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

Introduction xxv
Unaided and surrounded, as he was by practical
difficulties, what patient labour he must have
undergone in his early days to observe and workout
practically the astronimical elements of the planets.
What numberless observations must he have made
to test every figure used in the Siddhantas, in order
to see if it remained true or not. Night after night
passed away in the all-absorbing business of
star-measurement. An eclipse of the sun or of the
moon was an event in his life never to be forgotten.
Thus it was that his early days passed. To the
uninitiated, his was frivolous work fit for children
in want of better employment. Those who cared to
understand his business failed to appreciate it. What
if the planets moved out of their path ? Besides,
was it not the work of professional astrologers ?
And was it not unbecoming one in his position ?
He began to be called by the people Raj-Jyotishi as
a sort of nickname. The Raja of the State considered
himself degrated by the profession of his uncle, and
could never countenance his pursuits. Thus his
relations with the Raja have become far from cordial,
and the later has been unable to appreciate the
utility of his work.
At the age of twenty-three, Chandrasekhar
began to note down systematically the results of his
observations and three years later the idea of
embodying them in a work flashed into his mind.
By this time, his mastery over Sanskrit had become
so complete that he could compose elegant verses
in it impromptu. Indeed, the composition of his
work had begun in his mind long before it was
written on palm-leaf. In this way, between
observation and measurement and composition his
days were divided. He was increasantly engaged