Makara Sankranti and Uttarayana

[Radhakrishna Warrier]

Dear Shri Jijith Nadumuri Ravi,

Thank you for your article in Indic Today:

https://www.indictoday.com/long-reads/makara-samkranti-uttarayana/

Makara Samkrānti and Uttarāyana - Indic Today The Samskŗt word Samkrānti means transference, transit, migration, shifting, etc. Makara Samkrānti is the transit of the Sun from the Dhanu Rāṡi to the Makara Rāṡi. This year Makara Samkrānti is celebrated on 14th January. www.indictoday.com

Nicely presented.  I fully agree with what you wrote in the article.

Regards,

Radhakrishna Warrier

[Shashi Joshi]

Very nicely written article, both the flow and the language, keeping it simple.

This caught by eye:

"The tradition of celebrating Makara Samkrānti as the start of Uttarāyana is thus the result of a kind of ‘freeze’ in our traditions, as we stopped updating our festival calendars by making it shift freely along with the precession of the equinox and the slow shift of seasons.

Are there any side effects for this freeze?
Primarily, this will make our tradition at variance with science. Contrary to popular belief, our Dhārmic tradition is not anti-science and it always went along with science and with truth (Satya/Ŗta)."

Three questions come to mind:

1. Why did this freeze happen? Why did they choose to stop calculating any further? When all lunar calendar based festivals are still being calculated every year, and have different solar calendar dates, and we are okay with that. This freeze happened way before foreign cultures ruled over Bharat, so what caused this freeze so early on?

2. Even as late as the 8th century, when House Of Wisdom was being formed and astronomer Kanka was invited, Surya Siddhanta etc were in use and were understood. So why did society stop updating the festival date? DId the theorists (those who would do the calculations) and practicalist (celebrating on the streets and society) lose connection somehow?

3. If the freeze happened, but everyone knew that 14 Jan is not the actual uttarayana or makara sankranti, why did they keep saying so? I mean, they could celebrate the festival whenever they want, but why keep calling it uttarayana and sankranti? Even when it is known by different names around India (Bhogi, Lohri etc), it is still said that Sun goes uttarayana? That is, do people say that Bhogi is celebrated when the sun goes uttarayana?

Seeking some input from the vidvan-s here!

Thanks,

~ Shashi

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[Radhakrishna Warrier]

Very relevant questions, Shri Shashi Joshi.  Hope the author, Shri Jijith Nadumuri Ravi, can provide answers to your questions.

Here is my recent Facebook post on Makara Sankranti.  It doesn't really answer your questions though.

Facebook post of January 13th follows.

----------------------------------------------------

Happy Makara Saṅkrānti to everyone!

The Sun will enter the constellation of Makara tonight at 6:33 PM, Pacific Time.

If this occasion is being celebrated as the beginning of the Sun’s “journey north” (Uttarāyaṇa), then that journey actually began 24 days ago on the day of Winter Solstice on December 20th.

Why do many people celebrate Makara Saṅkrānti and the start of Uttarāyaṇa on the same day although there is a gap of 24 days between the two?

As viewed from the Earth, the Sun appears to move 6 months north and then 6 months south every year. At the end of one trip, the Sun takes an infinitesimal moment of “rest” then turns direction and starts travelling in the opposite direction. That infinitesimal moment of rest is the Solstice, and it happens twice a year, one in the winter and the other in the summer. In addition to this north-south movement, the Sun also appears to transit from one constellation of stars to another in the “star studded celestial sphere”, making a complete round of the “starry background” in a year plus approximately 20 minutes. The extra 20 minutes is due to the precession of the equinoxes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession). This means that the passage into Makara constellation gets delayed about 20 minutes every year. About 1750 years ago, the Winter Solstice and Makara Saṅkrānti must have coincided. Over the years, the 20 minutes-per-year delay accumulated to 24 days and hence the entry into Makara now happens 24 days after the Solstice. During the 500 years from 0 CE to 500 CE, which was the time of the great mathematicians and astronomers of ancient India, Saṅkrānti and Solstice must have occurred within a gap of ±3.5 days.

A section of ancient astronomers and their followers wanted to continue celebrating the beginning of Uttarāyaṇa on the day the Sun enters Makara.  Their astronomical calculations do not account for precession (called ayanāṃśa in Sanskrit.) Hence their reckoning is called nirayaṇa, meaning “without precession”.  Another section of ancient astronomers and their followers chose to observe Uttarāyaṇa when it actually begins, i.e., on the day of the Winter Solstice. Their calculations take into account precession; hence their reckoning is called “sāyana” meaning “with precession”.

