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Thread: Snippets of Hindu Science

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    Snippets of Hindu Science

    Let us collect the verses and their interpretations that (are supposed to) deal with the Science of our ancient Hindus in this thread.

    The first snippet is from yajvan's thread "Speed of Light--sAyaNAchArya":
    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=4647

    **********

    Sage agastya's electric cell and electroplating

    The shloka--verse below from sage agastyA's agniyAn shAstra--science of avionics, is supposed to describe generating electricity from a chemical reaction--the electricity that can break water into oxygen and hydrogen.

    saMsthA pye mRunamaye patre tAmrapAtreNa susAMkaratam |
    chChAdyet shikhI grivenaDrArabihI kAShThApaMshubihI |
    dastAloShto nidhatAvyAhA pAraDachchAditastATAhA |
    saMyogAta jayate tejo mitrAvarun saMdyaTima |
    aNena jalabhargostI prANodanesh vAyUShU |
    eva shatanA kubhanA saMyogahA kAryakRuTasaMRutAhA ||

    saMsthA pye--take, mRunamaye--soil, tAmrapAtreNa susAMkaratam--cleaned copper plate, chChAdyet--cover it with, shikhI--Morchud, Copper sulphate, kAShThApaMshubihI--saw dust, dastAloShto--zinc plate, pAras--mercury, saMyogAta--this combination, jayate--generates, tejo mitrAvarun--electricity, aNena jalabhargostI--can break water into, prANa-udAnesh vAyUShU--oxygen and hydrogen, eva shatanA kubhanA saMyogahA kAryakRuTasaMRutAhA--one requires 100 such containers for this work.

    This information is from Dr.P.V.Vartek's book 'Swayambhu'.

    Is the above interpretation of the shloka correct? Suppose somebody interprets to mean only spiritually, can we say that the knowledge of physical science is hidden in the spiritual message, as with some sUtras of vedic mathematics?

    **********
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    Namasté


    the zero (0) is attributed to the veda... I have been looking for the sloka-s that perhaps defines it originally, yet have not found a reliable source. If anyone can assist , I would appreciate it.

    What could one do without a zero?

    praṇām
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    Namaste Yajvan,

    The concept of zero, and infinity I might add, is attributed to the slOkA in the BrihadAranyaka/IsOvAsyA Upanishad:

    "OM Poornam Adah Poornam Idam
    Poornaat Poornam Udachyate
    Poornasya Poornam Aadaay
    Poornam Evaa Vashishyate
    OM Shanti! Shanti!! Shantihi"

    Namaskar.

    Quote Originally Posted by yajvan View Post
    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    Namast


    the zero (0) is attributed to the veda... I have been looking for the sloka-s that perhaps defines it originally, yet have not found a reliable source. If anyone can assist , I would appreciate it.

    What could one do without a zero?

    praṇām

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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    Some incontrovertible evidences of the origin of the concept, use and notation of zero in Hindu texts

    The number zero and its value as emptiness in the Hindu texts was denoted by the term 'shUnya', rather than 'pUrNa' which was mostly used for 'fullness' and 'infinity'. Here is a compilation from various sources that give some incontrovertible evidences of the origin of the concept, use and notation of zero in Hindu texts.

    • The vAjasaneyi recension of the yajur veda uses several sets of names for numbers arranged in a progressive geometrical series, where each number is ten times larger than the preceding. In the following passage, the names of thirteen decimal places are mentioned: eka (10^0), dasha (10^1), shata (10^2), sahastra (10^3), ayuta (10^4), niyuta (10^5), prayuta (10^6), arbuda (10^7), nyarbuda (10^8), samudra (10^9), madhya (10^10), anta (10^11), and parArdha (10^12):

    इमा मे अग्न इष्टका धेनवः सन्तु ।
    एका च दश च, दश च शतं च,
    शतं च सहस्रं च,
    सहस्रं चायुतं चायुतं च नियुतं च,
    नियुतं च प्रयुतं चार्बुदं च समुद्रश्च मध्यं
    चान्तश्च परार्धश्चैता मे अग्न इष्टका धेनवः
    सन्तवमुत्रामुष्मिंल्लोके ।

    imA me agna iShTakA dhenavaH santu |
    ekA cha dasha cha, dasha cha shataM cha,
    shataM cha sahasraM cha,
    sahasraM chAyutaM chAyutaM cha niyutaM cha,
    niyutaM cha prayutaM chArbudaM cha samudrashcha madhyaM
    chAntashcha parArdhashchaitA me agna iShTakA dhenavaH
    santavamutrAmuShmiMlloke |
    --yajur veda 17.2

