Andal the Astronomer and other Indian Scientists-Part 1

There is a verse (pasuram) in Thiruppavai, thirteenth to be precise. While praying to her beloved Lord, she casually brings in the planets Jupiter and Venus to the mix –

“வெள்ளி எழுந்து வியாழம்  உறங்கிற்று” 

“Velli ezunthu viyazam urangitru” – Jupiter has set and Venus has risen in the dawn sky. 

To put things in perspective, Andal was the equivalent of a “village commoner” who spent most of her young life in stringing flowers for the Lord. Knowledge of the solar system wasn’t common knowledge even in the last century, so isn’t it a wonder that a small girl 1200 years ago casually remarked about the movement of planets in her verses? (As a side note, this very phrase was helpful to determine the period of the great poetess: 731 CE according to scholar Raghava Iyengar when this celestial event occurred).

With that perspective, it is no wonder that she spelt out the entire water cycle (evaporation-condensation-rain) in her 4th verse with the same nonchalance (“ஆழி மழைக் கண்ணா” ; “aazhi mazaik kanna”). Scientist indeed!

Lest people think that this is an aberration, I want to bring the readers’ attention to the phrase that is commonly used in many verses – “அகிலாண்ட கோடி பிரம்மாண்ட நாயகன்/நாயகி  ; akilandakoti brahmanda nayakan/nayaki”, with special attention to the word – Andam.  This word denotes the spherical nature of the world, the planets and the stars.  The Greek astronomer Eratosthenes postulated that the earth is spherical in 240 BCE. The Brahmanda Purana (notice the name!) dates at least a few centuries before this period (several millennia as per Vedas).  So, we can deduce that the astronomical know-how existed much before to the people of Bharathavarsha.

There is already enough awareness on Susruta (6^th Century BCE), who is termed the father of plastic surgery. In brief, Suśruta-saṃhitā, contains descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, discusses surgical techniques of making incisions, probing, extraction of foreign bodies, alkali and thermal cauterization, tooth extraction, removal of the prostate gland, hernia surgery, caesarian section, the principles of fracture management, classification of eye diseases including cataract surgery, to name a few.

Picture reference: Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna – https://archive.org/stream/englishtranslati01susruoft#page/n5/mode/2up https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46924577

So, were we really in catch-up mode with the West which was said to be more civilized and technologically advanced?

read continuation here.