---

From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Shashi Joshi <shas...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2021 7:00 PM
To: bvpar...@googlegroups.com <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Makara Sankranti and Uttarayana

 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bvparishat/CANu%2BFoCktVCVYAfGt31qEaNEQuQQUc8LKN6-u8xhAeT6Et3XJA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Venkatesh Murthy]

Namaste

There have been many discussions on this subject here. Summary is this. There are two methods - Nirayana and Sayana to calculate the positions of Sun, Moon, and the planets. If you use Nirayana the position is calculated giving importance to the stars constellations in the background sky. If you use Sayana the position is calculated giving importance to the Precession of Equinoxes and correct seasons. 

It is a choice you have to make. What is more important? Stars or Seasons? The Ancient Hindu Astrologers have made Stars more important. The modern people using Sayana are saying Seasons are important and we have to celebrate festivals in the correct Season. 

In Vedas we find prayers and Yajnas to Nakshatras. Therefore it is not right to neglect the Star constellation importance. 

But still we see some moderners are pushing for Season based celebrations of festivals. 

You cannot have both. If you follow Stars you will leave Seasons behind. If you follow Seasons you will leave Stars behind.

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--

Regards

 

-Venkatesh

[R. N. iyengar]

I have written and published on this topic and hence will be brief:

1. Rainfall is seasonal and depends on sun’s position. Wrong sun-nakshatras lead farmers and others to doubt, dislike and eventually shun dhārmic traditions.

2. Vaikuṇṭha ekādaśī as observed in ancient South Indian Viṣṇu temples is to open the Uttarāyaṇa-door .  Due to mismatch between lunar and solar calendars this drifts but comes together on 21 December once in 18-19 years, even now. Some modern temples name the special inner sanctum door as Vaikuntha-vaasal, having forgotten the original symbolism. The 21 day stationary position of Sun is observed as the Raa-pattu and Pahal-pattu (night-10 and morning-10) festival on either side of the  Vaikuṇṭha ekādaśī.

3. In the Indictoday article, RV 1.164 has been taken to indicate 3-types of motions. The first daily (E-W) and second annual (E-W among nakshatras) are straightforward. The third one (precession and its rate) is problematic since there are references in Vedic texts to the sun's lateral (N-S) motion meaning, southernmost (visible) point to northernmost (visible) point and back. Sāyaṇabhāṣya does not discuss any of the above! Perhaps for the yājñika tradition it is sufficient to take the three centers of Sun’s wheel to mean morning, mid-day and evening positions.  

4. Felt effects of precession and conscious knowledge of precession are two different phenomena. The first is a certainty whereas the second is of low probability but not an impossibility.  For the first, if interested, see (https://www.academia.edu/39950940/Archaeo_astronomy_and_Ancient_Indian_Chronology). For the second reference to the work of D.W.Johnson (https://westgatehouse.com/cycles.html) would be very appropriate. I am mentioning this in passing. The IT longread article is well written.

[Sarangapani temple Kumbhakonam]

On Mon, Jan 18, 2021 at 1:10 PM R. N. iyengar <narayana...@gmail.com> wrote:

[A K Kaul]

Dear Radha-Krishnaji,

Radha-Krishnaya Namah!

<A section of ancient astronomers and their followers wanted to continue celebrating the beginning of Uttarāyaṇa on the day the Sun enters Makara.  Their astronomical calculations do not account for precession (called ayanāṃśa in Sanskrit.) Hence their reckoning is called nirayaṇa, meaning “without precession”.  Another section of ancient astronomers and their followers chose to observe Uttarāyaṇa when it actually begins, i.e., on the day of the Winter Solstice. Their calculations take into account precession; hence their reckoning is called “sāyana” meaning “with precession”.> 

Since more than 90 per cent of our festivals----including Makar, Mesha etc. Smakrantis--- are based on the criteria fixed by the Puranas, days/dates of which are decided as per siddhantic astronomy, I have not been able to find even a single shloka------I  repeat even a single Shloka----- from any Purana that has not said that Makar Samkranti is the shortest day of the year, Mesha Samkranti the day of Vernal Equinox, Karkata Samkranti the longest day of the year and Tula Samkranti the day of Vernal Equinox!

For ready reference, kindly just peruse the article at

https://pragyata.com/when-should-pongal-makar-samkranti-be-celebrated-and-why/  

What is to be borne in mind specially is that all the commentators of Srimad Bhagavata----including the most respected Vaishanava scholar Sreedhara Swamin, have advised to celebrate Makar Samkranti on the shortest day of the year (Attachment Sreedhara Swamin Uttarayana).

Now coming to the siddhantas, there is no siddhanta----I repeat there is no siddhanta----right from the Surya Siddhanta to the Siddhanta Shiromani of Bhaskaracharya that has not clubbed Makar Samkranti with the shortest day of the year and so on!  This also can be verified from the above article.

