Bhavishya Purana - The Future History (including 21st century and more to come) predicted way back in the past itself

I would like to throw some light on one of our Puranas' today, which is Bhavishya Purana. It is one among the eighteen Puranas. Rishi Vyasa, the narrator of Mahabaratha, is traditionally considered the compiler of the Puranas. Bhavishya means future in Sanskrit and Purana means story.  As the name itself reveals, Bhavishya Purana means story of the future. We have some amazing future histories predicted in this Purana way back in 3000 B.C.(3rd millennium B.C) itself (again it is only the documentation date but all the vedas and puranas have existed in the oral form even before this date) including Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, Mughal rulers, Noah's ark, king Shivaji, Hitler and even the British rule and Queen Victoria just to mention a few. Awesome isn't it?

As usual, I have collected information over many sources in the internet and will provide links here and there for your reference. But for this purana, I could not get the complete book with verses (it is there but in hindi language and I don't know hindi) but managed to get the important details which I am going to produce here. Please go to this wikipedia link to know about this Purana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavishya_Purana

Bhavishya Purana is considered to be having five parts but only four parts are clearly known. They are Brahma Parva, Madhyama Parva and Pratisarga Parva and Uttara Parva.

Out of these four parts, it is the Pratisarga Parva which deals with the genealogy of the kings. It consists 4 parts, while the first and second parts deal with the old history, third part with that of medieval time and the fourth part which deals with the new age (modern age).

I am not going to deal with the old period here and anyone who are interested can go to this link to read it.

http://www.kamakoti.org/kamakoti/bhavishya/bookview.php?chapnum=19

Lets proceed directly to medieval period and modern period. Before that we should understand one thing. This purana is written in sanskrit and we cannot expect direct names for every person or every thing mentioned here. Knowing this information is a must as it will clarify one important doubt which I will tell at the end of this article. Before going to the main history, let us see how certain words have changed with the change of time. This is also mentioned in this purana in detail.

It is mentioned that when the Kali Yuga passed 2000 years, there will be many kinds of languages and some among them are vraja-bhasa, Maharastri (hindi, marathi may be), yavani and garundika (english). Yes english language is mentioned as garundika language in this purana. It is also mentioned how some words changed in english language (garundika). Pitra changed into paitar (father), Brathru became bather (brother), Ravivar became sunday, Palguni month became february and shashti as sixty.

Ref: http://hinduonline.co/Scriptures/Puranas/BhavishyaPurana.html

Now let us continue with the predictions of prominent personalities. I am only giving few glimpses. Please go through these links for reading it in full :

http://www.kamakoti.org/kamakoti/bhavishya/bookindex.php
http://www.astrojyoti.com/bhavishyapurana-2.htm


About Christ :  In Pratisarga Parva, Chathuryuga kanda, 19th chapter, text 23 and 26 :

When the king Salivahana asked "who are you sir?" he replied blissfully, "you should know that I am Isha puthra (Jesus) and am born of a virgin."

Hearing the question of Salivahana, Isha putra replied "O king! when the destruction of truth occured, I Masiha, the prophet, came to this county where there are no rules and regulations. Finding that fearful irrelegious conditions, I have taken to propethood".

About Adam and Eve : (pratisarga parva, chapters 4-7)

In the eastern side of a pradan city, there is a god given forest in which lived a man called Adama (Adam) lived under a papa-vriksha (sinful tree) and was eager to see his wife Havyavati (Eve).

About Noah's Ark :

Simon de Myle (fl. 1570) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Lomak's son Nyuha, (Noah) ruled for 500 years. Once Lord appeared in his dream and told him that there will be a devastation on the seventh day. And then Noah built a strong boat which was 300 feet long, 50 feet wide and 30 feet high (It is exactly mentioned as the same in the Bible).

About the Mughal Empire :

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Sarush became the king of Dehali (Delhi) Babar was son of Sarush who was peace loving. His son Homaayu (Humayun) took a cruel stand against Hindus. But another king in the neibhorhood called Shekshak (Shershah) defeated Humayun and ruled Delhi for five years. But Humayun defeated Shershah and came to power again, Humayun would be blessed with a great son called Akbar who established a solid kingdom for 50 years. His son soloma (saleem - jahangir) followed Akbar and his son Khurdak (Kusro Shahjahan) ruled for ten years and he built the Taj Mahal. There was a power struggle between his sons and Navarang (Aurangazeb) succeeded the throne.

