Thanks to Steven Spielberg and Micheal Crichton for the Jurassic park in 1993, Dinosaurs which were the subjects only for Paleontologists and historians caught the attention of the larger public for the last 20 years.
When we talk about Dinosaurs, its sheer size and the projected ferocity comes and taunts everyone irrespective of your age. I wanted to pick two of the widely agreed facts and establish that these animals were nothing more than our pets at their times and that too just 2 million years ago. As a disclaimer let me state that I am neither a paleontologist nor a historian nor an archaeologist. I am just connecting few dots and you can agree to disagree.
1. It is believed that Dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago and they probably existed between 200 million years to 65 million years ago. This is very widely accepted.
2. The height of the dinosaurs is pegged between 15 feet to 45 feet. While there are reports that there could have been 100ft+ tall dinosaurs but they are based some fragmented fossils and not very widely accepted. So I shall stick the 15 to 45 feet range for their height.
Now, lets look at whether we have data or theories on:
1. Whether there was Homo sapiens as a species during the above mentioned period?
2. If yes, what was the height of the human beings?
To my knowledge, Sanatana Dharma or today's Hinduism is the only philosophy which answers both the queries conclusively. Unless you believe in Hindu scriptures, it is difficult to accept these details but for the next 5 minutes, please read through the blog and you can ignore if that does not appeal to you.
You may know that as per Hindu scriptures the Yugas are divided as:
1. Satya Yuga - 17,28,000 years
2. Treta Yuga - 12,96,000 years
3. Dwapara Yuga - 8,64,000 years
4. Kali Yuga - 4,32,000 years
At the risk of repetition, let me quickly explain them. These 4 Yugas make 1 Maha yuga which is 4.32 million years. Scriptures say that the universe is a ever recurring cycle of this Maha yuga. The linear age of the universe is 155+ trillion years, which is composed of mulitple Maha Yugas. 1000 Maha Yugas (4.32 billion years) make half a day for Brahma and per vedas Brahma is 51 years old.
Interestingly it is said that based on the Yuga many things like endowed age of the individual, quality and abilities of all the species are fixed, that also includes the endowed height of a human being for the respective yugas.
Now lets get what is meant by endowed age and endowed height of a human being. Universe it is said follows a rhythm which is bound by a mathematical code and frankly the effort of sages for ages has been to uncover this code. But we do have few information like a flash in the pan without the basis of those being revealed. This is like, we don't know the mathematical equation but the answer to the equation is known. Much of the wisdom is lost and we are scratching what is left behind and losing that too very fast.
The other point i need to highlight is the endowed age for a human being is 120 years in Kali Yuga (1 year = 360 days) but it is also told that towards the end of Kali yuga (Kali is 432000 years and we have just completed 5114 years as of 2012), the age of the human being would reduce to 20 years. But we will focus on the general recommendation which is 120 years.
Like wise for each and every yuga the endowed height of the human beings is also stated. Lets see what those are:
1. Kali Yuga - 3.5 cubits - Just about 7 feet
2. Dwapara Yuga - 7 Cubits = 14 feet
3. Treta Yuga - 14 cubits = 28 feet
4. Krita Yuga - 21 cubits = 42 feet.
Please note a cubit is an ancient measurement and is widely seen in Christianity, Hinduism and also in Egyptian scriptures and it varies as follows:
1. As per Bible, each cubit is about 18 inches
2. As per Egyptian metrics it is about 20 inches.
3. As per Hindu scriptures we have 2 measures - Hasta as cubit which is 24 inches and the other is Muzham which is 24 angulas ie. 33 inches. I settled for 24 inches for the above values expressed in feet, which is lot closer to the Biblical and Egyptian values.
Now if you don't believe me you can see some discoveries of huge fossils including that of humans and also references in Bible which indicates such possibilities. http://www.6000years.org/frame.php?page=giants
So now, let me address both the questions:
1. If Dinosaurs were between between 15 feet to 45 feet and if human beings in Krita Yuga were 42 feet, then SIZE DID NOT MATTER.
If we go by the relative height of human beings to Dinosaurs we may have to refine our understanding that Dinosaurs were not outliers in terms of their height and size but were just as proportionate as our dogs, cats and horses today. Even if this truth is known to the Paleontologists, this cannot be stated openly since Hollywood could not have excited us and made money. Also as human beings we need our dose of fascination and imagination to make our life interesting, Isn't?
2. Latest Krita Yuga was between 2.2 million years to 3.9 million years before.
Also the cyclical nature of Yugas is highlighted very often and we can draw a parallel to the cyclical nature of seasons in a year or day and night for a day.
I propose here the following:
- Dinosaurs could have existed during Krita Yugas not as gigantic outliers but part of the overall ecosystem.
- If this is so, then they existed just 2 million years before and not extinct 65 million years back. Also the scientists need not invent any meteor strikes that wiped this species to extinction but could agree that they underwent one of the many natural process of extinction.
- Among Dinosaurs, experts say that there were quite a number of sub-species who were believed to be Vegetarians and not the ferocious man-eater types. Well, then these could have been our pets.
Any discovery of huge fossils which is dated 2-4 million years ago would probably prove this but till then I want to conclude this blog with 2 quotes of Edward De Bono..
"Everyone has the right to doubt everything as often as he pleases and the duty to do it at least once. No way of looking at things is too sacred to be reconsidered."
and
“If you never change your mind, why have one?”
Happy Reading!
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