In fact, as late as the eighteenth century, one of the most authoritative works, viz. the Shaba-Kalpadruma has advised ----quopting none other than the Surya Siddhanta!---that Makar Samkranti is nothing but a synonym of Uttarayana viz. the shortest day of the year! (Attachment Shabda-kalpadruma-Uttarayana!)!

Thus whichever way we look at it, we are making a mockery of our dharmashastras as well as siddhantas by celebrating Makar Samkranti on any other day than the shortest day of the year---since Makar Samkranti has no existence of its own unless clubbed with the Uttarayana!

With regards and Jai Shri Ram!

A K Kaul

[A K Kaul]

Shri Venkatesh Murthyji,

Jai Shri Ram!

< There have been many discussions on this subject here. Summary is this. There are two methods - Nirayana and Sayana to calculate the positions of Sun, Moon, and the planets. If you use Nirayana the position is calculated giving importance to the stars constellations in the background sky. If you use Sayana the position is calculated giving importance to the Precession of Equinoxes and correct seasons.>

Pl.  rest assured that there is no nirayana----which means nirayana is really niraadhaar!

The nakshtars in the Vedas are entirely different "entities" from the ones that we are taking as 27 imaginary equal divisions like Ashvini, Bharni etc. which are being subsumed further into 12 imaginary divisions named (Lahiri) Mesha, Vrisha etc.  Pl. note even these imaginary divisions have several "qualities"---Ramana Rashichakra is different from Lahiri Rashichakra, Grahalaghava Rashichakra is different from both, Rmana and Lahiri---Raiavata Rashichakra is different from all of them and so on!

These are all creations of "Vedic astrologers"---and nothing else!

Now if it is a must that we must somehow or the other club Ashivini, Bharni etc. 27 imaginary equal divisions with Mesha, Vrsiha etc. twelve imaginary Mesha, Vrisha etc. divisions, we have to go by our shastras like the Srimad Bhagavata or the Vamana Purana etc.

As far as our scriptures like Srimad Bhagavata or Vishnu Purana or Vamana Purana or Narada Purana etc. are concerned there is nothing like sayana versus or even vis-a-vis nirayana!

They have all either clubbed nakshatras starting with Ashvini division with Mesha Samkranti/Rashi which is another name of Vernal Equinox or are just silent about nakshatras vis-a-vis Rashis.

This nirayana versus (and not even Vis-a-Vis) Sayana  came into vogue after Makaranda and Grahalaghava "astronomical" handbooks came into existence----in about 17th/18th century.

And it was accentuated by "imported Vamadevas" who claimed that since there were references to nakshatras in the Vedas hence Vedic astrology was "sidereal" deliberately ignoring our shastra like Srimad Bhagavata, Vishnu Purana, Narada Purana and even Vamana Purana!

Astronomically, whether it is the Surya Siddhanta of early centuries of CE or Aryabhata who was 23 years old in 499 AD as per Aryabhatiya or Varahamihira of 505 CE who has referred to Aryabhata in his Panchasiddhantika or Bhaskaracharya of 12th century CE, for all of  them Makar Sankranti was the starting day of Uttarayana, and therefore the shortest day of the year---and so on as will be clear from the below attachments:

A)  SS Makara-Karkata-Samkranti-----Surya Siddhanta,  an astronomical work of early centuries of CE  says Mesha Samkranti is Vernal Equinox and so on, and Sudhakar-Dwivedi, a 20th century well known scholar of Varanasi, confirms the same through his commentary.

B) BS-RKBhat-BS:  Varahamihira of 6th century as per Adityachara of his Brihat Sanhita expects and wants Uttarayan to coincide always------I repeat ALWAYS----with Makar Sankranti and Dakshinayan with Karkata Sankranti.  

He has clubbed Punarvasu-Nakshatra with Dakshinayana -cum-Karkata -Samkranti in Panchasiddhantika III/21

आश्लेशार्धादासीद् यदा निवृत्तिः किलोष्णकिरणस्य | युक्तमयनं तदासीत् सांप्रतमयनं  पुनर्वसुतः ||

It is exactly the same thing that has been done in the Vamana Purana!

And none of the translators/commentators whether Bhatotpala of  Shaka 888 or  Subramaniam Swamy or R K Bhat of 20th century have objected to the same.

C) Vateshwara---Vateshwara Siddhanta of 10th century says Mesha Samkranti is Vernal Equinox and so on.

