Ant

iqui
t heSr
yoft î
mad-Bhâgavat
am orBhâgavat
a-Pur
âna,
f
rom t
hecl
assicli
ter
atur
eofIndi
a

ByHor
aci
oFr
anci
scoAr
gani
sJuar
ez

TheSanskr i
tt ext sf rom I ndiahav eal way soccupi edadi sti
ngui shed
placei nphi l
osophyanduni ver sal l
iter atur e.Justi nMexi cot hey
i
nspi redgr eatschol arssuchasJoseVasconsel os,Fr
1
anciscoI .
2
Mader o andt heNobel Laureat eOct av ioPaz.
Ther eisav eritabl ecat alogofwr iters, poet s,l
ingui st sandphi losopher s
ofal mostal l nat ionsandmov ement s, whohav egr eatlyappr eci ated
andpr aisedt hist reat i
se.
IndianSanskr i
tl i
ter at ureconsi st soft hr eemai nsour ces,inSanskr i
t
prasthana- traya, thati ncludes: Srut i( theVedasl ikeRi g,Sama, Yaj ur,
At harva, andt hei rcomment ariescal ledBr âhmanast ogetherwi t
ht he
Upani sads) ,Nyâya( logi c,philosophi cal treatisesbasedonVedânt a-
sut r
a)andSmr iti(Itihâsasorepi cpoems, suchasRâmây anaand
Mahâbhâr at a, thet extofwhi chBhagav ad- gî
taispar t
,andt heei ght een
Pur ânas, thet ext soft raditi
onal hi stor yandcosmogony ).
Srîmad- Bhâgavat am orBhâgavat a-Pur âna( “
thebeaut if
ulhist oryoft he
Supr emePer sonal ityofGodhead” )ist hel astoft heMahâ- Pur ânas
attri
but edt ot hesageVy asa.I tis, accor di ngtoi tsownaut hor , “the
3
mat uref ruitofVedi cl iterature” .I tcont ai nst wel veCant osf orat otalof
eighteent housandv er ses.
Its10t hCant ocont ainsadet ai l
ednar rat ionofSr i Kr i
shna'slife4and
Hi shighestt eachi ngsar efoundi nt he11t hCant o.
Itisrichi nal l thel iter aryr esour cesai medatt hedi dact icpur poseof
transmi ttingi tsphi losophi cal sy st em, ther eforei tishonor edbyt he
5
otherpur ani ct ext .Dr .ThomasJ.Hopki nsaf firmed: “Oneoft hemost

1
Vasconsel os,José.Estudi osIndostánicos.1922, edit
.Sat ur ninoCallej
a, Madridpp.120
2
Idem.
3
Srîmad-Bhâgavat am 1.1.3ni gamakal pa-tarorgalitam phal am.
4
InSanskr tKŗ
i şņa.From t hehi stori
calpointofv iew, hewasapr incephilosopheroft heYadu
dynasty,whol i
vedc.3200- 3075B.C.Hei sconsi deredint her eli
gioustradit
ionast hemost
i
mpor tantincarnati
onofVi snu; al
thoughsomet ext s,especi allyBhâgav atam 1.3.28,qualif
yhi m as
theSupremePer sonalit
yofGodhead.
5
Garuda-Purâna states:" TheSr îmad-Bhâgavat am i st heexpl anatonofVedânt
i a-sutra and an
exegesisoft heMahâbhâr at a,i
tcont ai
nst heexpl anationoft heGây atr
îmant raandi stheessence
oftheent i
reVedi cknowl edge,i thasei ghteenthousandv er sesandi ti
sknownast hesummar yof
allVedicl i
teratur
e".Op.Ci t.inGoswami ,Jiva.Sr iTat tva- sandarbha.TheKŗ şņaI nst
itute.Los
Angeles,1987 t r
ans.Kusakr atha das,pp. 71.cf r.arthoyam br ahma sut r
anam bhar atar
tha-
i
mpr essi
vet hingsabouttheBhâgavata-
Purâna,f
orexample…isthe
ri
gorofitsthought..
.itisconcei
vedsystemati
cal
ly,
withgreat
6
scholar
ship".Theemi nentBhakt
ivi
nodaofthe19thcenturyst
ates:

I
ft hewhol ecoll
ecti
onofHi ndut heological
wor ksprevi
oustotheBhâgav at
awer e
l
osti nfir
el i
ketheLibrar
yofAl exandriaandonl ythesacredBhâgavatawas
preservedasi ti
s,nopartofthephi losophyoft heHinduswouldbel ost,except
theconcl usi
onsofat hei
sti
csect s.Forthisreason,theBhâgavat
a( Purâna)should
beconsi deredareli
giouswor kaswel l
asasummar yofthehi
storyandt heHindu
7
philosophy.

Fort hisr easont hesagesf r om I ndiahav ecompi l

edsev eral exegeti
c
8
texts,summar i
zedi nt heEngl i
shpr esent ati
oncal ledSr îmad-
Bhâgavat am ofKr i
shnaDvai pâyanaVyâsabyBhakt ivedant aSwami ,
9
alsowi delyeul ogizedbyexper tsf rom uni versit
iesar oundt hewor l
d.
Thef i
rstt r
ansl ationoft heSr îmad- Bhâgavat am appear edi nFr ench,by
EugeneBur noufi n1840.
Schol arsdi fferont hecomposi tiondat eofBhâgav atam.The
Bhâgavat am i tselfandt het raditionalsagest eacht hatitwascompi l
ed
atthebegi nni ngoft heaget hatHi nduscal lKali-
yuga, whi l
et he
coloni ali
stEngl i
shcr i
ti
csbel ievedt hati twascomposedf rom v ari
ous
sour cesi nt he13t hcent uryoft heChr i
st i
aner a.
Later ,otherschol arshav ebr oughtev idencet hatthet extalready
existedi nt he9t hcent ury,andt hisi sthet heor ythathasbecomemor e
gener allyaccept ed.Howev er, v
ar iousr esearcher shav efoundev i
dence
thatt het extwasknowni nt he5t hcent uryorev enear li
er.Fr om there

6
Hopkins, ThomasJ.etal ., Har eKr i
shna,Har eKr ishna.Fivedi st inguishedSchol arsont heKr ishna
Movementi ntheWest .Gr ov ePr ess, Inc.,NewYor k.1983.pp. 137.N. b.T.J.Hopki nsear nedhi sPhD
att heUni versityofYal e.Amonghi swor ks,now usedast extbooksf orcour ses,i sTheSoci al
Teachi ngsofBhâgavat a- Pur âna.Uni ver sit
yofChi cagoPr ess, 1966.
7
Thakur aBhakt i
vinoda.ElBhâgav ata,SuFi l
osofía,SuÉt i
caySuTeol ogía,edi t.ElGuar diándel a
Devoci ón.Méxi co,1998pp. 23
8
Theol destexeget ical comment arypr esent l
yknowni sTant r
a-Bhâgavat af rom thepanchar atri
ka
school .From themoder naget her eisSr i
dharaSwami 'sBhav ar tha- di
pikawr ittenin11t hcent ur
yCE,
thenlat er,
Madhv a( 13thcent uryCE)wr otetheBhagav atat atpar ya.Ot hercomment ariesar e:
Hanumad- bhâsya, Vâsana- bhâsya, Sambandhokt i,Vidvat-kâmadhenu, Tattva-dipika,Paramahamsa-
priya,Suka-hridaya.Vopadevawr otetheMukt a-phal aandt heHar i
-lil
amr i
ta.Vi j
ayadhv ajacomposed
thePada- r
atnavali
.Vi raraghav afrom Ramanuj a'
sschool alsoedi tedTheBhâgav ata-Candr ika.Other
wor ksar etheSuv odhi nibyVal labha( int heschool ofRudr a)andBhakt i
-r
atnaval ibyVi snupur i.
Amongt heGaudi yaVai snav acomment ari
es( Chaitanyaschool )wehav eJi vaGoswami sKr
' ama-
sandar bha( 16thcent ur yCE) ,theSar ar t
haDar si
nibyVi svanat haCakr avarti(17thcent ury )
, the
DipikadipanibyRadhar amana, Bhakt isiddhant aSar aswatisGaudi
' ya-bhasya( 20thcent ury).
9
Hopki
nsetal
,Op.ci
tp.
140.
thequer yar i
ses.Inthi
sar t
icl
ewewi l
lgi
veagener alpr esentationof
10
theresultsar r
ivedatinMast erdegreethesisatt heIBCH.
Thisresear chquest i
onsthedomi nantparadigm i nt
hisf i
eld;admi tt
edl
y
theresear chpresentedher emaynotbesuf fi
cienttosat i
sfythe
speciali
sts,whowi l
lonlybeabletoev al
uateit,exami ningt hecompl et
e
i
nvest i
gat i
on.Wewi l
lappreciat
eanyconst r
uctivecriticism that
11
contri
butesmor eev i
dencet osolv
et heproblem. Thegener alreaders
arealsoi nvit
edt oaccompanyt hescholarsint hi
sadv enturei noneof
themostcont roversi
aldiscussi
onsi nhi
story,notonl yofI ndian, butof
theentirehumant hought.

1.Epistemologypri
ncipl
es
Schol
arsofhist
ory,phil
osophyandsoci ol
ogyofsci
enceconsi
deras
oneofthebasicpri
nciplesi
nscienti
fici
nvesti
gat
iondi
sti
ngui
shingi
t
fr
om beli
efsyst
emsorpseudo- sciences.Asexpr
essedbyThomasS.
Kuhn:

Allscienti
fi
cwor kischar acteri
zedbysomedi vergences, andi ntheheartofthe
mosti mpor t
antepi sodesi nt hescient i
fi
cdev elopmentt her ear egi
gantic
divergences.
..Ast heset woway soft hi
nking( div
ergencesandconv er
gences)
i
nev i
tablycomei nconflict,i
tisinferredt hatoneoft hepr imor dialr
equirements
forthescientif
icinv est
igationoft hebestqual it
y,isthecapaci t
ytosuppor ta
tensionthat,occasionally,willbecomeunbear able.Ont heot herhandIam
study i
ngthesepoi ntsfrom av eryhistori
cal perspectiv
e, emphasi zingthe
12
i
mpor t
anceof" revoluti
ons"f orthedev el
opmentofsci ence.

Thisref
erstotheel ementarydynamicsthatal
lowedsomesi gnif
icant
advancesinthef i
eldsofscient
ifi
cknowledge,astheacademicst udy
ofHinducultur
ei ncludi
nglanguageandlit
erat
ure—I ndology—isa
sci
entif
icfi
eldthatneedst obesubjectedtoacontinuouscri
ti
cal
rev
iewofitspar adigms.Ift
hisprocessisnotaccepted,wewouldf ace

10
Inst i
tutoBhaktivedant adeCi enciasyHumani dadesA.C. ,MéxicosHi ghStudiesCollegei
n
Phi l
osophyandCl assicTheol ogyofIndia,i
nvali
dationagreementwi ththeBhakt i
vedantaColl
ege
from Bel gium.
11
Iinv i
teinter
estedI ndologistst outi
li
ze“TheAnt i
quiyofSr
t î
mad- Bhâgavatam orBhâgavata-Pur
âna
from Cl assicIndiaLiteratur
e”.Mast erofArtsdegreeThesis.HoracioFranciscoAr gani
sJuárezB.A.
InstitutoBhakt i
vedant adeCi enciasyHumani dadesAC.Sal ti
ll
o,Coah2006.254pages.
H. arganisjuar
ez@y ahoo.com. mx.
12
Kuhn.ThomasS.1.LaTensi ónEsencial.Estudi
osselectossobr elatradici
ónyelcambi oenel
ámbi todel aCienci a.FondodeCul t
uraEconómi ca.México1982.p.249.Foradeeperst udysee
Kuhn,ThomasS.2,LaEst r
uct uradel asRevoluci
onesCi entí
fi
cas.FondodeCul tur
aEconómi ca.
Col .deBr evari
osNo.213.1971.
theprobl
em point
edoutbyCar lSagan:“Whenoneexcl
udesthe
possibi
li
tyofmakingcri
ti
cal observat
ionsandengagi
ngindi
scussi
on,
13
she/heishidi
ngthetr
uth”.

Thus,i
nor
dertotaket
hisst epofcogni
ti
veprogr
ess,Sagansuggest
s:
“I
fwewanttodetermi
net hetruthonani
ssue,weshouldapproachi
t
wit
hthegr
eatestmentalopennesspossi
ble,
andinfull
consci
ousness
14
ofourl
imi
tat
ionsandbiases.”