    "O Agni! may these bricks (used in sacrifice) turn into milk-yielding cows for me; one (eka) and a ten, a ten (dasha) and a hundred, a hundred (shataM) and a thousand, a thousand (sahasra) and a ten-thousand, a ten-thousand (ayuta) and a hundred-thousand, a hundred-thousand (niyuta) and a million (prayuta), a ten-million (arbuda), a hundred-million (nyarbuda), a thousand-million (samudra). a hundred-thousand-million (anta), a million-million (parArdha). May these bricks become mine own cows in this and in the other world."

    How can anyone dispute that this decuple terminology gave rise to the decimal place-value system, and yet it is difficult to say that this passage has a reference to shUnya--zero.

    • The origin of zero is perhaps sought in the abacus, the counting board. The word 'gaNitra', a hapax legomenon (one time word or phrase) occuring in the joytisha story of divyAvadana perhaps denoted such a counting board, where emptiness in any column meant the absence of numerical value in that specific notational place, and this emptiness was indicated by the word 'shUnya' or by one of its synonyms.

    • The synonyms commonly used for shUnya--zero in early Hindu mathematical and astronomical texts are: AkAsha--space, emptiness, ambara--sky, kha--a hole, hollow, gagana--sky, and occasionally ananta--endless, not in the sense of infinity but as a synonym for AkAsha; pUrNa--filled was sometimes used as synonym for zero, besides bindu--dot, detached particle, Chidra--hole, pierced and randhra--hole, aperture.

    bindu, Chidra and randhra were actually used to describe the symbol used for the shUnya--zero, which was a dot (bindu) and a small circle (Chidra, randra). The modern symbol of for zero is obviously only a larger circle than the dot.

    • Although some dispute it, pingala's ChandaH shAstram was the earliest Hindu source of the use of zero, around 200 BCE. In this text pingala teaches a method for calculating the number of arrangements for the long and short syllables in a line of metrical text. In modern mathematical parlance, this is the binary number system that allows combination of two things in 'n' places, with repetion being also allowed.

    The following verse lays down pingala's procedure:

    द्विरर्धे । रूपे शून्यम् । द्विः शून्ये । तावदर्धे गुणितम् ।

    dvirardhe | rUpe shUnyam | dviH shUnye | tAvadardhe guNitam |
    --ChandaH shAstram, 8.28-31

    "when halved, two; whenever one, zero; multiply zero (used for odd values) by two; multiply two (for even values) by itself."

    Although Wiki's article on pingala says that he used 1 and 2 and not 0 and 1 for his binary system, the use of the word 'shUnya' is clear in the above verse.

    • A verse from the pulishasiddhAnta, written a century prior to the AryabhATiya, is quoted bhaTTatopala's commentary on varAhamihira's bRhutsamhitA:

    ख खाष्ट मुनि रामाश्चि नेत्राष्ट शर रात्रिपाः ।
    भानां चतुर्युगेणैते परिवर्त्ताः प्रकीर्तिताः ॥

    kha khAShTa muni rAmAshchi netrAShTa shara rAtripAH |
    bhAnAM chaturyugeNaite parivarttAH prakIrtitAH ||

    "The sidereal revolutions in four yugas are stated to be (the number expressed by) zero (kha), zero (kha) eight (aShTa), seven (muni), three (rAma), two (ashvin), two (netra), eight (aShTa), five (shAra), and one (rAtripa); (read serially from left, i.e., 1,582,237,800)."

    • sarvanandhi's lokavibhAga, a Jain work on cosmology, 458 CE, is among the earliest sources of use of a clear and unambiguous zero with a decimal positioning system. ().

    पञ्चभ्यः खलु शून्येभ्यः ।
    परं द्वे सप्त चाम्बरमेकं त्रीणि च रूपं च ॥

    pa~jchabhyaH khalu shUnyebhyaH |
    paraM dve sapta chAmbaramekaM trINi cha rUpaM cha ||
    --lokavibhAga ch.4 line 56, p.79

    "After five zeroes, there are two (dve), seven (sapta), zero (ambara), one (eka), three (trINi), and one (rUpa). (that is to say, 13,107,200,000).

