Solar months vis-a-vis lunar months of the Vedic calendar.

[Guest guest]

Respected Sammod

Acharyaji,

Jai Shri Ram!

This is in

continuation of my earlier post emphasizing that it is impossible that the

Vedic seers would have used synodic lunar months to the exclusion of solar

months for their calendars.

While going through

the Rig-Veda a few days back, I came across the following mantra (3/8/8)

Aaditya rudra

vasavah suneetha dyava-kshyama prithivee antarikshyam

Sajoshaso yajnyam

avantu deva oordvam krinvantu advarasya ketum

 

Acharya Sayana,

while commenting on this mantra has referred to aditya as “dwadasha adityahâ€

i.e. twelve suns.

Then in mantra

3//9/9, we find

treeni shata tree

sahasrani-agnim trimshachcha deva nav chaasaparyan

aukshyan-gritarastrina

barhirasma aadidhotaram nyasdayanta

Commentigt on this

mantra, Acharya Sayana has said, “…..devasankhya cha brihadarnyeke abhihita,

‘mahimana evaitesham ete tryastrimshat-tvena deva iti. Katme

tetraystrimshad ashtav vasava ekadasha rudra dwadasha aadityas ta ekatrimshad

indraschaiva prajapatishchai trayastrimsshavâ€. Thus the Acharya has

talked of the fifth mantra of ninth adyaya of third Brahmana of Brihad

Arnyaka-upanishada, that refers to thirty-three devas, which include

eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas (making the devas thirty-one) and by

including Indra and Prajapati the number of Devas becomes thirty-threeâ€.

Reading these

comments of Acharya Sayana, I recalled that I had discussed this mantra of the

Brihadarnyaka Upanishada in my “Shri Krishna Universal Ephemeris &

Panchang†for 1999 AD, And here is what I had written on page 86 in that

ephemeris, “Brhad Arnyaka Upanishad 3/9/5 runs thus, ‘katama aditya iti

dwadasha vai masah samvatsarashchaita aadtiya ete heedam sarvam aadadaana yanti

te yad idam sarvam aadadaana yanti tasmad aditya iti’ (meaning) ‘Vidagda

Shakalya asks---‘Who are the Adityas’? (Yajnyavalkya replies) ‘Twelve months

themselves which are the limbs of a Samvatsara, a year, are Adtiyas.

(How?) Because these (very) months through their constant

cycles---movements---go on accepting the deeds of all the human beings as well

as dispensing their results by way of their life span etc. and as they (these

twelve months) ‘accept while moving’ that is why they are known as Adityasâ€

On the same page of

that very ephemeris I had said further, “(As per 3/6/9 of the Brihad Arnyaka

Upanishada) it has been said, ‘O Gargi, under the command of this very

indestructible Brahman, days, fortnights, months, Ritus and Samvatsaras remain

what they areâ€.

Thus this

Upanishada also has clubbed the solar months with seasons and then with the

year.

Similarly, Acharya

Shankara has said in his commentary on 4/15/4 of Chhandogya Upaishada “yan shad

udanneti masan†, “The departed soul goes to the deity presiding over the six

months when the sun goes Uttara†which should mean when the sun has northern

declination---Uttarayana.

Brihad Arnyaka

Upanishada is a part of Vajasneya Brahmana of Kanva Shakha of the

Yajurveda, and must, as such, predate the Vedaqnga Jyotisha of Acharya

Lagadha. Chhandogya Upanishad is a part of Talavakar Samaveda.

Since the Rig-Veda

talks of adityas in plural, it means that the Rig-Veda is also referring to

solar months, and that is why Acharya Sayana has interpreted those (twelve)

adityas as twelve months.

There cannot

therefore be any doubt that the Vedas do talk of solar months and ayanas

definitely and it was only to those very seasonal solar months that the

lunar (synodic) months like Magha, Phalguna etc. were aligned/pegged.

Regarding your

statement that nobody in Kathmandu celebrates any Samkranti, that only goes to

prove that even Nepal, the “only Hindu kingdom†of yesteryears, had no faith in

Mesha, Vrisha etc. Rashis.  I will, however, write about that  in a separate

post.

