Transcript Founders of Science in Ancient India

Jantar Mantar
jN] mN]
Magic or Science?
Yantra - Tantra - Mantra
Yantra
yN]
Machine, Instrument, Tool
Mantra
mN]
Formula
Tantra
tN]
Technique
Founders of Science in
Ancient India
Dr Nawal K Prinja
The Great Rishis
 Rishi
means ‘SEER’: The discoverer
 Hindu Rishis were
– philosophers
– mathematicians
– scientists
 They
made fundamental discoveries
 All reported in the great Vedic literature
The Puzzle




Books are written by
civilised people
Civilisations existed at
banks of rivers
Where is your river?


Now extinct but its path
has been traced by satellite
photography
Aryan must have come
from outside India

Myth of Aryan invasion
has been smashed

Aryans - not a race. It
means ‘noble people’
River Saraswati
Sage Atharvan: Discoverer of Fire
Rishi of Atharva Veda
 4000 BC or even earlier

“The sage Atharvan extracted the
agni(fire)” - Rig VI-16-13
“The priests churn for agni as
was done by Atharvan” - Rig X-21-5
Prometheus = Pra + Mantha
In Sanskrit ‘by’ ‘Churning’
Greek mythology
says that Prometheus
stole fire from
heaven
Medhatithi : Designer of Bricks
Bricks (ishtaka) made to construct Yajna Kunds
 Formulae for laying down of bricks-Yajur Veda (XIII)

There are specific names of many mechanical
processes and implements in the Vedas
 Grinding, pounding, filtering, preserving
 Wheel, axle, hook, spade, boiler, pressing
stone, mixing bowl, fuel, pitcher with 100
holes, weaving shuttle, drum, measuring tape
Dirghatama: The First
Astronomer



Realised the importance of having an era
Time determined by astronomical phenomenon
Vedic sages defined
– Lunar year
354 days
– Solar (Tropical) year 365 1/4 days
– Civil year
360 days
(21 days added every 4th year)
Dimensions of Yuga
“With the consonants they fill the nights, with the
vowels the days” - Aitareya Aranyaka
Verse Type
Brhati
Pankti
Syllables
36
40
No. of Verses Total
12000
432000
10800
432000
Kali yuga
= 432000 syllables = 432000 years
Dwapara yuga = 2 x Kaliyuga = 864000 years
Tretaa yuga = 3 x Kaliyuga = 1296000 years
Sata yuga
= 4 x Kaliyuga = 1728000 years
Total = Chaturyugi = 10 x kaliyuga = 4320000 years
One divine day = 1000 Chaturyugi = 4320 million years
Divine Day = Creation
Divine Night = Dissolution
One God - 3 Metaphorical Forms
 Kala
Purusha (Time) - Omniscient
 Veda Purusha (Knowledge) - Omnipresent
 Yajna Purusha (Action) - Omnipotent
– Rig Veda X.90 and I.164
The Supreme Purusha on chariot with two yokes and 7 horses
Horses or sons = cycles of time = Kala, muhurta, dina, ardhamasa,
masa, rtu(season), caturmasa(quarter year)
2 Yokes = Solictice Uttarayana (summer) Dakshinayana (winter)
Discovery of Planets
‘Star’ and ‘aster’ come from Sanskrit ‘Str’
“He has studded the sky with constellations”
- Rig Veda I-68.5
 Vamadeva
identifies Jupiter (Brhaspati)
– Rig IV-50.4
 Vena
Bhargava identifies Venus
– Rig X-123.1
First Medicinal Plant Symposium
 Date
: 700 BC (2700 years ago)
 Venue : Regions of Himalayas
 Proceedings : Charaka Samhita
 Organiser : Rishi Bhardvaja
“He taught the science of causes, symptoms
and medication- the tripartite science”
-Charaka Samhita I-24
Symposium on Man and Disease:
The Question
“What is the source of the
man and the disease?
Do both come from the
same source?
King Vamaka of Kashi
Pariksi Maudgalya
“Man is born of the
Spirit, likewise all
diseases are born of
the Spirit. The
Spirit is the source
of all”
Sage Saraloma
“No. The Spirit dislikes
pain. It would never on
its own accord yoke itself
to painful diseases. The
real cause is the mind
when its engrossed by
passion and ignorance”
Varyovida
“Mind by itself can’t
cause any thing.
Without a body,
there cannot be any
disease, not even the
mind. All life started
from water. Water is
the cause of all
diseases.”
Hiranyaksha
“Every thing does not depend on water. I am
aware of air-borne diseases. Man is the
result of the 5 physical elements and
consciousness.”
Sage Shaunaka
“How can you have the 5 elements and the
consciousness without a creator or a father
and mother? Therefore, parents are the
origin of both, the individual and the
disease.”
Bhadrakapya
“No. Blind are not born
of the blind. And you
cannot tell who the first
parents were. Creatures
are born of the merits
of action and from the
actions arise the
diseases.”
Rishi Bharadwaja
“I disagree. The doer always proceeds the
deed. Nature alone is the cause. Roughness
of the earth, fluidity of water, mobility of air
and heat of fire.”
Kankayana
“Effort or lack of
effort is not
determined by the
course of nature.
Brahmaa, the
Creator of the
universe, is the
source of all”
Aterya
“No. Brahmaa cannot give pain to his own
children. Evolution has taken place over
time. So time is the cause of creation of
Man and disease.”
Punarvasu’s Decision
“Truth is hard to find by taking
sides in a debate.
“The wholesome combination of
the physical elements gives rise to
the well being of Man.
Unwholesome combination leads
to disease”


