Varahamihira (505 - 587 C.E.; The astro sage of Ancient Ujjain)

August 9, 2008

Dear All, Again by VV Raman at: http://www.siddha.com.my/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000053-7.html My two centns - The "Kriya Tavuru..." argument presented at the end of this article is totally worng. For clarification refer to: Sreenadh/Kriya-Tavuru.pdf Love and regards,Sreenadh

======================================

Varahamihira (505 - 587 C.E.)

The city of Ujjain has seen many victories and defeats. It had its glorydays during the reign of the great Vikramaditya whose court glittered withseveral gems of whom, it is said, the immortal Kalidasa was one. Ujjain wasalso once a center for mathematical and astronomical studies in India, withits own observatory. Scholars used to work there in the context of thescience of that age as others do in our own times in various researchcenters in India. Varahamihira was among those who lent scientific luster toUjjain.

As with philosophical darshanas and religious sects, in astronomy too thereused to be at one time different approaches. These were called siddhantas -the same term is used for philosophical and theological schools of thought.

Varahamihira is remembered especially because he has left behind a valuablework, called Pa?iddhantika which discusses five of these classicalsiddhantas, known with the epithets Surya, Romaka, Paulisha, Vasishtha, andPaitamaha. [in the Vaishnava tradition the five scriptural sources Veda,Smriti, Itihasa-Puranas, Pancaratra and Divya Prabandham are referred to asPa?iddhanta.] Two of the Siddhantas in Varahamihira's work bear names ofalien vintage. Romaka (of Rome) Siddhanta is Alexandrine astronomy, based onthe work of Ptolemy, with cycles, epicycles, and all. It presents theHipparchus model of the tropical year. Paulisha Siddhanta, with tables ofsines, is based on the system of Paulus, another astronomer in Alexandria.

Vasishtha Siddhanta traces its origins to Sage Vasishtha, while SuryaSiddhanta is dedicated to the Sun God. Paitamaha (grandfather's) Siddhantais said to be the oldest, and it contains the astrological lore of the time.

In sum, Pa?iddhantika is a compendium on astronomy. It expounds howvarious astronomical systems presented the motions of the sun, the moon, andthe planets, time-reckoning, and related mathematics. It also talks aboutastronomical instruments and cosmology. An English version with commentarieswas published by Otto Neugebauer and David Pingree in the 1970s: anotherinstance of Western scholarship universalizing ancient and little knownsystems.

Up until the 17th century every astronomer, whether in Greece, Europe, orIndia, was also an astrologer. Ptolemy's Almagest contains astrology andastronomy. Copernicus and Kepler were astronomers and astrologers also. Sowas Varahamihira. Recall that in the Indian tradition there are sixprincipal sections of astrology: Gola or positional astronomy, Ganita or theassociated mathematics, Jataka or natal astrology, Prasna or questionsrelating to time, Muhurta or auspicious time intervals, and Nimitta oromens. Varahamihira wrote on all these. Some of the ideas in Varahamira'sBrihajj?ka and Viv?patala continue to exerts great influence in theHindu world to this day. Much of the credit for the popularity of astrologyin India goes to Varahamihira and his disciples.

Another systematized branch of ancient inquiries was divination, in whichone would predict the course of events by appropriately interpreting omens.This was common practice in ancient Babylonia, India, Greece, and Rome, forexample. Varahamihira also wrote on a book on this subject. HisBrihatsamhita deals with omens, but it also has information on the geographyof India of those times.

But there is also some mathematics in his works. Recall the basic formulaconnecting sines and cosines: the sum of their squares equals one. Or again,the formulas for the sine and cosine of double angles (like, cos 2x = 1 -2sine-squared-x). We find these formulas enunciated for the first time inVarahamira's works. It is not clear how much of this is original work. Yet,since this is among the most ancient texts in India where these appear,trigonometric texts in India could refer to these as Varahamihira'sformulas. This would be a legitimate way of reminding the young of thescientific legacy of our ancestors.

