English
The reason is this, the system of Brahma was constructed to give the positions of the planets when its author lived, that is, about A.D. 538. The system of Parasara, for the same reason, was Constructed to give the positions of the planets in the time of its inventor, that is to say, in the time of Aryabhatta, or about A^D. 1322. For the same number of revolutions of the planets will not give their positions true at two distant periods of time ; and hence arises the necessity of forming new sys- tems, from time to time. u Digitized by Google 146 THE MODERN ASTRONOMY The lengdi of the yeir, by the sjstem of P&riiara, s ^WSSSf^^ S65^ 15 31' 18'' Sr' By ihelryaSiddhmUa, it i§ 865 15 31 17 The time of one reTolotion of the eqainox In the epioy- ole, by the sjstem of Paraara, .••... aT426.3936 By the system of the Irya SiddhmUa, it is a7471.998 The greatest precession of the equinoxes east and west, by the former, •• ••••••• •> as24^ By the latter, it b also 24 The annnal precession of the equinoxes, by the Para- MraSiddhataa,,,... ^46^^867 Bj the Irya Siddhania, it h =46.252 Theyeaz of the KaU Yuga when the precession was 0 by the former, was •••••••••••••• a:3711, A.D. 610 by the latter, it was .• ' =3707, A. D. 606 F?om the very near agreement between the par- t^ulars a.boye compared^ no doubt whatevw can §xist, but that i[ryabhat;ta was the real author of i^^ Parasara Siddhanta, and for the express purpose ahpve mentioned, that of supporting the imposition respecting the position and motions of the seven Rish\Sy invented by himself. T^e shall npw compute the position of the line of ^ Risiv^ by tfc^e system of Parasara. In 4320000000 y^ajc^^ tl^d are 1599^98 revolutions of the Rishis feigned; thjBrefore each revolution =^^^=; 2700 y^ai;s and a small fraction, which we reject. At the commencement of the Kalpa, the line of the Rishis^ is assumed to be in the beginning of Asu^i^; therefore, to find its position at the begin- ning of the Kali Yuga, we multiply the four right- ^aad figures of the revolutions 1599998, by 4567, reserving iji the product the four right-hand digits, V(]^h will be the decimal parts of a revolution, shpwing the time then elapsed, since the line of the Rfishis was in the beginning oiAswim. Thus, 9998 x 4567 = .0866 of a revolution, the value of which ijgi years = 2700 X. 0866 = 233.82, or near 234 years; that is, 234 years before the beginning of the Kali Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS. 147 Yuga^ the line of the Rishis was in the beginning of Aswini; consequently, at the beginning of the Kali Vuga, it was 34 years advanced into Kritica, from which point of time we compute as follows : — Remainder of KriticUy 66 years Add for Rohini, 100 for Mf'igasiraSy 100 for Ardra, 100 for PunarvasUy 100 for Pushya, 100 for Aslesha, 100 Total to the beginning of Magha, 666 That is to say, in the year 666 of Kali Yuga^ or 2435 before the Christian era, the line of the Bishis was in the beginning of Magha; which, therefore, as coming from the sage Parasara himself, who lived when the Rishis were in Magha, was conclusive evi- dence of the truth of the time assigned to Parasara, Yudhisht'hira, &c. by Aryabhatta. Having now explained the nature and object of Aryabhatta's imposition, and his forgery of the P5- rasara Siddhanta to support the same, we shall next proceed to show the age of the Arya Siddhanta and Pa- rasara Siddhanta, from the errors in the positions and motions of the planets, in the same manner as I have already done, in respect of the Brahma Siddhanta and Surya Siddhanta ; for though we have the date of the Arya Siddhanta, as given by its author, it may be so far satisfactory, to see it confirmed by