Varāhamihira (Devanagari: वरा�हमि�हिहरा) (505–587), also
called Varaha or Mihira, was an Indian astronomer, mathematician,
and astrologer who lived in Ujjain. He is considered to be one of the
nine jewels (Navaratnas) of the court of legendary
ruler Vikramaditya (thought to be
the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II Vikramaditya)
How Varaha Mihira got his name "Varaha.":
Mihira was a Brahmana, the son of Aditya Dasa,
from the region of Avanti, near present day Ujjain, in Western
India. He was instructed in astrology by his father and was a devout
worshipper of Surya Narayana, that is, Krsna who manifests as
the Sun. By performing severe austerities to please Surya
Narayana, Mihira got blessed with knowledge of ganita, hora, and
samhita. In Eastern India( especially in Bengal and Orissa) folk-
tales present him as the husband of Khana, an outstanding female
exponent of Hindu astrology whose aphoristic sayings (Vachanas)
are widely prevalent among rural people even today.
Mihira was one of the Nine Gems, navaratna, in the
court of the great king, Vikramaditya of Ujjain. He was greatly
honored by the king for his vast learning and correct predictions.
Once, after the birth of the King's son Mihira was asked to make
predictions about the prince's future. Going into meditation after
studying the chart Mihira "observed that a serious and irremediable
danger beset the path of the longevity of the royal child and that he
would be killed by a varaha, or boar, on a particular day in a certain
month of his 18th year and no human remedies could save the
prince from the jaws of death."
Having learnt of this danger to his son from his most
reliable of court astrologers, Vikramaditya consulted with Bhatti,
his Chief Minister. It was decided that a special palace would be
constructed with stupendous walls 80 feet high. Ten thousand
elite troops would patrol both inside and outside the property as
well as in the palace. Such careful watch was taken of the palace
that not even a cat or rat could enter the compound what to speak
of a wild boar. Every precaution was taken and the prince was
under constant guard and practically under house arrest, he was
not allowed to leave his compound for any reason. In fact he was
ensconced on the seventh floor and not allowed to go to a lower
floor. The precautions were so thorough that they boasted that the
prince may die but certainly not by the agency of a varaha.
After such security measures were put into place Mihira
was asked if he would like to reconsider his former prediction. He
emphatically stated that there was nothing that could save the boy.
As the date grew near he was again asked to reconsider, and again
gave the same reply. Tension began to mount, not so much for the
sake of the boy but for the reputation of Mihira. His detractors
thought that Mihira’s reputation exceeded his ability, and though
the boy might die, the possibility of it be caused by a boar was so
remote that Mihira would be publicly disgraced. Even his friends,
who had implicit faith in him and knew of his great abilities, had
doubts as to how his prediction would be successful, because it was
impossible for even a rat to move about undetected in that palace.
On the fateful day Vikramaditya held court. Reports
were brought to him every hour on the safety and health of the
Prince, now 18 years old. All the chief pandits were assembled as
well as the navaratnas, the nine greatly learned men, of the King's
court. The whole city was waiting for the result of Mihira's
prediction. Would it come true or not? The time of death had
been fixed at 5:00 PM in the afternoon. The King, though a great
admirer of Mihira, was beginning to doubt Mihira's abilities. With a
condescending smile he addressed Mihira, did he still want to
maintain his previous prediction that the boy should be killed by a
wild boar this afternoon. Did any new calculation possibly change
his mind, would the child just die, this was possible, but death by a
wild boar would be impossible. The King suggested that Mihira
gracefully back down from his former stance, without losing face.
The King vowed that if the impossible happened he would give
Mihira the highest honour and bestow on him the golden and be-
jewelled Royal ensign or emblem, the Varaha, wild boar, that was
currently on his crown and transfer it to Mihira's head-dress and
that for posterity he would henceforth be given the title Varaha
Mihira. Everyone applauded the King.
All eyes focused on Mihira. He rose and gave a speech in
which he deprecated his own learning, that unfortunately no great
rishis such as Vasishta were present to reverse the karma of the
Prince. He took a vow that if his prediction failed he would never
practice astrology again, he would never enter the court of the
king, and indeed, would leave Ujjain altogether and go deep into
the forest to practice tapasya, austerities, till his last day. But
Mihira stated that indeed the death would come true as predicted,
there could be no thwarting of fate and the Prince would be killed
by a boar. He then calmly sat down.