Varahamihira tackled problems in combinatorial arithmetic. A simple problemwould be as follows. Suppose we have six students in a group, and we have tochoose any four from among them for a game. In how many different ways canthis be done? The answer is 15, but it will take some mathematics to figurethis out. Varahamihira devised a scheme by which this can be done for thegeneral case in which one combines r different objects from a set of ndifferent ones (nCr, as one would say today). This scheme was re-discovereda thousand years later by Blaise Pascal, and is now generally known inmathematics books as Pascal's triangle. The reason for this has nothing todo with Eurocentrism. In Pascal's time, scientific results were widelypublished; in Varahamira's time, they were not.

The idea of accepting ideas from aliens is always a touchy one. In thiscontext, Varahamihira was an enlightened Hindu who did not shy away fromrecognizing merit wherever he found it. He told his countrymen:

"The Greeks,though impure (mlecchas), must be honored, because they were trained in thesciences and therein excelled others. What then are we to say of a Brahminif he combines with his purity the height of science?"

Thus did he urge thelearned men of his time to pursue the positive sciences.

V. V. RamanOctober 26, 2005

///

I disagree with Mr. Raman's translation of Varahamihira's Sanskrit verse which is -

mlecchaa hi yavanaasteshu samyagsaastramidam sthitham /rishivat tepi poojyante kim punardaivavid dvijah //

Here idam saastram does not refer to all sciences. Its meaning is to be related to daivavid which means a person knowing fortune telling or astrology. Thereare two scinces relating to planetary movements - one is astronomy or jyotisham and the other is astrology or daivam (fortune). In Varahamihira's time the Arya Brahmins were knowing and practicing only astoronomy but not astology. The astrology part came from the Greeks or yavanas. Becasue of the knowledge of astrology yavanas were respected as Rishis. Therefore Varahamihira was persuading the Arya Brahmins to study astrology. Varahamihira was a maga Brahmin.

Varahamihira's Brihajjatakam is mainly based on Greek Astrology.

I shall give a few examples -

The names of the 12 solar signs of the zodiac are greek but used in by the Hindus using the Sanskrit equivalents.

I quote from Varahamihira Brihajjataka -

kriya taavuru jithuma kuliiraleya paarthona juuka korpiaakhyaah/taukshika aakokerohridrogaschethasischaanthyam //

The equivalent Sanskrit names being - Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna, Karkitaka, Simha, Kanya, Thula, Vrischika, Dhanus, Makara, Kumbha and Meena.

There are another 33 greek words in Brihajjataka for which there are no sanskrit equivalents.

P.K. Ramakrishnan27th Oct. 2005 ======================================

August 9, 2008

Sh.Sreenath,

I thank you for the nice information on Varahmihira. I am surprised to know that

astrology came from Greek or yavana.

Thanks once again.

--- On Sat, 8/9/08, Sreenadh <sreesog wrote:

Sreenadh <sreesog

Varahamihira (505 - 587 C.E.; The astro sage

of Ancient Ujjain)

Saturday, August 9, 2008, 3:00 PM

Dear All,

Again by VV Raman at: http://www.siddha. com.my/ubb/ Forum3/HTML/ 000053-7.

html

My two centns - The " Kriya Tavuru... " argument presented at the end of this

article is totally worng. For clarification refer to: http://groups. /

group/ancient_ indian_astrology Sreenadh/ Kriya-Tavuru. pdf

Love and regards,

Sreenadh

============ ========= ========= ========

Varahamihira (505 - 587 C.E.)

The city of Ujjain has seen many victories and defeats. It had its glory

days during the reign of the great Vikramaditya whose court glittered with

several gems of whom, it is said, the immortal Kalidasa was one. Ujjain was

also once a center for mathematical and astronomical studies in India, with

its own observatory. Scholars used to work there in the context of the

science of that age as others do in our own times in various research

centers in India. Varahamihira was among those who lent scientific luster to

Ujjain.

As with philosophical darshanas and religious sects, in astronomy too there

used to be at one time different approaches. These were called siddhantas -

the same term is used for philosophical and theological schools of thought.

Varahamihira is remembered especially because he has left behind a valuable

work, called Pa?iddhantika which discusses five of these classical

siddhantas, known with the epithets Surya, Romaka, Paulisha, Vasishtha, and

Paitamaha. [in the Vaishnava tradition the five scriptural sources Veda,

Smriti, Itihasa-Puranas, Pancaratra and Divya Prabandham are referred to as

Pa?iddhanta. ] Two of the Siddhantas in Varahamihira' s work bear names of

alien vintage. Romaka (of Rome) Siddhanta is Alexandrine astronomy, based on

the work of Ptolemy, with cycles, epicycles, and all. It presents the

Hipparchus model of the tropical year. Paulisha Siddhanta, with tables of

sines, is based on the system of Paulus, another astronomer in Alexandria.