computation. We shall begin with the Arya Siddhanta. The positions of the planets at sunrise, at the beginning of the Kali Yuga, on the meridian of IJ^ein, will be had by multiplying the three right-hand digits of Digitized by Google 148 THE MODERN ASTRONOMY each number of revolutions, as given in the table of the system, by 456, reserving the three right-hand figures in the product, which will be the planets' place in decimal parts of a revolution, thus: for Mercury, the number of revolutions in 4320000000 years = 17937054671, the three right-hand figures 671, multiplied by 456, give .976, which reduced is lP2r2r36'', the mean place of Mercury at the be- ginning of the Kali Yuga: or the same result will be obtained by saying, as 4320000000 : 17937054671, so the years elapsed of the Kalpa (in this case 1969920000), to the planets' mean place in revolu- tions, signs, &c. The following were the mean places of the planets at the beginning of Kali Yuga^ Hindu sphere, by Aryabhatta and La Lande's Tables. Planets, &c. ByArjabhatta. By La Lande. Differences. Snn, Hindu sphere. 0 Oo 0' 0^ 0 0° O' 0^ 0 0° 0' 0^ Mood, 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 48 0 3 8 48- Mercury^ 11 21 21 S6 10 27 21 1 0 24 0 354 Venus, 11 27 7 12 1 2 62 51 1 5 45 39- Mars, 0 0 0 0 11 17 46 23 0 12 13 37 + Jnpiter, 11 27 7 12 0 16 49 21 0 19 42 9- Saturn, 0 0 0 0 11 8 46 40 0 21 13 20 + Moon's apogee, 4 3 50 24 8 29 58 19 0 3 52 5 + Node, 5 2 38 24 5 6 38 4 0 3 59 40- The following are the mean annual motions of the planets, Hindu sphere, by Aryabhatta and La Lande's Tables. By Aryabhatta. By La Lande. Differences, Sun, 0 0° 0' 0^ Moon, 4 12 46 40,5 Mercury, .... 1 24 45 16,4013 Venus, 7 15 11 51,4296 Mars, 6 11 24 9,3- Jupiter, 1 0 21 5,9046 Saturn, 0 12 12 50,7 Moon's apogee, 1 10 40 32,6022 Node, .. 0 19 21 34,0062 0 0° O' 0^ 4 12 46 37,7076 1 24 45 36,1940 7 15 11 23,4870 6 11 24 19,26 1 0 20 50,6965 0 12 13 9,5761 1 10 40 35,7990 0 19 21 30,8420 0' 0^ 0 2,7924 + 0 19,7927- 0 27,9426 + 0 9,96 - 0 15,2081 + 0 18,8761- 0 3,1962- 0 3,1642+ ' Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS. 149 Now, dividing the errors or diflferences in the mean places of the planets at the beginning of the Kali Yuga, by the errors or differences in the mean annual motions, we get as follow : — "rc'.;iaVu-; '° % r ! <"" "' ^^ - " ""'• Mercury, 24 0 35 by 19,7927 4367 VeDos,.. 35 45 39 by 27,9426 4007 Mms, 12 13 37 by 9,9600 4419 Japiter,. 19 42 9 by 15,2081 =4663 Satom 21 13 20 byl83761 =. 4047 Apogee, .. 3 52 5 by 3,1962 4356 Node,.... 8 59 40 by 3,1642 4544 Their ram is .. •• •• .. 85117 And whicb, dirided by 8, the mean is . • • • 4389 Differing only 34 years from the date 4423 given by Aryabhatta, and therefore a complete proof of the truth of it. Indeed there is no reason whatever to suppose that Aryabhatta, or any real Hindu astro- nomers, would falsify their own dates ; nor indeed could they, because such an imposition would be observed by their contemporaries: the falsification of dates, and the interpolation of passages into books, with a view to give them or others the ap- pearance of antiquity, are the artful contrivances of those that came after them. But though Aryabhatta, would not give a false date to his own work, yet he could forge a book in the name of another, as the Parasara Siddhantay to serve his purpose. The following Table, will now show the errors in the places of the planets by the Arya Siddhantay compared with La Lande's Tables, at different periods, from the beginning of the Kali Yuga to A. D. 1322. Digitized by Google 150 THE MODERN ASTRONOMY Pljaeta, or B.a 8103. Kali Toga 1000. KaliYoca 2000. KallYoga 3000. Kali Yaga 4000. K.Y.4443, 1322 A.D.