Balanced elements = At ease with each other
Unbalanced elements = not at ease = dis +
ease = disease
Now known as the Ayur Veda
Susruta: Father of Surgery






125 surgical instruments made from steel
14 varieties of bandages
“Nil by Mouth” for abdominal operations
Use of antiseptics (mustard, nimba leaves etc)
Training of surgeons on dead animals and watermelon
Classified surgical operations into 8 kinds
– extraction,excising,incising,probing,scarifying,
suturing,puncturing and evacuating fluid
Types of Operations
Plastic and
Rhinoplastic
 Transplanting skin
flaps
 Cataract crouching
 Hernia

Fractures and
dislocations
 Removal of
Haemorrhoids
 Caesarean

Alexendra’s invasion brought it to Greece
and then to rest of the Europe
Atreya Punarvasu: First Teacher
of Systematic Medicine
 ‘Charaka
Samhita’ about 700 BC
 Noted for the symposia on:
–
–
–
–
–
Influences of Vata
Origin of man and disease
Taste and its enumeration
Growth of foetal limbs
Use of the emetic nut and dose of the anema
Origin of Medical Terminology
Modern Science
Dentistry
Teeth
Osteopathy
Bones
Geriatrics
Old Age
Chiropody
Feet
Dermatology Skin
Origin in Sanskrit
Dant
dNt
Asthi
aiS@|
Jeern
jIRCharn
cRChurm cRm
Kanada: First Expounder of Law
of Causation and Atomic Theory
 Ten
books known as ‘Vaisesika Darshana’
 About 1900 years old
 First to explore the relation between ‘Cause
and Effect’
 Identified atoms (Parmanu) as the build
blocks of matter
 Defined chemical action (Paka)
Great Mathematicians
 Medhatithi-
Extended numerals to billions
 Aryabhata- laid foundations of Algebra
 Lagadha - Rationalised Astronomy
 Baudhayana - The first great Geometer
Science of Geometry
 ‘Sulbha
Sutras’ - Sulb means to measure
 Bodhyana’s sutras are 2800 years old
 Used in the construction of altars for yajna
 Discovered the Pythagorus theorem before
Pythagorus
 Formula to draw a circle with same area of
a square
 Computed square root of 2 = 1.414213
Pythagorus Theorem
“The diagonal of a rectangle produces area
which its length and breadth produce
separately” - BS I-I-48
c
a
b
a2 + b2 = c 2
Transfer a Square into a Circle
“If you wish to circle a
square, draw half its
diagonal about its centre
towards the North-East
W
line; then describe a circle
together with the onethird of that which lies
outside the square”
- BS I-I-58
N
Square Root of 2
“Increase the measure by its third part, and
again by the fourth part less by the thirtyfourth part of itself” - BS I-61-2
D = a + a/3 + a/(3x4) - a/(3x4x34)
2
= 1 + 1/3 + 1/(3x4) - 1/(3x4x34) = 1.4142
Vedic Mathematics
The ‘Parisista’ (appendix section) of the
Atharva Veda contains 16 ‘Sutras’
(formulae) that turn difficult Mathematics
into simple and fun calculations.
The material is mostly based on ‘Vedic Mathematics’
by Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji of Govardan Pitha, we
are grateful to him for revealing the cryptic mysteries
of the Sutras.
Nikhilam
Multiplication
99 × 89
1) Write the base
5) Finally, cross subtract
(100)
99
01
2) Find the first complement
89
88
11
11
3) And the second complement
The answer is 8811
4) Multiply the complements
Conclusions
 Many
branches of modern science
originated in India (Bharat)
 There is not much awareness about this rich
heritage of India
 Knowledge of Sanskrit is essential to
discover our own riches
Good News
 You
can learn Sanskrit by correspondence
course
 4 stages of 10 lessons each leading to a
diploma
 From Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Manchester
The End
Thank you and Namaskar