The enclosed pdf file "Founders of Science in Ancient India" contains good information on our science heritage from ancient times.

1. Jantar Mantar
Magic or Science?

2. Yantra - Tantra - Mantra
Yantra Machine, Instrument, Tool
Mantra Formula
Tantra Technique

3. Founders of Science in
Ancient India
Dr Nawal K Prinja

4. The Great Rishis
Rishi means ‘SEER’: The discoverer
Hindu Rishis were
– philosophers
– mathematicians
– scientists
They made fundamental discoveries
All reported in the great Vedic literature

5. The Puzzle
Books are written by Aryans - not a race. It
civilised people means ‘noble people’
Civilisations existed at River Saraswati
banks of rivers
Where is your river? Now extinct but its path
has been traced by satellite
photography
Aryan must have come Myth of Aryan invasion
from outside India has been smashed

6. Sage Atharvan: Discoverer of Fire
Rishi of Atharva Veda
4000 BC or even earlier
“The sage Atharvan extracted the
agni(fire)” - Rig VI-16-13
Greek mythology
“The priests churn for agni as
says that Prometheus
was done by Atharvan” - Rig X-21-5 stole fire from
heaven
Prometheus = Pra + Mantha
In Sanskrit ‘by’ ‘Churning’

7. Medhatithi : Designer of Bricks
Bricks (ishtaka) made to construct Yajna Kunds
Formulae for laying down of bricks-Yajur Veda (XIII)
There are specific names of many mechanical
processes and implements in the Vedas
Grinding, pounding, filtering, preserving
Wheel, axle, hook, spade, boiler, pressing
stone, mixing bowl, fuel, pitcher with 100
holes, weaving shuttle, drum, measuring tape

8. Dirghatama: The First
Astronomer
Realised the importance of having an era
Time determined by astronomical phenomenon
Vedic sages defined
– Lunar year 354 days
– Solar (Tropical) year 365 1/4 days
– Civil year 360 days
(21 days added every 4th year)

9. Dimensions of Yuga
“With the consonants they fill the nights, with the
vowels the days” - Aitareya Aranyaka
Verse Type Syllables No. of Verses Total
Brhati 36 12000 432000
Pankti 40 10800 432000
Kali yuga = 432000 syllables = 432000 years
Dwapara yuga = 2 x Kaliyuga = 864000 years
Tretaa yuga = 3 x Kaliyuga = 1296000 years
Sata yuga = 4 x Kaliyuga = 1728000 years
Total = Chaturyugi = 10 x kaliyuga = 4320000 years
One divine day = 1000 Chaturyugi = 4320 million years
Divine Day = Creation Divine Night = Dissolution

10. One God - 3 Metaphorical Forms
Kala Purusha (Time) - Omniscient
Veda Purusha (Knowledge) - Omnipresent
Yajna Purusha (Action) - Omnipotent
– Rig Veda X.90 and I.164
The Supreme Purusha on chariot with two yokes and 7 horses
Horses or sons = cycles of time = Kala, muhurta, dina, ardhamasa,
masa, rtu(season), caturmasa(quarter year)
2 Yokes = Solictice Uttarayana (summer) Dakshinayana (winter)

11. Discovery of Planets
‘Star’ and ‘aster’ come from Sanskrit ‘Str’
“He has studded the sky with constellations”
- Rig Veda I-68.5
Vamadeva identifies Jupiter (Brhaspati)
– Rig IV-50.4
Vena Bhargava identifies Venus
– Rig X-123.1

12. First Medicinal Plant Symposium
Date : 700 BC (2700 years ago)
Venue : Regions of Himalayas
Proceedings : Charaka Samhita
Organiser : Rishi Bhardvaja
“He taught the science of causes, symptoms
and medication- the tripartite science”
-Charaka Samhita I-24

13. Symposium on Man and Disease:
The Question
“What is the source of the
man and the disease?
Do both come from the
same source?
King Vamaka of Kashi

14. Pariksi Maudgalya
“Man is born of the
Spirit, likewise all
diseases are born of
the Spirit. The
Spirit is the source
of all”

15. Sage Saraloma
“No. The Spirit dislikes
pain. It would never on
its own accord yoke itself
to painful diseases. The
real cause is the mind
when its engrossed by
passion and ignorance”

16. Varyovida
“Mind by itself can’t
cause any thing.
Without a body,
there cannot be any
disease, not even the
mind. All life started
from water. Water
is the cause of all
diseases.”

17. Hiranyaksha
“Every thing does not depend on water. I am
aware of air-borne diseases. Man is the
result of the 5 physical elements and
consciousness.”

18. Sage Shaunaka
“How can you have the 5 elements and the
consciousness without a creator or a father
and mother? Therefore, parents are the
origin of both, the individual and the
disease.”

