Longevity myths

Myths related to longevity

Jurōjin, the Japanese god of longevity, one of the Seven Lucky Gods

Longevity myths are traditions about long-lived people (generally supercentenarians), either as individuals or groups of people, and practices that have been believed to confer longevity, but which current scientific evidence does not support, nor the reasons for the claims.^[1][2] While literal interpretations of such myths may appear to indicate extraordinarily long lifespans, experts believe such figures may be the result of incorrect translations of number systems through various languages, coupled along with the cultural and symbolic significance of certain numbers.^[3]

The phrase "longevity tradition" may include "purifications, rituals, longevity practices, meditations, and alchemy"^[4] that have been believed to confer greater human longevity, especially in Chinese Culture.^[1][2]

Modern science indicates various ways in which genetics, diet, and lifestyle affect human longevity. It also allows us to determine the age of human remains with a fair degree of precision.

The record for the maximum verified lifespan in the modern world is 122+1⁄2 years for women (Jeanne Calment) and 116 years for men (Jiroemon Kimura). Some scientists estimate that in case of the most ideal conditions people can live up to 127 years.^[5][6] This does not exclude the theoretical possibility that in the case of a fortunate combination of mutations there could be a person who lives longer. Though the lifespan of humans is one of the longest in nature, there are animals that live longer. For example, some individuals of the Galapagos tortoise live more than 175 years,^[7] and some individuals of the bowhead whale more than 200 years.^[8] Some scientists cautiously suggest that the human body can have sufficient resources to live up to 150 years.^[9][10]

Extreme longevity claims in religion

Abrahamic religions

Judaism

Several parts of the Hebrew Bible, including the Torah, Joshua, Job, and Chronicles, mention individuals with very long lifespans, up to the 969 years of Methuselah.

The Sefer haYashar narrates that all of the long-lived people belonged to a special class and that Methusaleh was the last member.^[11] Methusaleh also lived long enough to evangelize with his grandson Noah in the antediluvian world.^[12]

Christianity

Some Christian apologists explain the extreme ages in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) as ancient mistranslations that converted the word "month" to "year", mistaking lunar cycles for solar ones: this would turn an age of 969 years into a more reasonable 969 lunar months, or about 78.3 solar years.^[13] Donald Etz says that the Genesis 5 numbers were multiplied by ten by a later editor.^[14]

Both these interpretations introduce an inconsistency: they would mean that the ages of the first nine patriarchs at fatherhood, ranging from 62 to 230 years in the manuscripts, would then be transformed into an implausible range such as 5 to 18+1⁄2 years.^[15] Others say that the first list, of only 10 names for 1,656 years, may contain generational gaps, which would have been represented by the lengthy lifetimes attributed to the patriarchs.^[16] Nineteenth-century critic Vincent Goehlert suggests the lifetimes "represented epochs merely, to which were given the names of the personages especially prominent in such epochs, who, in consequence of their comparatively long lives, were able to acquire an exalted influence".^[17]

Those biblical scholars that teach literal interpretation give explanations for the advanced ages of the early patriarchs. In one view, man was originally to have everlasting life, but as sin was introduced into the world by Adam,^[18] its influence became greater with each generation and God progressively shortened man's life.^[19] In a second view, before Noah's flood, a "firmament" over the earth (Genesis 1:6–8) contributed to people's advanced ages.^[20]The Bible's own (brief) explanation for these ages approaches the question from a different angle, explaining instead the relative shortness of normal lives in Genesis 6:3 (CSB): "And the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.'"

Conservative apologist William Lane Craig believes that the longevity myths should be understood as 'mytho-history', where the ages of culturally significant figures were exaggerated to make a political or theological point. He points to similar practices found in neighboring cultures such as the Babylonians and argues that both Hebrews and Babylonians were aware that human longevity was biologically unfeasible.^[21] Similar arguments were made by professor Robert Gnuse.^[22]

Here are some more modern examples of Christian longevity claims:

• Scolastica Oliveri is said to have lived in Bivona, Italy, 1448–1578 (age 129–130), according to the archive of Monastero di San Paolo in Bivona located in Palermo.^[23]
• Around 1912, the Maharishi of Kailash was said by missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh to be a Christian hermit of over 300 years of age in a Himalayan mountain cave, with whom he spent some time in deep fellowship. Singh said the Maharishi was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and baptized by the nephew of St. Francis Xavier.^[24]

Islam

Ibrahim (إِبْرَاهِيم) was said to have lived to 168–169 years.^{[citation needed]} His wife Sarah is the only woman in the Old Testament whose age is given. She died at 127 (Genesis 23:1). In the Quran, Noah allegedly lived for 950 years with his people.^[25]

According to 19th-century scholars, Abdul Azziz al-Hafeed al-Habashi (عبد العزيز الحبشي) lived 673–674 Gregorian years, or 694–695 Islamic years, between 581 and 1276 AH (equivalent to 1185–1859 AD).^[26]

In Twelver Shia Islam, Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi is believed to currently be in Occultation and still alive (age 1155).^[27]

Buddhism

• Vipassī, the twenty-second of twenty-eight Buddhas, lived for either 80,000^[28] or 100,000 years.^[29] In Vipassī's time, the longevity of humans was 84,000 years.
• Taṇhaṅkara, the first Buddha, lived for 100,000 years.

