Mahabharata War Proof Aihole Inscriptions

The controversy over the Mahabharata never seems to die with various claims and counter claims.

Let us look at the proof that Mahabharata did take place from various angles.

1.Inscriptions.

One can know a lot from a lot of inscriptions by the Kings, mainly in the Temples built by them.

One such inscription which sans scientific tests is the Aihole  Jain Temple Inscriptions of Pulakeashin.

This is found in Karnataka.

Based on this the Mahabharata did take place and Kali Yuga started as detailed below.

”

All the scholars have relied on this inscription found in the Jain Temple at Aihole prepared by one Chalukya King Pulakeshi. It says, according to scholars, that the temple was constructed in 30+3000+700+5 = 3735 years, after the Bharat War and 50+6+500 = 556 years of Shaka era in Kali era. Today Shaka era is 1910. Hence 1910- 556 = 1354 years ago the temple was constructed. Thus the year of inscribing this note is 634 AD. At this time 3735 years had passed from the Bharat War. So the date of the War comes to 3101 BC. This is also the date of Kali Yuga Commencement. Naturally, it is evident that relying on the beginning of Kaliyuga Era and holding that the War took place just before the commencement of Kaliyuga, this inscription is prepared. It is obvious from the Mahabharat that the War did not happen near about the beginning of Kaliyuga. (I have considered this problem fully at a later stage.) If we can see that the inscription is prepared by relying on some false assumption, we have to neglect it because it has no value as an evidence. Moreover the interpretation done by the scholars is doubtful because they have not considered the clauses separately and they held Bharat War and Kali Era as one and the same.

The verse inscribed is :

Trinshatsu Trisahasreshu Bhaaratdahavaditaha | Saptabda Shatayukteshu Gateshwabdeshu Panchasu | Panchashatasu Kalaukale Shatasu Panchashatsu cha | Samatsu Samatitasu Shakaanamapi Bhoobhujaam ||

I would like to interprete the verse considering the clauses of the verse. It says “3030 years from the Bharat War” in the first line, ( Trinshatsu Trisahasreshu Bhaaratdahavaaditaha) where the first clause oF the sentence ends. in the second line, the second clause starts and runs upto the middle of the third line thus ( Saptabda…..Kalaukale) This means 700+5+50 = 755 years passed in the Kali Era. The remaining third clause is ( Shatasu

Here the verse does not specifically say the Shalivahan Shaka but Scholars have taken granted that it is Shalivahan Shaka without any base or reasoning. The verse may have mentioned some other Shaka kings from ancient era. So we we neglect the doubtful part of the Shaka counting which is useless and adhere to the Kali era expressly mentioned. It is clear from the former portion of the verse that 3030 years passed from the Bharat War and 755 years passed from Kali Era. Kali Era started from 3101 BC. 755 years have passed so 3101-755 = 2346 BC is the year when 3030 years had passed from the Bharat War. So 2346+3030 = 5376 BC appears to be the date of Bharat War.”…

The same has again been published in No. 34 of the Kavya Mala series, as the
16th document with the title “the stone inscription of Sri Pulakesin II of the
Chalukya dynasty“. The author has examined with the kind help of Sri Rallabhandi
Subbarao Pantulu, Retired History Professor in the Govt. Arts college,
Rajahmundry and Honorary Secretary of the Andhra Historical Research Society,
the text published in the Indian Antiquary as well as the photographic copy of
the inscription itself which are reproduced below:-

This
has been published in the Prachina Lekha Mala with a little alteration in the
2nd line.
The text of the inscription should read when arranged in the prose
order:-

Bhaarataa daahavaaditah, Kalau
Kaale, Trimsatsu trishasreshu + saptaabda sata yukteshu + Sateshu Abdeshu
panchasu panchaasatsu + shatsu + panchasataasucha, samaasu samatitaasu
sakaanaamapi bhuubhujaam”

and when rendered into
English:—
(37 years elapsed) after the
Mahabharata war (up to the beginning of the Kali 1st year) and in Kali
30+3000+700+500=4230, and after 50+6+500=556 years after (the destruction of the
Saka kings).

