Varahamihira: the Brihat Jataka, the Brihat Samhita and the Panchasiddhantika · Chapter 20 of 22 · Part Three · The Brihat Samhita

#Omens

Brihat Samhita, chapters 86–96

Eleven chapters of the Brihat Samhita deal with omens (shakuna) — signs from birds and animals that a traveller or a king meets. They are among the oldest strands of Indian divination, and Varahamihira treats them as a careful compiler.

#Sources (86.1–4)

He names his sources: a treatise by Rishabha gathering the views of the gods Shukra, Indra, Brihaspati and others and of the sages Bhaguri, Devala and others (86.1); and a treatise by Shri Devavardhana, Maharaja of Avanti — the king of Varahamihira's own region — following Bharadvaja (86.2). "Having examined all the above treatises I proceed to write clearly this brief treatise on omens for the enlightenment of my pupils" (86.4).

#What an omen is (86.5–11)

Omens indicate to travellers the good or evil effects of their karma (deeds) in a former birth (86.5).

Omen-creatures live in villages and forests, water, land and sky, by day or night (86.6), and rules are given for telling their sex from their sound and shape (86.7–9). Varahamihira limits himself to omens for journeys (86.10). Omens on a road concern the traveller; in an army, the king; in a town, the king or the village deity; before a gathering, its leader (86.11).

#The quarters and the watches (86.12–13)

The horizon is divided into eight quarters, matched to the eight watches (yamas, three hours each) from sunrise to sunrise. The quarter where the Sun is in the current watch is "burning" (dipta); omens seen in the quarters opposite it relate to good things, past, present and future; those in the others, to good or bad according to further rules (86.12–13). So the meaning of an omen depends on where and when it is seen.

#Birds and animals (87–95)

The following chapters give the omens of particular creatures: the cries and movements of birds, of dogs, jackals and deer, of cows, horses and elephants, and — at great length — of the crow, whose many cries are each given a meaning (for example, a crow crying from the back of a horse foretells the gain of a vehicle, 95.48).

#Omens for those who stay at home (96)

The supplementary chapter covers omens for people not on a journey, dividing them into stable and unstable omens according to whether the Moon is in a fixed or movable sign at the time (96.2–3).

#Reading these chapters

The omen chapters are a precious record of how people in sixth-century India read the world around them: every sound and movement could be meaningful. They also show the structure Varahamihira imposed on folk tradition — quarters, watches, the Moon's sign, the purpose of the question.

They are not predictions in any testable sense, and this book does not ask anyone to use them. Their value is historical, literary and human.

#Summary

• Varahamihira's sources for omens include Rishabha's treatise and one by Devavardhana, king of Avanti (86.1–2).
• Omens show the fruit of past deeds to travellers (86.5); their meaning depends on the creature, its sex, the place and the purpose (86.6–11).
• The quarter and the three-hour watch decide whether an omen is good (86.12–13).
• Chapters 87–95 give the omens of birds and animals, the crow at greatest length; chapter 96 covers stable and unstable omens for those at home.

#Exercises

1. Which king wrote one of Varahamihira's sources on omens?
2. What do omens show, according to 86.5?
3. Why does the time of day matter in reading an omen?
4. What are "stable" and "unstable" omens?

Answers: 1. Shri Devavardhana, Maharaja of Avanti (86.2). 2. The good or evil effects of the traveller's past deeds. 3. Because the quarter of the Sun in the current three-hour watch decides which quarters are "burning" and which favourable (86.12–13). 4. Omens for people not travelling, classed by whether the Moon is in a fixed or movable sign (96.2–3).