Refutation of Nilesh Oak’s Astronomical Dating of Mahabharata to 5561 BCE
Part 2 of 18 — The Context of Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation
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 as shown in Figure 2.1.
The 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 by Mr. Nilesh N. Oak [1]. Oak insists that the dating of Mahabharata must fulfil this condition. However, the context of this observation clearly shows that exactly opposite is meant in Mahabharata. This becomes clear from the context in which this observation has been made. In this article the context of this observation is presented to examine the evidence.
2.1: Before the Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation
Here are some of the verses before the Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation.
i. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.15
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.15 [2]:
“Vaishampayana said: That highly exalted and holy grand father of the Kurus, having said thus, again thus spoke to Dhritarashtra.”
ii. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.16
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.16 [2]:
“Vyasa said: O king, there will be a great slaughter in this battle. I also see many omens that forebode evil.”
iii. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.23
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.23 [2]:
“Even in the night of the full moon in the month of Kartikeya the moon, having lost all its splendour, became invisible or looked like fire, the sky looking like lotus.”
iv. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.26
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.26 [2]:
“The image of gods and goddesses sometime smile, sometime tremble, and again vomit blood, perspire and drop down.”
v. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.27
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.27 [2]:
“O king, drums without being beaten give out sounds. The great cars of the Kshatriyas move, though no animals are yoked to them.”
2.2: The Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation
Mahābhārata BORI Critical Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.31
Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.31
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.31 [2]:
“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.”
2.3: After the Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation
i. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.32
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.32 [2]:
“O king, the planet Sani appears with (the constellation) Rohini. The sign of the dear in the moon has deviated from its original position. A great evil is foreboded by all this.”
ii. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 2.33
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 2.33 [2]:
“Even when the sky is cloudless, — even then the fearful roars are heard there. The animals are all weeping and tears are falling fast from their eyes.”
iii. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.1
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.1 [2]:
“Asses are being born of cows. Sons hold sexual intercourse with their mothers. The forest trees produce unseasonable flowers and fruits.”
iv. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.2
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.2 [2]:
“Women who are pregnant and those that are not, are giving birth to monsters. Carnivorous beasts mingle with birds and are feeding together.”
v-vii. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.3–5
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.3–5 [2]:
“Inauspicious beasts, some having three horns, some having four eyes, some five legs, some two sexual organs, some two heads, some two tails, and some fearful teeth are born, with mouths wide open; they are emitting fearful cries. Horses with three legs, with crests, with four teeth and with horns are also born. O king, the wives of many Brahmavadins in your city are seen to give birth to Garudas and peacocks.”
viii. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.6
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.6 [2]:
“O king, the mare gives birth to calves, the bitch to jackals. Cocks, antelopes and parrots are all sending forth inauspicious notes.”
ix. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.7
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.7 [2]:
“Women give birth to four or five daughters all at a time, and these, as soon as born, dance, sing, and laugh.”
x. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.10
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.10 [2]:
“Being desirous of battle, they are breaking down the towns (they have made in sports). Lotuses and lilies are growing on trees.”
xi. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.25
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.25 [2]:
“A bird, with only one wing, one eye and one leg ranges in the sky in the night. It fearfully screams in anger, as if it wants everybody to vomit blood.”
xii. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.29
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.29 [2]:
“All the earth, covered by showers of dust appear greatly inauspicious. Fearful clouds, foreboding evil, pour showers of blood in the night.”
xiii. Mahābhārata Gītā Press Edition Bhīṣmaparva 3.34
English translation by Manmath Nath Dutt of Bhīṣmaparva 3.34 [2]:
“The great rivers flow in opposite directions. The waters of rivers have turned into blood.”
2.4: The context of Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation
It is clear from the verses before and after the Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation that this observation occurs amidst a long list of unlikely events and therefore this observation cannot be counted as a normal observation of that time.
Noted scholar Shrikant G Talageri writes on the Epoch of Arundhati [3]:
“In short, far from showing that this is an astronomical “observation” being made during the “Epoch of Arundhatī”, the reference in fact shows that the normal position is that Vasiṣṭha is “ahead” of Arundhatī: it is only as an omen (where everything is appearing to be the opposite of the normal) that Vyāsa sees Arundhatī moving ahead of Vasiṣṭha. Oak’s revolutionary discovery could have been made even more revolutionary by actually locating an Epoch when the moon became invisible on full moon night, and images of Gods and Goddesses came to life in the ways described in the text.”
There is another big problem in using this verse for dating the Mahābhārata war.
2.5: Is the Arundhati-Vasishtha Observation out of ordinary?
Oak claims that Mahābhārata took place between 11091 BCE and 4508 BCE as this was the period when Arundhatī was ahead of Vasiṣṭha [1].
Also, Oak claims that the Mahābhārata war took place in 5561 BCE.
This means that Arundhatī was ahead of Vasiṣṭha for 5,530 years before the Mahābhārata war and for 1,053 years after the Mahābhārata war? This would be a normal event during that time. Why would Sage Vedavyāsa cite this among the list of out of ordinary events? The Mahābhārata war must have taken place when Vasiṣṭha was ahead of Arundhatī, so that Arundhatī moving ahead of Vasiṣṭha would be considered a shocking event.
In fact, there is evidence in Mahābhārata that Vasiṣṭha was ahead of Arundhatī during that time. For this purpose, a list of verses from Mahābhārata featuring Arundhatī will be presented in the next article.
References
1. Oak, N.N., “When did the Mahabharata War Happen?”, Bhim USA, 2011, page 221 (not numbered, counted from last numbered page).
2. A Prose English Translation of The Mahabharata, Edited and published by Manmath Nath Dutt, Printed by H.C. Dass, Elysium Press, Calcutta, 1897.
3. Dating Ancient Indian History-The Chronology Game; https://talageri.blogspot.com/2021/03/
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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