The Origin of Human Past (Children of Immortal Bliss)

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Dr. V. Lakshmikantham is an internationally well-known professor of mathematics at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, USA. He is recognized as an authority, as well as the founder and developer of many research areas, of the broad scientific field of nonlinear analysis. He is responsible, as researcher, for initiating, publicizing and popularizing several areas of nonlinear analysis as is evidenced by his numerous books.

As a scientific citizen, Lakshmikantham is virtually unsurpassed with an exceptional vision of the future. He founded the Journal of Nonlinear Analysis in 1976, established the International Federation of Nonlinear Analysis (IFNA) in 1991 and organized the first world Congress of Nonlinear Analysis (WCNA) in 1992 held in Tampa, Florida. The aim of the journal, the federation, and the congress is to have a forum on a global basis to forge unity in diversity, and for bringing more cooperation and collaboration into the world community at large. Lakshmikantham is totally responsible for keeping the society, IFNA viable and vital to nonlinear analysts around the world and almost single handedly organizing the World Congress of Nonlinear Analysts every four years.

He is the editor of five mathematical journals and he serves as a member on several editorial boards for various international journals. He has authored 30 research monographs and has published over 350 research papers in mathematics in the general area of nonlinear analysis.

With all his research activity, teaching obligations, and administrative demands, he still found time to conduct research in the origin of the human past and write this monograph. This subject has been a major interest and passion to which he has devoted many years of careful research and study.

At this historic moment, when the people of Bharat are, after 1000 years of subordination and defeat, rediscovering their identity and searching for the lost self-respect, this book presents the needed impetus to realize that they are the children of Immortal Bliss with a glorious heritage!

As students in school, we were all exposed, through textbooks and standard literature on world history, religion and the origin of human past, to several ideas and theories that were accepted as proven facts. Before we entered the realm of formal education, however, some of us knew the contents of the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana. That knowledge had given us a different picture, diametrically opposite to what we learned through formal education. This naturally created a conflict in our minds.

About 25 years ago, we visited a friend in London who had collected a library of old books in English literature. The collection included a rare book entitled India in Greece published in 1852 in England. The author was a Greek named E. Pococke, who had rebuilt the “Temple of History” of Greece. He put forth the external evidence of an Indian colonization in Greece and proved that different groups who migrated from India to Greece were mainly responsible for forming that ancient society. The contents of the book made us resolve not to become a slave to accepted theories without reflecting and entertaining a spirit of inquiry abort the origin of human past .Thus propelled to research further, we soon realized that Western approaches to reality, namely, the compartmentalization of knowledge, do not coincide with the Vedic approach, which is all –embracing. Consequently, to get to the truth, it was necessary to comprehend in a unified way several disciplines such as astronomy, archaeology, anthropology, and ancient and modern history concerning civilizations, as well as Vedic literature. With that action plan, we collected several books old and new and went through them to discover the following. The scholars of the past two centuries have dismissed as myths the widespread traditions of very ancient civilizations. The standard books on world history present a Eurocentric and materialistic view of humanity.

We discovered at least three developments that have forced many into the habit of looking outside India for the origin of everything and accepting the idea that anything truly great in India was introduced by foreigners. First, Western scholarship was led from Greece to Sumeria in search of the root of Western civilization. But the perplexing fact is that the scholars have no inkling who the Sumerians were, where they came from, and how and when their civilization appeared. Second, for several complex reasons that can be attributed to political, religious, racial, linguistic and colonial interests, a theory of an Aryan invasion of India was postulated without any factual bases, And, third, the chronology of ancient Indian history was deliberately reduced by more then 1200 years by inventing the problem of the two Chandragupta. Maurya (1534-1500 B.C.) was erroneously identified as the contemporary of Alexander (356-323 B.C.) whereas it was actually the Chandragupta of the Gupta Dynasty (326-320 B.C.). This, in turn resulted in the placement of other important events and personalities to fit the framework of the reduced chronology.

Extensive searches brought to light the voluminous and high-quality research of Pundit Venkatachalam (1885-1959).His work, most of which a was published in the Telugu language, highlights the invented theories, exposes misinterpretations and misrepresentation from the authentic manuscripts, and provides evidence from Vedic scriptures and astronomical sources, We then became acquainted with K.D. Sethna’s research concerning the origin of Aryans and the problem of the two Chandraguptas. These works and independent research were extremely helpful in understanding the massive Vedic literature and the speculative theories of Western scholars and their Indian followers. Equipped with this compelling and impressive amount of information and a passion for analyses, we embarked on writing the present volume.

Quite recently, it was a delight to discover David Frawley’s scholarly contribution relative to the spiritual aspect of Vedic scriptures. Our enthusiasm doubled in continuing our work after we met him at his residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He made us aware of several other recent scholars, himself included, who have gathered evidence to dismiss the imposed theory of Aryan invasion. Their works prove that India has been a united nation of one people with a common culture and tradition. In fact, there is ample evidence to show that India has been a richly endowed country on which mother nature showered her plenty until the British rule emptied its riches and, in 1947, divided the country and left it as the poorest in the world. Moreover, the contributions of Vedic literature to philosophy, mathematics, logic, astronomy, medicine and other arts and sciences provide the foundation on which rests the common heritage of humanity.

