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Mathomathis would like to present the following article on Buddhist Conception Of The World; The following article is available more on Shodhganga. The Buddhist texts and commentaries furnishes with the Buddhist conception of the world and the system, of which it forms a constituent. But in most cases the descriptions seem to he very much fictitious. Sober geography happens’ to appear before us only when the known and familiar places or countries are to be described. Thus the account of Jambudvipa or the Indian subcontinent is much more reliable from the geographical point of view than that of extra-Indian continents or countries. The oldest Buddhist texts describe the universe as consisting of a single circular world system which is termed as Cakkavala by them. It is surrounded by a mountain of iron which is known as Cakkavala and to which the world system owes its name. These Buddhist authors while describing the Cakkaval (= Sanskrit Cakravala)-cosmos, do not present any sort of interpretation before us and are satisfied only by cataloguing some names and measurements. The basic outlines of the single world system of the “Cakravala-cosmology,, are more or less the same throughout the Buddhist literature and form a prominent feature of the Pali texts as well as the Buddhist Sanskrit ones. The Mahaprajna-piramita-shastra and the Abhidharmakos’a, for instance, are in almost complete agreement with the details of Pali canon and commentaries in this regard. The single circular world system, however, is a prominent feature of also the Hindu and Jain cosmologies, though with many important differences in detail. Randy Kloetzli in his “Buddhist Cosmology” brings out beautifully the essential difference between the two in the following lines: “Stated briefly, it appears that the Pali Cakkavila.is intended as a more or less practical guide to the Bhikkhu in his meditations, while the Sanskrit Cakravala is part of a more self-consciously speculative system”. The Cakkavala is represented as a disk surrounded by seven circular golden mountain ranges. These mountain ranges are arranged concentrically, with Mt. Meru at the centre and the Cakkavala wall of iron at the perimeter. Proceeding outward from the center, the mountains are known as Meru, Yugandhara, Isadhara, Khadirika, Sudassana, Assakenna, Vinataka, Nimindhara and Cakkavala. Mt. Meru has a height of 80,000 yojanas and each of the mountain ranges is one half of the height of the preceding range. All of the mountains except the Cakkavila ring which is made of iron, are excrescences of the golden earth. The excellent waters of the various seas (Sita) fill the regions between the mountain ranges. The mountains penetrate these waters in an extent equal to their height. The inhabited land masses are situated in the great ocean (mahasamudra) which flows about the seventh mountain range. The four land masses located at the points of compass are spoken of as islands (dvipa, Pali dipa), and are known as Purvavideha (Eastern Yideha) in the east, Jambudvipa in the south, Aparagoyana or Ap aragodaniya (Western Pasturage) in the west and Uttarakuru (Northern Kuru-land) in the north. These four islands of the Cakkavala are distinguished from each other in a number of way, particularly with regard to the size, shape and duration of life of their inhabitants. These four Great continents are lit up in succession at an interval of six hours from each other by the sun turning round Meru. All these are said to rest bn a layer of golden earth (Kancanamayi bhumi) which: is definitely fictitious. The importance of this conception, however, cannot be doubted. The Puranas also speak of the lokaloka mountain which surrounds the circular world and is composed of the golden earth. No ring mountain is to be found in the Puranas although a series of seven ring islands and seven seas 5 encircling them occur in.their places. It may be said that the concentric islands and the seven surrounding seas of the Puranas are juxtaposed to the circular mountain system of the Buddhist cosmology.’” The interest of the oldest Buddhist tradition in this regard seems to have been limited to a single world system. But we also find traces of themes associated