S.V.U.Oriental Journal.vol-X,PART 1&2

Svclrc, Udl Ttd Tirupati, J.Chenna Reddy

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SRI % VENKATESWARA UNIVERSITY JOURNALORIENTAL TIRUPATI E01TOR î M.A.. Ph.D.REDDY,Prof. J. CHENNA Research Insiitute.Director, Oriental Parts 2- 1967 1 &DECEMBER,JANUARYVol. X1 % CONTENTS ET^GLISH 1. The Astronomical Method and lûdian Chronology D.G. Dhavale 1Dr. in Kant's Pure2. Is the Transcendental Application of Catégories Reason a case of Anupasamhïïri ? 7Dr, K,C, Varadachari Ekasamjîiâdhikâra Astàdhyâyï3. in the Sri M,S, Narayana Murti 1 the4. On Date of Helârâja Sri V. Swaminathan 23 Prescribed Candesvara in5. The Sanitary Régulations by hi» Grhastharatnâkara Dr. Bhabatosh Bhattacharya 37 Some Aspects Religion and Society in the Time of6. of Vedântadesika Dr. V.N. Hari Rao Al 7. Ràjâ Prthvîmiila Dr. M. Rama Rao 59 An Unpublished Arthunâ Inscription of the Paramira KingÇ. Càmundarâja of Sirohi (Samvat 1159) Sri Sadhu Ram 65 9. Irony in the Mrcchakatikam SriRam Prakash Poddar 71 10, Ancient Telugu Works Translated înto other Languagcs Dr, T. Kodandaramaiah 81 SANSKRIT 11. ^'^îspT^îwm^ Sri N.S, Ramanujacharyau 12. fWfê#[#!!!(& kMMk 3 13. mk[ SîîlDàhkmufàj 17 M. Sn 23MmkntiSîlnmmkrjuh TELUGU 15. 1 îSàî?oïîSa - a^ï ^5îfcà& fropXkmkiif 1 kîJotmQfaKao 21D.G, DHAVALEDr. THE ASTRONOMICAL METHOD AND INDIAN CHRONOLOGY The accuracy with whichîs a very exact ïcicnce.Aitronomy is rcmarkable. Thus,in astronomy can be madc mostmeasurements precession of thtbeen able to measure exactiy theastronomers hâve angle in a century.which is a few seconds ofpcriheliop of Mercury about second»precession the equinoxcs which is 50Similarly, the of astronomical data bc fonndknown. If, thercfore,per year îs accurately capable of bcing uscd forliterature and if they ar«in ancient Indian reliable indeed. This • results must be veryIxact calculations, the in dating event»,considered a powerful toolmethod could then be last century lik«chronology. Workcrs of thethât it to say, in many emincntvery effectively. And yet,Tilak and Dikshit used it method.not attach mnch value to thisIndologists of later times do into disfavour.It would appear to hâve fallen iiessay to consider what the methodis the pîirpose of thisIt be, and bas been misused.capable and also how it couldof II astronomical tool, for datinj,most commonly uscdPerhaps the the «olstitîalthe equinoxes. The equinox orhas been the precession ofORIENTAL JOURNALUNIVERSITYS.V.2 given time. Becausc ofasterism at ain a certaincoloure is located The exactthrough the asterisms. rate ofmoves backprecession it is known. Whatprésent situation could beThe is known. the situationdate if a référence to then iswork out acasier than to suchBut inmaking calculationsinsorae ancientbook?discovered pitfallsfrom them there are that hâve to beconclusionsand drawing :-consider some of thestLet usguardcd against. like Varihamihira gives some informationan authorI, Suppose, solstitial coloure. One could calculatesituation of theabout the occured. But the date arrived at beexcunt could notcxactly when this Varàhamihira unless the informationthe date of is knownaccepted as the author. Firstly, avalid at the time of différence ofto be strictly coloure amountsthe situation of the to 72years intimeonedegree in of an author is expressed correct to a multiple of 72and if the date any value. Secondly, there is alwiys a possibility that theit hardiy has given by the author may be traditional and not resuit ofinformation a This point will be easily appreciated ifwe remember thatobservation. use today for the situation of the cquinoxesthe data we in our Pcncnh^ about 1500 years old. Dates calculated on thegas, is basis of such data bemeaningless.would Sir William Joncs was perhaps the first western scholar to use this method to aisign a date to Varàhamihira. He uses Varâha's data and arrives at a date which, it raust be admittcd, is not far wrong. Colebrooke^ on the other hand, uses some other information frora Varàhamihira's Brhatsamhim and gets two dates, differing by 224 years, and then takes the mean as the real date. True, again, the date obtaincd is eminently satisfactory, but the method ? What is more, Colebrooke^ has in another place using yet another pièce 6f information from thç samc book attributed to the same Varàhamihira a date differing from thi above by 120 years. 