14. Ref. 24 Exp 22. --- This occurs at the start of BhishmaParva, so it can be taken as referring to first day. Night prior to 1st day or night of first day? The quotation simply says ‘there were seven planets shining in the sky. Nothing is mentioned about where, wrt Sun. If Saturn was to the west of Sun and other to east, all could not have been seen after sunset. When the occurrence of Solar Eclipse itself is not established beyond doubt, the assertion that all seven were seen ‘during the eclipse’ cannot be made with any certitude. The eclipse was not total so there was no question of seeing the planets, during the battle. The quotation in any case does not say so. It proves or disproves nothing about the year or date of war.
15. Ref 23 Exp 23 … Shri. Oak asserts that it is an observation on the 14th night. According to him 14th day of war was a Chaturdashi, so no question of moon ‘rising’. At sunset it would be already above the Eastern horizon. If the seven planets were ranging from East to West, not around the moon how were they attacking the moon?
In my view, Vyasa here is alluding to some anecdote by the word ‘प्रजासंहरणे’.
The actual translation of the reference by Ganguli is 'Excited with wrath,those seven great car-warriors began to afflict Bhimasena, O king, like the seven planets afflicting the moon at the hour of the universal dissolution.'. So Vyasa here is giving a दृष्टान्त. There is no question of there being seven Planets actually attacking the moon on that night, in any case well after the event! For giving the दृष्टान्त, Vyasa didnt need it!
16. Ref. 25 Exp 24. This quotation occurs in the text, well before Karna’s death. What is the context? Is the translation of the quotation correctly rendered? निश्चरन्तो व्यदृश्यन्त does not translate as ‘appeared moving away from’. Both seem to refer to ‘sapta-mahagrahah’. These are two separate words, Since चर means move, निश्चर should mean ‘not moving’ . If sandhi is removed, the word appears to be निश्चरन्ताः व्यदृश्यन्त सूर्यात् which seems to mean ‘appeared not moving from Sun’. Only reading the quotation in its proper context can clarify the meaning and why Vyasa has considered it worthwhile to point it out.
The translation by Ganguli is ... The seven great planets including the Sun seemed to proceed against one another (for combat).. This does not appear correct to me as सूर्यात् cannot mean 'including the Sun'
I note however, that Shri. Oak did see seven planets in the sky after sunset on 17th day. He says he sees them moving to East. How is it possible? Planets cant be seen moving at any given time. Their eastward movements are very slow and can be noticed only after several days, except maybe mercury. So what does Shri. Oak mean when he says the simulation showed them moving east?
I also say that it is only an Upama by Vyasa for which there is no need for seven planets to be actually seen after sunset. No adverse inference could be drawn if they were seen or not.
17. Ref. 19 and 20 . Exp. 26. As Shri. Oak has finally concluded that Shweta and Shyama cannot be positively identified, they can be left out. About Shyama, the description, प्रज्वलितः, सधूमः, सहपावकः though, appear to point to a comet or Ulkaa to me. If it was an Ulkaa, it wont be seen in the simulation I presume.
18. Ref. 21 and 22. Shri. Oak says both these quotes refer to Comet at Pushya. While ref 22 second line clearly says that a महाघोरः धूमकेतुः has settled at Pushya, Ref 21 does not say so at all. It simply says the planet Teevra is at Krittika and is – धूमकेतुरिव – like a comet because ‘नक्षत्रे प्रथमे ज्वलन्’! Second line, first word, वपूंष्यपहरन्भासा does not at all mean 'at Pushya'! वपुंसि अपहरन् भासा may mean ‘as if abducting bodies’. I am not sure of this and an authentic translation must be referred. Where does Shri.Oak see ‘Pushya’ here?
If he sees in his software something at Pushya and says it was Haley’s Comet, so be it.
19. At the end of chapter 7 Shri. Oak says that he checked 38 specific years, within 6500 BCE and 3500 BCE, for a combination of Saturn near Bhaga (UttaraFalguni) and Jupiter near Shravan. Does 5561 BCE qualify for this position? He does not say so specifically. What he actually found for 16th Oct 5561 BCE is - On 16th Oct. 5561, Jupiter was in Uttarashadha, and Saturn in Hasta. They are one nakshatra away from the desired positions and both being slow-moving, would remain so for maybe some months either side. After 5561 BCE Saturn will go further away from Hasta to Chitra although Jupiter will move towards Shravan. So does 5561BCE pass the condition? Not really. Did any other of the 38 do any better?
20. That brings us to end of chapter 7 which claims 5561 BCE as the year of war. Have all the references and EE experiments passed scrutiny? Not entirely in some cases according to me. Readers can decide. As I have stated earlier I am not proposing any alternative year as a candidate. I do not have resources to verify any other year. I would only say that none of the references examined by Shri Oak in this chapter have unequivocally disqualified the proposed year. Some other years however may also pass the tests.
I will take up next chapter from next post.
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