2016, Vol. 2, Issue 2, Part B

author(s)
Satya Narain, Ratnakar Narale

abstract
In this article we describe an amazing similarity between India’s ancient Sanskrit texts and current scientific research about an aspect of initial evolution of earth, specifically the hypothesis of Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB). The ancient Sanskrit texts go even beyond the current scientific discussion on LHB–they also reveal its root cause, and provide a glimpse into earth’s future evolution as well. LHB theory posits that about 3.8 billion years ago, huge amounts of meteorites showered on earth. The massive impacts initiated gigantic thermal convection currents, which in turn led to significant evolution of the planet earth. rnAn esoteric legend “The Union of Śiva with Umā and Her Curses” has been narrated by Sage Viśvāmitra in Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa which is the most ancient Sanskrit epic of India. The text of the legend is allegorical. It is embedded with ancient history and science. The text of the legend has been decoded by interpreting the meanings of the key Sanskrit words and the symbolism of the divinities in their respective attributes and contexts. Such decoding unravels a description of massive bombardment of early earth by meteorites (smaller asteroids). According to the text of the legend, massive impact event on the surface of earth was preceded by specific super-cosmic interactions in outer space and followed by gigantic geothermal event on earth. The text of the legend indicates occurrence of a series of super natural events that shaped dynamic evolution of early cosmos and of the early planet earth.rnThis massive impact by shower of meteorites event was caused by specific cosmic interactions between the two giant celestial entities (symbolized by शिव Śiva and उमा Umā). In the first cosmic interaction, the two super giant celestial entities have come close to each other and formed a binary union in the cosmos for 100 divine years. This binary union brought the cosmos perilously close to destruction. Then, the second cosmic interaction occurred, in which the binary union ceased and the two celestial entities repositioned and migrated away from each other. The break-up of the binary union released super-colossal energy into the cosmos, which acted upon all the celestial entities and bodies in multiple ways. As a consequence, natural force fields re-configured and dynamically evolved the cosmos in multiple ways and carried out the greatest cleaning operation in outer space as trillions of smaller asteroids (meteorites) were induced to fall on earth and other planets. The impact of the bombardment of meteorites on earth was so massive that it triggered a gigantic geothermal event which assimilated all the showered asteroids (meteorites) into the earth’s mantle. After the massive impact and gigantic geothermal events, the entire earth’s surface was re-formed. The earth was enriched with asteroidal matter showered from the outer space with variety of substances including life sustaining molecules. As well, the text of the legend contains three crisp statements (symbolized by three curses of उमा Umā) which surprisingly provide an accurate picture of the evolution of planet earth over a vast geological time 3.8 billion years ago to present time. rnThe characteristics of earth described in the text of the legend were found to be consistent with the time line of the LHB. The text of the legend also supports a modern view that showered meteorites from the outer space brought life sustaining substances on the earth. Modern scientists have put forward several theories to explain the cause of LHB but none of them have been accepted universally. The ancient Sanskrit legend uses symbolism to describe a self-consistent and logically-linked chain of super-cosmic interaction events - the union between two giant celestial entities and its eventual termination as the root cause of the massive impact event. The text also describes the chain of events that followed: waves of molten magma and re-formation of earth’s surface. In addition the text of the legend contains many perspectives, clues and insights that have significant potential to provide direction to the current research work related to LHB, the understanding of which continues to be a challenging frontier of earth and planetary sciences. rnDespite being allegorical, the entire text of the legend uses very precise words and reveals a consistent series of super-cosmic, massive impact and gigantic geothermal events which contributed significantly to the evolution of the early cosmos and of early earth. The legend is considered a masterly multi-layer Sanskrit text and a fine example of the ancient sciences being communicated to the mankind through an allegorical narration. The purpose the article is confined to expose ancient science embedded in the legend which ought to be cross-examined by traditional Sanskrit scholars, earth and planetary scientists.