Author: M.Madan Mohan
Publication: The Hindu
Date: July 4, 2000
HUBLI, JULY 3. A unique
attempt to bring about a compromise between the Indian "panchanga" and
the Western calendar has been made by Pandit Vadirajacharya of Bijapur,
now settled in Bhadravati in Shimoga District. He has prepared on a single
sheet the calendar for 197 crores of years of the life of the earth, which
devout Hindus believe, has passed through six "Manvantaras" and is currently
going through 28th Kaliyuga of the seventh "Manvantara"!
The table identifies
the samvatsaras of the Hindu almanac for 5299 years starting from 3200
BC, when the present Kaliyuga started, up to the end of the present century.
His mentor, Pandit Mahuli
Vidyamhachar, chief of the Satyadhyana Gurukula in Mumbai, approved the
calendar two months ago. Pandit Vadirajacharya Joshi's desire to correlate
the Western calendar with the Indian system based on solar and lunar movements
started in the Satayadhyana Vidyapeetha, took him 10 years of painstaking
work to fulfil.
Pandit Vadirajacharya,
who was on a brief visit to Hubli, said that several factors contributed
to the difficulties in dating the events of the past correctly. Firstly,
there was a fractional difference in the computation of a year which was
reckoned at 365.25 days in the Julian Calendar (which came into vogue in
46 BC); 365.2422408 in the Gregorian Calendar, (which came into effect
in 1752 during the days of Pope Gregory) and the Sooryasiddhanta "panchanga"
based on the solar system in India, which had 365.87564 days. This resulted
in the difference of 3.50 days in every 400 years, going up to six days.
It was during the time
of Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. that the leap year was introduced, the beginning
of the year was pushed back from March to January and two years were left
out in preparing the calendar. Pope Gregory's inability to include the
leap year added to the problem of calculating the length of a year.
A study of stone inscriptions
revealed that two years were left out between Mesha Sankranti and Kanya
Sankranti, and three years between Tula Sankranti and Meena Sankranti.
Mr. Vadirajacharya said he had corrected the errors in his calculation
and predicted the correct dates of major events, both under the Indian
and the Western systems.
Pandit Vadirajacharya
said it was now possible to give definite dates relating to the Hindu calendar
for the major events in the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata war started on
May 18, 3101 B.C, which was the day on which Lord Krishna gave the Geetopadesha
to Arjuna on the battle field. The warrior Bhishma fell down on May 27,
3101 B.C. corresponding to the 10th day of the first half of the month
of Marqasheersha. The Mahabharata war came to an end with the defeat of
Duryodhana in a "Gadayuddha" with Bheemasena on June 4, 3101 B.C., which
was the third day of the second half of the Hindu calendar month of Margasheersha.
The Krishnavatara came
to end on September 14, 3065, B.C. corresponding to first day of the month
of Chaitra. Seven days later, on September 21, 3065 B.C. the famous Dwaraka
of Lord Krishna was submerged in the sea. Pandit Vadirajacharya said that
the birth date of the proponent of the Dwaita philosophy, Madhwacharya,
was a matter of speculation. Different interpretations were based on mentions
made in works such as SUMADHWA VIJAYA, which stated that Madhwacharya was
born 4300 years after Bheemasena, who was reckoned to be the second incarnation
of God Vayu, with Madhwacharya being the third, and Lord Hanuman being
the first. Bheemasena's era came to an end a year after Lord Krishna ended
his incarnation. It fell on a Wednesday, the 10th day of the first fortnight
of Ashwina in the Vilami Nama Samvatsara.
What made scholars go
wrong was that none of them took into account the two years left out during
the days of Julius Caesar.
Pandit Vadirajacharya
Joshi can be contacted at Rameshwar Temple, Old Town, Bhadravati.
