Question: Your research is misleading because as per Hindu scriptures, the whole universe was flooded.
Answer by Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala: As I mentioned earlier, consider the total amount of water on Earth. If all the ice caps in Antarctica and the North Pole melted, and if all the ice on the Himalayas also melted, the sea level would rise by only about 70 feet, according to calculations. This rise would not be sufficient to submerge the Himalayas, the Rockies, or other major mountain ranges. Therefore, the idea of a global flood is not scientifically feasible.
The only plausible explanation is that the flood described was relatively localized, but the response to it was grand, leading to its portrayal as a global event. In the Bible, the term “all the Earth” can be interpreted to mean all that could be seen from a given place, rather than the entire world. Thus, the concept of a global flood does not hold up scientifically.
Question: The flood may be the same but does that make the entire history concept and values of our characters the same?
Answer by Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala: There are two possibilities to consider: either there were two different floods involving two distinct sets of characters, or there was a single event. However, there are several issues with the idea of two separate floods.
Firstly, the characters in the two stories exhibit many similarities. For instance, in the Biblical account, Noah is informed one week in advance about the impending flood. Similarly, in the Hindu story, Satyavrat is also informed a week before the flood occurs. In the Bible, Noah builds an ark, and seven members of his family take refuge in it. The Hindu story describes a boat built to save seven rishis, and both accounts involve a long period spent on the boat.
Both narratives conclude with the boat landing on a mountain. The similarities between these stories are significant enough to suggest that they describe the same event. Two entirely different events are not indicated.
In my assessment, there was likely only one flood event. The memory of this single event was then carried from the Indus Valley to West Asia, leading to the creation of similar but distinct stories in different regions. Thus, what appears as two separate stories might be a single story with variations due to cultural transmission.
Question:: Gilgamesh wrote about the flood in Sumer.
Answer by Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala: The story of Gilgamesh needs to be thoroughly understood. Gilgamesh was a Sumerian king who traveled from Sumer to Dilmun. According to Samuel Noah Kramer, Assyriologist, Dilmun is identified with the Indus Valley. During his visit to Dilmun, Gilgamesh learned about the flood story from a figure named Utnapishtim. He then returned to Sumer and recorded this story in Sumerian literature.
The flood story is indeed mentioned in Sumerian literature, but it is based on an event that originally took place in the Indus Valley. This is similar to a story occurring in London being recorded in New York. The story that Gilgamesh brought back and recorded in Sumerian literature was originally from the Indus Valley.
Thus, the claim that the Sumerian story of Gilgamesh establishes that the flood took place in Sumer is factually incorrect. The story’s origins are in the Indus Valley, and it was transmitted to Sumer, not the other way around. Therefore, the flood story in Sumerian literature reflects an Indus Valley event rather than a Sumerian one.
Question: The story of Matsyavtar and the ship that Mahavishnu has taken are different from the story of Noah.
Answer by Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala: I don’t think there are too many differences between the two stories. Both involve a similar number of people boarding a boat and the duration. The primary difference is that in the Indian story, the fish carries the boat, whereas in the Mesopotamian story, the boat drifts on the water. It is difficult for me to determine the reason behind this variation, but the similarities between the two stories are significant enough to suggest they are not different.
Question: It was an intergalactic ship that carried the DNA of every animal and planet. It is absurd to think that someone could have built a wooden ship capable of carrying all the animals and plants from the planet and then traveled for weeks or months.
Answer by Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala: I don’t think it was an intergalactic ship or involved DNA, because we’re talking about a boat. Constructing a boat involves making and joining planks, which suggests a certain level of advanced human civilization. DNA would not have been relevant at that time, as boats did not exist at the time of pure DNA. Therefore, the boat story does not align with the concept of pure DNA.
