Antiquity and Continuity of Vedic Culture

1. Antiquity and Continuity of Vedic Culture Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

2. Sources of History • Vedic Literature • Puraan, Ramayan, Mahabharat • Zend Avesta, Greek Sources • Astromical, Philological, Archaelogical, Literary Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

3. Early Kings Manu the son of Vivasvan, was the 15th decendant of Barhi. Manu's decendants are called Manav. During his rule a terrible flood broke out. It is believed that a shark (First incarnation of Vishnu) helped Manu survive the floods. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

4. Swayambhuva Manu • Kaliyug : 3102 B.C (Varahamihira, Kalhana, Arya Bhatta, Vruddha Garga, Puraan) • ChaturYuga Cycle : 12000 human years (4800 years Kruta, 3600 Treta, 2400 Dwapar, 1200 Kali) • Vaivasta Manu: 13902 B.C (10,800 years before Kali) • Swayambhuva Manu: 29000 B.C (71 Divya Years before) 1 Divya Year = 360 human years) • The Matsya Puraan (129-76, 77) confirms • B.G.Tilak in his "Orion" has calculated 29101 B.C., using astronomical data Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

5. “Bhaarat” Origins • King Nahush caretaker of Indra's Kingdom • King Yayati's thirst to remain young • Yayati rewards his youngest son Puru • Shakuntala is born to Apsara Menakaa • Prince Dushyant secretly marries Shakuntala. • Shakuntala looses the ring, that proves her to be Dushyant's wife. • Ring is found. Return of Shakuntala. • King Bharat. After whom the country is called Bhaarat. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

6. Cradle of Civilization • Where? • When? • Spread? Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

7. 40,000 year old Painting • White silica sandstone rock shelter • Bhimbetka Caves • Notice the horse with rider Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

8. River System • Sapta-Sindhu Region • Saraswati changes course 4 times • Finally disappears Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

9. Saraswati Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

10. Saraswati-Sindhu Culture • 300 cities & many supporting villages covered 1,500,000 sq. km. Bigger than Western Europe. • Most cities were shaped as parallelograms. • Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa had populations of 100,000. • Cities had giant reservoirs for water. • Underground drainage system. • 2 or 3 storied houses, built with bricks of uniform size. • Weights were standardized. • The entire empire used same script. • Marine culture. A huge dock in Lothal. • They exported goods to Egypt (Nile) and Sumer (Iraq, Tigris-Euphrates). Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

11. RgVedic Places Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

12. Outbound Migration • War • Famine, Flood • Commerce Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

13. Dasharadnya Yuddha (War of Ten Kings) • Iranian (Abhivarta) Chayamana – King of Paarthava people • Bhaaradwaj Rishi, Commander Divodaasa (Father Daivavatata, Son Sudas) • Sudas (Vasishtha, Agastya) • Sindhu River – Migration to East and West Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

14. Paarthava and Bharata Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

15. Hindu Kush Region Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

16. Zarathushtra • Vedic Iranian (Dasyu) • Zarathustra, a contemporary of king Vishtaspa (Sage Kaksivan speaks of one Istasva) lived around 7100 B.C. • Greeks Herodotus / Strabo: Caspian Sea and Caucasus mountains are named from Sage Kaspios (Sage Kashyapa of the Rg Veda) Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

17. Migration to West (Tigris, Euphrates) Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

18. Migration to the West Iran-Iraq • Charles Vallency quotes Sir William Jones as saying "It has been proved by clear evidence and plain reasoning that a powerful monarchy was established in Iran, long before the Assyrian or Pishdadi government; that it was in truth a Hindu monarchy ... that is subsisted many centuries.." (Collectania De Rebus Hibernicus, p.465). • Pococke observes, "that a system of Hinduism pervaded the whole Babylonian and Assyrian empires" Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

19. Migration to the West Europe / Greece • Renfrew allows a date as early as 6000 B.C. for the migration of Vedic aryans into Europe ("The Origins of Indo- European Languages", Sc.Amer, Oct, 1989). Egypt • Prof. Brugsch Bey writes in "History of Egypt" that "We have a right to more than suspect that India, eight thousand years ago, sent a colony of emigrants who carried their arts and high civilization into what is now known to us as Egypt. The Egyptians came, according to their records, from a mysterious land (now known to lie on the shores of the Indian ocean) ... led by Amen, Hor, Hathor (Brahma, Hari, Rudra)..." Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

20. Migration to the West Greece • Pococke writes in "India in Greece" (quoted in Age of Buddha, by K.Venkatachalam, p.75), "The early civilization, the early arts, the indubitably early literature of India are equally the civilization of, the arts, and literature of Egypt and of Greece; for geographical references conjoined to historical facts and religious practices, now prove beyond all dispute than the latter countries are the colonies of the former". • The Greeks (and Egyptians) derived their cosmogony from the Hindus is apparent from their respective literature (Deshpandey, "Bharat: As seen and known by foreigners"). Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

