[VRI] Fwd: Re:aryabhatta.net/Varahamihira

[Guest guest]

Sirs,

 

Following is my answers to some points raised by Mr AK Kaul ji :

 

AKK :Surya Sidhanta is really a monstrous astronomical work, irrespective of

fulosme praise by " Vedic astrologers " to that alien work. The fundamental

arguments of that work are not correct for any epoch either in the past or

future! They are just imagination run riot!

 

VJ : I praise AKK for his acceptance of the truth that Suryasiddhanta does not

work for any epoch in history. I can assure that there is no period in past,

present or future for which " errors " in Suryasiddhantic planetary positions are

within ~10 degrees. Another apparent " monstrosity " of Suryasiddhanta is its

vibrating ayanamsha which is not observed at all in physical world.

 

AKK : Varahamihira was a phalita-jyotishi ( pl. see his Brihat Jatakam etc.) who

also dabbled in mundane astrology (pl. see his Brihat-Samhita) ! He did not know

even ABC of astronomy since the only astronomical work attributed to him is

Pancha-sidhantika. That is actually a compilation of five sidhantas, Surya

Sidhanta of Maya the mlechha being one of them, and the only astronomical work

that has given planetary longitudes vis-a-vis Mesha etc. rashis till then.

 

VJ: Varaha Mihira is the only tri-skandha jyotishi of ancient or mediaeval

period whose works on all three skandhas of jyotisha have survived. It is wrong

to call him merely a phalita jyotishi. But AKK has no knowledge of ancient

astronomy, otherwise he would have discerned that Panchsiddhantika was said to

be a karana grantha by Varaha Mihira and therefore had some nearby zero date

which is not mentioned in the extant version of Panchsiddhantika.Without a zero

date, a karana grantha is practically useless. It means entire Panchsiddhantika

has not survived, and therefore we cannot compute planetary positions according

to extant version of Panchsiddhantika. It is unfair to abuse Varaha Mihira as a

" charlatan " if the posterity (including AKK's forefathers) could not save the

entire work of one of the greatest astrologers of antiquity. Another crime by

some modern authors is to distort Varaha Mihira's socalled praise of mlechchhas

(and on the basis of this

distorted version a mlechchha origin of Indian astrology is " proved " ), which

according to Varaha Mihira's ancient commentator Bhatta Utpala was actually a

praise of Jyotisha-shaastra whose knowledge makes even mlechchhas praiseworthy

!! It is noteworthy that AKK does not abuse Romaka Siddhanta which is believed

to be of mlechchh origin, all his ire is against Suryasiddhanta just because it

is still believed to work wonders in the field of predictive astrology, which

AKK wants to destroy.

 

AKK : Maya the mlechha was palming of some Greek work........Aryabhatti, that is

more or less a ditto copy of the fundamental arguments of the Surya Sidhanta of

Pancha-Sidhantika! As such, the planetary fundamental arguments in that work too

are of an alien origin! Neither Aryabhata nor Maya the mlechha have indicated

indebtedness to any purvacharya! That again proves their comlicity in

plagiarising some alien arguments!

 

VJ : Maya was an asura and not a mlechchha. He was the founder of Jyotisha

(besides of architecture, town-planning, sculpture, etc) Eye of Veda, ie the

foremost Vedaanga. Mahatma Lagadha's works were merely for vaidikas and not for

astrologers or astronomers. Instead of spreading false ideas, AKK should prove

this point by naming that Greek work and showing proofs of borrowings. The fact

is that Almagest and Suryasiddhanta have serious differences, Almagest

containing some novelties based on physical observation which Suryasiddhanta

lacks, eg the second lunar inequality for which Ptolemy is so lauded. But in

spite of these differences, the basic framework of both Almagest and

Suryasiddhanta is the same, on account of which Burgess opined that

Suryasiddhanta was based upon some prototype of Almagest before Almagest was

refined !! According to Burgess, Suryasiddhanta is more primitive, hence should

he not have concluded that the more refined work Almagest

was derived from the primitive Suryasiddhanta !!! But Burgess was a Christian

priest, and could not offend Pope. AKK is echoing these wrongheaded mlechchhas

instead of applying his own brains which he certainly has in ample measure but

is being misused against astrology.

