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list printed in the Table on p. 36 of the Indian Calendar, it is sufficient to call attention to Mr. Sh. B. Dikshit's footnote, and to the fact that his calculations refer to mean, not to true, Mēsha saṁkrānti. I have fully explained my system.]
159. This work was a standard authority in early days, but all that we know of its date is that it was known to Varāhamira who died in A.D. 587. Dr. Fleet tells me that he knows of no evidence to prove its existence earlier than the time of the First Ārya Siddhānta (about A.D. 500). It is not as yet known to how late a date, or in what tracts, it continued to be employed for the preparation of Pañchāṅgs (almanacs) and for astrological purposes; but since it is almost certain that during the whole time of its use calculation was carried on by the mean system—mean saṁkrāntis and solar months, mean lunar reckoning in months and their tithis—the Tables in this work for this authority are (differing from the rest whose use extended to, or began in, the period when "true" reckoning was adopted) framed with the mean Mēsha saṁkrānti of the year as basis. The śōdhya by the Original Sūrya Siddhānta being, as declared by Mr. Sh. B. Dikshit,[1] 2.23972̇ d., or 2 d. 5 h. 45 m. 12 s., a result obtained from the Tables showing by how many days a Jovian saṁvatsara began after mean Mēsha saṁkrānti, if decreased by this interval of time, will show by how many days it began after apparent Mēsha saṁkrānti; and will show whether, if apparent Mēsha saṁkrānti had by chance been used, the saṁvatsara was or was not expunged. But in either case the time of beginning and ending of the saṁvatsara will be unaltered.
The elements of the Original Sūrya Siddhānta are the following:—
| A. Civil days in Mahāyuga | 1,577,917,800 days. |
| B. Revolutions of Jupiter in Mahāyuga | 364,220 |
| C. One revolution, A ÷ B | 4332.320575476 days. |
| D. One saṁvatsara, C ÷ 12 | 361.026714623 days. |
| (361 d. 0 h. 38 m. 28 s.) | |
| E. Length of solar year | 365.258750 days. |
| (365 d. 6 h. 12 m. 36 s.) | |
| F. Difference between solar year, E. and saṁvatsara, D. | 4.232035377 days. |
| (4 d. 5 h. 34 m. 8 s.) | |
| G. Śōdhya | 2.23972̇ days. |
| (2 d. 5 h. 45 m. 12 s.) | |
| H. F × 60 (cycle difference) | 253.922122620 days. |
| I. E &minus H, additive difference for successive cycle-beginnings | 111.336627380 days. |
I have used my best endeavours to ascertain certain Jupiter's position according to this authority at the moment of mean Mēsha saṁkrānti, K.Y.0, that being the important point on which the calculations are based, and have arrived at the conclusion that, as in the case of the Present Sūrya and First Ārya Siddhāntas so in the Original Sūrya Siddhānta mean Jupiter was considered to have been, at that moment (sunrise in the case of the First Ārya Siddhānta or Āryabhaṭīya, the preceding midnight in the case of the two Sūrya Siddhānta) precisely at the 0° point, as were the mean sun, mean moon and the other five planets. Dr. Fleet considers this as quite certain. The late Mr. Sh. B. Dikshit, after elaborate computation, also held it as proved. (See Indian Antiquary, XIX., 1890, p. 48; p. 50, ll. 6–13, 22–25.)
160. This being so, we have it that the Jovian saṁvatsara No. 27, Vijaya, began at the exact
- ↑ Indian Antiquary, Vol. 19, 1890, p. 49. From this source, also, confirmed by the adherence to them of other competent judges, I obtain the figures for "A," "B" and "E" in the statement of elements. The other elements are deduced from them.