The
Antiquity of Vedic Astrology
©
Marie-Christine Sclifet 25/9/2002
Introduction
According
to the Indians (from India), their astrology dates from more than
5,000 years
and the Vedas, which are the most ancient writings, called "
revelations " date from much before still...
The "
Hindus " give dates from their history such as 3,000 BC,
5, 000 BC, 7,000 BC, and even before…up to 100,000 BC and
more...
Are these
myths or real facts ?
Thesis :
Since the
Rig-Veda (the first and most ancient of Vedas) is the oldest text
(1) of India,
it remains to date the Rig-Veda in order to have a temporal landmark
as a basis for dating
the other Vedic texts, and also astrology, which foundations lay
in the Rig-Veda.
Dating the Rig-Veda :
I shall
begin by explaining the dating of Vedic texts according to the
traditional Indian
version and according to the official version of the Mueller school.
After giving their
respective points of view and theories, I shall try to demonstrate
the validity or invalidity
of their statements
1° How old are the Vedas ?
From what
we are taught at school, and is still found in dictionaries and
encyclopaedias,
a nomad people coming from Caucasus invaded India during the 2nd
millennium BC
and left there some writings, the Vedas.
This nomad
people with clear complexions is supposed to be responsible for
the scattering
of the Indo-European languages, to which Sanskrit, Greek and Latin
are supposed to belong.
According
to Mueller’s chronology of Vedic texts, the most ancient
of them,
the Rig-Veda, dates from 1,200 BC.
The problem
regarding the dating of Vedic astrology, Vedic texts and the Vedas
lays
in the age that Mueller attributed to the Vedas (maximum 1,200
BC according to his theory
which has become the " official " version).
Effectively,
if the Rig-Veda, the most ancient Vedic text (1) dates from 1,200
BC, then it is
hardly likely that Vedic astrology, that comes from the Vedas,
could be anterior to this date.
2°) The antiquity attributed to the Vedas by the official
version (maximum 1,200 BC)
is not in
agreement with that of the Indian chronology, which gives much
more ancient dates
(up to 3900 BC and more).
Where does
that difference come from and who is right ?
3° Official version of Veda’s age : maximum 1,200 BC
The dating
of the most ancient of Vedas (1,200 BC) originates in the "
Aryan invasion
theory " (official version).
This theory,
introduced during the 19th century, explains that the people who
are at the origin
of the Vedas and consequently of Vedic culture, emigrated from
Caucasus and invaded
the Indian subcontinent from 1,500 BC (2).
Mueller,
an orientalist of the 19th century, " invented " the
" Aryan invasion theory " and
dated it around 1,500 BC, in order to adjust it to the chronology
of the Bible (3).
The Aryan
invasion theory was born thus: Muller took over Father Dubois’
(4) hypothesis
of a migration to India of a people from central Asia, and then
transformed
it in " Aryan invasion theory ".
Mueller
translated the word " arya " which means " noble
by his birth or his ways of acting "
by the word " Aryan " which he interpreted as being
a race with a clear complexion, and
then Mueller gave the name " Dravidians " to the people
with dark complexions who occupied
India before this so-called Aryan invasion.
This "
race " theory comes from an erroneous interpretation of "
the war between the powers
of light and those of darkness " indicated in the ancient
Vedic scriptures, and this gave
" the fight between people with clear complexions and people
with dark complexions).
This is how this part of history was born, and from that time
on we have been taught that
Indo-European populations coming from central Asia invaded the
Indian subcontinent
about 1,500 BC and left there the Vedic literature.
This has
been taught for more than a century in our western schools and
is also
still taught in Indian schools !
Max Mueller
determined then, from the Sanskrit grammar style used in every
text, that
the Rig-Veda was the most ancient text and that the Upanishads
were amongst the most recent.
Then Mueller
took the birth of Buddha, about 600 BC, as being the end of the
vedic epoch.
From this date, going backwards in time, he decided to add an
arbitrary interval of 200 hundred
years between the different categories of writings.
