Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge - David Osborn !!

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*Subject:* Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge - David Osborn !!

 

*** Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge

* by David Osborn

 

A vast number of statements and materials presented in the ancient Vedic

literatures can be shown to agree with modern scientific findings and they also

reveal a highly developed scientific content in these literatures. The great

cultural wealth of this knowledge is highly relevant in the modern world.

 

Techniques used to show this agreement include:

 

• Marine Archaeology of underwater sites (such as Dvaraka)

 

• Satellite imagery of the Indus-Sarasvata River system,

 

• Carbon and Thermoluminiscence Dating of archaeological artifacts

 

• Scientific Verification of Scriptural statements

 

• Linguistic analysis of scripts found on archaeological artifacts

 

• A Study of cultural continuity in all these categories.

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

Early indologists widely propagated that the Vedas were simply mythology.

 

Max Muller, perhaps the most well known early sanskritist and indologist,

although later in life he glorified the Vedas, initially wrote that the * " Vedas

were worse than savage " and " India must be conquered again by education... it's

religion is doomed " *

 

Thomas Macaulay, who introduced English education into India wanted to make

the residents into a race that was: * " **Indian in blood and color, but English

in taste, in opinion, in morals, and in intellect. " *

 

* **

However, the German Philosopher *Arthur* *Schopenhauer* stated that the *

Sanskrit* understanding of these Indologists was like that of young *

schoolboys.

 

These early Indologists*:*

 

• Devised the Aryan Invasion theory, denying India's Vedic past

 

• They taught that the English educational system is superior

 

• They intentionally misinterpreted sanskrit texts to make the Vedas look

primitive.

 

• And they systematically tried to make Indians ashamed of their own culture

 

• Thus the actions of these indologists seems to indicate that they were

motivated by a racial bias.

 

Innumerable archaeological findings and their analysis have recently brought the

Aryan Invasion Theory into serious question. This theory is still taught as fact

in many educational systems despite much contrary evidence.

 

*The Aryan Invasion Theory is Defined as:

*

 

• Vedic Aryans entered India between 1,500 and 1,200 B.C.

 

• They conquered the native Dravidian culture by virtue of their superiority due

to their horses & iron weapons

 

• They Imported the Vedic culture and it's literatures.

 

• This Aryan Invasion Theory, however, deprives the inhabitants of India of

their Vedic heritage. The wealth of their culture came from foreign soil.

 

The Aryan Invasion Theory raises an interesting dilemna called *Frawleys

Paradox: *On the one hand we have the vast Vedic Literature without any

archaeological finds associated with them and on the other hand, we have 2,500

archaeological sites from the Indus-Sarasvata civilization without any

literature associated with them.

 

A preponderance of contemporary evidence now seems to indicate that these are

one and the same cultures. This certainly eliminates this paradox and makes

perfect sense, to an unbiased researcher.

 

*Facts which cast serious doubt on the Aryan Invasion Theory*

 

• There is no evidence of an Aryan homeland outside of India mentioned anywhere

in the Vedas. On the contrary, the Vedas speak of the mighty Sarasvati River and

other places indigenous to India. To date, no evidence for a foreign intrusion

has been found, neither archaeological, linguistic, cultural nor genetic.

 

• There are more than 2,500 Archaeological sites, two-thirds of which are along

the recently discovered dried up Sarasvati River bed. These sites show a

cultural continuity with the Vedic literature from the early Harrapan

civilization up to the present day India.

 

 

The archaeological sites along the dried up Sarasvati River basin are

represented by black dots.

 

• Several independent studies of the drying up of the Sarasvati River bed,

all indicate the same time period of 1,900 B.C.E.

 

• The significance of establishing this date for the drying up of the

Sarasvati River is, that it pushes the date for the composition of the *Rig

Veda *back to approximately 3,000 B.C.E., as enunciated by the Vedic

tradition itself.