Regar di
ngt hisinv estigati
onitmustbement i
onedthatsomeexper ts
havef oundi ndicationst hatalthoughEur opeanscholarsfir
ststart
ed
thefieldofI ndologyandmadeconsi derablestepsinresearch,t
heir
system ofassi gningdat eswasi nfluencedbysoci ol
ogicalandpolit
ical
factors,mor epr eciselybyt heinfluenceoft hei
rChri
stianbiasandthe
15
Brit
ishcol onial
istr egimei nIndia. Oneofsuchschol arswaslingui
st
MaxMül l
er(1823- 1900) ,whocr eat edthedat ati
onmodel thathasbeen
generalizedamongt heIndologistsandi nt extbooks.Thisscholar
explainedhi smot iv esasf oll
ows:

I
ndiacannotbepr eserv
ednei t
hergov er
nedwithsomeprofitf
oruswi t
houta
gooddi sposi
ti
onofthenatives;andbyallmeansweneedt hat.
..Therel
igionof
I
ndiansi sadecrepi
trel
igi
onandi tdoesnothavemanyy earsofexist
encel ef
t;
howev erourimpati
encetoseei tdi
sappearcannotj
ust
if
yt heuseofv i
olentand
16
di
sloyal meanstoacceler
ateitsfal
l
.

Thismuchwil
lsuf
fi
ceher
etoment
iont
hatduet
osuchcul
tur
al
confr
ont
ati
on:

A)Theanti
qui t
yofthetexts,
asaccept
edbythetr
adi
tional
hist
oryof
I
ndia,wasreject
edbytheepistemi
cobstacl
eexpr
essedin1825bythe
Bri
ti
shscholarJohnBentley:

Tomai ntai
ntheant
iqui
tyoft
heHi ndubooksagai
nstthe(bi
bli
cal
)absol
ute
trut
hs..
.ononehandunderminestheenti
recont
extandtheverysame
foundati
onsoftheChri
sti
anrel
igi
on,becausei
fwebeliev
eintheanti
qui
tyof

13
Sagan, Car
l.ElCerebr
oDeBr oca.Ref l
exionessobreelapasi
onantemundodel aCiencia.Edi
tor
ial
Gr ij
alboS.A.Méxi co,3edn.,
1984, p.96.
14
Ibid.p.95
15
Dasa, Goswami Satsv
arupa,Readingsint heVedi
cLit
eratur
e,Bhakti
vedantaBooksTrust,
1990.
16
Mül l
er,Max.Mitol
ogíaCompar ada.Edicomunicaci
ones,S.A.España,cap.9,
p.231.
 t
heHi ndubooks.
..t
heabov
ement
ionedcont
extwoul
dbepur
efabl
eand
17
f
ict
ion.

B)Theor iginali
tyoft heconcept sofVediclit
eratur
ewaschal l
enged.In
theperiodofI ndology sfather
, Si
rWi l
li
amsJones, itwaspr opounded
thatthepredomi nanttheologicaldoctr
ineofIndia,thev aisnavi
sm or
bhâgav at
aism, hadder i
vedfrom Chr i
sti
anit
y.Therefore, all
thetext
s
thatcontainedsuchphi l
osophy ,
suchast heRâmây anaandespeci all
y
theMahâbhâr at aandthePur ânasliketheBhâgav atam, wer e
automat i
callyconsi deredascomposedaf terthebegi nningofthe
Christi
anper iod.

C)Thecr edi
tofaut horshipoft het extswaschal lenged.I tisnow
knownt hatthecomposi tionoft heJudeo- Chri
sti
anl i
terat urewast he
wor kofmanyaut horsalongi t
shi story,whilet
henat ionofI sraelwas
for medanddev el
opedf rom somesemi -nomadictri
best hat
subsequent lybecamegov ernedbyki ngs.Anothertheor y( now
t
h
out dated)ofsomeHel l
enist i
ccr i
ticsoft he18 cent uryst at edthatt he
Il
liadandOdy sseyhadnotbeenwr i
tt
enbyHomerbutr athercompi led
from acol l
ectionofv ari
ousaut hor s.Thesamespecul ativel inebrought
thei deathatancientIndianl i
teraturewasnotcomposedby
Dv aipayanaVy asaaroundt heper i
odoft heMahâbhâr atawar ,
butit
wasgr adual
lycompi l
edov eral ongerper i
odoftimebyv ar iousaut hors,
from theVedast othePur ânas.

D)Thehi st
ori
cityoftheev entsdescri
bedi nVedicli
ter
aturewas
rej
ected,andcl
assi f
iedasmer emy t
hology.RaymondSchwabshows
therootsofthi
spr ej
udice:“They(theIndians)cannotunderst
andt
hat
ourreli
gioni
stheuni versalrel
igi
onforEar t
h,andthattheycanonl
y
18
producemer efablesandf antasi
es.”

E)Thiscoloni
ali
stappr
oachspr eadt otheGer manandFr enchscholar
s
whodi dnothavepoli
ti
cal i
nterests.Event hedevelopmentofnat ural
hist
orybasedonDar wi
nisttheor i
esandt hearcheologicaldi
scoveri
es
thatdispr
ovedtheBibl
icalversioncouldonl yshiftt
heent ir
esystem of
datati
onsomewhatear li
er.Theexcav ationoft heancientcit
iessuchas

17
Bentl
ey,John,(1825).Hist
ori
calView oftheHi nduAstronomy,Osnabr
uck;Bi
bli
oVer
lang,et
d.
1970p.xxv i
i
.
18
Jarocka,
Ludwikaetal
,ElRi
gVeda.Edi
tor
ial
Diana,
1974p.82-
83.
Mohenjo-dar
oprov
edthattheancientIndiancul
tur
ewasflouri
shi
ng
befor
et heti
meofMoses,butthi
sonl ybroughtmoreanddiver
se
theor
ies.

Themai nst ream t heor ysay st hatRi g- Vedai st heol destt ext ,
i
nt roducedi nIndi aar ound1500BCbyt heAr yani nv adert r
ibescomi ng
from t heCaucasus( ear lyschol ar ssai dt heycamef rom Eur opeorI ran)
andt heot hert ext shadbeengr adual lycompi l
edi nt hecour seof
cent ur ies.Thi st heor ygi v essomehi st ori
cal r
ecogni t i
ont ot he
Mahâbhâr atawarandi tspr otagoni st ssuchasKr i
shna, butast hel at er
epicr endi tionofapr imi tivesoci et yar oundt he10t hcent ur yBC.
Accor di ngt ot hi st heor ysageVy asaandhi ssuccessor s, theVy asas,
compi ledt heMahâbhâr at aandr elat edt ext sfrom t he5t hcent uryBC
untilt hel atercompi lationoft hePur ânasbet weent he5t hand13t h
cent ur ies.Thi st heor yhasbeenanusef ul i
nst rumentf orschol arsbut
unbi asedschol ar shav er ecogni zedt hati tpr esent ssev eral diff i
culties
thatcannotbesol ved, andabov eal liti snot hingmor et hananon-
19
verifiabl et heor y .
Bef orear igor ousobser vat i
ont hedi scov er yofapr obl em i snot i
ced,
20
whi chFr anci sBaconcal edi
l dolusspecus, “cav erni dol s” , anypr obl em
thathasnotbeensubj ect edt oar i
gor ousobser v ation, andi st her efor e
seent hr oughpr ejudi cesbasedonper sonal tendenci esand
temper ament ,aswel l asr eli
gious, soci al
, polit
ical orr aci al bi ast hat
i
nf l
uencet heper spect iveofst udy .Inot herwor ds, ar esear chert hat
hasf ossi l
izedmi ndpat t
er nswi ll hav eadi stortedv isionoft hest udied
object ,wi llfi
tt hef act si nt ot hecageofhi sownpar adi gmsand
suppr essany thi ngt hatcoul dcont radi ctt hem.
Thisbi asedappr oachi sof t
ent her esul tofr acial andnat i
onal
prejudi cesandper sonal bel i
efs, andmakesnewdi scov eriesand
genui ner esear chpr act ical l
yi mpossi ble.Howev er,thef irstr equi r
ement
ofsci ent ifi
ci nv est igat ioni spr eci sel yt heobj ectiv i
tyaf for dedbyt he
eliminat ionoratl eastt het empor ar ysuspensi onofal l pr ejudi ce,by
whi cht her esear cheri sabl et oexami net hef act satt hei rfacev alue
andt husunder st andt hephenomenoni ni tself.Thati st osayt he
phenomeni cappl i
cat ionoft heepoj é.Thepsychol ogi cal st udi esont he
19
Nb:"Thechronol
ogyofthehist
oryofI ndianlit
erat
urei sshroudedint r
ulyter
ri
fyi
ngdar
kness".
..
.Butever y
att
emptofsuchaki ndisboundtof ailinthepr esentstateofknowl edge,andtheuseofhypothet
icaldates
wouldonlybeadelusi
on,whichdomor eharmt hatgood" .Cfr
.Wi nt
ernit
z,Mori
tz.Hi
stor
yofIndi
anLi t
erat
ur e,
2a.Edn.Ori
ent
alBooksRepr
intCorporati
on, NewDel hi
,1971,Vol.Ip.554.
20
Gut
iér
rez, .Hi
SaenzRaul stor
iadeDoct
ri
nasFi
l
osóf
icas,
edi
t.Esf
ingeMéxi
co1986p.111.
percepti
onofr eali
tyhavedemonstrat
edthatst
rongerpr
ej udi
ceand
str
ongerbel i
efsinaparti
culart
heoryincr
easet
heinabil
i
t ytoproperl
y
evaluat
etheev idenceinanobject
ivewayandtorecognizepossible
21
mistakes.

2.Dat at i
on
Anotherpr obl em i nest abl i
shi ngt heant iquityoft heBhâgav at am i s
exempl i
fiedbyt hecal culationof fer edbyt heEngl i
shcr iti
csCol ebrooke
andWi lson.Accor di ngt ot hem t heBhâgav atam musthavebeen
compi ledi nt he13t hcent uryCE, becauset he12t hCant ogi vesa
chronol ogyf rom whi chi tisev incedt hatki ngPar iksit,descr i
bedi nthe
beginni ngandi nt heendoft het ext ,l
ived1300y ear sbef or eki ng
Chandr agupt aMaur ya.Thechr onol ogyseemst oment i
onal sot hree
Andhr aki ngs, t entat ivelydat edi nt he2ndcent uryCE, soi twas
concludedt hatt het exthadbeencompi ledi nal at erper iod.Theent i
re
specul ationi sbasedonar efer encef r
om t heGr eekhi stor i
an
Megast henesi n400BCi nhi swor kI ndika, wher ehement i
onski ng
Sandrakut us, ident ifi
edbyl at erschol arsaski ngChandr agupt aMaur ya.
Theseschol arsbel iev edt hist obet heequi valentoft heRoset ta
Inscri
pt ions, andont hiscal cul ational lthechr onol ogyofI ndianhi st
ory
wasbui lt.Thet heor yel abor at edonChandr agupt aMaur y asgr andson,
kingAsokaMaur ya, whoconv er t
edt oBuddhi sm f inanci ngi ts
expansi onandor gani zi
ngi tscounci l
s,andwhowasdeemedt ohav e
l
ivedint he2ndcent uryBC.Thust hebat tleofMahâbhâr atawas
22
deemedt ohav ebeenf oughti nt he10t hcent ur yBC.
Theweakpoi ntoft hist heor yi st hatMegast henesmadenoment i
onof
Chanaky a, t
hegr eatmi nisterofki ngChandr agupt aMaur y a,andnei ther
didChanaky aev erment ionedi nhi swor ksanyGr eekAl exanderor
Megast heneswhov isit
edt hecour tofSandr akut us.Anot herpr oblem is
thatthet woki ngsment ionedbyt heGr eekhi stor ianaspr ecedi ng
Sandrakut uswer eXandr amasandSandr ocypt us.Suchnameshaveno
resembl ancewhat soev erwi tht henamesofNandaorBi ndusarand
Asoka, theki ngswhol i
vedbef oreChandr agupt aMaur y
a.Theonl y
phonet icallyaccept abl er esembl ancesar eamongt hesuccessor sof
kingChandr agupt aGupt aI: Chamdr amas=Xandr amas, and
Samudr agupt a=Sandr ocypt us.Thi smeanst hatt hedat at i
onsy stem
21
Rubi
o,Alfonsa yBr i
ones,Ma.DelRosar io,Como Estudi
arcon Ef
icaci
a,metodol
ogía del
aprendi
zaj
e,Edici
óndel I
TEMS, 1990p.69-70
22
Majumdar,Bimanbehar.Kr
i i
shnainHistoryandLegend.Uni
ver
sit
yofCal
cutt
a1969,
p.7-9.
mustber ethought .Thi st heor y,present edatt heUni versityofNew
Brunswi cki nCanadabyPr asadGokhal e, suggestt hatChanaky alived
around1534BCandki ngChandr agupt aIi n325BC, whenheent ered
diplomat icr elationshi pswi thAl exandert heGr eat .
Stil
l anot herpr obl em i st hatt heBuddhi stAsokawasaki ngofKashmi r
23
andnott hegr andsonofemper orMaur ya'sAsoka. Thi sissi gni fi
cant,
becausei tjust ifiest hisi nv est i
gat i
on, sincei tcoi nci deswi ththe
historical ver sioni nSr îmad- Bhâgavat am.
Further mor e, probabl yt heweakestpoi nti nt het heor yi st heev idence
thatt hePur ânasar ement ionedi near lierwor ks, aswewi l
l ment i
oni n
thispr esent ation.
Thegeneal ogyofki ngsi nt hepr esentage, cal ledKal i-yugai nHi ndu
texts, hasbeenconf i
rmedbyJamesPr insep' sar chaeol ogi cal
24
i
nv est i
gat ions. Suchl istsar ement i
onedi nsev eral Pur ânasand
wr i
tteni nt hef utur et enseast heyar econsi der edpr opheci es.Thi s
meanst hatwemayhav eal t
er nativet heor iest hatal lowust opl acet he
compi lati
onoft hepur ani ct ext sinamuchmor eanci entdat e.
Nonet heless, thet heor yoft heBr it
ishschol arst hatpl acedt he
Bhâgavat am compi l
ationi nt he13t hcent ur yCEr emai neduni v ersally
accept edunt ilthesecondhal foft hel astcent ur y.Thenament ionof
theBhâgav ata- Pur ânawasf oundi nTahqi q- i
-Hi nd, at extwr i
ttenby
Alber uni,aMusl im schol art hatst udiedI ndi ai nt he10t hcent uryCE.
Thiscr eatedser iousdoubt sf ort het heor yandt hedat ationshi ftedt o
the10t hcent ur yCE.
Criti
csoft hehi st orical ant i
qui tyoft heBhâgav atam sayt hatt het ext
ment i
onst hei nv asi onoft heHunst hathappenedbet weent he4t hand
5thcent ur yCE.Howev er, weseet hatt hesamepeopl ement i
onedi n
Bhâgavat am ar eal sof oundi near li
ert ext s, suchast heLal it
avistara,
25
Buddhi stwor kt hati sdat edt ot he3r dcent uryCEatt hel at est and
26
alsoi nt heMahâbhâr ata t hati sr ecogni z edasmor eanci ent.
Thisev idencei ndi catest hatsuchr ace( theHuns)wer eal readyknown
muchbef oret hei nv asionoft he4- 5thcent ury .Besi dest he
Bhâgavat am doesnotment ionanyi nvasi on, butsi mpl yment ionst heir
existence.

