there is more to science and veda than meets the eye. hail our ancestors.

The astronomical code in the organisation of the rig veda provides strong evidence that the vedic astronomers made careful observations of the sun the moon and the planets in the third millennium B.C. the knowledge is believed to be described in the earliest siddhantha which is no longer available. there is enough evidence to prove the equivalances between the outer world and the design of the texts.
There are a large number of astronomical references in the Vedic texts. The Satapatha Br¯ahman ´ . a gives the names of twenty seven naks.atras and an equal number of upa-naks.atras. On the other hand, the Taittir¯ıya, the Atharva, the K¯at.haka and the Maitr¯ayan.¯ı Sam. hit¯as give the names of twenty eight naks.atras. The difference of one naks.atra appears to represent two traditions trying to reconcile observation to theory in different ways. Many other constellations are also mentioned which makes clear that the Vedic people were much concerned with astronomical phenomena. There is early reference to a six-day week that is called the s.ad. aha1 and to a seven-day week. The Taittir¯ıya Sam. hit¯a speaks of six seasons related to the months as follows: Vasanta (Spring) : Madhu (Caitra), M¯adhava (Vai´s¯akha) Gr¯ıs.ma (Summer) : Sukra (Jyais ´ . t.ha), Suci ( ´ As ¯ .¯ad. ha) Vars.¯a (Rains) : Nabha (Sr¯avan ´. a), Nabhasya (Bh¯adrapada)Sarada (Fall) : Is ´.a (A´svina), ¯ Urja (K¯arttika) ¯Hemanta (Winter) : Saha (M¯arga´sira), Sahasya (Paus.ya)Si´sira (Cold) : Tapa (M¯agha), Tapasya (Ph¯alguna) ´
Sometimes hemanta and ´si´sira were taken together and there is
mention of five seasons. The division into five seasons appears to
have been prompted by the symmetry with the five-year yuga.
Hitherto historians of science have seen the Ved¯a˙nga Jyotis.a of
Lagadha as summarising Vedic astronomical knowledge. This is
a very late book which is not a treatise on astronomy but rather
served as a manual for the determination of the times for rituals.
Based on this text it is not possible to say what else the
Vedic Indian might have known of astronomy. The dating of the
Ved¯a˙nga Jyotis.a has been assumed based on the statement2
that
in Lagadha’s time the winter solstice was at the beginning of the
naks.atra Sravis ´
.
t.h¯a (Delphini) and that the summer solstice was at
the mid-point of the A´sles ¯
.¯a naks.atra. This implies c. 1300 BCE.
Siddh¯antas
Apart from the Ved¯a˙nga Jyotis.a are the more complete manuals of
astronomy called the Siddh¯antas. Some of the early Siddh¯antas are
summarized in Var¯ahamihira’s Pa˜ncasiddh¯antik¯a. How far back
the Siddh¯antas go in time is unknown. But if the Pait¯amaha
Siddh¯anta is named after Bh¯ıs.ma Pit¯amaha of the Bh¯arata War,
as has sometimes been suggested, then the Siddh¯antas represent
a tradition of astronomy, broader than the Ved¯a˙nga Jyotis.a, that
goes back to the close of the R. gvedic age.
Support for this view comes from Var¯ahamihira’s own ranking
of the five Siddh¯antas. Of Pait¯amaha, V¯asis.
t.ha, Romaka, Pauli´sa
and Saura he considers the S¯urya Siddh¯anta to be the best, followed
next by the Pauli´sa and the Romaka as being almost equally
correct, and declaring the remaining two to be much inferior. It
stands to reason that accuracy of these works is related to the recency
of the observations and Pait¯amaha and V¯asis.
t.ha must have
been old Siddh¯antas. It is also likely that the old Siddh¯antas were,
like the Pur¯an. as, revised during the course of centuries. Nevertheless,
it is significant that there is a lot of correspondence in the
methods of the Pait¯amaha Siddh¯anta and the Ved¯a˙nga Jyotis.a.
Once we recognize the beginnings of astronomy in the R. gveda
itself, it becomes possible to understand the evolution of this science to the later Siddh¯antic astronomy. 

108 and 339

The no 108 is roughly the average distance that the sun is in terms of its own diameter from the earth, likewise it is also the average distance the moon is in terms of its own diameter from the earth. (The true averages obtained using modern instruments are 107.6 and 110.6 respectively. but 108 should be considered an excellent early approximation) it is owing to this marvellous coincidence that the angular size of the sun and the moon viewed from the earth is almost identical.

The number 339 is the number of disks of the sun or the moon to measure the path across the sky. also called sun steps or moon steps 

also important are the numbers 27;54;108;339 and 183.

261 is the number assigned to the sky or heaven.

three precious gifts.