Consider the story of Adam and Eve, which is a retelling of the ancient description in Vedic scriptures. The first man and woman (beings in physical form) are known as svayambhuva (self born) and his wife Satarupa (true image). Their children intermarried with nine Prajapathis (perfect beings who could assume corporal forms), and from these first divine families was born the entire humanity of the world.

It was Venkatachalam and Sethna who dealt with the problem of the two Chandraguptas and paved the way for the rectification of the chronology of India. The corrected chronology will expose several inconsistencies and contradictions that have crept into the history of the world today. The traditional chronology of India provides precise dates for prehistoric events and personalities with the supports of astronomical computations. For example, one knows precisely the birth data of Adi Sankara (the time, day, month, constellation and lunar year), which corresponds to 509 B.C. Adi Sankara was the greatest single force in the final overthrow of Buddhistic philosophy (known as Buddhism now) that had degenerated by that time. Similarly, one can prove that Buddha lived from 1887-1807 B.C.

Vedic scriptures have always been concerned with all of humanity and not just with the people of India or Hindus. They proclaim “Vasudhaika Kutumbam” meaning “all the world is one family” and “Sarvejananam Sukhinobhavantu” implying let all the people be happy and peaceful.” Vedic scriptures teach us that there is a changeless reality behind the ever-changing phenomenal world of perceptions, feelings and understanding. Moreover, some intellectuals are beginning to realize that Vedic rishis anticipated ideas and developed theories in many areas that have only recently begun to be explored.

It is in this spirit we see the importance of the monograph. Its aim is to present an account of the cultural and historical developments of the recent past, to describe the basis for the current state of affairs, to show the essential unity achieved once we accept the truth that Vedic knowledge belongs to all of humanity, and to provide a unified structure that exhibits the origins of human past so that we can realize that all of us are indeed the "Children of Immortal Bliss," by whatever name we call it.

Chapter 1 explains where we are and what we are planning to accomplish in this monograph. Chapter 2 incorporates the Western search for the origin of its civilization and the consequent invention of theories to proclaim its superiority. In Chapter 3, we discuss the origins of the theory of Aryan invasion and the reasons for its dismissal. Chapter 4 investigates the problem of two Chandraguptas and rectifies the error in the hronology. In Chapter 5, we describe Vedic literature, giving the details of all its branches.

Vedic concepts of time cycles, including the Yuga system, and other astronomical information form the content of Chapter 6. It also includes the computation of time starting from the present creation and several other ideas that are not usually available. We give in Chapter 7 a compact account of creation and dissolution as described in the Vedas.

We next enter the realm of history of humanity from the beginning of the present creation. We first concentrate, in Chapter 8, on the modern period starting from 3138 B.C., listing the dynasties that ruled the Magadha Kingdom. We switch, in Chapter 9, to summarize the geographical facts of our Brahmanda (the solar system and the surroundings), which are essential for describing the important landmarks relative to the remote ancient period. Then, in Chapter LO, we provide a brief introduction to the history of the remote ancient period.

Chapter 11 deals with the Aryan-Dravidian hypothesis, namely, that India is a land of two races, and shows that this invented theory is vacuous. Chapter 12 demonstrates the continuous process of Aryan diffusion in the world by providing the details of various ancient cultures from the existing records.

We dedicate Chapter 13 to talk about Vedic Dharma known as Sanatana Dharma (eternal or universal truth) and its main principles. Chapters 14 and 15 are devoted to Yoga and Yagna, which deal with practical applications of the principles of Sanatana Dharma. In Chapters 16 and 17, we give details of Vedangas and Upangas of Vedas.

Chapter 18 summarizes the philosophy of Vedic society, while Chapter 19 provides some details of astral worlds. The myth of East and West is discussed in Chapter 20. Finally, Chapter 21 traces the great traditions laid down by Vedic Dharma throughout the world that endured in Bharata Khanda (India) until the twelfth century. The chapter ends on a positive note that the next century will have a new awakening and humanity will be much more spiritual than it has been.

The notes and comments on each chapter contribute additional material for a better understanding of the background. Several appendices offer charts, diagrams and lists that are relevant in grasping what is described in the text concisely.

Before writing this manuscript, several friends helped me to procure the material from many sources text as well as helped in getting the manuscript published. They are Dr. G. Krishnamurthy, Dr. J. Vasundhara Devi, Dr. Roger Marshall, Dr. David Frawley, Mr. Kamal Malik, Mr. Varahalu Chetty and Mr. C. Prasad. Several friends read the manuscript at various stages and offered comments to improve the text. They are Dr. Ram Mohapatra, Dr. C. Sadasiva Rao, Dr. V. Suryanarayana Rao, Dr. L. Krishnamurthy, Dr. S. Leela, Dr. Kapil Kapoor and Dr. Eddie Escultura. My granddaughter Anu Mannar went through painstakingly and edited the manuscript. Mrs. Donn Miller-Kermani patiently typed the manuscripts, making changes several times from the comments offered by It was really a problem for Donn, since many Sanskrit words don't make any sense to her. I am indebted to all the persons who shared my enthusiasm and helped in different stages. I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of them.