D) Siddhanta-Shekhar-Rashis.  Sripati was a famous astrologer-cum-astronomer who is believed to have introduced "Sripati-Paddhati" house division besides having written astrological books.  Even he clubbed Makar and Kumbha with Shishira Ritu, Mina and Mesha with Vasanta Ritu and so on!  

He has talked about sayana rashis in his astronomical works.

E) Bhaskara-II: He was the last siddhantic astronomer of India worth the name.  As late as 12th century, he has talked about a Sayana Rashichakra!

D) CRC-nakshatra-stars.  Astronomically, the nakshatra divisions of 13.33333 degrees each are non-existent whether Sayana or nirayana---much less their further subdivisions like nakshatra-padas and so on.

The relevant stars of the namesake divisions are quite pell-mell as will be clear from the attachment CRC-nakshatra-stars.  The Saha Calendar Reform Committee has analyzed the issue thoroughly and arrived at the conclusion 

Quote

In fact, no arrangement at any time appears to have been satisfactory enough for all the yogataras to fall within their respective divisions.

Unquote 

If Ashvini star is 10 degrees away from the starting point of Ashvini division, Bharani star is just in the middle and so on whereas as many as 8 stars are just outside their namesake divisions.

There was no nirayana astronomical work, therefore no nirayana astrology in India!:

 Thus an irrefutable conclusion from the above incontrovertible proofs is that in India there was absolutely no astronomical work which could calculate any so called nirayana longitudes of planets!  And it is but natural to realize that if there was no nirayana astronomical work, how could nirayana panchangas be prepared and how could nirayana horoscopes from the same be calculated!

That means that whether it was Varahamihira or Sripati or any other astrologer, they followed a tropical rashichakra within which Ashvini, Bharni etc. nakshatras were subsumed!

All the Samskrit dictionaries club Uttarayana with Makar Rashi and Madhu with Chaitra:

Whther it is Amar Kosha of early centuries of CE or Shabada-Kalpadruma of 19th century CE----all have clubbed Makar Samkranti with Uttaryana and Chaitra with seasonal Madhu!  (Attachment Amarkosha months)

 Even astrologicdal nadi works are Sayana!:  

Shri Madhivanan, the well known astrologer, who is also a member of this august forum, has done a thorough study of Saptarshi Nadi and he has arrived at the conclusion that those Nadis were tropical, in which Ashvini, Bharni etc. nakshatras also were subsumed----from which Dasha-bhukti was calculated---- exactly like Vamana Purana, Srimad Bhagavata etc.  This will be clear from

 https://madhivanan.in/saptarishis-used-tropical-zodiac/  

Reputed Hindu/Indian astrologers advised Sayana astrology:
One of the most reputed astrologers/astronomers from Varanasi, viz. Sudhakar Dwivedi of 20th century, has advised that we must follow Sayana Rashichakra, as was followed by our ancestors!

This he has explained in the attachment Sudhakar-Dwivedi-Sayana-astrology.  This page is from the biography of the famous Hindi writer, "Bharatendu Harishchandra" wherein Sudhakar Dwivedi has clarified as to how our ancestors practiced astrology based on sayana Rashichakra!

Munjal, a tenth century astronomer rectified the calendar:

Alberuni, the well known "traveller" who was in India in eleventh century, has highly appreciated the efforts of Munjal, who in 937 CE had advised to add one arc-minute per year to the mean longitudes of the SS/Aryabhatiya etc.  from Shaka 444 to make them tally with the actual longitudes.

Alberuni has explained as to how the Mesha etc. Samkrantis were behind by about six days from the "Vishuva" ---Vernal Equinox and how Munjal had advised to rectify the same through his "Laghumanasa".

Alberuni is all praise for Munjal and Utpala (Bhatotpala) etc. for having rectified the calculated calendar vis-a-vis the actual dates. (Attachment Alberuni-Munjal)

But unfortunately, during this twenty-first century, our "Vedic astrologers" advise us to "rectify" (actually make it defective!) the actual phenomena by subtracting (exactly opposite to what Munjal advised and Alberuni appreciated!) "Ayanamahsa"-

Can there be anything more ironical than the same!

Taittiriya Samhita and Acharya Sayana are all for seasonal months and years---which means tropical rashis!

The attachmednt TS-Madhu=Chaitra are some mantras from the Taittiriya Samhita, which have clubbed Madhu, Madhava with Vasanta Ritu and so on, thus correlating all the twelve seasonal solar months with the seasonal i.e. tropical year.

To crown it all, the one and only Acharya Sayana, the famous Samskrit scholar of Vijay Nagar, South India, who was the only scholar to have written commentaries on all the four Vedas in 14th century CE has equated in unequivocal terms Madhu with Chaitra, Madhava with Vaishakha---both being the months of Vasanta Ritu and so on thus clubbing all the twelve solar as well as lunar months with respective seasons!

