Knowledge Bank

How many Gods are there?

In the court of the illustrious king-sage Janaka, a debate among scholars took place. Vidagdha Sakalya questioned Yajnavalkya, 'How many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?' Yajnavalkya replied with a list from the Nivid, 'There are 303 and 3003 gods.' Sakalya then asked, 'How many are there truly?' Yajnavalkya said, 'There are thirty-three.' Sakalya continued, 'How many are there in essence?' Yajnavalkya answered, 'There are six.' When Sakalya asked, 'How many are there in reality?' Yajnavalkya replied, 'There is only one.' Finally, when asked to identify these thirty-three gods, Yajnavalkya explained, 'They are expressions of the greatness of the one Rudra.'

Rigveda and the Speed of Light

The Rigveda, one of the oldest known texts, contains a hymn (1.50.4) that speaks of the speed of light. It mentions that sunlight travels 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha. Translating this to modern measurements, it remarkably approximates the speed of light.