Debunking Nilesh Oak: The myth of sun setting in Pushya during Hemanta

14 min readJul 18, 2021

vEvents at Pañcavaṭī. Unknown artist. From Wikimedia Commons and LACMA online collection.

Nilesh Oak’s so-called “third linchpin” [sic] for his dating of the Rāmāyaṇa is “Sun setting near Pushya during Hemanta season (11500 BCE–17500 BCE)”.[1] As many of you know, the Puṣya asterism is γ, δ, and θ Cancri. In this article, I will show how and why this claim, for which Oak relies on an incorrect translation [edited] by Satavalekar, is wrong. In fact, as most commentaries and translations state, the verse cited by Oak implies something quite different, viz. that the lunar month was Pauṣa during the Hemanta season.

The verse in question

As stated by Oak many times in his talks and interviews, Oak’s ‘linchpin’ is based on the following Rāmāyaṇa verse 3.16.12 (3.15.12 in the critical edition), uttered by Lakṣmaṇa—

निवृत्ताकाशशयनाः पुष्यनीता हिमारुणाः।
शीता वृद्धतरायामास्त्रियामा यान्ति साम्प्रतम्॥
nivṛttākāśaśayanāḥ puṣyanītā himāruṇāḥ
śītā vṛddhatarāyāmāstriyāmā yānti sāmpratam

What does Oak claim about this verse?

In his interview to DD News,[2] Oak claimed “Lakṣmaṇa describes the sky … निवृत्ताकाशशयनाः पुष्यनीता हिमारुणाः … he is referring to the sun, so sun is setting on Puṣya nakṣatra during the Hemanta ṛtu.” He has made similar claims at many other places. This claim is incorrect, as we will see in this article.

In addition, the specific part “sun is setting” in this claim is also illogical. As per verse 3.16.2 (critical edition 3.15.2), Lakṣmaṇa spoke the above verse (3.16.12, critical edition 3.15.2) at the time of daybreak, when the night had just ended and it had dawned. If Lakṣmaṇa is describing the sky at the time of dawn, can he say “the sun is setting” (as Oak claims) or will he say “the sun is rising”? The answer is obvious.

What does the verse actually mean?

I will first give the word-for-word meaning of this verse, with the sandhis broken down. Note that the word puṣya in Sanskrit means both (1) “the Puṣya asterism” (2) “the Pauṣa lunar month” (Apte and many other Sanskrit dictionaries). With this, here is the word-for-word meaning—

निवृत्ताकाशशयनाः = “in which sleeping under the [open] sky has ceased/stopped” (निवृत्तम् आकाशे अनावृतप्रदेशे शयनं यासु ताः)

पुष्यनीताः = “led by the Puṣya asterism or the Pauṣa lunar month” (पुष्येण नीताः)

हिमारुणाः = “gray due to fog” (हिमेन अरुणाः धूसराः)

शीताः = “cold”

वृद्धतरायामाः = “with length much increased”, i.e. “much longer” (वृद्धतरः आयामः यासां ताः)

त्रियामाः = “nights”

यान्ति = “go, pass”

साम्प्रतम् = “now”.

Putting this all together, here is my translation—

Now, the nights —in which sleeping under the open sky has ceased; which are led by the ‘Puṣya’ asterism (or ‘Pauṣa’ lunar month); which are gray due to fog; and which are cold and much longer — pass.

Or, in two sentences for better readability —

In the nights that pass now, people no longer sleep under the open sky. The nights, led by the ‘Puṣya’ asterism (or the ‘Pauṣa’ lunar month), are gray due to fog, cold, and much longer.

Does this verse refer to the sun, the sunset, or sunset in Puṣya?