This should leave nodbody in doubt that there was nothing like nirayana mayhem prevailing at the time of Acharya Saya of 14h century CE!

Tragically, our "Vedic astrologers" today, including the "imported Vamadeva" are doing exactly opposite to what Acharya Sayana had advised---we are delinking Chaitra from Madhu and clubbing it with some Lahiri Chitra and so on.

 I hope the above clarifications have answered all your questions!  

Nirayana is literally Adharma:

The parting shot is that  we are following adharma in letter and spirit, that too deliberately by following nirayana panchangas! (Attachment CRC-Nirayna-Adharma!) --thanks to "imported Vamadevas" and "Vedic astrologers"!! 

With regards and Jai Shri Ram!

A K Kaul

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[Venkatesh Murthy]

Namaste Sri Kaulji

I am not going to argue. But if you follow Sayana method a time will come when Krishna Janmasthami will be celebrated under Uttara Bhadrapada Nakshatra or Purva Bhadra Nakshatra instead of Rohini. Rama Navami will be celebrated in Revati or earlier Nakshatra instead of Punarvasu. Many traditional festivals like Sarasvati Pooja in Navaratri have Nakshatra base and they will be disrupted. What is the result? People will be confused and filled with doubt. Adharma will increase. 

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--

Regards

 

-Venkatesh

[Sudarshan HS]

नमस्ते शशिन्

On Monday, 18 January 2021 at 08:30:48 UTC+5:30 Shashi wrote:

Three questions come to mind:

1. Why did this freeze happen? Why did they choose to stop calculating any further? When all lunar calendar based festivals are still being calculated every year, and have different solar calendar dates, and we are okay with that. This freeze happened way before foreign cultures ruled over Bharat, so what caused this freeze so early on?

2. Even as late as the 8th century, when House Of Wisdom was being formed and astronomer Kanka was invited, Surya Siddhanta etc were in use and were understood. So why did society stop updating the festival date? DId the theorists (those who would do the calculations) and practicalist (celebrating on the streets and society) lose connection somehow?

3. If the freeze happened, but everyone knew that 14 Jan is not the actual uttarayana or makara sankranti, why did they keep saying so? I mean, they could celebrate the festival whenever they want, but why keep calling it uttarayana and sankranti? Even when it is known by different names around India (Bhogi, Lohri etc), it is still said that Sun goes uttarayana? That is, do people say that Bhogi is celebrated when the sun goes uttarayana?

Another question to your list is - When was this error introduced in the Indian calendars?

From inscriptions and architectural evidences from different parts of India, we see that the उत्तरायणं was celebrated on the correct date until about 2 centuries ago. While a detailed study is yet to be done, it appears that unlike today, there was great regional diversity in the actual date used. You may find this study useful by Dr. BS Shylaja et al, on the Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple of Bangalore, which is now famous for its सूर्यमज्जनं on the 14th January, when the Sun light falls on the Shiva linga. She points to this effect was due to a recent brick work on the windows, opening the possibility that it was perhaps aligned to the real उत्तरायणं earlier.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240617240_Astronomical_significance_of_the_Gavi_Gangadhareshwara_temple_in_Bangalore

https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_095_11_1632_1636_0.pdf

इति सादरं भवदीयः,

- सुदर्शनः

-- 

Sudarshan HS

Center for Ancient History & Culture (CAHC)

Jain University, Bangalore, INDIA

 

[ShankaraBharadwaj Khandavalli]

Namo Namah,

Here are some of my thoughts on this https://skandaveera.wordpress.com/2021/01/19/some-thoughts-on-sankranti-and-uttarayana/

Shankar

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[Mahesh K]

Dear scholars,

प्रणामाः।

Here is my input to the discussion on nirayaṇa and sayana system.

Bhāskara talks about converting nirayaṇa longitude to sāyana and vice versa, clearly in his Siddhāntaśiromaṇi where he lays out the procedure to determine lagna. There, as the final step of the procedure, he precisely says (tripraśnādhikāra, ver.4)

.... तनुः स्यात् अयनांशहीनम् .... 

Here indeed, the subtraction of ayanāṃśa is suggested in order to get the nirayaṇa lagna. 

Also, while delineating the same method in the auto-commentary (Vāsanābhāṣya), he precisely instructs to change the (nirayaṇa) longitude of the Sun into sāyana to begin the computation. 

यस्मिन् काले लग्नं ज्ञेयं तस्मिन् काले तात्कालिकोऽर्कः सायनांशः कार्यः। ... 

Add the ayanāṃśa to the longitude of the instantaneous Sun, at the point of time when it is required to find the lagna.

