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Research agenda

Six lines of inquiry into the space between.

Our research runs from the firmly empirical to the frankly speculative. We're explicit about which is which — and every area is held to the same standard of care. Ordered here from most grounded to most exploratory.

RA 01 · COMPARATIVE COSMOLOGY

Vedic cosmic cycles and modern deep time

Vedic cosmology describes vast cycles — yugas, kalpas, the breathing of Brahmā — and a universe periodically created and dissolved. Modern cosmology describes a 13.8-billion-year expansion from a hot dense state. We set these accounts side by side: where do their structures genuinely rhyme, where do they diverge, and what does each clarify about the other?

Questions we ask

  • How do cyclic and linear models of cosmic time compare conceptually?
  • What is the actual provenance of large Vedic time-spans, and how were they derived?
  • Where do "cosmic egg" creation accounts and Big Bang cosmology share structure?
Textual analysisHistory of cosmologyPhilosophy of science

RA 02 · ARCHAEOASTRONOMY

Putting ancient texts to the test

This is our most empirically grounded work — and our sharpest credibility edge. Texts like the Sūrya Siddhānta contain explicit astronomical models. We can run them. Using modern ephemerides and computational tools, we measure how accurately classical Indian astronomy predicted planetary positions, eclipses, and the precession of the equinoxes — and use that precision to help date the texts themselves.

Questions we ask

  • How closely do Sūrya Siddhānta predictions match modern ephemeris data?
  • Can precession encoded in a text help date its composition?
  • What was the real observational basis behind nakṣatra coordinates?
Computational astronomyEphemeris validationSanskrit philology

RA 03 · CONSCIOUSNESS & COSMOS

Vedānta and the frontier of physics

The role of the observer in quantum mechanics and the "hard problem" of consciousness remain genuinely unsettled. Vedānta has spent millennia on the nature of awareness and its relationship to reality. We explore the structural parallels carefully — as philosophy of science, not as proof — asking what conceptual resources the tradition might offer to live debates.

Questions we ask

  • What does the measurement problem look like through a Vedāntic lens?
  • Is "consciousness as fundamental" a coherent scientific hypothesis?
  • How do we compare frameworks without conflating metaphor and mechanism?
Philosophy of mindFoundations of QMComparative philosophy

RA 04 · JYOTIṢA AS DATA SCIENCE

Testing classical claims honestly

Rather than asserting or dismissing, we test. Jyotiṣa makes claims that can, in some cases, be framed statistically — about timing, correlation, and outcome. We design careful, falsifiable studies on large samples, pre-register hypotheses, and commit to publishing whatever we find, including null results. The value here is methodological honesty about a tradition usually discussed without data.

Questions we ask

  • Which classical claims are even framable as testable hypotheses?
  • Do any lunar-timing effects survive rigorous large-sample analysis?
  • How do we guard against bias, p-hacking, and motivated interpretation?
StatisticsPre-registrationOpen data

RA 05 · SACRED GEOGRAPHY

The astronomy encoded in stone

Temples and instruments across the subcontinent embed astronomical knowledge in architecture — from solstice alignments to the giant masonry instruments of the Jantar Mantar, some accurate to seconds of time. We survey these sites, model their alignments, and ask what observational astronomy is preserved in their geometry.

Questions we ask

  • How precise are the solar and stellar alignments of major temples?
  • What does Jantar Mantar reveal about 18th-century observational practice?
  • Is there testable astronomical logic in Vāstu spatial prescriptions?
Field surveyAlignment modelingArchaeology

RA 06 · DARK ENERGY & METAPHYSICS

Ancient concepts for the deepest unknowns

Our most exploratory work. Dark energy and dark matter together make up most of the universe, and physics cannot yet say what they are. The Vedic tradition developed rich concepts for unseen, pervading, animating principles — ākāśa, prāṇa, the guṇas. We treat these strictly as conceptual lenses and metaphor-generators for theorists working without a map — clearly flagged as philosophy, never as established physics.

Questions we ask

  • Can older concepts of "pervading energy" sharpen how we frame dark energy?
  • Where is the firm line between useful metaphor and unfounded claim?
  • Do recent findings on time-varying dark energy invite fresh framing?
CosmologyMetaphysicsConceptual analysis

The Antriksa standard

Every claim, clearly labeled.

For each comparison we make, we state plainly what kind it is: direct equivalence, structural resonance, historical influence, or speculative hypothesis. We welcome null results. We publish in the open. This discipline is what separates real inquiry from wishful thinking.

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