23
Vi
d.Gokhale,Pr
asad.Part5,12.Chandragupta,t
heSandracott
us.Anti
qui
tyandCont
inui
tyof
Indi
anHistor
yURLht t
p://
www. hknet.
org.
nz/aryani
nvasi
on-page.1998.
24
Wil
son,HoraceH.VisnuPurâna,NagPubl i
shers.1980p.lxv
ii
.
25
Majumdar
,Op.Ci
t.p.60
26
d.Mahâbhâr
Vi ata6.251.
23-
24.
Other sar guet hatt heBhâgav at am wasi nf l
uencedbyt hephi losopher
27
Sankar abecauseoft hesi milar ityofi deasandl anguage, andSankar a
isdeemedt ohav el i
v edi nthe8t hcent uryCE.TheBhâgav atam
theref orehadt obeal at ercomposi tion.
Suchi deaseemsr at herconv inci ng, buti tdoesnotst andt ot he
verifi
cat ionoff act s, becauseGaudapada, thet eacherofGov inda, who
wast eacherofSankar a, ment ionsav er seoft heBhâgav atam i nhi s
28
Uttaragi ta-
bhasya aswel last woot herv ersesofBhâgav atam i nhi s
29
Sankhya- karika. Ther ehav ebeenat tempt st odi screditthi sev idence,
all
egi ngt hatanot herl ateraut horwi tht hesamenameofGaudapada
hadment i
onedt heBhâgav at am ver ses, ort hati twast heBhâgav atam
30
textt hatquot edGaudapadaswr iting. Thepr obl em inthiscont rov ersy
isthatt her eisnoev i
dencey ett osuppor tsuchcr i
ti
calappr oach; there
isnohi storical ref erencet opr ov et heexi stenceofanot herGaudapada
whomayhav equot edt hev er sesi nexam.Ont heot herhand,
resear cher ssuchasM.T.Sahasr abuddhahav ev erifi
edt hatsucht ext
31
wasact uall
ycomposedbyGaudapada. Besi des, heSanky
t akar ika-
vrit
tiandt heUt tar a-gi tadonotmer elyquot et hev erses,butal so
directlyment iont heBhâgav ata- pur âna.
Anot herconf irmat ioni sf oundi nasepar at ewor kNandî -sut ra,a
fundament altextf rom t heJai nschool cont ainingal i
stofbookst hat
shoul dnotbest udi edbyi t
sschol ar s.Suchl i
stcl earlyment ions
Mahâbhâr ata, RâmâyanaandPur âna- Bhâgavat am, Mat har a-vrit
ti,
32
Sankhya- karika, etc. TheNandî -
sut rai sconsi der edawor koft he4t h
cent uryCEasVal labhi , i
t scompi ler, l
iv ed980y earsaf t
ert heJai n
teacherMahav i
r a,whoi ssupposedt ohav el i
v edi nthe5t hcent ur yBC.
Fur t
her mor e, theMat har a-vritti,quot edbyGaudapadaast he
inspirationf orhi swor kSankhy a-kar ika- vritti
,al socont ainst hesame
33
twov ersesf rom Bhâgav atam.

27
Majumdar,Op.ci.pp.62
t
28
I
bid.p.61:Ut
tara-
git
a-bhâsya2.46andBhâgavat
am 10.
14.
4.Apud.Das,
Dr danandaThe
.Sambi
Hi st
oryEtLiteratur
eoftheGaudiyaVaisnavasandthei
rrel
ati
ontoot hermedi
evalVai
snava
School s.Sri
Gaudi yaMath.1991,p.93.
29
Cf .Sankhy
r akari
kavr
it
ti2and51andBhâgavat am 1.
6.35and1.8.52.
30
Tagare,GaneshVasudeo.TheBhâgav at
a-Pur
âna.Motil
alBanar
sidass.Del
hiIndi
a.1986,p.xxxv
-
vi
31
Cf r
.Sahasrabuddha,M.T.ASur
veyofPr e-
Sankar
aAdvai
tavedanta.Uni
ver
sit
yofPoona,
Indi
a
1968
32
Tagere,OpCi .p.xxxv:pur
t âna-
bhâgavayam .
33
SeeMat hara-
vri
tt
i,Kar
ika2and31.Bhâgavatam,1.
8.52and1. 6.35inAnnalsoft
heBhâgavat
a
Anobj ectionwasr aisedbySushi laS.Desai basedonanobser v at
ionof
Belvekarwhosuggest edal atermodi fi
cat i
onoft heor iginal
manuscr ipt s,stati
ngt hatintheMat hara-vri
ttitr
anslatedi ntoChi nese
bytheBuddhi stmonkPar amarthaint he5t hcent ur
yCEt hev erses
from Bhâgav atam ment i
onedi nGaudapadascomment arydonot
34
appear . Themaj orobst acl
et othisobj ecti
oni sthatitsv ali
dat i
on
requiresaser iesofmanuscr iptspecimenscal edCol
l l
atioCodi cum,
35
showi ngt hatsuchv er
sesar enotpr esentint hesour cesquot ed.
Anot herpr oblem ist hattheChi nesetranslationofPar amar thamay
j
usthav edr oppedt hespecifi
cv erses,specif i
call
ybecauset heChi nese
monkbel ongedt oaschool thatopposedt heBhâgav at aschooland
thereforehemi ghthav echosent oremov et hem toav oidgi vingcr edi
t
toadoct rineheopposed.Thuswer equi r
emuchst rongerev idence
beforewecanconsi dersuchobj ecti
onasv alid.

Anotherpoi nti sBhâgav atam reject sthemoni sti

ctheoryoft henon-
36
diff
erenti
at eduni t
yoft hesoul swi thGod andt heconceptionofGod
37
asultimat elyimper sonal andamor phous t hatisthestonebaseof
Sankarasphi losophy .Tot hisitcanbeaddedt hatSankaraal so
ment i
onsav er sefom Bhâgav
r at am i spoem Medi
nhi tati
onsont he
Gîtaandhemakesar efer
encet ot heBhâgav ataschool i
nhisSar ir
aka-
38
bhasya. Besi des,PrasadGokhal ef oundev idencethatSankar ali
vedin
39
the5thcent uryBCandMahav i
ral i
v edatl eastinthe10thcent uryBC.
Thismeanst hatweneedt oreviset heconv enti
onaldatati
onandt o
recognizet hatobj ectionst otheant iqui
tyoft heBhâgav atam arenot
sati
sfactor y.

Resear chInsti
tut
e.Vol
.X17.p.t
ii
i.Ci
t.bySambi
danda,Op.Cit
.p.93.
34
Desai,Sushi
laS.TheBhâgavataPurâna:acr
it
icalst
udy.Ahmedabad:Par
shv
aPr
akashan,1990,
p.10-
11.
35
Bl
ecua,
Alber
to.Manual
deCr
ít
icaText
ual
.Edi
tor
ial
Cast
adi
a.España,
1983p.43.
36
Bhagavatam 10. 87.30samananuj anatam yadmat a-dustaya—“Menofl imit
edknowledgewho
def endmoni sm aremi sledbyaf alseconcept i
on.”
37
SeeIbi
d.1. 2.
11.and9. 9.49:yattadbr ahmapar am sûksman;asunyam sûnya- kal
pit
am;bhagavân
vâsudevet i
;yam gr nantihisât vatah":ThePer sonali
tyofGodhead,Vâsudev a{ Kri
shna}isthe
supr emespi ri
t.Beingsosubt l
e,someconsi derHi mimper sonalorvoid;butheisnotli
kethat
.His
glor i
esaresungbyt hesat vatas{ orbhâgav at
as}.“
38
SeeMedi t
acionesalGî t
a, ver
se8, Bhâgavatam 12.13.31andSar i
rakabhasya2.45.
39
SeeGokhal e.Loc.Cit.Par t5.14-15-16.Gaut ama,Mahav eer,Adi
-Sankara
Oneofmostappr ov edbases: J.A.VanBui tenenwr itest hatt he
Bhâgavat am laudst hesout her npar tofIndi a(cal l
edDr av idadesa)and
i
tsr i
ver sTamr apar ni,Kr i
tamal a, Payasv i
ni andKav er i,wher eitis
40
predictedt hatmanydev oteesofKr ishnawoul dappear . Thi st heor y
41
waspr oposedbyHi nduschol arst owar dst heendoft he19t hcent ur y
andwasal sosuppor tedbyot her sasG.V.Tagar e.Tagar ear guest hat
thetopogr aphical descr i
ptionbegi nswi t
ht heDr avidaorsout hI ndia,
42
makingei ghtgeogr aphi cal referencest ot hisar ea. Al soBhakt iv i
noda
ment ionsr eferencesi n10t hCant otoapi lgrimagepl acecal l
edt he
Vênkat aHi ll
,post ulat i
ngt hatsuchhol yplacewasest ablishedi nt he
43
8thcent uryCE. I nt hesamewayFr iedhelm Har dysuggest si nVi raha-
bhakt itherear est r ongsi mi l
arit
iesamongsomepassagesoft he
44
Bhâgavat am andcer tainpoemsoft heAl varpoet sf rom Sout hIndi a,
wheret heAl varsl ivedbet weent he5t hand9t hcent uryCE.He
concludest hatsuchpassagesi ntheBhâgav atam musthavebeen
i
nfluencedbyt heAl var spoet r
y :thisisoneoft hemostaccr edited
theoriesf oradat at ionoft heBhâgav atam int hepost -
Chr ist
ianper iod.
Howev er ,
amor er i
gor ousanal ysisshowsser i
esofweakpoi nt soft his
hypothesi s.Dr .B.Maj umdarwr ites:

Thi
sv ersereferst otheAlvars,themostprominentofwhom l i
vedi nthe9thcenturyCE.
Howev ertheearliestoftheAl vars,
suchasPoy giofKanchipur
a,PudanofMamal l
apuram
andPeyofMy lapor e,becamef amousbeforethe6thcent ur
y.Sti
ll
er,theinscr
ipt
ionsof
Nanaghatf r
om t he1stcent uryBCandChi nnaofGot amiputr
aclearlyprovetheexist
ence
45
ofdevoteesofVâsudev a(Kri
shna)intheSouthinancientti
mes.

