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

XVIII.13 XVIII. VĀSIṢṬHA-PAULIŚA – RISING AND SETTING 321 These values agree well with actualities, considering that whole days and whole degrees are given, excepting the last 6° 8′, given to complete the value for the synodic cycle. 6° 12′ would be better at that region and for the whole number, 399 days. 56 days for – 6°, and 60 days for the same – 6° must be explained by the intention to give whole degrees and segmentation. Vargāḥ is an obvious mistake for bhāgān, and so corrected. TS have interpreted saptāṣṭakena to mean 15, which such an expression never means. It can mean either 56 or 87. They understand another 60 days by the word ca used. All this, to make up the wrong scheme used by them, based on the mistaken idea that the statement of motions here begins with conjunction and ends with the rising in the east after the next conjunction. The following is their scheme: Days Conjunction 60 40 24 15 60 60 80 45 Setting west 30 Rising east = 414 Degrees 12° 4° 2° 0° – 6° – 6° 12° 9° (15°) = 42° ddīnārdhamatena is emended by TS into dhyūnārdhaśatena but how can this word mean their 45? As for the last part, sthitvā saikam māsam, they have taken it to mean 30 days instead of the correct 31 days. Let that be. They have not given any motion for it in their interpretation. It cannot be left to be guessed and completed by an ordinary computer. They, who can be expected to know, have guessed, quite wrongly, 15° motion for 30 days, not realising that it can be only 6° and a few minutes more. For the 414 days from conj. to the rising after the conjunction, the total can only be about, 33° 9′ + 3° = 36° 9′, and not the 42° given by them. As for NP, they have emended ddīnārdhamatena into dinārdhaśatena to mean 50 days. Since they take 30 days for the setting i.e. one day less, they make the total of days, 400. They give 7° motion for the 30 days (which they make even 29 days in the last part). They have changed the wording to some ununderstandable form here, dyavantye māsasya. Further, the 7° is far too much for 30 days. But there is no 7° in the text. They have corrected the text saikam into śvam, thinking that aśvam in bhūtasaṅkhyā means 7°. Incidentally, one other matter may be considered here, viz., the degrees of heliacal rising, for Jupiter. During the set-period of 31 days, the sun moves about 30½ degrees, and Jupiter, about 6° 8′, and the relative motion is 30½° – 6° 8′ = about 24°, from setting to rising. This gives about 12°, for the heliacal rising of Jupiter, which is fairly accurate, especially for very high latitudes. (Classical Hindu astronomy gives 11°). Verse XVIII. 58 gives the Vāsiṣṭha-Pauliśa’s degrees of heliacal rising as 12°, 14°, 12°, 15°, 8°, 15° from Moon onwards, by candrādinām dvādaśamanuravitithyaṣṭatithisaṁkhyaiḥ:. 15° for Jupiter given here is too much, and 14° for Mars is too low. (Classical Hindu astronomy gives 17° for Mars). So, the scribe seems to have made a small change in the order, and the correct order is “candrādīnām dvādaśatithimanuravyaṣṭatithisaṅkhyaiḥ:”, 12°, 15°, 14°, 12°, 8°, 15°, with only one change of place. Example: Find the True Jupiter at 2415 days from epoch. (i) The beginning of the first cycle after rising next to the epoch is 34-34 days later. The days after this, required to find the number of cycles gone = 2415 – 34-34 = 2380-26. Dividing by 399, cycles gone = 2380 – 26/399 = 5, with 385-26 remainder. Adding 5 × 1/9 days, (= 0-33), we have 385-59 days left over after 5 cycles gone. (ii) The padas at 5 cycles gone = 18 + 5 × 36 = 198. Mean Jupiter = 198 padas = 198 × 360°/391 = 6ʳ 2° 18′. True Jupiter:– For the 198 padas, 180 padas forming the first sector has gone and 18 padas are left over in the second sector.