Dirghatamas (Sanskrit: दीर्घतमस्, romanized: Dīrghatamas) was an ancient
Indian sage well known for his philosophical verses in the Rigveda. He was
the author of Suktas (hymns) 140 to 164 in the first mandala (section) of
the Rigveda.
I Mahabharata (English) by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Section CIV Sambhava Parva {BHISHMA TO SATYAVATI TOLD}
STORY OF DIRGATAMAS
"Bhishma continued, 'In olden days, Rama, the son of Jamadagni, in anger at
the death of his father, slew with his battle axe the king of the Haihayas.
And Rama, by cutting off the thousand arms of Arjuna (the Haihaya king),
achieved a most difficult feat in the world. Not content with this, he set
out on his chariot for the conquest of the world, and taking up his bow he
cast around his mighty weapons to exterminate the Kshatriyas. And the
illustrious scion of Bhrigu’s race, by means of his swift arrows
annihilated the Kshatriya tribe one and twenty times.
"And when the earth was thus deprived of Kshatriyas by the great Rishi, the
Kshatriya ladies all over the land had offspring raised by Brahmanas
skilled in the Vedas. It has been said in the Vedas that the sons so raised
belongs to him that had married the mother. And the Kshatriya ladies went
in unto the Brahamanas not lustfully but from motives of virtue. Indeed, it
was thus that the Kshatriya race was revived.
"In this connection there is another old history that I will recite to you.
There was in olden days a wise Rishi of the name of Utathya. He had a wife
of the name Mamata whom he dearly loved. One day Utathya’s younger brother
Vrihaspati, the priest of the celestials, endued with great energy,
approached Mamata. The latter, however, told her husband’s younger
brother—that foremost of eloquent men—that she had conceived from her
connection with his elder brother and that, therefore, he should not then
seek for the consummation of his wishes.
She continued,
'O illustrious Vrihaspati, the child that I have conceived has studied in
his mother’s womb the Vedas with the six Angas, Semen tuum frustra perdi
non potest. How can then this womb of mine afford room for two children at
a time?
Therefore, it behoves you not to seek for the consummation of your desire
at such a time.'
Thus addressed by her, Vrihaspati, though possessed of great wisdom,
succeeded not in suppressing his desire.
Quum auten jam cum illa coiturus esset [?], the child in the womb then
addressed him and said,
'O father, cease from your attempt. There is no space here for two. O
illustrious one, the room is small. I have occupied it first. Semen tuum
perdi non potest. It behoves you not to afflict me.'
But Vrihaspati without listening to what that child in the womb said,
sought the embraces of Mamata possessing the most beautiful pair of eyes.
Ille tamen Muni qui in venture erat punctum temporis quo humor vitalis jam
emissum iret providens, viam per quam semen intrare posset pedibus
obstruxit. Semen ita exhisum, excidit et in terram projectumest. And the
illustrious Vrihaspati, beholding this, became indignant, and reproached
Utathya’s child and cursed him, saying,
'Because you have spoken to me in the way you have at a time of pleasure
that is sought after by all creatures, perpetual darkness shall overtake
you.'
And from this curse of the illustrious Vrishaspati Utathya’s child who was
equal unto Vrihaspati in energy, was born blind and came to be called
Dirghatamas (enveloped in perpetual darkness). And the wise Dirghatamas,
possessed of a knowledge of the Vedas, though born blind, succeeded yet by
virtue of his learning, in obtaining for a wife a young and handsome
Brahmana maiden of the name of Pradveshi. And having married her, the
illustrious Dirghatamas, for the expansion of Utathya’s race, begat upon
her several children with Gautama as their eldest. These children, however,
were all given to covetousness and folly.
The virtuous and illustrious Dirghatamas possessing complete mastery over
the Vedas, soon after learnt from Surabhi’s son the practices of their
order and fearlessly betook himself to those practices, regarding them with
reverence. (For shame is the creature of sin and can never be where there
is purity of intention).
Then those best of Munis that dwelt in the same asylum, beholding him
transgress the limits of propriety became indignant, seeing sin where sin
was not. And they said,
'O, this man, transgresses the limit of propriety. No longer does he
deserve a place amongst us. Therefore, shall we all cast this sinful wretch
off.'
And they said many other things regarding the Muni Dirghatamas. And his
wife, too, having obtained children, became indignant with him.
