Speed of light calculated according to Hindu scriptures.

1. MODERN PHYSICS, VEDIC SCIENCE AND HINDUISM
WHEN I READ THE BHAGAVAD-GITA AND REFLECT ABOUT HOW GOD
CREATED THIS UNIVERSE EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMS SO SUPERFLUOUS.“
-ALBERT EINSTEIN

3. SPEED OF LIGHT
• The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted c, is a universal physical constant
important in many areas of physics. Its exact value is 299,792,458 metres per
second (approximately 300,000 km/s (186,000 mi/s). It is exact because by
international agreement a metre is defined to be the length of the path travelled by
light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 second. According to special
relativity, c is the maximum speed at which all conventional matter and hence all
known forms of information in the universe can travel. Though this speed is most
commonly associated with light, it is in fact the speed at which all massless particles
and changes of the associated fields travel in vacuum (including electromagnetic
radiation and gravitational waves). Such particles and waves travel at c regardless of
the motion of the source or the inertial reference frame of the observer. In the
special and general theories of relativity, c interrelates space and time, and also
appears in the famous equation of mass–energy equivalence E = mc².

5. RIGVEDA: THE MOST ANCIENT VEDA OF THE
HINDUS
• 'Rigveda' is an ancient Indian religious book. It is counted as
one of the four sacred Hindu writings, which are called Vedas.
It is the world's oldest religious writings. It is also one of the
oldest writings in Sanskrit language.Rigveda is very important
to Hindus, especially Hindus in India and Nepal. It words are
said during prayers and religious gatherings.It is dated up to
4000 years ago but on the basis of astronomical calculations it
is dated back to 8000 years and some calculations date back it
to 10,000 years.

6. SPEED OF LIGHT IN RIGVEDA
• One verse from rigveda explicitly defines the speed of light.
• “Yojananam Dwe Dwe Shate Dwe Cha Yojane Aken
Nimishardhena Krammana Namostute” (Rig-veda book I, chapter
50, hymn 4)
• "O Sun, bow to you, you who traverse 2202 Yojanas in half a
nimisha."
• Dwe means “two”, shate means “Hundred”, Nimishardhena
means Half Nimisha. So the above verse in English translates
as “Sun light travels 2202 Yojanas in half Nimisha.”

8. MEASUREMENT OF NIMISHA IN SI UNITS
• Nimisha in Sanskrit means winking the eye or something that
happens within the blink of an eye. Nimishardhena means half
of nimesa. According to science, our eyes can blink five times
in one second. So, as per modern science, Nimishardhena is 0.1
seconds.

9. • Nimisha is described in shanti parva of Mahabharata (World longest
epic poem) as:
• 1 Diva-Ratri(Day & Night)=30 Muhurtas (1 hr= 1.25 Muhurtas)
• 1 Muhurta=30.3 Kala (1 hr= 1.25 *30.3= 37.87 Kala)
• 1 Kala =30 Kashta (1 hr= 37.87 *30= 1136.25 Kashta)
• 1 Kastha=15 Nimisha (1 hr= 1136.25 *15= 17043.75 Nimisha)
• Now that 1 hr is equal to 17043.75 Nimisha, 1 nimisha is equal to
60*60/17043.75= 0.2112 seconds. Hence, 1/2 Nimisha = 0.1056
seconds (Remarkably closer to scientific derived value of 0.1
seconds).
• Now that 1 hr is equal to 17043.75 Nimisha, 1 nimisha is equal to
60*60/17043.75= 0.2112 seconds. Hence, 1/2 Nimisha = 0.1056
seconds (Remarkably closer to scientific derived value of 0.1
seconds).

10. MEASUREMENT OF YOJANA IN SI UNITS
• Yojana is described
in detail in ancient
vedic text Vishnu
purana (Book 1,
Chapter 6).

11. • 10 Paramáńus = 1 Parasúkshma
• 10 Parasúkshmas = 1 Trasareńu
• 10 Trasareńus = 1 Mahírajas (particle of dust)
• 10 Mahírajasas = 1 B ál ágra (hair’s point)
• 10 Bál ágras = 1 Likhyá
• 10 Likhy ás= 1 Y úka
• 1o Y úkas = 1 Yavodara (heart of barley)
• 10 Yavodaras = 1 Yava (barley grain of middle size)
• 10 Yava = 1 Angula (finger, or inch)
• 6 fingers = 1 Pada (the breadth of it)
• 2 Padas = 1 Vitasti (span)
• 2 Vitasti = 1 Hasta (cubit)
• 1 Yojana= 4 Gavyutis(distance till the cow ‘’MOOOOW” is heard)=4*12000
feet=4*3.6576=14.46 km~9 miles
• 1 Yojana =8000 Dhanus or Purushu(man’s height)= 8000* 6 feet=14.63 km≈9.091
miles

12. CALCULATION OF SPEED OF LIGHT
• Now that we have the value of yojana and nimisha, we can calculate the
speed of light in modern SI unit as
• = 2202 x 14.63 km/ 0.1056 seconds
• = 305068.75 km/s (1.76% error)
• Modern accepted value of speed of light in miles per second is
299792.458 kilometres/second, very close to the above derived value.
• Considering the above yojana measurements as true and the calculation
of nimisha mentioned in Kautilya’s Arthashastra to be true, we can
derive the speed of light between 297270 and 307179 km/sec, a good
range to modern accepted sped of light (299792 km/sec).
• Error ranges from 0.84% to 2.46% due to lack of information regarding
vedic units and their conversion to SI units