Therefore,
as per Mueller’s theory, the chronology of Vedic texts would
be :
- Rig-Veda
: 1,200 BC
- Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Atharva-Veda : 1,000 BC
- Brahmanas : 800 BC
- Upanishads, Aranyakas : 600 BC
As a consequence of Mueller’s theory of Aryan invasion, the
most ancient scriptures of India
are supposed to be dated of 1,200 BC at the earliest.
4° Some sections of the Rig-Veda, the most ancient text (1),
date from 3,900 BC and earlier…
What of it …? And of what antiquity is Vedic literature ?
First, it
is important to know that most Vedic texts are linked together
by a chronology.
Therefore, when attempting to date Vedic texts, this chronology
must be kept in mind.
Thus, the
Vedas were composed in the following order : the Rig-Veda, the
Sama-Veda,
the Yajur-Veda and the Atharva-Veda.
The Vedangas
and the Upa-Vedas were composed after the Vedas, and so were the
Mahabharata
and Ramayana epics, the Upanishads and the Puranas (1).
Traditional
Indian chronology sets the Mahabharata epic in 3,100 BC, the Ramayana
epic
in 4300 BC and Manu about 6,776 BC.
Vedic texts
include many astronomical references (eclipses, planetary configurations,
etc….)
that correspond to the precise moments when these various texts
were composed.
These references enable us to find out now at what time the texts
were composed.
Note: Before
the time of computers, it was quite impossible to fake this kind
of data.
-> the astronomical events mentioned in these texts were really
witnessed by the people
who described them.
Thus :
• The
Rig-Veda 5:40:5-9 describes a solar eclipse in 3928 BC :
This was a central and not a total eclipse. It took place in the
afternoon, on the Kurukshetra
meridian, on a given day after the summer solstice…According
to P.C. Sengupta, only one date
meets all the conditions, i.e. july 26th 3928 BC. Sources : (5).
•
Herman G. Jacobi :
In 1894, using calculations based on precession, he dated the
Rig-Veda from the 5th and
4th millennium BC. Source: (6).
•
The
Yajur-Veda and the Atharva-Veda include information that was dated
from 2,400 BC.
The Yajur-Veda and the Atharva-Veda speak of the Vernal equinox
as being in Krittika
Nakshatra (the Pleiades – from 26°40’ Aries to 10°
Taurus) and about the summer
solstice (ayana) as being in Magha nakshatra (0° to 13°20’
Leo).
This gives a date of about 2,400 BC. Source : (7).
In view
of all this, the Rig-Veda can be dated from 3,900 at the minimum.
5° Analysis of the Indian point of view :
What archaeological
proofs can support the astronomical dating of Vedic texts ?
1.
India owns some of the oldest and most extensive archaeological
remains in the world.
Harappean India, or the so-called “Indus valley civilization
India” was the greatest urban
civilization in the world during the 3rd millennium BC (3,300-1,900
BC). (8)
General
chronology of the “Indus valley” civilization (9) :
Later Harappean
phase (several phases): 1,900 to 1,300 BC
Harappean phase: 2,600 to 1,900 BC
Earlier Harappean phase (several phases): 5,500 to 2,600 BC
Mehrgarh: 7,000 to 5,500 BC.
More than
a thousand archaeological sites revealed an impressive antique
culture.
See mostly the discoveries made from the beginning of the 20th
century at Mohenjodaro and
Harappa (on the banks of the Sindhu or “Indus”). http://www.harappa.com/indus/map1.html
(Note: Harappa is mentioned in the Vedas).
Archaeological
excavations and scientific analyses lead to the conclusion that
the Sindhu-
Sarasvati civilization had its most glorious period in the 3rd
millennium BC.
At its acme, this civilization occupied a territory spreading
from the Ganges river in the East to
Afghanistan in the West, or from the Iranian border to near Bombay.
See the
site: ‘The Ancient Indus Valley’ (very complete !)
http://www.harappa.com/har/har0.html
2.
The remains testify about a peerless cultural wealth,
both spiritual
and material : remarkable urban planning (cardinal point orientated
streets with
right angles), splendid architecture, numerous temples, several-storey
houses made of bricks,
shops, warehouses, private and public baths (10), sophisticated
drains (very rare at that time !),
handicraft objects, use of ceramic (!), earthenware, metals, jewels
(11), use of standard units
for measures and weights (12), first writing (!!), etc…
3.