Vasishtha Siddhanta traces its origins to Sage Vasishtha, while Surya

Siddhanta is dedicated to the Sun God. Paitamaha (grandfather' s) Siddhanta

is said to be the oldest, and it contains the astrological lore of the time.

In sum, Pa?iddhantika is a compendium on astronomy. It expounds how

various astronomical systems presented the motions of the sun, the moon, and

the planets, time-reckoning, and related mathematics. It also talks about

astronomical instruments and cosmology. An English version with commentaries

was published by Otto Neugebauer and David Pingree in the 1970s: another

instance of Western scholarship universalizing ancient and little known

systems.

Up until the 17th century every astronomer, whether in Greece, Europe, or

India, was also an astrologer. Ptolemy's Almagest contains astrology and

astronomy. Copernicus and Kepler were astronomers and astrologers also. So

was Varahamihira. Recall that in the Indian tradition there are six

principal sections of astrology: Gola or positional astronomy, Ganita or the

associated mathematics, Jataka or natal astrology, Prasna or questions

relating to time, Muhurta or auspicious time intervals, and Nimitta or

omens. Varahamihira wrote on all these. Some of the ideas in Varahamira's

Brihajj?ka and Viv?patala continue to exerts great influence in the

Hindu world to this day. Much of the credit for the popularity of astrology

in India goes to Varahamihira and his disciples.

Another systematized branch of ancient inquiries was divination, in which

one would predict the course of events by appropriately interpreting omens.

This was common practice in ancient Babylonia, India, Greece, and Rome, for

example. Varahamihira also wrote on a book on this subject. His

Brihatsamhita deals with omens, but it also has information on the geography

of India of those times.

But there is also some mathematics in his works. Recall the basic formula

connecting sines and cosines: the sum of their squares equals one. Or again,

the formulas for the sine and cosine of double angles (like, cos 2x = 1 -

2sine-squared- x). We find these formulas enunciated for the first time in

Varahamira's works. It is not clear how much of this is original work. Yet,

since this is among the most ancient texts in India where these appear,

trigonometric texts in India could refer to these as Varahamihira' s

formulas. This would be a legitimate way of reminding the young of the

scientific legacy of our ancestors.

Varahamihira tackled problems in combinatorial arithmetic. A simple problem

would be as follows. Suppose we have six students in a group, and we have to

choose any four from among them for a game. In how many different ways can

this be done? The answer is 15, but it will take some mathematics to figure

this out. Varahamihira devised a scheme by which this can be done for the

general case in which one combines r different objects from a set of n

different ones (nCr, as one would say today). This scheme was re-discovered

a thousand years later by Blaise Pascal, and is now generally known in

mathematics books as Pascal's triangle. The reason for this has nothing to

do with Eurocentrism. In Pascal's time, scientific results were widely

published; in Varahamira's time, they were not.

The idea of accepting ideas from aliens is always a touchy one. In this

context, Varahamihira was an enlightened Hindu who did not shy away from

recognizing merit wherever he found it. He told his countrymen:

" The Greeks,

though impure (mlecchas), must be honored, because they were trained in the

sciences and therein excelled others. What then are we to say of a Brahmin

if he combines with his purity the height of science? "

Thus did he urge the

learned men of his time to pursue the positive sciences.

V. V. Raman

October 26, 2005

/

I disagree with Mr. Raman's translation of Varahamihira' s Sanskrit verse which

is -

mlecchaa hi yavanaasteshu samyagsaastramidam sthitham /

rishivat tepi poojyante kim punardaivavid dvijah //

Here idam saastram does not refer to all sciences. Its meaning is to be related

to daivavid which means a person knowing fortune telling or astrology. There

are two scinces relating to planetary movements - one is astronomy or jyotisham

and the other is astrology or daivam (fortune). In Varahamihira' s time the Arya

Brahmins were knowing and practicing only astoronomy but not astology. The

astrology part came from the Greeks or yavanas. Becasue of the knowledge of

astrology yavanas were respected as Rishis. Therefore Varahamihira was

persuading the Arya Brahmins to study astrology. Varahamihira was a maga

Brahmin.