About Chatrapathi Shivaji :

That time, a king called Sevajaya (Shivaji) subdued several small royalties and created Maharashtra. He also brought Aurangazeb under control and installed his son as the Mughal king.

See page for author [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

About the British rule :

The habitants of the islands developed trade contacts with the Garundis (British people) especially with the Isha puthras. The king of the western dwipa (England) called Vikata and later on by his wife called Vikatavathi (Victoria) ruled over there by "Astha koushala marg" (under the counsel of parliment). The British Raj witnessed high prosperity by executing overseas business generation after generation with democracy (Rule of citizens). The nineth chief representative of Gurunds was Mekal (Lord Macauley) who administed the Raj with honesty for twleve years. This situation continued till the British rulers consolidated their grip over Bharat by divide and rule concept till it became an independent entity. But meanwhile the inhabitants of Bharat belonging to innumerable sects, religions, languages and cultures.

By Jean Baptiste Morret (actif à Paris de 1790 à 1820) ([1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I have not mentioned the full list of kings and dynasties (though they have been mentioned in this Purana) because I wanted to keep this article short. But even then.... it became lengthy.

Now comes the future : Remember, I told in the beginning of this article that there will be one important doubt? Here it is.... This Purana is written in sanskrit. Even though we translate it in english, some names and incidents will be given in sanskrit name only. Like Vikatavati for Victoria and Adama for Adam and Sevajaya for Shivaji and Garundas for British and so on. We can connect the past history (happened till date) dot to dot as it has already happened and we can match the names with that of the incidences. But future is yet to come. Even though the future incidents are mentioned in this purana, when we see it we will first not believe it because of the different names in sanskrit and hence we cannot pinpoint the exact details. May be when it happens in the future, then we might exactly match it. But even then I will give few examples of things which is going to come in the future. I myself is wondering how that would be possible?

1. Daityas then constructed several Jalyanas (sea borne vessels) to Harikhanda (China) where men were very strong as Devas initially but in a course of few years, a Maha Yudha or the cunning or deceitful battles in which Daityas appealed to Mahendra for protection.

2. Indra asked Viswakarma to reinvent a yantra (machine) by using which persons of one kanda (continent - chunk of land) will not be able to travel to another kanda.

3. Over two thousand years, the established regulations made by Lord Brahma would become thinner and thinner and by the second paada of kali, the old vedic values would be obliterated.

4. Those humans who live in that period would be two and a half feet tall and their life span would be forty years maximum

5. This kind of situation devoid of customs and social norms would prevail for one and a quarter lakh years.

6. In the third quarter of kali, the average age span of human beings would be 26 years maximum.

7. A new species called Kaulakalpa-named beings who would not hesitate to eat human beings and would have beastly affairs with mothers, sisters and daughters and with co-males and animals.

8. In the fourth phase of kali yuga, the average life span of humans would not exceed 20 years and live like water beasts and animals.

9. Then comes the avatar of Kalki, who will go in yoga marga for 16 thousand years and would turn the entire shristi into ash-laden devastation.

10. At that time, there would be cloud burst producing the great annihilation of the Universe under alarming and incessant rain called "Pralaya"

After reading this, we might think..... How in a technology prevailed world where travel has become smoother day by day, this (yantra preventing travel from one continent to another) might ever happen? It is not clear at this point, but may be there comes a situation in which the different continents will impose strict rules for travelling in the future. Who knows?????? Since kali yuga is considered to be 4,32,000 years. these incidents might happen very far in the future too.... But we could get more clarity if any sanskrit expert analyses this purana in detail and interprets them.

But since these predictions have accurately happened in the past, there is a hope to believe that it will happen in the future too. Isn't it??

Thank you all for reading. Please share your views and inputs.

Plastic Surgery, Earlobe Reconstruction, Arresting Hemorrhage - We have done it all, in 6th Century B.C. and even before that!

"How reknowned and intellectual were our ancestors! They were able to mark up space and celestial movements, mark up ones' own characteristics (josyam or astrology as we call).  They were also able to provide remedies and did surgeries some of which we are learning out now only".....