"The husband then addressing his wife Pradveshi, said,
'Why is it that you also hast been dissatisfied with me?'
His wife answered,
'The husband is called the Bhartri because he supports the wife. He is
called Pati because he protects her. But you are neither, to me!
O you of great ascetic merit, on the other hand, you have been blind from
birth, it is I who have supported you and your children. I shall not do so
in future.'
"Hearing these words of his wife, the Rishi became indignant and said unto
her and her children,
'Take me unto the Kshatriyas and you shalt then be rich.'
His wife replied (by saying),
'I desire not wealth that may be procured by you, for that can never bring
me happiness. O best of Brahmanas, do as you likest. I shall not be able to
maintain you as before.'
At these words of his wife, Dirghatamas said,
'I lay down from this day as a rule that every woman shall have to adhere
to one husband for her life. Be the husband dead or alive, it shall not be
lawful for a woman to have connection with another. And she who may have
such connection shall certainly be regarded as fallen.
A woman without husband shall always be liable to be sinful. And even if
she be wealthy she shall not be able to enjoy that wealth truly. Calumny
and evil report shall ever dog her.'
Hearing these words of her husband Pradveshi became very angry, and
commanded her sons, saying,
'Throw him into the waters of Ganga!'
And at the command of their mother, the wicked Gautama and his brothers,
those slaves of covetousness and folly, exclaiming,
'Indeed, why should we support this old man?'
– tied the Muni to a raft and committing him to the mercy of the stream
returned home without compunction. The blind old man drifting along the
stream on that raft, passed through the territories of many kings. One day
a king named Vali conversant with every duty went to the Ganges to perform
his ablutions. And as the monarch was thus engaged, the raft to which the
Rishi was tied, approached him.
And as it came, the king took the old man. The virtuous Vali, ever devoted
to truth, then learning who the man was that was thus saved by him, chose
him for raising up offspring. And Vali said,
'O illustrious one, it behoves you to raise upon my wife a few sons that
shall be virtuous and wise.'
Thus addressed, the Rishi endued with great energy, expressed his
willingness. Thereupon king Vali sent his wife Sudeshna unto him. But the
queen knowing that the latter was blind and old went not unto him, she sent
unto him her nurse. And upon that Sudra woman the virtuous Rishi of
passions under full control begat eleven children of whom Kakshivat was the
eldest.
And beholding those eleven sons with Kakshivat as the eldest, who had
studied all the Vedas and who like Rishis were utterers of Brahma and were
possessed of great power, king Vali one day asked the Rishi saying,
'Are these children mine?'
The Rishi replied,
'No, they are mine. Kakshivat and others have been begotten by me upon a
Sudra woman. Your unfortunate queen Sudeshna, seeing me blind and old,
insulted me by not coming herself but sending unto me, instead, her nurse.'
The king then pacified that best of Rishis and sent unto him his queen
Sudeshna. The Rishi by merely touching her person said to her,
You shalt have five children named Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma,
who shall be like unto Surya (Sun) himself in glory. And after their names
as many countries shall be known on earth.
It is after their names that their dominions have come to be called Anga,
Vanga, Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma.'
"It was thus that the line of Vali was perpetuated, in days of old, by a
great Rishi. And it was thus also that many mighty bowmen and great
car-warriors wedded to virtue, sprung in the Kshatriya race from the seed
of Brahmanas. Hearing this, O mother, do as you likest, as regards the
matter in hand.'"
II *Vedic Origins of the Zodiac: Hymns of Dīrghatamas in the Rig
Veda*
(one of a series of articles by David Frawley on Astrology in the Vedas)
*The Zodiac and Dīrghatamas*
Some scholars have claimed that the Babylonians invented the zodiac of 360
degrees around 700 BCE, perhaps even earlier. Many claim that India
received the knowledge of the zodiac from Babylonia or even later from
Greece. However, as old as the Rig Veda, the oldest Vedic text, there are
clear references to a chakra or wheel of 360 spokes placed in the sky. The
number 360 and its related numbers like 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 108, 432
and 720 occur commonly in Vedic symbolism. It is in the hymns of the great
Rishi Dīrghatamas (RV I.140 – 164) that we have the clearest such
references.----minimum 1200 BCE so Babylonia or India?
