Parthsarathi's Articles

Rediscovering India

Mark Twain once said that “India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only”. To truly understand his words, we must investigate and justify Mark Twain’s famous words with substantiating evidence from history.

The World’s first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC. Furthermore, Sanskrit is considered the mother of all higher languages. Sanskrit is the most precise and therefore suitable language for computer software – claimed a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.

If we move into the field of medicine, Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization. It is the only system which takes the holistic view of the person being treated. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of  his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.

Further branching into the field of science and mathematics, the place value system along with the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.  The value of “pi” was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were propounded by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BC during the Vedic period.

All of this ancient knowledge has been stored in a series of cumulative texts, the Vedas (Holy Books). The Vedas had volumes known as Upanishads, and a brief outline of their contents are given below:

Rig Veda

- Knowledge of Hymns, 10,859 verses.“There is only one truth, men describe it differently. “

Yajur Veda

- Knowledge of Liturgy, 3,988 verses.

Sama Veda

- Knowledge of Classical Music, 1,549 verses.

The Atharva Veda: The Book of Spell

Upanishads

Jyotisha – Astrology and Astronomy.

Kalpa – Rituals and Legal matters.

Siksha – Phonetics.

Aitareya – Creation of the Universe, Man and Evolution.

Chandogya – Reincarnation, Soul.

Kaushitaki – Karma.

Kena – Austerity, Work, and Restraint.

Dharnur Veda – Science of Archery and War.

Mundaka – Discipline, Faith and warning of Ignorance.

Sulba Sutra– Knowledge of Mathematics.

Yoga Sutra- Knowledge of Meditation.

If we explore further, we realize that Madhavacharya (mathematician) discovered Taylor series of Sine and Cosine functions about 250 years before Taylor.

Arithmetic and Geometric progression is explained in Yajur Veda. Govindaswamin discovered Newton Gauss Interpolation formula about 1800 years before Newton. Vateswaracharya discovered Newton Gauss                    Backward Interpolation formula about 1000 years before Newton. Parameswaracharya discovered Lhuiler’s formula about 400 years before Lhuiler. Nilakanta discovered Newton’s Infinite Geometric Progression convergent series.Positive and Negative numbers and their calculations were explained first by Brahmagupta in his book Brahmasputa Siddhanta.

Something I found interesting was the fact that one particular Hindu prayer focuses on the number 108 when worshipping the sun. To investigate this matter I calculated the distance between Earth and Sun and divided this by the diameter of the Sun. The answer was 107.99, or 108 if you round off. This means that between Earth and Sun, exactly 108 Suns can fit in. Not only that, I also did the same calculation for the Earth and the Moon and discovered that exactly 108 Moons can fit inside that distance.  This must mean that Indians had intricate knowledge of astronomical constants and facts centuries before Sir Isaac Newton or Einstein were born.

These facts are not known to the rest of the world only because this ancient knowledge has not been commercialized. However, slowly and gradually, bit by bit, we are rediscovering India.

Parthsarathi Trivedi