Question
Geological changes in Hindu Scriptures
Answer
The tale of King Sagara seems to have support Pangea super-continent and its division into two as Laurasia and Gondwanaland.As per continental drift theory, once only one super continent existed and it was surrounded by oceans all the side:
tat gacchata vicinvadhvam putrakaa bhadram astu vah
samudra maaliniim sarvaam prithiviim anugacchata
Oh, sons, you may therefore proceed to search for the horse and its thief on this Entire Earth which is Garlanded by the Ocean. Safety upon you all. [Ramayana : 1-39-13]
Many years later King Sagara’s descendant, King Bhageeratha brought the Ganges River to the Earth planet in order to liberate the Souls of the Sons of Sagara who had been burnt to Ashes by the Sonic energy of Sage Kapila. Bhageeratha is described as guiding the Ganga into the Ocean-like Ditch created by the Sons of Sagara.
sa gatvaa saagaram raajaa gangayaa anugatas tadaa pravivesha talam bhuumeh yatra te bhasmasaat kritaah
King Bhageeratha followed by Ganga has gone to the Ocean-like Ditch which was dredged up by the sons of Sagara, and entered the subterranean regions of earth where the sons of Sagara were rendered into ashes. Thus Viswamitra continued his narration about the Descent of river Ganga. [Ramayana : 1-44-1]
According to the Ramayana, over 100,000 years earlier, the 60,000 sons of Sagara, had been born from an Egg-like guard. They were then placed for a long duration into test tubes and nurtured within them, clone-like, until they were youths.
ghrita puurnesu kumbhesu dhaatryah taan samavardhayan kaalena mahataa sarve yauvanam pratipedire
The caretakers brought up those siblings in vessels filled with ghee, clarified butter, and after a protracted [delayed] time all of the children attained youthfulness. [Ramayana : 1-38-18]
Geological Sciences refer to a time when “The Tethys Sea began dividing Pangaea into two super continents, Laurasia and Gondwana.” And “The Tethys Sea was an ocean that existed between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia during much of the Mesozoic era, before the opening of the Indian and Atlantic oceans during the Cretaceous period.”
According to the Ramayana this dividing of the Single Earth’s landmass and the creation of Ocean-like ditches began when the 60,000 sons of King Sagara embarked on their mission to find their Father King Sagara’s Sacred Horse. Indra had taken the guise of a Demon and stolen the sacred horse. Their father King Sagara thus ordered his sons :
eka ekam yojanam putraa vistaaram abhigacchata yaavat turaga sa.ndarshah taavat khanata mediniim tam eva haya hartaaram maargamaanaa mama aajnayaa
‘Oh, sons, let each prince advance searching one square yojana of the Earth. By my order you dig up the earth until you find the horse, in your search of the thief of that horse’. [Ramayana : 1-39-14b, 15]
Thus after searching the entire Earth, which at the time was a Single Landmass Surrounded by a Single Ocean, the Princes continued seeking the Sacred Horse by digging into the Earth. In this way they Divided the Continent into sections thus signifyng the initial separation of the Continents. Based upon this feat of the Princes the Oceans were named after their father King Sagara. And thus the world’s Oceans are referred to as Sagar even today.
Note: I don't know whether humans existed in that time when Pangea is divided into two as per science, but this story seems to have support this view.
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