Dīrghatamas is one of the most famous Rig Vedic Rishis. He was the reputed
purohit or chief priest of King Bharata (Aitareya Brahmana VIII.23), one of
the earliest kings of the land, from which India as Bharata (the
traditional name of the country) was named.
Dīrghatamas was one of the Angirasa Rishis, the oldest of the Rishi
families, and regarded as brother to the Rishi Bharadvāja, who is the seer
of the sixth book of the Rig Veda. Dīrghatamas is also the chief
predecessor of the Gotama family of Rishis that includes Kak Shivan, Gotama,
Nodhas and Vamadeva (seer of the fourth book of the Rig Veda), who along
with Dirghatamas account for almost *150 of the 1000 hymns of the Rig Veda.*
His own verses occur frequently in many Vedic texts, a few even in the
Upanishads.
The hymns of Dirghatamas speak clearly of a zodiac of 360 degrees, divided
in various ways, including by three, six and twelve, as well as related
numbers of five and seven. We must remember that the zodiac is first of all
a mathematical division of the heavens such as this hymn outlines. This is
defined mainly according to the elements, qualities and planetary rulership
of the twelve signs. The symbols we ascribe to these twelve divisions is a
different factor that can vary to some degree. The actual stars making up
the constellation that goes along with the sign is yet a third factor*. For
example, some constellations are less or more than thirty degrees, but the
mathematical or harmonic division of each sign will only be thirty degrees.*
What is important about the hymns of Dirghatamas is that *he shows the
mathematical basis of such harmonic divisions of a zodiac of 360 degrees.*
For Dirghatamas, as was the case for much of later Vedic astronomy, the
main God of the zodiac is the Sun God called Vishnu. Vishnu rules over the
highest heaven and is sometimes identified with the pole star or polar
point, which in the unique view of Vedic astronomy is the central point
that governs all celestial motions and form which these are calculated.
According to Dirghatamas Rig Veda I.155.6, “With four times ninety names
(caturbhih sakam navatim ca namabhih), he (Vishnu) sets in motion moving
forces like a turning wheel (cakra).” This suggests that even in Vedic
times Vishnu had 360 names or forms, one for each degree of the zodiac. A
fourfold division may correspond to the solstices and equinoxes. Elsewhere
Dirghatamas states, I.164.36, “Seven half embryos form the seed of the
world. They stand in the dharma by the direction of Vishnu.” This probably
refers to the seven planets.
Most of the astronomical information occurs in his famous Asya Vamasya Hymn
I.164. Much of this hymn can be understood as a description of the zodiac.
It begins:
1. Of this adorable old invoker (the Sun) is a middle brother who is
pervasive (the Wind or lightning). He has a third brother, whose back
carries ghee (Fire). There I saw the Lord of the people (the Sun) who has
seven children.
This verse is referring to the usual threefold Vedic division of Gods and
worlds as the Fire (Agni) on Earth, the Wind or Lightning (Vayu) in the
Atmosphere and the Sun (Surya) in Heaven. This also may refer to the three
steps or strides of Vishnu through which he measures the Earth, the
Atmosphere and Heaven. The Sun is also a symbol of the supreme light or the
supreme Sun God that is Vishnu. The Sun or supreme light has seven
children, the visible Sun, Moon and five planets.
We should note that the zodiac of twelve signs is divided into three
sections based upon a similar understanding, starting with *Aries* {
MESHAM, RISHABAM, MITHUNAM & KATAKAM} or fire (cardinal fire ruled by Mars,
who in Vedic thought is the fire born of the Earth), then with *Leo*
{SIMMAM, KANNI TULAM VRISCHIKAM} or the Sun (fixed fire ruled by the Sun),
and then with *Sagittarius*,{DHANUSU, MAKARAM, KUMBAM & MEENAM} the
atmospheric fire, lightning or wind (mutable fire ruled by Jupiter, the God
of the rains).
2. Seven yoke the chariot that has a single wheel (chakra). One horse that
has seven names carries it. The wheel has three naves, is undecaying and
never overcome, where all these beings are placed.
The zodiac is the single wheeled-chariot or circle yoked by the seven
planets which are all forms of the Sun or sunlight. It is the wheel of time
on which all beings are placed. The Vedic horse (ashva) is symbolic of
energy or propulsive force.