Recently, the “Harappa” script finally revealed its
secrets :
The language
is now definitely recognized as having a Sanskrit root (a “proto”
Brahmi).
The most ancient scripts from Harappa are 5,500 years old…
Photographs
of “Harappa” script : http://www.harappa.com/indus2/index.html
(click on ‘early writing’ – ’16 tablets’
– and ‘re-excavations’)
Press (BBC)
(13) – Sources (14) – Other photographs of Harappa script
(15)
4.
Recently, a new set of towns was found in India,
e.g. Dwaraka
and thereabouts, by S.R. Rao and the National Institute of Oceanography
of India. These are intermediate between the Harappa civilization
and India’s most antique
civilization. (Note: Vedic texts speak of Dwaraka).
Sources &
images : (16)
5.
Recent discoveries of submarine archaeology
have brought
to light what may be the oldest ‘city’ in the world,
in the Cambay valley, very near
the Sarasvati-Sindhus civilization. There are traces of human
civilization such as the structure of the
city as revealed by sonars, precious stones with holes were found,
etc.
This ‘city’
is at least 7,000 years old (5,000 BC).
A 9,500 year-old vestige was found (7,500 BC)…
Sources &
images : (17) - Press : BBC & Indian Express : (18)
6.
At Merhgarh (7,000-5,500 BC),
300 kilometers
north of Mohenjo-Daro, vestiges of a community more than 8500
years old were found.
Sources
& images : (19)
7.
Only about 30% of archaeological sites have been excavated up
to now…
…and
since some sites are situated in Pakistan and Afghanistan, there
may be some political hindrances.
6° Analysis of the western
point of view :
Are there
any scientific or archaeological bases for dating the Rig-Veda
from 1,200 BC and
other texts later ?
In fact,
there are not. Moreover, the Aryan invasion theory (AIT) which
gave birth to Mueller’s
chronology clashes with the geological, archaeological, genetic
and anthropologic evidence
discovered during the last 2 decades.
1. The Rig-Veda ( the first Veda) praises the Saraswati
(or Sarasvati), an immense river that
was up to 7 kilometers wide at places.
Since there
seemed to be no traces of that legendary river,
the academic establishment took it for a myth during nearly 2
centuries. As a consequence, Vedic
texts were also considered as a collection of poems, legends and
mythical narratives.
However, recent photographs, taken by satellite, have demonstrated
the existence of a dried-up river
which is in fact Saraswati. Moreover, a great number of Northern
India archaeological sites have
revealed, during the last decades, vestiges of vedic cities which
formerly stretched out on the banks
of the Saraswati.
Therefore…
- the river the Rig-Veda speaks about did exist, and was situated
in India,
- what is described by the Vedas, i.e. a flourishing civilization
along the banks of the Saraswati,
is verified by the archaeological excavations,
- therefore the Vedas do describe the reality of the time they
were recorded.
Unfortunately, the Saraswati ended by drying up over a period
of several centuries and became
completely exhausted about 1,900 BC.
Therefore the Rig-Veda must have been written long before that
time.
Consequently, the theory of the Aryan invasion about 1,500 BC
does not hold good, since the
Vedas, supposed to have been left by Aryan invaders from Caucasus
between 1,200 and
1,000 BC, describe a civilization that existed before 1,900 BC
and developed itself along
the Saraswati, for millennia.
2.
Whether or not Caucasian nomads were the authors of the Vedas,
they did not mention their
original country…
The Vedas
do not mention any foreign source. Everything comes from India.
All the mountains
and the 7 rivers which are amply described and praised in Vedic
texts are exclusively those of
India. Moreover the Rig-Veda refers to the ocean (samadra) nearly
a hundred times, and also to
boats, rivers…And the ancient Vedic gods come from the ocean…
3.
Aryans are supposed to have brought the horse to India during
the 2nd millennium BC,
according to the TIA.
However,
5,000-year old horse bones have been found in India.
4.