21. Great Epics • Ramayana • Mahabharat • Migration to East, Far West Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

22. Ramayana 5500 B.C Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

23. Evidence • Tradition informs that Mahabharata occurred at the end of Dwaapar Yuga and Ramayana at the end of Treta Yuga. • Some clues from Sumerian clay tablets, Isin and Kish chronicles which approximate the date of the first king (Ukhu == Iksh-vaku) of the first dynasty of Sumeria to be 8350 B.C. • Shree Rama was 75th in Ikshwaku lineage and that 60 generations passed between Shree Rama and Shree Krishna. … (Shrimad Bhagvat) that Ramayanic date therefore falls at about 5300 B.C. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

24. Rama Setu • Fictitious? • 30 km long – Ramaeshwar and Srilanka Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

25. Ramayana Abroad • Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Easy Asia • Japan and China from Jataka • Cold Siberia • Mayans of Mexico, Poetry Peru and Vishnu Temple in Uruguay • “work of the Nazca people for navigational aid”. According to local legend, this carved trident represents the lightning rod of the god Viracocha, who was worshipped throughout South America. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

26. Ramayana in South East Asia • Prambanan was built in Java, Indonesia by Rakai Pikatan, king of the Second Mataram Dynasty (late 9th century AD). • Lions flee as Ravana uproots the mountain where Shiva sits with his consort Parvati. (Temple relief Angkor, Cambodia ) Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

27. Ramayana in South East Asia • Rama, Sita and Lakshmana enter the forest ( Golden Gong Puppet Theatre (Yok the pwe, marionettes)  Yangon, Myanmar Ravana kidnaps Sita.Lakhon bassac (folk opera), DaoTan Drama Theatre Binh Dinh, Vietnam Jatayu tries to rescue Sita. Detail of mural painting (late 18th C) at Wat Phra Si Ratana Satsadaram (Wat Phra Kaeo) Temple Bangkok, Thailand Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

28. Ramayana in South East Asia Hanuman delivers Rama's ring to Sita.  Khon (court dance drama), Natyasala Dance School Wiangchan, Laos The monkeys build a causeway of rocks to Ravana's kingdom. Hanuman dives below the sea and finds Suvarnamatsya, Wat That Luang Ratsamahawihan temple, Luang Phabang, Laos. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

29. Mahabharat 3138 B.C. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

30. Evidence • Archaeological evidence (Dwaraka, River Saraswati), inscriptions found at various places (Aihole, Belgaum, Nidhanpur) • Greek records (Megasthenes), etc. provide interesting clues to the dateline of the Mahabharat. • On one of the excavations obtained from the Egyptian Pyramid, dated to 3000 B.C, is found engraved a verse from the Bhagavad Geeta "vasanvsi jeernani yatha vihaya, navani ghrunnati naro parani" (Nava Bharat Times, 18-4-67). • A tablet found in the Mohenjodaro sites depicts Lord Krishna and is dated to be 2600 B.C (Mackay's report, Part 1) • According to B.B. Lal, horse bones, vestiges of the Ashwamedh, have been discovered at Hastinapur. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

31. Immense Destruction • Krishna leaves his earthly abode • Kaliyug descends • Dwaraka submerged • 1500 years pass • Heavy Migration occurs (Maya in Mexico, Bheema in Siberia) • Bhagavad Geeta is sung Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

32. Mahaveer Jain 1864 B.C. • Born near Pataliputra (Bihar) • Jaina tradition holds that Bhagawan Mahaveer (Vardhamaan) left this world 15 years after the death of Bhagawan Buddha (1807 B.C.), i.e., in 1792 B.C., and since Mahaveer lived for a span of 72 years, he must have been born in 1864 B.C. • He preached that right faith (samyak-darshana), right knowledge (samyak-jnana), and right conduct (samyak-charitra) together will help attain the liberation of one's self. • Nonviolence (Ahimsa), Truthfulness (Satya), Non-stealing (Asteya), Chastity (Brahmacharya), Non-attachment (Aparigraha) Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

33. Gautam Buddha • Siddhartha to Shuddhodana the king of Kapilavastu (Nepal). Married to Yashodhara, who soon gave birth to a son who they called Rahul. • Gautam Siddharta was 23rd in the Ikshwaku lineage • Contemporary of Kshemajita, Bindusar and Ajatashatru, the 31st-33rd kings of the Shishunaga dynasty • Coronation of Ajatashatru tookplace, that is in 1814 B.C. • Astronomical calculations suggest Gautam Siddharta to be 2259 years after the Bharata War (3138 B.C.). which turns out to be 1880 B.C. • Born in 1887 B.C., Renunciation in 1858 B.C., Penance during 1858-52 B.C and Death in 1807 B.C. Aarya-ashtangamarga (Eight-fold path) Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

