Dates of important Mahabharat events in years

Hereunder is provided a short table dates of important Mahabharat events in years. (Dates and Tithis in years in Rama Samvat assuming Shri Rama Samvat 1st January. 1 equivalent to 1st Jan 7323 B.C. Rama's birth date has been conclusively proved to be 4th Dec. 7323 B.C.( "Vastav Ramayan").

EVENT DATE


Going to forest 4th Sept. 5574 BC

Kitmeet Killed 7th Sept. 5574 BC

Going underground 19th May 5562 BC

Keechak killed 1st April 5561 BC

Anukeechak-Massacre 2nd April 5561 BC

End of secret life 9th April 5561 BC

Cows stolen 15th April 5561 BC

Arjuna exposed 16th April 5561 BC

All pandavas exposed 19th April 5561 BC

Marriage of Uttara 4th May.
& Abhimanyu.

Krishna set out for a treaty. 27th Sept.

Stay at Upaplavya 27th Sept.

Stay at Vrukshthala 28th Sept.

Dinner to Brahmins 29th Sept.

Entry into Hastinapur 30th Sept.

Krishna meets Kunti etc. 1st Oct.

Invited for meeting 2nd Oct.

First meeting 3rd Oct.

Second meeting and an attempt 4th Oct.
to arrest Krishna.

Third meeting Vishvaroopa 7th Oct.

Stay at Kunti 8th Oct.

Krishna meets Karna. War 9th Oct.
fixed.

Krishna returns 9th Oct.

Pandavas preparation 11th Oct.
Balaram's visit.

Mahabharat war started 16th Oct.

Abhimanyu killed 28th Oct. 5561 BC.

End of War 2nd November 5561 B.C.

Yudhishthira crowned 16th Nov. 5551 BC.

Bhishma expired 22nd Dec. 5561 BC

Pandava campaign 15th Jan. 5560 BC
for wealth

Parikshita born 28th Jan. 5560 BC

Pandavas return 25th Feb. 5560 BC

Ashvamedh Deeksha. 1st March 5560 BC

Return of Arjuna Horse 15th Jan. 5560 BC

Ashvamedh yajna 22nd Feb. 5559 BC

Dhrutarashtra went to forest 18th Aug. 5545 BC

Pandavas visited Kunti 18th Aug. 5543 BC
Vidura expired

Death of Kunti, Dhrutarashtra, Sept./Oct. 5541 BC
and Gandhari

Yadava Massacre 5525 B.C.

Parikshit Dead 5499 B.C.

EQUINOX - Mahabharat War

Mahabharat mentions the ancient tradition as 'Shravanadini Nakshatrani',i.e., Shravan Nakshatra was given the first place in the Nakshatra- cycle (Adi-71/34 and Ashvamedh 44/2) Vishwamitra started counting the Nakshatras from Shravan when.he created 'Prati Srushti'. He was angry with the old customs. So he started some new customs. Before Vishvamitra's time Nakshatras were counted from the one which was occupied by the sun on the Vernal Equinox. Vishvamitra changed this fashion and used diagonally opposite point i.e. Autumnal Equinox to list the Nakshtras. He gave first place to Shravan which was at the Autumnal Equinox then. The period of Shravan Nakshatra on autumnal equinox is from 6920 to 7880 years B.C. This was Vishvamitra's period at the end of Treta yuga. Mahabharat War took place at the end of Dwapar yuga. Subtracting the span of Dwapar Yuga of 2400 years we get 7880 - 2400 = 5480 B.C. as the date of Mahabharat War.

Kshaya or Vishvaghasra Paksha

A fortnight of only thirteen days is told by Vyasa which occured just before the great War. Such a fortnight comes at the interval of 22 years. Calculations show that at 5562nd B.C. Kshaya Paksha did occur. It had occured 1962 and 1940. 1962+5562 = 7524 is completely divisi- ble by 22.

Amavasya confirmed

Krishna and Karna fixed the day of War on Amavasya (Udyog 142). Vyas also indicates in Bhishma 2 & 3 that the War started on the day second Amayasya, because two successive Amavasyas appeared then. Bhishma died on the day after 67 (58+9) nights from the onset of the War, on the occasion Uttarayan i.e. 22nd December. So the War must have commenced on 16th October. Let us see if Amavasya comes on this day.