Falun Gong

Chapter 2 of Falun Gong by Li Hongzhi (2001) states,

A person in Japan named Mitsu Taira lived to be 242 years old. During the Tang dynasty in our country, there was a monk called Hui Zhao [慧昭, 526–815^{[citation needed]}] who lived to be 290 [288–289] years old. According to the county annals of Yong Tai in Fujian Province, Chen Jun [陈俊] was born in the first year of Zhong He time (881 AD) under the reign of Emperor Xi Zong during the Tang Dynasty. He died in the Tai Ding time of the Yuan Dynasty (1324 AD), after living for 443 years.^[30]

Hinduism

• The Hindu god Rama is said to have ruled his kingdom Ayodhya for 11,000 years by the time he died according to the Ramayana.^[31]
• Rama's father Dasharatha lived for more than 60,000 years according to the Ramayana.^[32]
• Bhagiratha did tapas for 1000 deva or god years (360,000 years in Human years) to please Ganga, to gain the release of his 60,000 great-uncles from the curse of saint Kapila. So, Bhagiratha lived for more than 360,000 years.^[33]
• The Hindu god Krishna is said to have lived for 125 years and 8 months from 3228 BCE to 3102 BCE. According to Hindu scriptures, the age of Kali Yuga began after he ascended to his abode Vaikuntha.^{[34][better source needed]}
• Ashwatthama, a hero of the Mahabharatha, is said to be over 6,000 years old and still alive.^{[citation needed]}
• Devraha Baba (died June 19, 1990) claimed to have lived for more than 900 years.^[35]
• Trailanga Swami reportedly lived in Kashi since 1737;^[36] the journal Prabuddha Bharata puts his birth c. 1607 CE, corresponding to year 1529 of the Shaka era (age 279–280),^{[37][38][need quotation to verify]} upon his death in 1887.^[37][36]
• The sadhaka Lokenath Brahmachari reportedly lived 1730–1890 (age 159–160).^[36]
• Shivapuri Baba, also known as Swami Govindanath Bharati, was a Hindu saint who purportedly lived from 1826 to 1963, making him allegedly 136–137 years old at the time of his death. He had 18 audiences with Queen Victoria.^[39][40]

Jainism

Extreme lifespans are ascribed to the Tirthankaras, for instance:

• Neminatha was said to have lived for over 10,000 years before his ascension.
• Naminatha was said to have lived for over 20,000 years before his ascension.
• Munisuvrata was said to have lived for over 30,000 years before his ascension.
• Māllīnātha was said to have lived for over 56,000 years before his ascension.
• Aranatha was said to have lived for over 84,000 years before his ascension.
• Kunthunatha was said to have lived for over 200,000 years before his ascension.
• Shantinatha was said to have lived for over 800,000 years before his ascension.
• Dharmanatha was said to have lived for over 2,500,000 years before his ascension.
• Anantanatha was said to have lived for over 3,500,000 years before his ascension.
• Vimalanatha was said to have lived for over 6,000,000 years before his ascension.
• Vasupujya was said to have lived for over 7,200,000 years before his ascension.
• Shreyansanatha was said to have lived for over 8,400,000 years before his ascension.^[41]

Sikhism

• Baba Sri Chand, the founder of Udasi sect, was said to live 134 years.^[42][43][44]
• Baba Biram Das, an udasi saint, is said to have lived for 321 years.^[45][46][47]

Taoism

The term xian refers to deified persons who have achieved immortality. The Old Man of the South Pole is a common archetype and symbol for longevity.

Theosophy/New Age

• Mahavatar Babaji is said to be an "Unascended Master" purportedly many centuries old (said to have been born as early as 203 AD) and is claimed to live in the Himalayas. The Hindu guru Paramhansa Yogananda claimed to have met him and was supposedly one of his disciples.^[48][49]

Ancient extreme longevity claims

These include claims prior to c. 150 CE, before the fall of the Roman empire.