 

AKK : AKK:Prior to the Surya Sidhanta of Maya the mlechha, we do not find any

mention of Mesha etc. rashis in any of the astronomical works.

 

VJ: What is the date of Suryasidhanta ?? This text says it was given by Lord

Surya at the fag end of Krit yuga, ie over 2 million years ago, and to sages in

previous yugas (ie many millikons or billions of years ago !!). On the basis of

comparison with planetary positions of physical astronomy, no date can be

ascertained. Hence, testing the accuracy of phalita predictions based upon

Suryasidhanta is only proof in its favour, which materialists are unwilling to

undertake.

 

AKK:Hindus were more interested in the Vedic lore sans predictive gimmicks

 

VJ: Vedic lores are replete with predictive gimmicks. Yajnas were performed at

auspicious momemts for getting some fruits from deities . The first yajna

described in Yajurveda happens to be Darshpaurnamaasa Yajna, literally " NewMoon

to Full Moon Yajna " , which required astronomical computations for fixing the

timing (muhurta) of yajna. Presently, AKK is abusing phalita, soon he will

renounce yajnas and entire Vedas and related karmakaandas and samskaaras, and

will eventually become a mlechchha.

 

AKK : Varahamihira called that very monstrous astronomical work as

" spashta-tarah savitrah " i.e. " The Surya Sidhanta is the most accurate

astronomical work " . That in itself proves that Varahamihira did not know even

ABC of astronomy!

 

VJ: No ancient or mediaeval astronomer or astrologer of India said a single word

against Suryasidhanta. Hence, according to AKK, all Indians were fools and we

must must be indebted to mlechchhas for all our astronomical knowledge. The fact

is AKK has no interest in learning ancient India had to offer in this field.

Hipparchus deduced a wrong value of precessional period of 36000 years, which

was not corrected by Westerners till modern age. Even this wrong value was

forgotten, and Europeans till the time of Copernicus believed in vibrating

ayanamsha !! But AKK may like to read some proof about high precision of ancient

Indians for which they attributed Suryasiddhanta as beeing the source :

ClickHere . It will illumine him about some lost aspects of Suryasiddhanta.

...

AKK: till the time of Kepler i.e. sixteenth century A.D., the inhabitants of the

planet called earth did not know how to calculate planetary longitudes

correctly, in spite of the Surya Sidhanta and other sidhantas or even Ptolmey!

 

VJ: As I said ClickHere . Extant version of Suryasiddhanta is not a work of

PHYSICAL astronomy, but Suryasiddhantahas a Drikpakshiya version too which has

not been preserved but is proven by refernces as made by Bhaskara-II as I

explained in the link provided here. Suryasiddhanta is a work of astrological

mathematics.

 

AKK : Judging from the Atharva-Veda- Parishishita etc., there is a possibility

that some nakshatra-soochis, whom all the shastras have disparaged as

brahmana-chandalas, did roam around in about fifth/sixth century BCE, but they

were really nakshatra-soochis i.e. making a fool of a common man on the basis of

planets vis-a-vis nakshatras (and not rashis!). How those nakshatra-soochis

calculated the position of various planets vis-a-vis nakshatras is also a moot

point, since we do not have any works like that of Hipparchus' catalogues etc.

that could tell anything about the position of various stars in that age! If

some " Vedic astrologers " claim that those nakshatra-soochis were " naked eyed

jyotishis " , they must get their heads examined, since it is impossible to

calculate planetary position of every nativity vis-a-vis nakshatras by just

observing them with naked eyes!

 

VJ : The meaning of Nakshatra-soochaka is one who " (sensorily) observed

(physical) stars " for astrological purposes. Those who used Drikpakshiya planets

in astrology were called Nakshatra-soochakas.

 

AKK : the zodiac itself is an imaginary belt!....we must say " good bye " to

predictive gimmicks in the interest of the doctrines of real Vamadevas and

Parasharas!

 

VJ : It means only those things are real which we can directly perceive

sensorily. We cannot see magnetism or gravitation directly. Are they imaginary ?

If astrology can provide proofs of reality of zodiac, why AKK refuses to test

astrology, instead of making a clarion call to ban astrology, as has been done

in some states of USA. It is amusing to note that AKK denounces predictive

astrology in the very name of the greatest exponent of phalita : Sage Parashara

!!