In 1979, Amavasya was on 21st of October. Amavasyas repeat after the intervals of 29.53058 days. The Lunar year is of 354.367 days while the Solar year is 365.25 days. 1979+5561 = 7540 multiplied by 365.25 and divided by 354.367 gives 7771.5616 Lunar years. 0.5616 Lunar year means 199.0125 days. 199.0125 divided by 29.53058 gives 6.7392005. This indicates that 6 Amavasyas are completed and 0.7392005 lunar month or 22 days are left. These 22 days are left for 21st October and we have to go behind upto 16th October. So adding these 6 days to 22 we get 28 days. After 28 days Amavasya can occur. After 29 days it always occurs. Thus on 15th and 16th October 5562nd year B.C, there were two successive amavasyas as mentioned by Vyas.

Another method gives the same conclusion. At the interval of 19 years the Amavasya falls on the same date. 19x365.25 divided by 29.53058 gives 235.00215. So in 19 years 235 Amavasya are completed. I found that on 17th October 1963, there was an Amavasya. 1963+5561 = 7524 divided by 19 gives 396. This division is complete, so there was an Amavasya. Thus it is established that Vyas has reported Amavasya correctly.

Eclipses

Vyas has mentioned that there was Solar as well as Lunar eclipses in one month at the time of Mahabharat War. Calculations confirm that in October 5561 year B.C, both the Solar and Lunar eclipses did occur. Rahu and Ketu were in Uttara Ashadha at 273 deg. & 279 deg. so total eclipse of the Sun took place on the Margashirsha Amavasya day Only 13 days earlier, according to Vyasa, there was Pournirma with lunar eclipse, causing pallor of the Moon. Thirteen days earlier the sun would have been 13 deg. behind at (279 - 13 =) 266 in Purva Ashadha. It was Pournima so the Moon was diagonally opposite at (266-180=) 86 deg. in Punarvasu, just beyond Mruga, so it was Margashirsha Pournima though it is wrongly or enigmatically told to be Kartika Pournima. Rahu was at 273 deg., so Ketu was diagonally opposite in Punarvasu, so the ellipse of the moon was possible which was not total.

A Big comet

Vyas has mentioned that at the time of Mahabharat War a big comet was seen just beyond Pushya Nakshtra. There are many comets. Indian Astro- nomical works refer to more than 500 comets, but big comets are very few. Haley's comet is one of the big comets which comes at the regu- lar intervals of 77 years. It was seen in 1910 and 1987. If we add 1910+5561 = 7271. 7271 is divisible completely by 77. Evidently it seems that it was Haley's comet was seen at the Mahabharat War.

Mahabharat period ranges from 5000 B.C. to 6000 B.C.

The Greek Ambassodor Magasthenis has recorded that 138 generations have passed between Krishna and Chandragupta Maurya. Many scholars have taken this evidence, but taking only 20 years per generation they fixed the date of Krishna as 2760 years before Chandragupta. But this is wrong because the record is not of ordinary people to take 20 years per generation. In the matter of general public, one says that when a son is born a new generation starts. But in the case of kings, the name is included in the list of Royal Dynasty only after his corona- tion to the throne. Hence, one cannot allot 20 years to one king. We have to find out the average per king by calculating on various Indian Dynasties. Considering 60 kings from various dynasties and calculated the average of each king as 35 years. Here is a list of some of important kings with the no. of years ruling.

Chandragupta Mourya 330-298 B.C. 32 years.
Bindusar 298-273 B.C. 25 years.
Ashok 273-232 B.C. 41 years.
Pushyamitra Shunga 190-149 B.C. 41 years.
Chandragupta Gupta 308-330 A.D. 22 years.
Samudragupta 330-375 A.D. 45 years.
Vikramaditya 375-414 A.D. 39 years.
Kumargupta 414-455 A.D. 41 years.
Harsha 606-647 A.D. 41 years.
---------
327 years.

The average is 327/9 = 36.3 years.


