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

4 PAÑCASIDDHĀNTIKĀ 1.2
In the second verse, the letter ka has been added to supply the one syllable wanting and in keeping
with the sense. The Sun being the Ātman of the Universe and also the chief of the grahas, all the gods
and all the grahas are propitiated by His worship. By the expression 'various great sages' the author
means the eighteen primary authors of the Siddhāntas on astronomy, viz. Sūrya, Soma, Pitāmaha,
Vasiṣṭha, Atri, Parāśara, Kāśyapa, Nārada, Gārgya, Marīci, Manu, Aṅgiras, Romaśa, Paurukutsa,
Cyavana, Yavana, Bhṛgu and Śaunaka and, by saluting these, the author salutes all ancient authors
who follow these Siddhāntas.
[पञ्च सिद्धान्ताः]
पौलिश-रोमक-वासिष्ठ-सौर-पैतामहास्तु पञ्च सिद्धान्ताः ।
पञ्चभ्यो द्वावाद्यौ व्याख्यातौ लाटदेवेन ॥ ३ ॥
The Five Schools of Astronomy
3. The five Siddhāntas, of which this work is a compendium, are the Paulīśa,
the Romaka, the Vāsiṣṭha, the Saura and the Paitāmaha. Of these five, the first
two, viz., the Paulīśa and the Romaka have been commented upon by
Lāṭadeva.
Of the Siddhāntas here mentioned, Brahmā is the author of the Paitāmaha; Vāsiṣṭha, that of
Vāsiṣṭha; Paulīśa that of Paulīśa; Romaka that of Romaka; and Sūrya, that of Saura. From a dialogue
between Sūrya and Aruṇa, it can be learnt how these five Siddhāntas were given to their respective
recipients. According to tradition, at the first instance, Brahmā saw this lore of astronomy embedded in
the Vedas and extracted it in the form of the Paitāmaha. He taught this to his son, Vasiṣṭha at the
behest of Viṣṇu and again to Sūrya who was created with the express purpose of giving Time to the
Universe. Vasiṣṭha gave this lore to his son, Parāśara who, in turn gave the Parāśara Siddhānta to the
sages. One sage, Paulīśa taught this to the sages Garga etc. and this is the Paulīśa Siddhānta. Sūrya
himself, being born among the Yavanas by the curse of Brahmā, taught the science to Romaka and
Duryavana in the city of Romaka, and Romaka propounded it as the Romaka Siddhānta. Thus these
five Siddhāntas are the most ancient.
It is to be noted here that the five Siddhāntas used by the author in his work are all different from
works of the same name current at present and it seems they have been lost to us. The Paulīśa
used by the author is different from the Paulīśa quoted by Bhaṭṭotpala in his commentary on the
Bṛhatsaṁhitā which latter agrees with the Saura of our author and disagrees with his Paulīśa. The
Romaka and Vāsiṣṭha now extant are different from those of VM, agreeing as they do with the now
well-known Sūrya Siddhānta, (called by scholars as the 'Modern' or 'Later' Sūrya Siddhānta to distin-
guish it from the ancient Saura Siddhānta). The author's Saura does not agree with the 'Modern'
Sūrya Siddhānta, though one would expect agreement from the similarity in name, but it agrees with
a work of the ancient Āryabhaṭa, now lost to us, and called by his commentator Bhāskara I as the
Ārdharātra-Pakṣa, which again is the basis of the Khaṇḍa-khādyaka-karaṇa of Brahmagupta. As for
3. Quoted in the Jyotirmīmāṁsā (Jy) | B1.2. वाशिष्ट; A1.2. वासिष्ट
of Nīlakaṇṭha, p. 7. | b. A1. पैतामहास्तु
a. A1. पौलिश | c. B1.2. पञ्चेभ्यो
B1. रोमय्; Jy. रोमश | A1. द्वावाद्यो; A2. द्वावोद्यौ; Jy. द्वावन्त्यौ