Refutation of Nilesh Oak’s Astronomical Dating of Mahabharata to 5561 BCE
Part 1 of 18 — Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation
1.1: Introduction
The dating of the Mahābhārata war is of great interest to people of India and of Indian origin. The dating of the Mahābhārata war to 5561 BCE was originally proposed by Dr. P.V Vartak [1] and has recently been popularized by Mr. Nilesh N. Oak [2].
Mr. Nilesh N. Oak has claimed that Mahābhārata took place between 11091 BCE and 4508 BCE as this was the period when Arundhatī was ahead of Vasiṣṭha. Oak has named this period “The Epoch of Arundhatī” [3]. The basis of this claim is the following verse from the Mahābhārata:
Mahābhārata BORI Critical Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.31
Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.31
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.31 [4]:
“O king, she who is celebrated over the three worlds and who is praised by the pious men, even that Arundhati (constellation) keeps Vasistha on her back.”
1.2: Identification of Arundhatī and Vasiṣṭha
The verse describes that Arundhatī, who is known in the world to follow her husband Vasiṣṭha, has left him behind. In Hindu texts, Arundhatī and Vasiṣṭha are revered sages with Vasiṣṭha being one among the seven sages (Saptarshi). They are also depicted as stars with Vasiṣṭha identified with star Mizar and Arundhatī identified with the companion star Alcor. Their scientific names, brightness and distance are shown in Table 1.1 [5].
Figures 1.1 and 1.2 show the Vasiṣṭha (Mizar) and Arundhatī (Alcor) stars as they appear in the sky using Stellarium 0.20.4 software.
If we delve deeper, Mizar (Vasiṣṭha) and Alcor (Arundhatī) are actually a group of six stars as shown in Figure 1.3 [5].
“Mizar actually has another companion called Mizar B, which is much, much closer to it than Alcor is. It’s possible to spot Mizar B with a telescope, but it’s a tricky find and much more challenging than spotting Alcor. What’s more, Mizar A, Mizar B, and Alcor are each also paired by a spectroscopic binary — for a grand total of six individual stars. These final three companions are not visible with ordinary gear and require a spectroscope for detection.” [5]
For the purpose of this series of articles on the refutation of Mr. Nilesh Oak’s astronomical dating of Mahabharata to 5561 BCE, we don’t need to consider the companion stars not visible to the naked eye. We just need to focus on the two visible stars Mizar (Vasiṣṭha) and Alcor (Arundhatī). Since this observation of Alcor (Arundhatī) moving ahead of Mizar (Vasiṣṭha) as described in Mahābhārata Bhīṣmaparva 2.31 is central part of the dating of Mahabharata to 5561 BCE, the context of this verse needs to be analyzed carefully, which will be the focus of the next article in this series.
References
1. Vartak, P.V. (2004). “The Scientific Dating of the Mahābhārata War”, Veda Vidnyāna Mandala: Pune, India, 2nd revised edition.
2. Oak, N.N., “When did the Mahabharata War Happen?”, Bhim USA, 2011.
3. Ibid. page 221 (not numbered, counted from last numbered page).
4. A Prose English Translation of The Mahabharata, Edited and published by Manmath Nath Dutt, Printed by H.C. Dass, Elysium Press, Calcutta, 1897.
5. Meet Mizar and Alcor: The Horse and Rider; https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/meet-mizar-and-alcor-the-horse-and-rider/
Note: The content of this series of articles is based on the three-part presentation author made on Sangam Talks on the refutation of the 5561 BCE dating of the Mahābhārata War. Here are the links to these presentations.
1. Refutation of the 5561 BCE dating of the Mahabharata War, Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2YuGQRmZ9c
2. Refutation of the 5561 BCE dating of the Mahabharata War, Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DiLSUFrTx8
3. Refutation of the 5561 BCE dating of the Mahabharata War, Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eop31blDa2c
Here are three other presentations refuting Mr. Nilesh Oak’s dating of Surya Siddhanta to 12000 BCE and Ramayana to 12209 BCE.
1. Dating the Surya Siddhanta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55pvrTUWi94
2. Dating the Ramayana — Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S0PO3SzqBc&t=5s
3. Dating the Ramayana — Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKNkrgm1Tu0
More about the author
I am a seeker of historical truths and am deeply interested in the heritage of India. I have earned a B.Tech. in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University, USA. I have a deep interest in ancient Indian texts. My research besides Materials Science covers several different areas: Vedic cosmology, Vedic astronomy, Jain astronomy, and ancient Indian history.
Email: rajarammohanroy108@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RamMohanRoy108
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