Crown of Treatises: Chapter on Mathematics

began. This time of the northward and southward movement occurred in the months of Magha and Shravana. During the UttarayanaThe six-month period of the sun's northward journey and DakshinayanaThe six-month period of the sun's southward journey, the increase and decrease of the day was equal to one prastha A traditional unit of volume of water. In these two solstices, there was a difference of 6 muhurtas A unit of time; 1 muhurta is approximately 48 minutes in the measure of day and night. The beginning of the year was considered to be at the start of the Dhanishtha constellation, and so on. In earlier times, the year's beginning was sometimes counted from the vernal equinox and sometimes from the end of the sun's northward journey. Previously, the lunar month was counted from the full moon, but from the time of the Vedanga JyotishaThe "Science of Light," an auxiliary Vedic text focused on astronomy for ritual timing, it began to be reckoned from the new moon. In the time of the Taittiriya SamhitaA primary collection of Vedic hymns and rituals, the year began with the full moon of Magha, but in the Vedanga Jyotisha, it began with the new moon of Magha. From these points, it is clear that the system of calculation prevalent in the Samhita period had changed by the time of the Vedanga Jyotisha. Subsequently, in the time of VarahamihiraA 6th-century Indian astronomer and polymath (the 5th century of the Shaka era), another change occurred, and it is that refined form which currently defines the nature of the Panchang The traditional Hindu almanac. Be that as it may. In reality, the Vedanga Jyotisha was not composed with the intention of providing a complete education in astronomy. Rather, it is merely for the performance of Vedic rituals; ❊ it provides only a rough description of necessary matters. To believe that this was the ultimate limit of our ancient Aryans' astronomical knowledge is a mere delusion. Acharya Varahamihira—

• Several foreign scholars, upon seeing the ‘Vedanga Jyotisha,’ assumed that the ancient Aryans had no knowledge of astronomy beyond this. However, listen to what the purpose of the Vedanga Jyotisha is—in the words of Max MüllerA famous 19th-century German-born philologist and Orientalist:

‘Nor is it the object of the small tract to teach astronomy. It has a practical object, which is to convey such knowledge of the heavenly bodies as is necessary for fixing the days and hours of the Vedic sacrifices.’ —History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 1859.