सिद्धान्तदर्पण (महामहोपाध्याय सामन्त चन्द्रशेखर सिंह - नग्न-नेत्र खगोल वेध एवं गणित महाकोश)

Introduction XVII
I say upon Hindu society, to which a correct
knowledge of the ever-changing positions of the
heavenly bodies is neither a matter for the
inquisitive, nor one which may be safely let alone.
For, Hindu life is nothing if not a routine of religious
practices, due observance of which necessitates a
knowledge of the positions of the planets and the
stars. Indeed, a correct almanac is an indispensable
equipment of every Hindu household. All religious
observances and rites are regulated by the almanac,
and some of these require very accurate
determinations. For instance, a Hindu must know
the exact moment when a particular position ends
and another begins.
It has, however, been observed that no two
current almanacs agree in their computations. A .
fierce controversy is going on between the
conservatives and the liberals in Hindu India about
the correction of almanacs, and therefore about the
data of the Siddhantas. The orthodox of the Hindu
community refuse to believe in the existence of
errors that have crept into the figures of the old
Siddhantas in course of time. To use the foreign
Nautical Almanac to regulate the religious
observances is out of the question. Any correction,
if necessary, must come from within, from a Hindu
uninfluenced by foreign education. It is not for
Europe, with all her brilliant scientific discoveries
and wonderful inventions of labour-saving
machinery, to take the place of the old Rishis, whose
hallowed names are associated with every
department of useful knowledge. Europe may be
our guide in matters temporal, but must not dictate
a work in matters spiritual. Materially, a Hindu is