Jai Shri Ram

A K Kaul

 

 

--- In

HinduCalendar , " jyotirved " <jyotirved

wrote:

 

 

Respected Sammod

Acharya,

Jai

Shri Ram and welcome to HinduCalendar forum.

In

fact, Hindus need scholars like you for clear cut guidelines about streamlining

the Hindu Calendar.

<

Solar year of VJ starts from the starting point of the solar udagayana that is

the winter solstice. It is known from the sixth sloka svarakramete etc it is

supported by the slokas prapadyete etc, gharmavriddhi etc and yaduttarasya etc.

VJ is for yajna yajnakalarthasiddhaye there is no direct use of solar year,

ayana, ritu and month in yjna. We need the solar ayana mainly for determining

the Vedic intercalary month>

You

are absolutely right that in the Vedanga Jyotisha and later Paitamaha and Vasishtha

Sidhanta etc., we do not have any clear indication about the methodology of

finding the starting dates of solar months. That is also clear from

Mesha, Vrisha etc. rashis being conspicuous by their absence from all these

astronomical works.

But

the four cardinal points have been given due importance in the Vedas and the

VJ directly or indirectly. One of the main handicaps that the

Indian astronomers were facing as early as 1400 BCE or even in early centuries

of Common Era, was the mathematical computation for calculating exact solar

ingresses from Tapas to Tapasya and so on. Gnomon was the main

instrument used for such purposes, but it is next to impossible to calculate

the exact timings of even Uttarayana or Dakshinayana etc. phenomena leave

alone the other months like Tapasya and Madhu etc., without taking recourse to

observations over several centuries. Modern astronomy is also undergoing

changes by the day even if it is by milliseconds in computing the exact timings

of Winter Solstice etc.

A

fundamental question that arises otherwise is that if the four cardinal points

were not of any importance in the Vedic period, why and how did they get all

the attention in the Puranas and Tantra Shashtra etc.? This will be

evident from BVB6, 1999b and rashi5 and npj1 etc. documents in the files

section.

These

four cardinal points do not have much of a religious significance in other

religions. Thus though Mesha, Vrisha etc. rashis were imported into India

from other countries, and they were clubbed with Vernal and Autumnal Equinox

etc., but the solar ingress into (so called Sayana rashis) of Mesha, Karkata,

Tula and Makara etc. rashis gained prominence and importance only because of

their association with the four cardinal points. If Makar Sankranti was

being celebrated with fervour over the last several centuries I India, it is

not because that Sankranti has any intrinsic value but it is only because of

its association with Udagayana, the Winter Solstice, as it was the start of the

new solar year as per the Vedanga Jyotisha.

We

also find that several commentators of the Vedanga Jyotisha have linked Tapas

and Tapasya etc. months to seasonal solar months and Magha, Phalgua etc. to

lunar months.

Similarly,

regarding the thirteen lunar months, an adhika and kshyya masa can take place

only if it is compared to some standard year that has only twelve

months. To take the duration of the solar year as 366 days and then

calculate adhika or kshyaya lunar masa just on the basis of that very duration

is a far fetched point.Â

We

find the mention of thirteenth month in the Rig Veda itself, and unless and

until there had been a concept of twelve solar months, it is impossible to

presume that the thirteenth month would have been an adhika masa!

<when one solo lunar year is determined

following solo lunar years are easily determined when the past

uninterrupted series of solo lunar years is unbroken the following solo lunar

years are easily determined.>

It was not an easy job to determine even a solar year in 1400 BCE!Â

Regarding a lunar year, it is a misnomer! A solar year means the

revolution of the earth from one Solstice to another as during the time of the

VJ or from one Equinox to another, as at present. On the other hand,

lunar revolution from one VE to another is known as a Tropical month and from one

“Fixed Star†to another is known as a sidereal month, whereas the period

between one New Moon and another is known as a Synodic month! There is

never a lunar year, as such! Besides, we have to bear in mind that it is

a “masa†(month) that is adhika or kshyaya, and it can be so only against

some other standard month and not some standard year!

As such, we have to go by the spirit (and not just the

 letter) of the Vedas and the Veadanga Jyotisha as far as calculation of

adhika or kshyaya masa etc. is concerned. And this can be done only by

treating Tapas, Tapasya etc. months as solar and Magha, Phalgua etc. months as

lunar.

