33-Dr.Kalaam on SethuBandhanam

Address at the Seminar on Scientific Dating of Ancient Events Before 2000 BC

[ New Delhi, Jul 30 2011 ]

"The DNA of a human being is

his history book ever written"

I am indeed delighted to participate in the inauguration of Seminar on Scientific Dating of Ancient Events Before 2000 BC at New Delhi. My greetings to all of you. Friends, I am happy that all of you are engaged in the mission of establishing synergy between the scientific wisdom of ancient India and modern scientific inventions in various areas such as agriculture, energy, medicine, weapon systems and metallurgy. I am sure this type of study will enable us to utilize the scientific techniques used by our ancestors and lead towards an eco-friendly planet earth for the present and future. When I am here with all of you I would like to share my thoughts on the topic "Past meets the Present leading to a Better Future".

Friends, when you are all working on scientific dating of epics particularly Ramayana I would like to share with you my personal experience. I was born in British India in Rameshwaram grown there for 16 years when India?s India emerged. My life is completely inter connected in lovely way because during various phases my life sea waves were giving me beautiful songs, songs of freedom and songs of development. The entire Rameshwaram Island is known to me with great detail every part of it, because as a young boy I used to travel all parts of the Island to deliver the news paper daily to various houses.

In my eyes Gandhamanaparvatham appears from where Rama is supposed to have seen Srilanka. In front of me appears the famous Kothanda Ramar Temple of Rameshwaram. Also I see the Ramatheertham, Lakshmanatheertham and Jatayutheertham and Agnitheertham in different areas of Rameshwaram. The central point is the Ramanathaswamy Temple where we find the Siva linga which Lord Rama had worshiped. Today being the new moon day of Adi month, minimum 3 Lakh pilgrims from different parts of the country will be converging at Rameshwaram for sea both. This the day Lord Rama is supposed to have taken the bath in the Rameshwaram Sea after returning from the war to remove the Doshas of killing Ravanan. Thousands of pilgrims visit the Island every day and enjoy its beauty and spirituality. I will be the happiest fellow, if through scientific dimensions establish the places from where there Lord Ram, Lashmana, Hanuman, Sugreeva and the Vanara sena created a base before launching the war on Srilanka. Really I have a profound interest in scientific dating of Ramayana.

Dating of events leads to transforming mythology into history

Vedic and post-Vedic literature has a tremendous amount of scientific knowledge which will be extremely beneficial to humanity. For creating a faith in these documents, there is a need to establish the date of occurrence of Vedas and Upanishads which are contained in our mythology, so that they are transformed into historical events and not imaginary mythological events. I am happy that this is what the researchers in astronomy, ecology, theology, archeology, anthropology and space science assembled here have carried out and are in the process of demonstrating it to the modern scientific world.

If we look at the study on Scientific dating of Ramayana, the important aspect about the Ramayana is that when Valmiki wrote the epic, he made it with many proofs. He packed so much information about the various planetary positions of those days, the geography of the areas mentioned in the epic, the seasonal events, and about the genealogy of various kings that it is virtually a no-brainer to establish the dates on which those events occurred.

Genealogical links and archaeological findings provide clues to the dating of the Ramayana era. According to writer B.R. Haran, In no other nation and no other religion in the world, true history is so meticulously documented, supported by many evidences. Any ancient history is supported with evidences of architecture and literature. The Sangam literature is the documented evidence for the existence and ruling of Tamil kings, and similarly, Ramayana and Mahabharata are the documented evidence for Rama and Krishna.

Archaeological and literary methods can only provide approximate datelines. For determining the precise time of the Ramayana events, scientists use astronomical calculations. Several of India's leading astronomers and nuclear scientists have come together to establish the dates of India's ancient history.

So how is astronomical dating done? Says eminent historian Dr P.V. Vartak: "Sage Valmiki has recorded the dates of events in detail, albeit by describing the positions of stars and planets. To decipher the astronomical encodings has not been a trivial task, and not many have attempted to do so. It should be noted that the ancient Indians had a perfect method of time measurement. They recorded the 'tithis', days according to the nakshatra on which the moon prevailed, the months, the seasons and even the different solstices. By noting a particular arrangement of the astronomical bodies, which occurs once in many thousand years, the dates of the events can be calculated."

Dr Vartak has taken hundreds of illustrated passages from the epic to establish dates. Valmiki records the birth of Rama as Chaitra Shuddha Navami (9th), on Punarvasu Nakshatra and five planets were exalted then; Sun in Mesha up to 10 deg., Mars in Capricorn at 28 deg., Jupiter in Cancer at 5 deg., Venus in Pisces at 27 deg. and Saturn in Libra at 20 deg. (Bala Kanda.18/Shloka 8,9). December 4, 7323 B.C. therefore is the date of birth of Rama, when the four planets exalted. Ramayana occurred over 9300 years ago.