Thi
ssuggeststhatthegoldenperi
odoftheAlv
arsmighthav
ebeen
muchearli
ert
hangener al
lybel
iev
ed.Butthi
sisnott
heonlyprobl
em.S.
M.Sri
niv
asaChar ipoi
ntedout:

“
Theper
iodwhent
heAl
var
sli
ved.Iwoul
dnotl
i
ket
ovent
uret
odat
ethi
sper
iodf
or
t
wor
easons:
(1)t
hedat
esar
eunderdi
sput
ebet
weent
het
radi
ti
onal
schol
arsand

40
Bhâgavat
am 11.5.
39-40.
41
Thakura,Bhakt
ivnoda.Sr
i iKr
ishna-
samhi
tâ(
Themai
npur
por
tofBhâgavat
aPur
âna)
.Vr
ajar
aj
Pr ess(1998)I ndi a,
p.43.
42
Tagar e.OpCi t .p.Xl.SeeBhâgav atam 5.19,
11.5.38-
40,4.
3.30,4.28.29-
30,8.7,10.
61.12?
43
SeeBhâgav atam 10. 79.13,Thakur
a,Loc.Cit.
44
Hospi tal,
Cl i
ff
or detal .Vaisnavi
sm.Cot emporarySchol
arsDiscusst heGaudiyaTradit
ion,Ed.
Rosen, St evenj.Fol kBooks, NewYor k,1992p.71.Hospital
,fr
om theDoct or
at eThesis(t
rad)Los
Mar avil
lososAct osdeDi os:UnestudioenElBhâgavat aPur
âna, HarvardUni
v ersi
ty.
45
Maj umdar ,
Loc.Ci t.p.60-61
thecontempor
aryr
esearcher
s,(
2)theyar
enotrel
evantfort
hepur
poseof
46
present
ingt
hePhil
osophyandReli
gionofVai
snav
ism.”

Thepr eci seper iodoft heAl varshasbeenanobj ectofcont rov er sy ;but

wecanal sosuspectt hatmanyoft hesemy sticpoet slivedi ndi ffer ent
times.Oneoft hebasesf orthedat ationbet weent he5t hand9t h
centuryCEi st het heor ypr oposedbyHul tzch, accor dingt owhi chki ng
Parameshv araVi nnagar a, laudedbyt heAl varTi rumangai inhi spoems,
wasact ual lyki ngPar ameshv araVar man.Basedont hist heor yR.
Chaudhur isur mi sedt hatTi rumangai wasacont empor aryofki ng
47
NarasimhaVar mawhol ivedbet ween625and645CE. Anot heri dea
present edasev idencei st hei dentifi
cationoft heAl v arKul ashekhar a
withkingKul ashekhar ai n788CE.Howev er, schol arSambi ndananda
admi t
tedt hatt her ear edi vergencesandi ncompat ibili
tywi thsuchan
i
dent i
ficat i
onandt hatsomeexper t
s, asBhar darkar ,reject edt hei dea
thatkingKul ashekhar aandt heAl varKul ashekhar aar et hesame
48
person. Forexampl e, oneoft het wowr ot ei nSanskr itandt heot heri n
Tami l
.Al so, thei dent ificat i
onofki ngPar ameshv ar aVi nnagar awi th
Parameshv araVar mai snotcompl etelyjust ifiable.Becausev innagar a
andv armaar ev erydi f ferentnamesandNar asi mhaVar mai sal soa
diff
erentname.I nf actt her eisnosat isfact or yev idencet osuppor tt he
conclusi onsofHul tzchandChaudhur iandt hedat esst il
l remai n
uncertai n.
Ifwet ur nt ot het radi tional sour cesont heAl v ars, suchas
Upadesar atnamal a, Upadesar atnamal ai,Gur upar ampar a- Prabandham,
Divyasur iChar it
am, Pr apananmr i
taandPr avandasar a,et c, weseet hat
49
theyunani mousl ypoi ntt oamuchear li
erage, from 4202t o2706BC.
Regardi ngt hegeogr aphi cal ment i
onoft her i
v ersi nsout hI ndia
containedi nt hev ersesi nquest ion,i
ti snotpar ticul arlyr elev antt oa
datati
onsy stem becauset heBhâgav atam al soment ionsr iver sand
areasofnor thI ndi aandwi thmor efrequency .Inf act ,themost
i
mpor tantev ent sdescr ibedi nthet extt akepl acei nt henor th, i
nan
areathatcor r espondst ot hepr esentst at esofUt tarPr adesh, Har y ana,
Punjab, Raj ast han, Madhy aPr adesh, Saur asht ra, Guj arat, etc., wi tht hei r
46
Sri
nivasa,S.M.Car .Vai
i snavi
sm,phi
l
osophy,t
heol
ogy and r
eli
gious di
sci
pli
ne.Mot
il
al
BanarsidassPublishers.1994,1.3.p.
21
47
Sambi dananda.Op.citp.115.
48
Ibi
d.p.50-51
49
Ibi
d.p.115, i
nSr i
niv
asa, p.19.
respect i
v er iversandpi lgri
magesi tes.Justi nthef i
r stCant ot hi rt
een
versesdescr ibet hegeogr aphyf rom Mahâbhâr ataandment iont he
50
ri
verSar asv ati asst il
l fl
owi ng. Ref erencesal soexi stt oPr ay agaor
51
prayagah , thepl aceoft heTr iveni ,theconf l
uenceoft hethr eer i
ver s
Yamuna, GangesandSar asvat i
.St udi essuppor tedbyt oplev el
52
technol ogyconf irmt hatt hisSar asv atiriverdr iedar ound2000BC. It
i
sment i
onedt hatt heSar asv atihadt ribut arybr anchesr eachi ng
53 54
Prabhasai nGuj arat andt hewest ernr egi onoft heSi ndhu.
Consequent ly,ifweconsi dert hef ewv ersesont hegeogr aphyoft he
sout h, weal sohav et oconsi deral ltheot hergeogr aphi calindi cations
i
nt het ext .
Regar dingt hedat at ionoft heVenkat api lgr i
magepl acei nthe8t h
cent uryCE, ther ei snodoubtt hatt hepr esentt empl emayhav ebeen
rebui l
tatt hatt ime, butt hatdoesnotmeanmuch.I nscr ipti
onsf oundi n
thet empl est atet hatI ndianki ngsment ionedt hei rvisitstot hiswor ship
placeal readyi nt he9t hcent uryCE, andt her ear eal sot racesofear l
ier
foundat ionsofapr ev ioust empl et hatexi st edbef oret henew
55
building.
Resear cher si nt hisf ieldhav ef oundment ionsoft hishol yplacedat ing
backt ot he4t hcent ur yBCandot herr ecor dsshowt hatt hi
ssame
pil
gr i
magepl aceexi st edint i
mesbef or et hebegi nni ngoft heKal i
-
56
yuga. Bhakt i
v i
nodaal sopoi ntedoutt heweaknessofsuchr ecent
57
datat i
on: “West rongl ydi f
ferf r
om suchaconcl usi on. ”
Regar dingt hecompar isonof feredbyHar dy ,i
tisnotv eryrelev ant ,
becausei tonl yrel atest othecommonquot esi ndi fferentt ext sandnot
necessar il
yt oanexcl usi veor i
gin.Suchr easoni ngwoul dbeaf aulty
concl usi onoft het y peposthocer gopr opt erhoc—“ i
fAi sf ollowedby
B, t
henAi st hecauseofB” .Thepr oofofAcausi ngBi smor eunl ikel y

50
Bhagavat
am 1.
4.15,
1.4.
32-
33,
1.7.
2
51
Ibid.7.14. 30
52
Vi d.Gokhal e, Prasad.Loc.Cit
.Part3.9TheSaraswati-
Sindhucult
ure.
53
Bhâgavat am,3. 4.3,3.1.19.Ji
vaGoswamihasi ndi
catedanotherplaceoft hestor
y(10.34.
1-2-3-
4),
neart heact ual ci
tyofSidhapuraGûjarat
a.
54
Ibid.10. 78.18.
55
Vi d.Tirupati.HistoryandLegends.URL.www. ti
rumala.
org/tt
-hi
s_p7.htm.2002
56
SriVênkat a Mahât mya appearsi n several Pur
ânas: Varaha,Bhavi shyautt
ara,Gar uda,
Br ahmat tara,Adi tya,Skanda,etc.I
trecordsthestoryoft heweddingofpr i
ncessPadmav ati,the
daught erofki ngAksar ajan,witht
hei mageofVênkat a,att hebegi nni
ngofKal i-
yuga.Tirupati
.
Hi storyandLegends.I bi
d.
57
Thakur a, cit
.not eNo.2.
 58
toobt ainthant oprovethatAandBcoexi statthesamet ime. Infact
ThomasHopki nsandot her shav esuggest edthattheAlvarswer e
59
rat
heri nspiredbyt heBhâgav at
am. Consi deri
ngal l
thesef actor s,
we
cancer tai
nlysayt hatthet heoryt hattheBhâgav at
am originatedi n
southI ndiaaftertheAlvarsi nthe9t hcenturyCEi satleast
controv er
sial,
asr ecognizedbyBui tenen:“TheexactdateofBhâgav at
a
Purânahasnotbeenest abl i
shedy et.
..nei
therwouldIinsistont ext
60
havingor i
ginatedint hesout h.”

Anot hertheor yont hedat ationoft heBhâgav atam hasbeenpr esent ed

byR.L.Thompson, whosuggest sthatt hest ar softheconst el l
ation
call
edSi sumar ament ionedi nBhâgav atam wer ev i
sibleint heskyf rom
61
1000BCt o1000CE. Thi ssuggest st hepossi bil
i
tyt hatthe
Bhâgavat am wascompi l
edi nthatper iod.Nomat terhowat t
ract ivet his
theoryis,acl oserexami nationwi l
lshowt hatoneoft heref erences
usedbyThompsoni ssupposedt oindicat et hel ocationoft hest ar
62
Polarisinthecent eroft hePol arAxis. Howev er,nBhâgav
i at am i tis
ment ionedt hatthePol arst arcal ledDhr uv alokawast hefixedst arin
63
thecent eroft hePol arAxi s, andaccor di ngt omoder nast r
onomi cal
studiesthePol arstarwasnoti nthatposi tionf rom 1000BCt o1000
CE, butratheri naper i
odbef ore2600BC.SuchPol arst arwasThuban
64
orAl phaDr aconis. Thati ndi catesthatt heconst ell
at i
oncal led
Sisumar amusthav ebeeni nt hatal i
gnmenti nmuchmor er emot e
ti
mes, whent hePol arst arwasDhr uvaorThuban, whi chdispr ov es
sucht heory.Thompsonadmi tsthatsuchast ronomi calobser v ationat
l
eastgi vesev idenceoft hepossi bil
it
yof“ .
..ar elat
iveast r
onomi cal date
65
fortheol dmanuscr ipt ”. Anot herfact ori ndicat edbyThompsoni st he
factthattheBhâgav at am ment i
onst hesi gnsoft het ropi
cal zodi act hat
musthav ebeenadopt edf rom t heGr eekast ronomer swhoi nv ented

58
Rubi o,Al f
onsayBr i
ones, Ma.Del Rosari
o.Op.Ci t
.p.74-
75.
59
Hopki ns, ThomasJ.Op.Ci t.p.102
60
Buit
enen,v an,J.A.B. ,Ont heAr chaism oftheBhâgavataPurâna,(1996)inKri
shna,Myt
hs,Rites
andAt ti
tudes, ed.Milt
onSi nger .HonoluluEast-WestCenter
,p.225-226.
61
Thompson1,Ri chardL.My steri
esoft heSacr edUniver
se.TheCosmol ogyoft heBhâgavata
Pur âna.Govar dhanHillPublishing.Alachua,Flori
da2000p.209-212.
62
Idem.Fi gure8.2and8. 3.
63
Bhâgavat am 5.23.6.
64
ThompsonR.2.Vedi cCosmogr aphyandAst ronomy.ThemysteriesoftheFif
thCantoofSrî
mad-
Bhâgavat am.TheBhakt ivedant aBookTr ust.USA.1991p.103
65
Thompson1, Op.Cit.p.211.
them around100BC, especial
lyfrom Hi
pparchus.ThusThompson
concludest hatsuchal ignmentscannotbet racedtomor eremot e
ti
mesduet ot hedi f
ferentposi
tionsofthesignsandthe
66
constell
ations. Thi shy pot
hesisoftheHell
enisti
cinf
luenceont he
Hindutext sofast r
onomyhasbeenampl yacceptedintheacademi c
cir
cles,butot herr esearchershavefoundev i
denceofdiffer
ent
possibi
lit
ies, especiall
yofanor i
ginofHindutextsasindependentfrom
Hell
eniccul ture.
Withreferencet othezodi acsignsDaGemadei t
eexplai
ned:

Thereisnotdoubtt hat…themagi candast rol

ogicalpracti
cesofChaldeaand
Egyptinfl
uencedtheGr eekcivi
li
zation…theGr eekseagerlyassi
milat
edthe
ori
entalbeli
efsandt hemy t
hologicalfi
guresfrom thepeopletheymet …The
Egypti
ancalendarwasper f
ect;i
twasdi vi
dedaccor dingtothetwelvezodiacal
constell
ati
ons,whichinturnweresub- div
idedeachi nthreepart
s..
.formingthe
67
di
visi
onsoft hezodiacalcir
cle.

G.A.Bet
tial
sost
ates:

TheEgypt
ianscanbeconsider
edast hef
ather
softheChal
deansinthe
ast
ronomi
calfi
eld…anditi
sknownt hatt
hefir
stGr
eekphil
osopher
smov edt
othe
68
l
andofEgypttostudyast
ronomy.

