BrahmaRasi and Abhijit
Nilesh Oak has cited the following verse and argued that Brahmarāśi is
another name for Abhijit, and that Abhijit functioned as the North Pole
star during the Rāmāyaṇa era:
27
मरामशषवाशुधच शुधाच परमिाय । अथचामत काश वं सवे दणम् ॥
Since ancient Indian texts are composed in Sanskrit, a sound understanding
of Sanskrit grammar (vyākaraṇa) is essential for accurate translation. Any
interpretation must strictly conform to grammatical rules. However, the
translation proposed by Nilesh Oak appears to violate basic principles of
Sanskrit grammar. In Sanskrit, a viśeṣaṇa adjective) must agree with its
viśeṣya (noun) in both vibhakti (case) and vacana (number).
• “षवशुध” (viśuddhaḥ) qualifies “मरामश” (brahmarāśiḥ)
• “शुधा” (śuddhāḥ) qualifies “परमिाय” (paramarṣayaḥ) Both मरामश” and “परमिाय”
are in the nominative case (prathamā vibhakti) and function as the subjects
(kartā) of the verb “काशते ” (prakāśante). In contrast, “ वम् ” (dhruvam)
is in the accusative case (dvitiyā vibhakti). Since these words are in
different cases, they cannot stand in a viśeṣaṇa–viśeṣya relationship.
Therefore, मरामश” cannot be interpreted as “Dhruva” and the translation
suggesting that “the seven sages revolve around Brahmarāśi (Abhijit), the
pole star” is thus grammatically untenable. Another fact is that the word
“rāśi” in Sanskrit means “a group” or “collection.” Therefore, Brahmarāśi
most plausibly refers to a group of stars (a constellation) rather than a
single star such as Abhijit. Furthermore, the epithet “viśuddha” (pure,
clear) is more appropriate for a cluster or constellation, not for an
individual star. If Brahmarāśi were intended to denote a specific nakṣatra
like Abhijit, the use of “viśuddha” would be semantically less appropriate.
The verse therefore describes the Brahmarāśi group of stars and the
Saptarshis are revolving around Dhruva (the pole). This is consistent with
the circumpolar motion of certain stars around the celestial pole, rather
than the identification of a specific star as the pole itself. The Ramayana
explicitly mentions Abhijit Nakṣatra elsewhere, particularly in the
kiṣkindhā
Kāṇḍa:
अि पवनसमानषवमा लववरा ततलधपौरिा ।
अमभजिदमभमुखां हदशं ययु िनकसुता पररमााणमुखा॥
Here, the phrase “अमभजि अमभमुखां हदशं ” clearly means “the direction facing
Abhijit Nakṣatra.” This indicates that Abhijit is treated as a distinct
celestial reference point, separate from Brahmarāśi. Therefore, the claim
that Abhijit was the pole star during the Rāmāyaṇa era based on this verse
is linguistically and contextually untenable. Nilesh Oak also argued that,
since Brahmā is the presiding deity of Abhijit, Brahmarāśi and Abhijit must
be identical. While Abhijit is indeed well known as Brāhma Nakṣatra, the
28
Parāśaratantra clearly distinguishes between Brāhma Nakṣatra and Brahmarāśi
in its descripitition of the comet Chālaketu:
पचदशविाशतं यहदत पजचमेनांमलपवामाां मशखां दणामभनतां क वा कमलकेतचाराते
नभजभामनुचरन् यिा यिा चरेण ितत तिा तिा शूलाकारां मशखां दशायन् मनपस
यामना वं मरामशम् सतिीन् प शन् नभस अधामा णमनुयातं ितत ॥
“The comet Chālaketu, rising 115 years aſter Kaliketu in the west, with a
tail resembling the length of a finger joint and inclined southward,
traverses one-third of the sky. As it moves northward, displaying a head
shaped like the p of a trident, it approaches the Brāhma Nakṣatra
(Abhijit), then touches Dhruva, Brahmarāśi, and the Saptarṣis, before
turning southward and settng aſter traversing half the sky.”
As noted by R. N. Iyengar:
“The mention of both Brāhma-Nakṣatra and Brahma-Rāśi creates
interpretational difficulty. From the context, these must denote two distinct
stations of the comet. Brahmarāśi most probably refers to the constellation
Lyra.” The passage in the Parāśaratantra clearly identifies Brāhma Nakṣatra
(Abhijit), Dhruva, Brahmarāśi, and the Saptarṣi constellation as four
distinct celestial reference points encountered by the comet. This
distinction makes it evident that Brahmarāśi cannot be equated with Brāhma
Nakṣatra (Abhijit).