But this reading cannot yield any cogent meaning. So
a mistake is inferred in the carving of the letters of the inscription and two
alterations have been suggested and incorporated in the translation and in the
text as published in the Praachina lekha Maala,
1. “Saptabda” is altered into “satabda” and
2.
“Sateshu” into “gateshu.”
with these alterations the inscription is
made to yield the following meaning:

3135
after Kali or 556 after the Saka kings.

According to this reading
of the text:
Since 556 of the Saka era is
equal to 634 A.D., 3135 of Kali=556 of Saka era or 634 A.D.; Kali 1 is 3135-634=
2501, and the Mahabharata war is located in 2538 B.C.(= 38 years before Kali 1
according to this calculation,2501 B.C.)”

So we suggest that two alterations are unnecessary. One, the second of “Sateshu” into “gateshu” is enough.
Then the inscription means that 37+(30+3000+700+5)—(50 +6+500)=37+3735=3772 after the Bharata war minus 556 of Saka era or 634 A.D. Therefore the year of the Mahabharata war=3772—634=3138 B.C.,which tallies with our determination based on other indisputable historical and inscriptional evidence.
The expression ‘Sakanamapi Bhubhujam’ in the inscription has been interpreted by modern Indian historians, as ‘from the time of coronotion of the Saka princes’. That is not correct. The expression is to be interpreted not as we please but according to the traditional usage in the country.
Kalidasa has explained the expression thus in his Jyotirvidabharana ,Chapter X verse 109.
It means “who-ever kills the Sakas in large numbers would be called a “Saka Kaaraka”, an emperor, and founder of a new era, ousting the previous era”.
Salivahana who destroyed large numbers of the Mlechchas, the Sakas, and Protected the country, became the founder of an era after his name in Kali 3179 (A.D. 78), and emperor of Bharat. After the founding of his era, the vogue of the era of his grand-father, emperor Vikrama diminished.

This inscription had been discovered in 1880 A.D. But this date 3138 B.C. has been used all these years in our history as the sheet anchor of Ancient Hindu Chronology. Dr. FIeet‘s translation of the inscription in the Indian Antiquary Vol V. p. 73 is as follows. “Three thousand seven hundred and thirty years having elapsed since the war of the Bharatas and (three thousand) five hundred and fifty years having elapsed in the Kali Age and five hundred and Six years of the Saka kings having elapsed, this stone temple of Jinendra, the abode of glory, was conatructed by the order of the learned Ravikirti etc, etc.” This rendering also does not hold good.
It is clearly revealed in this inscription that after the Mahabharata war, by the year Saka 556(=634 A.D.) 3772 years and after Kali 3735 years had elapsed, i.e. the year of the Mahabharata war is 3772—634=3138 B.C. and the Ist year of the Kali era is 3735-634=3101 B. C. Even after such clear inscriptional evidence has been available, to locate the date of the Bharata war in 3138 B.C, in exact conformity with the evidence of the Puranas that modern historians should ignore it all and persist in holding and propagating, even to this day, the erroneous view, foisted upon us by interested and prejudiced European orientalists, that the Bharata war took place in 1500 B.C., is significant and disgraceful. Even in the history published in volumes by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, under the general editorship of Dr. Munshi, the date of the Mahabharata war is given as 1500 B.C. If these modern historians have real faith in the inscriptions as they vociferously profess they should now change the views they had held previously, in view of the inscriptional evidence advanced above and endeavour to reconstruct the ancient history of Bharat from 3138 B.C., according to the Puranas.
The true histories of Magadha, Kashmir and Nepal, available in the Puranas and other indigenous literature of ancient times, proclaim unequivocally and with one voice, that the Bharata war took place 36 years before Kali(of 3102 B.C.) or in 3138 B.C.. Inscriptional evidence in support of the determination is now available.”

There are differences only in terms of the year in which the Mahabharata had happened, not whether it had happened.

We shall look for more proof from Inscriptions, archaeological sites, Puranas, Literature,Celestial events like Eclipses, the Birth charts of principal characters.

http://trueindianhistory-kvchelam.blogspot.in/2009/10/3-aihole-inscription.html

http://hindunet.org/hindu_history/ancient/mahabharat/mahab_vartak.html

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