China

Bronze mirror, with Chinese character of "Longevity" and dragons and clouds decoration. Capital Museum, Beijing, China

• Fu Xi (伏羲) was supposed to have lived for 197 years.^[50]
• Lucian wrote about the "Seres" (a Chinese people), claiming they lived for over 300 years.
• Zuo Ci who lived during the Three Kingdoms Period was said to have lived for 300 years.
• In Chinese legend, Peng Zu was believed to have lived for over 800 years^[51] during the Yin Dynasty (殷朝, 16th to 11th centuries BC).^[52]

Emperors

• The Yellow Emperor was said to have lived for 113 years.
• Emperor Yao was said to have lived for 118 years.^[53]
• Emperor Shun was said to have lived for 110 years.^{[citation needed]}

Egypt

The Egyptian historian Manetho, drawing upon earlier sources, begins his Egyptian king list with the Graeco-Egyptian god Hephaestus (Ptah) who "was king for 9,000 years".^[54]

Greece

A book Macrobii ("Long-Livers") is a work devoted to longevity. It was attributed to the ancient Greek author Lucian, although it is now accepted that he could not have written it.^[55] Most examples given in it are lifespans of 80 to 100 years, but some are much longer:

• Tiresias, the blind seer of Thebes, over 600 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Nestor, over 300 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Members of the "Seres" (a Chinese people), over 300 years.^{[citation needed]}

According to one tradition, Epimenides of Crete (7th, 6th centuries BC) lived nearly 300 years.^[56]

Japan

A woodblock print of Emperor Jimmu, part of Famous Generals of Japan by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Some early emperors of Japan are said to have ruled for more than a century, according to the tradition documented in the Kojiki, viz., Emperor Jimmu and Emperor Kōan.

• Emperor Jimmu (traditionally, 13 February 711 BC – 11 March 585 BC) lived 126 years according to the Kojiki. These dates correspond to 125 years, 339 days, on the proleptic Julian and Gregorian calendars.
• Emperor Kōan, according to Nihon Shoki, lived 137 years^[57] (from 427 BC^[58] to 291 BC).

Korea

• Dangun, the first ruler of Korea, is said to have been born in 2333 BCE and to have died in 425 BCE at the age of 1,908 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Taejo of Goguryeo (46/47 – 165) is claimed to have reigned in Korea for 93 years beginning at age 7. After his retirement, the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa give his age at death as 117–118,^[59] while the Book of the Later Han states he died in 121 at age 73–74.

Persian empire

The reigns of several shahs in the Shahnameh, an epic poem by Ferdowsi, are given as longer than a century:

• Zahhak, 1,000 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Jamshid, 700 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Fereydun, 500 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Askani, 200 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Kay Kāvus, 150 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Manuchehr, 120 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Lohrasp, 120 years.^{[citation needed]}
• Goshtasp, 120 years.^{[citation needed]}

Ancient Rome

In Roman times, Pliny wrote about longevity records from the census carried out in 74 AD under Vespasian. In one region of Italy many people allegedly lived past 100; four were said to be 130, others up to 140.^{[citation needed]}

Sumer

Age claims for the earliest eight Sumerian kings in the major recension of the Sumerian King List were in units and fractions of shar (3,600 years) and totaled 67 shar or 241,200 years.^[60]

In the only ten-king tablet recension of this list three kings (Alalngar, [...], kidunnu, and En-men-dur-ana) are recorded as having reigned 72,000 years together.^[16][61] The major recension assigns 43,200 years to the reign of En-men-lu-ana, and 36,000 years each to those of Alalngar and Dumuzid.^[60]

Vietnam

• Kinh Dương Vương, the first King of Vietnam, is said to be born in 2919 BC and died in 2792 BC (aged about 127 years).^[62]
• Lạc Long Quân reigned from 2793 BC to 2524 BC (about 269 years).^[63]

Modern extreme longevity claims

This list includes claims of longevity of 130 and older from the 14th century onward. All birth year and age claims are alleged unless stated otherwise.

Isolated

Documented

The following cases have been documented in detail over time.

Other

• The Assamese polymath Sankardev (1449–1568) allegedly lived to the age of 118.^[a]
• Albrecht von Haller allegedly collected examples of 62 people ages 110–120, 29 ages 120–130, and 15 ages 130–140.^[122]
• A 1973 National Geographic article on longevity reported, as a very aged people, the Burusho–Hunza people in the Hunza Valley of the mountains of Pakistan.^[87]
• Swedish death registers contain detailed information on thousands of centenarians going back to 1749; the maximum age at death reported between 1751 and 1800 was 147.^[123]
• Cases of extreme longevity in the United Kingdom were listed by James Easton in 1799, who covered 1,712 cases documented between 66 BC and 1799, the year of publication;^[124] Charles Hulbert also edited a book containing a list of cases in 1825.
• A periodical The Aesculapian Register, written by physicians and published in Philadelphia in 1824, listed a number of cases, including several purported to have lived over 130. The authors said the list was taken from the Dublin Magazine.^[125]
• Deaths officially reported in the Russian Empire in 1815 listed 1,068 centenarians, including 246 supercentenarians (50 at age 120–155 and one even older).^[69] Time magazine considered that, by the Soviet Union, longevity had elevated to a state-supported "Methuselah cult".^[126] The USSR insisted on its citizens' unrivaled longevity by claiming 592 people (224 male, 368 female) over age 120 in a 15 January 1959 census^[127] and 100 citizens of the Russian SSR alone aged 120 to 156 in March 1960.^[128] According to the opinion of Time magazine, in Georgia such claims were fostered by Georgian-born Joseph Stalin's apparent hope that such longevity might rub off on him.^[126] Zhores A. Medvedev, who demonstrated that all 500-plus claims failed birth-record validation and other tests,^[126] said that Stalin "liked the idea that [other] Georgians lived to be 100".^[128]
• An early 1812 Peterburgskaya Gazeta reports a man between ages 200 and 225 in the diocese of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine).^[69]