With regards,

A K Kaul

--- In

HinduCalendar , sammod acharya <samodacharya wrote:

 

Re: [HinduCalendar] Best wishes for Uttarayana of 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Kaullji

 

 

Thanks a lot for

remembering.Best wishes of vatrsararambha to you and all.

Solar year of VJ starts from

the starting point of the solar udagayana that is the winter solstice. It is

known from the sixth sloka svarakramete

etc it is supported by the slokas prapadyete

etc, gharmavriddhi etc and yaduttarasya etc. VJ is for yajna yajnakalarthasiddhaye there is no direct

use of solar year, ayana, ritu and month in yjna. We need the solar ayana

mainly for determining the Vedic intercalary month

when one solo lunar year

is determined following solo lunar years are easily determined when the

past uninterrupted series of solo lunar years is unbroken the following solo

lunar years are easily determined. All these things are explained in the kaundinnyayana vyakhyana of VJ published

by Chaukhamba Vidya Bhavana of Varanasi (2005); the book is available in

Delhi at Chaukhmba Sanskrit Pratisthana, 38 U A Bangalo road, Jabahara Nagara

also. All things are explained in Hindi also in this book. Please read the

book thoroughly every thing will be clear.Our new hindi book on vedanga

jyotish Bharatavarsheeya jyotishke jwalant

prashna aur Vedanga Jyotish (2008) published by same

publisher deals in detail with all these issues.

 

 

regards ,

 

 

sammod

 

 

 

 

--- On Sun, 12/20/09, jyotirved

<jyotirved

wrote:

 

jyotirved

<jyotirved

[HinduCalendar] Best wishes for Uttarayana of 2009

hinducalendar , ,

usbrahmins , vedic_research_institute ,

akandabaratam , asthikasamaj , mukti_marg ,

indiaarchaeology

Sunday, December 20, 2009, 11:11 AM

Dear friends,

Best wishes for Uttarayana of

2009!

Uttarayana Day, known as Winter

Solstice in English language, is a unique Hindu festival --- like the Summer

Solstice (Dakshinayana) and the two Ayanaas i.e. Vernal and autumnal

Equinox, known as Vasanta Sampat and Hemanta Sampat respectively.

All these festivals, as per the

Puranas. are said to yield thousand-fold results if charities are

bestowed during their punya-kala or other puja/japa/archana is

conducted/performed during that period.

 

Unfortunately, because of our

fatal infatuation with predictive gimmicks, which some people call “Vedic

astrologyâ€ÂÂ, we

have gone completely out of touch with these universal geographic and religious

phenomena.

Uttarayana Day is also known as

Makar Sankranti as per all the siddhantas, including the Surya Siddhanta, and

all the Puranas, including the Bhagavata, Vishnu and Vishnu-dharmotarapu rana

etc.

The exact timing of Uttaryana

for 2009 is 17 hrs. 47 mts UT/GMT which corresponds to 23 hrs. 17 mts. IST of

December 21, 2009. Those desirous of doing Tantrika kriyas at the exact

moment can start doing so around 23 hrs. IST and continue for about an hour,

though the snana-dhyana etc. of Uttarayana will be on December 22 right from

the dawn.

It is the same Uttarayana that

was and must be known as Makaradi-snana in UP and Bihar etc.; Shishira

Sankranti in Kashmir and Makar Sankranti for the whole of India. It is

also the start of the Vedic month Tapah and solar Magha apart from Shishira

Ritu.

There is no other Makar

Sankranti either as per the Siddhantas or Puranas, not to speak of the Vedas

or the Vedanga Jyotisha since Makar etc. rashis, being imaginary divisions,

are conspicuous by their absence from those works.

Anybody, however, can celebrate

any Sankranti on any day, since India is the largest democracy in the world and

every body has his/her “religious freedom†even to celebrate any imaginary sankranti!

The so called Dhanurmasa, which

is an anathema for marriages etc. as per muhurta shastras, also ends

actually on December 21 itself, instead of January 15, when “almighty†Lahiri Dharniumasa will end!

With regards,

A K Kaul