Mahabharata war took place in 2156 BC

April 3, 2005

Mahabharata war took place in 2156 BC: researcher

Sunday April 3, 8:46 AM

By Imran Khan, Indo-Asian News Service

Patna, April 3 (IANS) A Canadian researcher of Indian origin says on

the strength of astronomical evidence that the Mahabharata war was

fought between the Pandavas and Kauravas in 2156 BC.

Anand Mohan Sharan, who teaches in the faculty of engineering at the

Memorial University in Newfoundland, said he used computers and

several kinds of software to reach the conclusion about the epic

Kurukshetra battle.

"The astronomical evidences proved the historicity of the Mahabharata

war by verifying the position of the planetary configurations

mentioned in the 'Bhishma Parva' of the Mahabharata," Sharan told

IANS.

The Bhishma Parva is one of the 18 Parvas, or sections, that make up

the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata was authored by Sri Vyasa and is one

of Hinduism's two major epics, the other being Ramayana.

Sharan, who is visiting Bihar, insisted that his research on the

Mahabharata war proved that the epic was no fiction.

According to Sharan, the "evidences" include Lord Krishna's departure

for negotiations in a bid to avoid the war on Revati day and the

start of Balram's pilgrimage for 42 days along the Saraswati river on

Pushya day.

The drying up of the Saraswati river is believed by many to have

taken place around 1700 BC.

"My results confirm that the descriptions in the Mahabharata are

correct, and do not require re-organisation of the 'shlokas' as

suggested by many researchers in the past," he said.

Sharan said his search time span covered 500 BC to 4000 BC.

"This time span ensures that it covers all possible dates of the

Mahabharata war. The date so determined were checked against other

archaeological evidences such as the possibility of the presence of

iron in India on that date."

In the past, several astronomers have made efforts to date the

Mahabharata war.

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