 

• The late dating of the Vedic literatures by indologists is based on

speculated dates of 1,500 B.C.E. for the Aryan Invasion and 1,200 B.C.E. for

the Rig Veda, both now disproved by scientific evidence.

 

Max Muller, the principal architect of the Aryan Invasion theory, admitted

the purely speculative nature of his Vedic chronology, and in his last work

published shortly before his death, *The Six Systems of Indian

Philosophy,*he wrote: " Whatever may be the date of the Vedic hymns,

whether 15 hundred

or 15,000 B.C.E., they have their own unique place and stand by themselves

in the literature of the world. "

 

 

 

*The Vedic Culture is indigenous to India*

 

It can be scientifically proven that the Vedic Culture is indigenous,

through archaeology, the study of cultural continuity, by linguistic

analysis, and genetic research.

 

For example, the language and symbolism found on the Harappan seals are

very Vedic. We find the Om symbol, the leaf of the Asvatta or holy banyan

tree, as well as the swastika, or sign of auspiciousness, mentioned

throughout the Vedas. Om is mentioned in the *Mundaka* and *Katha

Upanisads*as well as the

*Bhagavad Gita.*

 

The Holy Asvatta tree is mentioned in the *Aitareya* and *Satapata* *

Brahmanas* as well as the *Taittiriya* *Samhita* and *Katyayana* *Smrti*.

 

The pictoral script of these Harappan seals has been deciphered as

consistently Vedic and termed " Proto-brahmi, " as a pre-sanskrit script.

 

This piece of pottery from the lowest level of Harappan excavations with

pre-harappan writing is deciphered as *ila vartate vara,* referring to the

sacred land bounded by the Sarasvati River, described in the *Rig Veda.*

 

Additionally, other archaeological finds are culturally consistent, such as

the dancing girl, whose bracelets are similar to those worn by women of

Northwest India today as well as

 

the three stone Siva Lingas found in Harappa by M. S. Vats in 1940. The

worship of the Siva Linga is mentioned in the *Maha Narayana Upanisad* of

the *Yajur Veda* and is still ardently practiced today.

 

 

 

The Vedas were maligned by early indologists because of their disagreement

with their Eurocentric colonialists world view, a view which produced and

depended on the Aryan Invasion Theory. The fact that the Aryan Invasion

Theory has been seriously challenged recently by scholars and indologists,

adds credence to the Vedas as viable, accurate and indigenous sources of

information.

 

 

 

*Satellite imagery of the Dried Up Sarasvati River Basin*

 

Using modern scientific methods, such as satellite imagery and dating

techniques, it can be shown that the ancient statements of the Vedas are

factual, not mythical as erroneously propagated. High resolution satellite

images have verified descriptions in The Rig Veda of the descent of the

ancient Sarasvati River from it's source in the Himalayas to the Arabian

Sea.

 

* " Pure in her course from the mountains to the ocean, alone of streams

Sarasvati hath listened. "

*

 

The mighty Sarasvati River and it's civilization are referred to in the

Rig Veda more than fifty times, proving that the drying up of the Sarasvati

River was subsequent to the origin of the Rig Veda, pushing this date of

origin back into antiquity, casting further doubt on the imaginary date for

the so-called Aryan Invasion.

 

The Satellite image (above) clearly shows the Indus-Sarasvata river system

extending from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Here the Indus River is on

the left, outlined in blue, while the Sarasvati River basin is outlined in

green. The black dots are the many archeological sites or previous

settlements along the banks of the now dry Sarasvati River.

 

The drying up of the Sarasvati River around 1900 B.C.E. is confirmed

archaeologically. Following major tectonic movements or plate shifts in the

Earth's crust, the primary cause of this drying up was due to the capture of

the Sarasvati River's main tributaries, the Sutlej River and the Drishadvati

River by other rivers.

 

Although early studies, based on limited archaeological evidence produced

contradictory conclusions, recent independent studies, such as that of

archaeologist James Shaffer in 1993, showed no evidence of a foreign

invasion in the Indus Sarasvata civilization and that a cultural continuity

could be traced back for millennia.

