Has anyone made a thorough research of the Mahabharata and figured out when this war actually took place with exact astronomical evidence? Are there dates in any other text for the Mahabharata war?
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@SeverusSnape I got no help, my question was closed and my edit to this question was also rejected, I have withdrawn the bounty and deleted all my answers and am deleting my account – Feb 05 '21 at 07:40
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1@hq545gaarh65665 I will take some time to re-read your post again. However, I am no expert. Regarding the bounty, I noticed it. You really should not have withdrawn it as someone might have added good answers during the bounty period. If possible I will try to improve your question (not this one). Give me some time. – Severus Snape Feb 05 '21 at 08:18
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According to the Surya Siddhanta of astronomer Aryabhata, Kali Yug started in approx. 3102 B.C. This is start date used by Panchang (traditional Indian almanac)
Kali Yug started when Dwapar Yug ended.
Dwapar Yug ended when Sri Krishna left Bhuloka.
Krishna left ~36 years after the war in Kurukshetra, based on Gandhari's curse on Yadava clan, as described in Mausala Parva
This puts approx. date of Mahabharat war ~3140 B.C thereabouts.
Ved Vyas composed Mahabharat Itihaas as a contemporary (he takes part in the events).
Any 'modern' dating by Indologists suggesting dates of 5000 BC, 1000 BC, 1947 AD etc. are bogus and not accepted by Veda/Jyotish scholars (nor the general public).
ram
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1I have my problem with 3140 bc, Bhishma nirvan has to occur on uttarayan, and in magha shukla ashtami in Rohini nakshatra. As far as I know it can't happen at 3140bce – Feb 02 '21 at 17:30
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1@VARUN.NRAO, I said thereabouts, not exactly 3140 B.C. My aim is to establish the antiquity atleast and around 3100+ years ago, For exact dates, probably need to research further – ram Feb 03 '21 at 00:19
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@ram I agree with you. People here have marked my question as duplicate, https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/21493/when-did-the-mahabharata-war-take-place/44540?noredirect=1#comment139065_44540 – Feb 03 '21 at 03:58
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Using 3102 as a reference, we can place the war on 3138/3139 right (considering 3102+36+3138)? – Surya Feb 03 '21 at 04:33
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1"According to the Surya Siddhanta of astronomer Aryabhata, Kali Yug started in approx. 3102 B.C." -- Can you please provide reference where in Surya Siddhanta, Aryabhatta states this? I want to see exactly these words "3102 B.C.". – RamAbloh Feb 04 '21 at 21:13
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1Still doesn't answer my question. The reference there says "Kali Yuga epoch arrived at ..." which means there was a key piece of interpreting Aryabhatta's date in his era's calendar to the "B.C" timeline, and it is not explicit how they calculated it. There are many ambiguities and disagreements about the "sheet anchor" event which is the calibration point between the Indian timeline to the modern western BC/AD timeline. – RamAbloh Feb 05 '21 at 21:41
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@RamAbloh - "He finished his book Aryabhattiyam in 499 CE, in which he gives the exact year of the beginning of Kali Yuga. He writes that he wrote the book in the "year 3600 of the Kali Age" at the age of 23" – ram Feb 06 '21 at 06:34
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1To be able to say "499 CE", we need a historical event that has been referred to in both Indian sources and western sources, to fix the conversion formula between the CE timeline and the various Indian timelines such as Shaka era, Vikrama Samvat, Kali Yuga era, etc. I'm saying, there is still a lot of disagreement between scholars on what this event is. It is termed the "sheet anchor" of Indian history. Different scholars are still coming up with different dates. So we cannot declare with 100% certainty that it is "3102 BCE". – RamAbloh Feb 06 '21 at 14:48
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1To use an analogy, it is like converting temperature between Fahrenheit and Celsius. We first need to know that 0C = 32F and 100C = 212F. Then we can create a formula and convert any temperature between the two units. – RamAbloh Feb 06 '21 at 14:49
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1Similarly, western timelines were created based on Greek and Roman histories. So their BCE and CE are based on Greek and Roman histories. So to say that an Indian event took place in "300 BCE" they use a point of common reference in Greek history. Earlier scholars assumed that the mention of "Sandrokottos" in Greek accounts was that of Chandragupta. But we have 2 Chandraguptas. So there is disagreement about which Chandragupta does "Sandrokottos" refer to, or even whether it refers to Chandragupta or not. – RamAbloh Feb 06 '21 at 14:55
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1How come Vyasa exist in Mahabharata War time when he was born much later? – Vikas Mar 12 '21 at 11:26
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@Vikas - who said Vyasa was born later ? he is the niyoga father of Dhritarashtra & Pandu i.e. grandfather of Pandavas and Kauravas. – ram Mar 13 '21 at 18:40
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@mar Vyasa was born in around 300BC. Mahabharata happened around 3500BC. Source: – Vikas Mar 14 '21 at 15:20
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@Vikas - wrong dates for Vyasa's birth - because Vyasa was the forefather of Pandavas. – ram Mar 15 '21 at 15:11
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@Vikas - i don't know if you're being serious or joking. If you believe Mahabharat happened in 3500 B.C, then you must also believe Pandavas existed in 3500 B.C. If you believe Pandavas were born around 3500 B.C, you must also believe that Pandu (father of Pandvas) was born before Pandavas. And if you believe Pandu was born around 3500 B.C, Pandu's father (Vyasa) was born BEFORE him, so that puts Vyasa's birth year also around same time. – ram Mar 15 '21 at 20:35
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@mars I'm not joking. Do you have references of Vyasa's birth century? All I could find says he was born much later. – Vikas Mar 17 '21 at 01:59
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@Vikas - it is very surprising that you believe what Wikipedia has to say about Mahabharata, than reading Mahabharata itself. Pls find out who was the father of Pandu - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandu#Birth – ram Mar 18 '21 at 01:19
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@mar it's not like I don't know about his role in MB and his relations. It's just about his birth century which contradicts everything. – Vikas Mar 18 '21 at 04:07
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@Vikas - just answer Yes or No to these 3 questions - do you accept Pandavas were born in 3500 B.C ? Do you accept Vyasa was the father of Pandu ? Do you accept a grandfather must be born before the grandson ? – ram Mar 18 '21 at 04:14
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@mar not sure about 1st two questions for the same reason we are already discussing. Third question: Yes. – Vikas Mar 18 '21 at 05:24
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@Vikas - my answer above gives source for Pandavas born 3500 B.C (1st question). The wikipedia link I posted above gives source for Vyasa being grandfather of Pandavas (2nd question). – ram Mar 18 '21 at 06:30
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Refer this link it’s really very informative: https://avinashresearch.org/chronology-of-kaliyuga/ – Adiyarkku Apr 13 '21 at 19:18
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According to Wikipedia on Kurukshetra War, 22 November 3067 BCE.