Scriptures have always perceived the holistic value pervading creation and speak of the close ties between human beings and nature, and of the need to live in harmony with the environment. Drawing from these and taking into account the body-mind complex that constitutes each human being, the wise have shown that the most precious gifts for an individual are water, food and good advice, pointed out Velukkudi Sri Krishnan in a discourse.
Water and food are for the upkeep of the body and good advice, ‘subhashitani,’ for the welfare of the atma. Good advice helps one to remain healthy in both mind and body. Indian schools of thought have given much thought to explain the nature and function of the human mind. It is seen as an instrument endowed with the functions to think, decide and act. The mind propels the actions of the body. But, all the jnanendriyas and the karmendriyas, the mind, intellect and ego sense or ahamkara, function owing to the atma within the body. So, when the mind derives strength from the good advice it learns to be at peace with the external world and in turn advises the body to act in ways that can reduce stress. The moral sayings provide practical tips for quality living, while calling for constant self-introspective analysis. For instance, one truth is to eschew the deep-rooted fallacy that gradations in birth, status and scholarship between individuals can make one superior or inferior and to understand that all beings ultimately owe allegiance to the Lord. Another truth is that all that is old is not necessarily good and that all that is new is not necessarily bad. The wise will examine the old and the new on their merits and accept good advice for moral and ethical living that can elevate human beings towards salvation, the highest Purushartha or goal.

Vedic science its context.

The Vedangas the auxillary sciences of the veda consists of phonetics, ritual, grammar, etymology, meters and astronomy. there are also references to a variety of occupations that include shipwork medicine agriculture metal working weaving animal husbandry which are all based on systematic study and in corresponding sciences. references to bhisaj physician, the Atarvaveda describes the anatomy of the human body in detail with a very good accuracy. these studies and sciences existed and were later lost. it was however discovered by Vysa  the son of Parasara. who rediscovered the alphabets. Vedic people were indegenous to India. the Indian tradition shows that it is the only tradition to have a continuity traced back to 7000BC. the most successful period being the Indus Sarasvathy tradition during the Harappan period 2600 to 1900 BC the settlements two thirds of it being along the Sarasvati river. recent studies have shown how this river dried up around 1900 B. C.
the catastrophic break with the drying up of the river. The Vedic system is a fully developed system based on the theory of the universe and consciousness. Life comes with its inner clock. Living organisms have rhythms that are matched to the periods of the sun or the moon. an example the potato has a variation in its metabolic process that is matched to the sidereal day, the 23 hour 56 minute period of rotation of the earth relative to the fixed stars. the cicadas come in many species including ones that appear yearly in mid summer. the best known amongst the others are the ones that have 13 year and seventeen year periods. the biological clocks are quiet precise the 24 hour according to the day, 24 hour 50 minutes according to the lunar day since the moon rises 50 minutes later every day or its half representing 29.5 days the period from one new moon to the next. ( common people to this day still believe in this system will not trim their hair when the moon is on the descent as they believe for progress and growth the ascending moon period are good times.) monthly rhythms averaging 29.5 days are reflected in the reproductive cycles of many marine plants and those of animals as well.some even correspond to the periods of the planets. where the biological periodicities are of longer duration. new reserch supports this biological clock for humans by tradition correspond to the moons motion infact menses means lunar month.
from the prespective of the ancient indians their emphasis on time bound rituals and the calendar, many of the biological periods were discovered by them, the menstrual cycle and its connections with the moon, the life cycle of various plants, the semimonthly estrus cycle of sheep, the three week cycles of cattle and pigs, the six month cycle of dogs etc. it is then quiet clear that the ancient calendar with its intercalary month every third year was a direct result of the lunar cycles.
the rhythms matched closely to the principal astronomical periods, also noticed might be the less obvious cycles matching other heavenly bodies. these equivalences were considered as manifestations of the motions of the body's inner planets developing a yoga system thus grew the importance given to astrology. certain animals were regarded as special owing to their gestation periods ass 365 days, baboon 183 days, cat 63 days, cow 280 days closest to man hence considered sacred. dog 61 days, elephant 645 days, goat 151 days, horse 337 days, man 267 days, rabbit 31 days, sheep 148 days etc.
its no wonder then the ass is used as a symbol for the year in the Satapata Brahmana. the horse with only a days difference for the Naksatra year336 days. the sacred baboon exactly half the solar year.

Astronomy of the fire altars.