13. REMARKABLE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

14. MEASUREMENTS OF C BY OTHER METHODS
• Ole Rømer first demonstrated in 1676 that light travels at a finite
speed (as opposed to instantaneously) by studying the apparent
motion of Jupiter's moon Io.Ole Christensen Rømer used an
astronomical measurement to make the first quantitative estimate of
the speed of light.
• Nowadays, using oscilloscopes with time resolutions of less than one
nanosecond, the speed of light can be directly measured by timing
the delay of a light pulse from a laser or an LED reflected from a
mirror. This method is less precise (with errors of the order of 1%)
than other modern techniques, but it is sometimes used as a
laboratory experiment in college physics classes.

15. • Interferometry is another method to find the wavelength of
electromagnetic radiation for determining the speed of light. A
coherent beam of light (e.g. from a laser), with a known
frequency (f), is split to follow two paths and then recombined.
By adjusting the path length while observing the interference
pattern and carefully measuring the change in path length, the
wavelength of the light (λ) can be determined. The speed of
light is then calculated using the equation c = λf. Before the
advent of laser technology, coherent radio sources were used
for interferometry measurements of the speed of light.

16. DEFINING THE SPEED OF LIGHT AS AN
EXPLICIT CONSTANT
• In 1983 the 17th CGPM found that wavelengths from frequency
measurements and a given value for the speed of light are more
reproducible than the previous standard. They kept the 1967
definition of second, so the caesium hyperfine frequency would
now determine both the second and the metre. To do this, they
redefined the metre as: "The metre is the length of the path
travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of
1/299792458 of a second." As a result of this definition, the value
of the speed of light in vacuum is exactly 299792458 m/s and has
become a defined constant in the SI system of units.

18. DISCLAIMER
Following contents are the general interpretation of
the Hindu Scriptures given by hindu sages, sankskit
linguists and physicists. If you have any
dissatisfaction regarding these interpretations then,
stay dissatisfied.
"Kyun ki Humko Kuch Farak Nahi Padta."

19. VEDIC SCIENCE
• Vedic science is the term used in modern attempts to
systematize ancient scientific thought to be found in early
Indian scriptures, especially the Vedas.
• Vedic science may refer to a number of disciplines: ancient and
modern, scientific, metaphysical, proto-scientific, found in or
based in the Vedas.
• There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda
and the Atharvaveda.

21. ASTRONOMICAL UNIT
• The astronomical unit (symbol: au, ua, or AU) is a unit of length,
roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun. However, that distance
varies as Earth orbits the Sun, from a maximum (aphelion) to a
minimum (perihelion) and back again once a year.
•जुग सहस्र जोजन पर भानू। लील्यो ताहह मधुर फल जानू॥ १८
॥
• The Surya, sun situated {1 Yug = 12,000 years, 1 Sahastra =
1000, 1 Yojan = 8 Miles, (Yug x Sahastra x Yojan) =
12,000x1,000x8 miles = 96,000,000 miles (1 mile = 1.6 km)
96,000,000 miles = 96,000,000x1.6 km = 153,600,000 km}
153,600,000 km from the earth, was swallowed by you after you
assumed him to be a sweet fruit.

23. TANDAVA : COSMIC DANCE
• "According to quantum field theory, the dance of creation and
destruction is the basis of the very existence of matter. Modern
physics has thus revealed that every subatomic particle not only
performs an energy dance, but also is an energy dance; a
pulsating process of creation and destruction. For the modern
physicists then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter,
the basis of all existence and of all natural phenomena.”

25. • The statue captures Shiva performing the Tandava, a
dance believed to be the source of the cycle of
creation, preservation and destruction.The dance
exists in five forms which shows the cosmic cycle from
creation to destruction:
• 'Srishti' - creation, evolution
• 'Sthiti' - preservation, support
• 'Samhara' - destruction, evolution
• 'Tirobhava' - illusion
• 'Anugraha' - release, emancipation, grace

26. CONCEPT OF RELATIVITY
• The fact is further reinforced in the in Canto 9 of Srimad
Bhagwatam , where the story of Revati (wife of Lord Balrama) is
covered. It is stated that Kakudumi, Revati’s father, once visited
the Satyaloka along with his daughter to meet Lord Brahma. At
that time, Lord Brahma was engaged in listening a consort.
Hence, Kakudumi and Revati had to wait for few minutes. Later,
when Lord Brahma became free, he informed Kakudumi and
Revati that during this half an hour in Satyaloka, 27 cycles of
the four Yugas have elapsed.

29. LOKAS AND PARALLEL UNIVERSE THEORY
• The concept of multiverses is mentioned many times in Hindu
Puranic literature, such as in the Bhagavata Purana:
• Every universe is covered by seven layers — earth, water, fire,
air, sky, the total energy and false ego — each ten times
greater than the previous one. There are innumerable universes
besides this one, and although they are unlimitedly large, they
move about like atoms in You. Therefore You are called
unlimited (Bhagavata Purana 6.16.37)