    • Some other texts that mention the use of zero and its synonyms are:

    1. varAhamihira's panchasiddhAntikA] (1.17) (ca 550 CE).

    "Increase the aharyana by 2227 and divide (the sum) by 2510; with respect to the (remaining) amount, divide it by 360; the quotient is the number of lapsed years." (Tr.D.Pingree).

    2. jinabhadra gaNi kShamAshramaNa's bRhat kShetra samAsa (609 CE) offers conclusive evidence of the use of zero as a distinct numerical symbol. He expresses large numbers such as 224,400,000,000 succinctly as "twentytwo,fortyfour,eight zeros" (1.69) or 3,200,400,000,000 as "thirtytwo, two zeros, four, eight zeros" (1.71).

    3. siddhasena gaNi (6th century CE) in his commentary on umAsvAti's 'tattvArthAdhigamasUtra' (3.11) uses shUnya not as just a symbol for the absence of a numerical value but as a tenth multiple inherent in the notational place.

    4. By 7th century CE, the decimal place-value system and zero were beginning to be used in texts other than mathematics and astronomy. In his abhidharmakoshabhAShya, vasubandhu cites vasumitra's view in the passage 5.26:

    "Bhadanta vasumitra held the view of the otherness of the state. He is reported to have stated: A dharma evolving in the (three) times is designated as other whenever it enters a different state: (this change in designation is) due to the otherness of the state and not due to the otherness of the substance; just as a marker or counter is called one when it is placed in the unit's place, a hundred in the hundred's place, and a thousand in the thousand's place."

    • Indirect evidence suggests Hindu development of a positional number system, as early as the first century CE. The bakshAli manuscript, 3rd century BCE uses a dot to denote the zero and has a place value system. The position of zero was called shUnyata sthAna--empty place, and the dot symbol for also used for algebraic expressions for the unknown (like the x in modern algebra).

    • A legal document dated 346 in the Chhedi calendar (594 CE) shows the use of modern place value form. General consensus is that by the 6th century CE, the place value system with the zero was in common use.

    • AryabhaTTa in 499 CE developed a positional number system without a zero digit, using the word "kha" for the zero position. The Indian mathematicians generally used a dot for zero as they yet had no symbol to denote it. All Hindu texts after AryabhaTTa's AryabhATiya used the number system he had developed.

    • An inscription at Gwalior dated 933 in the vikrama calendar (876 CE) has a final step to the system of numerals as we are familiar with today. Unlike the earlier evidences, this one is not disputed by the historians as to its date and validity. Documents on copper plates with a 'o' (lowercase 'o') for zero dates back as far as the 6th century CE.

    • The Hindu numeral system moved to Arabia in the 7th century CE, as seen from a reference to the Hindu system by the Nestorian scholar Severus Sebokht.

    • According to al-Qifti's chronology of the scholars, a man from India presented himself to the Caliph in 776 CE, and displayed his skiils in Hindu mathematics. Al-Mansur ordered the book to be translated into Arabic, and a work based on the translation writeen and given to the Arabs as a solid base for computing the movement of the planets. The Hindu text translated was most likely to be brahmagupta's brahma-sphuTa-siddhAnta, written in 628 CE.

    • King somadeva in his 'mAnasallolAsa' (12th century CE) describes the modern decimal system which was well in place by his time:

    एकाद्वा नवपर्यन्ता नवैदाङ्का स्वरूपतः ।
    दशोत्तरक्रमेणैव वर्धन्ते बिन्दिवार्धिताः ॥

    ekAdvA navaparyantA navaidA~gkA svarUpataH |
    dashottarakrameNaiva vardhante bindivArdhitAH ||
    mAnasallolAsa 2.97

    "Basically, there are only nine digits starting from 'one' and reaching up to 'nine'. By the addition of zeroes (bindus) these are raised successively to (represent the notational places of) tens, (hundreds) and beyond."

    Symbols for zero

    As shown earlier, the dot (bindu) and the small circle (chidra, randhra) were initially used as symbols for the shUnya--zero. Since the dot was hardly visible in inscriptions, it gradually became a small circle; the earliest occurrence of the dot is perhaps seen in the 8th century rAgholi plates of jayavardhana II, where a dot was used in writing the number 30. In the Gwalior plates of bhojadeva of 870 and 876 CE, however, clearly drawn circules appear.

