali Yuga date at 3101 BCE.
Epigraphic
evidence for Kali Yuga date.
The evidence of Kali Yuga date in
epigraphy is very less. The reason can be traced to the fact that engraving on
stones came into vogue only after the beginning of the Common Era. The records
of olden times inscribed on leaves and metals had suffered easy destruction.
The inscriptions on metals were always in the custody of the private persons
and were lost in due course. Only stone inscriptions have withstood the
vagaries of time.
By the time stone-inscriptions were
gaining popularity, the Shalivahana Shaka Era was started in the year 78 CE and
it is continuing. Any year in the Shaka Era would be counted from the beginning
of that Era. This Era having started 3179 years after Kali Yuga, it became easy
to convert any year of the Shaka Era into Kali Year by adding 3179 to the Shaka
year. Verses in Tamil attributed to Siddhas do refer to adding a constant,
3179, to the Shaka year to get “Kali-Yugābda”.[24] This calculation came into existence only
because the Kali Yuga date was well established beyond doubt. The Shaka year
establishes the Kali Date at 3101 BCE (3179 – 78 CE = 3101 BCE).
With most inscriptions on stone made in
the current Shaka, we get to see only few inscriptions with Kali date. For
instance Polasara plates of Arkesvara Deva of Ganjam[25] is dated at “Yugāvda
4248” that corresponds to 1147 CE (4248 – 3101). Pottesvara temple
inscription of Bhanudeva III of Imperial Ganga Dynasty[26] traces the date at Kali 4477 (1376 CE). The
Parthivasekara puram inscription traces the date in Kali days since the Yuga
began.[27]
One of the inscriptions of the early
part of Kali Yuga recorded by Francis Buchanan[28] in
his travelogue and delivered to the Bengal Government was originally found in
Madugeswara temple at Banawasi, in North Canara district. It refers to a grant
of land to God Maducanata by Simhunna Bupa of Yudhishthira’s family dated at
Yudhishthira Shaka 168.
Yet another inscription mentioned in the
same book refers to a record[29] on palmyra leaves which was a copy of a
copper plate inscription in possession of a sanyasi, dated at “Kaliyugam 600” in the reign of Raja Mulla, king of the
South. A copy of that was delivered to the Bengal Government. It is not known
how many more inscriptions of the old had gone into the possession of the
government of the colonial period and continued to remain undetected.
As of today only two inscriptions
published in the Indian Antiquary[30] offer scope to cross check the date deduced
above (3101 BCE) or rather deduce the date of Kali Yuga. Other inscriptions
only state the Kali year of the inscribed text. One is the Aihole inscription
of the Chalukya king Pulikesin II and the other is the grant issued by king
Janamejaya, son of Parikshit discussed earlier.
Evidence
from Aihole inscription.
The Aihole inscription of the Chalukya king Pulikesin II has two components of time,
one, pertaining to the years in Kali Yuga after the Mahabharata war and the
other, the Shaka year of the grant. Confusion abounds in the former regarding a
term mentioned therein. The term is ‘Bhāratādāhāvāditah’
which is interpreted as ‘beginning from the Mahabharata war’. However the date
derived from the numbers given in the inscription does not tally with the date
of Mahabharata that started 35 years before Kali Yuga (3101 BCE). Kota
Venkatachelam interpreted this term to mean ‘after the Mahabharata war’[31] by
not connecting the counting of years from the date of war. He also corrected a
minor scribal error in the inscription from ‘shateshu’ to ‘gateshu’.
With this correction the inscription gives the date 3101 BCE that we
established as the date of Kali Yuga.
Reading this inscription in the light of
Aryabhatiya version of ‘Bhāratāt
Purvam,’ we are pleasantly surprised to see the similarity between the
two. ‘Bhārata’ in ‘Bhāratādāhāvāditah’
is much like ‘Bhāratāt Purvam’ that
was interpreted by ancient commentators as referring to Bhāratā (Pandavas)
relinquishing the throne. The Bhāratā renounced everything and cast off
their sacred fires too. [32]Bhāratā dāha avādita could refer to the sacrifice of the Bharata clan after coming to know of
Krishna’s demise (when Kali Yuga started). The time of Pulikesin II
coming within 150 years of Aryabhata, this kind of reference to the start of
Kali Yuga seems to be widespread in use. The other way of looking at it is that
a powerful and prosperous king
like Pulikesin II could have found it difficult to ascribe to the view that
Kali was running in his country, much like Parikshit who detested the presence
of Kali. Perhaps this made him pick out the alternate marker for the
Yuga beginning, the sacrifice of the Bhāratā (Pandavas) on coming to know of
Krishna’s exit.
