गुप्त अभिलेख संग्रह (जे. एफ. फ्लीट - गुप्त सम्राटों एवं परवर्ती नरेशों के ऐतिहासिक पाषाण व ताम्रलेख)

146 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
is used as meaning the time of the Sun's entrance into Aries with reference to his
madhyama or 'mean' longitude. So, also, the length of the solar year adopted by him
is that of the Sûrya-Siddhânta, which is accepted, in the present day, in most parts of
India. It should, however, be borne in mind that the Tables of the sun and the moon, and
those of the planets, given by him, are based on European Tables; and that the places
of the sun and other heavenly bodies, obtained from his book, are reckoned from the
equinoctial point. The starting-point adopted by Hindu astronomers, for reckoning the
places of heavenly bodies, coincided, in their opinion, with the equinoctial point about
Śaka-Saṁvat 444 expired (A.D. 522-23). The interval in time between two successive
returns of the sun to the vernal equinox,—called "the tropical year,"—amounts at present
to 365 days, 14 ghaṭîs, and 31.972 palas; while the length of the year, according to the
Sûrya-Siddhânta, is 365 days, 15 ghaṭîs, and 31.523 palas. During this time, the sun's
motion amounts to one complete revolution from equinox to equinox, plus about 58.6881
seconds of arc. The starting-point, therefore, of the Hindu astronomers is at present a
little more than twenty-two degrees to the east of the vernal equinox. This difference is
called ayanâṁśas, lit. 'degrees of precession;' and the ayanâṁśas for the present year,
Śaka-Saṁvat 1809 expired (A.D. 1887-88), are 22 degrees, 45 minutes, according to the
Graha-Lâghava of Gaṇêśa Daivajña.¹ As the longitudes of heavenly bodies, reckoned
from the equinox, include these ayanâṁśas, they are called sâyana, lit. 'possessed of ayana
or precession.' And the places of heavenly bodies obtained by the method given in the
Sûrya-Siddhânta and other Hindu works, are called, for the sake of distinction, nirayaṇa,
lit. 'destitute of precession.' The places obtained from Prof. K. L. Chhatre's Tables are
sâyana. The tithi, however, obtained by either process, is the same; but this is not the
case with the nakshatra or 'lunar mansion,' and the yôga or 'addition of the longitudes of
the sun and the moon.'²
The figures for the abdapa are given in Table I. on pp. 10, 11, of Prof. K. L.
Chhatre's book, and are expressed in vâras, ghaṭîs, and palas. Of these, the vâra, or
week-day, sometimes also called dina or divasa, or 'solar day (and night),' is counted in
regular order from Sunday, as 1, up to Saturday, as 7 or 0; and it is always reckoned by
¹ The date of this work is Śaka-Saṁvat 1442 expired (A.D. 1520-21). At present, all the
Pañchâṅgs (Hindu calendars) in the Dekkan, and in some other parts of India, are prepared from this
authority, and from another small work, by the same author, entitled Tithi-Chintâmaṇi, containing
the necessary Tables.
² To calculate tithis, only the difference between the longitudes of the moon and of the sun is to
be taken. Therefore it matters not whether these longitudes are sâyana or nirayaṇa. To find a
nakshatra, the ayanâṁśas must be applied to the moon's longitude obtained from Prof. K. L. Chhatre's
Tables. The Sâyana-Pañchâṅg, annually published, from Śaka 1806, under the patronage of His
Highness the Mahârâja Hôlkar, by Mr. Visaji Raghunath Lele of Gwâlior, with the aid of Mr. Janardan
B. Modak, B.A. of the Bombay University, of myself, and of Mr. Krishnarao Raghunath Bhide of
Indôr, is based on the sâyana system.