Anotherfact
orist
hatmanyoft hegreatGreekmat hemati
ci
ans,such
asPy t
hagorasint
he5thcenturyBCandApol loniusofTy
anainthe1st
69
centur
yCE, wentt
ostudyinIndi
a,asFlavi
usFi l
ostrat
usr
ecords. In
thi
sconnectionO.Neugebauerwri
tes:

Wef i
ndour sel
veshereinanent i
relynewsituati
on,
becauset
heinfluencesofa
l
aterper i
odhav emodi fi
edev eryt
hingandgi venavagueandconfusedr eportof
pre-
history.Thissi
tuati
on, especiall
ytraci
ngbacktoPtol
emy,doesnotof f
erany
hi
storicalrefer
ences,almostnot hingisknownabouttheastr
onomi calknowl edge
70
ofHipparchusorApol lonius.

66
Ibid.p.206-
207.
67
DaGemadei t
e,Tácito.Astrol
ogía.Ci
enciamagiaosuper st
ici
ón.Edit
ori
alVida,MiamiFlori
da,
1987p.25.
68
Bett
i.G.A.LaHi st
ori
adel aAstronomía.FondodeCult
uraEconómica.Col
.deBr ev
ariosNo.118.
Méxi co1996p.33.
69
Bett
i.G.A.LaHi st
ori
adel aAstronomía.FondodeCult
uraEconómica.Col
.deBr ev
ariosNo.118.
Méxi co1996p.33.
70
Phil
li
more,J.S.,Phi
lostr
atusinHonorofApol l
oni
usofTyana.Clar
endonPress,Oxfor
d,1912.Ci
t.
byThompson2, Loc.Cit
.p.16.
 Thismeansthereisnohar
dev i
dencetoprov
ethattheGreekshad
suchaninfl
uenceonGreekcul
ture.Somehaveusedtheargumentof
71
theTri
gonometryTabl
eofHipparchuspr
oposedbyG.J.Toomer .
ButasThompsonsuggests,evenToomeradmitstheuncert
ainnatur
e
ofsuchadocument :

“.
..therear
enoext
antGr eekdocumentsthatcont
ainHippar
chusstable,not
eveni nafr
agment
aryform.Infact
,ther
eisnoexplici
tevi
denceaboutt he
72
natureofthi
sHi
pparchusstableort
hatsuchwor khaseverexi
sted.
”

I
nthi
sregar
dNeugebauerwr
it
es:

“
Weknowt
hatf
rom t
hePahl
avi
transl
ati
onsoft
heast
rol
ogi
cal
wri
ti
ngsof
thefi
rstandsecondcent ury(i
nPer a)suchasTeucerandVet
si t
iusVal
ens,
andfrom thepresenceofHi ndutextsaswel l
astheRomanAl magestdat
ed
around250CEunderki ngShapurI .Duri
ngt herei
gnofKhosoroI…,i
twas
revi
sedaround550CEast hefamousZi jash-
Shah,whichhasbeen
73
demonstratedasheav i
l
yi nfl
uencedbyHi ndusources.

From t heper spectiveofI ndianhi stor y,theChanaky anitisâstra

74
ment i
onst hescienceofast ronomy i naper iodt hatwasnot
connect edt otheGr eeki nvasionort oHi ppar chus.Fur thermor ewesee
thatt hetextsofBuddhi stlit
eratur ement i
ont hatwhent heBuddhawas
75
born, astr
ologer spr edictedhi sr eli
gi ousmi ssi on. Amongt hepossible
sour cesthatment iont hezodi acsi gns, R.Sant hanam pr oposest he
BrihatPar âsaraHor a,wr i
t t
enbyVy asasf atherPar âsara,theaut horof
othert extslikePar âsaraSmr i
tiandPar âsaraSamhi tâ.Although
76
Par âsaralivedint heper i
odoft heMahâbhâr ata, Sant hanam st ates
thathest udi edast ronomyf rom Saunaka, t
heaut horofoneoft heRig
Vedapoems.Thi sisconf ir
medbyt hef actt hatRi gVedament i
onst hat
thesunor bitsthrought het welvezodi acalsigns, clearlynami ngSi mha,
71
Ibi
d.p.299,
inB.L.vanderWaer
den,
D.Pi
ngr
ee,Cit
.porThompson2,TheRoleofGreekinfl
uence
inIndi
a,1991p.195.
72
NeugabauerO.AHi
, stor
yofAnci
entMat
hemati
calAst
ronomy.Ber
li
n:Spr
inger
-Ver
lag,1975p.
781.
73
Neugebauer ,Ci
tbyibid.p.8.
74
d.Chanaky
Vi ar
ajani
ti
sastra(224,225)i
nSubramani
am V.K.
,Maxi
msofChanakya1990,Abhinav
Publ i
cat
ions.NewDel hip.132.
75
SeeBuddhaChar it
a,Lali
taVist
ara,et
c.
76
SeeSant hanam R.BrihatParasaraHoraSastr
aofMaharshiPar
asar
a.Vol
iRajanPubli
cat
ions.
NewDel hi 1992,p.10.
 77
Kanya,MaithunaandVrisha(Leo,Vir go,Gemi niandTaur us).
Consideri
ngtheantiqui
tyofsucht extweneedt oacceptt hepossi bil
i
ty
thatt
heHi ndusknewaboutt hezodi acsignsbef oretheHel leni sti
c
ti
mes, assuggestedbyF.W.Fr anz:“ TheHindusandt heChi neseal so
78
hadtheirowncompl exastr
ologysy st ems”. Also,Bettisuggest s:

I
tseemst hatsuchat i
mecanbet racedbackatl eastfor
tycent uri
esbeforeChrist
,
toapeoplef rom Asia…t hatreachedav eryhighlevelofcivi
lizat
ioncomparedt o
otherpeopleandwhoseknowl edgespr eadthroughallAsia, Eur
opeandEgy ptand,
veryli
kel
y,alsotoMesoamer i
ca.From theast r
onomyoft hesepeoplewegot o
79
theEgypti
anandI ndianscienceofast r
onomy ,thi
rtycenturiesbeforeChri
st.

Thistheor ywasampl ydi scussedbecauseoft hi

spoint .Itwas
suggest edt hattheGr eekswer enott hef ir
stpeopl etouset hezodi ac
signs,butt heywer epr ecededbyt heEgy pti
ans, whohadcont actwi th
Indiabef or
eHi ppar chus.
DennisHudsonar guest hatatleastapar toft hemat erial cont ainedi n
theBhâgav atam wasknowni ntheent ir
eI ndiant er
ri
toryi nt he3r d
centuryBC, andt hatt hear chai
cl anguageoft heBhâgav at aPur âna
couldinf actconst ituteagenui net radit
ionthati smuchear l
ier ,atleast
80
datedto400BC. Howev er,t
herear eresearcher swhosei nvest i
gation
showst hatthisdat ei snott helastone.R.N.Vy asinsistsonaper i
od
around900BC, ont hebasi soft hewor kofG.D.Dey ,andment i
ons
thatsomest ori
esf r
om t heBhâgav at
am canal sobef oundi nt he
81
BuddhistJat akat ext s. Oneoft hemai nobj ect i
onsagai nstt hist heory
i
sof feredbyG.V.Tagar e:

Thesimilar
it
yamongt hel
egendsintheBh.P.( Bhâgavatam)andtheJatakas,
in
spit
eofthedet ail
eddemonst rat
ionforGokuldasDey ,
cannotbeconsideredas
i
rref
utableevidencet odeter
minethedateoft heBh.P.,becausebot
hwor ks
couldhaveindependent l
ytappedfrom anci
entIndianfol
kloreandot
her
82
tr
aditi
onalstori
es.

77
Ri
gVeda1.
164.11;
5.83.
3;6.
49.
7;3.39.
3;6.47.
5.
78
Fr
anz
,F.W.ElhombrebuscadeDios.GrupoEdit
ori
alUl
tr
amar
.Méxi
co.1990p.86.
79
Bet ti
.Op.Ci t
.p.20
80
Hudson,Dennis."The Srîmad Bhâgavat
am in St
one:The Textasan Ei ght
-Cent
uryTemple and i
ts
Impl i
cati
ons.JournalofVaisnavaStudi
es,Vol
.3,No.3,Summer1995.CitbyThompson1.OpCi t
.p.11.
81
SeeR.N.Vy as,Synt
heti
cPhi l
osophyofBhâgavat
a,G.D.DeyapudSignif
icanceandImport
anceofJatakas
Cit.porTagar
eOpusCi
t.p.xxxv
i.
82
Idem.
 Thi sobj ectiont endst oi nvali
dat eDey swor k,butanat tenti
ve
exami nationr ev ealst hatther ei snoser i
ouspr oofofsuchconcl usion
either .Wher eist heev i
dencet hatthesecommonst ori
eswer e
acqui redf rom anot hersour ce?Wi t
houtsuppor ti
ngt hisresearchwi th
verifiabl einf ormat ionat heorysi mpl yremai nsapossi bil
it
y.Wear e
ther efor er emi ndedoft helogicofposthocer gopr opterhoc—i fA
(thef olklore)isf ollowedbyB( thet exts),Ai st hecauseofB.Aswe
hav eal readyment ioned, t
hepr oofofAcausi ngBi smor eunlikelyto
83
obt aint hant opr ov et hatAandBcoexi statt hesamet i
me. Thi si s
nott heonl yobst acle.Demandi ngirrefutableev idence, asTagar e
does, isbey ondt hepowerofsci entifi
ci nvestigat ion, asK.Popperhad
expl ained: “Believ i
ngt hatsci ent i
fi
ct heor i
esar et heabsol utethat
84
cannotbechal lengedi smor ef ait
ht hansci ence” .
Try i
ngt odi sprov et hei nfl
uenceofBuddhi stl it
er at uref r
om the
Bhâgavat aPur âna, someI ndologistsar guet hatoneofChanaky as
wor ksment i
onst hehi storyofKr i
shna, say i
ngt hatDv aipayanaVy asa
hadcur sedt heher o'sdy nasty:

Therefer
encei squit
eclear,
althoughthesageorsagesnamedher emaybe
dif
fer
entfrom thenamei nMahâbhâr at
aandPur ânas.Thecoincidenceoft he
nameofVy asaisr
emar kabl
eandsuggest sthatthi
sistheoldesttradit
ion.The
Mahâbhârat aandthePurânascouldnotinsertVyasainthi
sepisode, sinceheis
supposedtobet heauthorofthesetextsandi nt
hisversi
onofthehi storyhedies.
85
Theyhadtouseot hersagesf orthei
ncident
.

Thepr obl
em oft hi
sint
erpr
etati
oni sthatnopassageoft he
Bhâgavatam ort heMahâbhâratament ionsthatVy asadi ed.
Furt
her more,hedidnotevenbel ongtot heYadudy nast y,t
hef ami l
yof
Kri
shna.Thuswecanseet hattherei
saposi ti
vecoincidencebet ween
thenamesoft hesagesinsucht reat
ises,becauseKambaandKanv a
86
arethesamechar act
erwhoi salsonamedNar ada. TheBhâgav at
am
ment i
onsot hersagestoo,
becausei tisadet ail
edwor kaboutt helif
e
ofKrishnaasopposedt heMahâbhâr
ot ata,whosemai nchar actersare
thePandav aheroesandKr i
shnai sanimpor tantbutt echnical
ly
83
Rubi
o,Al
fonsaet.al
t.Loc.Ci.
t
84
CitbyRamí r
ezValdez ,JuanJosé.Hermenéut
icayFenomenol
ogí
aenPaulRi
coeur
.Consej
oEdi
tor
ial
.
Gobier
nodelEstadodeCoahui l
a.1995p.17.
85
Preci
ado,Sol í
s,Benj
amí n.Pri
merasevi
denciashist
óricassobr
eKŗşņa.Pr
int
edbyEstudiosde
Asi ayAf r
ica,vol
.XV,nº4.El Col
egi
odeMéxico,1980p.806.
86
Vy asa.Mahâbhârata,ElmayorpoemaépicodelaIndia.Tomo2,Déci
maparte,
cap.XI
II
,tr
ad.esp.
JulioPadilla.Edi
comunicaciónS.A.Bar
cel
ona,1997p.896.
secondar ychar acter.Thusi tislogi cal toadmi tt hati tdoesnotgi vef ul
l
det ailsaboutal lthesages, asi tist hecasewi tht het extunderscr ut i
ny.
Anot herpoi nti st hatt heBhâgav atam i ndi rect lyment ionsVy asai nt his
episode, asDr .Howar dJ.Resni ckr emar ksi nt het ransl ati
onoft het ext:
87
nâr ada- adaya—Nar adaandot her s. TheSanskr i
twor daday ahcl early
i
ndi cat est hatt her ewer eot hers.
Also, becauset heaut horoft het exti sDv ai pay anaVy asa,heisnot
ment ioneddi rectly;butonl yi mpl icit
l y.I
tmustal sobenot edt hatt his
Indol ogistbui ldshi scasebyusi ngaBuddhi stwor kt hatpresent s
88
Vy asaast hecauseoft hecur se. Thedi fficul tywi t
hsuchdef i
ni t
ioni s
thati nt hisBuddhi stwor k,knownasGhat a-jat aka, t
her earesev eral
distor ti
onsoft henamesandev enofpar tsofKr ishna´ sli
fe.Thisi s
becauset heBuddhi stt extwaspr oducedbyaschool thatwasopposed
tot heBhâgav ataschool ,andt herefor ecanhar dlybeconsi dereda
trust wor thysour ce.Howev er,thist heor ypr ov est hatt heBuddhi sts
knewaboutacompi leroft heBhâgav atam, namedbyt hetextitsel fas
Dv aipay anaVy asa, andment ionedt hechi ldhoodofKr i
shnaamongt he
cowher dboy sofVr indav ana—t hemai nsubj ectoft hePur ânawear e
exami ning.
Anot herpoi nti nt hisr egardi sthatsi nceBuddhai sment i
onedi nt he
Bhâgavat am i twasconcl udedt hati tscompi lationmusthav ebeen
89
doneaf tert het i
mesofBuddhahi msel f. Ther ear ei ndeedsev eral
prophet icpassagesaboutt heBuddhaav at arai nt heSr î
mad-
Bhâgavat am, butt heyar egener allyexpr essedi nr eferencet othe
futur e,andt henameofBuddhaasanav atar a, ori ncar nati
onofVi shnu
orKr i
shna, i
sal sof oundi nt hehy mnVi snu- sahasr a-namaf rom
Mahâbhâr at a.
Fur thermor e,A.Schwei tzerpoi nt sout :

