Snippets of Hindu Science

[saidevo]

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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/items/bhojaprabandhaof00balluoft/bhojaprabandhaof00balluoft.pdf

Some links to the surgery:
Introduction. Part 10
History of the Indian Subcontinent - Siddha Forum
http://www.dlshq.org/messages/ayurveda.htm

 

[venkatpasupathy]

Saidevo,
Thanks for the post.It is very interesting. Venkat

 

[vijisesh]

Thanks saidevo ji for sharing such wonderful piece of history !

If this story is delivered by The.Ko.Swaminathan ji in " Inru oru thagaval " he would end it with something like this ;
" After listening to the above story , can anyone narrate the moral behind it ?
And a person would say - God by mistake has created too many additional chips in the Brain of a person by default - and for some , the unwanted chips need to be removed by surgery , so that they can effectively utilize the balance portion of their brains ,with its full potential !"
Some times really , just like they make IC chips and processors which can perform so many functions provided they are used and supported by hardware , a human brain is so dynamic and the only time during which it is best utilised is when we are in a confused state of affairs !

 

[saidevo]

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?

**********

 

[DURGADASAN]

Saidevo

Excellent...Amazing...You threw light into our heritage, which can shut the mouth of people who makes fun of our ancestors.

What a great knowledge they possessed. Atleast you are here to get that back of what they left to us. Thanks a lot
Pranams.

 

[vijisesh]

The following video in youtube provides an essence of vedas ....
and is an excellent compilation and provides an intro into
vedic maths , astronomy -- We need to be proud about our heritage !

YouTube - Vedic Science

 

[saidevo]

namaste vijisesh.

An excellent presentation, many of the facts we know although. What we need to do is to pour over over samskRta texts and give dRDha pramANA for these facts--the concept and use of zero for example. We need to collect them and later consolidate them into a book in pdf format and share it freely over the Net through some publishing websites such as the scribd.com.

namaste durgAdAsan.

Although I am happy with your praise, all of it goes to the sources on the Net from where I have extracted these info snippets and the original texts thereto. However, I try to select only those info that have the solid evidence of our scriptural lines of text, and try to present/attempt a translation where a text exists.

I thank everyone for expressing praise and happiness at my efforts.

 

[saidevo]

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.
(History of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article)

Sources:
lokavibhAga
Lokavibhaga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the history of mathematical symbols, check Table of mathematical symbols by introduction date: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

KalAtattvakosha: a lexicon of the fundamental concepts of the Indian arts, vol.2
Kalātattvakośa: a lexicon of ... - Google Books

(The story is narrated in the link Science in ancient India - Google Books)

The Sign for Zero by subhASh kAk:
http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/SignZero.pdf

**********

 

[kunjuppu]

sai, please permit me to make an observation.

i think your primary outlook should be from that of an impartial scientific observer searching for truth.

ie not to get your emotions and sense of pride come inthe way.

there are two ways of looking at your end results

- starting with hindu science, and finding parallels with modern science

- starting with modern science and finding parallels with hindu science.

whichever way you go, you can be assured of critical study by scholars, who would want water tight proof of your research.

it is at that point, the crunch of all your work comes. if a hole is found in your work, it would not be appropriate for you to get upset or angry with those who find the faults, or worse still, seek help from demagogues to scream on your behalf.

the right method is to follow the norms of scienctic approach, keep it all above board, have meticulous documenting and above all be honest - not to assume our wish list when there is no achievement.

personally, it would sadden me, if, after you have published your works, only to find it judged as something that 'needs more work'

excel in your research. it would be the proof of the quality of work to pass the scrutiny of scholars from all over the world, which a well researched work, that can stand on its own feet, should be able to do so, without any help.

the other side, we would never be so proud, at being some small part, in the germination, of another indian thinker and searcher of truth.

our best wishes sir.

 

[saidevo]

namaste shrI kunjuppu.