In the afternoon at 2:00 PM the King again convened his
court. Senior military commanders came every half hour with news
of the Prince. He was hale and hearty. Everything was going
smoothly. The King had given orders that the guard be on the
highest alert and was confident that no harm could befall his son.
But Mihiracarya was totally calm, how could this be so, in only a
few hours his prediction would be proven wrong, yet he was still
placid. Time went on, a half hour after the appointed time of
death a guard reported that there was no disturbance in the
Prince's palace. Mihira calmly told the King that the boy had
already died at the appointed time and they should go see for
themselves. Just then another guard came to report that all was still
peaceful in the palace. On the way to the palace other guards
confirmed that all was quite and calm at the palace. It was now
about 6:00 PM and the King told Mihira that his prediction must
have been wrong because nothing at all wrong had been reported,
he couldn't believe that his officers were liars.
Mihira replied: "Victorious Monarch! the prince has died
at the hour, minute, and second, I have named and none of your
watchmen has noticed it. It is a sad event no doubt but it has
happened and your son is lying dead in a pool of blood, unnoticed
by his watchmen and personal companions, and you will see the
truth of my prediction. Let us go and examine.
On entering the palace they noticed on every floor that
peace and calm prevailed. On the 7th floor they found a dozen or so
of the Prince's friends engaged in assorted games such as chess.
When the Emperor made inquiries about the Prince, they all replied
that he had been playing with them a little while ago and that he
was quite hale and hearty and that he had just gone out to take
some air on the open terrace of the 7th floor.
Mihira said: "The Prince must be lying dead in a pool of
blood caused by the injuries of a boar, and if you go to the terrace
you will be shocked to find him dead as predicted by me. This
wonderful prediction is not mine. My knowledge is too humble and
too limited to make such inconceivable and surprising predictions. I
have made all my predictions under the guidance of Surya
Narayana. Could such predictions inspired under His grace ever
fail?"
They all went to the terrace and saw with horror and
sorrow the Prince lying dead on a cot in pool of blood. He was
disfigured by the iron hooves of the artificial boar-the Royal
Emblem-that was attached to the flag staff. Everyone was thrown
into simultaneous gloom and ecstasy by the successful prediction.
Vikramaditya awarded Mihira with the Royal Emblem and he was
hence forth called Varaha Mihira.
The Prince's death had transpired in the following way.
At about 4:00 PM, the Prince, who had been playing with his
friends, began to feel a sort of oppression in his chest and giving
over his cards to a nearby friend asked him to play in his place. He
then rose without complaint and went out to the terrace. A tall flag
staff, emblem of Royalty, rose high in the air, it had an artificial
boar attached to its top.
As this emblem of royalty was affixed to all important
turrets and towers of all the Emperor's palaces no one took any
notice of them. Near the flag staff was a cot with soft cushions for
the Prince to take rest whenever he felt fatigued. The Prince feeling
tired while playing games with his friends came to lay down in the
cool air. At 5:00 PM precisely, a very strong gust of wind knocked
loose the iron boar. This fell down onto the Prince who was lying on
his back. The hooves struck severely against his breast and
stomach and the tusks struck his head and mouth. The Prince lost
copious amounts of blood and died immediately. The mattress on
the cot absorbed the sound of the crash so no one heard it fall. And
as the Prince would often go to the terrace, and as the game was
very absorbing, no one noticed the Prince's absence.
When did he Live:
In the Panchasiddhantika there occurs the following sloka:
Meaning:
Sapta – seven, ¡¾vi – two, Veda – four (makes 427), S
sa¯khya¯- Reckoning or counting from , ¾¡kak¡lam – Saka era,
Apasya – Having left , completed, caitra – caitra month, ¾ukla
– the Briogth or light half of the lunar month, ¡di – Beginning ,
primordial, arddh¡ - half, ¡stama – setting, bh¡nau – sun,
yavanapur£ - the city of Yavanapuri, Saumya- Buddha – the
planet mercury, Divasa - day
Deduct the number of years 427 of the Saka era elapsed, (i.e.