“LaterBuddhism cont
emplat
edthebel
ieft
hatfrom i
mmemor i
alt
imethe
tr
uththatleadstoredempt
ionhadbeenprocl
aimedbyseveral
Buddhas.
Therefor
eGaut amaBudha,ofther
aceofSakyas,i
sonlyoneamongmany .
”
90

87
Sr
îmad-Bhâgavat
am,Elevent
h Cant
o.The GreatWor k ofHDG A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami
Pr
abhupada.Conti
nuedbyGoswami,Hr
iday
andandadasaet.al
t.Wi
thOr
igi
nalSanskri
ttext,
Roman
Tr ansli
ter
ationandEl abor
atePurpor
ts.TheBhakt
ivedantaBookTr
ust.1982,pp.27
88
Pr eci
ado, LocusCit.
89
SeeWi l
kins,W.J.Mi tol
ogí
aHindúVédicayPuránica.Edi
comuni
caciones,
S.A.1987p.128.
90
Schweitzer,Alber
t.ElPensamient
odel aIndi
a,Br ev
ari
osdelFondodeCul turaEconómi
ca,núm
63.1952p.110.
Thi
sl eadst osuspectthatthetit
leofBuddhaal readyexist
edbeforeit
s
useforSi ddhar
taGaut ama.Howev er,ourpresentati
onwi l
lexamine
howt hisandot hersourcessuggestthattherear el
ikel
ymor e
i
ndicationsofthedat ati
on,forexampleaboutt hedatessuggestedbyS.
D.Gyani asaround1200- 100BC.Tagar eobjected:

“…i
tisunacceptable,si
ncet
helanguageoft heBh.P.(Bhâgavatam)i smuch
moremoder nthant heVedi
clanguagethatispresumedt ohavebeeni nuse
i
ntheperiodbetween1200and1000BC.Nev ert
heless,i
fPari
ksit,t
he
per
sontowhom t heBhP.wasnar rat
ed,r
eignedaround900B. C, as
91
demonstrat
edbyRayChaudhar i
,theBh.P.cannotprecedeParîksit
.”

Inthisst at ementTagar ebui l

dsont heassumpt i
ont hatr e-wrot ethe
chronol ogyofI ndianhi st
ory,asweexpl ainedatt hebegi nningofour
present ation, wi thChandr agupt aMaur ya'
si dentif
icat ionwi ththe
Sandr acut usment i
onedbyMegast henes, t
oest ablishadat eforki ng
Parîksit.Howev er,asweal readyment i
oned, thisassumpt i
onhas
several weakpoi nts.Thear chai cl anguageusedi nt heBhâgav atam
i
ndicat esar emot etimeofi tscompi l
ation,asobser v edbyF.Mei er
,
Buitenen, Smi th, M.Fr ederi
ck, HudsonandL.Rocher , etc.This
contradi ctst hear gumentt hatt riest opassof fthel anguageoft he
92
Bhâgavat am asmoder nSanskr i
t.
PrasadGokhal esuggest sal ikelydat eofcomposi tionbet ween3100
93
and3000BC.
Howev er ,althought hisresear cherpr esent edar chaeol ogicalev i
dence
andast ronomi cal indicat
ionst hatsuggestanear lydat ef orthet ime
whenki ngPar i
ksi theardtheconcl usi onoft henar rat ionbysageSuka,
asdescr ibedi nt hetext,hedi dnotel aborat eont heant i
quityoft hetext
i
tself.
Regar dingt her ev i
sionofdat es, P.V.Var takt heorized5000BCf orthi
s
Purâna, st atingt hat“theexactdat eoft heWarofMahâbhâr atai s
94
October16oft hey ear5561B. C”. Cer tainlyinnovat ioni spar toft he
91
Tagar e,Loc.Cit.
92
Morei nformationaboutt hear chai
clanguageofBhâgavatam,seeRocher
,Ludo,ThePur ânas,
Wi esbaden:Ot toHar rassowitz.1986p.98Ci t.ByThompson1,OpCi t
;Bui
tenen,OpCi t.Smi t
h,
FrederickM.Pur ânaveda,inAut hori
ty,Anci
etyandCanon,ed.Laur i
eL.Pet ton.AlbanySt ate
Uni ver
sity,NewYor kPress1994.
93
Gokhal e,Loc.cit.Part4.10Mahâbhâr at
aEra.
94
Vid. Dr .
Vartak@mexnet 01.mcsa.
net.
mx. [ wor
ld-
vedi
c] Exact dat
e of Kur uksetra War ;
vediculture@yahoogr oups.com; Sábado 7 de Abr i
l de 2001 2: 57 AM URL:
processofsci ent i
f i
cinv estigat i
on,anditcancr eat epat hst oapproach
thesoluti
onoft hesepr obl
ems, buttheast r
onomi cal analy sis
contradi
ctst het heor yofVar tak.Thisastronomi cal anal ysishasbeen
veri
fiedbysev eral schol ar
ssuchasCountBj ornst ierna, S.Bal akr
ishna,
95
Henr yLawr ence, P.St app, etc. Thi sgi
vesi nspi rationt of urther
explorat
ionsuchast hepr esentanal ysi
s,buti tseemst hatsucht heory
i
snotsat isfactory .Inconcl usi on,“
scholarshav ebeenunabl et or
each
96
aclearagr eementont hedat eoft heBhâgav atam. ”

Pr
oposeddat
esf
ort
heBhâgav
atam

Dat
e/Scholar
s
13t
hcent
uryCE H.H.Wi
l
sonandCol
ebr
ooke

11t
hcent
uryCE Dasgupt
a

9t
h-10t
hcent
uryCE Shar
ma,
Bui
tenen,
etc.

9t
hcent
uryCE I
ngal
l
s,Hopki
ns

6t
hcent
uryCE Pargi
ter
5t
hcent
uryCE El
iade,Hazr
a,et
c.

4t
h-5t
hcent
uryCE Tagor
e,Kr
isnamur
ti

3r
dcent
uryCE R.Di
kshi
tar

5th-
4thcent
uryBCto7thcent
ury D.Hudson
CE
10thto9thcent
uryBC R.
N.Vyas

13t
hto12t
hcent
uryBC S.
D.Gy
ani

95
Gokhale.OpCi.Mahâbhâr
t ataEra.Whil
er eport
ingthevari
ablesofthechr
onologi
calf
inds,wewil
l
giveinf
ormati
onont hepossi
bledatesofthishist
orical
event,accor
dingt
odiff
erentr
esearcher
s.
96
LudoRocher,Ci
tinThompson1, OpusCi t
.p.10.
20thcent
uryBC Kedar
nat
hDat
ta(
Bhakt
ivi
noda)

30t
hcent
uryBC Gokhal
e

50t
hcent
uryBC P.
V.Var
tak.

3.Met
hodol
ogy

Inordertoest i
mat etheant i
quityofat extl iket his, wi t
houtor iginal
manuscr ipt,phi l
ologistsuseamet hodbasedont riangul ation, uniti
ng
thequalitati
veandt hequant i
tati
vemet hodsast hei nv estigat i
onaxes,
designatedi nphi lologyast heinternal ev idence( EI)andt heext ernal
evidence( EE).
TheEIi sobt ainedf rom t hecont ext ual philologyorconf ormat i
ot extus
byex aminingt hecor respondences.Theappl i
cat ionoft hisconcept
i
dent i
fi
esi nthewor ktwocat egoriesofi ndi cations: theEv i
dence
(geographical ,chronol ogicalquot es, astronomi cal ,intertext uality
)and
theCont exts( social,economi c,philosophi cal,religious, pol iti
cal )
.The
EEconsi stsofdocument al,epigraphi c,numi smat ic,scul ptur al
evidenceandot herf i
ndst odetermi neanydi scr epancy .Af terhav i
ng
recordedal lthei nformat ion,thedat aar epr ocessedi ndescr i
pt i
ve
stati
sti
cal measur esoff r
equenci es( absol ute,rel ativeand
accumul ated)t hataf fordanobj ectiveev aluationoft hepr obl em.

4.Summar yoft heresult

s
Atthebeginningofourpr esent
ationweexpressedthequesti
onoft
he
anti
quit
yoft heSrî
mad- Bhâgavatam orBhâgavat
a-Purânaoft
he
Classi
cIndianli
ter
ature.Asaconcl usi
on,wearepresenti
ngasummary
ofthedataont heissue.

4.
1Int
ernal
evi
dence

4.1.
1
Thegeographical
evi
dencesuggestacor
respondencethr
oughallthe
twel
veCantos, wi
tht
hecentr
alandnort
hernregi
onandnor t
h-westof
I
ndia,wi
thbriefment
ionsofChinaandSi
beri
aupt othePamir
mount ains, whi let hesout her nr egi onorDr avidai sment ionedonl yi n
the4t h, 5t h, 8th, 10thand11t hCant os, wi t
hapr opor ti
onbet ween0. 7%
and1%.
Ther ef erencest or i
versar emost lyt oGanges, YamunaandSar asv ati,
whilet her iver sint hesout har eal soment ionedi napr opor tion
between0. 7%and1%.I npar ticular ,thet extment ionspl acest hat
disappear edar ound2000y ear sBC, whent heSar asv atidr i
edup.
Besi des, amongt hesout her nr i
v ers, thet extment i
onsChandr av asa,
Vatodakaandot herlostonest hatar enotment ionedi nt het extsoft he
bhâgavat aschooldat edf r
om t he16t hcent uryCE.Al so,t her i
versar e
call
edbyt hei ranci entnames.
Thesameappl i
est otheet hnogr aphi cst udy ,withapr omi nenceoft he
clansment ionedi nt heMahâbhâr at a,especi all
yt heYadus, Bhar atas,
Yay atis, et c., andot herfamouscl ansf rom Asi a,andmor especi f i
cally
from t henor th-west ernandnor th- cent ral r
egi onsofI ndia.
Thef aunat endst obesi mi lart ot hespeci menwhoser emai nswer e
discov eredi nt hear cheol ogi cal sitesoft heSi ndhucul tures.Some
otherspeci eschar acteristicoft henor thernr egi onar ement ioned, such
ast hecr ow, thecamel ,theswan—t hel astt woar eonl yf oundi nt he
north- westr egi onofI ndia—andt hey ak, t
hatl ivesi nChi naandTi bet .
Also, themount ainsment i
onedi ndi cat ethenor ther nregion.
Wemayt her efor econcl udet hatt het extwascomposedi ntheper iod
ofthecul tureoft heSi ndhuandt heGanges.I tisal sointer esti
ngt o
notet hatt het extment i
onsagl obal Flood.

