YOJANA

(Suryasiddhānta and the Great Pyramid)

by Petko Nikolic Vidusa

The oldest Sanskrit astronomical texts to survive were written around 600 A.D.
One of the most notable of these text is the Suryasiddhānta survives in a much
revised version. In 1858 Ebenezer Burgess published an annotated English
translation of this text, available now as Surya-Siddhanta, a text-book of Hindu
astronomy.*

Surya (Sanskrit) the Sun, its regent or informing divinity; in the Vedas, Surya is
the Sun-God. Surya presiding over the space of the solar system.

The Mount Meru may actually refer to the "center of the world”. In Indian
mythology Meru is a sacred mountain which is usually identified as the golden
mountain, the great central mountain of the world and the naval of the earth.

Verse 1.59 of the Suryasiddhānta gives the diameter of the Earth as 1600
yojanas. A yojana is a Vedic measure of distance used in ancient India The exact
measurement is disputed amongst scholars with distances being given between 6 to
15 km (4 and 9 miles). According to the Suryasiddhānta, the diameter of the Earth
is 1600 yojanas.

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 *Ebenezer Burgess, Surya-Siddhanta: A Text Book of Hindu Astronomy,
Kessinger Publishing Company, 1998.

Figure 1. Earth globe. Verse 1.59 of the Suryasiddhānta gives the diameter of the
Earth as 1600 yojanas.

Figure 2. Geometry of the Great Pyramid

Height of the Great Pyramid = 147.6505019 m

Circumference od the Circle A = 147.6505019 m²

d = 46.99865415 m

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Area of the Circle A = 1734.843719 m² = Area of the Square B

C = 41.65145518 m

Width of the Pyramid’s King Chamber = 206.0658189 inches = 10 Royal cubits =

= 523.40718 cm = 5.2340718 m

C = 41.65145518 m

41.65145518 : 5.2340718 = 7.957753881

Verse 1.59 of the Suryasiddhānta gives the diameter of the Earth as 1600 yojanas:

1600 · 7.957753881 = 12,732.40621 = in kilometers it’s the average diameter of

the Earth.

12,732.40621 · 3.14159 = 40,000 = in kilometers it’s the average circumference of

the Earth.

40,000 : 7.957753881 = 5026.543997 yojanas

Conclusion: yojana = 7.957753881 km = 4.944719017 miles

Figure 2. Geometry of the yojana

1 yojana = 7.957753881 (km) = C

Area of the Square B = 63.32584683 = Area of the Circle A

d = 8.979367488

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Circumference of the Circle A = 28.20949111 (Figure 2)

28.20949111 · 3.14159 = 88.62265518 = C (Figure 3)

Figure 3. Geometry’s source of the yojana

C = 88.62265518

Area of the Square B = 7853.975011(km² ) = 2500Pi = Area of the Circle A

d = 100

Circumference of the Square A = 314.159 = 100Pi

In Indian mythology Meru is a sacred mountain which is usually identified as

the golden mountain, the great central mountain of the world and the naval of the
Earth.

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 Figure 4. The Great Pyramid is the central point of the Earth’s land mass

Suryasiddhānta mentions that Mt Meru lies in the middle of the Earth

("bhoogola-madhya") in the land of the Jamboonada. E. Burgess translates
"bhoogola-madhya" as "the centre of the earth-globe" and not as 'bhoo-madhya'
which is used for equator in Sanskrit and Hindi texts.

Suryasidhhānta explicitly mention that Mt Meru lies at the middle of the Earth
("bhoogola-madhya"), in the land of Jamboonada in Jamboodveepa (one of the
continents on the Earth): the Great Pyramid lies in the middle of the Earth and the
Great Pyramid is the Mt Meru from the Suryasidhhānta.

Figure 5. The center of the “moonstone” at the entrance of the Abhayagiri

monastery, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka (left) and Seal or Boss on the Granite Leaf,
which is located inside of the Antechamber of the Great Pyramid (right): sign for
the Earth.

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