K. Sadananda, based on translation work, states that the Kurukshetra War started on 22 November 3067 BCE.
B. N. Achar used planetarium software to argue that the Mahabharata War took place in 3067 BCE.
- Singh 2010, p. Chapter 7, Pp. 202-252, 302
Pandya
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1Bheeshma died after Uttarayana started ( around Dec 21st). War must have started atleast 2 months before this as Bheesma was in bed for 58days. I have read most of the past researches. I am looking for scriptural evidence apart from Mahabharata itself. – Rama27 Oct 14 '17 at 05:17
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@Rama27 - Bhishma didn't leave his body immediately when Uttarayana started. – ram Feb 02 '21 at 16:36
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1I agree with the answer based on research of MM pandit. – Talk is Cheap Show me Code Feb 03 '21 at 05:46
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The exact year for the Mahabharata War was given by Pandit Kota Venkatachelam in his book titled The Plot In Indian Chronology. It is 3138 B.C. or 36 years before the start of Kali.
The book contains extensive information on inferring the exact time for different events in Indian history based on the verses in the scriptures. Kota Venkatachelam is also called 'Bharata Charitra Bhaskara' for his knowledge and works on the history of India.
I presented below the first 15 entries from the list in Appendix III, in which the first entry contains the year of the Mahabharata war.
Appendix III starts with the banner We have sufficiently proved in our works the following important dates in the History of Bharat.
| Event | B.K (Before Kali) or Kali | Number of years | B.C. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahabharata War | B.K | 36 | 3138 |
| Coronation of Yudhistira and Yudhistira era begins | B.K | 36 | 3138 |
| Birth of Parikshit | B.K | 36 | 3138 |
| Coronation of Somadhi in Magadha (Barhadradha Dynasty) | B.K | 36 | 3138 |
| Coronation of Brihadbala in Ayodhya (lkshwaku Dynasty) | B.K | 36 | 3138 |
| Coronation of 'Gall' in Nepal (Kirata Dynasty who are Kshatriyas by caste) | B.K | 36 | 3138 |
| Coronation of Gonanda II in Kashmir (Gonanda Dynasty, Kshatriya,) | B.K | 37.5 | 3138 |
| Krishna Niryana | --- | --- | 3102 |
| Kali Era begins | --- | --- | 3102 |
| Coronation of Parikshit | Kali | 1 | 3101 |
| Jayabhyudaya Yudhistira era begins | Kali | 1 | 3101 |
| Yudhistirakala era or the Saptarshi era or Loukikabda which is still used in Kashmir | Kali | 26 | 3076 |
| Death of Parikshit | Kali | 60 | 3042 |
| Janamejaya's gift-deed | Kali | 89 | 3013 |
| Aryabhat (The Great Astronomer) | Kali | 360 | 2742 |
hanugm
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I have made my own estimate based on Bhishma Nirvana.
Bhishma Nirvana
6 sa niryayau gajapurād yājakaiḥ parivāritaḥ dṛṣṭvā nivṛttam ādityaṃ pravṛttaṃ cottarāyaṇam
Accompanied by a number of priests he then set out of the city named after the elephant, having seen that the sun ceasing to go southwards had begun to proceed in his northward course.
28 māgho 'yaṃ samanuprāpto māsaḥ puṇyo yudhiṣṭhira tribhāgaśeṣaḥ pakṣo 'yaṃ śuklo bhavitum arhati
O Yudhishthira, the lunar month of Magha has come. This is, again, the lighted fortnight and a fourth part of it ought by this (according to my calculations) be over.
Now, we see that Magha Shukla Ashtami waa happening on Winter Solstice. This happens to be around 1738 BCE. Give or take 1484 years. So anywhere between 274 BC to 3202 BC.
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