No. Nowhere does the verse talk about the sun, the sunset, or the sunset in or near Puṣya. There is no word in the entire verse which refers to the sun or the sunset (more on the word अरुण in this verse later). Each of the five adjectives (निवृत्ताकाशशयनाः, पुष्यनीताः, हिमारुणाः, शीताः, and वृद्धतरायामाः) in the verse qualifies the noun त्रियामाः (“nights”). So, all adjectives apply to the nights alone. Hence, it is the nights which are “led/guided by Puṣya”, i.e., nights in which the Puṣya asterism is prominently visible (or used as a guide) or nights which belong to the Pauṣa lunar month.

What is the implication of the verse?

The implication of the verse is that the Pauṣa lunar month was in the season of Hemanta. This is as per the “standard” season-month mapping in most Sanskrit texts and literature, including the Rāmāyaṇa. This mapping also matches with Caitra being in Vasanta as clearly stated in the first sarga of the Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa. This was shown in my previous article in this series.[3]

This implication does not match with Oak’s dating of the Rāmāyaṇa and his grand “high-chronology” scheme. Precisely for this reason, Oak will never agree with this (unless he changes his date of the Rāmāyaṇa and his chronology).

What do Indian translators say on this verse?

In this section, we will see that most Indian translators say more or less the same as what I have stated above. In part 3 of his 10-part series refuting Nilesh Oak’s date of 12209 BCE,[4] Dr. Raja Ram Mohan Roy cited four English translations (IIT Kanpur website, valmikiramayan website, Hari Prasad Shastri, and Manmath Nath Dutt) and two Hindi translations (Gita Press and Dwarkaprasad Sharma Chaturvedi) of this verse. All six translations cited by him interpret the reference to Puṣya as the Puṣya asterism being visible at night or the lunar month being Pauṣa. I will not repeat the translations cited by Dr. Roy but instead show five more translations by Indian scholars before we look at foreign scholars and finally at authoritative Sanskrit commentaries.

Here is the Gita Press English translation[5]—

The nights now preclude repose in open air, are marked with the presence of the constellation known by the name ‘Puṣya’, look dusty with frost, and become colder and longer.

Here is the English translation by Bibek Debroy—

One can no longer sleep under the open sky. ‘Pushya’ nakshatra brings a brownish-grey mist. The night is now such that each ‘yama’ seems to be cold and longer.

Here is the Gujarati translation by Sastu Sahitya Vardhak Karyalay[6]—

આ ઋતુમાં પુષ્ય નક્ષત્ર ઉપરથી જેનું પ્રમાણ કરી શકાય છે કિંવા પોષ માસ જેની સમીપ આવી પહોંચ્યો છે એવી રાત્રિઓ ઘણી મોટી થાય છે. તેમાં નિરંતર શીત તથા ઝાકણ વરસ્યા કરે છે અને કઈ પણ પાથર્યા વિનાની પૃથ્વી પર શયન કરી શકાતું નથી.

The translation says પુષ્ય નક્ષત્ર ઉપરથી જેનું પ્રમાણ કરી શકાય છે કિંવા પોષ માસ જેની સમીપ આવી પહોંચ્યો છે એવી રાત્રિઓ, i.e., “nights whose length can be measured by the Puṣya asterism or nights which have been approached by the Pauṣa month.” Note that in Gujarati, the Pauṣa month is called poṣa (પોષ).

Here is the Marathi translation on the satsangdhara website[7]—

या हेमंत कालात रात्री मोठ्या होत आहेत। यात सरदी फारच वाढत आहे। खुल्या आकाशाखाली कुणी झोपत नाही। पौष महिन्यातील या रात्री हिमपातामुळे धूसर प्रतीत होत आहेत।

The translation says पौष महिन्यातील या रात्री, i.e., “these nights in the [lunar] month of Pauṣa.”