4.1.2
Regar dingt hechr onol ogicalsequence, t
hereisanosci l
lati
onbetween
the1standt he11t hCant ostot hespokent raditi
onoft heBhâgav atam
atthebegi nningoft heVedi cEr a,totheMahâbhâr ataage, withthe
battl
eofKur uksetra, t
hebegi nni ngofKal iyuga,wit hov er50%oft he
percent age.Ont heot herhandt he12t hCant o,cont ainingthelargest
prophet icsect i
on, i
sdeemedat56%att hebegi nningoft heKaliyuga,
l
eapi ngf orwar dint i
met owar dsdi f
ferentperiodsoft hef utur
ehistory
ofIndia: 2.3%f orChandr agupt aMaur y a,1.
7%f ort heper i
odofthe
Nandas, etc.
Ont hesel aterr eferencest hreet heori
esshoul dbet hor oughly
i
nv estigated:
a)Thef ir
st,andobv i
ouslylessl ikel
yaccept edwi thint hemechani sti
c
paradigm ofmai nstream hi st
ory ,accordingtowhi cht heprophecies
arethepr oductoft hemy sticpr ecogni tionsoft hesagest hatr eci ted
Bhâgavat am.
b)Asecondpossi bil
ity: thecopy istscoul dhav emodi fiedt het extt o
suppor tachr onol ogi cal or dert hatwoul demphasi zet hehi stor i
cal
i
mpor tanceoft heki ngs.
c)At hirdscenar ioisduet ot hei nf l
uenceoft hesoci o-pol itical fact or.
Themi nist ersoft heki ngswer ebr âhmanapr i
est s, soi tispossi blet hat
whileact ingasconsul tant sandof f i
ciat i
ngt henami ngcer emoni esf or
thepr i
nces, theychoset of ulfil
l t
hepr opheci esi nwhi cht heybel i
ev ed
bynami ngt heki ngsofsuchdy nast iesaccor di ngt ot hel istsoft he
Purânas, alreadyknownt ot hem.
Thispossi bi l
ityi ssuggest edbyt hedi scov er i
esofD.Sar asv ati,who
coll
ect edt her oy al chr onicl esont hesuccessi onofki ngdomsi nDel hi.
Asampl eoft hedocument sshowst hatt heki ngswer eknownunder
manynames, ofwhi chf ewcoi ncidedwi ththoseoft hepur anicl ists.
Thissuggest sthati fsuchpr opheci eswer eact ual l
yf rom anear lier
ti
mei ncompar isont ot hechr onicles, t
hecompi lershadusedt hemost
famili
arnamest hatappeari nt hel ist ssot hatsuchpr opheci eswoul d
beconf i
rmedast rue.
Regar dingt heconceptoft hef ouragesory ugasdescr i
bedi nt het ext ,
suchconcepti snotonl yf oundi nt hecul t
uresandcosmogoni esoft he
ancientwor ld,inbooksl iket heZendAv esta, theChi neseAnnal sand
Egyptiant ext st hatappr oxi mat elydat ef rom 2500t o3000BC.Weal so
fi
ndt hati nAmer ica, theSi ouxhav epr eserv edf rom t heirancest ral
ti
mesanor al t
radi ti
onaboutt hisconceptoft hef ourages, expr essed
97
withasemi ologysi mi lart ot heBhâgav atam. Thi ssuggest st hatsuch
conceptcomesf rom at imepr evioust ot heI ceAge, wheni ti sbel i
ev ed
thatmanmi gratedf rom Asi at ot heAmer i
cas.

4.1.3Ast ronomi calevidence.Theper centagesv aryineachCant o

althoughapr oport
ional tendencyi sseenof50t o75%i nsomeCant os
i
nf av
oroft hecosmogr aphi cmodel call
edBhumandal a.Parall
el
model sar ef oundinot hercul turesbot hinAsi aandi nAmer i
ca, whi
ch
suggest st hatitwaswi delyaccept edi naper i
odbef or
etheIceAge.
Also, althoughi nalesserdegr ee,therearement ionsofthesev en-
planetsy stem, t
heconst el
lati
oncal l
edSi sumar a, t
heconstell
ationof
theSev enRi shis(t
heGr eatDipper) ,
theast ronomi calmodeloft he

97
DeSant
il
lana,
Gior
gioetv
onDechend,
Her
tha,
Citi
nThompson2,
Op.Ci
t.p.63.
Jy oti
rVeda, theconj unctionoft hest arRohiniorAl debaran( Alpha
Taur i
)thati sdat edi n3162BC, toget herwiththeconceptoft heMilky
WayasaHeav enlyRi verandt hesy stem ofNakshat rasorl unar
mansi ons, all ofwhi chfoundpar all
elsinChinaandEgy pt,around3000-
2000BC.Thehi ghestper centagei s97.5%inf av orofDhr uvalokaas
thePol eSt ar, knownasAl phaDr aconisupt o2600BC, andabsent
from thenonunt ilthe14t hcent uryCE.
Theser eferencesdonotcor r
espondt otheper iodoft hef i
rst
mi ll
ennium oft heChr ist
ianEr a,sincetheHi nduast r
onomer softhe
fi
rstmi llennium st atethatt hepur ani
cmodel cont radict
st heir
98
obser vations. Thi smeanst hatt heastronomi calobser vati
onsinthe
Bhâgavat a-Pur ânacoi ncidewi tht heageoft heMahâbhâr ataandot her
99
archaiccul tures.

4.1.4Inter
textuality
.Thisappl i
estotheconsci
ousorunconsci ous
i
nf l
uenceofot herbooksont hespecif
icworkstudied.Schol arssay
thatev enonesi ngleli
necangi v
eevidenceofsuchi nfluence.The
result
soft hisv ari
ablear edi f
fer
entineachCanto,al t
hought her eisa
tendencyosci ll
atingfrom 80%t o27%i nf orofMahâbhâr
av ata,and
alsofordifferenttextsliket heVedasandUpani sads, andinsmal l
er
degreef ortheBr âhmanas, Upavedas,Râmâyana, Manu- samhi tâ,and
Panchar âtr
as.Theper cent agesconfi
rm aperi
odt hati sattheendof
theVedi cEraandt hatcoi ncideswit
ht heMahâbhâr atawar .

4.1.5Soci alcont ext

s.Av ari
ablethatr egi
ster sgrowi ngv aluesist he
promi nentgl ori
fi
cationoft hepr i
estlyclassorbr âhmanas.I nallt
he
Cant osoft het extwef i
ndupt othe60. 4%aboutt hedescr ipti
onoft he
foursoci alclassesandt hef ourspiri
tualor ders—t hev arnâsrama, or
qualifi
edcast ei
sm thati snother edit
ar yandhasami nimum degr eeof
brahmi nicalcor r
uption,etc.Thissoci alscenar ioisinaccor dancet othe
RigVeda, theBr i
hadar anyakaUpani sad, etc.Thesameappl i
estoot her
categor i
est hatwer epr evalentinthecul t
ur esoft heSi ndhuVal l
ey;
whilet heuseoft hesilkandt heCannabi sindi caflourishedi nChina
around2700BC.Thi sdemonst ratesanobv i
ousdi ffer
encei nthef i
rst
mi l
l
enni um CE, wi t
hasoci etydivi
dedi nmanycast esdet ermi nedby

98
Vid.BhaskaraXIandPar amesvar
aXVI ,
Citi
nThompson2Op.Ci t.p.2-
3.
99
Eli
ade,Mircea:“ThePi ll
arofthewor ld(MountMer u)symboli
sm isal
socommoni ngreat
ci
vil
i
zati
onssuchasEgy pt ,I
ndi
a,China,Greece,Mesopotamia…”SeeChamanismo.Fondode
Cul
turaEconómi ca2°edi
t.Cap.VII
I.Méxi
coD.F.1982,p.213-
214.
bi
rt
h,andanesti
mat i hebhâgav
onoft atasoft
hesout
htowar
dthe
100
br
ahmini
calcl
ass.

4.1.
6Economi ccont exts.Oneofthegener alcharacter
isti
cst hatdef
ine
thepercent agef rom 45t o79%i nthet extiscattl
er ai
si
ng.Ther eare
alsoindicationsoft heuseofel ephant s,horses,donkeysandmul es,
goats,buffaloes, sheepandcamel s,ofthepr acti
ceofhunt ingand
consumpt ionofmeat ,ofgoldandmi ning,ofagr i
cultur
e,shipsand
sail
ing,i
ron, silv
er,ivoryandpear l
s,stonesl i
kemar ble,coral,
diamond,
l
apislazuli,emer ald,sapphire,r
ubyet c.Thisev i
dencepoi ntstowarda
parall
eli
sm wi tht heculturesofSindhuandi nacer tai
nmeasur ewith
theperiodoft heMahâbhâr ata.

4.1.
7Phi l
osophicalcontext
.Thet extshowsaper cent agebet ween
61.4%and31. 6%i nfavorofthetheisticSankhy aschool ,foll
owedby
theschool sofYogaandot herschool sli
keVai sheshi kaat omi sm,
GautamasNy ayalogic,Kar
mami mansa, ahimsa, pr oto-buddhi sm and
otheratheist
ic(pashanda)mov ement ssuchasJai nism, Lokay ata
school,etc.Buttherearenoment ionsoft hetreatisesorphi losophers
from t
he6t htot he10thcentur
yCE, suchasI shvaraKr i
shna,
Gaudapada, etc.Thisiswhytheev idenceoft hephi losophi calcontext
tendstowar dthetimesoftheMahâbhâr ata.

4.1.
8Rel igiouscont ext
.Throughal ltheCantost her eisatendencyin
favoroft hewor shipofBrahmaandSi vavaryi
ngbet ween39%t o19%,
foll
owedbyt hepant heonoft heRigVeda, asI ndrast andsout,t
ogether
witht hecer emoni esconnect edtohi m.Inthe10t hCant oweseea
tendencyi nf avorofKr i
shna, whosubduedt hemai ngodsofRi gVeda
suchasI ndra,Var una,Yamaandev enSivaandBr ahma, t
hemost
universal l
ywor shiped.Inthe12t hCant oweseeki ngJanamej aya,a
bhâgavat adevot ee,whotriestost opthecultofI ndraandt he
brâhmanast hatstri
v etodefendhi m.Thesei ndicat i
onssuggestthe
endoft heVedi cageandt heMahâbhâr ataperiod, asopposedt othe
predomi nantr eli
giouscont extinthef i
rstmil
lennium CE, whent hecul
t
ofBr ahmawasal mostextinct.

100
Vi
dBui
tenenOp.Ci
t.p.227.
4.1.9Pol it
ical cont ext .Thet extshowsar ivalr
yforpol iti
cal power
bet weent heVedi cmonar chyandt heant i
-vedickings.Ther eisalsoa
presenceofki ngst hatwer ecor ruptbutnotopposedt ot heVedi c
cul t
ure, ast hechi efsoft hecowher dv il
lages.Vedi cmonar chyhada
tendencyshownt hrough11Cant osoft het extthatv ariesbet ween
100%t o46. 4%, whi l
ei nt he12t hCant oweseet hei ncreaseofcor r
upt
regimes.I nt he7t hCant oweonl yseeapr edomi nanceof92. 2%f ort he
ant i
-vedi cdict atorshi p.Itisi nter estingt oseehowt heBhâgav atam
usest hewor dr âjât odesi gnat et heki ng, justli
keinRi gVedaandot her
oldt exts, toget herwi thnr i
pa, nar adeva, mahâr âj
aandr âjendra.Ther e
i
saser iousdi f f
er encewi tht hecent ur i
esf rom 9tht o10t hCE, whent he
kingswer ecal ledbyt itl
esl ikemahâsamant a,mahâmandal esvar a,etc.
whi l
et hef eudal chiefsofl owercat egor ieshadt itessuchasr
l âja,
101
samant a, ranaka, thâkur a, bhoga, etc. I nthecent uriesf rom t he5t hto
the10t hCEi nsout hI ndi akingswer ecal edmahâr
l adhi râjam, dharma
mahâr ar adhirâja, agni stoma- vajpey, asvamedhayaj i,daivaput ra,
shahanushai ,thatwer eusedbyt heKushans, Shakasandt heSr iLanka
102
dy nastiesi nt heGupt aper iod. Sot hedat acoincidewi tht heper i
odof
Mahâbhâr ata.

4.1.
10Languaget ype.Ther esultsoft hel anguageanal ysisindicatean
archaicform ofSanskr it,becauseapar tfrom thepar t
icularstyle
(modusescr ibendi )weseeamet ricpat t
er nwithapr evalence( 71.5%)
ofv er
sesoft ypeanust ubh, foll
owedbyv ersescomposedoff ourl ines
orpadasoft wel v
esy ll
ables, thetristubhoff ourpadas/ elevensy llables,
somepar agraphswr i
tt
eni npr ose, thesakv ariverses,thefour
padas/ si
xsy llables, theanust ubhvar iants,thevariantsoft r
istubh, the
typeprateanpankt itogetherwi t
ht het ypeoft wopadasof24- 24
syll
ables.Asweseef rom theser esul t
s,thedat asuggestt heper iodof
theUpani sads, Rig-Veda, BrâhmanasandMahâbhâr ata,andqui te
diff
erentfrom t heDr avidianpoet soft he9t hto11t hcent uryCE.Ki ng
Kulashekhar a, forexampl e,usedbr iefanust ubhandmor eoftent he
met ri
cs14- 15- 14-14; 15-14-14- 15;19- 19-19-19;21-21-21-21andl onger .
InhispoemsYamunaAl bandarusedt hemet ri
coft heRig-Vedasakvar i
14-14-14-14; butal soav ariantof15- 15-15-15.

