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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS: APPENDIX III. 171
nakshatrasya vatsaraḥ. — It is unnecessary to translate these ten quotations; as the
general purport of all of them is the same; viz. that "a saṁvatsara is to be named
after that nakshatra in which Jupiter attains his rising."—(11) In the remaining au-
thority, the Sûrya-Siddhânta, the rule appears to be a little different from that
of all the other authorities; though the general features are the same. And, for
this reason, though the work is one of the earliest, I have quoted it last. The rule
is given in the verse—Vaiśâkh-âdishu kṛishṇê cha yôgaḥ pañchadaśê tithau l Kârttik-
âdîni varshâṇi Gurôr ast-ôdayât tathâ ll,—"and the years Kârttika and others (that
follow) (are to be named) from the rising, after setting, of Jupiter,¹ according to the occur-
rence (of Kṛittikâ and other nakshatras)² on the fifteenth tithi in the dark fortnight of
Vaiśâkha and other (months that follow)." The application of this rule seems to be
thus:—The years are to be named, according as Kṛittikâ and other nakshatras,—
evidently those in which the sun and the moon stand,—occur on the amâvâsyâ of Vaiśâ-
kha and others, immediately preceding or following³ the day on which Jupiter rises;
that is, on whatever day Jupiter may rise, the nakshatra on either the preceding, or
the following, amâvâsyâ, gives the name to the saṁvatsara. This rule seems to have
been alluded to, though not in the name of the Sûrya-Siddhânta, by Utpala; but it is
rejected by him. It may possibly have been occasionally in use; but it certainly does not
apply to the Gupta records.
Now, all these quotations distinctly refer, in some form or another, to the rising of
Jupiter; which it is impossible to understand as meaning anything but his heliacal-
rising. And, if the rising referred to is the heliacal-rising, then no astronomer can deny
that, in the period of about twelve solar years, there are only eleven conjunctions of Jupiter
¹ I should remark that Raṅganâtha, one of the best commentators on the Sûrya-Siddhânta,
explains this verse with the understanding, into which he seems to have been led by Utpala's com-
ments on the Bṛihat-Saṁhitâ, viii. 1, that ast-ôdayât means "from the setting or rising." He adds,
however, — idânîm udaya-varsha-vyavahârô gaṇakair gaṇyatê,—"at the present time, the practice
of (naming) the year by the rising, is taken into account by astronomers." For the sake of consist-
ency, it is justifiable to translate the expression ast-ôdayât as I have translated it above; and the
use of the compounded base in the singular, supports that translation. I also find that Dâdâbhâî,
in his commentary on the Sûrya-Siddhânta, explains it in the same way; his words being —
tath=âstâd udaya-kâlê Gurôs tad-yukta-nakshatra-saṁjñô Gurôr abdô jñêyaḥ,—"so the year of
Jupiter is to be known as having the appellation of that nakshatra with which he is joined at the
time of (his) rising after setting."—[There can be no doubt that ast-ôdayât is used here in the sense
of "from the rising after setting;" compare such compounds as supt-ôtthita, 'having arisen from
sleep;' lit. 'having slept and then having risen.'—J. F. F.]
² These words, in connection with yôgaḥ, have to be supplied from the preceding verse, in which
the result exhibited in Table VIII. page 163 above, is given.
³ Which of the two, cannot be determined from the context: and I can find no commentator
who has explained the point properly. I myself think that the following amâvâsyâ is intended. But
seems that Utpala, in his allusion to this rule, takes the preceding amâvâsyâ.

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