Thank you for your kind pieces of advice; I shall take them in the right spirit. Additionally, I should like to clarify on some of the perceptions that some readers/members might have about my posts here:

• My work is NOT AT ALL any kind of research: At my current age of 58 years, I hardly find time or have deep inclination for any scientific research into our Hindu texts, specially when I am barely Sanskrit literate and have not acquainted myself with even the basic texts such as the gitA or the upanishads.

• My posts are purely compilations obtained from the sources on the Net and from printed works; I share them for knowledge and research by our younger colleagues. Almost invariably I indicate the sources and possibly the verses/lines of the original texts, so the readers might look into them and do their own follow up work.

• Since my work is only compilations, I have no pride or emotion about it, other than the general sense of pride and elated emotion with respect to our hoary heritage. There is no need to publish them as research papers or worry about anyone criticising them. The idea is only to present a possible earlier source of the scientific discoveries and inventions and not deny the credit to the subsequent findings and improvements, although these subsequent findings are, in many cases, touted as original discoveries and inventions in today's world of vested interests.

• A Sanskrit pandit, with an encyclopaedic knowledge about our Hindu texts as well as the texts of modern science, can easily trace the parallels in our texts of the paradigms of science and establish their original sources. Since our pandits are not interested in scientific research and most of us have only sketchy knowledge of our texts, we can only go from the modern science and trace parallels and sources in the Hindu science.

In my opinion, most of the paradigms and theories of modern science are at best approximations of apparent physical realities of life. This is because science restricts itself to the physical realms of human existence, with no belief about the realms beyond the physical since they have no empirical proof. But then, we can also say that most paradigms of science that are supposed to present empirical proof scratch only the surface.

Here are some examples from the POV of a layman, which I am so far as hardcore science is concerned. Readers might post any further latest findings about the points raised here.

• In modern science, color is vibration. When the human eye sees a color, the vibrations are communicated to the brain through the wave of light of the color that hits the eye. This means that the entire nerve system that connects the eye to the brain should vibrate at the same high frequency as that of the color for accurate recognition. Any slight disturbance in our nerve system is felt as pain. How come we don't feel the pain of seeing or hearing or tasting?

• What exactly is electricity and how is it transmitted? If electricity is the flow of electrons, does it mean that electrons are physically transmitted from one end to another, emptying their stock at the source end, as with the tap water? What happens to their accumulation at the destination end?

• Dalton's atomic model is hardly valid in today's science, which speaks of the structure of the atom in terms of the string theory. If the world of atomic and subatomic particles is a network of strings (of energy), there is bound to be space between the strings. What is in that space? If it is also energy, why don't we talk about intersecting planes of energy rather than intersecting strings?

• Consciousness and thoughts are presented as products of physical brain in modern science. Since brain itself is a network of cells, molecules and atoms, what controls the brain? What makes it think a specific thought or have a specific emotion?

The point is that any paradigm about the entities and events in the physical world is bound to raise questions that might even question its validity. Truths about the physical reality are always relative, and subject to subtler levels of trans-physical realities, which in turn emanate from and are networked on an Absolute Reality.

 

[kunjuppu]

thanks sai. well put.

still. still, why not compile your findings into coherent outputs?

just like feynman, you might become a pioneer in introducing a new methodology to the next generation?

 

[vikrama]

A book titled 'vedic mathematics' is currently in circulation. I heard the following comments on this.

This is neither vedic nor mathematics in true terms. It is not old enough to be called vedic. It was composed by a Sankaracharya of Puri, of 20th century (incidentally he was a TB and a mathematics graduate). This book contains a few shortcut methods for doing multiplications and divisions, for certain numbers only. It does not cover the entire field of mathematics or a section of it fully.

Learned members of this forum, who have actually studied this book, may comment.

 

[saidevo]

Quantum Physics in the Vedas

The research paper titled "Creation--Annihilation--Vedic View" by Dr. S. Siva Ram Babu throws a new light on the much maligned slaughters and sacrifices described in the Vedas. I have given a gist of part of the paper in my own way below. This paper can be downloaded from http://www.serveveda.org/anihilation.pdf .

agni and the pashus

• The shatapatha brAhmaNa of the shukya yajur veda, in kANDa 6, adhyAya 2 describes an animal sacrifice.