Max Mueller’s chronology of the composition of the
various Vedic texts based on Sanskrit
grammar development, is very likely, but the 200-year intervals
are only suppositions by Mueller.
This arbitrary 200-year proposed difference between Vedic texts
is much too short. The evolution
of human language is much slower. Moreover, more changes took
place in classical Vedic Sanskrit
than in classical Panini’s Sanskrit which has existed for
already 2,500 years.
5.
There is a continuity in writing morphology : from Harrapean
script to Brahmi and then to
Devanagari script (written Sanskrit as we know it).
6.
The continuity of Vedic culture (vestiges from various
epochs + cultural continuity between
Shindu-Sarasvati civilization and Indian mediaeval society) contradicts
AIT.
7.
The spiritual wisdom of Vedic texts is ignored by those
who say that the Vedas are just poetry
from barbarian invaders. And this is against the fact that the
Vedas were the basis of the great
yogic and mystic traditions of India.
8.
Altars discovered in the Indus-Sarasvati sites (3,000
BC) were built according to very precise
calculations recommended by the Shulva Sutras ‡ these texts
are prior to the building of the altars.
9.
Not only has Vedic literature been ignored, but it has
been separated from the great archaeological
vestiges of Harappa, as if there had been in India “a literature
without a civilization”
and “a civilization without a literature”…
10.
The objects and writings brought to light during the Indus valley
archaeological
excavations show that it was indeed a Vedic culture :
statuettes
of Vedic gods (20), Swastikas,
figures in yoga postures (20, 21), altars and objects used during
the rituals described in Vedic
‘Brahmanas’, etc…
Images (20)
& (21) - Sources (22) & ( 23) & (24)
7° Dating Vedic Astrology
:
1.
Vedic Astrology comes from the Vedas, and the Rig-Veda :
- the Rig-Veda
can be dated of 3,900 BC.
Since the Vedas are compilations of various revelations, and were
preceded by long-time oral
transmission, the Rig-Veda dates from much earlier than 3,900
BC.
- the basic
principles of Vedic Astrology lay in the Jyotisha Vedanga, a text
which develops
concepts already present in the Vedas
=> the bases of Vedic Astrology may also be older than 3,900
BC.
2. Vedic Astrology based on Parasara
- Parasara’s
BPHS is a compilation made at the time of Indian Vedic Astrology
(before it was oral tradition).
- According
to Vedic chronology, historical event dating (like Mahabharata
war) and cross- checking
of such data, Parasara lived about 3,100 BC
=> Vedic
Astrology exists since minimum 5,000 years.
3. Other antique texts of Vedic Astrology :
Jaimini’s
Upadasa Sutras, Brighu Samhita, etc…
4. Nakshatras :
Nakshatras
are a unique system from India. Its creation dates from the Rig-Veda
(therefore, from
the 4th millennium BC).
Sources
: (23) & (24) & (25)
5. In 1790, a Scottish mathematician, John Playfair,
demonstrated
that the earliest date of astronomical observation as recorded
in the ephemeris
currently used by Indian astrologers (in the 18th century) was
4,300 BC.
Sources
: (24) & (26)
6. French astronomer Jean-Sylvain Bailly (end of 18th century)
said :
“The
star’s movements as calculated by the Hindus about 4,500
years ago do not vary for even
one minute from the (modern) Cassini and Meyer tables. Indian
tables give the same moon’s
yearly variation as that discovered by Tycho Brae – a variation
unknown to the Alexandria school
and also to the Arabs.’
Sources
: (24) & (27)
7. If horoscopic astrology were born in Alexandria in 332
BC…
How could
the court astrologers predict in 560 BC, while examining Prince
Siddharta (Gautama
Buddha) natal chart, that he would be ‘the king of kings
or the emperor of ascetics’ ?
8. Horoscopic astrology has its bases in the Rig-Veda (3,900
BC).
Jyotish includes
3 parts : Siddhanta, Samhita and Hora (Narada Samhita, I-4).
Hora is
predictive astrology and means the study of time.
