Page:Sewell Dikshit The Indian Calendar (1896) proc.djvu/43

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THE HINDU CALENDAR.
27

"The twelve lunar months, at whose first moment the sun stands in Mîna and the following [signs], are called Chaitra, and the others [in succession]."

According to this rule the added month in the above example (Art. 45) will be named Vaiśâkha, since the sun was in Mesha when it began; and in the example of the expunged month the month between the natural Kârttika and the natural Mâgha will be named Mârgaśirsha, because the sun was in Vṛiśchika when it commenced, and Pausha will be considered as expunged.

This rule is given in a work named Kâlatatva-vivechana, and is attributed to the sage Vyâsa. The celebrated astronomer Bhâskarâchârya (A. D. 1150) seems to have followed the same rule,[1] and it must therefore have been in use at least as early as the 12th century A. D. As it is the general rule obtaining through most part of India in the present day we have followed it in this work.

There is another rule which is referred to in some astronomical and other works, and is attributed to the Brâhma-Siddhânta.[2] It is as follows:

"Meshâdisthe Savitari yo yo mâsaḥ prapûryate chândraḥ | Chaitrâdyaḥ sa jñeyaḥ pûrtidvitve 'dhimâso 'ntyaḥ." ‖

"That lunar month which is completed when the sun is in [the sign] Mesha etc., is to be known as Chaitra, etc. [respectively]; when there are two completions, the latter (of them] is an added month."

It will be seen from the Table given above (p. 26) that for the names of ordinary months both rules are the same, but that they differ in the case of added and suppressed months. The added month between natural Chaitra and natural Vaiśâkha, in the example in Art. 45, having ended when the sun was in Mesha, would be named "Chaitra" by this second rule, but "Vaiśâkha" by the first rule, because it commenced when the sun was in Mesha. Again, the month between natural Kârttika and natural Mâgha, in the example of an expunged month, having ended when the sun was in Makara, would be named "Pausha" by this second rule, and consequently Mârgaśirsha would be expunged; while by the first rule it would be named "Mârgaśirsha" since it commenced when the sun was in Vṛiśchika, and Pausha would be the expunged month. It will be noticed, of course, that the difference is only in name and not in the period added or suppressed.[3] Both these rules should be carefully borne in mind when studying inscriptions or records earlier than 1100 A. D.

47. Their determination according to true and mean systems. It must be noted with regard to the intercalation and suppression of months, that whereas at present these are regulated by the sun's and moon's apparent motion,—in other words, by the apparent length of the solar and lunar months—and though this practice has been in use at least from A. D. 1100 and was followed by Bhâskarâchârya, there is evidence to show that in earlier times they were regulated by the mean length of months. It was at the epoch of the celebrated astronomer Śrîpati,[4] or about A. D. 1040, that the change of practice took place, as evidenced by the following passage in his Siddhânta Śekhara, (quoted in the Jyotisha-darpaṇa, in A. D. 1557.)

  1. ↑ See his Siddhânta-Siromaṇi, madhyamâdhikâra, adhimâsanirṇaya, verse 6, and his own commentary on it. [S. B. D.]
  2. ↑ It is not to be found in either of the Brâhma-Siddhântas referred to above, but there is a third Brâhma-Siddhânta which I have not seen as yet. [S. B. D.]
  3. ↑ In Prof. Chattre's list of added and suppressed mouths, in those published in Mr. Cowasjee Patells' Chronology, and in General Sir A. Cunningham's Indian Eras it is often noted that the same mouth is both added and suppressed. But it is clear from the above rules and definitions that this is impossible. A month cannot be both added and suppressed at the same time. The mistake arose probably from resort being made to the first rule for naming adhika months, and to the second for the suppressed months.
  4. ↑ Thanks are due to Mr. Mahadeo Chiṁṇâjî Apte. B.A., L.L.B., very recently deceased, the founder of the Anandâśrama at Poona, for his discovery of a part of Śrîpati's Karaṇa named the Dhîkoṭida, from which I got Śrîpati's date. I find that it was written in Śaka 961 expired (A.D. 1039–40). [S. B. D.]
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