yavanajataka

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Yavanajataka

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The

Yavanajataka (Sanskrit for

" Saying (Jataka)

of the Greeks (Yavanas) " )

is the earliest writing of Indian

astrology. It is a translation from Greek to Sanskrit made by " Yavanesvara "

( " Lord of the Greeks " ) in 149–150 CE, under the rule of the Western

Kshatrapa king Rudrakarman I, and then versified 120 years later by

Sphujidhwaja.

The

original Greek text is though to have been written around 120 BCE in Alexandria.[1] It is India's

earliest Sanskrit work in horoscopy.[2] It was followed by other works of Western origin which

greatly influenced Indian astrology: the Paulisa

Siddhanta ( " Doctrine of Paul " ), and the Romaka

Siddhanta ( " Doctrine of the Romans " ).

Contents

[hide]

1 Genesis

2 References to Greek

astrology

3 Notes

4 References

5 See also

6 External links

[edit] Genesis

The

last verses of the text describe the role of Yavanasvera in the creation of the

text, and the role of Sphujidhwaja in its subsequent versification:

·

" Previously

Yavanesvara (the lord of the Greeks), whose vision of the truth came by favor

of the Sun and whose language is flawless, translated this ocean of words, this

jewel-mine of horoscopy, which was guarded by its being written in his tongue

(i.e., Greek), but the truth of which was seen by the foremost of kings (in the

year) 71; (he translated) this science of genethlialogy for the instruction of

the world by means of excellent words. " (Chapter 79/60-61 The Yavanajataka

of Sphujidhvaja)

·

" There was a

wise king named Sphujidhvaja who versified this entire (text), which was seen

by him in the year 191, in 4,000 indravajra verses. " (Chapter 79/62 The

Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja)

The

dates employed in the Yavanajataka are based on the Saka era (see

Chapter 79/14 " When 66 years of the Sakas have elapsed... " ), meaning

that the translation of the text into Sanskrit was made by Yavanasvera in 149 CE (year 71 of the

Saka era, which starts in 78 CE). Accordingly, the versification by

Sphujidhvaja was made in 269

CE.

The

Yavanajataka contains instructions on calculating astrological charts (horoscopes)

from the time and place of one's birth. Astrology flourished in the Hellenistic

world (particularly Alexandria)

and the Yavanajataka reflects astrological techniques developed in the

Greek-speaking world. Astronomical mathematical methods, such as the calculate

of the 'horoskopos' (zodiac sign on the eastern horizon) was used in the

service of astrology.

[edit] References to Greek astrology

There

are various direct references to Greek astrological knowledge in the text, and

the nomenclature is clearly taken from the Greek language:

·

" The seventh

place from the ascendent, the descendent, is called jamitra (diametros) in the language

of the Greeks; the tenth from the ascendent, the mid-heaven, they say, is the

mesurana (mesouranma). " (Chapter 1/49 The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja)

·

" This is said

to be the method of determining the strength or weakness of the signs and

planets according to the teaching of the Greeks; they say that, of the complete

set of influences in horoscopy, there is an enormous number... " (Chapter

1/92 The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja)

·

" Thirty-six are

the thirds of the zodiacal signs which are called Drekanas (dekanos) by the

Greeks. They have various clothes, forms, and colors; I will describe them with

all their qualities beginning with their characteristic signs. " (Chapter

3/1 The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja)

·

" The rule

concerning the actions of people which was described by the foremost

(astrologers) of the Greeks with respect to the planetary week-days is to be

established in a similar rule with respect to the hours (hora) which pass

through the days " (Chapter 77/9 The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja)

·

" If the

ascendant is an upacaya of his birth-ascendant and is occupied by a benefit

planet, but not conjoined with a malefic, and if the Moon is in a good and

favourable sign, the Greeks say that he always succeeds in his

undertakings. " (Chapter 78/3 The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja)

·

" The wise say

that the observed course of the planets is the supreme eye of the entire body

of the rules of horoscopy. I shall explain it concisely according to the

instruction of the Greeks. " (Chapter 79/1 The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja)

·

" Some who are

students of the laws (of astronomy) find that it is good to follow the opinion

of the sage Vasistha; (but according to) the best of the Greeks (the yuga)

should consist of 165 years. " (Chapter 79/3 The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja)

Indian

astronomy is widely acknowledged to be derived from the Alexandrian school, and

its technical nomenclature is essentially Greek: " The Yavanas are

barbarians, yet the science of astronomy originated with them and for this they

must be reverenced like gods " (The Gargi-Samhita). Several other Indian

texts show appreciation for the scientific knowledge of the " Yavana "

Greeks [3].

[edit] Notes

^ Source

^ Mc Evilley " The shape

of ancient thought " , p385 ( " The Yavanajataka is the earliest

surviving Sanskrit text in horoscopy, and constitute the basis of all

later Indian developments in horoscopy " , himself quoting David

Pingree " The Yavanajataka of Sphujidhvaja " p5)

^

A comment in " Brihat-Samhita "

by the mathematician Varahamihira says: " The Greeks, though

impure, must be honored since they were trained in sciences and therein,

excelled others..... " ( " mleccha hi yavanah tesu samyak shastram

kdamsthitam/ rsivat te 'p i pujyante kim punar daivavid dvijah "

(Brihat-Samhita 2.15)).

Also the Mahabharata

compliments the Greeks as " the all-knowing Yavanas " (sarvajnaa

yavanaa): " The Yavanas, O king, are all-knowing; the Suras are

particularly so. The mlecchas are wedded to the creations of their own

fancy. " ( " sarvajnaa yavanaa rajan shuraaz caiva vishesatah/

mlecchah svasamjnaa niyataanaanukta itaro janah (Mahabharata VIII.31.80))

[edit] References

" The Yavanajataka of

Sphujidhvaja " , Harvard Oriental Series, David Pingree, 1978, ISBN

0-674-96373-3

" The shape of ancient thought " ,

Thomas McEvilley, ISBN

1-58115-203-5

[edit]

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