Hora is divided into various sections :
- Jakata, i.e. horoscopic astrology
- Prasna, i.e. horary astrology
- Muhurta, i.e. electional astrology
There are
6 Vedangas (appendices to the Vedas), including Jyotisha Vedanga
(28).
And each Veda has its own Jyotisha Vedanga...
Thus, the
Jyotisha Vedanga(JV) is available in several versions :
- the Rig-JV, the earliest, has 36 verses
- the Yajur-JV has 43 verses
The Yajur-JV
speaks of an astronomic event (29) dated around 1500 BC
=> the Rig-JV is much earlier than 1,500 BC.
Source :
(30)
I wish to
add that, at the time I am speaking, thousands of astrological
Sanskrit texts are still
waiting to be translated…
9.
The 12 signs of the Zodiac, as well as the 7 planets and the nodes
are mentioned several times
in the Rig-Veda (3,900 BC).
The Zodiac
:
As surprising
as it may seem to certain Westerners, the Zodiac is present in
the Rig-Veda.
The origin
of the 12-sign Zodiac is usually attributed to Babylon, around
600 BC.
However
in the Rig-Veda (RV 1:164:11) it is said that ‘the wheel
of the Sun in the sky has 12
rays and it is divided into 360 pairs of threads’. These
threads are the days (composed of day and
night). This number 360 is also the basis for dividing the circle
in 360°, a division which is called
‘babylonian’.
The division
in 12 parts already suggests the Zodiac. Furthermore, certain
Zodiacal signs (sidereal)
are also mentioned in the Rig-Veda :
- Vrishabha
(Taurus) (RV 6:47:5 and 8:93:1)
- Mithuna (Gemini) (RV 3:39:3)
- Simha (Leo) (RV 5:83:3 and 9:89:3)
- Kanya (Virgo) (RV 6:49:7)
Here also, astronomical event dating with respect to these signs
places them about 4,000 BC.
A reference
made to the spring equinox in sidereal Taurus (Vrishabha) dates
it from the 4th
millennium BC. In the same verse, this Taurus month is linked
to its opposite, ‘jyeshta’ (the
nakshatra from 16°40’ to 30° Scorpio which coincides
with the autumn equinox). This confirms
that the name Vrishabha (Taurus) is used here in its astronomical
and calendar sense.
Virgo (Kanya)
is associated with Chitra.
Chitra is the nakshatra (asterism) that contains Spica (the Virgin’s
spike). This dispels any
doubt as to the fact that Kanya (Virgo) means the 6th constellation
of the Zodiac.
That means that the Zodiac is as old as the earliest Veda, and
that it was invented in India,
long before Babylon.
Sources : (23)
10.
Harappa : Zodiacal ‘signs’ and planets already existed
during the 3rd millennium BC :
(The Links send back images)
- Pisces
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola7.html
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola8.html
- Aquarius
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola7.html
- Taurus,
Scorpio
http://www.harappa.com/indus/54.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/56.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/27.html
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~catshaman/121Indus/02Indussym4.htm
- Aries
http://www.harappa.com/figurines/38.html
- The Pleiades
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola12.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/34.html
- Saturn,
Mercury, Venus, the Pleiades, Aldebaran (Rohini), etc…
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola9.html
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola10.html
http://www.harappa.com/script/maha9.html
http://www.harappa.com/script/maha10.html
Deciphered
‘Harappa’ script shows that they did speak of stellar
references, planets, constellations…
Sources :
(31)
In view of the fact that the Rig Veda can almost certainly be
dated of minimum 4,000 BC, and that
it mentions signs and planets, and taking also into account the
stellar vestiges and the Harappa script
= > the 12 signs and the 7 planets originated in India and
not in Mesopotamia or Greece !
Conclusion :
The Aryan
invasion theory does not hold good. Therefore, the supposed date
(official version) of
the Vedas and other Vedic texts is not valid.
What matters
is the parallels we can establish between the contents of Vedic
texts (as we understand
them today) and the evidence of recent archaeological and scientific
discoveries.