34. Chandragupta Maurya 1534 B.C. • “Magadha” King • Greek chronicles silent on the names of Chanakya, Bindusar (his son) and even Ashoka (his grandson) • Shishunaga dynasty ruled for 360 years, beginning from 1994 B.C. • Nanda dynasty was 100 years (Mahapadma Nanda) • During this time dams were constructed on rivers for water storage and irrigation. Rainfall was measured. Silver coins were issued by the rulers to facilitate trade. (Earliest known coin is a coin issued by Ajatshatru.) Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

35. Aadi Shankaracharya 509 B.C. • Kaladi, Kerala (Sivaguru, Aaryamba) • Sri Govinda Bagawathpathar (Guru) • Established 4 “Maths” (pilgrimage site and seat of learning ) • Jotirmath, Badrinath, Uttar Pradesh • Govardhana Matha, Puri, Orrisa • Sringeri Peetham, Shringeri, Karnatak, • Dwaraka Pitha, Dwaraka, Gujarat) • Upholding the underlying unity of the holy land of Bharat. • Lived for 32 years (Quem di diligunt, adolescens moratur -- Whom the gods love, die young) Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

36. Alexander meets Puru King Porus Alexander Defeated Returns to the West Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

37. Gupta Dynasty • Gupta Dynasty • Xandramas, Sandrocotus, Sandracyptus • 2811 years after the Mahabharata War, i.e., corresponding to 328 B.C. • Sandrokotus of the Greeks, the political and social conditions in India at that time, match to those of in the era Chandragupta Gupta (not Maurya) • "Golden Age" in the history of India • Art and architecture, polity and politics, wealth and wisdom flourished side by side. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

38. Cholas in South East Asia Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

39. Aryan Migration Myth of the Aryan Invasion (1500 B.C) Cause a split between North and South, different castes, aboriginals Justification to rule Bharat Arya means noble, with good qualities (Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Chanakya) Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

40. RgVed – Oldest BookBelongs to All, irrespective of class, colour or creed • Astronomical References • Taiteriya Brahman (3:1:15), where Brushaspati (Jupiter) crossed the Pushya constellation, gives a date of 4650 B.C. • Aiteriya Brahmana refers to 6000 B.C. • From the calculation of the vernal equinox cycle, the Taiteriya Samhita provides dates that reach as far as 22000 B.C (Ref: Vartak, Tilak). • The life sized head has a hair style which the Vedas describe as being unique to Vasishtha... Carbon 14 tests indicate that it was cast around 3700 B.C., with an error in either direction of upto 800 years .. an age also confirmed by independent metallurgical tests" (J. of Indo-European Studies, v.18, 1990, p.425-46). Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

41. Conintuous History and Spread • Vedic culture had reached a state of supreme high idealism • Arya people wanted to propagate and share with rest of the world • From the original Sapta-Sindhu homeland, and later, from the regions of Caspian Sea, the Vedics appear to have migrated across the globe • “Dravid” were the early offshoots of the Vedic people through Sage Agastya • Common history of humanity • Commonality and affinity of the most ancient languages with Sanskrit Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

42. Timelines • Swayambhuva Manu 29,000 B.C. • Veda (early stages) 23,720 B.C. • Samhita (Taitiriya) 22,000 B.C. • Manu Chakshushu 17,500 B.C. • King Pruthu 16,050 B.C. • Manu Vaivasvata 14,000 B.C. • Indra-Skanda dialogue (Mahabharat) 13,000 B.C. • Glaciation period 8,000 B.C. • Dasharadnya War 7,000 B.C. • Ramayana 5,500 B.C. • Orion period 4,000 B.C. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

43. Timelines Continued • Greeks separate 4,000 B.C. • Rajatarangini begins 3,450 B.C. • Gonanda-I of Kashmir 3,238 B.C. • Mahabharata 3,138 B.C. • Veda (last stages) 3,100 B.C. • Saptarsi era begins 3,076 B.C. • Saraswati-Sindhu Culture 3,000 B.C. • Gautam Siddharta born 1,887 B.C. • Gautam Siddharta Nirvana 1,807 B.C. • Mahaveer Jain born 1,862 B.C. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh

44. Timelines Continued • Chandragupta Maurya 1,534 B.C. • Ashoka Maurya 1,482 B.C. • Ashoka Gonanda 1,448 B.C. Kanishka 1,294 B.C. • Kumarila Bhatta 557 B.C. • Vruddha Garga 550 B.C. • Aadi Shankaracharya born 509 B.C. • Harsha Vikramaditya 457 B.C. • Shatkarani Gautamiputra 433 B.C. Chandragupta Gupta 327 B.C. • Shakari Vikramaditya 57 B.C. • Shalivahan 78 A.D. • Huen-Tsang 625 A.D. • Kalhana (Kashmiri historian) 1,148 A.D Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh