पञ्चसिद्धान्तिका (आचार्य वराहमिहिर - सूर्य, रोमक, पौलिश, वासिष्ठ एवं पितामह सिद्धान्त)

INTRODUCTION XXVII the author’s intention and become blind to its merits and peculiarities, which otherwise they could have easily seen. Equally off the mark is the emendation of tithi into stvatha by Neugebauer and Pingree (NP for short). See below, Explanatory Notes, for the real reason for this ‘slipping away from the real’.” On this subject might be advantageously referred to the section ‘The place of the Vāsiṣṭha in the his- tory of Hindu astronomy’ in T.S.K. Sastry’s paper ‘The Vāsiṣṭha Sun and Moon’ in the Jl. of Or. Research, Madras, 25 (1955-56) 19-41, reprinted in his Collected Papers on Jyotiṣa (Tirupati, 1989, pp.1-28) Table of Common topics Ahargaṇa Vāsiṣṭha II.8 Paulīśa I.11-13 Paitāmaha XII.5 Romaka I.8-10 Paitāmaha XII.1-2 Vyatīpāta-Vaidhṛti Paulīśa III.20-22 Nakṣatra-Tithi Paitāmaha XII.4 Paulīśa III.16 Candra-grahaṇa Vāsiṣṭha II.7 Vāsiṣṭha-Paulīśa VI.1-14 Ravi-sphuṭa Saura X.1-7 Paulīśa III.1-3 Ravi-grahaṇa Vāsiṣṭha II.1 Paulīśa VII.1-6 Candra-sphuṭa Romaka VIII.1-18 Paulīśa III.4 Saura IX.1-27 Vāsiṣṭha II.2-6 Grahāstodaya Aharmāna Vāsiṣṭha-Paulīśa XVIII.1-60 Paulīśa III.11-12 Saura XVII.11-12 12. Varāhamihira : His Life and Works One of the foremost early Indian astronomer and astrologer, Varāhamihira belongs to the sixth century A.D. In the Pañcasiddhāntikā (I.8) he takes the cut-off date or epoch for computations using the Paulīśa Siddhānta as Śaka 427, which corresponds to A.D. 505. Since the practice in Indian astronomical manuals (Karaṇa-grantha-s) is to take a contemporary date, as near to the composition of work, answering to certain specifications, as the cut-off date, it is reasonable to presume that PS was composed some time after A.D. 505. Regarding his demise there is a statement by Āmarāja in his commentary on Brahmagupta’s Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta, which reads : navādhika-pañcasamkhyā- śake Varāhamihirācāryo divam gataḥ. “In śaka 509 Varāhamihira attained to the heavens.’ This would mean that VM passed away in A.D. 587. This date is corroborated by VM’s mention in PS XV.10, of Āryabhaṭa who composed his Āryabhaṭīya in A.D. 499, which work should have become well known by the time that VM composed his PS.