Thus, in
view of what has been said with respect to the astronomical dating
of Vedic texts, their
content, the Harappa vestiges and what was revealed by the deciphering
of the Harappa script,
I can but conclude that Vedic Astrology dates indeed from 5,000
years or more…
© Marie-Christine
Sclifet 25/9/2002
updated 3/10/2002
Notes,
sources, images and additional info :
(1)
Except for the Puranas. In spite of the fact that they were written
down more recently than
the Vedas, they are a compilation of Indian history most antique
tradition, that of Manu.
According
to the Puranas, Manu was a patriarch who established his kingdom
in Northern
India after surviving the Deluge. Taking into account the list
of kings mentioned in the Puranas
dynastic lists, which was already known by the Greek ambassadors
to Chandragupta’s court
in the 4th century BC, Manu would have lived in the 7th millennium
BC.
The myth of Atlantis probably has a similar origin.
Puranic Time
and the Archeological Record [PDF] :
http://www.shyamasundaradasa.com/Shyama_site/what_is_jyotish/etc...
+ see also
(23)
--------------------------
(2)
http://fr.encyclopedia.yahoo.com/articles/a/a0006073_p0.html
--------------------------
(3)
The ‘creation’ of the world in 4,000 BC and the Deluge
in 2,500 BC.
--------------------------
(4)
Father Dubois: a French evangelist of the beginning of the 19th
century who resided for
many years in India. He wrote ‘Hindu Manners, customs and
Ceremonies’ which was prefaced
by Friedrich Max Muller.
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/doverpublications/0486421155.html
--------------------------
(5)
First dating of the eclipse by P.C. Sengupta : "The solar
eclipse in the
Rgveda and the Date of Atri" - Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society of
Bengal Letters - 1941/7, pg 92-113
P.C. Sengupta
: "Ancient Indian Chronology" - Calcutta 1947
K.V. Sarma:
"A Solar Eclipse Recorded in the RgVeda"
Haribhai
Pandya et al. : "Issues in Vedic Astronomy and Astrology"
- Motilal
Banarsidass - Delhi 1992, pg 217-224
N.S. Rajaram
& D. Frawley : "Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization"
-
WH Press - Quebec 1995, pg 106
--------------------------
(6)
Hermann G.Jacobi, "On the Date of the Rigveda" (1894),
réédité par
K.C. Verma et al. eds : Rtambhara - Studies in Indology, Society
for
Indic Studies - Ghaziabad 1986, pg 91- 99
--------------------------
(7)
Dr. Koenraad Elst : "Astronomical data and Aryan question"
[PDF]
http://pws.the-ecorp.com/~chbrugmans/articles/uk_pdf/astronomy.pdf
--------------------------
(8)
Yahoo! - Encyclopédie / la civilisation de l'Indus :
http://fr.encyclopedia.yahoo.com/articles/ni/ni_2232_p0.html
http://fr.encyclopedia.yahoo.com/articles/ni/ni_2232_p1.html
--------------------------
(9)
http://www.harappa.com/indus3/e2.html
--------------------------
(10)
http://www.harappa.com/indus/8.html
--------------------------
(11)
http://www.harappa.com/indus/79.html
--------------------------
(12)
In India, the decimal system was already in use during the Harappean
period, as shown
by the weights and measures found in Harappa :
http://www.harappa.com/indus/21.html
--------------------------
(13)
BBC May 4, 1999 : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/334517.stm
--------------------------
(14) http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola0.html
http://www.helsinki.fi/~aparpola/index.html
http://www.harappa.com/script/scriptres.html
(livres et liens)
Rajaram,
N.S. and David Frawley : "Vedic Aryans and the Origins of
Civilization : A Literary and Scientific Perspective" - 2d
edition. Voice of
India, New Delhi 1997.
