Page:Sewell Dikshit The Indian Calendar (1896) proc.djvu/32

The above extract is for the amânta month Bhâdrapada or August 31st to September 29th, 1894. The month is divided into its two fortnights. The uppermost horizontal column shews that the first tithi, "pratipadâ", was current at sunrise on Friday, and that it ended at 43 gh. 59 p. after sunrise. The moon was 12 degrees to the east of the sun at that moment, and after that the second tithi, "dvitîyâ", commenced. The nakshatra Pûrva-Phalgunî ended and Uttara-Phalgunî commenced at 40 gh. 16 p. after sunrise. The yoga Siddha ended, and Sâdhya began, at 31 gh. 22 p. after sunrise; and the karaṇa Kiṁstughna ended, and Bava began, at 16 gh. 30 p. after sunrise. The moon was in the sign Siṁha up to 15 gh. after sunrise and then entered the sign Kanyâ. The length of the day was 30 gh. 59 pa. (and consequently the length of the night was 29 gh. 1 pa.). The solar day was the 16th of Siṁha.^[1] The Muhammadan day was the 29th of Śafar, and the European day was the 31st of August. This will explain the bulk of the table and the manner of using it.

Under the heading "other particulars" certain festival days, and some other information useful for religious and other purposes, are given. To the right, read vertically, are given the places of the sun and the principal planets at sunrise of the last day of each fortnight in signs degrees, minutes, and seconds, with their daily motions in minutes and seconds. Thus the figures under "sun" shew that the sun had, up to the moment in question, travelled through 4 signs, 29 degrees, 27 minutes, and 9 seconds; i.e., had completed 4 signs and stood in the 5th, Siṁha,—had completed 29 degrees and stood in the 30th, and so on; and that the rate of his daily motion for that moment was 58 minutes and 30 seconds. Below are shown the same in signs in the horoscope. The ahargaṇa, here 34—227, means that since the epoch of the Grahalâghava,^[2] i.e., sunrise on amânta Phâlguna kṛishṇa 30th of Śaka 1441 expired, or Monday 19th March, A.D. 1520, 34 cycles of 4016 days each, and 227 days, had elapsed at sunrise on Saturday the 15th of the bright half of Bhâdrapada. The horoscope entries are almost always given in pañchâṅgs as they are considered excessively important by the Hindus.

31. Tithis and solar days. Solar or civil days are always named after the week-days, and where solar reckoning is in use are also counted by numbers, e.g., the 1st, 2nd, etc., of a named solar month. But where solar reckoning does not prevail they bear the names and numerals of the corresponding tithis. The tithis, however, beginning as they do at any hour of the day, do not exactly coincide with solar days, and this gives rise to some little difficulty. The general rule for civil purposes, as well as for some ordinary religious purposes for which no particular time of day happens to be prescribed, is that the tithi current at sunrise of the solar day gives its name and numeral to that day, and is coupled with its week-day. Thus Bhâdrapada śukla chaturdaśî Śukravâra (Friday the 14th of the first or bright fortnight of Bhâdrapada) is that civil day at whose sunrise the tithi called the 14th śukla is current, and its week-day is Friday. Suppose a written agreement to have been executed between two parties, or an ordinary religious act to have been performed, at noon on that Friday at whose sunrise Bhâdrapada śukla chaturdaśî of Śaka 1816 expired was current, and which ended (see the table) 5 gh. 18 p., (about 2 h. 7 m.) after sunrise, or at about 8.7 a.m. Then these two acts were actually done after the chaturdaśî had ended and the pûrṇimâ was current, but they would be generally noted as having been done on Friday śukla chaturdaśî. It is, however, permissible, though such instances would be