[Tikun] Rajju And Palya

Hindu Theoretical Math

It is interesting to note that while Western civilization was still trying to work out why square wheels did not work very well (terrible over exaggeration), Hindu philosophers and Mathematicians were delving into Theoretical Math equations which would make heads spin even today.

I list 2 examples below which you can "calculate" if you like.

What Is A Rajju?

In Ratnasañcaya-prakaraṇa (Jainism), a "RAJJU" RAJJU is defined as follows:

A "Deva" can travel at a speed of 2,057,152 Yojanas per second.

Let us assume for a moment that the word "Deva" is the Vedic word for a particle of light (travelling at light speed).

Now consider that this came out of Ancient India (Bharat) and then ask yourself how a "supposed" race of people who lived in the jungle (extremely racist elitist viewpoint) - could even image the concept of Light Speed.

Not only that but they subdivided their counting system "units" to an even smaller decimal point compared to our current system.

Copy this into your computer calculator:

2057152/186400=

Allowing for a fraction of an error, this is 11 times smaller. So what is the significance of this smaller size?

One Yojan is approximately equal to 6 miles. ***

The distance they travel in 6 months is measured as 1 Rajju." (Prakrit Bharati Academy: Astronomy and Cosmology).

NOTE

*** There are various distances allocated to 1 Yojan dependent upon which "school" of learning the information came from.

For astronomy calculations, Jains use Pramana Yojan (1,000 Yojanas).

One Rajju is equal to 1,160,000,000,000,000 miles (1,856,000,000,000,000 Kms).

What Is A Palya?

A "Palya" is defined as the time it takes to build a cube of lambs wool 1 (or possibly 100) Yojans high (between 4 - 9 miles or 6.4 km - 14.5 km), if one strand was laid down every 100 years (and does not take into consideration the micron size of the wool).

However, you could use 20 "microns" as your working example - for easier rounded numbers.

These 2 may be seen as "Koans" or they may be seen as theoretical math problems.

As I stated above, the Yojan can vary in length depending upon which school taught the lesson from 4 - 9 miles or 6.4 km - 14.5 km per Yojan.

This discrepancy may have evolved from teachers giving students higher numbers (start at 4 miles, then 5 miles, then 6 etc) to continue expanding the students brain and flexibility.

Flexibility in that the distance may vary due external forces affecting speed just as today, it has been discovered that there are pockets of space which slow down Light Speed.

For example, on Earth Light is slowed down in transparent "media" such as air, water and glass.

It is well known that there are massive pockets of oxygen, hydrogen and other gasses in Space so IF light travelled through any of these, it slows down.

The "Light Constant" theory is not always constantly correct. +