Dear friends, Jai Shri Ram!

There have been quite a few years right from about 900 BCE to 4000 BCE contending for being "recognized" as the year of the Mahabharata war. 3139 BCE also has been chosen as a very serious contender for the same "honour" by some scholars. In this part of the article, we shall see, on the basis of mention of eclipses etc. in the Mahabharata, as to whether the "mother of all battles" could have happened in that year. The first and foremost thing we have to bear in mind is that eclipses take place every year without fail. They can range from two to seven in one year. Thus on an average, there can be at least three eclipses every year. But then we do not have a Mahabharata war every year. Thus to qualify for either predicting or even indicating the "mother of all battles", such eclipses must have had something very spectacular about them like "causing darkness during mid-day" or "taking place on such tithis as were neither Full Moons (for lunar eclipses) nor New Moons (for solar eclipses)". Such eclipses could really qualify for being considered as "aparvani". Then again, there must have been at least three eclipses one after the other in a sequential manner, all of which must have been "visible to the naked eye" so as to instill a sense of fear and premonition in the mind of the viewers. Let us now see what the Mahabharata has to say about such phenomena. The Mahabharata Bhishma-Parva/3.28 to 33, Gita Press edition, (attachment 13day-eclipse) has said Chandraadityavubhav grastaav ekahnaa hi trayodasheem hi aparvani graham yaatav prajaa samkshayam ichhataah!(28) The meaning is very clear: "The moon and the sun have both been 'devoured' (by Rahu) on one and the same day which is trayodashi. As such, being eclipsed untimely, both these planets will destroy the masses". It could mean that initially a lunar eclipse took place on a (Shukla) trayodashi instead of Purnima and then a solar eclipse on the next (Krishna) trayodashi instead of Amavasya. It says further chaturdashim panchadashim bhutapurvaam cha shodasheem imaam tu naabhijaneham amaavasyaam trayodasheem (32) "I have heard/seen Amavasya on fourteenth, fifteenth or sixteenth (tithi) but I have never heard/seen Amavasya falling on trayodashi"

Since in the previous verse it has been said that there were eclipses of the moon and the sun on trayodashi, it means that there was a solar eclipse on an Amavasya which had taken place within 13 days from the previous Purnima/Eclipse. chandrasuryavubhav grastaavekamaaseem trayodashim aparvani grahenetav praja smkhapayishtatah (32-33) "Both the sun and the moon have been eclipsed in one month on trayodashi. Since these eclipses are taking place in an inappropriate time, it indicates destruction of masses" There is no doubt that these verses talk of solar eclipse within thirteen days of the previous Purnimaanta which itself was a lunar eclipsechandra-suryaaav-ubhav grastau--- and then a lunar eclipse again on trayodashi after that solar eclipse". As such, there were supposed to be three eclipses one after the other, and within thirteen days of one another. Let us see how far these criteria fit in the year 3139 BCE. Before proceeding any further, we must note that NASA eclipse experts like Fred Espenak and Rpbert Candey etc. are very categorical (attachment Penumbral Magnitude!) when they say, "It should be noted that penumbral eclipses are subtle events. In fact, they cannot be detected visually - with or without optical aid unless the eclipse magnitude is greater than 0.6." (If anybody has any doubts regarding the veracity of these statements from NASA, he/she should seek clarifications directly from NASA experts and not ask others to do so for him/her)! Keeping this preliminary pre-condition in mind, let us proceed further: As per the attachment 3139BC-eclipses, the lunar eclipse of August 17, 3139 BCE was penumbral with a magnitude of .23, Thus it was at all not visible in any part of not only India but the whole world! Similarly, the lunar eclipse of September 16, 3139 BCE had a magnitude of .23, which means that that eclipse also could not be visible in any part of the world! Added to it, this lunar eclipse of September 16, 3139 BCE took place in broad-day light at 13-34 hours LMT at Kurukshetra. Thus even if it had a magnitude of more than .6, it would still not be visible in Kurukshetra---nay in any part of Bharatavarsha since lunar eclipses are visible only during night---after sunset! As such, if someone claims that Vedavyasa had been to Badrinath, located at the height of 12000 ft. above the sea level, to see that invisible eclipse "during broad-day light" he/she is only making a fool of himself/herself and those statements cannot be taken seriously by any scholar.