*Agni is the vedic God it also represents time and in sacrifices it represents the year. The fire altar generally made of bricks is called an agni. Agnichayana or the building of a fire altar, is the symbolic creation of Agni-Prajapati-Purusa. The Rig veda has several references to fire altars   1.164.
/35;1.170.4;5.31.12;7.35.7;8.19.18; 10.61.2: are where vedi are mentioned.
Three places of Agni which are doubtless are GRAHAPATYA; AHAVANIYA and DAKSHINAGNI are mentioned in RV 5.11.2.
Taittiriya Samhita 5.2.3 speaks of the garhapatya beng made of 21 bricks. it is also stated if it is made for the first time it should be made in five layers, for the second time in three layers and for the third time in a single layer. Various shapes provide different benifits.  beneath the superficial association the logic of the altars was the representation of knowledge.
going deeper into the subject: Agnicayana is one of the Soma sacrifices. Bricks to be used in the altar construction are classified into two types ordinary lokamprna and special yajusmati. each yajusmati brick is consecrated in a special mannerand each brick is also marked in a special way. here bricks are built in different shapes to different measurements.
The total no of yajusmati bricks are 396 this is 360 days of the year and 36 additional (including one being the fillings between the bricks) as the days of the intercalary month. By layers the first has 98 the second has 41 the third 71 the fourth has 47 the fifth has 138. the sum of 4th and 5th 186 with one space filling. the number of bricks in the third and fourth layer equals the integer nearest to one third the number of days in the lunar year. The number of bricks in the third layer equals the integer nearest to one fifth the number of days in the lunar year. the number of bricks in the second and third layesr equals one third the number of days in a nakshatra year of 28*12*336 days. Once the basic number of 21 is subtracted from the number of bricks in the first layer, the sum of the remainder together with the number of bricks in the second layer are once again the integer nearest one third the number of days in the lunar year.

The altar can also be constructed symbolically by the metres. the altar is made with gayatri 24 syllables as the breath, usnih 28 syllables as the eye, anustubh 32 syllables as the voice, brhati 36 syllables as the mind, pankti 40 syllables as the ear, tristubh 44 syllables as the generative breath and the jagati 48 syllables as the downward breathing. this too equal to gayatri altar being upto the level of the knees the tristubh up to the level of navel and jagati the height of  the man.clearly there were correspondences acknowledged between the altars of metres and that of bricks.

The total number of lokamprna bricks is 10800 which equals the number of muhurtas in a year (1 day = 30 muhurtas) or equivalently the number of days in 30 years.Of these 21 go into the garhaptya, 78 into the eight dhisnya hearths and the rest go into the ahavaniya altra.
the fire altrs are surrounded by 360 enclosing stones parisrita, of these 21 are around garhapatya, 78 around dhisnya and 261 around ahavaniya. the ahavaniya include the dhisnya therefore the number of days assigned exclusively toahavaniya is 261-78=183, which is equal to the days in the uttarayana of a 366 day year. the choice of 21 days for the garhapatya is from the unique symbolism of this number. it is also the sum of the first six integers. once the number 21 and 183 are chosen the number 78 becomes the only choice for dhisnya. this number 78 is the sum of the first 12 integers.
so you see it is all scientific:

Adhikaris

Classification of a qualified person;
There are two types of adhikaris or qualified persons;
those who adopt prapatti as the sole and direct means and the other adopting it as an anga to bhakti;
the phala bakti means bhakti which arises as the fruit of prapatti. where as the second sadhana bhakti is bhakti that leads to moksha.

For reference:
1. tiruvoimolzi 3.9.5
2. Sharanagathi Gadya.
3. Athimanusha stava 61.
4. Varadaraja Stava 84;92
5. SriRangaraja stava 2-102'
     Sandilya smrithi 3-75
6. sandilya smriti 1-95
7. Bharadvaja smriti
8. Ramayana Aranyakanda.
9. Tiruvoimolzi 7-5-1
10. Perialwar thirumolzhi 5-1-3
11. Tiruvoimolzi 8-10-4
12. Tirumalai 2.\
13. Thirumangai alwar Siriya thirumadal
14. Ramayana Uttarakanda 40-15
15. Vishnu purana 1-12-16 Lord tells Dhruva.
16. Vishnu Purana 1-12-79 Dhruva tells Lord.
17. Vishnu Purana 1-17-91
18. Vishnu dharma 43-46
19. Vishnu purana 1-9-73.

Uttarakrityadhikara.

One of the finest chapters in the Rahasyatrayasara of V D.
It prescribes the kind of life a man should lead after the performance of prapatti. Bodily purity, freedom from evil thoughts, the performance of nithya and naimittika rites, without any desire for the fruits or cosequences, goodwill to all even to enemies who hate and revile, service to God and the devotees of God, contentment with whatever one has or with whatever comes in ones way without any effort for attaining it. this last is prompted by the mere love of it and not with a desire or expectation of reward.

to be continued.

Kainkarya Samrajyam;

Kainkarya Samrajyam is the crowning glory or bliss of mukti. the love felt by the self for bhagwan in moksha is so great that it overflows into service or kainkaryam to him.

Bhoga Samayam, the self attains in the state perfect happiness or bliss exactly like that of bhagwan himself. (There may be differences between the activities permited to the self in moksha and those of Bhagwans, but with respect to the enjoyment or bliss there is absolutely no difference.