The Journal of the Astronomical Society of India. June 1913

Ray's Taper as the President understood it claims to determine the date of the war from what is stated to have been the position of the equinoctial point at the commencment of the Kali Yuga which he thus fixes for the year 3001 B. C. The President believed it was considered that the Kali Yuga began at the close of the war of the Mahabharat i.e. [...] The fact is that the MahâbhArat is not a chronicle and the poet or poets may be excused the inconsistencies if imbued with the astrologcal lore of the times they begin the narrative of the war in which millions of men are said to have been killed in eighteen days with a description of the abnormal phenomena in the atmosphere heavens and the earth. [...] On the other hand if the name of some of the heroes of the war be found in ancient works or if the name of the Mahabharat is mentioned by an ancient author the war must be inferred to have taken place at a time anterior to the date of the work. [...] From this it is clear (i) that the word Krittika signifies the star-cluster Pleides and not the imaginary division bearing the name (ii) that Pleides used to rise due east at the time of the composition of the Brahmana and (iii) that the present tense of the verb leaves no doubt in our mind as to the time of the statement. [...] The shadow of the satellite still eceedingly black and sharp is nearing the edge and the satellite itself shown to the right in the figure is now nearing the edge of the disc.