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

xxvi सिद्धान्त दर्पण
with his work for the full period of six years, and
the first copy was not ready before he was thirty.
This constant strain upon his body which had
never been strong began to undermine his system.
He contracted a disease which has been his constant
companion. Besides, the privations he had to bear,
consequent upon his scrupulous adherence to the
Sastric injunctions of strict vegetarianism, proved
too much for his naturally weak system. Dyspepsia
with its attendant colic has impaired his health. At
times it becomes so painful that he is compelled to
break off conversation and roll down on the ground
till the attack is over. Full meals, frugal as they are,
he has not enjoyed for the last thirty years, and has
seldom permitted himself the indulgence of even
half meals twice a day. The study of astronomy has
been a passion with him, and any medicine you
may prescribe for him, must neither contain any
forbidden ingredient, nor, what is more important,
interfere with his daily work. Even in his present
invalid stale he would willingly sit up a whole night
if it were for anything connected with his favourite
subject. When he came here to receive the title of
honour conferred upon him, he could not be
persuaded to stay a single day after the Durbar, as
an eclipse of the Sun was to occur a few days later.
And how could he stay away from his observatory,
and allow such a momentous event to pass by
unnoticed ?
His naive simplicity and unassuming manners
have rather been a drawback than an advantage to
him. The common people, who do not understand
the difference between astrology and astronomy,
pester him so much with questions on their destiny,
that it is only his amiable disposition that makes