While R. N. Iyengar tentatively identifies Brahmarāśi with the
constellation Lyra, evidence from the Mahabharata suggests a different
possibility: वानुव क वा च वणे पावकभ । मरामशं समाव ृ
य लहहतायवजित ॥ This verse indicates that Mars (Lohitāṅga), aſter executing
retrograde motion, entered Śravaṇa Nakṣatra and became positioned in
Brahmarāśi. This implies that Śravaṇa and Brahmarāśi lay along the same
ecliptic region. On this basis, it is more plausible to identify Brahmarāśi
with the constellation Cygnus, rather than Lyra.
Oceanographic Constraints on the Date of the Rāmāyaṇa Oceanographic and
paleoclimatic studies provide an important independent line of evidence for
constraining the chronology of the Ramayana. In particular, reconstructions
of post-glacial sea-level rise offer a framework for estimating both an
upper and a lower bound for the period in which the events associated with
Rāma Setu could have occurred.
Geological evidence indicates that Sri Lanka remained connected to the
Indian peninsula until at least 6000 BCE. This connection was progressively
submerged due to rapid sea-level rise following the end of the last Ice
Age. One of the most significant events in this process was the Meltwater
Pulse 1C (MWP-1C), which occurred approximately between 6200–5600 BCE.
29 During this interval, global sea levels rose by roughly 6–7 meters
within a relatively short span of time.
This rapid rise would have led to the submergence of low-lying regions,
including the area of Rāma Setu between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar. At
present, this region lies at a shallow depth of approximately 1–10 meters
below sea level, indicating that it was once either exposed or only
minimally submerged.
The Setu (bridge) described in the Ramayana likely involved raising or
reinforcing an existing shallow ridge. It is plausible that Nala elevated
the structure by a modest margin—perhaps up to ~2 meters through
landfilling. In such a scenario, the original seabed in certain sections
must have been significantly shallower, implying that local sea levels were
a few meters lower than at present prior to submergence.
Furthermore, historical accounts suggest that parts of the Rāma Setu
remained partially traversable even in the early medieval period,
reinforcing the idea that it was originally a shallow or emergent formation
gradually submerged over time.
Reconstructing the Length of Yojana in the Rāmāyaṇa Era The Ramayana
further suggests that the submerged stretch between Dhanushkodi and
Talaimannar extended up to 100 yojanas, at least during high tide. इत वीपे
समुय संपूणे शतयिने । तजमन् लंका पुरी रया तनममाता षववकमाणा ॥ According to
the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Nala constructed the Ramasetu (Nalasetu) with a length of
100 yojanas and a width of 10 yojanas. The Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa also mentions
that the Pāriyātra mountain has a height of 100 yojanas. These references
suggest that the yojana of the Rāmāyaṇa period differed significantly from
that of later periods, particularly the Mahābhārata and post-Mahabharata
eras.
It appears that the yojana used during the Rāmāyaṇa era was much
smaller—possibly about one hundredth of the later standard. This shiſt in
scale may explain why the Purāṇas describe Mount Meru as having a height of
100 yojanas, whereas Aryabhata gives only one yojana height for Mount Meru.
Archaeological findings indicate that 10 divisions of the Mohenjo-Daro scale
are equal to a Dhanurgaha or 4 Angulas. Thus, the precise length of an
angula works out to be 16.764 mm or 1.6764 cm. Accordingly, the ancient
units of measurements of the Ramayana era are as follows:
• 1 Aṅgula ≈ 1.6764 cm
• 1 Dhanusha = 96 Aṅgulas ≈ 1.6093 meters
• 80 Dhanusha = 1 Yojana =128.744 meters
• 100 Yojanas = 12.87 km
30
The internal evidence of Vedic, post-Vedic, and Rāmāyaṇa-era texts suggests
that one yojana was approximately 128.744 meters (equal to 80 dhanushas),
while one Aśvīna measured about 12.87 km (8000 dhanushas). On this basis,
the Setu constructed by Nala would have had a length of approximately 12.87
km.
