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

#The five astronomies

The Panchasiddhantika

The Panchasiddhantika ("the five siddhantas") is Varahamihira's work on astronomy. It is a working manual (karana) that summarises five astronomical systems of his time, set to the epoch of Shaka 427, that is 505 CE. It survives in only two damaged manuscripts with no commentary, and its edition by G. Thibaut and Sudhakara Dvivedi (1889) was a major scholarly achievement. It is our best window into Indian astronomy before Aryabhata.

#The opening (I.1–7)

Varahamihira salutes the sages, "among whom Surya and Vasishtha are foremost", and his father and teacher (I.1). He promises to give the correction of the planetary motions (bija) — corrections, Thibaut explains, that bring calculation into agreement with observation (I.2).

There are the following siddhantas: the Paulisha, the Romaka, the Vasishtha, the Saura and the Paitamaha. Out of these five the first two have been explained by Latadeva (I.3).

The siddhanta made by Paulisha is accurate; near to it stands the siddhanta proclaimed by Romaka; more accurate is the Savitra (Saura); the two remaining ones are far from the truth (I.4).

He promises to explain "that subject which is the greatest mystery, which perplexes the minds of the writers of astronomical works, viz. the eclipses of the Sun ... dismissing all jealousy" (I.5), and lists the contents: eclipses, conjunctions, the difference in longitude, the prime vertical, the rising of the Moon, instruments, the gnomon's shadow and more (I.6–7).

#The five systems

Two of the five, by their names, came from the West; the oldest Indian one he dismisses as inaccurate. His ranking is by accuracy, not by antiquity or sanctity.

#What the book contains

Following Thibaut's analysis of the chapters:

• Calendar arithmetic: the count of days from the epoch (ahargana), the lords of the day and year, the tithis and karanas (chapters 1–3).
• Spherical astronomy and the sine table (chapter 4).
• Eclipses of the Moon and the Sun by the different systems, with parallax (chapters 5–11).
• The planets: their mean and true positions by the Saura system (chapters 16–17), and by others.
• Varahamihira's own chapters, in which, Thibaut says, "we discern more of the individual Varaha Mihira than in the remainder of the work": chapter 13, on the sphericity of the Earth and the appearance of the sky from different latitudes, with criticisms of some astronomical schools; chapter 14, on finding results by observation and instruments rather than calculation alone; and chapter 15, with its references to other astronomers.

#Rival astronomers (XV.17–20)

Chapter 15 records honest disagreement:

The rule about the days of the week is not everywhere the same. As no decisive reason can be assigned for it, the astronomers disagree concerning this point (XV.17).

Where does the day begin? According to Latacharya, at sunset at Yavanapura — "the city of the Greeks", probably Alexandria; according to Simhacharya, at sunrise at Lanka; according to "the guru of the Yavanas", at another moment of the night; and

Aryabhata maintains that the beginning of the day is to be reckoned from midnight at Lanka; and the same teacher again says that the day begins from sunrise at Lanka (XV.20).

This is one of the earliest references to Aryabhata by another author — and it records, without rancour, that Aryabhata held two different views (in two different works, it is generally thought).

#The last word (XVIII.61–64)

The book ends with the purpose and spirit of the work:

For the benefit of his pupils Varahamihira of Avanti has composed this short treatise on the smaller planets, which effects an agreement between observation and theory (XVIII.61).

He recommends it to anyone whose efforts have been frustrated by the planetary theories of his contemporaries Pradyumna (for Mars) and Vijayanandin (for Jupiter and Saturn) (XVIII.62). And he closes:

He who, although knowing the faults of others, yet does not mention them, even when an opportunity offers, but rather proclaims their good qualities — to that good man let honour be paid as to a benefactor of his kind! (XVIII.64)

#Summary

• The Panchasiddhantika (epoch 505 CE) summarises five siddhantas: Paulisha, Romaka, Vasishtha, Saura, Paitamaha; Latadeva explained the first two (I.3).
• Varahamihira ranks them by accuracy: the Saura best, the Paulisha and Romaka close, the Vasishtha and Paitamaha far from the truth (I.4).
• Its aim is agreement between calculation and observation (I.2; XVIII.61); it treats the calendar, the sphere, eclipses, the planets and instruments; chapters 13–15 are most his own.
• It records disagreements about the start of the day, naming Latacharya, Simhacharya, the Yavanas' teacher and Aryabhata (XV.17–20).
• It ends by honouring those who praise others' good qualities rather than their faults (XVIII.64).

#Exercises

1. Name the five siddhantas and Varahamihira's ranking.
2. What is a bija, and why did Varahamihira care about it?
3. What does Varahamihira say about Aryabhata in XV.20?
4. What does XV.17 admit about the days of the week?
5. Which verse of the Panchasiddhantika best expresses Varahamihira's character, in your view, and why?

Answers: 1. Paulisha, Romaka, Vasishtha, Saura, Paitamaha; the Saura most accurate, the Paulisha accurate and the Romaka near it, the other two far from the truth (I.3–4). 2. A correction that makes calculation agree with observation; because he aimed at "agreement between observation and theory" (I.2; XVIII.61). 3. That Aryabhata reckoned the day from midnight at Lanka, and also, elsewhere, from sunrise. 4. That the rule is not everywhere the same and astronomers disagree, since no decisive reason can be given. 5. (Your own answer — for example XVIII.64, on praising others' good qualities rather than their faults.)