3. This chariot which the seven have mounted has seven wheels (chakras) and
is carried by seven horses. The seven sisters sing forth together, where
are hidden the seven names of the cows.
The seven planets create their seven rotations or seven wheels. Each has
its horse, its energy or velocity. Each has its feminine power or sister,
its power of expression. It carries its own hidden name or secret knowledge
(symbolically cows or rays). This refers to the astrological influences of
the planets.
11. The wheel of law with twelve spokes does not decay as it revolves
around heaven. Oh Fire, here your 720 sons abide.
The circle of the zodiac has twelve signs. It has 720 half degrees or
twins, making 360 total. The Shatapatha Brahmana X.5.5, a late Vedic text,
also speaks of a wheel of heaven with 720 divisions. “But indeed that
Fire-altar is also the Nakshatras. For there are twenty seven of these
Nakshatras and twenty-seven secondary Nakshatras. This makes 720.”
Twenty-seven times twenty-seven Nakshatras equals 729, with which some
overlap can be related to the 720 half-degrees of the zodiac.
12. The Father with five feet and twelve forms, they say, dwells in the
higher half of heaven full of waters. Others say that he is the
clear-seeing one who dwells below in a sevenfold wheel that has six spokes.
The five feet of the father or the Sun are the five planets or the five
elements that these often refer to (to which Vedic thought associates the
five sense organs and five motor organs in the human body). His twelve
forms are the twelve signs. The Sun in the higher half of heaven with the
waters is the signs Leo with Cancer (ruled by the Moon), with the other
five planets being the five feet, each ruling two signs. In Vedic thought,
the Sun is the abode of the waters, which we can see in the zodiac by the
proximity of the signs Cancer and Leo.
The sevenfold wheel is the zodiac moved by the seven planets. The six
spokes are the six double signs through which the planets travel. The same
verse occurs in the Prashna Upanishad I.11 as a symbol for the year.
13. Revolving on this five-spoked wheel all beings stand. Though it carries
a heavy load, its axle does not over heat. From of old it does not break
its ancient laws.
The five-spoked wheel is again the zodiac ruled by five planets and five
elements and their various internal and external correspondences.
14. The undecaying wheel (circle) together with its felly (circumference),
ten yoked to the upward extension carry it. The eye of the Sun moves
encompassing the region. In it are placed all beings.
This may again refer to the ten signs ruled by the five planets, with each
planet ruling two signs. The eye of the Sun may be the sign Leo through
which the solar influence pervades the zodiac or just the Sun itself. The
upward extension may be the polar region.
15. Of those that are born together, the seventh is born alone. The six are
twins (yama), Divine born rishis. The wishes that they grant are
apportioned according to their nature. Diversely made for their ordainer,
they move in different forms.
*The six born together or are twins are the twelve signs*, two of which are
ruled by one planet (considering the Sun and Moon as a single planetary
influence). The seventh that is singly born is the single light that
illumines all the planets. Elsewhere the Rig Veda X.64.3 speaks of the Sun
and Moon as twins (yama) in heaven.
The planets are often associated with the rishis in Vedic thought,
particularly the rishis Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus) and Kashyapa
(the Sun) which became common names for the planets. Their ordainers or
stabilizer may be the pole star (polar point).
48. Twelve are its fellies. The wheel is one. It has three naves. Who has
understood it?
It are held together like spokes the 360, both moving and non-moving.
This perhaps the clearest verse that refers to the zodiac of twelve signs
and three hundred and sixty degrees. The same verse also occurs in Atharva
Veda (X.8.4). The zodiac has three divisions as fire, lightning and Sun or
Aries, Sagittarius and Leo that represent these three forms of fire. The
360 spokes are the 360 degrees which revolve in the sky but remain in the
same place in the zodiac.
Yet another verse (43) of this same hymn of Dirghatamas refers to the
Vishuvat, the solstice or equinox, showing that such astronomical meanings
are clearly possible.
If we examine the hymn overall, we see that a heavenly circle of 360
degrees and 12 signs is known, along with 7 planets. It also has a
threefold division of the signs which can be identified with that of fire,
wind (lightning) and Sun (Aries, Sagittarius, Leo) and a sixfold division
that can be identified with the planets each ruling two signs of the
zodiac. This provides the basis for the main factors of the zodiac and
signs as we have known them historically. We have all the main factors for
the traditional signs of the zodiac except the names and symbols of each
individual sign.
