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A Note on Some Sanskrit Manuscripts on Astronomical Instruments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Yukio Ohashi
Yukio Ohashi*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Mathematics, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India

Extract

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The earliest astronomical instruments in India are the śaṙku (gnomon) and the ghaṭikā (clepsydra). The former is mentioned in the Śulbasūtras, and the latter in the Vedāṅqajyotiṣa. Aryabhaṭa described a rotating model of the celestial sphere. After Aryabhaṭa, several instruments were described by Varāhamihira, Brahmagupta,Lalla, Śrīpati , and Bhāskara II. After Bhāskara II , some Sanskrit texts specialized on astronomical instruments were composed. The earliest text of this kind is the Yantra-rāja (AD 1370) written by Mahendra Sūri. It is also the first text on the astrolabe in Sanskrit. After Mahendra Sūri, Padmanābha, Cakradhara, Ganeśa-Daivajña etc. composed Sanskrit texts on instruments, but most of them remain unpublished.

Type
Mediaeval Astronomy
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 91: History of Oriental Astronomy , 1987 , pp. 191 - 195
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

References

References and Notes

1 Dikshit, S.B. (1981). Bharatiya Jyotish Shastra , Part II. English tr. by Vaidya, R.V., p. 231. India Meteorological Department. Garrett, A.ff. (1902). The Jaipur Observatory and its Builder, pp. 62–63. Allahabad.Google Scholar I am grateful to the Librarian of BHU who supplied me its photocopy. There are several manuscripts of this adhikara. See Pingree, D. (1981). Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit, Ser.A, vol.4 , pp.170–172. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society , (hereafter Census)Google Scholar. I have used VVRI 2481 and 469; AS Bombay 2451 (BD 298); and Baroda 9588 and 3168. In VVRI 2481, the name of the author is wrongly indicated as Gajjeśa-Daivajna.

2 Lucknow 45888, 33 ff , copied in Samvat 1634 Mārgaśārṣa-month śukla - pakṣa 8th tithi Monday (= AD 1577). Its colophon clearly states that it is Chapter I of the Yantrakirāṇavali.(Srīpadmanābhaviracitāyāṁ yantrakiraṇāvalyāṁ yantrarājādhikaro vāsanābhāṣyasahitaḥ prathamaḥ).Google Scholar

3 Although the name of the commentator is not given in its colophon, there is a cancelled colophon in the folio 21b, which states that commented by himself (svavivṛtti).Google Scholar

4 Verse No.3. (Folio 3a).Google Scholar

5 Verse No.4. (Folio 3a-3b).Google Scholar

6 As was shown by Padmanābha in the verse No. 6 (Folio 7b), the radii of the diurnal circles of Aries and Capricorn are: where r is the radius of the instrument, a and b are the radii of the circles of Aries and Capricorn respectively, ε is the obliquity of the ecliptic. Therefore, the following equations give the value of ε which gives the values mentioned in the verse No. 3. The former gives ε = 23 °49 ’8” and the latter gives ε = 23° 51 ‘48”.Google Scholar

7 Neugebauer, O. (1975). A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy, Part I. p.31. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

8 Dikshit, S.B. op.cit., p. 231.Google Scholar

9 Kaye, G.R. (1918), The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh, p. 136. Calcutta: Archaeological Survey of India.Google Scholar

10 Commentary on verse No.3.Google Scholar

11 Baroda, 3160, 2 ff, copied in Samvat 1639 Mārga-month 15th tithi Thursday (= AD 1582).Google Scholar

12 Pingree, D. Census, A-4, p.170 and also Pingree, D.(1981) Jyotihśāstra, A History of Indian Literature VT-4. p.53 Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.Google Scholar

13 Verse No.4.Google Scholar

14 Verse No.12 & 13.Google Scholar

15 I have used Benares 35702 and AS Bombay 245 IV (BD 298). Benares 35702 contains Munisvara’s version also.Google Scholar

16 Although its Pūrvārdha has been published in 3 volumes from Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya, Varanasi, i ts Uttarārdha which contains Yantra-adhiyāya is yet unpublished. I have used Benares 36922 and SOI 9421 (these two are text only), Baroda 9429 and AS Bombay 288 (BD 62) (these two have auto-commentary).Google Scholar

17 Verse Nos.63-70.Google Scholar

18 Verse No.63.Google Scholar

19 I have seen Benares 34999.Google Scholar

20 I have seen Benares 36676, 35630, 34353 and 35074; Baroda 3190; SOI 9414 and VVRI 4731.Google Scholar

21 Sharma, S.D. (1982). Pratoda Yantra. (Ed. and com. by Shakti Dhara Sharma), P.O.Kurali, (Ropar) Pb. (INDIA): Martand Bhavan. I am grateful to Dr. S.D.Sharma, Dept. of Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala, who kindly gave me a copy of his book.Google Scholar

22 Pingree, D.(1971) Census, A-2, p.106. Philadelphia.Google Scholar

23 Among 10 manuscripts which Pingree mentions, I have confirmed that the following manuscripts are Munīsvara’s version. Benares 36676, 35630 and 34353; Baroda 3190; and VVRI 4731.Google Scholar