Recently I visited Srisailam, a very sacred place of Lord Shiva and which is one of Dwadasa Jyothirlingams. The legend is that Lord Rama installed one of the Lingams here while returning from Lanka. One can also see five Shiva Lingas installed by Panadavas at Srisailam. So when did it happen? If you go by Hindu scriptures alone, the dates are very ancient. What if they are supported by some scientific proof?
My dream machines is this, “Dating Gun”: Just like temperature gun showing temperature, speed gun showing speed of the object focused, the Dating Gun shall give the age of the stone, not the absolute age when the stone was formed but the date when it was sculptured into the form. This would give the age of Lord Rama, Pandavas and every other king. The mystery about Indian history would be over.
Right now conventional Carbon dating and AMS radiocarbon dating are some of the techniques used by scientists to determine the age of any Carbonaceous material. Anything that was once living can be dated with carbon dating such as wood, seeds, and bone. Thermo luminescence, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ..etc are used for dating Rock. Presence of Isotopes of stable helium-3, Argon is used for studying ancient rock surfaces. However, these techniques require very expensive instrumentation.
Indian history is still shrouded in mystery. For example, most of the Indian scholars use astronomical data available in Mahabharata text to date the great Mahabharata war around 3100 BCE where as some western scholars date it around 1000 BC. Recent excavations at Dwarka, Krishna’s capital unearthed a few wooden pieces belonging to 7000 BCE but that was not a solid proof of existence of any civilization, as per archeologists. Starting Max Muller, many western scholars tried to predict the Indian historical dates in lieu with what was said in Bible. As per Bible, Earth was created around 4004 BCE and so all events shall be after this. Second, they had invented, now debunk, Aryan Invasion theory. Now more and more scholars believe that this theory came out more because of racist thinking than any thing substantial. So my fancy dream machine will be very useful in this situation.
Now let us see what world religions have to say about the age of Earth, as they boast their knowledge about God and creation. Yes, as per Bible, Earth is about 6000 years old. However, latest scientific findings indicate the Earth is as old as 4.6 Billion years. Bible mentioned Earth was flat where as it is Globe. Is modern science wrong or Bible is wrong? Only one of them can be right. I was surprised to see many Christian websites still proclaiming that the Earth is only young and finding fault with Carbon dating technology. Good. I was also amused to see an interesting logic at “The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA)- A fellowship of Christians in science”. I quote the following from their website:
Most conservative groups within Christianity still follow the estimate of Dr. John Lightfoot, a 17th century Anglican clergyman. He estimated that creation occurred during 4004 BCE. Bishop James Ussher in the 17th century made the same estimate a decade later, and got almost all the credit.
A claim that "if the Bible is true, the earth is young" is logically equivalent to saying "if the earth is not young, the Bible is not true." What happens when a person who thinks "the Bible requires a young earth" examines the scientific evidence and concludes "the universe and the earth are old"? Another conclusion may be that "if the Bible is wrong about the earth's age, maybe it's also wrong about other things it teaches," so the spiritual authority of the Bible is weakened, and faith is weakened or abandoned. Or a non-Christian who is an earnest seeker of spiritual truth — and who is persuaded by young-earth advocates that a young earth and Jesus are a "package deal" that includes both or neither — may reject the combination due to a conviction, based on their knowledge of science, that the earth is not young.
Now it is a fact that earth is certainly not young. God bless them.
Ancient Jewish scholars placed creation at 3761 BCE. This became the basis of the Jewish Calendar. Let us see what Islam says - no nothing. It doesn’t say any thing on this. “Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent.”- Napoleon Hill
What Hindus say about Earth’s age. According to the Hindu scriptures, age of earth is 4.32 billion years vs modern science values of 4.6 billion years, astonishingly close. The scriptures say, Sun, too, revolves around the centre of our galaxy once in 325.5 million years. Modern science pegs this in the range of 225 to 270 million years. So Hindus estimate of this universe is very close to modern science or is it the other way round, considering these were stated several thousand years ago.
All these revelations in ancient Hindu scriptures started amazing the modern world. Let me quote from wikipedia..
Count Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) was a Belgian writer of poetry, a wide variety of essays. He won the 1911 Nobel Prize for literature. In his book Mountain Paths, says:
"he falls back upon the earliest and greatest of Revelations, those of the Sacred Books of India with a Cosmogony which no European conception has ever surpassed."
Dick Teresi, author and coauthor of several books about science and technology, including "The God Particle"
"Indian cosmologists, the first to estimate the age of the earth at more than 4 billion years. They came closest to modern ideas of atomism, quantum physics, and other current theories. India developed very early, enduring atomist theories of matter. Possibly Greek atomistic thought was influenced by India, via the Persian civilization."
According to Guy Sorman, visiting scholar at Hoover Institution at Stanford and the leader of new liberalism in France:
"Temporal notions in Europe were overturned by an India rooted in eternity. The Bible had been the yardstick for measuring time, but the infinitely vast time cycles of India suggested that the world was much older than anything the Bible spoke of. It seems as if the Indian mind was better prepared for the chronological mutations of Darwinian evolution and astrophysics."
Hope one day my dream machine would be real and reveal the real history of India.