Elsewhere in Vedic literature is the idea that when the Creator created the
stars he assigned each an animal of which there were originally five, the
goat, sheep, cow, horse and man (Shatapatha Brahmana X.2.1). This shows a
Vedic tradition of assigning animals to constellations. The animals
mentioned are the man, goat, ram, bull and horse, which contain several of
the zodiacal animals. {KR WEST TODAY DRAWS CHART AS ANIAL; BUT LONG-AGO
RIG VEDA ASSIGNED SUCH WITH ONLY KNOWLEDGE}
The zodiac in Vedic thought is the wheel of the Sun. It is the circle
created by the Sun’s rays. The Shatapatha Brahmana X.5.4 notes, “But,
indeed, the Fire-altar also is the Sun. The regions are its enclosing
stones, and there are 360 of these, because 360 regions encircle the Sun on
all sides. And 360 are the rays of the Sun.”
The Zodiac and the Subtle Body ANDATHIL ULLADHU PINDATHILUM UNDU
-TIRUMOOLAR; HENCE ASTROLOGY WORKS AND A SCIENCE THOUGH, ASTROLOGERS MAY BE
LIARS AS SOME SCIENTISTS ARE}
Clearly this hymn contains a vision of the zodiac but its purpose is not
simply astronomical, nor is the zodiac the sole subject of its concern.
Besides the outer zodiac of time and the stars there is the inner zodiac or
the subtle body and its chakra system. The seven chakras mentioned are also
the seven chakras of the subtle body. In Vedic thought the Sun that rules
time outwardly corresponds inwardly to Prana, the spirit, soul or
life-force (Maitrayani Upanishad VI.1). Prana is the inner Sun that creates
time at a biological level through the process of breathing. It is also the
energy that runs up and down the spine and flows through the seven chakras
strung like lotuses along it.
According to Vedic thought (Shatapatha Brahmana XII.3.28) we have 10,800
breaths by day and by night or 21,600 a day. This corresponds to one breath
every four seconds. The same text says that we have as many breaths in one
muhurta (1/30 of a day or 48 minutes) as there are days and nights in the
year or 720, so this connection of the outer light and our inner processes
is quite detailed at an early period.
In Vedic thought the subtle body is composed of the five elements, the five
sense organs and five motor organs, which correspond to different aspects
of its five lower chakras. On top of these five are the mind and intellect
(manas and buddhi) which are often compared to the Moon and the Sun and
relate to the two higher chakras. They can be added to these other five
factors, like the five planets, making seven in all. The chakras of
Dirghatamas, though outwardly connected to the zodiac, are inwardly related
to the subtle body, a connection that traditional commentators on the hymn
like Sayana or Atmananda have noted.
This hymn of Dirghatamas {KR BELONGS TO KING BHARATHA PERIOD} contains
many other important and cryptic verses on various spiritual matters that
are connected to but go beyond the issues of the zodiac. It is written in
the typical Vedic mantric and symbolic language to which it provides two
keys;
39. The supreme syllable of the chant in the supreme ether, in which all
the Gods reside, those who do not know this, what can they do with the
Veda? Those who know it alone are gathered here.
45. Four are the levels of speech. Those trained in the knowledge, the wise
know them all. Three hidden in secrecy cannot be do not stir. Mortals speak
only with the fourth.
There is clearly a hidden knowledge behind these verses, which reflect an
esoteric tradition of spiritual knowledge that was mainly accessible for
initiates who had the keys to open its veils. We cannot simply take such
verses superficially but must look deeply and see what they imply. Then the
pattern of their inner meaning can come forth. If we do this, the
astronomical and astrological side cannot be ignored.
Pingree’s Views
*Western scholars of the history of astronomy like David Pingree have
accepted the astronomical basis of this hymn*. In an article, “Astronomy in
India” in *Astronomy Before the Telescope, *C. Walker (ed.), St. Martin’s
Press, New York, 1996, pps. 123-124, Pingree suggests that Mul. Apin,
Babylonian tablets that date from 687 to 500 BC has “‘an ideal calendar’ in
which one year contains 12 months, each of which has 30 days, and
consequently exactly 360 days; a late hymn of the Rgveda refers to the same
‘ideal calendar’. And Mul.Apin describes the oscillation of the
rising-point of the sun along the eastern horizon between its extremities
when it is at the solstices; the same oscillation is described in the
Aitareya Brahmana.'” This ideal calendar is the basis for the zodiac and
its twelve signs at a mathematical level. Clearly Pingree is referring to
Rig Veda I.164 as his ‘late’ hymn of the Rig Veda.