Even if we presume the solar eclipse of September 1, 3139 BCE to have been visible in India, nay even in Kurukshetra, that does not fulfill any of the requirements as laid down above, because: 1. A partial solar eclipse can take place almost every year but then there is not a Mahabharata war every year! That solar eclipse must be spectacular (total!?) if not a perfect total at least an annular one, and must be accompanied by other lunar eclipses that are visible and also within 13 days of one another! 2. The JD of the lunar eclipse of August 17 was 575132.07 whereas the JD of the solar eclipse of September 1 was 575147.44. Thus the difference in the two events was 15.37 days and not thirteen days! 3. Similarly, the JD of the lunar eclipse of September 16, 3139 BC was 575161.76, which means it was 14.32 days from the previous solar eclipse and not 13 days, or even less than 14 days, as claimed in the Mahabharata! 4. The attachment 13 day paksha proves it conclusively that there was no Amavasya on Trayodashi in 3139 BCE but it was actually a Purnima following an Amavasya and that too in the normal course of more than 14 days---almost all the fifteen tithis ending after sunrise, except for Pratipatada! Thus even if, for the sake of argument, we consider that the Veda-Vyasa had meant Purnima instead of Amavasya within thirteen days from the previous Amavasya, even then there is absolutely no possibility of the Mahabharata war having taken place in 3139 BCE on the basis of astronomical phenomena like eclipses! To confirm the same point further, let us check other similar references in the Mahabharata. The Mausalaparva 3.19 has said Chaturdashi Panchadashi kriteyam rahuna punah prapte vai Bharate yuddhe praptashchadya kshyam nah "Rahu has transformed Chaturdashi again into an Amavasya (or was it Purnima?), exactly as it had done during the Mahabharata war. It again indicates a final destruction of all of us". Almost all the scholars are of a uniform view that what the Mahabharata epic wants to tell us is that exactly after 36 years of the Mahabharata war, three eclipses had taken place during one month, with two eclipses having occurred within thirteen days of one another, as had happened during the Mahabharata. 36 years after 3139 BCE means 3103 BCE. This year is also very significant for "Vedic astrologers" since they claim that Kaliyuga started in 3102 BCE because Bhagwaan Krishna had ascended to His divine abode then after 36 years of the War. Thus the final decimation of Yadukula must have taken place in 3103 BCE according to those

scholars and they are sure that the above reference of the Mbh is talking about such phenomena. The attachment 3103 BCE tells us that there was definitely a lunar eclipse on September 8, 3103 BCE but it was again a penumbral lunar eclipse with a magnitude of .18 and further again during "broad-daylight" at about 1 pm LMT! Which means that even if "Vishaala-budhih" Vedavyasa had been to Badrinath for visualizing that eclipse as well, he would certainly have been disappointed! This eclipse was definitely followed by a solar eclipse on September 22, 3103 BCE, but then that too was not visible in India, if for no other reason than the simple one that the New Moon (Amaanta) took place at the dead of the night i.e. 0 hrs 37 mts. LMT of Kurukshetra on September 23, 3103 BCE. The JD of the Full Moon of September 8, 3103 BCE was 588302.7059 whereas for the NM of September 23, it was 588318.2055. So the two phenomena were away from one another by 15.446 days, which is by no standards less than 14 days! There was also a lunar eclipse on October 7, 3103 BCE, but it had a magnitude of .27 and was taking place at 5-48 AM LMT, almost with the sunrise, thus making it impossible to visualize it. Last but not the least, as per the epic, we find another solar eclipse to have taken place at the time of death of Duryodhana (Gadaaparva 27/2), who died almost after a month or so after the war. "raahushchaagrasadaadityam aparvani vishaampate" "O mighty king, Rahu has devoured the sun (yet again) during an inappropriate time". If either at the time of the war or immediately before the same, there had been a solar eclipse, it means that there was yet another solar eclipse after a month of so of that one! We know that astronomically it is almost impossible for another solar eclipse to have taken place within a month or so of the earlier one, but let us see whether such a freak even had taken place in 3139 BCE! No! We do not find any solar eclipse after the one on September 1, 3139 BCE, nor any lunar eclipse after the one on September 16, 3139 BCE during the remaining four months of that year! Then again, the JD of the FM on October 7 was 588332.4288. Thus it was away by 14.22 days---and not just thirteen days----from the previous Amaavasya! In view of the above, whichever way we look at it, it is impossible that the Mahabharata war could have taken place

during 3139 BCE on the basis of astronomical phenomena like "spectacular" eclipses etc. following one another within less than 14 days. As to whether the Mahabharata war could have taken place in that year on the basis of planetary movement (jargon?) vis-a-vis various nakshatras etc., will be dealt with in Part-II of this article. Jai Shri Ram!
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