Every now and then, there is an activity that makes you go "Why do we not do these things more often?" And it leaves you drenched with a will to restart all the things that were, for whatever reason, lost along the way.
How can the product of time * constant * distance be distance?
After three rough sheets of paper and a much rougher discussion with S (on whether it was the ancient scriptures, or Tulsidas, or the generator of the meme), the only logical explanation was to assume 'SAHASTRA*YOJANA' as a measure of speed.
How then do you assume distance to be a measure of speed? The answer presumably is, on an empirical basis. Note that it was not uncommon for people to answer in days when asked "How far is Takshashila from Magadha". So if one were to conjecture that a man (or a caravan / army / troupe / whatever) travelled 22 miles in a day, then the distance they would travel in a year would be ~8000 miles (one SAHASTRA YOJANA per year). This (SAHASTRA YOJANA per year) is now a measure of speed, and if one travelled suchlike for a YUGA (time), then they would traverse the distance to the sun.
While I'd love to hear any other interpretations, the take-away from that evening was that we both had fun (and arguments) in making our points clear and convincing each other. The realisation also led to the fact that although I have been catching up with new (and old) blogs, this blog has been gathering dust for a long time.
It's time to clear out the cobwebs and spread new sheets! :-)
This post is to mark another beginning to revive this blog.
Earlier this week, a friend sent in a puzzle on Whatsapp, and in unravelling the solution, S and I actually had fun. We worked the logic through with actual paper and pen, and when theory did not work, we tore up the paper and enacted out the premise like 10 year olds!
And while we were at it, we also debated about this new meme doing the rounds on Facebook and Twitter.
Let's just ignore the fact that there is an extra zero (maybe a typo). While it all adds up (or multiplies up) very nicely, what I did not understand is - how can a measure of time be used as a measure of distance? Quite clearly, a YUGA is a measure of 12000 years (time). And equally clearly, a YOJANA is a measure of 8 miles (distance). A SAHASTRA, of course, is 1000 (constant). Now, how can YUGA*SAHASTRA*YOJANA be the distance from earth to the sun.
How can the product of time * constant * distance be distance?
After three rough sheets of paper and a much rougher discussion with S (on whether it was the ancient scriptures, or Tulsidas, or the generator of the meme), the only logical explanation was to assume 'SAHASTRA*YOJANA' as a measure of speed.
How then do you assume distance to be a measure of speed? The answer presumably is, on an empirical basis. Note that it was not uncommon for people to answer in days when asked "How far is Takshashila from Magadha". So if one were to conjecture that a man (or a caravan / army / troupe / whatever) travelled 22 miles in a day, then the distance they would travel in a year would be ~8000 miles (one SAHASTRA YOJANA per year). This (SAHASTRA YOJANA per year) is now a measure of speed, and if one travelled suchlike for a YUGA (time), then they would traverse the distance to the sun.
While I'd love to hear any other interpretations, the take-away from that evening was that we both had fun (and arguments) in making our points clear and convincing each other. The realisation also led to the fact that although I have been catching up with new (and old) blogs, this blog has been gathering dust for a long time.
It's time to clear out the cobwebs and spread new sheets! :-)