Clearly this Rig Veda hymn, which has parallels and developments in the
Brahmanas (like the Shatapatha Brahmana quoted in this chapter), must be
earlier and show that such ideas were much older than the Brahmanas. To
maintain his late date for Vedic astrology, Pingree must assume that this
hymn or its particular astronomical verses were late interpolations to the
Rig Veda, around 500 BCE or about the time of the Buddha. This is rather
odd because the Buddha is generally regarded as having come long after the
Vedic period, while the actual text is usually dated well before 1000 BCE
(some have argued even to 3000 BCE).
Even the Brahmanas, like the Upanishads that come after them, are
pre-Buddhist by all accounts. Perhaps the main Vedic ritual given in the
Brahmanas, the Gavamayana, follows the model of a year of 360 days and is
divided into two halves based upon the solstices, showing that such an
‘ideal’ calendar was central to Vedic thought. That such an ideal calendar
has its counterpart in the sky is well reflected in Vedic ideas saying that
equate the days and nights with the Sun’s rays and with the stars (as we
have noted in Shatapatha Brahmana with 720 Upanakshatras)*. The Brahmanas,
we should also note, emphasize the Krittikas or the Pleiades as the first
of the Nakshatras, reflecting an astronomical era of the Taurus equinox. The
Shatapatha Brahmana notes that the Krittikas mark the eastern direction.
{KR I WROTE CHAPTER ARTICLES ON ASTROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY ONLY FROM
RESEARCH MATERIALS OF DIRGA TAMAS MAY BE A YEAR BACK AND STILL HAVE 340
PAGES TEXT MADE IN 2024-25 UNPUBLISHED; THERE I HAD SPOKEN ABOUT PRECESSION
AND KRITHIKA AS THE OPENING STAR ONCE INCLUDING ABIJIT AS 28 STARS}
In addition, the hymn, its verses and commentaries on them are found in
many places in Vedic literature, along with support references to
Nakshatras. It cannot be reduced to a late addition but is an integral part
of the text.
That being the case, a zodiac of 360 degrees and its twelvefold division
are much older in India than any Greek or even Babylonian references that
he has come up with.
However, the internal date of this late Vedic text is of a summer solstice
in Aslesha or 1300 BCE, information referenced by Varaha Mihira in his
Brihat Samhita (III.1-2). “There was indeed a time when the Sun’s southerly
course (summer solstice) began from the middle of the Nakshatra Aslesha and
the northerly one (winter solstice) from the beginning of the Nakshatra
Dhanishta. For it has been stated so in ancient works. At present the
southerly course of the Sun starts from the beginning of Cancer and the
other from the initial point of the sign Capricorn.” The middle of Aslesha
is 23 20 Cancer, while the beginning of Dhanishta (Shravishta) is 23 20
Capricorn. Calculating the precession accordingly, this is obviously a date
of around 1300 BCE.
There are yet earlier references in the Vedas like Atharva Veda XIX.6.2
that starts the Nakshatras with Krittika (the Pleiades) and places the
summer solstice (ayana) in Magha (00 – 13 20 Leo), showing a date before
1900 BCE. Clearly the Vedas show the mathematics for an early date for the
zodiac as well as the precessional points of these eras long before the
Babylonians or the Greeks supposedly gave them the zodiac.
It is not surprising that India could have invented the zodiac and circle
of 360 degrees. After all, the decimal system and the use of zero came from
India. In this regard, as early as the Yajur Veda, we find names for
numbers starting with one, ten, one hundred and one thousand ending with
one followed by twelve zeros (Shukla Yajur Veda XVII.2).
The Rig Veda has another cryptic verse that suggests its cosmic numerology.
According to it the Cosmic Bull has four horns, three feet, two heads and
seven hands (Rig Veda IV.58.3). This sounds like a symbolic way of
presenting the great kalpa number of 4,320,000,000 years. Such large
numbers for the universe are typical to Indian thought, however, the
literature confirms the truth.
K Rajaram IRS 31126
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