Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge by David Osborn

[Guest guest]

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.