6.2.1.1 and 6.2.1.2: prajApati set his mind upon agni's forms: He saw pancha-pashus--five animals, viz. puruShaM--man, ashvaM--horse, gAmaviM--bull and ram and ajaM--he-goat. Inasmuch as he saw them--pashya, they are (called) pashu--cattle.

Note that these 'five cattle forms' are described as the forms of agni and the descriptions continues that prajApati entered them and then slaughtered the pashus for agni.

• yajur veda 23.17 also says, "agni was pashu." How come the fire was an animal in an earlier form? At least the animal is on fire when it is sacrificed, not the other way surely?

• taittirIya brAhmaNa 1.1.4.5 confirms, "pashus are agnIya."

Now, substitute the meaning 'particle' for 'pashu' and 'energy' for 'agni'. Visualize the slaughter, sacrifice and agni appearing as pashus and viz versa as mutual transformation between particles and energy--you have advanced quantum physics in the Vedas!

• The term 'pashu' is from the root pash--to see. 'agni' means 'one that leads'; it is related to the agra--the foremost part, front. Thus, agni--energy that is always the leader and the pashu--particle is seen and observed as energy cryztallizes into matter.

The homakuNDaM where prajApati performed his experiments of slaughter and sacrifice was not the physical oven but the laboratory of his mind. Therefore he visualized agni to become pashu and vice versa. Thousands of years later, Albert Einstein performed similar experiments in the laboratory of his mind and discovered the theory of relativity and came out with the famous equation E = mc^2--a formula for transformation between matter and energy.

origin of the pashus from the agni

Vedic quantum physics postulates an interim stage for the transformation between enery into matter; this interim stage is confirmed by the non-stable subatomic particles of modern physics.

• The puruSha, hymn 10.90 of the Rig Veda describes the origin of the particles:

"From that yajna curd, butter was obtained. From that, vAyavya, AraNya and grAmya pashus were born."

The formation of curd and butter indicate the conversion of homogeneous energy into hetrogeneous, which then gave rise to three types of particles.

• The grAmya pashus are particles that tend to stay together, like the people in a grAmam--village. They are the Bosons of modern physics.

• The AraNya particles are wild and tend to stay alone. They are the Fermions.

• The vAyavya are field particles that are exchanged in particle formation, such as the photons in electromagnetic interaction as postulated in modern physics.

grAmya pashus

The Rig Veda hymn 10.90.10 further subdivides the grAyma pashus into four kinds: ashva--horses, go--cow, avi--sheep and aja--goats.

The Rig Veda hymn 1.163 describes the characteristics of this ashva--horse particle:

1.163.1 "When you roared springing from sea or land after birth, your great birth is worthy of praise you have wings of eagle and arms of deer."

This ashva--horse with wings can be considered the equivalent of the quark particles of modern physics.

1.163.2 "This horse was given by yama. trita harnessed it, indra captured him first and gandharva held its reins. vasus made this horse from sun."

The association of ashva with trita in this verse indicates that the particle carries 1/3 charge (trita), like the quarks.

1.163.3 "You are yama, you are Aditya, you are trita by a hidden act, you are well associated with soma. You have three bindings in Heaven it is said."

The ashva particles are 'hidden', just like the quarks, which in modern physics cannot be seen in isolation.

1.163.11 "O horse, your body is made for flying, your mind is rapid as wind. Your beautiful horns are placed in various ways and travel in forests."

A horse is spoken of as having horns! This can be a deliberate description to distinguish the ashva as a particle from a normal horse.

1.163.12 "Strong horse goes for slaughtering meditating upon the gods. His navel, goat is led ahead, praisers and poets follow him."

Finally, the ashva is sacrificed, transformed to become agni--energy.

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The author continues his paper with illustrations about the gau and aja particles, tracing their parallels in modern physics. The paper has drawn from 20 varied texts for its content. In conclusion, the author exhorts young Hindu minds to carry on the research on the lines he has indicated and come up with the Hindu paradigms of the ultimate realities of creation and annihilation.