 

In other words, Archaeology does not support the Aryan Invasion Theory.

 

 

 

* Evidence for the Ancient Port City of Dvaraka*

 

Marine archaeology has also been utilized in India off the coast of the

ancient port city of Dvaraka in Gujarat, uncovering further evidence in

support of statements in the Vedic scriptures. An entire submerged city at

Dvaraka, the ancient port city of Lord Krishna with its massive fort walls,

piers, warfs and jetty has been found in the ocean as described in the *

Mahabharata* and other Vedic literatures.

 

This sanskrit verse from the Mausala Parva of the *Mahabharata*, describes

the disappearance of the city of Dvaraka into the sea.

 

* " After all the people had set out, the ocean flooded Dvaraka, which

still teemed with wealth of every kind. Whatever portion of land was passed

over, the ocean immediately flooded over with its waters. " *

 

Dr. S. R. Rao, formerly of the Archaeological Survey of India, has

pioneered marine archaeology in India. Marine archaeological findings seem

to corroborate descriptions in the *Mahabharata* of Dvaraka as a large,

well-fortified and prosperous port city, which was built on land reclaimed

from the sea, and later taken back by the sea. This lowering and raising of

the sea level during these same time periods of the 15th and 16th centuries

B.C.E. is also documented in historical records of the country of Bahrain.

 

Amongst the extensive underwater discoveries were the massive Dvaraka city

wall, a large door-socket and a bastion from the fort wall.

 

Two rock-cut slipways of varying width, extending from the beach to the

intertidal zone, a natural harbor, as well as a number of olden stone ship

anchors were discovered, attesting to Dvaraka being an ancient port city.

 

The three headed motif on this conch-shell seal (above), found in the

Dvaraka excavations, corroborates the reference in the scripture

*Harivamsa*that every citizen of Dvaraka should carry a

*mudra* or seal of this type.

 

All these underwater excavations add further credibility to the validity of

the historical statements found in the Vedic literatures.

 

 

 

*Thirty-five Archaeological Sites in North India*

 

Apart from Dvaraka, more than thirty-five sites in North India have yielded

archaeological evidence and have been identified as ancient cities described

in the *Mahabharata.* Copper utensils, iron, seals, gold & silver ornaments,

terracotta discs and painted grey ware pottery have all been found in these

sites. Scientific dating of these artifacts corresponds to the

non-aryan-invasion model of Indian antiquity.

 

Furthermore, the *Matsya* and *Vayu Puranas* describe great flooding which

destroyed the capital city of Hastinapur, forcing its inhabitants to

relocate in Kausambi. The soil of Hastinapur reveals proof of this flooding.

Archaeological evidence of the new capital of Kausambi has recently been

found which has been dated to the time period just after this flood.

 

 

 

 

 

*Kurukshetra*

 

 

 

Similarly, in Kurukshetra, the scene of the great *Mahabharata* war, Iron

arrows and spearheads have been excavated and dated by thermoluminence to

2,800 B.C.E., the approximate date of the war given within the

*Mahabharata*itself.

 

The *Mahabharata* also describes three cities given to the Pandavas, the

heroes of the *Mahabharata*, after their exile:

 

Paniprastha, Sonaprastha & Indraprastha, which is Delhi's Puranaqila. These

sites have been identified and yielded pottery & antiquities, which show a

cultural consistency & dating consistent for the *Mahabharata* period, again

verifying statements recorded in the Vedic literatures.

 

 

 

*Renowned Thinkers Who Appreciated the Vedic Literatures*

 

Although early indologists, in their missionary zeal, widely vilified the

Vedas as primitive mythology, many of the worlds greatest thinkers admired

the Vedas as great repositories of advanced knowledge and high thinking

 

 

Arthur Schopenhauer, the famed German philosopher and writer, wrote that: I

" ...encounter [in the Vedas] deep, original, lofty thoughts... suffused with

a high and holy seriousness. "

 

The well-known early American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, read the Vedas

daily. Emerson wrote: " I owed a magnificent day to the *Bhagavat-Gita* "

 

Henry David Thoreau said: " In the morning I bathe my intellect in the

stupendous philosophy of the *Bhagavad Gita*... in comparison with which...

our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial. "

 

So great were Emerson and Thoreau's appreciation of Vedantic literatures

that they became known as the American transcendentalists. Their writings

contain many thoughts from Vedic Philosophy.

