manusmriti gives its own duration of years etc of humans and gods and duration of the ages which is internally consistent for that text.

Mahabharata describes eclipse pairs and retrograde planets during the war and it seems Aryabhatta and Varahamihira were showing off their astrological knowledge to retro fit these to predict the dates.

http://sathyavaadi.tripod.com/truthisgo ... 020406.htm




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Before that- no one just bothered it seems or it was not a fashionable thing to do.

PD

Pankajdubey,

it is easy to find a date that fits one or two of the numerous astronomical clues that can be found in the Mahabharata epic. However, the eclipses of 11 and 25 Aug. 3129 BC do not fit the fact that in the end of Udyogaparva Krishna plans the beginning of the war for the new moon in Jyeshtha nakshatra. Neither does it fit the fact that in ch. 2 of Bhishmaparva the beginning of the war is indicated by a Karttika full moon and lunar eclipse. The new moon of 11 Aug. 3129 BC took place at the beginning of Hasta nakshatra (using Lahiri ayanamsha). This is more than two months before the sun entered Jyeshtha! The full moon on 25 Aug. was in Revati nakshatra, also completely wrong!

There have been numerous attempts, mostly among Hindu scholars, to date the Mahabharata war from its astronomical clues. In fact there is a Mahabharata-like war taking place about this question. No doubt most of those "heroes", if not all, will be "killed".

Dieter

varuna wrote:I believe the particular version I quoted is from the Swami Prabhupada translation, which consists of over 30 volumes.

Wasn't Prabhupada the founder of the Hare Krishna movement?

In my view his weren't classical, traditional Indian writings and teachings/ philosophy - but were directed towards (uprooted) Western kids (in order to heal their generational conflicts, maybe). Most of his followers were Westerners - who I always felt somehow "brainwashed", who underwent kind of a "regression" and in my view (sadly though) lost the Western achievement of rationality and their critical minds (too much sweet but poisonous, all-forgetting bhakti)...

Richard wrote:

Wasn't Prabhupada the founder of the Hare Krishna movement?

Yes. Hare Krishna is the popular name for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (or ISKCON), a religious movement based in Vaishnavite Hinduism. Established in America in 1965, the Hare Krishna worship the Hindu god Krishna as the one Supreme God. Their goal is "Krishna consciousness" and their central practice is chanting the Hare Krishna mantra for which they are named.

The movement was one of the first prominent eastern religious groups to operate in the west from the mid-1960's onwards. However, ISKCON has its historical roots in the Caitanya (or Gaudiya) movement of Hinduism, which began around 1510 with an ascetic who took the name Sri Krishna Caitanya. This devotee of Krishna became renowned for his ecstatic devotion, expressed in dance and song. His disciples believed Caitanya to be manifestation of Krishna himself, and established a movement based on his inspiration. The International Society for Krishna Conciousness (ISKCON) is a modern movement within this tradition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudiya_Vaishnava

Of course the western cultural context ISKON operates in is very different from medieval India and the movement has been controversial for its aggressive proselytising methods and accusations of 'cult like' characteristics from its opponents.

The late American writer Richard Thompson (aka Sadaputa Dasa) (1947 - 2008) who Varuna has quoted extensively here was a follower of this group:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_L._Thompson

As Mark has very nicely pointed out that while Prabhupada started ISKCON but he was an initiate of a particular sect of Vaishnavism and he was generally true to the teachings of that sect.The issue is how the Gaudiyas approach Krishna and this is described as "Dasaanudasa bhava" i.e being the servant(Dasa) of Krishna's servant.This is why all the initiates tend to take the names as Dasa or Dasi(female).

ISKCON has had its issues after the death of their founder but seem to have got over it.

PD