It is followed by the computations involving the subtraction of rising time of successive rāśis from the elapsed time since sunrise. Thereafter, at the end of the procedure, he prescribes:  

.... अयनांशैर्हीनं लग्नं स्यात्।

.... [that] diminished by the degrees of precession, would be the lagna.

Had the Nirayaṇa system was not in practice (either in pañcāṅga or horoscope), Bhāskara would not have instructed to add or subtract ayanāṃśa (before and after computations). 

Regards,
-
Dr. Mahesh

IIT Bombay, Mumbai

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[Mahesh K]

The actual reading is as follows.

.... अयनांशैश्च रहितं तल्लग्नं स्यात्।

.... and, that diminished by the degrees of precession, would be the lagna.

Thereafter, at the end of the procedure, he prescribes:  

.... अयनांशैर्हीनं लग्नं स्यात्।

.... [that] diminished by the degrees of precession, would be the lagna.

 

 Pardon me for the mistake done in quoting the Vāsanābhāṣya.

[Jijith Nadumuri Ravi]

Dear Respected members.

Thanks for your comments about my article on Makara Samkranti and Uttarayana.

Regarding the question on how the freeze happened, my single line answer would be this:- The astrologers / astronomers in the medieval  period chose to go with the Nirayana system instead of the age old Sayana system. 

This broke the link of our astronomy / astrology traditions with the precession of the equinoxes. Here, I agree with Shri AK Kaul ji, who has been trying for many years to stress this fact in front of the astrology / astronomy community. The subsequent attempts to fix the calendar / jyotisha calculations, by medieval astronomers / astrologers only worsened the breakage.

The equinoxes and solstices shift slowly in the sky of earth at the rate 1 degree in  71 to 72 years. Thus it takes around 25560 to 25920 years to complete one revolution of the precession of the equinoxes. Current scientific value  25,772 years. Both the numbers 71 and 72 as well as the related numbers like 360, 720 etc  are preserved in our tradition, by symbolically encoding them into the Rgveda and the Mahabharata (manvantara with 71 chatur-yugas; 1200 year long Markandeya Chatur Yuga multiplied by 360 to make it  4320000 year long Aryabhatiyan Chatur Yuga etc). 

The knowledge of the slow precession of the equinoxes is a precious knowledge that our ancient astronomers have discovered and preserved since the period of Rgveda. This was possible, because they had a sedentary civilization that existed in a region between the Yamuna and Saraswati rivers. This ancient region is known varyingly in the Rgveda and Mahabharata as Ilayas-pada,  Vara-ā-Prthvya, Brhmavarta, Brahma Vedi, Uttaravedi, Devabhumi,  Dharmakshetra, Kurukshetra etc due to its sheer ancientness. Since it is the most ancient region of our tradition it was treated as the most important and the most sacred region. This is also correctly the oldest part of the Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization (SSC or the IVC or the Harappan Civilization) viz. this same Yamuna - Saraswati region exemplified by the settlements like Bhirrana (starting from 8000 BCE) and Rakhigarhi (starting from 6000 BCE). These ancient settlements are situated along the Drshadvati and the Apaya tributaries of Saraswati in the same region. Bhirrana is only 50 km away from Sarasvati at Sirsa and only 160 km away from the current Kurukshetra city . Rakhigarhi is only 130 km away from Sarasvati at Sirsa and 140 km away from the current Kurukshetra city. Going by the chronology suggested by Shrikant Talageri, the Rgvedic period is between 4200 BCE to 1800 BCE. By 2000 BCE the sky watchers of Bhirrana will be getting 6000 years and those in Rakhigarhi will be getting 4000 years to observe the sky and it is enough to discover slow moving cyclic phenomena like the precession of the equinoxes. 

The youngest part of Rgveda like the 10th Mandala, dated to around 2000 BCE to 1800 BCE  contains information about the division of the sky into 12. This is the basis of what later became the 12 divisions of the zodiac. Though the zodiac is not yet evolved like it is known today with the names of 12 rashis, and the 27 nakshatras as it is known today with its name are not enumerated, many stars like Tisya (Sirius) and constellations like rksha (Ursa Major / Saptarshi) and Krttika (Pleiades) and eclipses involving Swarbhanu (Rahu) are all mentioned in the younger Mandalas like 1, 5 and 10. datable to around 2200 BCE to 1800 BCE.  It also divided the sky into 360 divisions. This is related to the solar year calendar. In yet another scheme, the sky is divided into 720 parts by conceiving a Kalachakra (sky-clock with sun as the moving time-measurement  handle) with 360 spokes, 720 sub spokes and the three modes of time-reckoning using Kalachakra.