This implies that the submerged stretch between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar
during the Rāmāyaṇa era was about 13 km, whereas today the shallow chain
extends to roughly 48 km (≈30 miles). Such an increase is consistent with
post-glacial sea-level rise.
A comparable unit is found in ancient Greece. Robert A. Bauslaugh provides
an appendix lisng each occurrence of the term stadion in Thucydides, along
with the corresponding actual distances. He concludes that Thucydides’
stadion ranged between 130 and 260 meters, with approximately 77% of the
instances falling between 150 and 200 meters. It is therefore plausible
that an earlier or standard value of the stadion was close to 130 meters,
which is comparable to the Rāmāyaṇa-era yojana. This similarity raises the
possibility that early systems of measurement may have diffused westward,
perhaps through cultural interacons across regions. The Valmiki Ramayana
provides the dimensions of the city of Ayodhyā in terms of yojanas, stang
that its length was twelve yojanas and its breadth was three yojanas:
आयता दश च वे च यिनातन महापुरी । मती ीणण षवतीणाा सुषवभता महापिा ॥
Using the reconstructed measure of the Rāmāyaṇa-era yojana (≈128.7 meters),
these dimensions correspond approximately to the length of 12 yojanas (1.54
km) and the breadth of 3 yojanas (386 meters).
These proportions suggest a well-planned, elongated urban settlement, with
a clear axial layout and organized road systems (mahāpatha). While modest
in size by modern standards, uch dimensions are consistent with an early
historic or late prehistoric administrative center, esigned for efficient
governance, defense, and habitation.
The use of the yojana in this context also reinforces the view that the
yojana of the Rāmāyaṇa era was significantly smaller—possibly about one
hundredth of the later standard adopted prior to the Mahabharata era. This
reinterpretaon also helps reconcile statements such as that of
Aryabhata—“Merur-yojanamātraḥ”—which implies that the earlier measure of
100 yojanas (≈12.87 km) for Mount Meru was later expressed as one yojana
(≈12.87 km) aſter a rescaling of units.
The Rigveda employs the term yojana on more than twenty occasions. Its
approximate measure may be inferred from the following verse:
31
दशावतनय दशकयेय दशयेय दशयिनेय।
दशाभीशुय अचातािरेय दश धुर दश युता वहय॥ (10.94.7)
In this context, avani in Sanskrit is understood to denote fingers. The span
of a wide open palm (four fingers spread) may be approximated at about 12.87
cm. On this basis, ten avanis equal one kakṣya (12.87 cm × 10 = 1.287 m),
ten kakṣyas equal one yoktra (12.87 m), and ten yoktras equal one yojana
(128.7 m). Further corroboraon appears in the Panchavimsha Brahmana
(25.10.17) and the Lātyāyana Śrautasūtra (15.1; 17.1–19; 19.1–15), which
describe the Sarasva Satra. These texts record the distance between Plakṣa
Prasravaṇa and Vinaśana as 44 aśvinas, with one aśvina approximang 12.87
km. Plakṣa Prasravaṇa is tradionally idenfied with a spring near Mana
village at Keshav Prayag, while Vinaśana is plausibly located near Uchana
in Haryana. The computed distance—about 566 km (44 × 12.87 km)—aligns well
with the geography, supporng the idenficaon of Uchana as Vinaśana, where
the Sarasva River is elieved to have disappeared along its southwestern
course.
This relationship implies that one aśvina equalled one hundred yojanas in
the Vedic and post- Vedic periods. The Rigveda also refers to a horse
(aśva) possessing 34 ribs, a feature consistent with the fossil species
Equus sivalensis identified from the Siwalik region. It appears that such
horses could cover approximately 12.87 km in a day, giving rise to the unit
aśvina. With the extinction of the Siwalik horse aſter 8000 BCE, the term
aśvina gradually fell out of use, while yojana continued as the standard
unit of distance. Thus, from the Vedic period through the era of the
Ramayana, one aśvina corresponded to ~12.87 km, and one yojana to ~128.7
meters. This framework explains why the Rāmasetu described in the Ramayana
is said to be 100 yojanas in length—equivalent to approximately 12.87 km
under this system.
K RAJARAM IRS PRT 7 7626\---------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Thatha_Patty" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZorTKwhE1UxhEmdMhRpNQL1YiXA%3DrAv6GS2xLxZX1P2dsg%40mail.gmail.com.
