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

4 2²⁴ times earth 27 (maitreya or sāvitrī maṇḍala, 1 lakh sun diameter) 5 2³⁰ times earth 33 (dyu or sky of solar system, 1 crore diameter) Energy (prāṇa) of these 33 ahargaṇa zones- 3 in earth and 30 outside- are 33 devatā. In Indian scripts their signs are consonants from ‘k’ to ‘h’. The scripts are thus a chiti (arrangement, city) of devas in symbols of letters- so it is called ‘Devanāgarī’= Nagara (city) of devas. These 6 zones are called 6 ‘Vaṣaṭkāra’-each are further divided into 6 ahargaṇa spacing ( Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa.1/7/2/21,11/2/2/5) Here, ahargaṇa is count of zones of sun field. On earth it means count of days used for calculation of planetary positions from a fixed point of time. Outside earth, zone of sun extends up to 30 dhāmas (Ṛk ved 10/189/3, Sāmveda 632, 1398, Atharva 6/31/3 Yajurveda 3/8). Par- allel to 6 vaṣaṭkāra in space, there are 6 seasons on earth, each extending to motion of sun in 2 signs (600 ). (ii)Curved motion- Pandit Madhusudan Ojha in his Brahma-Siddhānta ( Nepal granthmala, Banaras Hindu Univer- sity, 1963) has derived it from root verb ‘tsara’= to move hidingly or in curve-Pāṇini dhātupāṭha (1/373).It has three meanings-earth motion in its orbit is constantly changing direction, this is cause of change of seasons. Change of seasons in solar system or on earth surface is continuous, our marking of boundaries is arbitrary. (iii)Followed by all-Sam+vat+sarati, i.e. all move according to it. Thus all our activities accounts year, educational session, festivals etc. are based on samvatsara. In Jain tradition, anniversary is called Samavasaraṇa. Śaka word is used in astronomy books for calculation purpose. This is also used in Vedas but not in the meaning of year. This is formed of ‘kuśa’(straw) whose derivations are- (i) kuśa (Pāṇini 9/50)= to extract, test or conclude (ii) Kuś or Kus (Pāṇini 4/108) = to join, bind. (iii) Ku (earth) + śubh (Pāṇini 6/33)= spread on earth or its beauty. (iv) Kṛśa (Pāṇini 4/117) = to be thin or fine Śaka has 3 root verbs- (i)Śaka (Pāṇini 4/76) = to withstand, tolerate. (ii) Śaklṛ (Pāṇini 5/16) = to have power, able (iii) Śach (Pāṇini 1/723) = to combine. Thus a kuśa (straw) is a thin line shaped object symbol of smallest and root number 1.Counting of bigger numbers is by adding it, the cumulative count is ‘śaka’. Countings are marked in the following manner- IIII, IIII, IIII, IIII, II ........ After 4 kuśa are collected, they are tied with the 5th kuśa, thus making bundles of 5-5 kuśas. By making bundle, ‘kuśa’ becomes stronger, and is called śaka (powerful).Thus total count of days (ahargaṇa) is called śaka, and the year system starting from a point is also called ‘śaka’. So in Mexico and Sumeria, historians have written that years were counted for thousands of years by adding a straw for each year to the bundle. This is only conceptual adding, otherwise straw will not last even for one year. For over thousands years even the social organizations or government will not survive to maintain this system.

2. Time of Varāhamihira

Varāhamihira and Kālidāsa were among 9 jewels in court of Paramāra king Vikramāditya of Ujjain (82 BC-19 AD) who started Vikrama samvata at Paśupatinātha in Nepal when king Avantivarman (103-33 BC) was ruling. But