As the intro sums it a little, this article is about medicine. I am not good in science, and hence do not know to describe everything in detail, but can share the information what I have with you. It is amazing to note that, after having a glimpse of Atharva Veda, (just saw a little for writing this article), there is a note of almost all diseases. There should be a hidden cure in each verse for the ailment, but I cannot understand it clearly. I could get the English translation in the internet but I cannot interpret it properly. But it is amazing to see that most of the ailments are listed in Vedas (Atharva Veda is a part of our four Vedas) thousands and thousands of years ago. According to Ralphs. T.H.Griffith's translation, here are the list of few ailments listed in that Veda. For a full reference, you can go to these links :

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/av/

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/hinduism/athar/


Few ailments listed in Atharva Veda (just a few as this page is not enough if I need to list everything)

Charm against Takman (Fever) and related diseases
Charm against Jaundice and related diseases
Charm against cough and cold
Charm against discharges from the body
Charm against constipation and retention of urine
Charm to strengthen hair and promote its growth
Charm for a wound or bruise
Charm to facilitate child birth
Charm against internal pain (colic)
Charm against dropsy, heart disease

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/
Atharva-Veda_samhita_page_471_illustration.png

Actually, this article is not intended to write about Atharva Veda, but it is related to this post. Let me tell you how...

If you have heard about Sushrutha, then you might get a quick idea of what this article is about. But for those who do not know, he is considered to be the "Father of Surgery". He is believed to have lived in 6th Century B.c. ( Exact date is not known and this is just approximate). He has written a book "Sushrutha Samhitha" which describes 1,120 illnesses, 700 medical plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushruta_Samhita

In "The source book of Plastic Surgery" Frank McDowell described Sushrutha as follows :

"Through all of Sushrutha's flowery language, incantations and irrelevancies, there shines an unmistakable picture of a great surgeon. Undaunted by his failures, unimpressed by his successes, he sought the truth unceasingly and passed it on to those who followed. He attacked disease and deformity definitively, with reasoned and logical methods. When the path did not exist, he made one."

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/The_Susruta-Samhita_
or_Sahottara-Tantra_%28A_Treatise_on_Ayurvedic_Medicine%29_
LACMA_M.87.271a-g_%286_of_8%29.jpg

While we think plastic surgery, cesarean section, earlobe reconstruction, orthopedic procedures, extraction of stones in urinary system, curing fractures, physiotheraphy, preparation for surgery including anesthesia procedure etc, all belong to modern day science, it is amazing to note that he has done all this in 6th century B.C itself. And his book, "Sushrutha Samhitha" is considered to be one of the foundational texts of Ayurveda, while Ayurveda itself is a part which originated from Atharva Veda.

He states that, anyone who wants to gain knowledge about anatomy, must prepare a dead body and carefully observe the parts. His method of study was to submerge the dead body in water thereby allowing it to decompose and study the body in regular intervals during that stage of decomposition.

There is a website which describes the surgical instruments used by Sushrutha. I do not want to produce it here due to copyright issues, that website may have. For those who are interested, please google it as "sushrutha internet scientific publications".

Some Procedures (I am listing only a few) as described in his "Sushrutha Samhita"

1. Plastic Surgery : Sushrutha described various techniques in plastic surgery including reconstruction of nose (often injured or lost in wars and cut off as a form of punishment). His book lays down the basic principles of plastic surgery such as advocating proper physiotheraphy, release of the skin for covering small defects, rotation of the flaps to make up for partial loss, pedicle flaps for complete loss of skin in that area.

2. Arresting of Hemorrhage : He has pointed out that Hemorrhage can be arrested by apposition of the cut edges with stitches, application of styptic decoctions, by cauterisation with chemicals or heat.

3. Bones and their reaction to injuries : He states varieties of dislocation of joints (Sandhimuktha) and fractures on the shaft (Kanda-bhagna). He gives details of 6 types of dislocations and 12 varieties of fractures. He also gives the principle for fracture treatment such as traction, manipulation, appositions and stabilisation. He has mentioned the procedure for entire orthopedic surgery.

4. Diabetes, Obesity and Hyper-tension : Sushrutha recognized diabetes and defined it as Madhumeha. He interconnected it with obesity and sedentary lifestyle, advising exercises to help in curing that. He also explains hyper-tension in the manner as it is explained in modern science. He also related obesity with heart disorder.

5. Other Surgical Procedures : Some other surgical procedures in his book includes, techniques for making incisions and excisions, probing and extraction of foreign bodies, teeth extraction, use of trocars for draining abcesses, hernia surgery, cataract surgery  and surgery for intestinal obstruction.

Please watch this video to know about our ancient plastic surgery :

Once again, I am not good in science, and I am unable to explain all the details in full. I have just shared the information collected over the net. If this article makes even one person think and exclaim about our ancient traditions, I am more happy.

