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Question - 8
Was the knowledge of planets present during the Mahabharata period? If yes, what planets were known to them?
Answer:
Mahabharata people had known all the planets of Vedic astrology and not western astronomy.
There is reference to "Sapta Graha-s" or "Sapta Maha Graha-s" in the Mahabharata that replicates the grahas of Vedic astrology.
The five visible planets of the solar system, namely Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn find mention in the text along with the Sun and the moon as seven Graha-s (Sapta Graha).
To quote a context where the sun and the moon are mentioned as Graha-s (planets), Sanjaya, while explaining the geography of the world to Dhritharashtra states that he would also explain the graha-s, the Sun and the moon (6-12-4).
The word Nava graha (nine planets) is not mentioned anywhere in the Mahabharata though the text indicates Rahu and Ketu were counted as Grahas. This effectively brings the number of grahas to nine.
The outer planets, namely Uranus, Neptune and Pluto which were discovered recently and which cannot be seen with naked eye observation were not at all included in the Graha list of the Mahabharata.
However people who use the western astronomy simulators for dating the Mahabharata are seen to incorporate these outer planets in the Sapta grahas of the Mahabharata. They being NOT part of Mahabharata astronomy / astrology, such dating works will produce wrong results. A popular example is the dating done by Mr. Nilesh Oak who uses these outer planets.
