Tattva

When asked to think of scientifically advanced civilizations, most people think of Greece, Rome, and Europe. However, amazing scientific discoveries were also made in India thousands of years ago. In this article, we will explore some of the contributions that ancient India made in various fields of science.Scientific Knowledge in Vedic Times

Before the 16th century, the early Europeans believed that the earth was the center of the universe (Geo-centrism) and that it was created in the year 4004 BCE. After Copernicus’s and Galileo’s scientific investigations in the 16th and 17th centuries, they started believing in Helio-centrism, that the sun was the center of the universe. However, Harlow Shapely (1885-1972), an American astronomer, gave a big blow to this theory on April 26, 1920. He showed that the sun was not the center of our galaxy and that it was far on the outskirts of the galaxy (about 26,000 light years from the center). According to him, our position in our galaxy (the Milky Way) and the then supposed universe was eccentric. Today’s scientists believe that the universe is ever expanding, that it has no known center, and that the earth is millions of years old. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Vedic seers declared that the universe is “Ananta Koti Brahmanda,” meaning that the universe is made of billions of galaxies and heavenly bodies; this is very similar to our modern theories. In fact, many of today’s scientific theories match the knowledge documented in our ancient Hindu texts.

The ancient Indians laid the foundation for mathematical, scientific, spiritual, medical, ethical, and psychological knowledge. They measured both time and space and mapped out the heavens. They analyzed the constitution of matter and understood the nature of the spirit. They conceived and developed the sciences of logic and grammar and made great advances in fields as divergent as anatomy and astronomy, aeronautics and architecture, music and martial arts, medicine and mathematics, philosophy and physics, religion and rational logic. In the words of Einstein, “We owe a lot to Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.” India invented the concept of zero and shared it with the world. Without zero there would be no binary systems and no computers; counting would be clumsy and cumbersome.

Vedas, Anatomy and Medical Sciences

Our present knowledge of the nervous system fits in very accurately with the internal description of the human body given in the Vedas 10,000 years ago. The word for heart in Vedic Sanskrit is “Hridaya”. It is made of three parts - Hri, Da, Ya. “Hri” comes from “Harati” which means “to receive,” “Da” is the short form of “Dadati” which means “to give” and “Ya” stands for “Ayati” which means “to go, to move, or to circulate.” It is amazing that the Vedic seers coined this word, since we now know that the heart has precisely these three functions. It was not until millenniums later that William Harvey, in 1628 CE, became the first European to discover the circulation of blood. Plastic surgeries performed in today’s most modern hospitals are similar to the one performed by Sushruta 3,000 years ago. The medical knowledge present in ancient Hindu society is unmatched. Early Hindu doctors knew about bone setting, arresting of blood flow, cataract operations, and cures for most ailments.

Vedic Astronomy

Indian astronomers have been mapping the skies for over 8,000 years; they have reached a very high degree of proficiency in astronomy. The six Vedangas deal with six different subjects, namely Siksha (phonetics or speech sounds), Vyakarna (grammar), Chhandas (meters or music), Niruktam (etymology or origin and developments of words), Jyotisham (astrology), and Kalpam (ceremonies). Vedic ceremonies are to be performed during specified periods of time and hence accurate measurements of time became imperative. Exact calculations of amavasyas, purnimas, solar and lunar eclipses, solstices, and equinoxes were known during the Vedic times. In the Vedic times each grahasta was required to do Sandhya vandanam three times a day and on some special days like amavasyas, eclipses etc. During sandhya vandans he had to recite the date of that day since creation. Jyotisha Shastra, which is part of the Vedangas, contains many books that give the position of the planets and moon. Most ancient Hindu books contain references to planetary positions.

For example, the Mahabharata, written more than 5,000 years ago, contains more than 150 references to astronomy.Vedic Cosmology is yet another ancient Vedic science that can be confirmed by modern scientific findings; this is acknowledged by well-known scientists and authors, such as Carl Sagan and Nobel laureate Count Maurice Maeterlinck, who recognized that the cosmology of the Vedas closely parallels modern scientific findings. Carl Sagan stated, “Vedic Cosmology is the only one in which the time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology.”

French astronomer Jean-Claude Bailly corroborated the antiquity and accuracy of the Vedic astronomical measurements as “more ancient than those of the Greeks or Egyptians.” He further asserted that “the movements of the stars calculated 4,500 years ago, do not differ by a minute from the tables of today.” The ninety-foot tall astronomical instrument known as Samrat Yantra, built by the learned King Suwai Jai Singh of Jaipur, measures time to within two seconds per day. Cosmology and other scientific accomplishments of ancient India spread to various countries along with mercantile and cultural exchanges. There are almost one hundred references in the Rig Veda alone to the ocean and maritime activity. This is confirmed by Indian historian R. C. Majumdar, who stated that the people of the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization engaged in trade with Sooma and centers of culture in western Asia and Crete.