deduct 427 from the number of years in Saka era,for which
we are calculating the Ahargana – the ahargana is analogous
to the Julian day count at the beginning of the bright half of
Chaitra , when the sun has half set at Yavanapuri at the
beginning of Wednesday. This means that Varaha
Mihira compiled the Panchasiddhantika in the 427th Year of
the Saka Kala .This leaves us the task of deciphering
thebeginnning of the Saka era. However , loosely speaking
there are 3 Saka eras which were in use during that time
The Sakanripa Kala year of King Kurash II(Cyrus) son of
Kambujia (Cambyses) of the Aryamanush or HaxaManish
dynasty of Parasikam (Persia)
The Vikram saka year (57 BCE)
The Salivahana Saka year (78 CE)
In order to deduce this we need to refer to the other work
that he wrote , the Brihat Samhita, 3rd sloka of the 13th
Adhyaya (Chapter)
The Seven sages (Ursa Major – the Great Bear) were stationed
in the Asterism Magha, when King Yudhistira was ruling the
earth. The commencement of the Saka era took place 2526
years after the regnal period of that monarch.
We know that Yudhistira of the Pancha Pandava won the
Mahabharata war during (3102 +_ 36) and then ruled for 36
years up too 3102 BCE. Twenty five years after Kaliyuga
began, when, Yudhistira left the world in 3076 BCE. (the
starting year of the Saptarishi calendar or the Laukika or
Kashmirabdham) the Saptarishi Mandalam was in the Magha
constellation, as per the astronomical data, and Varahamihira
states that the Saka era he is referring to started 2526 years
after this, which puts us at 550 BCE. So the Saka era he was
talking about must have been The Sakanripa kala of King
Kuru (Kurush) of Persia. So now we are ready to determine the
date that Varaha was talking about as being 550-427 = 123
BCE. The Sakanripa kala didn’t find much usage after the
Persians lost control of the territories they had gained during
the reign of Kurush. This sloka from the Brihat Samhita is
mentioned also in Kalhana’s Rajatarangini. The Rajatarangini
was written in 1148 CE, This quote occurs in the 56th sloka of
the 1st Taranga. The confusion regarding the different Saka
eras was created by the British, by their hopeless mangling of
the chronology starting with the Misinterpretation of the
Greek synchronism29 where they concluded that
Megasthenes was the ambassador to the court of King
Chandragupta Maurya, whereas he was most likely an
ambassador to the court of the Gupta empire According to the
British chronology, According to their chronology, the Vikram
Saka is named after a King who was not yet born.
Works of Varaha Mihira:
Major Works:
Panchasiddhantika
Brihajjataka
Yatra
Yogayatra
Vivahapatala
Brihat Samhita
Minor Works:
Horapanchahotrya
Panchapakshi
Bahvascharyajataka
Bahuchodya
Vatakanika
Prashnamahadadhi
Prashnachandrika
Daivajnavallabha
Yavanajataka
Angachudamani
Jatakarnavasangraha or Chayadhikara
Satpanchasika
Shringaratarangini
Panchasiddhantika is a compendium of the basic principles of the
five schools of astronomy.
Brihajjataka, also known as Varahahorashastra or
Varahamihirahorashastra, is an authoritative manual on productive
astrology. An abridged version of Brihajjataka, called Laghujataka,
is also available.
Yatra, in two versions, deals the auspicious timing for undertaking
a successful journey. The complete text is known as Brihadyatra,
Mahayatra or Yakshyesvamed - huya Yatra. It is augments with
rich, ornate poetry and presents valuable information about
cultural conditions in ancient India.
Vivahapatala deals with astrological considerations for selecting a
successful couple as well as determining the auspicious time for
marriage. It has been commented upon by Utpala. It has two
recensions, Brihadvivahapatala and Laghu Vivahapatala.
Brihat samhita also known as Varaha samhita, is his magnum opus
in 106 chapters, and has two versions. In Brihat Samhita
varahamihira shows himself as a master of learning of his day in
wide fields of knowledge, and thoroughly skilled in language and
metre, not at times without a real touch of poetic ability.
The minor works are also of considerable significance. For
Example, Horapanchahotrya deals with astrological consideration
for architectural undertakings; Panchapakshi is a manual for
divination; Bahvascharyajataka is a digest of Greek astrology;
Prashnachudamani is a treatise on divination; Angachudamani
deals with physiognomy; Jatakarnavasangraha is a compendium for
drawing the horoscope of a new-born baby.
Pancha-siddhantika:
The Panchasiddhantika is a summarisation of five siddantic
texts that were known to varahamihira. These are
Surya Siddhanta,
Romaka Siddhanta,
Paulisa Siddhanta,
Vasishtha Siddhanta,
Paitamaha Siddhantas.
