Thread by @vakibs

In this thread, I will discuss about astronomical connections to the sacred Hindu conception known as Hiraṇyagarbha, or the golden womb.

This is me thinking out aloud, and I have more questions than answers. I would like to hear more from people who are well-versed in Jyōtisha.

Hiraṇyagarbha Sūkta is one of the most sacred verses in the Ṛg Vēda. Some understand this as the earliest, and perhaps even the strongest, expression of Monotheism. It venerates that Being who created the earth and the skies above, and who supports them.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranyaga…

But these esoteric verses cannot be understood in such a simple fashion. The Hindu conception of creation is not like the Christian conception (or its equivalent in physics, the Big Bang). Instead, Creation is perennial: Happening in every single moment, though we may not see it.

Hiraṇyagarbha is the one who measured the "Antariksha"

येन द्यौरुग्रा पृथ्वी च दृढा येन स्वस्तभितं येननाकः
यो अन्तरिक्षे रजसो विमानः कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम
Yēna dyaurugrā pṛthvī ca dṛḍhā yēna svastabhitam yēnnākaḥ
yō antarikshē rajasō vimānaḥ kasmai dēvāya havishā vidhēma

"Antariksha" is the interface between earth and sky. Its physical counterpart is the horizon that stretches between them.

When will this be "golden"? What will be born out of this "golden womb"?

I think the answer lies in an astronomical phenomenon, known as "Heliacal rising".

In the physical plane, I think "Hiraṇyagarbha" refers to an astronomical phenomenon when a new star is observed above the horizon for the first time. In other words, a new "Dēva" is born out of the golden womb.

Heliacal rising happens at dawn when the horizon is lit by the sun.

According to ancient Egyptians, the most important Heliacal rising is that of the star Sirius, which is known as "Mṛgavyadha" in India and associated with Shiva.

Sirius is important because it helps monitor the tilt of the earth's axis, which causes the precession of equinoxes.

If we look at civilizations through the perspective of natural selection, an accurate calendar (by tracking the elliptic through a star like Sirius) is a huge selection advantage, that results in higher agricultural produce.

I discussed it in this thread.

https://twitter.com/vakibs/status/1020368845003993088

Thus, Hiraṇyagarbha is the underlying master of Ṛta, the cosmic cycle that we humans need to understand and align ourselves to. Periodically, due to the earth's precession, our models will go wrong.

But the chaos is resolved when Hiraṇyagarbha manifests as a new Dēva (star).

This brings me to the most fascinating astronomical mystery of Hinduism: the Avatāras of Vishṇu.

Prof. Mayank Vahia, an astrophysicist at TIFR who critically analyzed myths for astronomical references, wrote this about the Avātāras. I think he is wrong.
tifr.res.in/~archaeo/paper…

As with all Hindu symbolism & philosophy, the Avatāras have an interpretation related to experiential observation in the 3 planes of reality: Bhūḥ (physical), Bhuvaḥ (cosmic/astronomical) and Suvaḥ (meditative/spiritual).

My comments in the following refer to Bhuvaḥ alone.

Avatāras refer to updates in the astronomical models for calculating the passage of time. Due to earth's precession, prior models would be found to be incomplete/faulty. They would be updated by a peculiar astronomical phenomenon (or a combination of them) and encoded as myths.

The Matsya Avatāra perhaps refers to a fish-shaped constellation, but it is far too cryptic for me to comment.

But in a previous thread, I commented about the Kūrma Avatāra, which I suspect refers to the pole-star Abhijit (Vega) in the constellation Lyra.

https://twitter.com/vakibs/status/1039157907806474242

In order to understand the following Avatāras, I think the most important clue lies with "Hiraṇyagarbha". Observing the Heliacal rising of certain stars was the key for Babylonian astronomy, and I suspect the same is true for ancient Indian astronomy.
cura.free.fr/decem/09kolev.…

But observations of Heliacal rising are prone to error, because of the difficulty of seeing stars in the sunlight . The models often turn out to be wrong. This essay argues how western astrologists made a grave mistake in calculating the "Age of Aquarius".
macroastro.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/an-…

In my opinion, the story of Varāha Avatāra encodes precisely this awareness that Heliacal risings are faulty. The demon Hiraṇyāksha (literally "golden eyed") assaults the heavens & the earth. The earth would be saved (and lifted up) by Vishṇu in the form of Varāha (wild boar).

To decipher this I think we should not look for a boar-shaped constellation, but rather interpret the action of Varāha lifting up the earth that is central to this story, similar to how a boar digs up the earth while foraging.

This refers to digging for stars below the horizon.

The following Avatāra of Narasimha (Man-lion) clarifies even more this interpretation of "Hiraṇya" (golden) with the dawn rising of a star.

Here, the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu ("golden shell" or "golden skinned") says there is no need for Vishṇu (further corrections to the model).

The demon gets a boon from Brahma (Creator) that he will be killed neither by a Dēva (new star being born) nor by a human (prior model). Neither at day nor at night. But he will be killed by Narasimha (neither man nor Dēva) at twilight. This hints at a subtle Heliacal correction.

Another reference to the perils of Hiraṇya (golden/Heliacal) observations is given in Rāmāyana. Mesmerized by a golden deer, Sīta asks Rāma to capture it. The deer was demon Mārīcha in disguise. Sīta will be kidnapped by Rāvaṇa when Rāma and Lakshmaṇa go in search of the deer.

I think the "deer" refers most likely to the constellation Orion, which was known as "Mṛga" (deer) to Indian astronomers. I think the story refers to a peculiar misbehavior with the Heliacal rising of Orion, which was tried to be pulled back into the model, but without success.

Indian scriptures abound with astronomical references. Researchers like @NileshOak are compiling such mentions of star-alignments, eclipses etc. into a historical model.

Such efforts need to also consider subtle hints, which may have been left intentionally cryptic and esoteric.

As I said, this thread is just me thinking out aloud, expressing my intuition, but not rigorous analysis. But I hope this won't be useless. Understanding these astronomical references is critical to an accurate historiography of India, as well as to the history of science. (END).