2. The rate of precession of the equînoxes is known accurateîy at présent. The values given by ancient Indian astronoraers are not vcry correct. If one wishes to work out a date, by this method, in relation to the présent the correct rate must be uscd. If one uses the value given by the Grahalaghava, for example, relinble results should not be expected. The use of an inaccurate rate, given by some ancient author would be justîficd only when one wishes to check conclusions of that author based on his own rate of precession. L Âkebra, Note K. 1 Essays, vol. III.THE ASTRONOMICAL METHOD 3 The subject of prccession is closely linkcd to the commence-3. of the asterisms. A particuîar astcrism is designated as the first.ment times thèse asterisms were the actual star groups in the heavens.Jn aucient researchthey are the 27 divisions of the ccliptic. A worker mus«iToday star groups divi-precisely whcthcr hc is dealing with the or theknow ideas samtHe is not allowed to mix up the two in one and thesions. work. (i.c.,Further, when one is dealing with, say, the ^f/r/to-pcriod he cannot arrive at ajthe period when Krttikà was the first asterism) the first astcrism, as it isvalid conclusion if he assumes Asvîni to be in his ofindiantoday. This crror was committed by Cunningham, Book be naksatra at the begin-Eras, where hc assumed Magha to the tenth assumed Aivîni to be the firstning of Kalî-yuga. This means he of the SaptarsMîa whichnaksatra in the year 3102 b.c. The antiquity hardly be ealled reliable.he derived from thèse conbideratlons could precession is the change in the pôle of4, Another conséquence of magnitude star, -Ursae Minoris,th« celestial equator. The second pôle today and L callcd the polc starwhich is very near to the north b.c. Any conclusion bascd oncould not hâve beea so in, say, 3000 wrong. (Jocobi has pointcdtlie assumption that it was is sure to be -- be enough - that Draconis musteut look at a star map would alsoa àave been the pôle star about this time). III place hère to indicate how otherwould not be altogcther eut of . It raay be unsatisfactory in theiror mathematical raethodsastronoinical own way. ^. particular period, if astrono-When dealing with literature of a1. is nccessary to see that th«références in it are to be used, ittnit^al on part of the author thannot assume more knowledge thesbhôlar does example, mentionshis time. l^t Rpeda'Samhim, foxwa^ possible at évidence that ail the 27 (orby name There is no 28)very few naksatras time. It would be wrong,devised and designated at thatnaksatras were the assumption that ailany chronological conclusion onthen, to dérive were known to then as they are today.tb^ naksatras • ^ - difïîcult to detect - is ^ oommon pitfall in chronology2. A very above really falls in thisprocédure quoted in 1).anachronism. The been, committed, forglaring errars can be, and hâvecïassi But more chronology. Thus,literature is used for Vedicinstance, when Puranic4 S.V, UNIVERSÏTY ORIENTAL JOURNAL Daftari^ makes use of certain statements in the Vïïyu-purBna to deter- 'mine the period of composition of the Rgveda, With this and other considérations comes the very boldhe to conclusion that Rgveda wai bcing composed reguiariy every fourth year» most proba,bly, betwecn 3102 and 1300 b.c. with breaks. B.R. very ofKulkarni^ is a sound scholar who is kecnly conscious the error ofanachronism. AU the samc celcstiaihis identijâcation of naksatras from the naksatra^devat^s in Rigvedic hymns doet not appear permissible to me. A fuU list of naksatras and the corrcspoading dcitic» appears first in the TahtiriyasamhitU and then in the Vedahga-Jyautîsa. As I hâve remarked above few are in Rgveda;naksatras mentioned the what is more, namcs of the Devatâs, which later came to be associated with the naksatras, are met with frequently in Rgveda as deities un- connected with astronomy. 3. The rising and setting of certain prominent relation tostars in the Sun is some tiraes connected with the seasons in ancient Literaturc. This évidence ii used by some scholars for the purpose ofchronoîogy. Thèse scholars speak of the heiiacal rising of the star. Now, can any- one observe a star on the eastorn horizon at Sunrise? This is possi-not ble. It has, therefore, been suggcsted that we should consider thi» as a case of rising before Sun whenthe the light is such as to makc the itar just visible. The judgement of thii situation will dépend not only on the brightness of the star but aiso on the indîvidual worker. ît has even been suggejtcd that one should understand the référence as being to acronychal rising, that is, the star should be taken to hâve riscn at sunset (and not at sunrise). One can well imagine how widcly tho dates arrived at will vary , according to the position adopted 1>y th« schoiar* is only when the4. It astronomîcalinformation is available, from a text, to a scholar leaves no room for thescholar's personal interprétation that reliable results may be expccted. In every other caïc it is highly désirable that the results obtained mathematically be comparcd with those available from other -sources historical, philologicaî, etc. Bentley, anOrientalist theof early years of the Jast century, came to the conclusion that Varâhamihira lived in the sixteenth century a.d.- ignoring the fact that Alberunî, who yisitcà India in the eleventh 3. Âstronomîcal Method and Us Applicatiou to the Chronoîogy Ancitntof India (1942). Astr^nomicaî4. dues for Chronoîogy în Rgvêda (1952).