Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 198, Eclipses

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Digest 198, December 12th 2006. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

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Eclipses

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Q: How do we justify explanation of eclipses given in the Vedas as Rahu

swallowing Chandra etc, while science gives explanations of shadows of one

falling over other?

 

Answer: First, I would like to make a general comment that it is not quite

necessary to justify evidence from shastras or try to reconcile them in light

of modern discoveries. Vedic truths stand on their own authority and also have

their own deeper reason and logic even though it may not seem evident to us.

According to Vedic methods, the modern scientific methods are lesser methods of

arriving at truth and knowledge, and as we know all too well, they are ever

subject to revision. (Please see Digest #149 for more detailed discussion on

this topic). Thus whenever there seems to be a discrepancy between Vedic

statements versus the evidence of our sense perception or empirical scientific

experiments, we can assume that it is the empiric conclusion that might be in

need of justification and revision!

 

Let us now turn to have a clearer picture of what the Vedic sciences really

have to say about eclipses. Perhaps it may come as a surprise to some that the

explanation based on the shadow theory was not unknown to Vedic astronomers.

There has been, since time immemorial, a strong tradition in Vedic culture

where people's daily life was tightly interwoven with and constantly regulated

by astronomical and astrological considerations. Intricate ritualistic

ceremonies and religious duties were connected to astronomical events, and

complex astrological and calendrical calculations were regularly performed by

highly learned brahmanas. Vedic calendars since ancient times have had accurate

predictions of the eclipses. For example, we hear in the pastimes of Krishna

that once there was a rare type of solar eclipse which was predicted by

astronomical calculation, and people from all over India traveled to arrive at

Kurukshetra in anticipation of this occasion. (Krishna Book Ch 82)

 

The body of Indian astronomical literature called jyotisha shastra gives

computational rules to predict the occurrence of both lunar and solar eclipses

and even compute the degree to which the disc of the sun or moon will be

obscured! These calculations are based on the model that eclipses are caused by

the passage of the moon in front of the sun or into the earth's shadow. At the

same time, rules are also given for calculating the position of Rahu and

another similar planet named Ketu, which are invisible planets whose positions,

notably, correspond to the ascending and descending nodes of the moon (the

points where the orbit of the moon intersects the ecliptic, or the orbit of the

sun), respectively. It turns out that either Rahu or Ketu will always be lined

up in the direction of any solar or lunar eclipse. (Reference: Vedic

Cosmography and Astronomy by Sadaputa Dasa)

 

Modern scholars tend to hypothesize that these calculations are probably later

introductions borrowed from the Greek, but there is no real evidence to this

and there is nothing that suggests that the transfer of knowledge might not

have happened the other way round, (viz. India to Greece) given the fact that

astrology and the influence of planets such as Rahu and Ketu have played such a

vital role in Vedic society for centuries. We can conclude that these methods

of calculation were in common use in India at least since Krishna's time, i.e.

5000 years ago.

 

This may then raise the question that if such astronomical sophistication was

indeed known to Vedic sciences, then what about the stories involving Rahu

being the head of a demon decapitated by the Mohini incarnation. One might tend

to think that perhaps these are just superfluous or mythological stories with

no substance to them and were simply added on as poetic interpretations to

entertain the common man. However, Vedic accounts have multiple levels of

meanings embedded in them and thus descriptions of the personalities such as

Surya, Candra (the presiding deities of sun and moon), or Rahu and Ketu need

not preclude their simultaneously being astronomical entities.

 

One may raise the objection that if these celestial bodies are in fact

controlled by divine personalities, how is it that they obey such precise

patterns and predictable natural laws. But even within our day-to-day

experience it is not impossible to find highly regulated protocols and routine

procedures being executed by human beings.

 

In summary, physical and astronomical explanation and calculation of eclipses

were an integral part of Vedic sciences, and in addition the narration of Rahu

chasing the sun and moon are not merely poetic myths but factual accounts which

may contain multiple levels of meaning, both astronomical as well as involving

personal deities.

 

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