 

Other famous personalities who spoke of the greatness of the Vedas were:

Alfred North Whitehead (British mathematician, logician and philosopher),

who stated that: " Vedanta is the most impressive metaphysics the human mind

has conceived. "

 

Julius Robert Oppenheimer, the principle developer of the atomic bomb,

stated that " The Vedas are the greatest privilege of this century. " During

the explosion of the first atomic bomb, Oppenheimer quoted several

Bhagavad-gita verses from the 11th chapter, such as:

 

" Death I am, cause of destruction of the worlds... "

 

When Oppenheimer was asked if this is the first nuclear explosion, he

significantly replied: " Yes, in modern times, " implying that ancient nuclear

explosions may have previously occurred.

 

 

Lin Yutang, Chinese scholar and author, wrote that: " India was China's

teacher in trigonometry, quadratic equations, grammar, phonetics... " and so

forth.

 

Francois Voltaire stated: " ... everything has come down to us from the banks

of the Ganges. "

 

From these statements we see that many renowned intellectuals believed that

the Vedas provided the origin of scientific thought.

 

 

 

*The Iron Pillar of Delhi *

 

The Vedic literatures contain descriptions of advanced scientific

techniques, sometimes even more sophisticated than those used in our modern

technological world.

 

Modern metallurgists have not been able to produce iron of comparable

quality to the 22 foot high Iron Pillar of Delhi, which is the largest hand

forged block of iron from antiquity.

 

This pillar stands at mute testimony to the highly advanced scientific

knowledge of metallurgy that was known in ancient India. Cast in

approximately the 3rd century B.C., the six and a half ton pillar, over two

millennia has resisted all rust and even a direct hit by the artillary of

the invading army of Nadir Shah during his sacking of Delhi in 1737.

 

 

 

*

*

 

*

*

 

*Vedic Cosmology*

 

 

Vedic Cosmology is yet another ancient Vedic science which can be confirmed

by modern scientific findings and this is acknowledged by well known

scientists and authors, such as Carl Sagan and Count Maurice Maeterlinck,

who recognized that the cosmology of the Vedas closely parallels modern

scientific findings.

 

Carl Sagan stated, " Vedic Cosmology is the only one in which the time scales

correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology. "

 

Nobel laureate Count Maurice Maeterlinck wrote of: " a Cosmogony which no

European conception has ever surpassed. "

 

French astronomer Jean-Claude Bailly corroborated the antiquity and

accuracy of the Vedic astronomical measurements as " more ancient than those

of the Greeks or Egyptians. " And that, " the movements of the stars

calculated 4,500 years ago, does not differ by a minute from the tables of

today. "

 

The ninety foot tall astronomical instrument known as Samrat Yantra, built

by the learned King Suwai Jai Singh of Jaipur, measures time to within two

seconds per day.

 

Cosmology and other scientific accomplishments of ancient India spread to

other countries along with mercantile and cultural exchanges. There are

almost one hundred references in the Rig Veda alone to the ocean and

maritime activity. This is confirmed by Indian historian R. C. Majumdar, who

stated that the people of the Indus-Sarasvata Civilization engaged in trade

with Sooma and centers of culture in western Asia and Crete.

 

 

 

*The Heliodorus Column and Cultural Links to India*

 

An example of these exchanges is found in the inscriptions on the Heliodorus

Column, erected in 113 B.C.E. by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador to India,

and convert to Vaisnavism, as well as the 2nd century B.C.E. Coins of

Agathocles, showing images of Krishna and Balaram. These artifacts stand

testimony that Sanatan Dharma predates Christianity.

 

This also confirms the link between India and other ancient civilizations

such as Greece and shows that there was a continuous exchange of culture,

philosophy and scientific knowledge between India & other countries. Indeed

the Greeks learned many wonderful things from India.

 

 

 

*Vedic Mathematics*

 

Voltaire, the famous French writer and philosopher) stated that

" Pythagoras went to the Ganges to learn geometry. " Abraham Seidenberg,

author of the authoritative " History of Mathematics, " credits the *Sulba

Sutras* as inspiring all mathematics of the ancient world from Babylonia to

Egypt to Greece.

 

As Voltaire & Seidenberg have stated, many highly significant mathematical

concepts have come from the Vedic culture, such as:

 

 

The theorem bearing the name of the Greek mathematician Pythagorus is found

in the *Shatapatha Brahmana* as well as the *Sulba Sutra*, the Indian

mathematical treatise, written centuries before Pythagorus was born.*

** *

 

 

The Decimal system, based on powers of ten, where the remainder is carried

over to the next column, first mentioned in the *Taittiriya Samhita* of the

*Black Yajurveda.

*

 

 

The Introduction of zero as both a numerical value and a place marker.*

*

 

 

The Concept of infinity.*

*

* *

 

The Binary number system, essential for computers, was used in Vedic verse

meters.

 

 

A hashing technique, similar to that used by modern search algorithms, such

as Googles, was used in South Indian musicology. From the name of a raga one

can determine the notes of the raga from this Kathapayadi system. (See

Figure at left.)

 

For further reading we refer you to this excellent article on Vedic

Mathematics <http://www.gosai.com/science/>.

 

 

 

*Vedic Sound and Mantras *

 

The Vedas however are not as well known for presenting historical and

scientific knowledge as they are for expounding subtle sciences, such as the

power of mantras. We all recognize the power of sound itself by it's

effects, which can be quite dramatic. Perhaps we all have seen a

high-pitched frequency shatter an ordinary drinking glass. Such a

demonstration shows that Loud Sounds can produce substantial reactions

 

It is commonly believed that mantras can carry hidden power which can in

turn produce certain effects. The ancient Vedic literatures are full of

descriptions of weapons being called by mantra. For example, many weapons

were invoked by mantra during the epic Kuruksetra War, wherein the

Bhagavad-gita itself was spoken.

 

The ancient deployment of Brahmastra weapons, equivalent to modern day

nuclear weapons are described throughout the Vedic literatures. Additionally,

mantras carry hidden spiritual power, which can produce significant benefits

when chanted properly. Indeed, the Vedas themselves are sound vibrations in

literary form and carry a profound message. Spiritual disciplines recommend

meditational practices such as silent meditation, silent recitation of

mantras and also the verbal repetition of specific mantras out loud.

 

A Clinical Test of the Benefits of Mantra Chanting was performed on three

groups of sixty-two subjects, males and females of average age 25. They

chanted the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra twenty-five minutes each day under strict

clinical supervision.

 

Results showed that regular chanting of the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra reduces

Stress and depression and helps reduce bad habits & addictions. These

results formed a PhD Thesis at Florida State University.

 

Spiritual practitioners claim many benefits from Mantra Meditation such as

increased realization of spiritual wisdom, inner peace and a strong

communion with God and the spiritual realm. These effects may be experienced

by following the designated spiritual path.

 

 

 

*Conclusion*

 

Most of the evidence given in this presentation is for the *apara vidya *or

material knowledge of the Vedic literatures. The Vedas however, are more

renowned for their *para vidya* or spiritual knowledge. And even superior is

the *realized knowledge* of the Vedic *rsis* or saints — that which is

beyond the objective knowledge of modern science — knowledge of the eternal

realm of *sat, cit ananda*, eternality, blissfullness and full knowledge.

But that is another presentation.

 

The *Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge* is available from DevaVision

Video Documentaries <http://www.devavision.org/> as a more extensive video.