Medieval era

Poland

• Piast Kołodziej, King of Poland, died in 861 at the alleged age of 120 (740 AD/861 AD).^[129]

Wales

• Welsh bard Llywarch Hen (Heroic Elegies) died c. 500 in the parish of Llanvor, traditionally about age 150.^[69]

England

• Edgar Ætheling, English prince who was briefly King of England after the death of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in late 1066. Edgar is said to have died shortly after 1126, when William of Malmesbury wrote that he "now grows old in the country in privacy and quiet".^[130] However, two pipe rolls exist from the years 1158 and 1167 which list Edgar. The historian Edward Augustus Freeman stated that this referred either to Edgar (aged at least 115), to a son of his, or to another person who bore the title Ætheling.^[131]

Practices

Diets

According to a 2021 review, there is no clinical evidence that any dietary practice contributes to longevity.^[132]

Alchemy

Traditions that have been believed to confer greater human longevity include alchemy.

• Nicolas Flamel (early 1330s – c. 1418) was a 14th-century scrivener who developed a reputation as alchemist and creator of an "elixir of life" that conferred immortality upon himself and his wife Perenelle. His arcanely inscribed tombstone is preserved at the Musée de Cluny in Paris.
• Fridericus (Ludovicus) Gualdus (Federico Gualdi [it]), author of "Revelation of the True Chemical Wisdom", lived in Venice in the 1680s. His age was reported in a letter in a contemporary Dutch newspaper to be over 400. By some accounts, when asked about a portrait he carried, he said it was of himself, painted by Titian (who died in 1576), but gave no explanation and left Venice the following morning.^[133][134] By another account, Gualdus left Venice due to religious accusations and died in 1724.^[135] The "Compass der Weisen" alludes to him as still alive in 1782 and nearly 600 years old.^[133]

Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring which supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted around the world for thousands of years, appearing in the writings of Herodotus (5th century BC), in the Alexander romance (3rd century AD), and in the stories of Prester John (early Crusades, 11th/12th centuries AD). Stories of similar waters also featured prominently among the people of the Caribbean during the Age of Exploration (early 16th century); they spoke of the restorative powers of the water in the mythical land of Bimini. Based on these many legends, explorers and adventurers looked for the elusive Fountain of Youth or some other remedy to aging, generally associated with magic waters. These waters might have been a river, a spring or any other water-source said to reverse the aging process and to cure sickness when swallowed or bathed in.

The legend became particularly prominent in the 16th century, when it became associated with the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, the first Governor of Puerto Rico. Ponce de León was supposedly searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to Florida in 1513. Legend has it that Native Americans told Ponce de León that the Fountain of Youth was in Bimini.

See also

• Ageing
• Ambrosia
• Amrita
• Cup of Jamshid
• Genetics
• Holy Grail
• Iðunn
• List of longest-reigning monarchs
• List of oldest living people
• List of the verified oldest people
• Magu (deity)
• Oldest people
• Peaches of Immortality
• Pill of Immortality
• Research into centenarians
• Supercentenarian

Notes

1. The traditional date of Sankardev's birth, generally considered correct, is in the month of Ashwin-Kartika (October) 1449. Assuming the middle of October as his birthdate in that year, his life span was 118 years, 10 months and a few days.^[121]