There is no need to invoke intergalactic theories when the evidence indicates that a boat was built and people traveled on it. The question then arises: who else might have been on the boat? It is possible that Noah or Manu carried a selection of seeds from various plants, which could have been preserved and carried forward. Similarly, they might have taken a few pets, but it seems implausible that every type of animal was on the boat. Such a scenario likely stems from human imagination.
Furthermore, the flood described in the Bible lasted only 150 days. During such a local flood, many other regions would have remained unaffected, allowing animals to survive elsewhere. For example, if the flood occurred in Mesopotamia, animals might have survived in the Himalayas; if it happened in the Indus Valley, they might have survived in the Ararat Mountains in Turkey. We should approach this topic with a more scientific perspective. The essence of the story appears to be that a boat was made, seven people were aboard, and what they carried may be exaggerated or symbolic rather than literal.
Question: According to your theory, we need to trace the origins of all Abrahamic religions back to the Babylonian civilization. The AR tablet, a 3,700-year-old clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform script, provides a version of the Mesopotamian flood story and represents the oldest known record of such a narrative. This suggests that elements of the flood story in Abrahamic traditions may have been influenced or derived from earlier Babylonian accounts.
Answer by Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala: The importance of your observation lies in the fact that the AR tablet dates back 3,700 years. According to my assessment, the flood occurred about 5,000 years ago. Gilgamesh is thought to have lived around 4,200 years ago. He might have traveled to India and brought back the flood story. This narrative was then recorded in cuneiform tablets approximately 3,700 years ago.
Therefore, if the flood story from the Indus Valley is reflected in these cuneiform tablets, it supports the idea that the flood took place in the Indus Valley. Rather than creating a contradiction, it aligns with the timeline and indicates that the flood story recorded in Mesopotamian texts has roots in earlier events in the Indus Valley.
Question: I think all flood myths came from original Mesopotamia people in different places give different names.
Answer by Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala: Determining whether the flood took place in the Indus Valley or Mesopotamia requires a detailed examination of geography and antecedent events related to the flood. For instance, Jewish tradition suggests that the flood occurred in October, which is typically the end of the dry season in Mesopotamia. Floods in Mesopotamia generally occur between December and March, making October one of the driest months. In contrast, the Indus Valley experiences monsoons from July to October, which is the peak of the flood season.
Additionally, in Mesopotamia, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have clear paths to the ocean. Even if a flood occurred, it would likely not persist for a long time because the water would flow toward the sea. In the Indus Valley, particularly in the Luni Valley, the Sukadi Ridge impedes the smooth flow of water to the ocean. As a result, floods in this region can last much longer. The area known as Jalor—derived from “Jal Ur,” meaning “Water City”—is prone to prolonged flooding due to its geological structure. During monsoon rains, villages in this area can remain submerged for up to two months.
Thus, the timing of the flood and the geological formations suggest that the flood likely occurred in the Indus Valley rather than Mesopotamia.
Question: It cannot be denied that from Mesopotamia the civilization came to the Indus Valley and not people going from Indus Valley to Mesopotamia so can you correct this fact?
Answer by Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala: There are significant similarities between the civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, as extensively researched by L. A. Waddell. His findings indicate that even the languages of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley share similarities.
Crucially, Mesopotamian legends themselves suggest that the origin of civilization lies elsewhere. One such legend claims that creation took place in the East, implying that their ancestors came from that direction. Another legend states that the original settlers arrived by sea. These accounts suggest that Mesopotamia was not the birthplace of civilization, but rather that people from another region arrived and brought civilization to Mesopotamia.
To the east of Mesopotamia lies the Indus Valley, leading us to reasonably assume, unless proven otherwise, that the original flood and the dawn of civilization occurred in the Indus Valley. From there, people migrated to Mesopotamia and contributed to its development.”
See full video: https://youtu.be/nNj8DvHLjTs
Spotify link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bharat-jjj/episodes/QA-Session-with-Dr–Bharat-Jhunjhunwala–Were-Manu-and-Noah-the-same-person-e2o7aau