    In the inscriptions found in Cambodia and Sumatra, the Saka year 605 (683 CE), is written in the decimal system, using a dot for the zero. In another inscription from the Banka island, a small circle is used to represent the date Sake 608, showing that the Indian settlers there carried with them the Sanskrit language and their word numerals, decimal system and so on.

    Even after the dot was replaced by the circle, the symbol continued to be called shUnya-bindu or just bindu as the texts 'manasollAsa' and 'yogavArtika' show.

    • The Hindu-Arabic numerals did not appear in Europe until the the Codex Vigilanus in 976 CE. Fibonacci, an Italian mathematician, promoted it in 1202 CE and the system came into vogue only after the invention of printing in 1482 CE.
    (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/top...numeral_system)

    Sources:
    lokavibhAga
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokavibhaga

    For the history of mathematical symbols, check http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/top...e#encyclopedia

    KalAtattvakosha: a lexicon of the fundamental concepts of the Indian arts, vol.2
    http://books.google.com/books?id=8f3...20zero&f=false

    (The story is narrated in the link http://books.google.com/books?id=7pO...anitra&f=false)

    The Sign for Zero by subhASh kAk:
    http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/SignZero.pdf
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    Namast TTA and saidevo,

    Thank you for your offers on zero.

    Isn't is curious to think that adding nothing (śūnyatā शून्यता )
    that a number increases in size? 1 + 0 is > then 9 .
    The more 'nothing' you add, the greater the number i.e.
    10
    100
    1000
    10000
    100000
    1 googol = 10


    praām

    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    namaste yajvan.

    Quote Originally Posted by yajvan View Post
    Isn't is curious to think that adding nothing (shUnyata)
    that a number increases in size? 1 + 0 is > then 9.
    The more 'nothing' you add, the greater the number i.e.
    10
    100
    1000
    10000
    100000
    1 googol = 10^100
    This can be viewed in another way: zero or shUntaya is the underlying, unmanifest reality behind all the digits of numbers; other numbers simply manifest over it, at the place of this digit zero. In other words, a single digit number from 1 to 9 manifests by addition of that many entities to the already-existing digit 0 in the unit place. So, there is a string of zeroes--000000......to infinity--lying unmanifest already, and these are 'turned on and up' by the addition of a single digit number from 1 to 9, signifying different levels of conditional reality manifest over the underlying Absolute Reality.

    Zero or nothing or shUntaya is empty only in appearance. In Reality it is the chaitanya--consciousness of the ParaBrahman, ready to 'wake up' and sprout into thoughts and archetypes which are the rudiments of all creation. Once the Cosmic Consciousness of ParaBrahman is activated, it becomes the nAda Brahman, expanding into space and starting its lIlA--sport of the creation/multiplication process.

    The Babylonians had a sexagesimal (base 60) numeration system; for the Mayan vigesimal system, the base was 20. Hindu sages wisely foresaw that the knowledge of the decimal number system was bound to spread among the populace, so they kept it simple with a base of 10, as humans can count easily with their ten digits (the word digit itself meaning a finger). Contrast this with the Roman numeration system adopted for centuries in Europe, where even the skills of simple arithmetic was considered a form of scholarship.

    In today's digital world, we peep into the nano world within a single digit, and the credit of making this binary system of bits and bytes possible goes to pingala.
    Last edited by saidevo; 16 October 2009 at 10:06 PM.
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    Namasté saidevo,



    Quote Originally Posted by saidevo View Post
    namaste yajvan.
    This can be viewed in another way: zero or shUntaya is the underlying, unmanifest reality behind all the digits of numbers; other numbers simply manifest over it, at the place of this digit zero. In other words, a single digit number from 1 to 9 manifests by addition of that many entities to the already-existing digit 0 in the unit place. So, there is a string of zeroes--000000......to infinity--lying unmanifest already, and these are 'turned on and up' by the addition of a single digit number from 1 to 9, signifying different levels of conditional reality manifest over the underlying Absolute Reality.
    What you write is interesting to consider. One may ponder how is 1 zero any different then zero number 5,000 in the string of infinite zeros? Hence you could have a googol of zero-s yet the sum is no differnet the initial zero.
    Please note I am not suggesting any 'issue' with the subject at hand , just poking at some ideas to perhaps better understand how robust this concept of zero is.


    Perhaps this contributes to the meaning of pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṃ - That is full (whole) this is full (whole) - īśāvāsya upaniṣad

    The notion is, no matter how many zero's there are there is always fullness - it cannot be depleted, cut in half, exhausted, etc.