 

AKK : prior to at least sixteenth century AD, no Western or Eastern---especiall

y the latter, which includes Hindu astrologers --- could have made correct

horoscopes, which means there could never have been correct predictions!

 

VJ : Yes, Nakshatra-soochakas could not predict accurately because they tried to

make horoscopes on the basis of physical observation.

 

AKK : the knowledge of sidhantic astronomy is of immense value to understand not

the development but retardation of Hindu astronomy in the past, since all our

efforts circumnavigated around the so called mythical ayanamsha of Surya

Sidhanta

 

VJ : The " mythical " ayanamsha has no connection with physical world which we

observe sensorily, but is a phenomenon of the hidden world of deities in which

deities named Surya, Chandtra, etc reside. We cannot see deities with naked

eyes. Hence, atheists and disciples of Chaarvaaka call these things as mere

mythology. Not only Suryasiddhantic ayanamsha but entire Vedic-Puranic

literature and entire Hindu dharmashaastra is mere mythology. Will not AKK not

ask us to discard Sanatana Dharma too ??

 

GK Goel ji said to AKK: but we have no alternative but to follow modern

astronomy.

 

To which AKK replied : Exactly! And since astronomically, the Ayanamsha curse

does not exist at all, the earlier we get rid of it the better, if we want to

really gain some astronomical knowledge!

 

VJ : If we follow physical astronomy, we must discard not only ayanamsha but

astrology in its entirety, because physical astronomy has no such concept as

ayanamsha. Some adherents of physical astronomy, like GK Goel ji, are not keen

in checking the astrological validity of Suryasiddhanta and shun discussion on

it, while other adherents of physical astronomy, like AK Kaul ji, are against

astrology in its entirety without even testing its validity. And they are taking

recourse to this authoritarian censorship on Suryasiddhanta in the name of

" scientific spirit " !!!!!! They forget that Suryasiddhanta was literally

worshipped by traditional astrologers till the first half of 20th century, and

within few decades will be worshipped again, on account of its intrinsic merits.

 

-VJ

==================== ==================== ===================

 

 

________________________________

Sunil Bhattacharjya <sunil_bhattacharjya

vedic_research_institute

Cc: ;

Thursday, April 23, 2009 1:46:40 AM

Re: [VRI] Fwd: Re:aryabhatta.net/Varahamihira

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Gopal Goelji,

 

Namaste,

 

While you will reply to the mail please permit me to express my views on some of

the absurd passages of this mail.

 

1)

Quote

 

If some " Vedic astrologers " claim that those nakshatra-soochis were

" naked eyed jyotishis " , they must get their heads examined, since it is

impossible to calculate planetary position of every nativity vis-a-vis

nakshatras by just observing them with naked eyes!

 

Unquote

 

Ancient astronomers were naked eye astronomers. Only a headless person will

contest this. By definition the word " Jyotish " means both astrology and

astronomy. One cannot say that in the past the astronomers could not have known

astrology.

 

2)

Quote

 

He did not know even ABC of astronomy since the only astronomical work

attributed to him is Pancha-sidhantika. That is actually a compilation

of five sidhantas, Surya Sidhanta of Maya the mlechha being one of

them, and the only astronomical work that has given planetary

longitudes vis-a-vis Mesha etc. rashis till then.

 

Unquote

 

This statement shows lack of common sense. What proof this writer has to say

that Varahamihira did not know ABC of astronomy. Varahamihira wrote

Panchasiddhantika and gave his assessment that Suryasiddhanta is the best among

the five siddhantas and that provides ample proof of Varahamihira' s

all-encompassing knowledge of Astronomy. It is idiotic to say that a person

ignorant of astronomy can assess treatises on astronomy. Some modern Mlecchas

may use Mleccha bhasha to call Mayasura as Mleccha but Mayasura was not a

mleccha and he used Aryabhasha to write the Suryasiddhanta.

 

3)

Quote

 

As such, the earlier we admit that the Surya Sidhanta is an alien work,

the better for the Hindu culture as a whole which will thus get rid of

the stigma of having spawned wrong fundamental arguments and then clung

to them in their foolishness!

