Speed of light was calculated in Rigveda of Ancient India

Speed of light was calculated by Sayana in 14th century A.D. before Maxwell (19th century).

Sayana who was a minister in the court of Bukka of Great Vijayanagara Empire of Karnataka in South India.(in early 14th century)

In the fourth verse of the Rigvedic hymn 1: 50 
( 50th hymn in the book 1 of Rigveda).

Which means "Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Surya(Sun) , maker of light ,illuming all the radiant realm "
commenting on this verse Sayana says ,

which means " It is remembered here that Sun(Light) traverses 2,202 Yojanas in Half a Nimisha "
Here Nimisharda = half of a Nimisha (0.5 nimisha =0.1056 seconds)

In Vedas Yojana is the Unit of distance ( which is equal to 9.09 miles ) and nimisha is the unit of time(which is equal to 0.2112 seconds ).
Unit of Time : Nimisha
(as in the Moksha Dharma Parva of shanti Parva in Mahabharatha)

15 Nimisha = 1 Kashta

30 Kashta   =  1 Kala

30.3 Kala   =   1 Muhurta 

30 Muhurta =  1 Diva-Ratri (Day-Night) 

We know that , 1 day-night = 24 hours 

So, 24 hours = 30muhurta X 30.3 kala X 30 kashta X 15 minutes = 409050 Nimisha

also, 24 hours = 24 X 3600 = 86400 seconds 

i.e, 409050 Nimisha = 86400 seconds 

Therefore, 1 Nimisha = (86400 / 409050) = 0.2112 seconds.

( which is a recursive decimal, wink of an eye= 0.2112 seconds!)

Unit of Distance : Yojana 

(which is defined in Chapter 6 of Book of ancient Vedic Text " Vishnu Purana ").

1 Yojana = 9.09 miles .

Calculations :

"2,202 Yojanas in half a Nimisha"

i.e, 2202 X 9.09 miles per 0.1056 seconds 

= 20016.18mles per 0.1056 seconds 

=189547.1571 miles per second.

The Speed of light calculation in Surya Siddhanta is very close to our modern calculations (186000miles per second ) with an accuracy of 98.12% .


                                                      -PVGANIGA


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