Multiplying 138 generations by 35 years we get 4830 years before Chan- dragupta Mourya. Adding Chandrgupta's date 320 B.C. to 4830 we get 5150 B.C. as the date of Lord Krishna.

Megasthenis, according to Arian, has written that between Sandro- cotus to Dianisaum 153 generations and 6042 years passed. From this data, we get the average of 39.5 years per king. From this we can cal- culate 5451 years for 138 generations. So Krishna must have been around 5771 B.C.

Pliny gives 154 generations and 6451 years between Bacchus and Alexander. This Bacchus may be the famous Bakasura who was killed by Bhimasena. This period comes to about 6771 years B.C.

Thus Mahabharat period ranges from 5000 B.C. to 6000 B.C.

Indian music's soulful maestro

Indian music's soulful maestro

Khan's first performance abroad was in 1966 in Edinburgh
Ustad Bismillah Khan was one of India's most prolific musicians, gaining worldwide acclaim for playing the shehnai for more than eight decades.

He was credited with helping the shehnai - a type of wind instrument - attain a higher status in Indian classical music and taking it to a world stage. It had earlier considered to be an accompanying instrument.

In 2001, he was India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.

The shehnai is traditionally played at Indian weddings and ceremonies and its high-pitched notes and heart-tugging sound are considered auspicious.

A devout Muslim, Khan was a symbol of India's religious pluralism and a symbol of harmony for people of different faiths.

He was often seen playing at various temples and on the banks of the holy river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, his home town.

He was particularly proud of playing outside the famous Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.

Cultural icon

Born on 21 March 1916 in a small village in the northern Indian state of Bihar, Khan belonged to a family of court musicians. His ancestors were musicians in the princely state of Dumraon in Bihar.



Khan's recital was a regular feature every Independence Day

Aged six, Khan moved to his maternal house, located close to the Ganges at Varanasi.

He started his formal training under his uncle, Ali Bux 'Vilayatu', who was a shehnai player attached to the Vishwanath temple.

Khan's 1937 performance at the All India Music Conference in the eastern city of Calcutta brought shehnai to the centre stage of Indian classical music.

Among the high points in his career was when he played at Delhi's Red Fort on the eve of India's Independence in 1947.

Since the time of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Khan performed every Independence Day and state-owned television has shown his live performance immediately after the prime minister's address to the nation.

Fear of flying

By the early 1960s Khan had gained worldwide reckoning through his records even before his first performance abroad.



The musician shunned publicity and Bollywood

He was reportedly afraid of flying and had turned down numerous invitations.

In 1966 after a lot of insistence and persuasion by the Indian government, he agreed to perform at the Edinburgh festival, but he demanded that he and his staff should be taken on an all-expenses-paid trip to Mecca and Medina first.

This was initially a demand to avoid travelling, but when the government agreed to his demand he ultimately performed at Edinburgh.

Soon after he was flooded with invitations and went on to perform in the US, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Canada, West Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, Russia and in many other cities across the world.

'Moody'

Bismillah Khan was a very private person and shunned publicity. He believed he "should be heard, not seen".


Khan insisted on dying in Varanasi

He was known to be moody during concerts. The BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi says he saw Khan throwing microphones and refusing to play unless everything was to his liking.

He played in just one Hindi film, Goonj Uthi Shehnai (Echoes of the Shehnai), in 1959.

He was reportedly annoyed and stormed off a film set when a music director interrupted his playing and asked him to play a note in a certain way. Since that day he never looked towards Bollywood.

Khan was known for living a simple and austere life at his home in a narrow alleyway near the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi.

Despite his fame, he was often seen out and about the city in cycle-rickshaws, his favourite mode of transport.


In his last days he was not very well off as his income supported a joint family of nearly 60, including five sons, three daughters and their children.

In 2003 he even made an appeal to the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for financial help. After repeated pleas, he was granted 500,000 rupees ($10,760 ) in "delayed aid".

The musician's love for Varanasi was well-known - even when he was on his death-bed he refused to be treated in Delhi despite such offers from the government.

Speaking to the Indian media before his death, Khan asked why, when others came to die in Varanasi, he should leave the city to die somewhere else.

Courtesy BBC News Online