 

Unquote

 

Here is another strange statement that Hindus should disown Suryasiddhanta and

donate it to the aliens, thinking it to be useless, just because a blacksheep

says so.

 

4)

 

Quote

 

AKK: I am very glad to see your boldness in admitting that till the

time of Kepler i.e. sixteenth century A.D., the inhabitants of the

planet called earth did not know how to calculate planetary longitudes

correctly, in spite of the Surya Sidhanta and other sidhantas or even

Ptolmey!

 

Unquote

 

Here Goelji, you are talking of the higher accuracy of the modern instruments as

compared to the naked eye observations and AKK had hijacked it to say that you

admitted that before Kepler nobody knew how to calculate the planetary positions

correctly. No person in his senses cant make such a twisted statement.

 

5)

Quote

 

AKK: Very correct! And the truth is that there are no Mesha, Vrisha

etc. rashis either as per the Vedas or modern astronomy since the

zodiac itself is an imaginary belt!

 

Unquote

 

Inspite of my telling AKK that the Vedas do mention Rashis like Vrshabha AKK

goes on repeating that there is no Rashi in Veda. This shows, once for all, that

AKK cannot remember anything that has recently told to him recently. I thought

this type of foregetfulness happens only to very old persons. Do you think that

what you tell him now will bw registered by him? I think it will go down the

drain as far he is concerned. But we must inform the group members as to what is

the truth.

 

AKK says that the Indians learned Astrology from the Greeks but has been unable

to show any ancient Greek book, which gives everything that the ancient Indian

books on Astrology has. Instead of giving false assertions it will be better if

AKK tries to write a book to show the past Greek works corresponding to each and

every topic of Indian Astrology. I am sure he cannot take such a challenge and

will try to wriggle out of it tactfully.

 

Regards,

 

Sunil K. Bhattacharjya

 

--- On Tue, 4/21/09, Avtar Krishen Kaul <jyotirved (AT) sify (DOT) com> wrote:

 

Avtar Krishen Kaul <jyotirved (AT) sify (DOT) com>

[VRI] Fwd: Re:aryabhatta. net/Varahamihira

vedic_research_ institute

Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 9:31 PM

 

Indian_Astrology_ Group_Daily_ Digest@grou ps.com, " Avtar Krishen

Kaul " <jyotirved@. ..> wrote:

 

Shri Gopal Goel ji,

 

Namaskar!

 

It is a pleasure to see your erudite article.

 

GKG: " Since ancient Vedic days , there were 18 sages of outstanding merit , who

tried to improve the science of Astronomy " .

 

AKK: Prior to the Surya Sidhanta of Maya the mlechha, we do not find any mention

of Mesha etc. rashis in any of the astronomical works. As such, all that can be

said about astronomical development in India prior to that alien influence is

that the Hindus were more interested in the Vedic lore sans predictive gimmicks

based on Mangal, Shani etc. planets vis-a-vis Mesha etc. rashis.

 

Judging from the Atharva-Veda- Parishishita etc., there is a possibility that

some nakshatra-soochis, whom all the shastras have disparaged as

brahmana-chandalas, did roam around in about fifth/sixth century BCE, but they

were really nakshatra-soochis i.e. making a fool of a common man on the basis of

planets vis-a-vis nakshatras (and not rashis!). How those nakshatra-soochis

calculated the position of various planets vis-a-vis nakshatras is also a moot

point, since we do not have any works like that of Hipparchus' catalogues etc.

that could tell anything about the position of various stars in that age! If

some " Vedic astrologers " claim that those nakshatra-soochis were " naked eyed

jyotishis " , they must get their heads examined, since it is impossible to

calculate planetary position of every nativity vis-a-vis nakshatras by just

observing them with naked eyes!

 

GKG: Aryabhatta and Varamihira tried to further enhance the level

 

of accuracy in observation and ascertaining the position of planets and other

astral bodies in the sky.

 

AKK: Varahamihira was a phalita-jyotishi ( pl. see his Brihat Jatakam etc.) who

also dabbled in mundane astrology (pl. see his Brihat-Samhita) ! He did not

know even ABC of astronomy since the only astronomical work attributed to him is

Pancha-sidhantika. That is actually a compilation of five sidhantas, Surya

Sidhanta of Maya the mlechha being one of them, and the only astronomical work

that has given planetary longitudes vis-a-vis Mesha etc. rashis till then.