For the interest of Sanatana Dharma, we need to switch back to the Sayana tradition and rectify our festival calendar by celebrating the calander in alignment with the seasons and the movement of the sun (Uttarayana / Dakshinayana) with the precession related corrections.

Most importantly, the Uttarayana needs to be celebrated at the current Winter Solstice on December 21st when the sun starts moving northwards after reaching its southern maxima point and giving us the longest night and shortest day. It needs to be delinked from the Makara Samkranti. Currently Uttarayana / Winter Solstice is not happening at Makara Samkranti. Both the Makara Samkranti and Uttarayana ( / Winter Solstice) coincided in around 2100 years ago (approx. in 1st century BCE +/- 100 years). Hence, the tradition of Makara Samkranti as the start of Uttarayana originated at this time. It got recorded in our Puranas and various astronomical works during this period. We are carrying forward this tradition blindly, since then, for more than 2000 years now without making the necessary corrections. This is unlike our astronomers of Rgvedic period and Mahabharata period, who did modify the calendars after the elapse of many centuries, by understanding that the calendars become useless after the elapse of many centuries due to the precession of equinox. The evidence for the calander correction is the myths like the change of Dhruva nakshatra (pole star change due to precession of equinox) , the breaking of the chariot of Ushas, the stealing away the wheel (Kalachakra) of sun (implying calendar breakage), the waiting of Revati for 1000 years at Brahma loka etc explained in my article itself.

Even the transit of the sun into the Makara Rashi boundary is not currently happening on the date we today celebrate Makara Samkranti at around 14th / 15th January. Makara Samkranti (the transit of the sun from Dhanu to Makara by crossing the Makara-Dhanu boundary, coincided with dates like 14th/15th Jan only 500 years ago. This is the period when Nilakantha Somayaji, a famous astronomer from Kerala. He might be the one who fixed it like this. Hence, we are following this date blindly for the last 500 years.  This is another problem to be sorted out.

Not fixing them makes our tradition unscientific. It makes us unworthy to follow the legacy of those who lived during the Rgvedic period and the Mahabharata period, who did have the knowledge of precession and did change their calendars accordingly to make it correct.

Regards

Jijith

Jijith Nadumuri Ravi

Former Scientist ISRO,

Founder: Dharma Digital, AncientVoice

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[Madhivanan]

Respected Shri Jijith Nadumuri Ravi,

I read your article, and i agree that Uttarayana should be recognized as happening when it actually does, on the Winter solstice day (21/22, December). Also, that is the day of Makara Samkranthi too (tropical), but that is for another debate.

The reason I write here is I would like to bring to your attention the imperfection in your following statement:

" Thus after 72 years, the four corners of the sky shift by 1 day in the calendar, and in 720 years they will shift by 10 days. In other words, the Winter Solstice which occurs today on 21st December will shift to 11th December 720 years from now in around 2740 CE, in our future."

This statement is factually not true. The Gregorian calendar we follow now is a tropical calendar, which means it is aligned to the movement of the earth around the Sun rather than to the stars. Yes, it is true that after 72 years, the four corners of the sky will shift by 1°, but with respect to the stars. But the Gregorian calendar is not aligned to the stars, and therefore the winter solstice will not shift, as mentioned, 720 years later to 11th December, 2740 CE. In fact, when I checked with Jagannatha Hora, winter solstice occurs on December 22, 2740 CE.

If you find my argument is true, then appropriate changes may be made to the article.

Regards,

Dr. Madhivanan MBBS

[A K Kaul]

Shri Venkatesh Murthyji,

Jai Shri Ram!

Many thanks for your response!

< I am not going to argue.>

Kindly rest assured there is absolutely no argument!  

You are expressing your views which may not be in agreement with mine!  And in fact, it is through such dissensions that I have been able to check and recheck my views and, if necessary, even modify them and then keep them before scholars like you!

Hence such a long delay in replying to your mail!

Here I am reminded of an anecdote that I had read several decades back in the "Readers' Digest" magazine!

A Professor of Physics (let us call him Prof A) in  an American University had had a following type of discussion with one of his colleagues (say Prof. B) :

Prof. A: Today a strange thing happened!  I explained the 'Theory of Special Relativity' to my class in the same manner as I was doing over the last fifteen years!  But one of the students expressed that he had not understood it and wanted it to be explained again!!

Prof B: Then what did you do?

Prof.  A: I explained it in a different manner.  But the student expressed that he had still not followed it.

Prof. B: What did you do then?

Prof. A:  I explained it in an entirely different manner! And a very strange thing happened!

Prof. B: What?

Prof. A:  I understood it myself!

Thus you can see that someone who had been teaching and explaining the Special Theory of Relativity "for the last fifteen years" had not followed it himself but did so only when he explained it in an entirely different manner to his students!

