07/11/2013
Distance between Sun and Earth is given in "Hanuman Chalisa"- An Ancient Prayer
Two lines of Hindu Prayer " Hanuman Chalisa" computes this distance with great simplicity.
! जुग सहस्त्र योजन पर भानु, लील्यो ताहि मधुर फल जानू !
This means that Sun (भानु ) is at a distance of Jug Sahastra Yojans (जुग सहस्त्र योजन- Distance Unit in Hindi)
juga means the sum of Four Yugas (1 complete Mahayuga) with unit in divine years.
Satiyuga= 4800 divine years
Tretayuga=3600 divine years
Dwaparyuga=2400 divine years
Kaliyuga=1200 divine years
Check wiki
Hindu units of time - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_units_of_time
So 1juga= 12000
Now next is sahastra (सहस्त्र) is common sanskrit word meaning "1000"
Next is jojan also know as Yojan that equals to 8 miles
Yojana - A Yojana (Sanskrit : योजन ) is a Vedic measure of distance that was used in ancient India. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojana
lets calculate distance of sun from earth
According to following conversion practices that are in use as per Hindu Vedic Literature-
1 Juug = 12000
1 Sahastra= 1000
1 Yojan = 8 Miles
Thus 12000 X 1000 X 8 = 96,000,000 miles
I mile = 1.6 kms
This further implies that distance is
96,000,000 * 1.6 kms = 153,600,000 Kms..
According to Modren Astronomy and Science , we know that the earth's orbit around the sun is not a circle and is slightly elliptical. Therefore, the distance between the earth and the sun varies throughout the year.
At its nearest point on the ellipse that is the earth's orbit around the sun, the earth is 91,445,000 miles (147,166,462 kms) from the sun. This point in the earth's orbit is known as Periapsis (perihelion) and it occurs around January 3.
The earth is farthest away from the sun around July 3 when it is 94,555,000 miles (152,171,522 km) from the sun. This point in the earth's orbit is called Apoapsis (aphelion).
The average distance from the earth to the sun is 92,955,807 miles (149,597,870.691 km).
Hanuman challisa was written by Goswami Tulasidas (born 15th century) in Awadhi language who belongs to 15th century. which means the distance between Sun and earth has been calculated much more accurately than the 17th century scientists even before 2 centuries.
The Question here is not how Tulsidas calculated this distance or how he came to know about this distance. But what we have to observe is the people of that age have such knowledge, capabilities. History is not presented to us in a way it should be. There are still many elements and precious jewels of information that are being kept hidden from us.