Here is the Kannada translation by N. Ranganatha Sharma, a tall scholar of both Sanskrit and Kannada[8] —

ರಾತ್ರಿಯ ಹೊತ್ತು ಬಯುಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಲಗುವುದನ್ನು ಜನರು ತ್ಯಜಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈಗ ಪುಷ್ಯನಕ್ಷತ್ರದಿನ್ದ ರಾತ್ರಿಯ ಪರಿಮಾಣನನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಹಿಡಿಯಬಹುದಾಗಿದೆ. ಮಂಜು ಮುಸುಕಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಚಳಿಗಾಳಿಯಿಂದ ರಾತ್ರಿ ಬಹು ತಣ್ಣಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ರಾತ್ರಿಯ ಕಾಲಮು ಅತಿದೀರ್ಘನಾಗಿದೆ.

The translation says ಈಗ ಪುಷ್ಯನಕ್ಷತ್ರದಿನ್ದ ರಾತ್ರಿಯ ಪರಿಮಾಣನನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಹಿಡಿಯಬಹುದಾಗಿದೆ, which loosely translates as “now the length/measure of the nights can be found out (=ascertained) from the Puṣya asterism.” I have benefited from the kind help of some Kannada speakers for this English rendering.

To summarize, eleven translations in five different languages by Indian translators (six presented by Dr. Roy and five by me) interpret the reference to Puṣya in the verse as either Puṣya being visible in the night or the lunar month being Puṣya (Pauṣa). More translations by Indian translators can be looked up. I currently do not have the time to do this.

What do foreign translators say on this verse?

Here is the English translation by Sheldon Pollock—

No longer can one sleep outdoors. Led by the ‘Puṣya’ star the nights pass cold and gray with snow and last far longer than their three watches.

Pollock’s translation of this word renders हिमारुणाः as “gray with snow”. Pollock has explained हिम as “snow”. The Sanskrit word हिम can mean both “snow” and “fog or mist”. Barring few exceptions like Lambasingi, it does not snow in central and south India. The scene is set in Pañcavaṭī, far south of the Himalayas, so “snow” is unlikely to be the sense of हिम here.

Here is the French translation by Alfred Roussel—

Les voici maintenant les froides et longues nuits pendant lesquelles on cesse de coucher en plein air, à qui Pushya sert de guide et qu’un (ciel) neigeux obscurcit.

In English, this reads “Here they are now — the cold and long nights during which we stop sleeping in the open air, to which Pushya serves as a guide, and a snowy (sky) obscures.” I have taken help of Google Translate here.

Here is the Italian translation by Gaspare Gorresio —

Si cessa dal dormire sull’alto delle case a cielo scoperto; le notti non han più fiori, son fatte fosche dai geli e fredde ed hanno ora più lunga durata.

In English, this reads “We stop sleeping on the top of the open-air houses; the nights have no more flowers, they are made dull by frost and cold and now have a longer duration.” I have taken help of Google Translate here. It seems Gorresio had (or mistakenly read) a different reading with the word puṣpa (“flower”) in place of puṣya. He probably had puṣpahīnāḥ (पुष्पहीनाः) instead of puṣyanītāḥ (पुष्यनीताः). Still, he reads the word with the nights only and there is no reference to the sun or sunset.

In an article Einteilung des Tages und Zeitmessung im alten Indien (“Organization of the day and timekeeping in ancient India”) in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft (Volume 74, page 259, 1920), Hermann Georg Jacobi wrote —

Wenn in der angeführten Stelle des Rāmāyaṇa die kalten Winternächte genannt worden , so ist damit zweifellos der lunare Monat Pauṣa gemeint.

Translated into English, this means “When the cold winter nights are mentioned in the cited passage of the Rāmāyaṇa, this undoubtedly refers to the lunar month of Pauṣa.” Though I can understand German, I have taken the help of Google Translate here. The reference Jacobi gives is the same verse which is under discussion, citing the commentaries of Rāmavarmā and Maheśvaratīrtha (see below).

What do Sanskrit commentaries say?