    ...just a thought.


    praām
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    namaste yajvan.

    I don't see an 'issue' with different viewpoints about zero either. On a glance at what you said as "1 + 0 > 9", my son pointed out, "it means appending, not the arithmetic addition; but then we can say that 1+1 is even greater than 1+0 and 1+9 is the greatest of all." This remark gave me the thought that we don't look at a single zero but a string of infinite zeroes lying dormant in space. I totally agree with you that although their sum is zero, it is actually the fullness of dormant potency.

    We can look at zero in many angles:

    • The digit zero (0) is a visual representation of a concept, and the word 'zero' is a verbal description of it.

    • The concept zero itself is mental, perceived prima facie as emptiness by the mind. Its fullness can only be intuited by buddhi--wisdom.

    • In the human existence at the level of jAgrat or vaizhvAnara--waking, the concept is perceived as the emptiness of AkAsha--space and the shUnyata--void, null of zero in our worldly knowledge of maths and science.

    • In the level of dreams--svapna or taijasa, we are too busy to see any space or emptiness around, because our dream world is congested with our own dynamic creations that change swiftly as the digits of a petrol pump reader.

    • When we lapse into deep sleep, the concept is perceived later as the shUnyata--nothing of darkness: we have a zero-existence as it were, at this level of suShupti or prajna.

    • When we become capable of the fourth level turIya, the concept is perceived as the pUrNam--fullness of light, the parashivam or paramAtma chaitanyam or whatever we choose to call it. The darkness of ignorance of the deep sleep level is lost in the all pervading and ever extant light of knowledge that fills us with sat--Reality, chit--Consciousness, knowledge and Ananda--bliss and peace.

    • Since is zero is ultimately and essentially fullness, the human consciousness has always represented it symbolically as a dot, circle and hole.

    • However, if we glance at the origin of the word zero, we find that its roots are: 'zephirum' of the Middle English, the Arabic 'sifr' (cipher), which in turn is a translation of the Sanskrit 'shUnyam'. Interestingly, 'zephirum' cognates with Zephyrus, the Greek god of wind, and 'zephyr' in English means 'west wind, a soft gentle breeze'. The wind is perhaps the most essential to our living just as zero is for our maths and science and philosophy. The wind is seen as emptiness but perceived as fullness.

    In Sanskrit, the word 'shUnya' also means 'space, heaven, atmosphere' which is filled with the light of 'sUrya', thus becoming 'pUrNa--fullness.'

    yajvan, please explain the dhAtu--root of 'shUnya' in Sanskrit and the entity it cognates with.
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    Namasté saidevo,

    thank you for your post and the insight from your son.

    I wrote,
    Please note I am not suggesting any 'issue' with the subject at hand , just poking at some ideas to perhaps better understand how robust this concept of zero is.


    you perhaps thought why did yajvan write that? So you wrote,
    I don't see an 'issue' with different viewpoints about zero either
    In the spirit of insight and the practical application of jyotiṣ it would be worth one paragraph to mention why I wrote that sentence. At the time of the post the moon was completely dark - amāvāsya¹. It is the 'covered up' part (vāsya वास्य means to be covered up) that was on my mind ; That is, not much light (for the mind) is available at this time and the propensity for mis-undersanding can manifest. Hence my words were offered to insure my intent was not one of mischief. I have seen on HDF that during amāvāsya things tend to go sideways. Hence the practical application of jyotiṣ was put to use.


    With regard to śūnyatā, here is my opinion to its roots :
    this śūnyatā शून्यता is emptiness , loneliness , desolateness; it can also be used for absence of mind , vacancy; we know it as nothingness , non-existence.
    Now śūnya शून्य also means empty , void. Why do I bring this up ? Because it (śūnya) gets us to śūnyī; śūnyī = śūnya. Why care?
    Due to the fact it brings us to its root (√) k . This k has a list of meanings¹ - yet one is 'to cause to get rid of , free from' - getting rid of is obviously 'emptying' and we can see the fit. Lets go a little further.
    śūna शून- as a noun is 'emptiness' , yet also comes the meaning of a 'swollen state' . This śū ( sometimes written as śvā) is rooted(√) in śvi which means to swell , grow , increase ' to swell much'.