Of these five, according to varahamihira himself, the last two give
unreliable results the second and the third are not so incorrect and
the first one is best among them.
Surya Siddhanta:
The Surya Siddhanta is a Siddhanta treatise of Indian
astronomy whose authorship is disputed. Varahamihira in
his Panchasiddhantika contrasts it with four other treatises, besides
the Paitamaha Siddhantas (which is more similar to the
"classical" VedangaJyotisha), the Romaka Siddhantas (directly
based on Hellenistic astronomy) and the Vasishta Siddhanta.
Citation of the Surya Siddhanta is also found in the works
of Aryabhata.
The work referred to by the title Surya Siddhanta has been
repeatedly recast. There may have been an early work under that
title dating back to the Buddhist Age of India (3rd century BC). The
work as preserved and edited by Burgess (1858) dates to the
Middle Ages. Utpala, a 10th century commentator of Varahamihira,
quotes six shlokas of the Surya Siddhanta of his day, not one of
which is to be found in the text now known as the Surya Siddhanta.
The present Surya Siddhanta may nevertheless be considered a
direct descendant of the text available to Varahamihira. It has rules
laid down to determine the true motions of the luminaries, which
conform to their actual positions in the sky. It gives the locations of
several stars other than the lunar nakshatras and treats the
calculation of solar eclipses. as well as solstices eg.summer solstice
21/06
The table of contents in this text are:
1. The Motions of the Planets
2. The Places of the Planets
3. Direction, Place and Time
4. The Moon and Eclipses
5. The Sun and Eclipses
6. The Projection of Eclipses
7. Planetary Conjunctions
8. Of the Stars
9. Risings and Settings
10. The Moon's Risings and Settings
11. Certain Malignant Aspects of the Sun and Moon
12. Cosmogony, Geography, and Dimensions of the Creation
13. The Gnomon
14. The Movement of the Heavens and Human Activity
Methods for accurately calculating the shadow cast by a gnomon are discussed in both Chapters 3 and 13.
Time Cycles:
The astronomical time cycles contained in the text
were remarkably accurate at the time. The Hindu Time Cycles ,
copied from an earlier work, are described in verses 11–23 of
Chapter 1 :
11. That which begins with respirations (prana) is called
real.... Six respirations make a vinadi, sixty of these a nadi;
12. And sixty nadis make a sidereal day and night. Of thirty of these sidereal days is composed a month; a civil (savana) month consists of as many sunrises;
13. A lunar month, of as many lunar days (tithi); a solar (saura) month is determined by the entrance of the sun into a sign of the zodiac; twelve months make a year. This is called a day of the gods.
14. The day and night of the gods and of the demons are mutually opposed to one another. Six times sixty of them are a year of the gods, and likewise of the demons.
15. Twelve thousand of these divine years are denominated a caturyuga; of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two solar years
16. Is composed that caturyuga, with its dawn and twilight. The difference of the krtayuga and the other yugas, as measured by the difference in the number of the feet of Virtue in each, is as follows:
17. The tenth part of a caturyuga, multiplied successively by four, three, two, and one, gives the length of the krta and the other yugas: the sixth part of each belongs to its dawn and twilight.
18. One and seventy caturyugas make a manu; at its end is a twilight which has the number of years of a krtayuga, and which is a deluge.
19. In a kalpa are reckoned fourteen manus with their respective twilights; at the commencement of the kalpa is a fifteenth dawn, having the length of a krtayuga.
20. The kalpa, thus composed of a thousand caturyugas, and which brings about the destruction of all that exists, is a day of Brahma; his night is of the same length.
21. His extreme age is a hundred, according to this valuation of a day and a night. The half of his life is past; of the remainder, this is the first kalpa.
22. And of this kalpa, six manus are past, with their respective twilights; and of the Manu son of Vivasvant, twenty-seven caturyugas are past;
23. Of the present, the twenty-eighth, caturyuga, this krtayuga is past....
When computed, this astronomical time cycle would give the
following results:
The average length of the tropical year as 365.2421756 days,
which is only 1.4 seconds shorter than the modern value of
365.2421904 days (J2000). This estimate remained the most
accurate approximation for the length of the tropical year
anywhere in the world for at least another six centuries, until
Muslim mathematician Omar Khayyam gave a better
approximation, though it still remains more accurate than the
value given by the modern Gregorian calendar currently in
use around the world, which gives the average length of the
year as 365.2425 days.