The first part of the inscription reads
as “Trimshatsu (30) trisahasreshu (3000) Bhāratā dāha avādita / Sapta abda shatayukteshu (700) gateshu
abdeshu panchasu (5)//
This adds up to 3735 years since the
time the Bhāratā sacrificed everything.
The next part reads as “Panchāshatsu
(50) Kalaukāle shattsu (6) panchashatāsu (500) cha / Samā su samatitāsu
shakānāmapi bhubhujām”//
The number given here is 556 since the
beginning of Shaka. The nearest Shaka being that of Shalivahana, the Gregorian
date is derived by adding 78 (CE) giving the year 634 CE which is very much
within the reign of Pulikesin II.
Combining the two parts of the
inscription, in the Kalaukāle (Kali’s Time) 634 years had elapsed in 3735 years
which works out to 3101 BCE. That was the time of Bhāratā dāha avādita and
Bhāratāt Purvam.
Deriving the date of Mahabharata War from Kali Yuga.
Once having corroborated the date of Kali Yuga at 3101 BCE, it is not
difficult to derive the date of Mahabharata War. There was a gap of 35 years between the war and the exit of
Krishna. On seeing the death of her children and all relatives in the
war Gandhari vented out her frustration at Krishna that he (Krishna) after
causing the slaughter of his kinsmen would perish in the wilderness on the 36th
year.[33]
On the 36th year a huge carnage did take place wiping out the
Krishna-clan.
When the 36th year (after the
war) arrived Yudhishthira noticed many unusual omens, says the first chapter of
Mausala Parva.[34]
In the next chapter it is said that a great calamity overtook the Vrishnis on
the 36th year. [35]
In the third chapter, Krishna on seeing the inauspicious omens understood that
the thirty sixth year had arrived when Gandhari’s curse given out of grief of
losing her children was about to happen.[36]
The
year started in Uttarayana before that time.
The 36th year happening to be Pramathi, we have to count backwards
by 35 years. That leads us to the year Krodhi! That was the year of the Mahabharata War. The year corresponds
to 3136 BCE in the
Gregorian date. Thus we have two dates established without doubt of which the
date of Kali Yuga continues to form the basis of time in all Vedic and
traditional activities.
[1]Bhagavata Purana: 1-16
[2]“Yuga classification –how Yuga must be
understood” https://www.academia.edu/36652239/Yuga_classification_-_how_Yuga_must_be_understood
[4]Bhagavata Purana: 1-15-36
[6]Bhagavata Purana: 1-15-37
[7]Ibid. 1-15-45
[8]Bhagavata Purana: 1-15-36
[9] ‘The Ain I Akbari by Abul Fazl Allami” translated from the original
Persian by Colonel H.S Jarrett, Vol II (1891)
[10]Bhagavata Purana: 1-15-36
[13]‘Indiya Kalvettugalum, ezhutthukkalum’ by
T.S.Sreedhar, Tamilnadu Archaeological Department publication, page 25-29
[14]“Chronology of Ancient Hindu History” Part 1,
by Pandit Kota Venkatachela Paakayaaji (1957) Page 13-17
[15] Today Panchanga refers to 5 features, week day, star, tithi, yoga
and karana. These 5 are part of Ashtanga that include month, year name and Yuga
also. Of the 8, year name, month, week day, tithi and star form indispensible
synchronisation at any time, therefore these features are used here with the
familiar name Panchanga.
[16]The horoscopy illustrations used in this book
are generated from Jagannatha Hora software, version 7.4
[19]Jyothisha Siddhanta is divided into three parts
- Siddhanta, Tantra and Karana. The Siddhantic text presents calculations
starting from Kalpa. The Tantra text deals with calculations starting from the
nearest Yuga. The Karana text gives the calculations from the nearest Shaka
year. Aryabhatiya is a Tantra text which is further authenticated by the title
of the commentary “Aryabhata Tantra Bhashya” by Bhaskara I.
[23] Mrigashiras represents the eye of the “Nakshatra Purusha” – a
concept of 27 stars of the zodiac making the body of Vishnu (Brihat Samhita:
105-4).
The month of Margashirsha represents
the first name of Vishnu as Kesava among His 12 names. Krishna identified
himself with this month in Bhagavad Gita. Such primacy to Margashirsha when
Full Moon occurs in Mrigashiras can be traced to Saptarishi cycle!
[25]Yugavda’ 4248 corresponding to 1147 CE (Source:
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/118658/6/06_chapter%201.pdf)
[28]“A journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara, and
Malabar,....” by Hamilton, Francis, 1762-1829. Page 231
[32]Mahabharata: 17-1-20