Honestly, it is a  similar case with me!  The more I explain the niraadhar niraayana versus Vedic seasonal calendar to others the more I understand its nuances myself since I have to do a lot of research to find out as to what the reality is! 

 Thus you have raised a very important questions on which I had been pondering myself for quite sometime i.e. 

< But if you follow Sayana method a time will come when Krishna Janmasthami will be celebrated under Uttara Bhadrapada Nakshatra or Purva Bhadra Nakshatra instead of Rohini.>

The million dollar question is as to whether we are celebrating Janashtami really as per the canons of scriptures!

 And thanks to your above prompting, I have already written a detailed article about the same in Hindi, "When to celebrate Janmashtami" attached herewith.

  It has  appeared in "Shri Mohan Krity Patrak" of the current year!   

What is the "date of birth" of Bhagwan Krishna?

Before commenting on the same, we have to put the records straight as to what is the actual date and time of birth of Bhagwan Krishna!

As on date the only "confirmed" date of  Incarnation of Bhagwan Krishna is 00 hrs LMT, of Mathura on July 19, 3228 BCE.  It is based on the horoscope of Bhagwan Krishna prepared by none other than the redoubtable  Dr B V Raman, who was known as "The Greatest Vedic Astrologer" of his times--- as per his "Notable Horoscopes"!

 Let me summarize the main points in English:

1. Dr. Raman had got the horoscope prepared by an Irish astronomer, Cyril Fagan, (famous for Bradley-Fagan Ayanamsha) in 1954 using his own special Raman Ayanamsha.

2. Dr. Raman had based His date of Incarnation on the premise that Bhagwan Krishna had been on this planet earth for about 125 years when He had left for His "Goloka".  

3. And Kaliyuga started the day when Bhagwan Krishna left for His Goloka.

4. As Kaliyuga started on February 17/18, 3102 BCE, thus Bhagwan Krishna must have Incarnated 126 years earlier i.e. in 3128 BCE.

5. For arriving at the exact date Dr. Ramana has taken recourse to Srimad Bhagavata, Shri Vishnu Purana, Harivamsha Purana, etc. etc.

Kali-Era is niraadhaar!

The catch here is that the starting date of Kaliyuga as presumed by Dr. Raman etc. is really niraadhaar, as will be clear from the attachment "Kali-era-is-fictitious-CRC".  The CRC has minced no words in declaring that it was just back calculated by Aryabhata in 499 AD.

Then while considering the horoscope of Bhagwan Krishna, we find that it was really impossible, I repeat really impossible, to have prepared a correct horoscope for 3228 BCE before the advent of the latest astronomical data like DE431 from JPL/NASA, which has been harnessed by Shri Dieter Koch at Swiss Ephemeris in a very sophisticated and constructive manner!

This will be clear from the attached half a dozen horoscopes of Bhagwan Krishna from different "software" including the ones based on the Surya Siddhanta. You will find that none agrees with the other!

Equal division nakshatras are subsumed in the tropical Rashis of Srimad Bhagawata etc.

It is also worthwhile to note that as per the Srimad Bhagavata etc. works, Ashvini, Bharni etc. nakshatras----equal divisions ----were subsumed in the (so called) Sayana Rashichakra of the same purana besides that of Vamana Purana etc.

We must also take into account that as on July 19, 3228 BCE, the (sayana) sun was 87°, which means it was the month of Shuchih, also known as (solar) Jyeshtha, the second month of Greeshma Ritu as against the details of Vishnu Purana 5/1/78

प्रावृट् काले च नभसि कृष्णाष्टंयामहं निशि उत्पत्स्यामि नवम्यां तु प्रसूतिं त्वमवाप्स्यसि ||

Here Bhagwan Krishna has Himself declared that He would Incarnate on Krishnashtami in the month of Nabhas of Varsha Ritu---(Mukhyamaana Shravana) whereas Yogamaya would be born on (the next day) i.e. Navmi!

Obviously, Bhagwan Krishna had incarnated on Krishnashtami of Nabhas and it was the same Nabhas that was known as Shravana as per the same Vishnu Purana!

So, in a nutshell, we must celebrate Shri Krishna Janmashtami on the Krishna Paksha Ashtami of Nabhas viz. the month of (Mukhya-mana) Shrvana and not pine for Rohini nakshatra on that day!

That is what the Shastras have advised!  

With regards and Jai Shri Ram!

Avtar Krishen Kaul 

      | 168|Alpha Tauri |Aldebaran|Rohini     |0.85|  68|357 33 34|-  5 48  9| 0  0 57.65|-  6 17 29.36|

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Regards

 

-Venkatesh

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