Vedic Geography
Sujalaam, Sufalaam, Malyaja Sheetalaam
Vedic people were spread throughout the Indian sub-continent. But then, I found some more..
To my surprise, the entire World Geography was extensively described in the scriptures along with the details of their mountains, rivers and the races inhabiting them! Although the names and divisions of these landmasses understandably differ from what they are now, the very mention of them indicated a recognition of the vastness of our planet at that early age.
Ancient Indians called this planet 'Bhu-gol' or the Round Earth, proving advancement over the flat-Earth theory believed by almost every other Early civilization. In his famous Book on India, Alberuni, the medieval Islamic scholar quotes an Indian astronomer Brahmagupta to write-
"A man on Meru observes one identical star above the horizon in the zenith of Lanka, the country of demons, whilst a man in Lanka at the same time observes it above his head. Besides all astronomical observations are not correct unless we assume the globular shape of heaven and earth.
The Nav-grihas or Nine Planets
According to them, Hinduism in its present form developed through inter-mixing with the local indigenous traditions. However, as stated elsewhere, with new and new evidences pouring in everyday this view has been completely written off now!!
American scholar David Frawley in the book {Gods, Sages and Kings}, argues for an indigenous development of culture in India and subsequent migrations outwards towards the Middle-East and South-East Asia spreading the knowledge of Hinduism in the civilized world.
Today, Rome is widely accepted as the forbear of Western Civilization, but few people are aware, that excavations from the OLDEST Civilization of Italy, known as the Etruscan Civilization, has revealed artefacts with Hindu motifs on them!
Surprisingly, the Indus-Saraswati or Brahmi script has also been found on statues and tablets in the far off Easter Islands located in the south-Pacific sea!! These are one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands and are one of the mysteries of the modern world with 887 monumental statues, called Moai!
Is there a link between the people of Indus -Saraswati and of Easter Island ,could be because of similarity in the scripts is striking and more than 90 signs from both the places have been matched perfectly!! Chronologically, the people of Indus-Saraswati Civilization existed much before these statues were created but the similarity in scripts is intriguing and may point to long distance navigation abilities of the Harrapan people.
Still, recent developments such as the Discovery of Saraswati and its identification with the present-day Ghaggar-Hakra, have helped realize the antiquity of our civilization.
Sujalaam, Sufalaam, Malyaja Sheetalaam
Shasya Shyaamlaam Maataram..
The mighty Himalayas frame our northern border
Vedic people were spread throughout the Indian sub-continent. But then, I found some more..
To my surprise, the entire World Geography was extensively described in the scriptures along with the details of their mountains, rivers and the races inhabiting them! Although the names and divisions of these landmasses understandably differ from what they are now, the very mention of them indicated a recognition of the vastness of our planet at that early age.
Geography in ancient Hindu scriptures
Ancient Indians called this planet 'Bhu-gol' or the Round Earth, proving advancement over the flat-Earth theory believed by almost every other Early civilization. In his famous Book on India, Alberuni, the medieval Islamic scholar quotes an Indian astronomer Brahmagupta to write-
"A man on Meru observes one identical star above the horizon in the zenith of Lanka, the country of demons, whilst a man in Lanka at the same time observes it above his head. Besides all astronomical observations are not correct unless we assume the globular shape of heaven and earth.
Quoting another great astronomer-mathematician Varahamihira, he further writes:
"Mountains, seas, rivers, trees, cities, men, and angels, all are around the globe of the earth. And if Yamakoti and Rum are opposite to each other, one could not say that the one is low in relation to the other, since low does not exist… Every one speaks of himself, 'I am above and the others are below,' whilst all of them are around the globe like the blossoms springing on the branches of a Kadamb-tree."
The Nav-grihas or Nine Planets
Count Louis Hamon aka Cheiro, Irish author of several books on Science and the Occult, once remarked,
"People who in their ignorance disdain the wisdom of ancient races, forget that the great past of India contained secrets of life and philosophy that following civilizations were forced to accept. Ancient Hindus understood the Precession of Equinoxes and calculated it once in 25,870 years. The mathematical precision necessary to establish such a theory is the wonder of Astronomers even today!"
Seers and sages through their Yogic powers fathomed the deepest mysteries of Space and Time which the scientists today are still struggling to explain through logic and their supercomputers and space-telescopes.
While we get an overwhelming sense of Scientific advancement from the Vedic literature, what is not really clear even today is the geographical extent of the Vedic civilization. With the limited knowledge they had, earlier historians gave Aryan Invasion Theory first and the Aryan Migration Theory later suggesting the development of Vedic culture outside India.
Conservative estimate of extent of Hinduism Before Christ
"People who in their ignorance disdain the wisdom of ancient races, forget that the great past of India contained secrets of life and philosophy that following civilizations were forced to accept. Ancient Hindus understood the Precession of Equinoxes and calculated it once in 25,870 years. The mathematical precision necessary to establish such a theory is the wonder of Astronomers even today!"
Seers and sages through their Yogic powers fathomed the deepest mysteries of Space and Time which the scientists today are still struggling to explain through logic and their supercomputers and space-telescopes. While we get an overwhelming sense of Scientific advancement from the Vedic literature, what is not really clear even today is the geographical extent of the Vedic civilization. With the limited knowledge they had, earlier historians gave Aryan Invasion Theory first and the Aryan Migration Theory later suggesting the development of Vedic culture outside India.
Conservative estimate of extent of Hinduism Before Christ
According to them, Hinduism in its present form developed through inter-mixing with the local indigenous traditions. However, as stated elsewhere, with new and new evidences pouring in everyday this view has been completely written off now!!
American scholar David Frawley in the book {Gods, Sages and Kings}, argues for an indigenous development of culture in India and subsequent migrations outwards towards the Middle-East and South-East Asia spreading the knowledge of Hinduism in the civilized world.
Indus Valley Seals with Vedic motifs
The earliest Vedas themselves refer to their land as the Sapta Sindhu, or the 'Land of Seven Rivers', while the Nadistuti sukta, [RV 10.75] gives a list of ten rivers both East and West of the Indus. Rigvedic rivers mentioned, cover the stretch from Ganges plains in the East to Afghanistan in the West thus giving us a sense of the direction of movement of people from within India to outside!
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| Etruscan pendant with Swastika Motifs |
It's hard to conclusively decide the Geography of the Vedic Civilization as the Historians are of differing view-points and the archeological evidence is not fully understood. I hope once the Indus-Saraswati script is deciphered, it could give us some pointers about how true my educated guesses are.
Surprisingly, the Indus-Saraswati or Brahmi script has also been found on statues and tablets in the far off Easter Islands located in the south-Pacific sea!! These are one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands and are one of the mysteries of the modern world with 887 monumental statues, called Moai!
Easter Island Statues
Indus-Saraswati and Easter Island Scripts
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