TRUTH ABOUT INDIA’s FREEDOM STRUGGLE (Part VI)- DEVELOPMENTS AFTER WW II AND TRANSFER OF POWER (1945-1947)

CONTRIBUTION OF ANCIENT INDIANS TOWARDS SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS & ASTRONOMY AND GREAT INVENTORS OF INDIA

(By Ved Pal, IRSE, FIE, FIPWE, MBA, Former Chief Administrative Officer, Ministry of Rlys, Govt. of India)

17. VELOCITY OF LIGT IN ANCIENT INDIAN TEXTS

Introduction:

Surya (Sun), the primary source of light, has been eulogized and described in details in ancient Indian literature. The fourth verse of the Rigvedic hymn 1:50 (50th hymn in book 1 of Rigveda) is as follows:

“तरणिर्विश्वदर्शतो जयोतिष्क्र्दसि सूर्य | विश्वमा भासिरोचनम ||”

taranirviśvadarśato jyotishkridasi sūrya | viśvamā bhāsirocanam ||

This means ‘Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Surya (Sun), maker of the light, illuminating all the radiant realm.’

Above verse was explained in his commentary on Rig Veda by Acharya Sayan (C 1330 - 1387 CE), a prolific writer of 14th century and interpreter of ancient books and Vedic literature. Sayan was the Prime Minister of King Bukka Raya I and his successor Harihara II of Vijayanagaram Empire. More than a hundred works are attributed to him, among which are commentaries on nearly all parts of the Vedas. He composed a shloka (couplet) in (sometimes before 1387 CE) on the velocity of light that was based on the ancient book of Taittireeya Brahmana, a commentary on the Krishna Yajurveda recorded around 300–400 BCE and is considered to be an extension of the Taittirīya Samhita. Taittiriya Samhita is a key text of the Krishna (Black) Yajurveda. Acharya Sayana’s shloka is on the reading of Taittireeya Brahmana statement (2/8/7/51) on “Doore Arthah Tarani-r-bhrajmanah” which means the “Meaning of Distance in Sun’s Illumination”. A related mantra in Taittireeya Samhita ((1/4/31) is under “Sooryo Atigreha” [Sun the Special (extreme) Object of Astronomy]; Soorya and Tarani being synonyms for the Sun. Hence, Acharya Sayana’s shloka is on the speed of light. The original Taittireeya Brahamana statement is in prose to which Acharya Sayana gave a poetic form in the 14th century CE and the original thought of Taittireeya Brahamana is preserved in Acharya Sayana’s shloka (details available in Ved Vidya Nidarshan, a Hindi publication of 1959 by Pandit Bhagvaddatta). Max Müller (1823–1900) published a translation of the Rigvedic Samhitas together with Sayana's commentary and Prof. R.T.H. Griffith who was the first and the last scholar to have translated Rigveda (as compiled in Sayan’s commentaries) in English.

The shloka by Acharya Sayana is:

“तथा च स्मर्यत योजनानां सहस्रम् द्वे द्वे शते द्वे च योजने ।

    एकेन निमिषार्धेन क्रममाण नमोऽस्तु ते ॥“

This translates to ‘O Sun! Bow to you who traverses 2202 Yojanas in a nimisharda’ or “Sun (light) traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a Nimisha”

(NOTE: Nimisharda= half of a Nimisha and in the vedas Yojana is a unit of distance and Nimisha is a unit of time)

Unit of Time: Nimisha

The Moksha dharma parva of Shanti Parva in Mahabharata describes Nimisha as follows:

15 Nimisha = 1 Kastha

30 Kashta = 1 Kala

30.3 Kala = 1 Muhurta

30 Muhurtas = 1 Diva-Ratri (Day-Night)

We know Day-Night is 24 hours

So we get 24 hours = 30 x 30.3 x 30 x 15 nimisha i.e. 409050 nimisha

We know that in SI de units 1 day & night is 24 hours = 24 x 60x60 seconds = 86400 seconds

Therefore 409050 Nimisha = 86,400 seconds

or 1 Nimisha (or Wink of a human eye = 0.21122112 seconds and 1/2 Nimisha = 0.1056106 seconds

Unit of Distance: Yojana

Yojana is defined in Chapter 6 of Book 1 of the ancient Vedic text “Vishnu Purana” as follows

10 Paramáńus = 1 Parasúkshma

10 Parasúkshmas = 1 Trasareńu

10 Trasareńus = 1 Mahírajas (particle of dust)

10 Mahírajasas = 1 Bálágra (hair’s point)

10 Bálágras = 1 Likhyá

10 Likhyás= 1 Yúka

1o Yúkas = 1 Yavodara (heart of barley)

10 Yavodaras = 1 Yava (barley grain of middle size)

10 Yava = 1 Angula (breadth of a human finger)

6 fingers = 1 Pada (the breadth of a man's foot)

2 Padas = 1 Vitasti (span)

2 Vitasti = 1 Hasta (cubit or distance from elbow to tip of middle finger of an average man)

4 Hastas = a Dhanu, a Danda, or paurusa (a man’s height),

2000 Dhanus = 1 Gavyúti (distance to which a cow’s call or lowing can be heard)

4 Gavyútis = 1 Yojana

Also 1 yojan = 4 x 2000 dhanus or Purusas or 4 x 2000 x 1.8 metres = 14400 m or 14.4 km

 (Note: Unlike in case of Nimisha and second, there is no clear-cut relationship between ancient and modern units of length. We have to make assumption about length of Barley grain, Angula (finger), Hasta (hand) or Dhanu/Dand/Paurus (Man’s height). We are assuming average height of a man as 1.8 m, which might have been different)

Calculation of Velocity of Light:

So now we can calculate what is the value of the speed of light in modern units based on the value given as 2202 yojanas in 1/2 Nimisha

= 2202 x 14.4 kms per 0.1056106 seconds

= 3,00,242 Kms per second. As per the modern science speed of light is 2,99,792.458 Kms per second. Hence our calculated value is only 0.15% higher. It may be mentioned again that we have assumed average height of a man or a Dhanus (bow) or a dand (rod) as 1.8 metres.

Conclusion:

Ancient Indian scholars were knowing accurate value of Velocity of light which is evident from the fact that it is written as 2202 Yojanas per half Nimish instead of approximation of 2200 Yojanas. We are unable to get exact correlation between a Yojana and a Kilometre. A detailed study is required to be conducted to establish relationship between ancient and modern units of distance.