1. Speed of light?Did our ancestors have any knowledge about the speed of light? Shri K.K. Shah, Governor of Gujarat had once asked this question to Prof. L Shivayya, Lecturer of Physics at Mysore University. Shri Shivayya was knowledgeable in both Science and Sanskrit. He immediately replied, ?Yes, they did? and, as a proof, he told him of the two richas in the first part of the Rigveda.
Mano na yoadhvanah sadya etyekah
satraa sooro vasva eeshe
?Like the mind, the sun that moves on the heavenly path all alone.? (Rig. 1-71-9)
Taranirvishwadarshato jyotikridasi soorya vishwamaabhasirochanam
?O Sun! You move with great speed and are extremely good looking, you give light to the world.? (Rig 1.50.9)
In a commentary on these richas, while describing the speed of the sun, Saganacharya writes a shloka which talks about the speed of light.
Yojananaam sahastre dwe dweshate dwe cha yojane
Eken nimishaardhena kramamaa namoastu te
?Salutations to you, O Light! that travels 2202 yojans in half nimesh.?
In this, 1 yojan = 9 miles 160 yards
Which means 1 yojan = 9.11 miles
1 day-night has 8,10,000 half nimesh.
Hence, 1 second= 9.41 half nimesh
In this way 2202 x 9.11 = 20060.22 miles per half nimesh
And 20,060.22 x 9.41 = 1,88,766.67 miles per second
This is very close to the speed of light acceptable to the modern science.
2. Gravitational Pull??Father, the earth on which we live, rests on which thing??
Leelavati had asked this question hundreds of years ago to her father, Bhaskaracharya. In reply, Bhaskaracharya said, ?O daughter, Leelavati! Those people who say that the earth is resting on the sheshnaag (cobra snake), the tortoise or elephant or any other thing, are wrong. If we accept that it is based on something, then the question that arises is, that thing rests on which thing? Thus, the reason and its reason?if this sequence continues, then it is known as a state of uncondition in jurisprudence.? Leelavati still insisted on asking the question. Then, Bhaskaracharya said , ?Why can we not accept that the earth is not based on anything? What is wrong in saying that the earth is standing on its own strength and call it its power of retention?? At this Leelavati asked how it was possible? Then, Bhaskaracharya speaks of principles and says that the power of things is very peculiar.
Marucchalo bhoorachala swabhaawato
yato
Vichitravatavastu shaktyah
?(Siddhant Shiromani Golaadhyay-Bhuvankosh?5)
He further says:
Aakrishtishaktishch mahi taya yat
khastham
Guru swabhimukham swashaktya.
Aakrishyate tatpatateev bhaati
Samesamantaat kwa patatviyam khe.
?(Siddhanta Shiromani Golaadhyay-Bhuvankosh?6)
This means that the earth has the power of attraction. So, it attracts heavy things towards itself and because of the attraction, they fall to the ground. But, when an equal power or strength pulls from all directions in the sky, then how can a thing fall? This means that the planets stay in the sky without any support because the gravitational powers of the various planets maintain the balance.
Today, we say that Newton was the first to discover the gravitational power of the earth, but 550 years before him, Bhaskaracharya had spoken about it.
3. The Earth is Round?Leelavati asks her father how he can say that the earth is round when she can see only a flat surface all around?
Bhaskaracharya says that what we see is not always the truth. He says that if you draw a large circle and look at only a hundredth part of its circumference, then it will appear to be a straight line; but actually it is not so. It is curved. Similarly, we see only a small part of the sphere of this huge earth. Hence, it seems flat to us. In reality, the earth-is round.
Samo yatah syaatparidheh shataanshah
Prithvi cha prithvi nitaraam taneeyaan
Narashcha tatprishthagatasya kritsnaa
Sameva tasya pratibhaatyatah saa.
?(Siddhanta Shiromani golaadhyay-Bhuvankosh 13)
4. The Earth is not Stationary?Till Galileo'stime in the 15th century in the west, people believed that the earth was stationary and that the sun revolved around the earth. But 1500 years ago, Aryabhatta had stated that the earth moves on its axis, in the following way:
Anulomagatirnausthah
pashyatyachalam
Vilomagam yadvat.
Achalaani bhaani tadvat sama
Pashchimagaani lankaayaam.
?(Aryabhattiya Golapaad-9)
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