It is really surprising to see these facts and I am certainly proud to note the vision of our ancestors. So far I thought that Atharva Veda is just a sacred book and never imagined that it had such a hidden gem in it.

Varaha Avatar is a myth - Probably No!!

I have heard the story of all the 10 avatars of Vishnu including Varaha Avatar since my childhood. Lucky me, my mom used to tell me lots and lots of stories including stories from Puranas, One among them is Varaha Avatar, The third avatar of Vishnu.

For those who do not know about this avatar and story, let me tell a brief version of it. For reading it in full and with details, you can go to this link :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varaha

Now the brief version according to mythology. A Demon called Hiranyaksha, took Earth in his hand and dumped it in the ocean. Vishnu, taking the avatar of Varaha (Boar - a tusked Eurasian wild pig from which domestic pigs are descended) brought back the Earth from the ocean and placed it in its proper place and finally killed Hiranyaksha.

After reading this story, what idea comes to mind first. Ha Ha! what a great imagination! How can earth be dumped in an ocean, when all the oceans are inside earth. How is that ever possible? Of course, I had the same idea till some time back. After starting to write this blog, I keep reading every day about the various mythological concepts and doing a lot of research in the internet. Luckily, many resources are now available in the internet and you can get them in seconds if you search for it.

Now when they describe ocean here, what ocean it actually is? Is it an ocean which is in earth? No. Then may be an ocean in any other planets (Is there any ocean in other planets?  Huh????) The answer is no even for this. Then what is meant by ocean here? This is a point where we can link this myth to science.

Before proceeding, please take a look into these images which says the composition of universe according to science and composition of universe according to our mythology (image sources - Wiki)

Composition of Universe according to Science - Wiki

Composition of universe according to Mythology - source - Wiki













For info about dark matter in the Universe : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

Lets discuss the ocean concept again now. It is this ocean, called Garbhodaka ocean which takes more than half of the universe (might be the dark matter according to science). The other part of the Universe is a spherical dome where innumerable galaxies, planets and stars exist. Lets see it more logically with a scientific view.

1. Only under certain conditions, planets float as weightless balls in the air. Once those conditions are disturbed, it will cause destruction.

2. Hiranyaksha, as a demon, disturbed the Earth in such a way that it detached from its orbit and fell into the Garbhodaka Ocean (Dark matter).

3. Please note that, when we pollute the air, water, and drill earth a lot for various reasons and such things in modern days, what do we say? "Save the Planet" We say that because, we know in our inner hearts, if we continue doing these things, soon our planet will be destroyed. Isn't it?

4. In this post, we can relate "Hiranyaksha took earth in his hands" mean "because of his acts and not exactly taking in his hands".

This Mythological story somewhat seems to be logical now right? We cannot connect everything directly and ask why Boar? How Hiranyaksha can ever carry Earth in his hand? and such questions. There could be many reasons behind them and if only we believe them first and then try to reason, we will get convincing answers at least for some of them. I am saying this because our scriptures are the oldest of all and there is no date behind them. Yes, they have somewhat dated the documentation date of them (when Vyasa divided the Vedas into four parts), but remember, it is only the documentation date. Even before that date, they existed in the oral form which apparently makes them ancient of the ancient.

We can simply say, that our scriptures are advanced mathematical concepts but we are still in addition subtraction level (modern science). Since we have not learnt anything about those advanced concepts, we can never argue if they are right or wrong. Only when you learn or know something, you will be eligible to express your views upon them. But this quest for learning should never stop. That is the key concept here.

I collected these explanations from various sources in the internet and applying my thoughts of connection here and there and sharing information with you. One such resource is this website which gives a clear translation of various concepts of "Garbhodhaka Ocean" according to various puranas. Please don't miss reading this link, the explanations are beautiful here.

http://vaniquotes.org/wiki/Garbhodaka_Ocean

When writing this post, a strange thought striking my mind about the term "Garbhodaka". When we take birth, it is said that we come out of Mother's "Garbha". Similarly Earth is coming out of "Garbhodaka". And in temples, we say God (deity) is in "Garbhagriha". Will there be any relativity here? Hmmm! Need to search for more information!!

Thank you for reading. I welcome contradictory views. I am very curious about these mythological stuff and I am in the very very early reading stage. Any contradictions and extra details will help me analyze more and get more clarity in this subject, and correct myself, if these concepts (according to my research and searches) are wrong.