In this section, we will see that most major Sanskrit commentaries also say more or less the same on this verse as various translations discussed above. In fact, most translations are guided by Sanskrit commentaries which explain the anvaya and break-down of compounds lucidly. Let us see how five major Sanskrit commentaries[9][10] explain the word पुष्यनीताः.

(1) The Tilaka commentary by Rāmavarmā explains the word as —

पुष्यनक्षत्रबोधितरात्रिकालपरिमाणाः
“the measure of the nights’ time is known by the Puṣya asterism”

The essence is that Puṣya is visible during most of the night.

(2) The Śiromaṇi commentary by Śivasahāya says पुष्यनक्षत्रज्ञापितनिशाकालपरिमाणाः, almost the same as what the Tilaka says.

(3) The Bhūṣaṇa commentary by Govindarāja explains—

पुष्यनक्षत्रयुक्ता पौर्णमासी पुष्यं तेन नीता तत्प्रधानाः
“[nights] led by the full moon night associated with the ‘Puṣya’ asterism”

As the full moon occurs in or near Puṣya in the lunar month of Pauṣa, the implied explanation is “[nights] led by the full moon night of [the lunar month of] Pauṣa”.

(4) The Tattvadīpikā commentary of Maheśvaratīrtha gives two meanings which are more or less the same as given by the Tilaka and the Bhūṣaṇa (पुष्यनीताः पुष्यनक्षत्रेण नीताः प्रवर्तिताः, येषु दिवसेषु पुष्यनक्षत्रं रात्रिकालपरिमाणं बोधयतीत्यर्थः, अन्ये तु पुष्यनीता पुष्यनक्षत्रयुक्तापौर्णमासीनीताः, लक्ष्यते तथा च पुष्यनक्षत्रयुक्तां पौर्णमासीं नीताः गताः तदुपलक्षिता इति यावत्). Maheśvaratīrtha adds a third meaning where he interprets पुष्य as पोष्य to mean “snakes” (भोगिनः) so पुष्यनीताः = “[nights] spent with snakes”, i.e., spent with trouble. This third meaning is not relevant to astronomy.

(5) Another Sanskrit commentary, indicated as ‘स’ in the Nirnay Sagar Press edition, simply says —

पुष्यनीताः पुष्यमासावधिकाः
“belonging to the period of the Puṣya (=Pauṣa) month”

This is also correct since, as we have observed earlier, the word puṣya in Sanskrit means both (1) “the Puṣya asterism” (2) “the Pauṣa lunar month” (Apte and many other Sanskrit dictionaries).

To summarize, five major Sanskrit commentaries interpret the reference to Puṣya in verse 3.16.12 as the Puṣya asterism being visible during most of the night or the lunar month being Pauṣa.

Why does Oak claim sunset in Puṣya?

Oak has probably misunderstood the word अरुण in हिमारुणाः for the sun. While one of the meanings of the word अरुण is indeed the sun, the word here is not a standalone word but the second part of the compound हिमारुणाः. In addition, the usage हिमारुणाः is in plural (feminine nominative plural), and hence cannot refer to the Sun which is masculine in Sanskrit and singular. Even if one mistakenly concludes अरुण means “the sun” in हिमारुणाः, there is no word alluding to the sun setting anywhere in the verse. The last word अरुण in the compound हिमारुणाः means “gray” and the first word हिम means “fog” or “mist”. Therefore, हिमारुणाः means “gray due to fog or mist”. It is thus not a reference to the sun.

Now we come to पुष्यनीताः, the critical word. This is also in plural (feminine nominative plural). Hence, it cannot refer to the position of the sun. The word also does not allude to the sunset in any way.

Both पुष्यनीताः and हिमारुणाः have to be read with the word त्रियामाः (nights) only, and mean what has been stated earlier.

Does Oak have a source to support him?