    So if we look at the path of words we have just been on we see śū to śvi - to swell much ; we see the influence of śūnyī = śūnya rooted in kṛ 'to cause to get rid of to be free from' . We bring this together we can see this 'swelling' to the extent of 'getting rid of ' that brings us to emptiness or śūnyatā, the ultimate 'getting rid of' to the exent of swelling to pure emptiness.


    praām

    words
    • kṛ we know often as 'to do' , or 'make , perform , accomplish , cause , effect'; yet it also is to prepare . to do anything for the advantage or injury of another and to execute , carry out; to manufacture , prepare , work at , elaborate , build.
    • amāvāsya- is made up of amā + vāsya: amā अमा means together, at home + vāsya वास्य means to be covered up
    Last edited by yajvan; 18 October 2009 at 05:37 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  10. #10
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    Re: Snippets of Hindu Science

    bhoja rAja undergoes brain surgery in 10th century CE

    King bhoja, just before he ascended the throne, was suffering from a tumor in his brain that caused him an excruciating pain in the head. Despite all the medical aid given to him by his physicians, his condition became critical. Providence blessed the king with the services of two learned Brahmin brothers from the school of ujjain, who were pre-eminent surgeons of the era, and had arrived at Dhar about that time.

    The two surgeons administered an anaesthetic called Sammohini, a powdery preparation, that made the king unconscious. Then they trephined his skull, removed the malignant growth in the brain which was the cause of complaint, closed the opening, stitched the wound and restored the patient to consciousness by another drug called sanjIvini.

    bhojarAja survived his surgery remarkably well and had an illustrious reign both as a military commander and as an encyclopaedic scholar. Along with King rAjendra chozha, he fought and took back the cities Dhar and Ujjain that were captured by the chAlukyas. He also led a powerful army against Mahmud Ghaznavi who had earlier invaded and plundered the somnAth temple. Ghaznavi avoided a confrontation and retreated through the desert of sindh; bhojarAja recaptured the areas lost during his father's time, to the Islamic invaders, formed a confederation of Hindu kings and reestablished Hindu rule in the affected areas.

    bhoja wrote 84 books during his life, some of them are: sarasvatI-kanThAbharaNa--a treatise on Sanskrit grammar; rAjamArtANda--a commentary on the patanjali yoga sUtras; samarangaNa-sUtradhAra--a treatise on civil engineering which, besides giving constructional details of forts, palaces and temples, also talked about building a flying machine or glider; tattva-prakAsha--a siddhAnta tantra work; rasa-rAja-mRugAngka--a treatise on chemistry specializing in extraction of metals from their oars; and jyotiSha-rAja-mRugAngka--a treatise on practical astronomy with details of construction of instruments.

    Here is a sample of the surviving portion of the verses that speak of bhoja's brain surgery (with my attempt at translation, which may please be set right by our Sanskrit-proficient members):

    sa tasya rogaH kenApi na nivAritaH |
    For this disease there was no cure in sight.

    tadanena bhojanRupAlena bhiShajvarA api svadeshAnniShkAsitAH |
    There was no physician in the country who could 'egress' the disease.
    ...

    kapAlashodanaM kRutaM bhojena, tadA praviShTaH pAThInaH |
    The cure involves cleaning his skull,

    tanmUlo&yaM rogaH |
    where the root of the disease is located.
    ...

    tatastAvapi rAjAnAM mohachUrNena mohayitvA
    and then the king was made unconscious by smelling a poweder (mohachUrNam)

    shiraH-kapAlamAdAya tatkaroTikApuTe sthitaM shapharakulaM gRahItvA
    cutting open the skull, the tumor the size of a large fish was removed;

    kasmishchad bhAjane nikShipya saMdhAnakaraNyA kapAlaM yathAvadArachayya
    saMjIvinyA cha taM jIvAyitvA tasmai taddarshayatAm |
    then the opening was rejoined and consciousness restored using saMjIvini.

    tadA tad dRuShTvA rAjA vismitaH:
    the king as he became consciousness and well, was amazed.

    The book titled 'bhoja-prabandha' that describes such anecdotes connected with King bhojarAja, and is commented in Hindi, can be downloaded here:
    http://ia311025.us.archive.org/3/ite...00balluoft.pdf

    Some links to the surgery:
    http://chestofbooks.com/health/india...n-Part-10.html
    http://www.siddha.com.my/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000039-2.html
    http://www.dlshq.org/messages/ayurveda.htm
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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