References

1. Ni, Maoshing (2006). Secrets of Longevity. Chronicle Books. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-8118-4949-4. Chuan xiong ... has long been a key herb in the longevity tradition of China, prized for its powers to boost the immune system, activate blood circulation, and relieve pain.
2. Fulder, Stephen (1983). An End to Ageing: Remedies for Life. Destiny Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-89281-044-4. Taoist devotion to immortality is important to us for two reasons. The techniques may be of considerable value to our goal of a healthy old age, if we can understand and adapt them. Secondly, the Taoist longevity tradition has brought us many interesting remedies.
3. Hokisson, Paul Y. (January 2010). "Number Manipulation for Profit, or Just for Fun?". Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. 30 (6): 3.
4. Kohn, Livia (2001). Daoism and Chinese Culture. Three Pines Press. pp. 4, 84. ISBN 978-1-931483-00-1. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
5. Anderson, Stacy L.; Sebastiani, Paola; Dworkis, Daniel A.; Feldman, Lori; Perls, Thomas T. (1 April 2012). "Health Span Approximates Life Span Among Many Supercentenarians: Compression of Morbidity at the Approximate Limit of Life Span". The Journals of Gerontology: Series A. 67A (4): 395–405. doi:10.1093/gerona/glr223. PMC 3309876. PMID 22219514. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
6. B. M. Weon; J. H. Je (17 June 2008). "Theoretical estimation of maximum human lifespan". Biogerontology. 10 (1): 65–71. doi:10.1007/s10522-008-9156-4. PMID 18560989. S2CID 8554128.
7. "Galapagos tortoise in the database AnAge". Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
8. "Bowhead whale in the database AnAge". Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
9. Sullivan, Danny (25 May 2021). "Aging experts hail new study, which finds that solving the decline in our ability to recover as we age may hold the key to dramatically extending human lifespan". Longevity Technology. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021. Extrapolation of this data shows a complete loss of human body resilience at around 120-150 years of age – indicating the current limit of human lifespan
10. Willingham, Emily (25 May 2021). "Humans Could Live up to 150 Years, New Research Suggests". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
11. (Jasher 5:21)
12. (Jasher 5:7)
13. Hill, Carol A. (4 December 2003). "Making Sense of the Numbers of Genesis" (PDF). Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. 55: 239. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
14. Etz, Donald V. (1994). "The Numbers of Genesis V 3–31: A Suggested Conversion and Its Implications". Vetus Testamentum. 43 (2): 171–87. doi:10.1163/156853393X00034.
15. Morris, Henry M. (1976). The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House. p. 159. Such an interpretation would have made Enoch only five years old when his son was born!
16. "Notes on Genesis 5:5". Zondervan NIV Study Bible. 2002. pp. 12–13. Three kings in a Sumerian list (which also contains exactly ten names) are said to have reigned 72,000 years each.
17. Goehlert, Vincent (November 1887). "Statistical Observations upon Biblical Data". The Old Testament Student. 7 (3). Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 76–83. doi:10.1086/469948.
18. Romans 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned ...
19. Pilch, John J. (1999). The Cultural Dictionary of the Bible. Liturgical Press. pp. 144–146.
20. Vail, Isaac Newton (1902). The Waters Above the Firmament: Or The Earth's Annular System. Ferris and Leach. p. 97.
21. Craig, William Lane (15 December 2019). "#660 The Genealogies of Genesis 1-11". Reasonable Faith. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023.
22. Gnuse 2014, p. 173.
23. "Scolastica Oliveri". Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
24. Thompson, Phyllis (2005). Sadhu Sundar Singh: A Biography of the Remarkable Indian Disciple of Jesus. Armour. pp. 77, 80–3. ISBN 978-981-4138-55-0. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
25. "Surah Al-'Ankabut - 14". Quran.com. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
26. al-Kittani, Abdul Hayye (2006). "Fahres-ul-Faharis wal Athbat". Chains of Narration (PDF). Vol. 2. United Kingdom: Minhaj-al-Quran International. p. 928. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2011.
27. "The Twelfth Imam, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan (Al-Mahdi-Sahibuz Zaman) (The hidden Imam who is expected to return)". 12 May 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
28. Horner, IB (1975). "The nineteenth chronicle: that of the Lord Vipassin". The Minor Anthologies Of The Pali Canon: Part III: Chronicle Of Buddhas (Buddhavamsa) and Basket Of Conduct (Cariyapitaka). Oxford: Pali Text Society. pp. 74–7. ISBN 978-0-86013-072-7.
29. Davids, TWR; Davids, R (1878). "The successive bodhisats in the times of the previous Buddhas". Buddhist birth-stories; Jataka tales. The commentarial introduction entitled Nidana-Katha; the story of the lineage. London: George Routledge & Sons. pp. 115–44.
30. Hongzhi, Li (April 2001). Falun Gong (4th trans. ed.). Archived from the original on 18 January 2000.
31. "Valmiki Ramayana Balakanda sarga 1 shloka 97". sanskritdocuments.org. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
32. "Valmiki Ramayana Balakanda sarga 20 shloka 10". sanskritdocuments.org. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
33. "The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva: Section CVIII". sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