For example, Rigveda talks about an advanced civilized predominantly urban and maritime society which has used variety of ships, boats and 75 different types of houses which includes hutments and palaces. Vedic literature reveals that Indians are very advanced knowledge of mathematics and were possessing extraordinary knowledge of astronomy. Takshila University was established in 700 BC where more than 10,000 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. Similarly, Nalanda university was in existence in 3rd century BC which had housed more than 90 lakhs books. Maharishi Atreya was the first Guru of internal medicine, Shri Dhanvantri of Surgery and Kashyapa was the first Guru of Gynecology and pediatrics. Shushruta Samhita describes more than 40 types of surgical instruments and Ayurveda talks about holistic treatments.

Astronomical calculation making use of planetarium software have proved that events narrated in Balamiki Ramayana actually occurred around 7000 years back and they can be sequentially dated. Ramasetu is found submerged and the same location as is described in Balamiki Ramayana and the city of Dwarka has been explored by marine archeology wing of Govt of India.

As per the estimate made by the Inter-Governmental panel on Climate Change (NASA, Global Change Master Directory) the rise in the sea level during the last 7000 years has been about 2.8 meters which roughly corresponds to 9.3 feet. The remains of Rama Sethu are found submerged nearly at a depth of 9-10 feet. Thus, obviously this bridge was capable of being used as a land route 7000 years back. This is the only existing evidence on manmade bridge few thousand years back.

It is essential that our researchers launch a mission oriented programme in an integrated way by earth science, geological science, remote sensing, space scientists, oceanography, climate change teams and the people who build construction under the sea.

Here I request the researchers to launch research on India?s Epics with atleast 100 Ph.D?s with the highly talented historical, geological, astronomical and space scientists to ascertain the veracity of history and date of events in our epics. Science always has multiple source of research information to verify the conclusion. It should be true to all our research on epics and its dating.

Let me now discuss the work of Prof Tobias on human evolution.

Human Evolution

I was studying the work of Prof. Tobias on Paleo-anthropology and discovery of archeological sites, I thought of recalling the advances made in the research on human evolution. Traditionally, there have been two distinct and different approaches in understanding human evolution. First is the archeological evidence. The lessons that we have learnt in India from Mohan-ja-Daro and Harappa and many similar excavations the worlds over have been seminal and many a civilization?s way of living, its culture and its origins have become evident.

Prof. Tobias has made a significant impact in this area, particularly emanating from land, which is said to the cradle of human evolution. The second and more recent approach is propelled by advances in our understanding of the human genome. While the major part of the human genome sequence is common between human beings and even with mice, the small portions that differ; control and contribute to the diversity that we find in the evolution of humans.

I am happy that through such genomic studies, it has been found that Harappan civilization were not a mysterious people of unknown biological origins, or migrants from Centers of high culture in western Asia, but were descendents of population identified with pre-Harappan cultures of the North Western sector of the sub continent. Gene flow between Mesopotamia and the Indus domains, perhaps along trade routes, accounts for the higher incidents of some phenotypic features along this east west axis than what is apparent across north south axis penetrating peninsular India. But, migrant theory need not be invoked to explain various patterns. This makes research in genetic engineering, using human genome sequences to understand the evolution of humans, very fascinating for scientists. The scientific dating of our epics has also to be related to Genology with human genome sequences, with the evidences that we found in the form of fossils.

Prof. Tobias is one of the pioneers in the area of genetics. From his vast experience in genetics and Paleo-anthropology, Prof. Tobias has been able to present to the world in an understandable capsule form, the whole process of human evolution over 600 million years. The simplicity of the outcome of his complex research has also stimulated many scientists the world over to look at the challenges posed in our understanding of human evolution. Today, the world talks about convergence of many technologies. Prof. Tobias and others have shown us that all our origins converge to a single point both in space and time. The evolution human orgin put forth by Prof Thobias should be related to events of Indian epics. After all every Indian?s epic deals with human history, their conflicts and their civilization. Hence it has to be releated with the evolution of human origin over 600 million years ago, which is scientifically proven.

Origins of Life

Ancient human history has been revealed beautifully by Paleoanthropology. Life originated 600 million years ago and continental drift occurred 200 million years ago creating five continents. Mammals evolved 140 million years ago, Hominids that is the human type, evolved 26 million years ago but modern man only arrived on the scene some 200,000 years ago. He migrated and colonized the world only in the last 50,000 years. The spoken language is some 10,000 years old while writing evolved only a few thousand years ago. All this phenomenal progress has been achieved only within the short span of 200 to 400 generations that is in just 10,000 to 5,000 years. The spoken language period as per Prof. Thobias is around 10000 years old and the birth of Rama based on the 9th thithi of Chaitra month dates to 10th January in 5114 BC, that is 7117 years back. We need to establish the relationship between the birth of spoken language and the evolution of Valmiki Ramayana.

