Can a Sanskrit manuscript older than 1300 BC rewrite the history of Indian astronomy? Prof. R.N. Iyengar says yes — and he has the evidence.
In this landmark endowment lecture for Sangam Talks, the former IISc professor presents his critical edition of Mahasalilam — a pre-Paninian Sanskrit text by Vriddha Garga that he identifies as the true Vedanga Jyotisha, the foundational astronomical scripture of Vedic civilization. After a 20-year mission to collect 25 manuscripts from Paris, Cambridge, Kolkata, Varanasi, Nepal, and Bangalore, Prof. Iyengar used computerized archaeo-astronomical analysis — tracking the precession of equinoxes and the position of the Sun in Nakshatras — to date its layers to between 1300 BC and 500 BC, making it older than Lagada’s Vedanga Jyotisha.
What makes Mahasalilam extraordinary is what it does not contain: no Greek Rashis, no Hora, no Vara — only a purely indigenous, Nakshatra-based observational astronomy. The text addresses a hundred cosmological questions posed by Maharshi Vishwamitra to Vriddha Garga — on the structure of Prithvi, the distance of the Sun and Moon, the nature of comets, and why Rahu (not Ketu, which was only a comet until the 13th century CE) caused both solar and lunar eclipses. The cosmogony embedded in the text — describing a primordial dark fluid, a cosmic egg dividing to form Prithvi and Dyahu, and the sequential emergence of the proto-Sun and proto-Jupiter — finds direct parallels in the Rigveda’s Nasadiya Sukta and Manusmriti.
About the Speaker:
Professor R. N. Iyengar (B.E., M.Sc(Eng), Ph.D.) is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor and Director of the Centre for Ancient History and Culture (CAHC) at Jain University, Bangalore, where he has been leading research in Indian Knowledge Systems and the History of Science in India since 2012. An eminent civil engineer and former KSIDC Chair Professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), he is internationally recognized for his contributions to Earthquake Engineering, Structural Dynamics, Nonlinear Systems, and Random Vibrations. He has published over 200 scholarly works and held prestigious positions. Prof. Iyengar brings a rare blend of traditional Sanskrit learning and modern scientific inquiry. His pioneering work decoding ancient Indian scientific texts—on astronomy, comets, eclipses, earthquakes, and classical music—has earned global recognition.
