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Alberuni and Indian Astronomy

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Alberuni and Indian Astronomy Empty Alberuni and Indian Astronomy

Post  Guest Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:01 pm

A remarkable visiting scientist to India was Abu-Raihan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Alberuni, briefly mentioned as Alberuni. Born in A.D. 973 in Persia, he came to India in the year 1017 as a prisoner of war of King Mahmud of Ghazni and subsequently he spent 13 years in India. Already a master of Arabic literature (including Greek literature translated into Arabic), Alberuni soon acquired vast knowledge of Sanskrit and became highly proficient in the astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy of the Indians. We are fortunate that he has written a book about India which is fairly remarkable for its encyclopaedic range; and we are indebted to Sachau for a brilliant English translation of this book ('Alberuni's India',translated and edited by Edward Sachau). In his preface to the book, Sachau writes:


Apparently Alberuni felt a strong inclination towards Indian philosophy...He seems to have revelled in the pure theories of the Bhagavadgita and it deserves to be noticed that he twice mentions the sayings of Vyasa, 'Learn twenty five (i.e. the elements of existence) by distinctions, and afterwards adhere to whatever religion you like: your end will be salvation'. In one case he even goes so far as to speak of a Hindu scholar as 'enjoying the help of God'
The fact that Alberuni was a visiting scientist caused him to better perceive the palpable absurdities caused by religious superstition on the science of India, and we are indebted to him for a penetrating analysis of this problem.


Commenting on the predicament of Brahmagupta, Alberuni first gives a direct quote from Brahmagupta's book 'Brahmasidhanta':

Some people think that the eclipse is not caused by the Head [Rahu]. This, however, is a foolish idea, for it is he in fact who eclipses, and the generality of the inhabitants of the world say that it is the Head who eclipses. The Veda, which is the word of God from the mouth of Brahman, says that the Head eclipses, likewise the book Smriti composed by Manu, and the Samhita, composed by Garga, the son of Brahman. On the the contrary, Varahmira, Srishena, Aryabhata, and Vishnuchandra maintain that the eclipse is not caused by the Head, but by the moon and the shadow of the earth, in direct opposition to all[to the generality of men], and from enemity against the just mentioned dogma. For if the Head does not cause the eclipse, all the usages of the Brahmans which they practice at the moment of an eclipse viz. their rubbing themselves with warm oil, and other works of prescribed worship, would be illusory and not be rewarded by heavenly bliss. If a man declares these things to be illusory, he stands outside of the generally acknowledged dogma, and that is not allowed. Manu says in the Smriti:

"When the Head keeps the sun or moon in eclipse, all waters on earth become pure, and in purity like the water of the Ganges."
The Veda says:
"The Head is the son of a woman of the daughters of the Daityas called Sainaka [Simhika?]."
Therefore, people practice the well known works of piety, and therefore, those authors must cease to oppose the generality, for everything which is in the Veda, Smriti, and Samhita is true.


Commenting on the above words of Brahmagupta, Alberuni observes:

If Brahmagupta, in this respect, is one of those of whom God says, "They have denied our signs, although their hearts knew them clearly, from wickedness and haughtiness", we shall not argue with him, but only whisper into his ear: If people must under circumstances give up opposing the religous codes (as seems to be your case), why then do you order people to be pious if you forget to be so yourself? Why do you, after having spoken such words, then begin to calculate the diameter of the moon in order to explain her eclipsing the sun, and the diameter of the shadow of the earth in orde to explain its eclipsing the moon? Why do you compute both eclipses in agreement with the theory of those heretics and not according to the views of those with whom you think it proper to agree. If the Brahmins are ordered to practice some act of worship or something else at the occurence of an eclipse, the eclipse is only the date of these things, not their cause...

I, for my part, am inclined to the belief that that which made Brahmagupta speak the above-mentioned words (which involve a sin against conscience) was something of a calamitious fate, like that of Socrates, which had befallen him, notwithstanding the abundance of his knowledge and the sharpness of his intellect, and notwithstanding his extreme youth at the time. For he wrote the Brahmasidhanta when he was only thirty years of age. If this indeed is his excuse, we accept it and herewith drop the matter.


It can be seen thus from Alberuni's comments that scientists in medieval India were operating under conditions positively hostile to the development of science.
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