with multiple world systems in Pali canonical texts. A 10,000 world system .6 is mentioned in the Jatakas, though with little elaboration. It has been dealt with in a systematic way in Buddhaghosa’s Atthasalinl,~” commentary on the Dhammasanganl, which states, that four things are infinite, viz., space, the number of universe, the number of living beings and the wisdom of the Buddha In the Majjhima Nikaya (Samkharuppatti sutta) a sahasso brahma governing a sahassl lokadhatu has been distinguished from a dvisahasso brahma, a trisahasso brahma, a catussahasso brahma, pancasahasso brahma and a satasahasso brahma. These gods rule over 1,000 up to (1000∧100) worlds In the Buddhist Sanskrit text Mahavastu we read that the Buddhaksetra is the equivalent of sixtyone. triple chiliocosms, while an upaksetra is four times as large Ekasastim trisahasrani Buddhaksetram pariksitam Ato caturgunam jneyam upaksetram tathividhsm. The Mahaprajna-para-mitasastra and the Avatamsakasutra also speak of this thousand world system. For the most part, however, it is the trisahasra mahasahasra lokadhatu which emerges as the cosmological equivalent of the buddhaksetra. A very well-known passage on this concept, occurs m the Anguttara Nikaya. Now, we may speak a few words about the great mountain Mem or Maha Meru. According to some scholars Mt. Meru appears to be an exaggeration of the Himalayan range. It has been described as being at the summit and at the base 10,000 yojanas in diameter and in circumference 31,428 yojanas, 2 gows, 22 isubus, 18 yastis or stay.es and 1 cubit. Leaving out the upper part at the distance of 42,000 yojanas from the summit on a level with the rocks called Yugandhara, it is 30.000 yojanas in diameter and in circumference, 94,285 yojanas, 2 gows, 68 isubus, 11 yastis and 3 cubits, and in the centre it is 50,000 yojanas in diameter and in circumference 157,142 yojanas, 3 gows, 34 isubus, 5 yastis, and 5 cubits. From the base […]
Nasadiya Sukta is one of the renowned suktha in RigVeda:- 129th suukta of the 10th mandala of the Rigveda. Mathomathis would like to present on the Sukta. nāsad āsīn no sad āsīt tadānīṁ nāsīd rajo no vyomā paro yat | kim āvarīvaḥ kuha kasya śarmann ambhaḥ kim āsīd gahanaṁ gabhīram || 1 || Then even nothingness was not, nor existence, There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it. What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed? na mṛtyur āsīd amṛtaṁ na tarhi na rātryā ahna āsīt praketaḥ | ānīd avātaṁ svadhayā tad ekaṁ tasmād dhānyan na paraḥ kiṁ canāsa || 2 || Then there was neither death nor immortality Nor was there then the torch of night and day. The One breathed windlessly and self-sustaining. There was that One then, and there was no other. tama āsīt tamasā gūl̥ham agre ‘praketaṁ salilaṁ sarvam ā idam | tucchyenābhv apihitaṁ yad āsīt tapasas tan mahinājāyataikam || 3 || At first there was only darkness wrapped in darkness. All this was only unillumined water. That One which came to be, enclosed in nothing, arose at last, born of the power of heat. kāmas tad agre sam avartatādhi manaso retaḥ prathamaṁ yad āsīt | sato bandhum asati nir avindan hṛdi pratīṣyā kavayo manīṣā || 4 || In the beginning desire descended on it. That was the primal seed, born of the mind. The sages who have searched their hearts with wisdom know that which is kin to that which is not. tiraścīno vitato raśmir eṣām adhaḥ svid āsīd upari svid āsīt | retodhā āsan mahimāna āsan svadhā avastāt prayatiḥ parastāt || 5 || And they have stretched their cord across the void, and know what was above, and what below. Seminal powers made fertile mighty forces. Below was strength, and over it was impulse. ko addhā veda ka iha pra vocat kuta ājātā kuta iyaṁ visṛṣṭiḥ | arvāg devā asya visarjanenāthā ko veda yata ābab || 6 || But, after all, who knows, and who can say Whence it all came, and how creation happened? The gods themselves are later than creation, so who knows truly whence it has arisen? iyaṁ visṛṣṭir yata ābabhūva yadi vā dadhe yadi vā na | yo asyādhyakṣaḥ parame vyoman so aṅga veda yadi vā na veda || 7 || Whence all creation had its origin, he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not, he, who surveys it all from highest heaven, he knows – or maybe even he does not know.
