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

Chapter Fourteen GRAPHICAL METHODS AND ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS* १४. चतुर्दशोऽध्यायः छेद्यक-यन्त्राणि Introductory In chapter I, vss. 5-7, Varāhamihira enumerated yantra and chedyaka among the topics to be dealt with in the present work. The present chapter deals with these two topics. The compound word chedyakayantrāṇi is equivalent to the compound word yantracchedyāni of I. 7. The word chedyaka means graphics or graphical methods and the word yantra, in the present con- text, means astronomical instruments. Dvivedi interpreted the word chedyakayantrāṇi as follows: “That which cuts or removes doubts is chedyaka; the instruments which serve as chedyaka are chedyakayantrāṇi.” If it were so, there would be no difference between yantra and chedyakayantra. Chedyaka and Yantra, in fact, are two distinct topics of Indian astronomical works called Gola or Spherics. Lalla, Vaṭeśvara and Bhāskara II, for example, have earmarked two separate chapters for their treatment in their works on spherics. Pingree, on the other hand, translates chedyakayantrāṇi as “the Magical Diagrams of the (Graphical) Construc- tions.” But the diagrams or astronomical instruments discussed in the present chapter bear no magical significance. [चरः] साशीतिकाङ्गुलशतं विस्तीर्णवृत्तमविषमं धरित्र्याम् । समराश्यंशकचिह्नं परिधौ सापक्रमं कुर्यात् ॥ १ ॥ याम्योदक्समसूत्रादपक्रमांशावगाहिभिः सूत्रैः । प्रथमवदङ्कक्षिप्तं वृत्तत्रयमालिखेन्मध्यात् ॥ २ ॥ अक्षे क्षिप्तां लेखां [प्र]कुर्याच्च भगणचिह्नपर्यन्ताम् । अक्षोत्तरलेखान्तरमपक्रमांशोत्थमादाय ॥ ३ ॥ द्विगुणं प्रसार्य वृत्ते स्वे [दिक्] तच्चापांशदलाभ्यस्ताः । प्रथमर्शचरविनाड्यो ज्ञेयाः परिशेषयोर्मिश्राः ॥ ४ ॥ GRAPHICAL METHODS Ascensional differences of the zodiacal signs. In III, 10-12, Varāhamihira stated an approximate practical method for finding the ascensional differences of the signs for places living between the Indian Ocean and the Himalayas and prom-

• This chapter was left untranslated by T.S. Kuppanna Sastri. The translation given here was supplied by K.S. Shukla.