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.