Indian

The Vedic India Was Aware of and Well Versus Eclipses. There is a fascinating fact regarding eclipses that can be found in astrology and astronomy, and it seems to make sense in both fields of knowledge. The precious nectar Amrita, which grants the gods immortality, was retrieved from the sea by Lord Vishnu when he created the planets. An envious demon by the name of Rakshasha once desired immortality for himself after learning that this nectar would make the gods immortal. Rakshasha then assumed the form of a god and queued up with the other gods to receive the immortality-granting sacred nectar from Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu identified the demon as the dragon demon Rakshasha after it drank the nectar. He then chopped Rakshasha in half, with the head portion becoming Rahu and the tail portion becoming Ketu. The head of the Moon, Rahu, therefore became its north node, and its tail, Ketu, became its south node. Nodes are the sites where the ecliptic, or the orbit of the Sun, and the orbits of the Earth and Moon cross. The head and tail of the Rakshasha have been the Moon's nodes ever since the day it was divided in two. Both Rahu and Ketu gained significant importance in astrology.

It is commonly known that ancient India, particularly during the Vedic era, had highly developed knowledge in all branches of science and mathematics. All of this knowledge was accumulated over a number of years and compiled by the sage Ved Vyas, who is thought to be the author of the Mahabharata. The lines from Chapter 5 of the Rig Veda are presented here. Hymn 40.5, Contrary to the myth that the sun was swallowed by a demon, a solar eclipse is actually the result of the moon blocking the sun's light from reaching the earth.