Sudheer Birodkar’s Thoughts and Writings about Indian History and Resources

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Who is Sudheer Birodkar

Sudheer Birodkar is a contemporary Indian writer who writes a great many manuscripts about the customs of ancient India and the development of Hinduism. There is little to be found of his birth date or city of origin, or indeed, of his own “caste” as it were (if there were still castes to exist) in India. But he does indeed, have a love of India in his heart and a love of their Hindu principles or “Hindutva” in his soul and a pride of the accomplishments of the ancients of his homeland. Birodkar gives us insight on not only the customs of the ancient Hindus, but also the details of life and lifestyles of ancient India.

Birodkar attributes many things to the ancients of India, many advancements in mathematics, astronomy, engineering, and even entertainment. There are manygames and sports that originated in ancient India. The pieces in a chess game or “Chatur-Anga” represented infantry, elephants, Calvary, and chariots, and the game may have played to allocate land among clan members. This has developed into the game of chess we play today. Ancient Indian royalty played using cards known as Ganjifa cards that have developed into the playing cards of today. And ancient India claims Kalaripayattu, mentioned in early Vedic literature and developed from a state called Kerala.

What is Sudheer’s Most Significant Writing Contribution

Perhaps Sudheer Birodkar’s most significant writing is “Ancient India’s Contribution to Our World’s Material (Temporal) Culture.” To quote Birodkar “The human spirit in Ancient Indian has given to the world, the values of non-violence, religious tolerance, renunciation, along with many elements of knowledge in fields like production technology, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, navigation, architecture, civil engineering, medical science, logic, astronomy, mathematics, and so on.” He writes on this subject, he says, so that those from India do not forget the importance of their past, the important contributions they have made to society, and their ability to contribute to society. He continues to say that the legacy of India, grounded in non-violence as melodically described in the Bhagavad-Gita, can help people worldwide realize the ability to build rather than destroy, to work together and realize that they need to conquer only what is within themselves.

There is nothing as elusive than the formation of the concept of zero . This concept originated in India, in the mind of Brahmagupta the astronomer. Until the conception of zero, one could only compute with positive numbers. Mathematics could only exist in its basest form. This abstraction paved the way for other mathematical advancements in ancient India. Brahmagupta himself made continued mathematical progress with discovery of integer solutions to equations and inventing formulas to aid in sine tables. Around 150 BC followers of a religion/philosophy called Jainism began to develop further mathematics to include the theory of numbers, geometry, infinity, and logarithms. The mathematical front was relatively quiet in India after that time until 500 AD, the classical era of Indian mathematics.

Birodkar’s View of Ancient Astronomy

Another astounding area of interest that Birodkar introduces us to is the origins of ancient astronomy. In 2000 BC Vedic Aryans worshipped the Sun, Stars, and Comets, and they relied on these planetary forces to tell their fortunes and guide their decisions. But that is no surprise. What may be a surprise is that 1000 years before Copernicus and Galileo wrote their dissertations, Aryabhatta’s “Magnum Opus,” was written. In it were methods for calculating triangles and spheres and the circumference of the earth. Aryabhatta’s knowledge was used to fix the Panchanga, the Hindu calendar. He was also able to predict with accuracy the timing of eclipses. Ancient Indians also recognized the force of gravity and speculated that our sun may be the center of the universe, called heliocentrism.

Thoughts about Ancient Shipbuilding

Surprising is the interest and ability of shipbuilding in ancient India. Surprising because it was believed by the Hindu religion that if he crossed the seas he would “lose his religion.” Yet, build ships they could. And they could navigate them as well. There was a panel found at Mohenjodaro showing a sailing craft. There descriptions are noted in the ancient text Yukti Kalpa Taru. Those in ancient India knew which woods were best used, they had a classification system, and they even had a tool for navigation. Perhaps most surprising is this sextant that they used which was called Vruttashanga-Bhaga and used a magnet for navigation. Birodkar claims that even J.L. Reid, noted Naval architect and shipbuilding expert, in an article written for the “Bombay Gazetteer” acknowledged that India may have invented the modern compass.

Sudheer Birodkar has written many manuscripts on ancient India. His prolific writings allow us glimpses into ancient customs and everyday living. His pride in his heritage has driven him to explore the many accomplishments of those ancients in India and then to share them with the world. And through this he hopes that India will share his pride and rise up to realize the influence it has had on today’s world and the influence it can continue to have.

Resources about Sudheer Birodkar and Indian History

“Hindutva”

lifestyles of ancient India

Games and sports that originated in ancient India

Ancient India’s Contribution to Our World’s Material (Temporal) Culture

Resource by T.Price

I am a mom of 2 boys who loves to spend time with them doing fun things outdoors. In my spare time I have my own things I enjoy doing such as gardening, reading old books, and being a closet history buff.

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