To his credit, Oak has a translation to cite. Oak relies on the translation authored by (edited by?) Shripad Damodar Satavalekar.[11] Attacking other translations of this verse and defending his own interpretation, Oak says — [12]

When modern Ramayana researchers twist and torture translations of Valmiki Ramayana, not only they embrace ‘asat’ [sic] by their falsehood of wrong translations and disagree with someone like Pandit Satavalekar but also create ‘Vitanda’ by their deliberate and false translations which do not match with their own claims for the dating of Ramayana.

As expected, the grand and long-winded statement is mostly the typical Oak fluff with very little content. The only content in the statement is “disagreeing with Pandit Satavalekar”. Does Oak realize that he himself disagrees with Pandit Satavalekar in placing Caitra lunar month during the time of the Rāmāyaṇa in the Śarad season? The Marathi translation of the first sarga of Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa authored by (edited by?) Satavalekar unambiguously states that it was Caitra and it was Vasanta. The relevant verses are 4.1.10, 4.1.35, 4.1.41, and 4.1.91.[3]

As a modern Rāmāyaṇa researcher, Oak can disagree with Pandit Satavalekar when it suits him, but if others disagree with Satavalekar then he makes a great deal out of it. Such are Oak’s convenient standards.

Why is Satavalekar’s translation incorrect?

In Satavalekar’s Marathi translation, the whole first line निवृत्ताकाशशयनाः पुष्यनीता हिमारुणाः is mistakenly read with दिवसाः in the previous verse. The translation says सूर्य पुष्य नक्षत्रावर मावळत असतो, which probably means “the sun sets on the Puṣya asterism”. I do not know Marathi grammar very well, but based on some kind help from Marathi speakers, the construction मावळत असतो does not seem to be the present continuous tense.

Anyway, this translation is to be deemed incorrect because of the following reasons —

(1) Against all major Sanskrit commentaries, the translation reads the first half of verse 3.16.12 with the previous verse. While that in itself is not a problem, the structure of the two verses “[many adjectives] … such are the days” (3.16.11) and “[many adjectives] … such are the nights” (3.16.12) makes such an anvaya very unlikely to capture the original sense intended by Vālmīki. The two verses are complete and independent sentences in themselves. Therefore, reading the first half of the second verse with the first verse is neither required nor natural. In addition, reading the first half of 3.16.12 with 3.16.11 would imply the observation that sleeping under the open sky has ceased during the days (as opposed to during the nights). Indeed the translation says सांप्रत या दिवसात उघड्या प्रदेशामध्ये कोणीही शयन करीत नाहीत, for which the sense probably is “nobody sleeps in the open during these days”. This does not make natural sense, for sleeping under the open sky during the previous season (Śarad) with clear skies, lack or rain, and lack of cold weather would naturally occur during the night, not during the day.

(2) Even if one reads the first half of 3.16.12 with 3.16.11, the word पुष्यनीताः (now to be taken as masculine nominative plural) would qualify “the days” (दिवसाः in 3.16.11). And so the sense of the word would be “days led by Puṣya”. This would again imply “days of Puṣya = Pauṣa lunar month”. It cannot mean “days in which Puṣya is visible” as asterisms are not visible in the day.

(3) Further, even if the word पुष्यनीताः qualified days of Hemanta, it would still not refer to the sun or the sunset. In itself, the word पुष्यनीताः has no reference to the sun or the setting of the sun. The word being plural cannot refer to the sun. There is no word standing for the sun in 3.16.11 which पुष्यनीताः can qualify. The word सूर्य is a part of the compound मृदुसूर्याः, and all the six adjectives in 3.16.11 including मृदुसूर्याः qualify the word दिवसाः = “the days”. So, the meaning “the sun is setting on the Puṣya asterism” is impossible even if the first line of 3.16.12 is read with 3.16.11.

It cannot be assumed that the translator (editor?) Satavalekar took हिमारुणाः (or अरुण in हिमारुणाः) to refer the sun, for हिमारुणाः is separately rendered in the translaton as बर्फ़ामुळे प्रदेश पांढुरके दिसत आहेत (“the region looks pale due to the snow”). Interestingly, this part is not fully correct as the adjective हिमारुणाः is now qualifying “the days” and not “the region”.