34. "Lord Krishna Birth and Death Time". Drikpanchang. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
35. "SPIRITUAL SCIENCE MUSEUM". spiritualsciencemuseum.org. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
36. McDermott, Rachel Fell (2001). Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams. Oxford University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-19-513435-3. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
37. Varishthananda, Swami (November 2007). "Varanasi: The City of Saints, Sages, and Savants" (PDF). Prabuddha Bharata. 112 (11): 632–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2011.
38. Medhasananda, Swami (2003). Varanasi At the Crossroads. Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. p. 1042. ISBN 978-81-87332-18-3.
39. Feuerstein, Georg (2014). The Psychology of Yoga: Integrating Eastern and Western Approaches for Understanding the Mind. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 978-0-8348-2921-3.
40. Bennett, John G. (27 March 2016). Long Pilgrimage: The Life and Teaching of the Shivapuri Baba. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-5306-2431-7.
41. Jain, Vijay K. (2015), Acarya Samantabhadra's Svayambhustotra: Adoration of The Twenty-four Tirthankara, Vikalp, ISBN 978-81-903639-7-6
42. Gandhi, Surjit Singh (2007). History of Sikh gurus retold. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 980. ISBN 978-81-269-0859-2. OCLC 190873070.
43. Singh Madra, Amandeep (2016). Sicques, Tigers or Thieves: Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs (1606-1810). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 333. ISBN 978-1-137-11998-8. OCLC 1083462581.
44. Harbans Singh (1992–1998). The encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Patiala: Punjabi University. p. 234. ISBN 0-8364-2883-8. OCLC 29703420.
45. Chotani, Mini (2 June 2021). "ਦਸਮੇਸ਼ ਪਿਤਾ ਕੋਲੋਂ ਬਾਬਾ ਬੀਰਮ ਦਾਸ ਦਾ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਦ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਟੀ ਲੈਣ ਲਈ ਆਉਣਾ ਤੇ ਇਸ 'ਤੇ ਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਦਾ ਜਵਾਬ".
46. "baba biram das ji maharaj". punjabijanta.com.
47. Jagajīta Siṅgha (Santa.) (1999). Mahāṃpurakhāṃ de wacittara jīwana te paraupakāra Bābā Karama Siṅgha Jī Hotī Maradāna wāle, Bābā Āiā Siṅgha Jī, srī māna Santa Jawālā Siṅgha Jī (in Punjabi). Bhā. Catara Siṅgha Jīwana Siṅgha. ISBN 9788176012874.
48. Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri) (August 2017). "Untold Stories of Mahavatar Babaji of Yogananda's 'Autobiography of a Yogi'". Original Christianity and Original Yoga. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
49. "Who is Babaji?". Babaji's Kriya Yoga. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
50. Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing. Beijing: Foreign Language Press. 2007. ISBN 978-7-119-04635-8.
51. Li, Mengyu (2008). "The Unique Values of Chinese Traditional Cultural Time Orientation: In Comparison with Western Cultural Time Orientation" (PDF). The University of Rhode Island. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
52. "Saints & Sages Part I: Founding Ancestor Peng 彭祖爺 – Purple Cloud". Retrieved 26 October 2020.
53. Ching, Julia; R. W. L. Guisso (1991). Sages and filial sons: mythology and archaeology in ancient China. The Chinese University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-962-201-469-5.
54. Manetho; Syncellus, George. Fragments (Fr. 3). Retrieved 18 December 2020.
55. "Lucian: Macrobii - translation". www.attalus.org. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
56. Thomas Spencer Baynes; William Robertson Smith, eds. (1890). "Epimenides". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. 8. Henry G. Allen. p. 482.
57. Brownlee, John S. (14 August 1991). Political Thought in Japanese Historical Writing: From Kojiki (712) to Tokushi Yoron (1712). Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-88920-997-8. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
58. Henshall, Kenneth (2013). Historical Dictionary of Japan to 1945. Scarecrow Press. p. 487. ISBN 978-0-8108-7872-3. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
59. Yang, S. C (1999). The South and North Korean political systems: A comparative analysis (rev. ed.). Seoul: Hollym. ISBN 978-1-56591-105-5.
60. Jacobson, Thorkild (1939). The Sumerian King List. University of Chicago Press. pp. 69–77.
61. Hasel, Gerhard F. (1978). "The Genealogies of Gen. 5 and 11 and Their Alleged Babylonian Background". Andrews University Seminary Studies. 16. Andrews University Press: 366–7. Citing Finkelstein, J. J. (1963). "The Antediluvian Kings: A University of California Tablet". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 17 (2): 39–51. doi:10.2307/1359063. JSTOR 1359063. S2CID 164025079.
62. Lễ hội Việt Nam. Văn hóa Hương Trang.
63. "18 vị vua Hùng là ai ?". plo.vn. Báo Pháp luật Tp. Hồ Chí Minh. 29 April 2015.
64. "Seed of the Woman - App.I". Custance.org. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
65. "Information from Westminster Abbey on Parr's life, including the inscription on his gravestone". Archived from the original on 7 January 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
66. Jeune, Bernard; Vaupel, James W., eds. (1999). "Age Validation of Centenarians in the Luxdorph Gallery". Validation of Exceptional Longevity. Odense Monographs on Population Aging. Vol. 6. Petersen, L.-L. B., Jeune, Bernard, contribs. Odense University Press. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