The average length of the sidereal year, the actual length of
the Earth's revolution around the Sun, as 365.2563627 days,
which is virtually the same as the modern value of
365.25636305 days (J2000). This remained the most accurate
estimate for the length of the sidereal year anywhere in the
world for over a thousand years.
The actual astronomical value stated for the sidereal year however,
is not as accurate. The length of the sidereal year is stated to be
365.258756 days, which is longer than the modern value by 3
minutes 27 seconds. This is due to the text using a different method
for actual astronomical computation, rather than the Hindu
cosmological time cycles copied from an earlier text, probably
because the author didn't understand how to compute the complex
time cycles. The author instead employed a mean motion for the
Sun and a constant of precession inferior to that used in the Hindu
cosmological time cycles.
Planetary diameters: The Surya Siddhanta also estimates the
diameters of the planets. The estimate for the diameter
of Mercury is 3,008 miles, an error of less than 1% from the
currently accepted diameter of 3,032 miles. It also estimates the
diameter of Saturn as 73,882 miles, which again has an error of
less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 74,580. Its
estimate for the diameter of Mars is 3,772 miles, which has an
error within 11% of the currently accepted diameter of 4,218 miles.
It also estimated the diameter of Venus as 4,011 miles
and Jupiter as 41,624 miles, which are roughly half the currently
accepted values, 7,523 miles and 88,748 miles, respectively.
Trigonometry:
The Surya Siddhanta contains the roots of
modern trigonometry. It uses sine (jya), cosine (kojya or
"perpendicular sine") and inverse sine (otkram jya) for the first time,
and also contains the earliest use of the tangent and secant when
discussing the shadow cast by a gnomon in verses 21–22 of Chapter
3:
Of [the sun's meridian zenith distance] find the jya ("base sine")
and kojya (cosine or "perpendicular sine"). If then the jya and radius
be multiplied respectively by the measure of the gnomon in digits,
and divided by the kojya, the results are the shadow
and hypotenuse at mid-day.
In modern notation, this gives the shadow of the gnomon at mid-day
as
and the hypotenuse of the gnomon at mid-day as
where is the measure of the gnomon, is the radius of the
gnomon, is the shadow of the gnomon, and is the hypotenuse of
the gnomon.
Calendrical uses:
The Indian solar and lunisolar calendars are widely used, with their
local variations, in different parts of India. They are important in
predicting the dates for the celebration of various festivals,
performance of various rites as well as on all astronomical matters.
The modern Indian solar and lunisolar calendars are based on close
approximations to the true times of the Sun’s entrance into the
various rasis.
Conservative "panchang" (almanac) makers still use the formulae
and equations found in the Surya Siddhanta to compile and
compute their panchangs. The panchang is an annual publication
published in all regions and languages in India containing all
calendrical information on religious, cultural and astronomical
events. It exerts great influence on the religious and social life of
the people in India and is found in most Hindu households.
Romaka Siddhanta:
The Romaka Siddhanta (literally "Doctrine of the Romans") is an
Indian astronomical treatise, based on the works of the ancient
Romans.[1] "Siddhanta" literally means "Doctrine" or "Tradition".
It follows the Yavanajataka ("Saying of the Greek") as an example of
the transmission of Western astronomical knowledge (especially the
Alexandrian school) to India during the first centuries of our era.
The Romaka Siddhanta was particularly influential on the work of
the Indian astronomer Varahamihira. It is the only one of all Indian
astronomical works which is based on the tropical system. It was
considered as one of "The Five Astronomical Canons" in Indian in
the 5th century.
Paulisa Siddhanta:
The Paulisa Siddhanta (literally, "Doctrine of Paul") is an Indian
astronomical treatise, based on the works of the Western scholar
Paul of Alexandria (c. 378 CE).[1] "Siddhanta" literally means
"Doctrine" or "Tradition".
It follows the Yavanajataka ("Saying of the Greek") as an example of
the transmission of Western astronomical knowledge (especially the
Alexandrian school) to India during the first centuries of our era.
The Paulisa Siddhanta was particularly influential on the work of
the Indian astronomer Varahamihira. It was considered as one of
"The Five Astronomical Canons" in India in the 5th century.
