Thread by @naredi

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Short #Thread on Dating of #Mahabharata with help of refs to river #Saraswati.
1. Read this fantastic paper by @meghkalyan & @ManognaSastry
2. They list 144 verses related to River Saraswati frm MB Text.
3. Of these at least 50 show Saraswati in flow!
academia.edu/38369132/Saras…

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4. Paper also lists various places, along the banks of river Saraswati, at which Balrama stopped during his pilgrimage
5. Saraswati is not flowing with the vigour as described in Rig Veda but is still flowing.
6. This gives great clues for dating effort of Mahabharata.

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7. Megh & Manogna give a terminus ante quem (latest date beyond which MB cannot happen) as around 1900 BC - as Saraswati completely dried up by then.
8. Hence, all dates of Mahabharat later than 1900 BC (1800 BC etc.) are out of the window - going by this research.

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Crucial point now is that - both 3000 BC dates & 5561 dates are in the range where Saraswati was in flow. So is there any data to help choose bwn these two set of dates?
- This paper gives the lower limit but the upper limit is not clearly specified. (perhaps, in the works)

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- However, there is another paper given in the references, that of Dr. Nagarhalli Tatwadarshi which gives an approximate date range within which MB should happen based on the state of River Saraswati as described in MB..
anantaajournal.com/archives/2015/…

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Guess d Date range gvn here:
A. In 5561 BC Saraswati was in full flow
B. Hence, 5561 CANNOT be anywhr close to MB date!
C. 5500 BC can b Rig Vedic period but not MB!
D. For MB, Dr. Nagarhalli gvs range bwn 3200BCE - 3000 BCE. See Screenshot
@mmpandit @jayasartn @NileshOak

7/8 Thus
i) Taken from an Independence perspective, these 2 studies r certainly unbiased, scientific & with no bone to choose/grind between 5500/3000 BC dates.
ii) + They r backed with full scientific data drawing from diff fields of Geology, Geomorphology, Geohydrology & more..

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And both studies unequivocally & independently
- Support Mahabharata dates around 3000 BCE; and
- Debunk the dates around 5500 BCE.
Hope the above helps.
Thank you.
@mmpandit @jayasartn @NileshOak
P.S. Don't hv d handle of Dr. Tatwadarshi. If anyone else has, Pls tag him. 🙏