67. Krünitz, Johann Georg (1806). Oekonomisch-technologische Encyklopädie oder allgemeines System der Stats-, Stadt-, Haus- und Landwirthschaft und der Kunst-Geschichte. Vol. 66. Pauli. p. 764.
68. Thoms, William J. (1979) [1873]. Human Longevity: Its Facts and Its Fictions (reprint ed.). London; New York City: John Murray; Arno Press. p. 287.
69. Hulbert, Charles (1825). "Instances of Human Longevity in Europe". Museum Europæum; or, Select antiquities ... of nature and art, in Europe. pp. 451–7.
70. Marden, Orison Swett (2003) [1921]. The Secret of Achievement. Kessinger Publishing. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-7661-5301-1.
71. Wilhelm, Peter. "Demogr.mpg.de". Demogr.mpg.de. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
72. Marshall, Konrad (28 July 2015). "Believe it or not!". The Post-Star. Glens Falls, New York. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
73. Kent, George F. (1965). "Some Franciscos of Essex and Morris Counties, N.J., and of Schagticoke, N.Y." New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. 96 (3): 156–172. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
74. Manley, Brendan. "Old Soldiers Never Die". HistoryNet. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
75. Ripley, Bob (27 February 1939). "Believe It or Not..." Battle Creek Enquirer. Battle Creek, Michigan. p. 5. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
76. "Li Ching-Yun Dead; Gave His Age As 197". The New York Times. 6 May 1933. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
77. "Tortoise-Pigeon-Dog". Time Magazine. 15 May 1933. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
78. "Zaro Aga, one of the longest-lived humans in the history of mankind". bamedmed. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
79. "Córdoba tuvo al hombre más viejo del mundo | EL UNIVERSAL - Cartagena". El Universal (in Spanish). 22 March 2010. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
80. "NEMURITORUL DE LA CLUJ. Românul ce a trăit 148 de ani. Record naţional de longevitate dovedit prin acte, by Cristinel C. Popa (jurnalul.ro)". 4 February 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
81. "Un clujean a trăit 148 de ani. Vezi documentele și mărturii IMPRESIONANTE by Horea Soica (Știri de Cluj)". 5 February 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
82. "Secretele lui Maftei Pop, românul care a trăit 148 de ani. Totul e dovedit de acte (Antena 3)". 5 April 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
83. "Povestea românului care a trăit 148 de ani – Maftei Pop din Osoi, by Florian Saiu (Evenimentul zilei)". 26 June 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
84. "Cine a fost Maftei Pop, românul care ar fi trăit 148 de ani. Secretul nebănuit care l-a ajutat să atingă recordul de longevitate, by Manolică Anca (Știri din lume)". 26 June 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
85. "Legenda românului care ar fi trăit 148 de ani (Atlas-geografic.net)". 16 April 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
86. "Povestea uluitoare a lui Maftei Pop, românul care deţine recordul de longevitate: a trăit un secol şi jumătate, by Bianca Sara Gavrilă (Adevărul, Bistrița)". 29 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
87. Leaf, Alexander (January 1973). "Search for the Oldest People". National Geographic. pp. 93–118.
88. Asia and Africa today (Report). Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee, Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Africa Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. 1990. Shirali Mislimov, an Azerbaijani peasant, who was the oldest among the Soviet centenarians, died in 1973 at the age of 168. His surviving widow at that time was 120.
89. "Gerontology Research Group: Oldest American Claimants". Archived 2018-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, grg.org; accessed May 20, 2018.
90. "Oldest citizen Charlie Smith dies at 137". Beaver County Times. Beaver, Pa. UPI. 7 October 1979. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
91. "'Oldest' Living American Bounced from Record Book". Schenectady Gazette. AP. 21 March 1979. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
92. "Man Dies at Reported Age of 141". Associated Press Archives. Associated Press. 21 April 1998. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
93. Thapa, Vijay Jung (15 October 1996). "Being the oldest-ever is a record Bir Naryahan Chaudhary neither wants nor understands". India Today. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
94. "Bir Narayan Chaudhary, 141; Nepal's Oldest Man". The Los Angeles Times. 24 April 1998. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
95. "Longest retirement pension". guinnessworldrecords.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
96. "Oldest Indian Habib Mian Dies At 138". 21 November 2008. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
97. "Man who has seen three centuries". telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
98. "'Oldest man' passes away in India". BBC News. 19 August 2008. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
99. "World's 'oldest man' dies in India". The Telegraph. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
100. "Jaipur's Habib Miyan at 137: celebrating yet another birthday". The Hindu. 21 May 2006. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
101. "Rekordalter Inder stirbt – vermutlich mit 130". Tagessppiegel (in German). 19 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
102. "Habib Mian, possibly country's oldest man, dies". India Today. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