Vasishta Siddhanta:
Vasishtha Siddhanta is one of the earliest astronomical systems in
use in India, which is summarized in Varahamira’s Pancha-
Siddhantika (6th century). It is attributed to sage Vasishtha and
claims a date of composition of 1,299,101 BCE.[1] The original text
probably dated to the 4th century, but it has been lost and our
knowledge of it is restricted to Varahamira's account. Alberuni
ascribes the work to Vishnuchandra.
Paitamaha Siddhanta:
Paitamaha Siddhanta is one of the earliest astronomical systems in
use in India, which is summarized in Varahamihira’s Pancha-
Siddhantika. It is the precursor to Aryabhata’s astronomy, for it is
so acknowledged by Aryabhata at the end of his Aryabhatiya.
Brihat Samhita:
Brihat-Samhita. Brihat-Samhita is a 6th century Sanskrit
encyclopedia by Varahamihira of wide ranging subjects of human
interest, including astrology, planetary movements, eclipses,
rainfall, clouds, architecture, growth of crops, manufacture of
perfume, matrimony, domestic relations, gems, pearls, and rituals.
The volume expounds on gemstone evaluation criterion found in the
Garuda Purana, and elaborates on the sacred Nine Pearls from the
same text. It contains 106 chapters and is known as the "great
compilation". The importance of Brihatsamhita lies in the
classification of the different types of comets/meteors etc and also
in the metereological observations. It throws light on some ancient
practices like watching the migratory birds for coming of the
monsoons which brings the ships and the bounty and also the rainy
season and fertility of soil. India being an agricultural economy and
economy based on trades through sea routes (via the trade winds)
depended upon such observations for her yearly planning .
Brihat Jataka:
1. May the Sun give us speech, who by his light illumines the
Moon,(#) who is the path of those who have no rebirth, who is
the Atma of those who know the Atma, who is the Deva
worshipped in sacrificial rites, who is the Lord of the Devas
and of the Lights of the sky, who is the Author of the origin,
growth and annihilation of the worlds, who is sung in the
Vedas in various ways, who is possessed of many rays and
who forms the Lamp of the three worlds.
"The rays of the Sun falling on the watery Moon remove the
darkness of the night (on Earth) just in the same way as light
reflected from a mirror (placed in the Sun) removes the darkness
(from) within a room."
And in the Vedas we find the Moon briefly defined as follows:
2. According to some, the word 'hora' is a corruption of the word
'Ahoratri', the first and last letters (syllables) being dropped. The
science (of horoscopy) treats of the effect of the good and bad
deeds (karma) of men in their previous births.
3. The (twelve) signs of the Zodiac, commencing with the first point
of aries and of Aswani, and consisting, each, of nine stellar quarters
and forming a circle, are respectively the head, face, breast, heart,
belly, navel, abdomen, genital organ, two thigs, two knees, two
ankles and the two feet of Kalapurusha. (The terms) Rasi, Kshetra,
Graha, Riksha, Bhavana, are synonymous terms.
4. Sign Pisces is of the shape of two fish; sign Aquarius is of the
shape of a man with a (water) pot; sign Gemini is of the shape of a
man and woman, (the former) with a stick and (the latter) with a
lyre, both seated in one seat; sign Sagittari is of the shape of a man
who in his lower parts is a horse; sign Capricorn is of the shape of a
crocodile with the face of a deer; sign Libra is of the shape of a
person with scales (in his hand) ; and sign Virgo is of the shape of a
virgin in a boat with crops (in one hand) and a light (in the other).
The other signs resemble in shape the different creatures denoted
by their names. The dwelling places of several signs are places
appropriate to several creatures.
5. Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Saturn and Jupiter are respectively the lords
of the Signs, and of the Navamsas and the Dwadasamsas; and the
several signs (of the Zodiac beginning from Aries) commence
respectively with the Navamsas of mesha, Makara, Tula and Kataka
Mars is the lord of Mesha and Vrischika.
Venus is the lord of Vrishabha and Tula,
Mercury is the lord of Mithuna and Kanya.
Jupiter is the lord of Meeua and Dhanus.
Saturn is the lord of Kumbha and Makara.
The Moon is the lord of Kataka, and the Sun is the
lord of Simlia.
The signs Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Sagittari and Capricorn
are known as the night signs; with the exception of Gemini, they
rise with their feet. The other signs rise with their heads (c) and are
powerful by day , The two fish rise by both (head and foot).
