Contested / Myth (Fact-check)
'The Rigveda records the speed of light'
modern claimClaim from a gloss on Sayana's commentaryRigveda; Sayana (14th c.) commentaryPan-Indian / unspecified
1950Contested-Myth
A claim that a verse encodes the modern value of the speed of light.
- Dated
- 1950–2025
- As scholars put it
- modern claim
- Originator
- Claim from a gloss on Sayana's commentary
- Source text
- Rigveda; Sayana (14th c.) commentary
- Region
- Pan-Indian / unspecified
- Discipline
- Contested / Myth (Fact-check)
- Evidence
- Contested-Myth
- Confidence
- Medium
- Verification
- Reference-cited
What the evidence says
Circulated online and in some talks.
The 'match' depends on selective unit conversions and reinterpretation; it is a numerical coincidence, not a recorded measurement.
References
- 1Critical analyses of the claim
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-076 on GitHub.