103. "Mecca looms for aged pilgrim". 24 December 2003. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
104. "Indian man's 65 years as OAP". 22 May 2003. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
105. "Sodimejo, Manusia tertua di Sragen" [Sodimejo, the oldest man in Sragen]. Solopos (in Indonesian). 20 May 2010. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
106. Taufiq Sidik Prakoso (25 August 2014). "Inilah Mbah Gotho, Manusia Tertua Asal Sragen yang Kini Berusia 144 Tahun" [Mbah Gotho from Sragen, Oldest Human Now Aged 144 Years]. Solopos (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
107. Abrori, Fajar (24 August 2016). "Kini Berusia 146 Tahun, Apa Rahasia Panjang Umur Mbah Gotho?" [Now 146 years old, what are Mbah Gotho's secrets of longevity?]. Liputan 6 (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
108. "Kakek Berusia 140 Tahun Juga Ada di Sragen" [The 140-year-old grandfather in Sragen]. Liputan 6 (in Indonesian). 24 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
109. "'Longest living human' says he is ready for death at 145". The Telegraph. 27 August 2016. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
110. Piggott, Mark (27 August 2016). "145-year-old Mbah Gotho from Indonesia says he can't wait to die". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
111. Knopf, Ehsan (28 August 2016). "Indonesian man claims to be world's oldest person at 145". Nine News. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
112. "'Oldest human' dies in Indonesia 'aged 146'". BBC News. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
113. "Indonesia's oldest man dies at 146". Channel NewsAsia. Bernama. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
114. "Mbah Gotho Manusia Berusia 146 Tahun Asal Sragen Meninggal Dunia" [Mbah Gotho, 146-year-old of Sragen, dies]. DetikCom (in Indonesian). 30 April 2017. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
115. "'World's oldest man' dies in Indonesia aged 146: Reports". The Straits Times. 2 May 2017. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
116. "World's oldest living person dies at the age of 140". Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
117. "Tuti Yusupova: Woman who claims to be the real world's oldest person died this week aged 134, government officials say". The Independent. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
118. "Living the longest – indigenous Brazilian celebrates 121st birthday". Survival International. 30 August 2011.
119. "Documento mostra que indígena no AC tem 129 anos, 12 a mais que a mulher mais velha do mundo". G1. 6 June 2020.
120. "Indígena que teria 131 anos morre no interior do AC: 'mais antiga matriarca de todos os territórios do povo Huni kui'". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 22 May 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
121. Neog, Maheswar (1980). Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Assam: Śaṅkaradeva and His Times. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 98, 100.
122. Dunglison, Robley (1851). Medical Lexicon: A Dictionary of Medical Science. Blanchard & Lea. p. 525.
123. Lundström, Hans; Castanova, V. (March 2000). Record Longevity in Swedish Cohorts Born Since 1700. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
124. Easton, James, Human longevity: recording the name, age, place of residence, and year of the decease of 1712 persons who attained a century and upwards, from A.D.66 to 1799, comprising a period of 1733 years. With anecdotes of the most remarkable. Salisbury: James Easton, 1799.
125. The aesculapian register: 1824. Vol. 1. 1824. p. 155.
126. "Medicine: No Methuselahs". Time Magazine. 12 August 1974. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
127. Vestnik Statistiki. Statistical Herald. April 1961.
128. Guinness Book of World Records. 1983. pp. 16–19.
129. Prichard, James C. (1836). Researches into the Physical History of Mankind. Vol. 1. London: Houlston and Stoneman. pp. 11–5 ff.
130. "The Project Gutenberg eBook of William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England, by J. A. Giles". gutenberg.org. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
131. Freeman, Edward Augustus (1873). The History of the Norman Conquest of England: The reign of William the Conqueror. Clarendon Press for Macmillan and Company, New York.
132. Lee MB, Hill CM, Bitto A, Kaeberlein M (November 2021). "Antiaging diets: Separating fact from fiction". Science. 374 (6570): eabe7365. doi:10.1126/science.abe7365. PMC 8841109. PMID 34793210.
133. Ferguson, John (1906). Bibliotheca chemica. Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons. p. 351. Retrieved 12 September 2010. Friederich GUALDUS.
134. Gualdus, Friederich (1989) [1720]. Revelation of the True Chemical Wisdom (Alchemy). Muller, Leone, trans. Restoration of Alchemical Manuscripts Society. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
135. Hally, René. "Tschoudy, Théodore Henry de Metz". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2010.

Bibliography

• Boia, Lucian (2004). Forever Young: A Cultural History of Longevity from Antiquity to the Present. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-154-9.
• Gnuse, Robert (2014), Misunderstood Stories: Theological Commentary on Genesis 1-11, Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, ISBN 978-1-62564-007-9
• Thoms, William J. (1879). The Longevity of Man. Its Facts and Its Fictions. With a prefatory letter to Prof. Owen, C.B., F.R.S. on the limits and frequency of exceptional cases. London: F. Norgate.