 

As is common knowledge by now, Surya Sidhanta is really a monstrous astronomical

work, irrespective of fulosme praise by " Vedic astrologers " to that alien work.

The fundamental arguments of that work are not correct for any epoch either in

the past or future! They are just imagination run riot! The more the Hindus

cling to that work, the more we will be making a laughing stock of ourselves

either directly or indirectly, since clinging to that work is tantamount to

attributing lack of knowledg to the real Vamadevas and Parasharas! As such, the

earlier we admit that the Surya Sidhanta is an alien work, the better for the

Hindu culture as a whole which will thus get rid of the stigma of having spawned

wrong fundamental arguments and then clung to them in their foolishness!

 

Varahamihira called that very monstrous astronomical work as " spashta-tarah

savitrah " i.e. " The Surya Sidhanta is the most accurate astronomical work " .

That in itself proves that Varahamihira did not know even ABC of astronomy!

 

And, as is claimed by " Vedic astrologers " of today, Varahamihra is supposed to

have made correct predictions from that very fundamentally incorrect data! Such

a feat can be attributed to either a yogi or a charlatan! Varahamihira was no

yogi since he would have realized then that Maya the mlechha was palming of some

Greek work as the one revealed by Surya Bhagwan! Varahamihira would not have

been taken in by such ploys of Maya the mlechha if he had been a yogi! But

since he fell hook, line and sinker for the ploy of Maya, and claimed to make

correct predictions from that very fundamentally incorrect data, he certainly

was a charlatan!

 

Regarding Aryabhatti, that is more or less a ditto copy of the fundamental

arguments of the Surya Sidhanta of Pancha-Sidhantika! As such, the planetary

fundamental arguments in that work too are of an alien origin! Neither

Aryabhata nor Maya the mlechha have indicated indebtedness to any purvacharya!

That again proves their comlicity in plagiarising some alien arguments!

 

GKG: The discovery of telescope had increased the accuracy in observational

astronomy many fold. Now a days planets are observed and traced by nuclear

telescopes with help of computers and sputniks

 

all the 24 hours.A important breakthrough came in astronomy in the form of

Kepler's three laws of planetary motion.

 

AKK: I am very glad to see your boldness in admitting that till the time of

Kepler i.e. sixteenth century A.D., the inhabitants of the planet called earth

did not know how to calculate planetary longitudes correctly, in spite of the

Surya Sidhanta and other sidhantas or even Ptolmey!

 

You are thus yourself conveying to everybody the unpleasant fact that prior to

at least sixteenth century AD, no Western or Eastern---especiall y the latter,

which includes Hindu astrologers --- could have made correct horoscopes, which

means there could never have been correct predictions! Thus, all the claims by

" Vedic astrologers " ---whether " Sayana-Vedic " or " Nirayana-Vedic " that their

ancestors made correct predictions is nothing but a blatant lie! Or is it that

all the " Vedic astrologers " want to prove that their ancestors also were

charlatans, who could make corect predictions from wrong fundamental arguments?

 

GKG: Inspite of this , during the maned Apollo flight , the star could not guide

the movement of Apollo Vehicle on account of displaced position of stars

(calculated from all known siddantas including Surya siddhant and modern

astronomy)

 

A thorough study was undertaken by a body of international Astro-scientists

under the overall guidance of IAU.All constant were revised and the Sixth

Fundamental Catalogue (FK6) was prepared.. This gives much accurate position of

astral bodies in the sky.

 

AKK: That paragraph is really a master-piece and must serve as a warning to

every astrologer for claiming to have made correct predictions in the past! It

is evident that if because of a minor flaw in calculations, Apollo Vehicle could

not land at the desired spot, how can astrologers, whether " Sayana-Vedic " or

" nirayana-Vedic " peep into the uncharted terrains of a human being---his past

deeds, his present activities and his future success or failures, with the help

of limited knowledge at their disposal, especially since that limited knowledge

itself is emanating from JPL/NASA and not the Vedas or Puranas!