101
Vid.Thapar
,Romi
la.ElFeudal
i
smoenl osEst
adosRegional
esc.800- nLaHi
1200d.C.I st
ori
ade
l
aIndiapartI
,Col
.Br
evari
osnúm 106.FondodeCult
uraEconómica,
MéxicoD-f
-1967p.218.
102
Vi
d.Conf
li
ctosdel
osRei
nosMer
idi
onal
es(
c.500-
900d.C.
)enI
bid.p.218.
4.
2Ext
ernalev
idence

4.2.1Ther ecordsofdocument si ndicatet hatt het extlef tast rong

mar kt hroughhi story.Itisal sonot i
cedt hatunt i
lt odayt heear li
est
directment i
onoft hetitl
eoft heBhâgav atam hasbeenf oundi nt he
Uttar a-gî t
aofthe5t hcent ur yBC, foll
owedbyt heNandî -sutraoft he1st
cent ur yCE.Howev er,theBuddhi stl i
teratureandespeci all
yt hewor ks
ofChanaky ashifttheper iodoft hecompi l
at i
ont oamuchear l
ier
103
dat e, al thought heent irebodyofev i
denceshowsat endencyof
19.2%i nfavoroft heper odofBr
i âhmanasandsamhi tâs, f
ol l
owedby
theUpani sads14. 1%, thatment ioni mpor tantchar acterssuchas
Krishna, t
hegopi s,Par i
ksitandJanamej ay a,etc.Whi l
ei nthe8t hand
10t hcent uri
esCEt her elativefrequencyi sof2. 6%, asmal ler
per cent ageofpr obabilit
yinf av
oroft het heor yoft heor i
gini nthefirst
mi l
lenni um.Besi des, i
nal lthedat athatar econsi st entwi thapossi bl e
compi l
at i
oninthef i
rstmi l
lennium, therei snodi rectpr ooft hatshows
alat eror i
ginoft heBhâgav atam, ani deat hatwascr eatedonl yinthe
104
17t hcent uryundert hei nfluenceoft heBr i
tish.

4.2.2Epigraphical ev i
dencet endstoconfirmthatt hetextandi ts
contentshadapr of oundi nf l
uencef rom t
he9tht o10t hcent ur
iesCE,
whi l
ethev al
ueoft hehigheri ndexwi th24%isr el
atedt othe1st
centuryBC, withtwoepi graphi calpiecesofevi
dencet hatment ionthe
105
ti
tleoftheBhâgav atam. Anot herinfl
uenceisobser vedint he
concurrenceof13. 8%wi tht heepigraphyofthe5t h,7th,8thand9t hCE,
foll
owedbyt hatoft he4t hcent uryCE, wi
th10.3%and3. 4%f orthe5th
and2ndcent uriesBC.Theper centageofthesef i
ndssuggest sthat
therewasar evival oftheBhâgav atam inthefi
rstmi ll
ennium, butit
doesnoti ndicatet hatt het extwascomposedi nsuchper iod.

4.
2.3Thescul
pturalev
idenceshowst
hesignsoft
hestori
esfr
om thi
s
Pur
âna,f
rom the38thcentur
yBCunti
lthe10t
hcentur
yCE,witha
par
ti
cul
arl
yhighpresenceof33.3%i
nthe7thand6thcent
uri
esBC.

103
Vi
d.Ar gani
sJuárez,Hor
acioFr sco.Rescat
anci andoElSrîmad-Bhâgavat
am delasobrasde
Chanakya.Ensayosobrel
ali
ter
atur
adelaIndi
a.Fondoedi
tor
ial
delEstadodeCoahui
la,2001.
104
Vid.Wil
sonOp.Ci t
.,p.xxxix.
105
TheMor ainscr
ipti
onf r
om Mat hur
aUPsaid:bhagavat
âm vr
isni
nam panchavî
ranam.I
nGomat
i
i
nscri
pti
ons:gomat î(
…)put enabhâgavat
ena…
Sculpt
ureshav eani ncidenceof13. 3%betweent he4thandt he10t h
centur
iesBC, especiall
ywi t
ht hefi
guresofcowsandbul lsfrom the
SindhuVal l
ey,i
ncludingani mageofchi ldKri
shnaf r
om Mohenj o-daro.
Another10%i sfoundbet weenthebegi nni
ngoft heKali
-yugaandt he
4thand5t hcenturiesCE, whichtendst oconfi
rmt heancientdat ati
on,
astheindexi nthe9t hto10thcent uri
esCEi s8.9%,reducingt he
probabil
i
tiesofcompi l
ati
ondur i
ngt hefir
stmil
lennium.

4.
2.4Thenumi smat i
cevidenceshows( wher ethetest
imonyofseal
wasi ncluded)thattheimpr essi
onoft hestori
esandt opicsoft he
Bhâgavat am hadi ndex57%i nthetimef r
om theI VtoIIBC.
Never t
helessthat ,t
hestampsofbov i
necat t
lefrom Mohenj o-daro
mark21%, continuedbyt he1stcent uryBCwi th10.5%.Al thought hat
rd
oftheMahâbhâr at
aAgeandt he3 cent ur
yCEf or
msanambi v al
ence
of5.3%.Thi stendst ocorroborat
et heant i
quityofthePur ânabecause
unt
ilthisinvestigati
onthenumi smat icresultis0%infav orofI X-XCE.

4.2.5Thev ariableonf urtherdi scov eri

est endst oconf irmt he
Bhâgavat am cont ext,poi ntingout13. 9%i nt hedi scov eri
esbet weent he
16t hand15t hcent ur i
esBCanda1. 4%f orthe17t hcent uryBC.The
mot i
foft heGr eatFl oodi sal sof oundi nt hisPur âna; aswehav e
alreadyseen, thi
sst or yisf oundi nmanyanci entcul t
ur esfrom theOl d
Wor l
d,inaper i
odf rom t he30t ht o14t hcent ur i
esBC.Theschol ar s
hav econcl udedt hatt hisst oryr eferst oageol ogi ccat aclysm of10, 000
106
year sago. Thecosmogr aphi cconceptofBhumandal aisoneoft he
commonr ecor dsoft heOl dWor l
d, atranscul tural concepti naper iod
from the30t hto16t hcent uryBC, thati sspeci ficallydi ff
erentfrom t he
ast r
onomi cal beli
ef spr ev alenti nIndi aint he1stmi ll
enni um.
Amongt hemosti mpor tanti ndi cationsi nBhâgav atam wef indther i
ver
Sar asvatiandt hePol arst ar( AlphaDr aconi s) ,
andaswehav ealready
demonst rat ed, t
hesewer eobser vedbef or et he20t hcent uryBConl y,
theper iodwhent her i
verdr iedup, and600y ear sbef or ethisPolarst ar
ceasedt oshi neint hePol arAxi s:thiscont r
adi ctst het heoryoft he
compi lationoft heBhâgav atam i nt hef i
rstmi l
lennium.
Regar dingt hisvariable, thet hirdpl acei nt het exti sfort heSar asvat i
ri
v erandupt o90%t ot hisPol arst ar.Thest udiesi ndicat ethe

106
Goodman,Rober
t.Lasf
uentesdelDi
luviouni
ver
sal
.Sei
sHi
pót
esi
spar
aelgr
anCat
acl
i
smo.I
n
MAdel
aCienci
aS.A.España.2001p.50-51.
Mahâbhâr
ataage,
whi
chi
sinaccor
dt heBhâgav
owhatt atam i
tsel
f
say s,andaccor di
ngt ot hearchaeological andast ronomi cal datathis
periodcor r
espondst ot he30t hcent uryBC.
Aswehav eshowni nt hi spresentationfrom t heexami nationoft he
varioust heor ies,manyexper tshav econf i
rmedt hemat hemat i
cal
calculationsofast ronomy ,
establishingthebegi nningofKal i
-yugaEr a
onFebr uary18t h3102BC.Accor dingtot heHi ndust hisiswhen
Krishna, theBhâgav atamsher o,disappear edf rom t hi
swor ld,adat e
thatmar kst hebegi nni ngoft heircalendar, exactlyliket heMusl i
ms
calculatet heiry earsfrom t heHegi r
aort heChr i
stiansf rom t hebirthof
Jesus.
Allthesedi scov eri
es, thest udiesofv ari
ousr esearcher s,includingthe
conser vativeschol ar slikeMaxMüel lerbutt hel i
ber alonesaswel l
,lead
tot heconcl usionthatt heVedi cAgedescr ibedi ntheVedi ct exts,with
afinal phasedescr i
bedi ntheBhâgav atam, wentf rom t he8000t othe
2000BC.

5.Conclusi
on
Basedonal lt
herecordsoftheevi
denceweanalyzedwecant hus
di
sprovetheothertheori
esonthedatat
ionoftheBhâgavatam.Klaus
Klost
ermaierpoi
ntedoutabouttheli
beral
object
ionsi
nthisfi
eld:

Thenewel ementt hathasenteredthedebateissci

ent
if
icinv
esti
gat
ion.
Whi l
etheprev i
oust heor
ywasbasedexclusivel
yonphil
ologi
cal
arguments,
thenewt heoryi ncludesastr
onomical
,geologi
cal,
mathemati
caland
archaeol
ogical evidence.Inal
l,
thi
snewt heoryseemstobebuil
tonbett
er
107
foundati
ons.

Thusthemostr ecentestablishedthesisdemonstratest hatthe

Bhâgavatam wascompi ledinaper iodthatgoesfr
om t heendof
Mahâbhâr ataage, att
hebegi nningofKali-
yuga(3102BC)andatt he
l
atestaround2600BC, whent hestarAlphaDraconiswasst il
li
nt he
PolarAxisandt heSarasv atisti
l
lfl
owed.Howev er,i
nspi teofal l
the
scient
if
icall
yrigorousanal y
sispresentedinthi
sinvestigation,wef ind
thatmainstream scholarsarest i
ll
verymuchopposedt othis
demonst r
ation,asMaxPl anckobser v
ed:

107
Kl
oster
mai
er aus.Quest
,Kl ioni
ngtheAr
yanInvasi
onTheor
yandRevi
singAnci
entI
ndi
anHi
stor
y
i
nISKCONCommunicati
onJournal
.Vol
.1June1998.
 Anewscient
if
ictr
uthdoesnottri
umphbyconv i
nci
ngofit
sopponents,
maki
ngthem seethel
ight,
butrat
herwit
hthedeathofsuchopponentsand
108
t
heri
seofanewgener ati
onthati
sabletoaccepti
t.

6.Di scov er iesi nt heI nv est i

gat ion
Itisconsi der edappr opr iatet opr esentabr iefr epor tont hecasual
discov er i
est hatappear edi nt hei nvestigat ion: In1992, Al fHiltebei tel
establ i
shedt hatMahâbhâr atashowst hewor kmanshi pofasi ngl e
109
author ; andV.G.Tagar econf irmedt hesameaboutt heBhâgav atam.
Bur eceSi l
livanhasexami nedt heol dtext s, concl udi ngt hatt hese
110
suppor tDv aipay anaVy asaast hecompi l
eroft hecanoni nst udy . S.
Piggotr epor t
st hati nt heHi tt
itemanuscr iptofKi kkul ither ear e
ment onsofmar
i iannu, whi chsuggest st henameoft heMaur y a
111
kings. Accor di ngt oev idence, thisdy nast yr uledar ound1534BC, as
conf i
rmedbyt heBhâgav atam.P.Gokhal ev erif
iedt hatt heki ngs
ment i
onedont hepi ll
ari nscr i
pt i
onat tri
but edt oAsokaar enotGr eeks,
butot herr ulerst hathei dent i
fieswi ththeHi nduki ngsJana- raj yasof
112
1475B. C. Di mockhasconf i
rmedt hatt hewor dy avanaonl ymeans
“foreigner ”; andnoty onoorI oni cassomehavet heor i
zedi nor dert o
113
i
dent ifyt hem wi tht heGr eeks. TheBhâgav atam descr ibest he
Gomphot her i
um el ephant ,char act eri
zedbyf ourt usks, whi chexi sted
from 14upt o2mi lli
ony ear sagoi nthePl iocene.I nt he20t hcent ury
somegeol ogi stst heor i
zedt hatt hedeser tofRaj ast hanhaddev eloped
recent l
y ,andl at erpal eont ologist sdi scov er edev i
dencet hatt hisdeser t
wasaf ertilepl ai ni nMi ocene.Thi sdat aagr eeswi thBhâgav at am t hat
thisdeser texi st edi nol dt i
mes.

108
Pl
anck,Max.Sci enti
fi
cAutobiography.Ci
t.inKuhn,Thomas2.LaEstruct
uradelasRevol
uciones
Científ
icas.FondodeCul t
uraEconómi ca.Col.deBr
evari
osNo.213,1971,p.235.
109
Hilt
ebeitelAlfetalt
.inVai
snavism, Op.Cit
.p.50.
110
Tai
tir
iyaranyaka1.9.2;Samav i
dhanabr âhmana3. 8;Gopat
9. habrâhmana1. 29,Budachar
1. i
ta
1.42.4.16;Saundarananda7.29-30;etc.
111
Pi
ggot,S.Op.Cit
.p.211.
112
Vid.VI
IrockEdict e113AshokaPr
.SeeGokhal i
yadar
shiLoc.Ci
t.i
nAgar ,ed.Ageof
walG.C.
Bhar
ataWar .Del
hiMotil
alBar
nasi
dass,
1979;
etc.