Satavalekar was a tall scholar no doubt, but scholars also err. In this case, the error is obvious as I have shown above. In addition, five Sanskrit commentaries and eleven translations by Indian scholars in five languages (English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and Kannada) contradict the translation by Satavalekar.

A variant reading

In the endnotes to his translation of the Araṇyakāṇḍa, Pollock notes that the reading in four manuscripts (one Sharada and three Devanagari manuscripts) is puṣyanetrāḥ (पुष्यनेत्राः) instead of puṣyanītāḥ (पुष्यनीताः). The feminine plural words puṣyanetrāḥ (पुष्यनेत्राः) = “[nights] whose leader/guide is Puṣya” (i.e., “nights of Pauṣa”) and mṛganetrāḥ (मृगनेत्राः) = “[nights] whose leader/guide is Mṛga” (i.e., “nights of Mārgaśīrṣa”) are stock examples in grammar works. Both these examples with the structure [asterism name]-netrā are cited in the Mahābhāṣya, the Kāśikā, and the Siddhāntakaumudī and are invariably explained as nights. This is intuitive as asterisms are visible in the night and are used as a navigational guide in the night alone. In these examples, the last part netra is not from netra (नेत्र) = “an eye” but from netṛ (नेतृ) = “a leader, guide”. The word netṛ (नेतृ) = “leader” comes from the root √nī (नी) = “to lead, to guide”. The word puṣyanītāḥ (पुष्यनीताः) also has the same structure, name of an asterism followed by the word nītā (नीता) = “led, guided”, which is also from the root √nī (नी). So, the variant reading puṣyanetrāḥ (पुष्यनेत्राः) is structurally similar to puṣyanītāḥ (पुष्यनीताः) and gives almost the same meaning, viz. “[nights] with Puṣya [asterism] as the leader/guide”, as puṣyanītāḥ (पुष्यनीताः) = “[nights] led/guided by Puṣya [asterism]”. Interestingly, the French translation by Alfred Roussel has this sense of Puṣya being the guide in the nights.

The Vācaspatya Sanskrit dictionary explains the feminine word puṣyanetrā (पुष्यनेत्रा) as “the night in which Puṣya asterism is seen from the first phase till the end” (पुष्यः नक्षत्रं नेता प्रथमावधिशेषपर्य्यन्तसमापको यस्याः, यस्यां रात्रौ प्रथमावधिशेषपर्य्यन्तं पुष्यनक्षत्रस्य दर्शनं तादृश्यां रात्रौ). This is the also the sense suggested by puṣyanītāḥ (पुष्यनीताः) in the Sanskrit commentaries. The commentaries imply that in the nights [of the Pauṣa lunar month], the asterism Puṣya is visible for almost all of the night, and hence the length of the night is made known by Puṣya. Pollock notes that the editors of Mylapore edition state, “the close of night in winter is signalled by Puṣya.”

The shades of meaning of the variant reading puṣyanetrāḥ (पुष्यनेत्राः) add to our understanding of the main reading (and the critical edition reading) puṣyanītāḥ (पुष्यनीताः).

Conclusions

With this analysis, Oak’s false claim of “Sun setting near Pushya during Hemanta season”, based on a mistranslation by Satvalekar, is discredited. As most translations and commentaries imply, the lunar month of Pauṣa was in Hemanta season as per the verse 3.16.12 (CE 3.15.12) of the Rāmāyaṇa. This correct conclusion matches with Caitra being in Vasanta as is clearly stated in Rāmāyaṇa verses 4.1.10, 4.1.35, 4.1.41, and 4.1.91 which were discussed in the previous article in this series.[3]

PS: I am thankful to Dr. Raja Ram Mohan Roy for reading the pre-publication draft and suggesting several minor edits.