 

GKG: All Siddhanta(S) are of immense value to understand the development of

Astronomy

 

AKK: Actually the knowledge of sidhantic astronomy is of immense value to

understand not the development but retardation of Hindu astronomy in the past,

since all our efforts circumnavigated around the so called mythical ayanamsha of

Surya Sidhanta by Maya the mlechha! And Lahiri Ayanamsha is one of the hundreds

of resurrections of the imaginary Ayanamsha of that very sidhanta! So I wonder

whether the Vedic Hinuds are really progressing or going " retrograde " ---thanks

to " Vedic astrologers " and their " Vedic astrology "

 

GKG: but we have no alternative but to follow modern astronomy.

 

AKK: Exactly! And since astronomically, the Ayanamsha curse does not exist at

all, the earlier we get rid of it the better, if we want to really gain some

astronomical knowledge!

 

GKG: All abuses to each other do not have any meaning .

 

AKK: U are right! Instead of abusing one another, we must abuse those aliens

who tried to make a slave of us by palming of wrong fundamental arguments on the

shoulders of Surya Bhagwan!

 

GKG: We can not resign ourselves from truth.

 

AKK: Very correct! And the truth is that there are no Mesha, Vrisha etc. rashis

either as per the Vedas or modern astronomy since the zodiac itself is an

imaginary belt!

 

We must, therefore, go back to Madhu, Madhava etc. Vedic months and Udagayana

etc. astronomical phenomena, instead of clinging to making " correct predictions

from incorrect data " . In other words, we must say " good bye " to predictive

gimmicks in the interest of the doctrines of real Vamadevas and Parasharas!

 

With kind regards,

 

A K Kaul

 

Indian_Astrology_ Group_Daily_ Digest@grou ps.com, Gopal Goel

<gkgoel1937@ > wrote:

 

>

 

> Dear Friends,

 

> Since ancient Vedic days , there were 18 sages of outstanding merit , who

tried to

 

> improve and the science of Astronomy. Aryabhatta and Varamihira tried to

further enhance the level

 

> of accuracy in observation and ascertaining the position of planets and other

astral bodies in the sky.

 

>

 

> The discovery of telescope had increased the accuracy in observational

astronomy many fold.

 

> Now a days planets are observed and traced by nuclear telescopes with help of

computers and sputniks

 

> all the 24 hours.

 

> A important breakthrough came in astronomy in the form of Kepler's three

laws of planetary motion.

 

> Inspite of this , during the maned Apollo flight , the star could not guide

the movement of Apollo Vehicle

 

> on account of displaced position of stars (calculated from all known siddantas

including Surya siddhant

 

> and modern astronomy)

 

> A thorough study was undertaken by a body of international Astro-scientists

under the overall guidance

 

> of IAU.All constant were revised and the Sixth Fundamental Catalogue (FK6) was

prepared.. This gives much accurate position of astral bodies in the sky.

 

> All Siddhanta( S) are of immense value to understand the development of

Astronomy , but we have no

 

> alternative but to follow modern astronomy.

 

> All abuses to each other do not have any meaning . We can not resign ourselves

from truth.

 

> Regards,

 

> G.K.GOEL

 

> Ph: 09350311433

 

> Add: L-409, SARITA VIHAR

 

> NEW DELHI-110 076

 

> INDIA

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

> ____________ _________ _________ __

 

> Avtar Krishen Kaul <jyotirved@>

 

> hinducalendar

 

> Sunday, 19 April, 2009 6:57:34 PM

 

> [ind. & West. Astrology] Fwd: Re: [Vedic Astrology- Hyderabad] varaha

mihira - http://www.aryabhat ta.net/Varahamih ira.html

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

> Vedic Astrology- Hyderabad, " Chandrashekhar "

<chandrashekhar46@ ...> wrote:

 

>

 

> Dear Kishore,

 

>

 

> Avanti is the ancient name of Ujjain. Magadha means the Magadha desha or

present day Bihar and Dvija means Brahmin.

 

>

 

> Chandrashekhar.