Mathomathis would like to present an article on Indic Cosmology and Time Keepers by Kosla Vepa – Indic Studies Foundation. The articles would be broken down into various sections. The following article would represent the basics of the Indic Cosmology and its background, followed by explanation of times and its divisions in subsequent articles In order to understand the Indic approach to history, one must understand the cosmology and the calendar of the Hindu. The calendar and the cosmos have always played a large part in the consciousness or weltanschuung of the Hindu and he spent a large portion of his observational powers in deciphering the universe around him. In this he was not alone, as we know now that other ancient civilizations, such as the Babylonian, the Egyptian and the Chinese had similar interests and a curiosity about the heavens. But the answers the Indic came up with were quite prescient for his time and the resulting numbers were far more accurate than the European world realized or knew, even millennia after the Indic discovered these periodicities. The extraordinary allergy that the Occidentals, with a few notable exceptions, have exhibited to the study of the Indic mathematical tradition, and when they have done so, the vehemence with which they have denied the autochthonous origin of the Indic intellectual traditions, is astonishing to say the least. The consistency with which the Occidental denied the Indic contributions is exemplified in the writings of various Indologists such as Whitney, Bentley Moriz Winternitz Albrecht Weber, W W Rouse Ball, G R Kaye, Thibaut and continues on till today in the works of David Pingree . As we have emphasized, there were exceptions such as Brennand, Playfair, Colebrooke, and Bailly. TH RELUCTANCE OF INDOLOGISTS IN THE OCCIDENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE VEDIC EPISTEME:- The resulting illiteracy on the part of the western scholar on matters pertaining to India was lethal to the understanding of their own history and leaves Occidental historians, the task of explaining why there was no progress in Europe between the time of the Greek contribution to the mathematical sciences and the flowering of the renaissance resulting in the Keplerian paradigm shift, a period exceeding 1600 years. We are compelled to remark that the sudden explosion of knowledge that took place during the renaissance, occurred shortly after the Jesuits sent 70 scholars to Malabar in the 1500’s . When it came to reconciling himself with the obvious depth of knowledge of the ancient indic ,the occidental had no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the Indic had borrowed everything form Greece. But he is more than reluctant to accept that a massive transfer of knowledge took place from India to Europe, even though the evidence is far more compelling The conventional wisdom in the West was that the Jesuits were sent to convert the Indics to the Christian faith and as a byproduct teach them the finer points of the occidental civilization. In reality it turns out, they were sent to learn a whole host of topics such as navigation, mathematical techniques including trigonometry, and the Indian approach to calendrical astronomy. In short the Jesuits embarked on a systematic study of the Indic episteme, since it was obvious that the Indics had made considerable advances, which the Jesuits were quick to realize were far advance of their own that. We are in the process of chronicling the study of those individuals who in turn studied India or studied subjects in which the Indics had great proficiency, beginning with ancient Babylon to the British, to understand the role that India and the Indic episteme played in the renaissance of Europe. While there is nothing here that can be considered to be morally reprehensible, one wonders why there was the extreme reluctance to admit that they learned from others too. In this one has to concede that the scholar during the heyday of Islam observed a higher degree of ethics than his brethren in the Occident, because he never exhibited the slightest hesitation in attributing to the Indic the episteme that he had learned from him. Author view’s the study of history and philosophy of science as central to the understanding of any civilization and its ethos. And hence we make no apology for the emphasis on science, and especially on Astronomy in our study of history. The Ancient Vedics seemed to have an obsession for precision as well as a fascination for large numbers. They also subscribed to the notion that the planet earth and the solar system were of immense antiquity without a beginning, in contrast to the creationist theories propounded by many in the west till recently. A combination such as this makes an excellent prerequisite for time keeping and for devising a useful and practical calendar. So, they turned to the sky and began to decipher the meaning behind the various cycles and periodicities that they observed, in order to help them plan their activities, such as the planting of their crops Let us see how they went about developing a calendar that would convey a lot of information merely by knowing the day of the month, after constant observation of the sky both during the day and the night over centuries. The result was a highly efficient and accurate calendar. The added bonus of such a system is the usefulness of the recordings of ancient astronomy to decipher the age at which various events took place, and the development of methods now known collectively as Archaeo-astronomy. The basic information they used for purposes of time keeping were the motions of the sun and the moon relative to the earth. So far nothing unusual, as did all the other ancients. The cycles they used including the day, the week, the fortnight and the month are shown in Table 1. 60 ghatikas (or 30 muhurtas or 8 praharas) in a 24-hour period (ahoratra) 15 tithi in a paksha or a fortnight, 15th is Poornima or amavasya The Lunar Month […]
Mathomathis would like to present an article on: Vedic Glossary documented by Indic Cosmology, Kosla Vepa (INDIC STUDIES FOUNDATION), on the context of: THE STORY OF THE INDIC COSMOLOGY AND THE CELESTIAL TIME KEEPERS. The article would consists of pictorial presentation of the Maps
