The present-day alignment between tithi and star did not exist before the Mahabharata war commenced. Some strange observations were made by Vyasa on the shift in the Amavasya in the month of Karthika and the Full Moon occurring for the second consecutive month in the Krittika star. The breaking away of a comet (Dhumaketu) on the day of Pushya in Karthika month resulted in the fragments hitting the earth and the moon simultaneously. The impact on the moon was tremendous that its orbit got disturbed with the nodes shifting their locations.
The above illustration represents how the change of
tithi occurred. It occurred on 2nd September, 3136 BCE, in the Karthika
month before the war. Vyasa referred to “Dhumaketur mahaghorah Pushyam
Akramya tishtathi” (MB: 6-3-12b). On the day of Pushya, a comet afflicted.
The anointment of Bhishma as the commander-in-chief of the Kauravas got
affected due to the rain of fragments and associated changes in the atmosphere with
the excess release of NOx from the cosmic impact causing everything red in the
surroundings.
The affliction to the moon is mentioned as “Somasya
lakshma vyavrittam” (5.141.10 and 6-2-32). It means the dark spot on the disc
of the moon changed its position. This was a reference to the appearance of a
fresh spot on the spotless region of the moon of Krishna Shashti. When they saw
the moon rising around midnight, it appeared like Saptami moon! In other words,
Shashti became Saptami. The change in Karana (Karana is half of tithi) is also
mentioned in the Mahabharata indicating the abrupt change of tithi. As a result,
the moon joined the Sun to cause Amavasya on Trayodaśī tithi itself. This change
is also immortalized into a story that many Tamil speaking people are aware of
(in the context of Krishna starting to do Tarpan well before Amavasya by which
the Sun and the Moon arrived early to ask Krishna why he was doing tarpan even
before they joined for Amavasya. This episode is included in the Tamil movie “Karnan”.
This episode is mentioned in Jyothish texts in the context of how Bodhayana
Amavasya started).
The change of tithi became possible because of the change
in the orbit of the moon hit by the comet. Rahu (ascending node) shifted in the
opposite direction as a result. Rahu and Ketu (known as nodes representing the ascending
and descending nodes in the lunar orbit) move in an anti-clockwise direction in
the zodiac whereas all the planets including the sun and the moon move in the clockwise
direction. The hit on the moon caused a tremble in the lunar orbit in such a
way that Rahu shifted towards the Sun in clockwise direction thereby causing the
Moon to move to a forward position quicker than normal.
In the illustration, the lunar orbit is shown in red
colour. After getting hit by the comet-pieces from the direction of Cancer
(Kataka where Pushya is located), the orbit got disturbed in such a way that
Rahu (R-1) got shifted to R-2 in the clockwise direction (dotted circle in blue). The moon, thus pushed
into a newer position was closer to the sun in its orbit than normal and
reached Amavasya position on Trayodaśī tithi itself.
This caused the loss of one tithi. What was Trayodaśī
was Amavasya! Thereafter the new position and alignment caused the Amavasya to occur
a little earlier at least three or four times in a year. This was codified by Bodhayana
Maharishi such that this earlier Amavasya came to be recognized as Bodhayana
Amavasya. When the Amavasya starts on the evening of Caturdaśī tithi and ends
before sunset on the Amavasya tithi, that is called Bodhayana Amavasya. The
missed tithi during the comet-hit has made this earlier occurrence of Amavasya every
now and then even now.
Today, past dates are simulated by extrapolating the
current alignment backwards. The mismatch between tithi and star as it exists
today will be reflected in the date of Rama, that came before the Mahabharata
date. Shukla Navami coinciding with Punarvasu in the month of Mesha can never
be simulated with our software due to the loss of tithi suffered during the
Mahabharata time. Certainly, it will be one tithi less for the birth date of
Rama. This is palpable when I tried to simulate the Panchanga features and
planetary positions as well in Jhora simulator. The combinations did exist
together on 9th January, 5114 BCE with the only exception to Navami
tithi. It was one tithi less.
The simulation showed that the month was Nija Caitra (following
Adhika Caitra) with the Sun well inside the Mesha rasi close to the degree of
exaltation with other planetary positions exactly as told by Valmiki. The Lagna
was simulated for mid-noon (Abhijit Muhurta) in Ayodhya for that day and it
perfectly showed Punarvasu having entered Kataka rasi, in its last Pada. Sun,
Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn were in exalted positions. Saturn in opposition
to the Sun will be in retrograde motion. It was indeed so in Vrischika Rasi
(Scorpio). In astrological terms we consider retrogression as having made the
planet move to the previous sign. By this, Saturn is deemed to be in Libra, its
sign of exaltation. Valmiki had meant that only.
If on the other hand, someone insists that Saturn
should have been in Libra to fulfil the version of Valmiki, it means that Saturn
is in Kanya rasi (Virgo) which is not a sign of exaltation. Therefore, Saturn
in Scorpio was the original position at Rama’s birth which was treated as having
regressed into Libra.
The position of the nodes also got changed due to the mishap on the moon before the Mahabharata war. The impact caused the nodes to shift to a new position in a clockwise direction. (Thereafter, they however continued with their anti-clockwise motion). How much they moved forward on that fateful day is not known. So, the original location of the nodes at Rama’s birth must have been a little backward in the zodiac. In the traditional version of the analysis of Rama’s horoscope taught to students (including me) was to place Ketu in Gemini (12th house) and Rahu in Sagittarius.
The only major deviation is Shukla Ashtami – the causes
for it have already been explained. Shukla Ashtami must be taken as Shukla
Navami. Every tithi simulated in the period of Rama must be added with an extra
tithi.
For Shukla Navami to occur on 9th January,
5114 BCE, the Sun was in 29th degree of Pisces (Revati) when the
Amavasya took place. The 1st tithi was on the 30th degree
of Pisces (Revati last degree), 2nd tithi in Ashwini and so on. By
the time the moon entered Punarvasu, the Sun also had entered Mesha. The tithi
on Punarvasu appears as Ashtami because this was extrapolated from the
current tithi-star alignment with a loss of a tithi 5000 years ago.
The tithi-star mismatch in Rama’s date offers a remarkable proof for the
later day loss of a tithi. For all the dates of Ramayana to be simulated in the
upcoming parts, the simulation must be done for the previous tithi so that it
will be the desired tithi in the analysis. For example, Indrajit was killed on
a Krishna Caturdaśī as per Valmiki. I will be simulating the Krishna Trayodaśī
as that will be Caturdaśī.
A word on the ayanamsa used. Both the planetary and Panchanga combinations
for Rama’s date appeared only with Drik Siddhanta blended with Lahiri ayanamsa.
The Surya Siddhanta model did not produce the results though the Surya Siddhanta ayanamsa was
almost close to what we have now. So, it confirms my deduction from Tamil sources
It also shows that in the oscillatory model of Surya Siddhanta, we are on
the same side of the oscillation, facing the same part of the sky, particularly
the same Northern Star, namely, Dhruva Nakshatra (Polaris) in the Shishumara
(Ursa Minor) constellation, as it were during Rama’s time; Equinox at almost
the same part of the sky and the seasons like how it is now. Rama Rajya started
almost around the same time in the previous cycle; It is repeated now with the re-establishment
of Rama’s abode in Ayodhya!
Back to dating work, having explained the major issue in finding the birth date of Sri Rama, let me start giving the timeline of events based on the inputs in the Ramayana.
(Cont'd)