 

>

 

> -

 

> kishore patnaik

 

> ; indiaarchaeology ; ancient_indian_ astrology@ .

com ; Vedic Astrology- Hyderabad

 

> Thursday, April 16, 2009 8:34 PM

 

> [Vedic Astrology- Hyderabad] varaha mihira - http://www.aryabhat

ta.net/Varahamih ira.html

 

>

 

> Varahamihira

 

>

 

> Aryabhatta is said to have discovered the diurnal motion of the earth' which

he thought to be spherical. I leave the explanation of these scientific matters

to those who are making scientific investigations of Hindu Astronomy. But one

thing is certain that it was about this time that the old Krttika series of

asterisms was discarded and the new series commencing from the 1st point of

Asvini was adopted. The first point of ASvini recedes one degree or by one day

in 73 years and it has receded twenty days now giving a total of twenty into

seventy-three (20 X 73) that is, 1460 years. The point was on the equinoctial

circle on the first day of Vaisakha and now it is on the 10th of Ohaitra. So the

point was seen there 1460 years ago, that is, 1921-1460 that is 461 A.D. This is

only an approximate calculation. If accurate calculation is made it will fall

within the active period of Aryabhata's life.

 

>

 

> Aryabhatta had many students and his next successor Lalla was one of his

pupils and some say Varahamihira, too, was his pupil.

 

>

 

> Aryabhatta had another celebrated astronomer as his contemporary. This was

Varahamihira. In his Vrhajja- taka in the 26th chapter, he says that he was son

of Adityadasa, that he was an Avantaka, that he received his knowledge from his

father and that he obtained a book from the Sun-God at Kampillaka or Kapitthaka.

Bhattotpala tells us that he was a Migadha dvija. Some say that he was a

Magadvija, i.e., one of the Magii long settled in India. From all this the late

Pandit Sudhakara Dvivedi in his Ganakatarangiui infers that it is not impossible

that Varaha was a Magadha Brahmin. He might have gone to Ujjain for livelihood

He studied with his father at his own house in Magadha and also studied the

works of Aryabhatta there, he travelled to make himself known, he worshipped

Sun-God at Kampillaka (Kalpi) and obtained a book from him. I acquired a

manuscript of his son's work Prthuyasah-Sastra at Samkhu the northernmost part

of the Nepal valley, the opening

 

> verse of which says that the son Varahamihira asked his father some questions

while he was residing at the beautiful city of Kanyakubja on the Ganges.

 

>

 

> Varaha might have retired to Kanyakubja in his old age to be on the Ganges and

there imparted his knowledge to his son Prthuyasah. Amaraja, the commentator of

Khandanakhandakhady a says that Varahamihira died in the Saka year 509 that is

587 A.D. Some people think that Varaha wrote his Panca-Siddhantika in 505 A.D.

that is Saka 4:27. But this is impossible if we are to believe Amaraja. Varaha

would then be only 18. Therefore Dr Thibaut after carefully considering all the

facts of the case thinks that 427 Saka was the date when Lalla revised the

Romaka-Siddhanta and that the Panca-SiddhSnta was composed about 550 A.D. So

Varahamihira was a later contemporary and perhaps a student of Aryabhata.

 

>

 

> The Ganakatarangiui has given a list of Varaha's works and thinks that the

Vrhat-Saipbita is his last work. It is an Eucyclopoedic work. It treats not only

of Astronomy and Astrology but of such subjects as gardening, agriculture,

sculpture, strilak^ana, purusalakgana and so on. This great work is the

Pafica-Sidhantta in which he gives a summary of all the Sidhantas current in his

time. They are five in number Paulisa, Romaka. VaSi^tha, Paitamaha and

Sur.yyasiddhaata. Varaha says that of these five PmiliSa and Roraaka have been

explained by Latadeva.

 

>

 

> The Siddhanta made by PauliSa is accurate. Near to it stands the Siddhanta

proclaimed by Romaka, more accurate is the Savitra (Saura) and the two remaining

are far from the truth.

 

>

 

> Kern says that the third Skandha of Jyotisa " 'namely, its Jataka section has

been borrowed from the Yavanas or Greeks. This is a fact. The Yavana-Jataka of

Yavan & caryya is still regarded as an authoritative work on the subject and there

are other works like Miuaraja Jataka also taken from the Yavanas. I found in

Nepal a manuscript of a Yavana-Jataka written in the character of the tenth

century oa palm-leaf which contains the following statement at the end.

 

>

 

> --- End forwarded message ---

 

>

 

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> Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.

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>

 

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