New DNA technologies

Newer DNA technologies have given us better insight in retracing the history of man. ?The DNA of a human being is his history book ever written?. Nowadays intelligence, cognizance, drug response, behavioral problems everything is related to genes: disease gene mapping is progressing at a faster pace with new age DNA technology. It is probably during the 30,000-50,000 years of co-existence that societies have evolved adopting newer innovations and cultures.

Thus the 'Nature - Nurture' philosophy holds good even in this Genomic Era: ?Genes? what we inherit from our parents is the basis; a beautiful 'building' is built over it, be it Einstein or certain unique creations, the environment plays a crucial role in shaping the destiny of the individual and leading to excellence. It is just the opportunity that makes Man. All children when they are born are equally poised to become a great scholar. The nervous system, and for that matter any of our systems, should cooperate with an individual in his or her progress.

Origin of civilization in Indian subcontinent

I am happy that through the use of modern technology the perception of Indian Archeology has changed and has facilitated by researchers to prove an indigenous origin of civilization in the Indian Sub continent. This is an important factor which should work as an integrator of the entire nation since all of us have come into this land from the same ancestors and roots. While discussing this issue I am reminded of a conversation with one of my cardio thoracic surgeon friend. He said, "When I perform an open heart surgery, on different patients; after opening I find the blood of the patient is same in color, hence I cannot discriminate any patient and provide differing attention and care." This thought process has to get embedded scientifically and culturally amongst all Indians so that we can see nation is bigger than any individual and all of us have to contribute to the accelerated progress and development of the nation. Now let me talk about certain application of knowledge derived from Scientific Dating of Ancient Events.

Agriculture in Ancient India

The dating studies have found that the farmers in the vedic period used natural manures for their agriculture. They have found 12 types of soil and determined the associated organic manure compatible to the soil types. They did not make use of pesticides or any poisonous elements in the agro sector. This has resulted in reduced atmospheric pollution and also provided quality food for the humankind. We have to learn a lot from this experience. Today, we have to ensure that we should use eco friendly fertilizers, pesticides and plant systems in our overall agricultural development taking the cue from ancient civilization that will make a big contribution to green agriculture goal of 21st century. We need to integrate our past civilizational heritage in forms of agriculture or other forms of systems which provides earning capacity with reference to modern technologies. Induction of modern technology definitely add values to our ancestor database of civilizational heritage.

The mission for scientific dating of our epics, I have the following suggestion:

1. Launching research on India's Epics with atleast 100 Ph.D?s with the highly talented historical, geological, astronomical and space scientists to ascertain the veracity of history and date of events in our epics.

2. The scientific dating of our epics has also to be related to Genealogy with human genome sequences, with the evidences that we found in the form of fossils.

3. The evolution human origin put forth by Prof Thobias should be related to events of Indian epics. After all every Indian's epic deals with human history, their conflicts and their civilization. Hence it has to be related with the evolution of human origin over 600 million years ago, which is scientifically proven.

4. The spoken language period as per Prof. Thobias is around 10000 years old and the birth of Rama based on the 9th thithi of Chaitra month dates to 10th January in 5114 BC, that is 7117 years back. We need to establish the relationship between the birth of spoken language and the evolution of Valmiki Ramayana.

Conclusion

I have discussed few areas which can benefit from the dating of our ancient events. I am sure the scientists and technologists assembled here will be presenting several areas in which the dating can be beneficial. To disseminate the findings of these studies to the large population will require intensive documentation and the application potential of each one of the findings. I would suggest that the teams assembled here can work out areas which need to become the part of the learning process of our youth. This will enable the seminar to make specific recommendations on including vital areas of our ancient culture in the primary, middle and secondary school text books. In addition, the seminar should attempt networking of people and ideas belonging to different specialties like agro scientists, doctors, engineers, archeologists, geologists and environment experts so that the benefits of lesions arising from earlier civilization and their lifestyle make a change to our thinking and lead towards the development of an eco friendly human habitat. The research on scientific dating may have partners, who can provide scientific, astronomical, anthropological and geological and genetic data to ascertain the veracity of the historical events.

With these words, I inaugurate the Seminar on Scientific Dating of Ancient Events before 2000 BC. My best wishes to all the participating for success in the mission of connecting the past to the present leading to a better future.

May God bless you.