WESTERN INFLUENCES
It is a facile assumption that Occidentalists make based on phonetic
similarity to the words Rome and Paul that the Romaka Siddhanta
should be translated as the "Doctrine of the Romans" and the Pulisa
Siddhanta should be regarded as the "Doctrine of Paul" . But the
Pulisa Siddhanta looks a lot like another Siddhanta of Indian origin
and talk about Yugas and timescales that are nowhere else to be
seen in any Greek document of that vintage. Furthermore the
author of the Romaka Siddhanta is frequently mentioned as one
Srisena. It is assumed that his work is based on Roman rather than
Greek sources. But there is no valid reason for doing so since there
is no evidence that
the Romans had anything to teach the Indians .
A remark in the Brihat-Samhita by Varahamihira says: "The
Greeks, though impure, must be honored since they were trained in
sciences and therein, excelled others....." ("mleccha hi yavanah tesu
samyak shastram kdamsthitam/ rsivat te 'p i pujyante kim punar
daivavid dvijah" (Brihat-Samhita 2.15)).But it is a definite leap in
faith to assume he was equating Yavanas with Greeks, There are
sufficient reasons as we have said already to assume that
Varahamihira was not referring to Greeks when he was talking
about Yavanas.
VARAHAMIHIRA’S QUOTES ON ASTRONOMY
Varahamihira mentions various aspects of astronomy, that an
astronomer should have command of , in order to qualify as an
astronomer. He must know the divisions of the heavens and the
skies and of time , in ages, years, half years, seasons, months, , half
months. He must know there are 4 kinds of months, solar , civil,
sidereal, and lunar, and how it happens that there are added
months and subtractive days. He must be able to explain in what
respect the reckoning after solar time shows similarity or difference
compared with lunar, sidereal and civil reckoning of time and to
what use each of these is adopted or not. And when there is a
discrepancy between the siddhantas, he must be able to prove
experimentally, by means of the agreement between the shadow
and the clepsydra, between observation and calculation, at what
moment the sun has reached the soisticial point, at how many
ghaiikas the sun enters the prime vertical. He must know the cause
of the swift and slow motion, the northern and southern course and
the moving mean epicycle of the sun and other planets. He must
tell the moment of commencement and separation, the direction,
measure, duration, amount of obscuration, colour and place of the
eclipses of the sun and moon, also the future conjunctions and
hostile encounters of the nine planets. He must be skilful in
ascertaining the distance of each planet from the earth expressed
in yojanas; further the dimensions of their orbits and the distance
of the places on earth in yojanas. He ought to be clever in
geometrical operations and in the calculation of time in order to
determine the form of earth, the cycle of the circuit of the asterisms
etc., the depression of the pole, the diameter of the day, circle, the
ascensional differences in time, the rising of the signs, the gharikas
corresponding to the shadow of the gnomon and such like
processes.”
“All things which are perceived by the senses are witness in
favor of the globular shape of the earth, and refute the
possibility of its having another shape”
Regarding the positions of the objects on the surface of the earth
and its natural attractive power, he said, “Mountains rivers, trees,
cities, men and angels, all are around the globe of the earth. And if
Yamakoti and Rum (cities) are opposite to each other, one could not
say, one is ‘low’ in relation to the other, since the ‘low’ does not
exist. How could one say of one place of the earth that it is ‘low’, as
it is in every particular identical with another place on earth and
‘one place could as little ‘fall’ as any other. Everyone speaks of
himself with regard to his own self. ‘I am above and the others are
below’, whilst all of them are around the globe like the blossoms
springing on the branches of a Kadamba tree. They encircle it on all
sides, but each individual blossom has the same position as the
other, neither the one hanging downward, nor the other standing
upright. For the earth attracts that which is upon her; as it is the
‘below’ towards all directions and heaven is the ‘above’ towards all
directions.”
Varahamihira, however, regarded the earth as an
immovable sphere fixed at the centre of the universe, around which
the sun, the moon, and other planets revolved. If the earth had
motion, he wrote, “A bird would not return to its nest as soon as it
had flown away from it towards west.”
In later times, Alberuni expressed his opinion of
Varahamihira as follows: “Varahamihira seems sometimes to side
with the Brahmanas to whom he belonged and from whom he could
not separate himself. On the whole, his foot stands firmly on the
basis of truth and he clearly calls out the truth.”
Some more Trigonometric results attributed to
Varahamihira:
He not only presented his own observations, but embellished them
in attractive poetic and metrical styles. The usage of a large variety
of meters is especially evident in his Brihat Jataka and Brihat-
Samhita.