Critique of 3067BCE for Mahabharata war date

Critique of 3067BCE date:

Following are the list of major flaws in the year 3067BC
1. Bhishma nirvana in Phalguna wrongly claimed as Magha: In the table 1, all the dates for full moon in the year 3067BCE and 3066BCE are listed. The month assigned by the author of 3067BCE is listed along with the actual position of the full moon. It clearly matches till the month of Magha Dec 27 3067BCE. The author then wrongly introduces an Adhika masa to claim full moon in Purva Phalguni as Magha instead of Phalguna to fit his date of Bhishma nirvana Jan 17 3066BCE. This error then propagates down to the future months. Chaitra month is wrongly declared as Phalguna, Vaishaka is wrongly declared as Chaitra and so on. Figures 1 to 4 are the sky map of the full moon days in 3066BCE highlighting the error.





Table 3: Mislabeling of Phalguna month as Adhika Magha

Figure 1: Full moon Jan 26 3066BCE in Purva Phalguni is wrongly declared as Magha

Figure 2: Full moon Feb 25 3066BCE in Chitra wrongly declared as Phalguna




Figure 3: Full moon March 26 3066BCE in Vishaka is wrongly declared as Chaitra

Figure 4: Full moon April 24 3066BCE in Jyestha is wrongly declared as Vaishaka

2. Retrograde from Vishaka to Swati is wrongly claimed as retrograde from Jyestha to Anuradha: The verse 5-143-9 from Udyoga parva clearly states that Mars retrogrades from Jyeshta to Anuradha. Sky map of the year 3066BCE in fact shows Mars retrograding from Vishaka to Swati (Figure 5 and 6). Clearly the author of 3066BCE is in error.

कृत्वा चाङ्गारको वक्रं ज्योष्ठायां मधुसूदन। अनुराधां प्रार्थयते मैत्रं संगमयन्निव । 5-143-9

Figure 5: Sky map of Feb 27 3067BC shows Mars at Vishaka and May 8 shows Mars at Swathi

3. Bhishma lying on the bed of arrows for 58 days: There is a clear reference from Anushasana parva (13-273-27) where Bhishma claims that he was lying on the bed of arrows for 58 days.

अष्टपञ्चाशतं रात्र्यः शयानस्याद्य मे गताः। शरेषु निशिताग्नेषु यथा वर्षशतं तथा॥ 13-273-27

As per 3066BCE chronology Bhishma spent only 44 days in the bed of arrows.

4. A month gap between Duryodhana declaring war and Pandavas deciding to go to war: As per 3067BCE chronology Duryodhana declares war on Oct 5 3067BC. Sri Krishna rides with Karna to Upaplavya on Oct 8. He tells Karna to start the war rituals on Oct 15 as per verse 5-142-18. He then has a long deliberation with Pandavas weather to go to war until Nov 1 3067BCE while the enemy is preparing for war. Is the author trying to suggest that Sri Krishna skipped the Oct 15 Amavasya date that he himself set?

सप्तमाच्चापि दिवसादमावास्या भविष्यति। सङ्ग्रामो युज्यतां तस्यां तामाहुः शक्रदेवताम् ॥ 5-142-18

The chronology only fits if we assume only 1 or 2 day passed between Duryodhana declaring war when Pushya is in ascendent, Sri Krishna riding with Karna reaches Upaplavya and convinces Pandavas to head to Kurukshetra immediately.

5. Autumnal equinox in Mrigashira month: As per 3066BCE chronology Autumnal equinox falls on Oct 17 in Mrigashira month. But the verse in Udyoga parva states that Sharad ritu was giving away to Hemant ritu when Sri Krishna left for Hastinapura from Upaplavya in Karthika. The date as per 3067BCE chronology is Sep 27. This is 20 days before the Autumnal equinox. It is not possible for Autumn to end so early.

6. No retrograde motion of Venus in 3067BCE: The verse 6-3-15 mentions Venus retrograding between Uttara Bhadra and Purva Bhandra. There is no such event happening in 3067BCE

शुक्रः प्रोष्ठपदे पूर्वे समारुह्य विरोचते । उत्तरे तु परिक्रम्य सहितः समुदीक्षते ॥ 6-3-15