Maha Kalpa or Brahma Ayu is the largest unit of time = 311,040,000,000,000 solar years. And Truti is the smallest unit of time = 33,750th part of a second. According to modern science, the known universe is 13.7 billion years old with a diameter of at least 20 billion light years (and probably much larger). Certainly the world was not created in 4004 BCE as believed by the Europeans until a few centuries ago. “Shani” in Sanskrit means “slow” and it is the name of planet Saturn. Today, we understand the reasoning behind this ancient name: Shani or Saturn takes 29.46 years to go around the sun once. Jupiter is called “Guru” which means the “leader, biggest, or heaviest.” (Its radius is 11.21 times and mass is 317.8 times those of earth.) The sun itself is called Mitra (friend), Khaga (roams in the sky), Sapta Ashwan (rider of seven hoses), etc.The richness of the ancient Sanskrit language and the incredible wealth of knowledge in the Vedas can be inferred just from the words found in the Vedas. • Hiranyagarbha = Cosmic Egg• Neeharika = Nebula• Krishnatara = Black Hole• Dhumaketu = Comet• Griha = Planet• Upa-Griha = Satellite• Ulka = Meteorites

Vedic Physics

In the 5th century, Aryabhatta discovered many laws of physics which we today attribute to Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Aryabhatta knew the value of pi. He knew that the earth revolves around the sun, is spherical in shape, rotates on its axis, and is suspended in space; he also determined that lunar and solar eclipses occur as a result of the interplay of the sun, the moon and the earth. Aryabhatta understood the laws of gravity, the circumference of the earth, the distance between the planets and the sun, the revolutionary movement of the earth around the sun, and so on. At least 1100 years before Galileo and Newton, Aryabhatta wrote in his Aryabhateeyam, “Just as a person traveling in a boat feels that the trees on the bank are moving, people on the earth feel that the sun is moving

Vedic Architecture and Vastu Shastra

Vastu Shastra was codified by Vishwakarma, the Lord of engineering and constructions. Mohanjo-daro, one of the most ancient cities of the world, had a complex underground sewage system, unthinkable even today in major cities of the world. It had well laid-out streets, public libraries, swimming pools, water treatment plants, and buildings. Some of the old structures in India like the Brahadeeshwara temple in Tanjavur, Madurai Temple, and the ancient pillar in Delhi falsely called the Kutub Minar, boast great engineering skills. The iron pillars built by emperor Ashoka in the fourth century BCE have not rusted even to this day. Ajanta, Ellora, and Elephant cave temples are rare masterpieces in engineering and paintings. The fort of Kumbalgarh, the Dilwara Jain temples in Ajmer, the Gomateshwara rock carvings near Mysore, the rock carvings at Mahabalipuram, the sun temple in Konark, and the Belur and Halebedu temples are among the lesser known, but still magnificent, wonders of the world.

Ancient India also had several world renowned universities like Takshashila, Nalanda, Vaishali, Kanchipuram, Ujjain, and Madurai that attracted scholars from all over the world. The scientific knowledge found in the Vedas shows how advanced and progressive ancient India was. In Vedic times, India’s contributions to various fields of science traveled to and helped civilizations around the world. Even today, yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, etc. are quickly gaining popularity in the west. Yoga and meditation are practiced by over 10% of the population in America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Hindus have much to offer; it is time that we come together as a strong, cohesive society and once again use our knowledge to benefit the world.

Born in Chennai, India, Shri Ravi Kumar completed his B.Tech. in Instrument Technology from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in 1970. He worked as a Project Engineer with M/S Tata Consulting Engineers and M/S Larsen Toubro for 5 years. He gave up his engineering career in 1975 to serve the poor and needy in tribal areas of Maharashtra. He was in charge of several educational, medical and employment projects in the Thane district for 7 years. Since 1982 Shri Ravi Kumar has been traveling in the Asia-Pacific regions, including Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Gulf Countries. In these countries and in Mauritius, South Africa, USA, UK and Canada, Shri Ravi Kumar has conducted over 100 workshops on Vedic Mathematics and Vedic Science in universities, research institutes, schools and social organizations. Shri Ravi Kumar has also conducted over 100 youth and children camps on Basic Hinduism in over 20 countries. Additionally, he has conducted over 100 yoga camps around the world. You can reach him at ravisydney@yahoo.com

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