Varahamihira' s Brihajjatakam is mainly based on Greek Astrology.

I shall give a few examples -

The names of the 12 solar signs of the zodiac are greek but used in by the

Hindus using the Sanskrit equivalents.

I quote from Varahamihira Brihajjataka -

kriya taavuru jithuma kuliira

leya paarthona juuka korpiaakhyaah/

taukshika aakokero

hridrogaschethasisc haanthyam //

The equivalent Sanskrit names being - Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna, Karkitaka,

Simha, Kanya, Thula, Vrischika, Dhanus, Makara, Kumbha and Meena.

There are another 33 greek words in Brihajjataka for which there are no sanskrit

equivalents.

P.K. Ramakrishnan

27th Oct. 2005

============ ========= ========= ========

August 10, 2008

Dear Kursija ji, ==>> I am surprised to know that astrology came from Greek or yavana.<== I am NOT of that opinion. The article posted was of VV Raman and NOT mine. What is present in it is of HIS opinion and NOT mine. To know about my opinion please refer to my articles; to know about the individual opinion of group members refer to their posts present in achieves section. This subject is discussed numerous times in this group and instead of starting a discussion on the same to know the various opinians you can refer to the achieves and files section. Love and regards,Sreeandh , "S.C. Kursija" <sckursija wrote:>> Sh.Sreenath,> I thank you for the nice information on Varahmihira. I am surprised to know that astrology came from Greek or yavana.> Thanks once again.> > --- On Sat, 8/9/08, Sreenadh sreesog wrote:> > Sreenadh sreesog Varahamihira (505 - 587 C.E.; The astro sage of Ancient Ujjain)> > Saturday, August 9, 2008, 3:00 PM> > > Dear All,> Again by VV Raman at: http://www.siddha. com.my/ubb/ Forum3/HTML/ 000053-7. html> My two centns - The "Kriya Tavuru..." argument presented at the end of this article is totally worng. For clarification refer to: http://groups. / group/ancient_ indian_astrology Sreenadh/ Kriya-Tavuru. pdf > Love and regards,> Sreenadh> ============ ========= ========= ========> Varahamihira (505 - 587 C.E.)> > The city of Ujjain has seen many victories and defeats. It had its glory> days during the reign of the great Vikramaditya whose court glittered with> several gems of whom, it is said, the immortal Kalidasa was one. Ujjain was> also once a center for mathematical and astronomical studies in India, with> its own observatory. Scholars used to work there in the context of the> science of that age as others do in our own times in various research> centers in India. Varahamihira was among those who lent scientific luster to> Ujjain.> As with philosophical darshanas and religious sects, in astronomy too there> used to be at one time different approaches. These were called siddhantas -> the same term is used for philosophical and theological schools of thought.> Varahamihira is remembered especially because he has left behind a valuable> work, called Pa?iddhantika which discusses five of these classical> siddhantas, known with the epithets Surya, Romaka, Paulisha, Vasishtha, and> Paitamaha. [in the Vaishnava tradition the five scriptural sources Veda,> Smriti, Itihasa-Puranas, Pancaratra and Divya Prabandham are referred to as> Pa?iddhanta. ] Two of the Siddhantas in Varahamihira' s work bear names of> alien vintage. Romaka (of Rome) Siddhanta is Alexandrine astronomy, based on> the work of Ptolemy, with cycles, epicycles, and all. It presents the> Hipparchus model of the tropical year. Paulisha Siddhanta, with tables of> sines, is based on the system of Paulus, another astronomer in Alexandria.> Vasishtha Siddhanta traces its origins to Sage Vasishtha, while Surya> Siddhanta is dedicated to the Sun God. Paitamaha (grandfather' s) Siddhanta> is said to be the oldest, and it contains the astrological lore of the time.> In sum, Pa?iddhantika is a compendium on astronomy. It expounds how> various astronomical systems presented the motions of the sun, the moon, and> the planets, time-reckoning, and related mathematics. It also talks about> astronomical instruments and cosmology. An English version with commentaries> was published by Otto Neugebauer and David Pingree in the 1970s: another> instance of Western scholarship universalizing ancient and little known> systems.