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

III.20 III. PAULIŚA-SIDDHĀNTA 59
The author here gives the computation of two of the twenty-seven yogas, Viṣkambha, etc., of which
Vyatīpāta is the seventeenth and Vaidhṛta is the twenty-seventh. These have to be known because
offerings are made to the manes and other deeds of merit are performed at these times, as at
Viṣuva, Ayana, Saṅkrama, etc. (which also are going to be given), these being two well-known days
among the ninety-six Śrāddha-days. All astronomers know that the twenty-seven yogas are com-
puted like the twenty-seven nakṣatras, using the sum of the true Sun and Moon in the place of the
true Moon and the sum of the daily motions in the place of the Moon's daily motion, because the
yoga and the nakṣatra have equal extent, viz. 800 minutes. Vaidhṛta, the twenty-seventh of the
Viṣkambha series, and theVaidhṛta here given are identical because the one ends at twenty-seven
nakṣatra segments, i.e. one full revolution, and the other also ends at a full revolution, the duration
of both being the same. In the same way, the Vyatīpāta given by the author is the same as the seven-
teenth yoga of the same name in the Viṣkambha series because, true Sun + true Moon + 10 nakṣatra-
lengths = one revolution = 27 nakṣatra-lengths. Therefore true Sun + true Moon = 27 - 10 = 17
nakṣatra-lengths, given for Vyatīpāta of the Viṣkambha series.
For the sake of syntax sahiteṣu has been corrected as sahite tu. For the sake of grammar cakraḥ is
corrected as cakram, for the neuter gender alone means a cycle or revolution, viz. 12 rāśis. Or let it
be the masculine cakraḥ itself, meaning collection which ultimately can yield the idea of a collection
of 12 rāśis. yitair bhāgaiḥ is corrected as yutair bhāgaiḥ, i.e. 'the sum of the daily motions', which is
necessary. Gatairbhāgaiḥ or sthitair bhāgaiḥ can satisfy the context, but will not be sufficient, for divi-
sion by the sum of the daily motions cannot ordinarily be understood without being told. But the
correction, of cakre, which is quite all right, as ṣaṭke by TS is unwarranted and due to ignorance of
what is wanted here.
Another thing must be mentioned. If the twenty-seven yogas, Viṣkambha etc., are computed, as in
the later-day works like the Sūrya Siddhānta, then there would be no need to take the trouble of com-
puting these two, viz. the seventeenth and the twenty-seventh, alone separately. If we are
instructed to do these two separately, it is because the Pauliśa did not have the twenty-seven yogas.
We have reason to believe that even during the time of the VM these did not exist, for in the Bṛhat-
saṁhitā, while nakṣatra, tithi and karaṇa are taken up for astrological predictions yoga is not so taken.
The following is the history of the yoga. The yoga is not mentioned in the Vedas, and the Vedāṅga
Jyotiṣa does not give it. From the Paitāmaha condensed by our author we can infer that the original
Paitāmaha Siddhānta gave the Vyatīpāta for the first time, for this condensed Paitāmaha gives the rule
for Vyatīpāta: "Multiply the days from Epoch, (this Epoch is different), by 12, and divide by 305"
(XII. 8). In the Bauddha and Jain astronomical works, like Sūryaprajñapti and Kālalokaprakāśa, too,
the Vyatīpāta alone is mentioned. Because the author gives both Vyatīpāta and Vaidhṛta here, we can
guess that the original Pauliśa had Vaidhṛta also. Āryabhaṭa, a contemporary of VM, mentions
Vyatīpāta alone in the sūtra, "The Sun's cycles plus the Moon's cycles are the number of Vyatīpātas"
(ĀBh, Kāla. 3,), but commentators take him to mean Vaidhṛta also by implication, for, the Mahābhās-
karīya, which is practically a commentary on the Āryabhaṭīya says, "When the Sun plus the Moon equals
six signs it is the Vyatīpāta, when it is twelve signs it is Vaidhṛta, and when it is equal to the distance of
Anūrādhā it is the yoga Sārpamastaka" (IV. 35). Here the sum being equal to twelve signs, gives the
Vaidhṛta mentioned in the context, which is patent. The distance of Anūrādhā being equal to
seventeen nakṣatra segments, Sārpamastaka is to be identified with the Vyatīpāta of the Pauliśa,
which, as we have shown, is the seventeenth of the Viṣkambha series. Govindasvāmī too, in his
Mahābhāskarīya-Bhāṣya on this verse quotes the original Āryabhaṭīya-Sūtra and explains that Bhāskara
here gives both Vyatīpāta and Vaidhṛta. (As for the Vyatīpāta given by the sum equal to six signs, that