Siddhânta was a standard work in early times, but it was superseded by the present Sûrya-Siddhânta at some period not yet known, probably not later than A.D. 1000. The first Ârya-Siddhânta, which was composed at Kusumapura (supposed to be Patṇâ in Bengal), came into use from A.D. 499.[1] Varâhamihira in his Pañchasiddhântikâ (A.D. 505) introduced a bîja to Jupiter's motion as given in the original Sûrya-Siddhânta, but did not take it into account in his rule (see Art. 62 below) for calculating a samvatsara. Brahmagupta composed his Brahma-Siddhânta in A. D. 628. He was a native of Bhillamâla (the present Bhinmâl), 40 miles to the north-west of the Abu mountains. Lalla, in his work named Dhî-vṛiddhida, introduced a bîja to three of the elements of the first Ârya-Siddhânta, namely, the moon, her apogee, and Jupiter, i.e., three out of the six elements with which we are concerned. Lalla's place and date are not known, but there is reason to believe that he flourished about A.D. 638. The date and place of the second Ârya-Siddhânta are also not known, but the date would appear to have been about A.D. 950. It is alluded to by Bhâskarâchârya (A.D. 1150), but does not seem to have been anywhere in use for a long time. The Râjamṛigâṅka (A.D. 1042) follows the Brahma-Siddhânta,[2] but gives a correction to almost all its mean motions and places, and even to the length of the year. The three schools—Saura, Ârya and Brahma—seem to have been established from this date if not earlier, and the Brahma-Siddhânta in its orginal form must have then dropped out of use. The Karaṇa-prakâśa, a work based on the first Ârya-Siddhânta as corrected by Lalla's bîja, was composed in A.D. 1092, and is considered an authority even to the present day among many Vaishnavas of the central parts of Southern India, who are followers of the Ârya-Siddhânta. Bhâskarâchârya's works, the Siddhânta Śiromaṇi (A.D. 1150) and the Karaṇa-Kutûhala (A.D. 1183) are the same as the Râjamṛigâṅka in the matter of the calculation of a pañchâṅg. The Vâkkya-Karaṇa, a work of the Arya school, seems to have been accepted as the guide for the preparation of solar pañchâṅgs in the Tamil and Malayalam countries of Southern India from very ancient times, and even to the present day either that or some similar work of the Ârya school is so used. A Karaṇa named Bhâsvatî was composed in A.D. 1099, its birthplace according to a commentator being Jagannâtha (or Purî) on the east coast. The mean places and motions given in it are from the original Sûrya-Siddhânta as corrected by Varâhamihira's bîja,[3] and it was an authority for a time in some parts of Northern India. Vâvilâla Kochchanna, who resided somewhere in Telingaṇa, composed a Karaṇa in 1298 A.D. He was a strict follower of the present Sûrya-Siddhânta, and since his day the latter Siddhânta has governed the preparation of all Telugu luni-solar calendars. The Makaranda, another Karaṇa, was composed at Benares in A.D. 1478, its author following the present Sûrya-Siddhânta, but introducing a bîja. The work is extensively used in Northern India in the present day for pañchâṅga calculations. Bengalis of the present day are followers of the Saura school, while in the western parts of Northern India and in some parts of Gujarât the Brâhma school is followed. The Graha-lâghava, a Karaṇa of the Saura school, was composed by Ganesa Daivjña of Nandigrâma (Nândgâm), a village to the South of Bombay, in A.D. 1520. The same author also produced the Bṛihat and Laghutithichintâmaṇis in A.D. 1525, which may be considered as appendices to the Graha-lâghava. Gaṇeśa adopted the present Sûrya Siddhânta determinations for the length of
- ↑ It is not to be understood that as soon as a standard work comes into use its predecessors go out of use from all parts of the country. There is direct evidence to show that the original Sûrya-Siddhânta was in use till A.D. 665, the date of the Khaṇḍa-khâdya of Brahmagupta, though evidently not in all parts of the country. [S. B. D.]
- ↑ Whenever we allude simply to the "Brahma Siddhânta" by name, we mean the Brahma-Siddhânta of Brahmagupta.
- ↑ Out of the six elements alluded to in note 1 on the last age, only Jupiter has this bîja. The present Sûrya-Siddhânta had undoubtedly come into use before the date of the Bhâsvatî. [S. B. D.]