--------------------------
(15) Photos
of Harappa script :
http://www.harappa.com/indus/31.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/25.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/28.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/29.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/30.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/37.html
http://www.harappa.com/seal/1.html
http://www.harappa.com/seal/14.html
http://www.harappa.com/seal/15.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus3/206.html
--------------------------
(16) Dwaraka
:
• The
Lost City of Dvaraka - By S.R. Rao (S.R. Rao served the
Archaeological Survey of India for over 32 years. He is the discoverer
of a
large number of Harappan sites including the port city of Lothal
in
Gujarat). http://www.vedamsbooks.com/no14243.htm
• presse
: http://www.indian-express.com/ie/daily/20000714/ina14051.html
--------------------------
(17)
National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT, India) :
http://www.niot.ernet.in/
Marine Archaeology
(NIOT) : http://www.niot.res.in/m3/arch/index.htm
--------------------------
(18)
press : BBC 19 January, 2002 :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1768109.stm
• press
: Indian Express January 17, 2002 :
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20020117/top6.html
• press
: BBC 16 January, 2002 :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1763000/1763950.stm
• press
: BBC 22 May, 2001:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1345150.stm
--------------------------
(19)
Mehrgarh :
• http://fr.encyclopedia.yahoo.com/articles/m/m0002936_p0.html
• Neolithic
Mehrgarh : http://www.harappa.com/indus/indus4.html
• http://www.harappa.com/indus3/e3.html
• http://www.harappa.com/indus3/e5.html
• http://www.travel.web.pk/destinations/archaeological_sites/mehrgarh.asp
• Asthana
: Pre-Harappan cultures of India and the Borderlands - Delhi,
Books and Books, 1985
--------------------------
(20)
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola8.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/54.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/56.html
http://www.harappa.com/figurines/32.html
--------------------------
(21)
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola0.html
http://www.harappa.com/indus/33.html
--------------------------
(22)
Dr. David Frawley : http://www.vedanet.com/
Underworld:
Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age - A Vedic and India Perspective
- by David Frawley
The Myth
of the Aryan Invasion of India - By David Frawley
http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/ultima/419/the_myth_etc...
Proof of
Vedic Culture's Global Existence - by Stephen Knapp (livre) :
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/proof_of_vedic_culture's_global_existence.htm
--------------------------
(23)
The genesis of India according to Bernard Sergent - a review
By Koenraad Elst, Leuven (belgium), 31 August 1999. (document
PDF)
(shorter version of a chapter of Koenraad Elst's new book: Update
on the
Aryan Invasion Debate, Aditya Prakashan, Delhi.)
http://pws.the-ecorp.com/~chbrugmans/articles/uk_pdf/sergent.pdf
--------------------------
(24)
Dr Koenraad Elst's : "Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate"
- Aditya
Prakashan, New Delhi http://www.bharatvani.org/books/ait/
--------------------------
(25)
Nakshatras (asterisms) in the Harappa script :
http://www.harappa.com/script/maha8.html
--------------------------
(26)
Playfair’s argumentation, “Remarks on the astronomy
of the Brahmins”,
Edinburg 1790, is reproduced in Dharampal: Indian Science and
Technology in
the Eighteenth Century, Academy of Gandhian Studies, Hyderabad
1983 (Impex
India, Delhi 1971), p.69-124. )
--------------------------
(27)
S. Sathe: In Search for the Year of the Bharata War, Navabharati,
Hyderabad 1982, p.32.
http://rcombes.ifrance.com/rcombes/bailly.htm
http://www.burillier-uranie.com/ehistoire.htm
--------------------------
(28) "Jyotisha
Vedanga" literally means ‘Compilations/explanations
of astronomical and astrological
procedures used in Vedas’ => the astronomical and astrological
bases date from the Rig-Veda,
the Athar-Veda and the Ayur-Veda, i.e. from minimum 3,900 BC.
--------------------------
(29)
the Jyotisha Vedanga speaks of a time when the spring equinox
took place in the middle of
the Aslesha Nakshatra (i.e. 23°20 Cancer).
--------------------------
(30)
Article ‘Exegesis of Hindu Cosmological Time Cycles’
by Dwight William Johnson.
--------------------------
(31)
Fishes and Stars: evidence for astral divinities :
http://www.harappa.com/script/parpola7.html
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~catshaman/121Indus/02Indussym4.htm
--------------------------
© Marie-Christine
Sclifet 25/9/2002
Contact the author
Article co-translated
by Christine Champigny, Sylviane Cartier, and
Martine de Karoly.
Updated
5/04/08 23:57
