Only around the 14th century, the world began to accept that "earth is round". Being one of the earliest of the civilizations, Indians had clear understanding of the shape of the earth and were skilled in all aspects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry etc.
Before we started writing down the knowledge we cherished as scriptures, the knowledge was imparted orally and since that time, we imparted this wisdom through shlokas.
There were various scientists in India whose scripts discuss the spherical shape of earth. For example, the following shloka is from Surya Siddhantha, one of the earliest astronomical scriptures.
सर्वत्रैव महीगोले स्वस्थानमुपरि स्थितम |
मन्यन्ते खे यतो गोलतस्य क्वोर्ध्वं क्व वाप्यधः ||
Translation: As the earth is round, every person considers himself at the top of the earth where he/she is standing. So the downward direction is towards the center of the eart for everyone.
The author of this scripture is unknown as this knowledge was imparted orally. The earliest record of Surya Siddhantha was found around 5th century, and so we can say that this is prevailing since BCE.
Aryabhatta, in his book Aryabhatiya, has also discussed the shape of earth.
वृत्तभपञ्जरमध्ये कक्ष्यापरिवेष्टितः खमध्यगतः |
मृज्जलशिकिवायुमयो भगोलः सर्वतो वृत्तः ||
Translation: The globe of the earth stands suspended in space at the center of a circular frame surrounded by orbits or planets. It is circular on all sides (spherical).
Still dont buy it?
The bhagavata purana is literally thousands of years old. The various mythological avatars of Lord VIshnu is depicted here. The third avatar of Vishnu is the Varaha, the anthropomorphic depiction of a boar. In the story, Lord Varaha kills the demon, Hiranyaksha and brings the earth from the bottom of the cosmic ocean in his tusks. Whether we choose to believe this story or not, we all can agree that this story is atleast thousands of years old. When this scene is depicted the Lord Varaha is depicted to bring a spherical earth up rather than a flat one (otherwise the earth wont fit in his tusks).
Aryabhatta has made a lot more significant discoveries. He suggested that the earth is revolving while all stars are stationary. He existed 1000 years before Copernicus. He estimated the duration of a day : 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds, 0.1 fractions which is extremely close to the modern value.
Be proud to be born in this culture.
Jai Hind.
Source:
1. Awakening Indians to India - CHYK
2. Youtube video - Technology of Spirituality
Before we started writing down the knowledge we cherished as scriptures, the knowledge was imparted orally and since that time, we imparted this wisdom through shlokas.
There were various scientists in India whose scripts discuss the spherical shape of earth. For example, the following shloka is from Surya Siddhantha, one of the earliest astronomical scriptures.
सर्वत्रैव महीगोले स्वस्थानमुपरि स्थितम |
मन्यन्ते खे यतो गोलतस्य क्वोर्ध्वं क्व वाप्यधः ||
Translation: As the earth is round, every person considers himself at the top of the earth where he/she is standing. So the downward direction is towards the center of the eart for everyone.
The author of this scripture is unknown as this knowledge was imparted orally. The earliest record of Surya Siddhantha was found around 5th century, and so we can say that this is prevailing since BCE.
Aryabhatta, in his book Aryabhatiya, has also discussed the shape of earth.
वृत्तभपञ्जरमध्ये कक्ष्यापरिवेष्टितः खमध्यगतः |
मृज्जलशिकिवायुमयो भगोलः सर्वतो वृत्तः ||
Translation: The globe of the earth stands suspended in space at the center of a circular frame surrounded by orbits or planets. It is circular on all sides (spherical).
Still dont buy it?
The bhagavata purana is literally thousands of years old. The various mythological avatars of Lord VIshnu is depicted here. The third avatar of Vishnu is the Varaha, the anthropomorphic depiction of a boar. In the story, Lord Varaha kills the demon, Hiranyaksha and brings the earth from the bottom of the cosmic ocean in his tusks. Whether we choose to believe this story or not, we all can agree that this story is atleast thousands of years old. When this scene is depicted the Lord Varaha is depicted to bring a spherical earth up rather than a flat one (otherwise the earth wont fit in his tusks).
Be proud to be born in this culture.
Jai Hind.
Source:
1. Awakening Indians to India - CHYK
2. Youtube video - Technology of Spirituality
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