> Up until the 17th century every astronomer, whether in Greece, Europe, or> India, was also an astrologer. Ptolemy's Almagest contains astrology and> astronomy. Copernicus and Kepler were astronomers and astrologers also. So> was Varahamihira. Recall that in the Indian tradition there are six> principal sections of astrology: Gola or positional astronomy, Ganita or the> associated mathematics, Jataka or natal astrology, Prasna or questions> relating to time, Muhurta or auspicious time intervals, and Nimitta or> omens. Varahamihira wrote on all these. Some of the ideas in Varahamira's> Brihajj?ka and Viv?patala continue to exerts great influence in the> Hindu world to this day. Much of the credit for the popularity of astrology> in India goes to Varahamihira and his disciples.> Another systematized branch of ancient inquiries was divination, in which> one would predict the course of events by appropriately interpreting omens.> This was common practice in ancient Babylonia, India, Greece, and Rome, for> example. Varahamihira also wrote on a book on this subject. His> Brihatsamhita deals with omens, but it also has information on the geography> of India of those times.> But there is also some mathematics in his works. Recall the basic formula> connecting sines and cosines: the sum of their squares equals one. Or again,> the formulas for the sine and cosine of double angles (like, cos 2x = 1 -> 2sine-squared- x). We find these formulas enunciated for the first time in> Varahamira's works. It is not clear how much of this is original work. Yet,> since this is among the most ancient texts in India where these appear,> trigonometric texts in India could refer to these as Varahamihira' s> formulas. This would be a legitimate way of reminding the young of the> scientific legacy of our ancestors.> Varahamihira tackled problems in combinatorial arithmetic. A simple problem> would be as follows. Suppose we have six students in a group, and we have to> choose any four from among them for a game. In how many different ways can> this be done? The answer is 15, but it will take some mathematics to figure> this out. Varahamihira devised a scheme by which this can be done for the> general case in which one combines r different objects from a set of n> different ones (nCr, as one would say today). This scheme was re-discovered> a thousand years later by Blaise Pascal, and is now generally known in> mathematics books as Pascal's triangle. The reason for this has nothing to> do with Eurocentrism. In Pascal's time, scientific results were widely> published; in Varahamira's time, they were not.> The idea of accepting ideas from aliens is always a touchy one. In this> context, Varahamihira was an enlightened Hindu who did not shy away from> recognizing merit wherever he found it. He told his countrymen:> "The Greeks,> though impure (mlecchas), must be honored, because they were trained in the> sciences and therein excelled others. What then are we to say of a Brahmin> if he combines with his purity the height of science?"> Thus did he urge the> learned men of his time to pursue the positive sciences.> V. V. Raman> October 26, 2005> /> /> /> > I disagree with Mr. Raman's translation of Varahamihira' s Sanskrit verse which is -> mlecchaa hi yavanaasteshu samyagsaastramidam sthitham /> rishivat tepi poojyante kim punardaivavid dvijah //> > Here idam saastram does not refer to all sciences. Its meaning is to be related to daivavid which means a person knowing fortune telling or astrology. There> are two scinces relating to planetary movements - one is astronomy or jyotisham and the other is astrology or daivam (fortune). In Varahamihira' s time the Arya Brahmins were knowing and practicing only astoronomy but not astology. The astrology part came from the Greeks or yavanas. Becasue of the knowledge of astrology yavanas were respected as Rishis. Therefore Varahamihira was persuading the Arya Brahmins to study astrology. Varahamihira was a maga Brahmin.> Varahamihira' s Brihajjatakam is mainly based on Greek Astrology.> I shall give a few examples -> The names of the 12 solar signs of the zodiac are greek but used in by the Hindus using the Sanskrit equivalents.> I quote from Varahamihira Brihajjataka -> kriya taavuru jithuma kuliira> leya paarthona juuka korpiaakhyaah/> taukshika aakokero> hridrogaschethasisc haanthyam //> The equivalent Sanskrit names being - Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithuna, Karkitaka, Simha, Kanya, Thula, Vrischika, Dhanus, Makara, Kumbha and Meena.> There are another 33 greek words in Brihajjataka for which there are no sanskrit equivalents.> P.K. Ramakrishnan> 27th Oct. 2005> ============ ========= ========= ========>