19. Bhadrakapya
“No. Blind are not born
of the blind. And you
cannot tell who the first
parents were. Creatures
are born of the merits
of action and from the
actions arise the
diseases.”

20. Rishi Bharadwaja
“I disagree. The doer always proceeds the
deed. Nature alone is the cause. Roughness
of the earth, fluidity of water, mobility of air
and heat of fire.”

21. Kankayana
“Effort or lack of
effort is not
determined by the
course of nature.
Brahmaa, the
Creator of the
universe, is the
source of all”

22. Aterya
“No. Brahmaa cannot give pain to his own
children. Evolution has taken place over
time. So time is the cause of creation of
Man and disease.”

23. Punarvasu’s Decision
“Truth is hard to find by taking
sides in a debate.
“The wholesome combination of
the physical elements gives rise to
the well being of Man.
Unwholesome combination leads
to disease”
Balanced elements = At ease with each other
Unbalanced elements = not at ease = dis +
ease = disease
Now known as the Ayur Veda

24. Susruta: Father of Surgery
125 surgical instruments made from steel
14 varieties of bandages
“Nil by Mouth” for abdominal operations
Use of antiseptics (mustard, nimba leaves etc)
Training of surgeons on dead animals and watermelon
Classified surgical operations into 8 kinds
– extraction,excising,incising,probing,scarifying,
suturing,puncturing and evacuating fluid

25. Types of Operations
Plastic and Fractures and
Rhinoplastic dislocations
Transplanting skin Removal of
flaps Haemorrhoids
Cataract crouching Caesarean
Hernia
Alexendra’s invasion brought it to Greece
and then to rest of the Europe

26. Atreya Punarvasu: First Teacher
of Systematic Medicine
‘Charaka Samhita’ about 700 BC
Noted for the symposia on:
– Influences of Vata
– Origin of man and disease
– Taste and its enumeration
– Growth of foetal limbs
– Use of the emetic nut and dose of the anema

27. Origin of Medical Terminology
Modern Science Origin in Sanskrit
Dentistry Teeth Dant
Osteopathy Bones Asthi
Geriatrics Old Age Jeern
Chiropody Feet Charn
Dermatology Skin Churm

28. Kanada: First Expounder of Law
of Causation and Atomic Theory
Ten books known as ‘Vaisesika Darshana’
About 1900 years old
First to explore the relation between ‘Cause
and Effect’
Identified atoms (Parmanu) as the build
blocks of matter
Defined chemical action (Paka)

29. Great Mathematicians
Medhatithi- Extended numerals to billions
Aryabhata- laid foundations of Algebra
Lagadha - Rationalised Astronomy
Baudhayana - The first great Geometer

30. Science of Geometry
‘Sulbha Sutras’ - Sulb means to measure
Bodhyana’s sutras are 2800 years old
Used in the construction of altars for yajna
Discovered the Pythagorus theorem before
Pythagorus
Formula to draw a circle with same area of
a square
Computed square root of 2 = 1.414213

31. Pythagorus Theorem
“The diagonal of a rectangle produces area
which its length and breadth produce
separately” - BS I-I-48
a c
b
a2 + b2 = c2

32. Transfer a Square into a Circle
N
“If you wish to circle a
square, draw half its
diagonal about its centre
towards the North-East
W
line; then describe a circle
together with the one-
third of that which lies
outside the square”
- BS I-I-58

33. Square Root of 2
“Increase the measure by its third part, and
again by the fourth part less by the thirty-
fourth part of itself” - BS I-61-2
D = a + a/3 + a/(3x4) - a/(3x4x34)
√2 = 1 + 1/3 + 1/(3x4) - 1/(3x4x34) = 1.4142

34. Vedic Mathematics
The ‘Parisista’ (appendix section) of the
Atharva Veda contains 16 ‘Sutras’
(formulae) that turn difficult Mathematics
into simple and fun calculations.
The material is mostly based on ‘Vedic Mathematics’
by Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji of Govardan Pitha, we
are grateful to him for revealing the cryptic mysteries
of the Sutras.

35. Nikhilam Multiplication
99 × 89
1) Write the base (100)
99 01 2) Find the first complement
11 3) And the second complement
89
5) Finally, cross subtract 88 11 4) Multiply the complements
The answer is 8811

36. Conclusions
Many branches of modern science
originated in India (Bharat)
There is not much awareness about this rich
heritage of India
Knowledge of Sanskrit is essential to
discover our own riches

37. Good News
You can learn Sanskrit by correspondence
course
4 stages of 10 lessons each leading to a
diploma
From Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Manchester

38. The End
Thank you and Namaskar