It is strongly recommended to the reader to review the "Notes and Comments" section of each chapter for further useful information and suitable references.

History is an art which is concerned with accurate recording of actual facts. The events that occur in the world do not always happen according to a definite plan or on any clear principles. The specific task of a historian is therefore to record accurately and faithfully whatever is observed, read about and heard. The historian should not start with a predetermined theory or hypothesis and begin to interpret the events of the past to suit the assumed theory by interpolating and amending the texts of historical records to proclaim the conjectured version of the theory as the true history. Such a procedure is certainly unworthy of historians. Unfortunately, this is precisely what happened to the ancient Indian history. Let us examine this aspect closely.

From the late eighteenth century, the western scholarship on India was influenced by the prevalent European historical and philosophical methodologies as well as the colonial interests. The standard books on world history available today reflect the Euro-centric views of humanity. The civilization, philosophy and scientific investigations have their origin, in the opinion of the European historians, within the six or seven centuries preceding the Christian era, and mankind slowly emerged for the first time from the depths of animal brutality within the last four or five thousand years.

For every other country of the modem world except Bharat (India), the recorded history of people goes back only five to six centuries before Christ. The history of earlier times of other countries is not available due to several reasons, and thus the people of those countries are absolutely in the dark with regard to their past history. It is only in India, there is the traditional chronology which provides the precise dates for prehistoric events with the support of astronomical data. Moreover, there is massive literature in the form of Puranas and Itihasas that gives not only the political events but descriptions of the civilization and social life. This vast knowledge constitutes the true history of the people of India in the fullest sense of the term history. Nonetheless, the European pundits did not accept this literature as "valid history" and classified it as "myth." Furthermore, most of the Vedic literature including astronomical works were also branded as "incomprehensible nonsense." It is often assumed without any reason that every passage in the Vedas containing philosophical ideas must be looked upon as a subsequent interpolation and that every book treating a philosophical subject must be considered as having been written after the commencement of the Christian era. The reason for this unrestrained scholarly arrogance was the fact that India was ruled by the British as a colony.

Let us trace the history of this Eurocentric scholarship relative to Indian history. First, it was William [ones in 1774 A.D., who arbitrarily concluded that "the first ages of the Hindus were chiefly mythological and thus the historical age of India can not be carried further back to 2000 years before Christ." Several other pundits such as Wilson, Max Muller, Buhler and Cunningham followed Jones and in their writings, asserted without any evidence that "no date or public event can be fixed before Alexander, that is, 326 B.C"

Depending on the conclusions of Jones, Reverend Burgess in 1860 A.D. proclaimed in his translation of Surya Siddhanta as follows:

"The old belief, under the influence of which Bailley could form his strange theories, namely, the belief in the immense antiquity of the Indian people and its immemorial possession of a highly developed civilization; the belief that India was the cradle of language, mythology, arts, sciences, and religion, has long since been proved an error. It is now well known that the Hindu culture cannot pretend to a remote origin than 2000 B.C."

Burgess was referring to the French astronomer Bailley, who verified the claims of ancient Indian astronomers and wrote "the Hindu systems of astronomy are by far the oldest, and from them the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and even Jews derived their knowledge. The Indian tables give the same annual variation of the moon as that discovered by Tyco-Brahe, a variation unknown to the school of Alexandria, and also to the Arabs, who followed the calculations of this school."

Unfortunately for Burgess, nothing was proved as he claimed and therefore, he was totally in error.

Even stranger are the following absurd statements of Bently and Whitney. Bently, in his Hindu Astronomy, asserts that "the ancient astronomical literature of India is a mass of forgeries framed for the purpose of deceiving the world with respect to the antiquity of the Hindu people." Witness as well, Whitney's expressed opinion that "Hindus derived their astronomy and astrology from the Greeks and that what they did not borrow from the Greeks, they derived from other people, such as the Arabians, Chaldeans and Chinese." All the foregoing emotional haughty dismissals and refutations were accepted as proven facts and conclusions were drawn relative to ancient Indian history, chronology, and mathematics without any scholarly restraint.

There is a common notion among the Indian scholars that it is a sacrilege to question the chronology determined by the European Indologists concerning the history of India. These scholars forget that the early European Indologists themselves were conscious of the weakness of their theories and most of the dates they assigned were, in their opinion, tentative. The subsequent scholars, with superstitious loyalty to their predecessors, accepted the latter's theories as absolute truths.

Let us report some such statements of some scholars. Max Muller, in Gifford Lectures 1890, was careful enough to warn that his intervals of 200 years were purely arbitrary, that it was only the terminus adquem; that it was impossible to fix the earliest date; that whether the Vedic hymns were composed in 1000 or 1500 or 2000 or 3000 years B.C, no power on earth could ever fix. This extremely important caution, however, was ignored, as Winternez points out, by most writers; the vast majority took the suppositions of Max Muller as proven facts and held for example, that the date 1200 B.C. for Rig Veda was quite proved.