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

316 PAÑCASIDDHĀNTIKĀ XVIII.7
also sinning against prosody, and given only 28° for the 27½ days, after the third sixty-day
period, and 1½° for the next 3 days, thus, not accounting for 16° and 30½ days.
ardhāṣṭakaviṃśatyā cannot mean 27½, besides being an un-Sanskritic formation. Further, for the
27½ days in that part of the synodic circle the motion should be more than 26° and for the next 3
days, more than 2¼° as can be seen by examining the actual. This error of 16° and 30½ days is
doubled for the whole cycle, and the weight of this error of 32° and 61 days has been carried by
them to the 60-day period of invisibility and drawn the remark on page 121, Part II: "a rather
implausible conclusion. At any event, the description of the motion of Venus as given in our text
seems incomplete." The footnote here is uncalled for.
Jupiter and Saturn
The computation of Jupiter and Saturn follows next to Venus. This is because their treatment is
next simple, on account of their small mean motion and equation of conjunction, owing to their
great distance. Both TS and NP have expressed inability to understand the part of the computation
where the equation of the centre is obtained and applied, before the application of the eq. of
conjunction. Still, they have attempted to interpret the concerned verses, changing the wordings,
drastically, to yield their fancied ideas. In getting the eq. of conj., too, they have made several
mistakes.
As in the case of Venus, here too, the true motion is traced from one heliacal rising to the next.
The method of getting the true anomaly of the eq. cent. is similar to that of the moon given by the
Vāsiṣṭha in chap. II, and based on the same theory of the uniform increase and decrease of the rate
of motion, forming a linear zigzag. Even the same technical term, pada, is used here. All these are
reminiscent of the Babylonian astronomy of the Selucid period, as I have stated above. As between
Jupiter and Saturn, their treatment is exactly similar, so that explaining one would suffice for both.
Verses 6-13, deal with Jupiter and 14-23 with Saturn. My main aim here is to state and explain the
procedure in the computation, a thing not understood by investigators. The verification of the
epoch constants depend mainly on comparison with other systems and modern astronomy. So this
will be done separately.
[गुरुचारः]
विचतुस्त्रिंश(द्युग)णं नाडीभिस्तावताभिरपि च गु(रोः) |
(ह)त्वा 'नव नव दहनै' (रु)दया लब्धा (स्स्थि)ता दिवसाः || ६ ||
उदयनवां(शं) दत्वा दिनेषु षड्वर्गसंगुणैरुद(यैः) |
एकनवाग्नि(च्छिन्नैः) (प)दमिति साष्टादशं शेषम् || ७ ||
Risings of Jupiter
6. The days of Jupiter from epoch minus 34 days, 34 nāḍikās divided by 399,
give the number of risings. The remaining are days (after rising).
7. Add to these days a ninth of the number of risings. Multiply the number
of risings by 36, add 18, and divide by 391. The remainder here are padas.
We can conclude the following from these two verses:
(i). At 34 d. 34 n. from epoch, the first period from rising to rising begins.