The Study of Jyotisha · Chapter 50 of 54 · Part Ten · History

#Parashara, Jaimini and the later classics

#Names and dates

Indian texts are often named after a revered sage: "Parashara's Hora", "the Sutras of Jaimini", "the Samhita of Bhrigu". By a long convention, this honours the sage as the source of the teaching; it does not mean the sage wrote the words we have. Historians date the wording that has come down to us, which is often much later than the sage's legendary era. Both views can be held with respect: the tradition's reverence, and the historian's dating. This chapter gives both for the main texts after Varahamihira.

#The eighteen founders

Medieval texts name eighteen sages as the founders (pravartakas) of Jyotisha. Two versions of the list survive:

• one in the Narada Samhita (1.2–3);
• one attributed to Kashyapa, quoted in a commentary on the Narada Samhita: Surya, Pitamaha (Brahma), Vyasa, Vasishtha, Atri, Parashara, Kashyapa, Narada, Garga, Marichi, Manu, Angiras, Lomasha, Paulisha, Chyavana, Yavana, Bhrigu and Shaunaka.

The two lists differ in several names. Both include Yavana — the Greeks (Chapter 48) — and Kashyapa's includes Paulisha, the name of a siddhanta possibly derived from a Greek name (Paulus). The list itself records that the tradition absorbed foreign streams.

As history, the list is legendary. David Pingree traced it to medieval muhurta treatises. Of the eighteen, only some names attach to texts that can be dated, and those texts are mostly much later than the sages' legendary times:

(These are Pingree's datings; others are given below.)

#The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra

This course has cited the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS) constantly, alongside Varahamihira. It is the foundation of most modern Indian astrology. Its history is complicated:

• The core. Pingree dated its first part to about 600–750 CE and the second before about 800, noting that it computes precession from 522 CE, borrows heavily from Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka, and copies two verses from the Yavanajataka. A commentator, Govindasvamin, is reported to have known it around 850.
• Uncertain transmission. Varahamihira's own commentator Bhattotpala (about 900) is reported to have said he had heard of a Parashara text but never seen it. There is no ancient commentary on the BPHS as we have it.
• Modern editions. The text was first printed by the Venkateswara Press in 1905. The editions differ substantially in content and number of chapters. The best-known modern English translation (R. Santhanam's) follows Sitaram Jha's Sanskrit edition of 1944, which is reported to have changed and removed material; a Tamil edition has 36 chapters and an older English one 25.

So when this course cites "Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra 34.11", it means that verse in the common modern numbering (Santhanam's, following Sitaram Jha). Some chapters — especially those resembling Jaimini, the Kalachakra dasha and the remedy chapters — may be late additions. The safest description is: "BPHS, in its modern recension".

None of this lessens the text's importance. It is the book most Indian astrologers actually use. But a student should know that "Parashara says" usually means "the modern BPHS says".

#The Jaimini Sutras

The Jaimini Sutras (Chapter 38) are short, coded aphorisms, dependent on commentaries. Their date is unknown. B. Suryanarain Rao, their best-known translator, saw four chapters (adhyayas) and translated two; others claim the full work had eight. Several Jaimini techniques also appear in the modern BPHS.

#The medieval classics

Between Varahamihira and the modern period, many books of horoscopy were written, mostly building on him. The most important for a student, with what can be said about each:

• Saravali of Kalyanavarma: a large compendium closely following Varahamihira; available in a 1907 Sanskrit printing. Often dated to the 9th or 10th century; this course has not verified that date.
• Phaladeepika of Mantreswara: a South Indian work, very widely used; the source of many rules in this course (its chapters on yogas, house yogas and debilitation cancelled). Its date is uncertain.
• Jataka Parijata of Vaidyanatha Dikshita: a large work on horoscopy and yogas. Its date is uncertain.
• Uttara Kalamrita attributed to "Kalidasa": its modern translator P. S. Sastri places it after the 16th century in South India (it mentions Rahu kalam, for example) — not by the famous poet.
• Hora Sara attributed to Prithuyashas, Varahamihira's son, and the Shatpanchasika on prashna (Chapter 40).
• Sarvartha Chintamani, Jataka Chandrika, Chamatkara Chintamani and others.

#Muhurta and Tajika

• Muhurta Martanda of Narayana: dated by its own colophon to about 1571.
• Muhurta Chintamani of Rama Daivajna, with his own commentary, the Pramitakshara: about 1600, Varanasi; the standard North Indian muhurta text (Chapters 39, 41).
• Kalaprakasika: a South Indian muhurta text, translated into English in 1917 (Chapter 39).
• Tajika Nilakanthi of Nilakantha, court astrologer to Akbar: 1587 (Chapter 25).
• Prasna Marga: Kerala, 1649 (Chapter 40).

#How the tradition grew

Putting the dates together gives a picture of growth by accumulation:

1. The Vedic calendar of nakshatras (Chapter 47).
2. Greek horoscopy, from the 2nd century CE (Chapter 48).
3. Varahamihira's synthesis, 6th century.
4. The BPHS and the medieval compendia, 7th century onward, multiplying yogas, divisions and dashas.
5. The muhurta and Tajika literature, 14th to 17th centuries.
6. Regional traditions — Kerala, Tamil Nadu and others (Chapter 51).
7. The modern period: printed editions (from the 1880s), English translations, and 20th-century systems and products (KP, Lal Kitab, and modern "doshas", Chapters 43–44).

At each stage, new material was added and attributed to old authorities. This is why the texts disagree, why a "yoga" can have three definitions, and why a careful student always asks: which text, which edition, which verse?

#Summary

• The eighteen founders of Jyotisha are a medieval list in two versions (Narada Samhita 1.2–3; "Kashyapa"), including Yavana; as history it is legendary (Pingree).
• The BPHS's core dates from about 600–800 CE (Pingree); the modern text is a 20th-century recension that varies between editions. Cite it as "BPHS, modern recension".
• The Jaimini Sutras are undated and partly translated.
• The medieval classics (Saravali, Phaladeepika, Jataka Parijata, Uttara Kalamrita and others) build on Varahamihira; most of their dates are uncertain.
• The muhurta and Tajika texts date from the 14th–17th centuries: Muhurta Martanda 1571, Tajika Nilakanthi 1587, Muhurta Chintamani about 1600, Prasna Marga 1649.
• The tradition grew by accumulation, which explains its disagreements.

#Exercises

1. What does it mean that a text is "named after" a sage?
2. Which foreign names appear in the lists of eighteen founders?
3. Why does this course say "BPHS, in its modern recension"?
4. Put these in order of date: Muhurta Chintamani, Yavanajataka, Brihat Jataka, Prasna Marga, Vedanga Jyotisha.
5. Why do the texts so often disagree with each other?

Answers: 1. That the tradition honours the sage as the source of the teaching; the surviving words are usually much later. 2. Yavana (the Greeks) and, in one version, Paulisha (possibly from Paulus). 3. Because the BPHS's core dates from about 600–800 CE, but the printed editions (from 1905, and especially Sitaram Jha's 1944) differ and contain changes and probably later additions. 4. Vedanga Jyotisha, Yavanajataka, Brihat Jataka, Muhurta Chintamani, Prasna Marga. 5. Because they come from different centuries and regions, and the tradition grew by adding new material under old names.