Following are excepts of the well researched book "When Did The Mahabharata War Happen? : The Mystery of Arundhati" by Oak, Nilesh Nilkanth available on Amazon
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My Theory
1. All astronomy observations in Mahabharata are ‘visual observations’ of the sky.
2. Mahabharata astronomers were meticulous and patient empirical astronomers. They were inheritors of even farther ancient tradition of astronomy observations. Mahabharata astronomers had means to observe objects in the sky, which would not be otherwise visible to a naked eye.
3. Mahabharata author’s motivation for noting down specific astronomy observations during and around the time of Mahabharata War was to create records of Mahabharata War. These observations were embedded in the Mahabharata text. Mahabharata author embedded these observations as is and also in the form of similes signifying bad omens, engagement of key warriors on the battlefield or death of principal warriors. I had also stated that one would, very likely, find numerous additional astronomy observations within the Mahabharata Text. I found numerous astronomy (or chronological) observations and corroborated them with the predictions of my theory. My list is not complete by any means and I encourage readers to search for additional Mahabharata observations.
My Proposed Timeline
The Mahabharata War timeline begins with Krishna leaving Upaplavya to visit Hastinapur before the War and ends with the passing away of Bhishma, when the Sun turned north, after the War.
1. Krishna left Upaplavya on Maitri (Anuradha) Muhurta, Revati nakshatra and in the month of Lotuses: 31 August 5561 B.C.
2. Duryodhana ordered his royal friends to leave for Kurukshetra on the day of Pushya: 6-7 September 5561 B.C.
3. Krishna-Karna meeting, 7 days before Jyeshtha Amawasya & before Krishna left for Upaplavya: 9-10 September 5561 B.C.
4. Shakra (Jyeshtha or possibly Vishakha) Amawasya: 16-17 September 5561 B.C.
5. Balarama left the Pandava camp, to proceed on Saraswati Tirthayatra, on Anuradha (Maitri) nakshatra: 17 September 5561 B.C.
6. Balarama began Tirthayatra of Saraswati around 22 September 5561 B.C.
7. Kartika Purnima (Full moon): 30 September – 1 October 5561 B.C.
8. Krishna left along with the Pandavas for Kurukshetra on Pushya: 4-5 October 5561 B.C.
9. Both armies arrived at Kurukshetra on Magha: 6-7 October 5561 B.C.
10. Vyasa met Dhritarashtra: 15 October 5561 B.C.
11. The First day of Mahabharata War: 16 October 5561 B.C.
12. Bhishma fell in the battlefield on the 10th day of War: 25 October 5561 B.C.
13. Abhimanyu was killed on the 13th day of War: 28 October 5561 B.C.
14. Arjuna killed Jayadratha and the fight continued into the night at the end of the 14th day of War: 29 October 5561 B.C.
15. Drona was killed on the 15th day of War: 30th October 5561 B.C.
16. Arjuna killed Karna on the 17th day of War: 1 November 5561 B.C.
17. Shalya was killed by noon and Bhima killed Duryodhana at the end of the day on the 18th day of War: 2 November 5561 B.C.
18. The Pandavas spent a month on the bank of River Ganga: 2-3 November- 30 November 5561 B.C.
19. The Pandavas entered Hastinapur after spending a lunar month on the bank of Ganga: 30 November 5561 B.C.
20. Coronation of Yudhishthir, assignment of offices & palaces, and honoring of Krishna: 30 November-5 December 5561 B.C.
21. Yudhishthir and his brothers, Krishna, Satyaki, Yuyutsu, Kripacharya and Sanjay go to Kurukshetra to visit Bhishma, 56 days before passing away of Bhishma: 5-6 December 5561 B.C.
22. Yudhishthir along with his brothers, Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and ministers visits Bhishma for last but one time, 51 days before passing away of Bhishma: 10-11 December 5561 B.C.
23. Yudhishthir leaves for Kurukshetra, after spending 50 nights at Hastinapur, to meet Bhishma when the Sun turned north: 30-31 January 5560 B.C.
24. Bhishma Nirvana: 30-31 January 5560 B.C.
My Key Contributions
• My theory proceeds from a simple, almost trivial, unifying idea that all astronomy observations around the time of Mahabharata War are visual observations of the sky.
• My theory is independently testable. Anyone can access astronomy software such as Voyager 4.5™, follow through my book and test each Mahabharata observation.
• I sought explanation for Arundhati observation, based on my theory, an observation otherwise considered absurd by entire research community (albeit with one exception), as visual observation at the time of Mahabharata War.
• My theory corroborates not only positions of the planets but also their movements as described in the Mahabharata text, specifically unique movements of Mars, Jupiter and Venus.
• My theory corroborated descriptions of planets and rationale for them shining brightly at times, e.g. Jupiter and Saturn shining brightly or Mars turning in ‘apasavya’ direction while shining brightly with fearsome appearance.
• My theory predicted ‘potential observations’ referring to the phases and the positions of the moon, which would corroborate or falsify a proposed timeline for the 18 days of War. I searched for these potential observations within the Mahabharata text, and by luck, found numerous observations.
• My theory corroborated 100+ astronomical observations from the Mahabharata text. More importantly my theory passed numerous critical tests, which in turn provided consistent explanations for Mahabharata astronomical observations. Some of these critical tests are,
1. Fall of Abhijit
2. The Epoch of Arundhati
3. Positions of Jupiter and Saturn in the vicinity of Vishakha for up to a year.
4. Vakri motions of Mars near Magha and near Jyeshtha/Anuradha
5. Vakri motion of Jupiter near Shravana
6. Mars becoming steady between Chitra/Swati while moving in apasavya direction + Mars afflicting Chitra
7. Timing and rationale for specific descriptions (e.g. shining brightly) of Jupiter, Saturn & Mars
8. Circular motion of Venus near Purva Bhadrapada in the company of another planet
9. Tiryak rising of Mercury after the sunset on the 17th day of War
10. Jupiter afflicting Rohini, similar to the Moon and the Sun, after the sunset on the 17th day of War
11. The Phases and the positions of the moon through 18 days of the War
12. Time interval between Fall of Bhishma and Bhishma Nirvana
13. Mars, Venus and Mercury in the western part of sky, after sunset, on the last day of War
