The Sun Treatise

The beauty that the crest holds in a peacock’s body, and the majesty that the gem holds on a serpent’s head, is the same status that Mathematics—specifically mathematical astronomy—holds among the VedangasThe six auxiliary disciplines of the Vedas: phonetics, ritual, grammar, etymology, meter, and astronomy..

Following the era of the Vedanga Jyotisha, several astronomical doctrines known as SiddhantasA Sanskrit term for a formal treatise or settled doctrine within a science. became prevalent in the field of astronomy. Among these, five doctrines hold special importance. Varahamihira A 6th-century Indian astronomer and mathematician conducted a comparative analysis of these in his famous work, the "Panchasiddhantika" The Five Treatises. The five doctrines are listed in the following verse:

Of these five, the first two (the Paulisha and the Romaka) were analyzed by Latadeva. From Varahamihira's perspective, the calculations in the Paulisha doctrine are accurate, and the Romaka doctrine is nearly the same. Even clearer than these two is the Savitra doctrine—that is, the Saura or Surya Siddhanta. The remaining two, the Vasishtha and Paitamaha, are considered corrupted or inaccurate. An edition of the Panchasiddhantika was published with an English translation by Professor G. Thibaut and Mahamahopadhyaya Sudhakara Dvivedi. The name of Sudhakara Ji's Sanskrit commentary is "Panchasiddhantika Prakashika" (Prayag, December 15, 1888).

In this same tradition, Shri Mahavir Prasad Srivastava, a veteran member of the Science Council (Vijnana Parishad) in Prayag, took up the arduous task of creating a scientific commentary (Vijnana-Bhashya) on the Surya Siddhanta. This monumental lifelong work was completed in 1940 AD. The work began in 1912; its first chapter (on mean motions) was published in 1914. The twelfth chapter was printed in 1931. Work then halted due to a lack of funds. The final two chapters were eventually printed in 1940. Thus, this commentary was completed on the festival of Bhratri DvitiyaAlso known as Bhai Dooj; a Hindu festival celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters in the Vikrami year 1967, which corresponds to 1940 AD. Shri Srivastava's work was published in installments in the Vijnana monthly magazine, and some separate copies were also prepared in book form. For nearly the last 20 years, this scientific commentary on the Surya Siddhanta has been unavailable.

The Dr. Ratnakumari Swadhyaya Sansthan is honored that, through the immense generosity of the officials of the Science Council of Prayag, permission for its publication was granted to this institute. The Swadhyaya Sansthan has taken upon itself the project of publishing priceless works of ancient literature. We are publishing this work in two volumes. The printing blocks for the illustrations within the book were [provided] by the Science Council...