The following article on Cosmo Graphical Mapping by JOSEPH E. SCHWARTZBERG is a continuation from the Previous article Cosmo Graphical Mapping | Cosmographies In Hindu Tradition | 103. Apart from painted cosmographies, a half-dozen cosmographic globes (bhugolas), all based largely on Puranic texts, are known to exist. These are of types described by Hindu astronomers, as far back as Aryabhata (b. A.D. 476). Two of these five globes are found today at the British Museum in London, and one each are at the Victoria and Albert Museum, also in London; the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford; and the Bharat Kala Bhavan in Varanasi. Author tries to refer to them as BM(A), BM(B), VA, Oxford, and BKB globes. The sixth globe was reported to Gole by N. P. Joshi of the Archaeological Survey of India, who saw it in an Indian village (location unknown). The simplest of the five globes studied, the VA globe, is a solid wooden sphere, about nineteen centimetres in diameter (shown in previous articles – Figure 5). This globe is believed to have been made in Orissa in the early to mid-nineteenth century. On it land is colored mainly in yellow, mountain ranges in a lighter peach tone, rivers in white, oceans in several colors, among which gray is most common, and text in red. The northern hemisphere of this globe shows Jambudvipa according to the four-continent earth conception (catur-dvipa vasumati). It is depicted by a lotus with four petals whose tips virtually reach the equator. East-west mountain ranges extend across each petal: there are three ranges on each of two petals (those that appear to be centered on 0° and 180° longitude) and only one on each of the others (those that appear to be centered on 90° east and west longitude). The northernmost and southernmost of the former set of ranges are shown as forested. Near what would be the northern pole, a circle within a square denotes Mount Meru, and that appears within a larger square just north of the northernmost mountain ranges. From near Mount Meru, originating within the larger square, rivers flow southward through the middle of each continent. Painted in the four inlets of ocean that separate the northern hemisphere continents are aquatic animals, boats, and four white palaces signifying the cities of Lanka, Romaka, Siddhapura, and Yamakoti, described by astronomers as occupying cardinal points on the equator. The southern hemisphere differs completely from the northern. With its six ring continents and intervening oceans, it is essentially like that of the four globes still to be discussed. Interestingly, three of the southern ring oceans are in colors other than the prevailing gray-tan, pink, and turquoise. Substantial text, written in a rather tiny Devanagari script, appears on the globe, but neither transliterations nor translations are available at present. Finally, there are unnumbered black tick marks at five-degree intervals South Asian Cartography along the prime meridian, along another meridian approximately 150 degrees to the west (in the northern hemisphere only), and around the equator. Much older and more interesting than the preceding globe is a not-quite-spherical thin brass container on which is inscribed not only a hybrid cosmography, but also a wealth of minute pictorial detail and text in Devanagari script. This artifact (plate 26), held by the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford, has been the object of detailed scholarly scrutiny by Simon Digby, who considers it not only from the perspective of traditional Indian cosmology, but also as an art historian. Supplementing Digby’s observations are a pair of diagrams kept within the sphere that provide a complete inventory of the regional features it portrays. Many of these features are also found on the BKB globe (Figure: 6, from the previous article), to which Digby’s observations also are largely applicable. Rather exceptionally, the creator of the bhugola at Oxford, one Ksemakarna, undoubtedly a Brahman, inscribed on it both his own name and the date of his work, Saka 1493 (A.D. 1571). The area of provenance, however, is not known. Digby presents evidence for several possibilities but seems to favor the view that the globe was fashioned for a wealthy patron from Saurashtra. He also suggests that the globe’s function was primarily utilitarian, probably for storing food or condiments, and that “the depiction of the regions of the earth upon it was an elegant conceit suggested by its shape.” The mean equatorial diameter of the bhugola is about 26 centimetres, and its height 22 centimetres. Joined by a hinge at the equator, both hemispheres are slightly flattened, but the northern one, though essentially round, comes to a rather gently sloping polar peak. Tick marks at one-degree intervals are inscribed around the equator and small circles are etched in at ninety-degree intervals. The bhugola’s cosmography draws primarily on Puranic sources but modifies their content in light of knowledge derived from post-Ptolemaic Sanskrit astronomers, reconciling the two “in an unscriptural but rational manner.” The upper half of the container represents the continent of Jambudvipa, and the subequatorial remainder, except for the anomalously positioned islands of Lanka and Palanka (= ?), is given over to the other six ring-shaped continents and their intervening oceans in concentric latitudinal bands. These continents necessarily diminish in size toward the southern pole, “in contrast to the common Puranic account in which they increase in size by geometrical progression (2, 4, 8 … ). As on the bhugola the largest ring of land is the closest to the Equator, they also in fact enclose one another in inverse order to that prescribed in the Puranas.” Digby notes that “theoretical distances” are inscribed in yojanas at the equator, but not below it; but he neglects to indicate which features those distances apply to. Meru-over which, astronomers reasoned, Dhruva (the Pole Star) was situated-is positioned at the northern pole rather than at the center of the four quarters of the world, which was the usual Puranic view. This placement meant that if the southernmost Puranic continent, Bharatavarsa […]