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Se^-dtfente theolgect qfthU Section — The notions of Mr, ColebrooJce respecting th^ positions of the stars at the general epoch, as indicating the age qf the works in which they are found, imnmsistent with red facts, being given in books of lUl yiges — • Mr, Colebrooke's notions respecting the names Aries, Taurus, Sfc, being applied to the signs qf the Hindu sphere, incorrect -^Proved to belong exclusively to the signs of the Tropical sphere, by tables and passages in modem Hindu books — Passage from Brahma Gupta to the same effect — Passage from Yaraha Mihira to the same effect^— Another from the Tatwa- chintainaniy containing a computatitm of tiie sun*s place, reckoned both from Aswim and Aries, to the same effect — A translation of a passage in Bhattot- pala's Commentary to the same effect — The translation by Mr.Colebrooke himself, but not published or noticed by him — Nor the other facts stated-^ Mr. Colibrooke notices the heliacal rising of Canopus at Ujein, when the sun was 7° short of Virgo, mentioned by Yaraha Mihira, but does not teU us the time to which it refers — Notices other risings, but without reference to time — Mistaken with respect to the time qf rising of Canopus in the time of Para- sara — A passage from Garga explained — Three periods of Canopus's heliacal rising — The 6th and I5th qfAswina, and Sth of Kartika, mistransiated by Mr, Colebrooke — The true meaning given — The time to which they nfer ex- pUnsned in a note. Having in the foregoing sections given a sufficient outline of the nature of the modern astronomical systems of the Hindus, and exposed the various practices employed for imposing on the world the pretended antiquity of their books and writers, I should now most willingly wish to drop my pen, particularly as I believe I have omitted nothing that could in any way be conducive to the perfect un- derstanding of the subject. It appears, howeVer, that there is something more yet to be done, how- ever unpleasant the task may be ; and that is, to come forward in my own defence. Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS^ 197 There are two points on which Mr. Colebrooke seems to have laid great stress, in his endeavours to support the antiquity of the Surya Siddhanta and Varaha Mihira against the result of my calculations ; which two points^ though already noticed, we shall here endeavour to show are totally inapplicable, and therefore, mere delusions, without the slightest foundation. One of the points relates to the longitudes of the stars, reckoned from the beginning of the Hindu sphere, commencing with the Lunar Asterismil^t(;im, as contained in the tables of the Lunar Mansions in different books. These longitudes, from the very nature of the subject, must in every case be the same, or nearly the same, whether given by an astronomer who lived a thousand years ago, or by one who lived only fifty years ago : from the point from which the longitudes are reckoned being fixed to the commencement of the Hindu sphere when the precession was nothing, the longitudes of the stars reckoned from that point, must of necessity be al- ways the same, though given at different ages by different astronomers, except so far as one may be more or less accurate in his computation than another, which, however, can never point out the difference of time. Thus, some Hindu astronomer about the year A.D. 638, observed the longitude of Cor Leonis, from the beginning oi Aswiniy in the commencement of the Hindu sphere, to be 4*9®; and another, about the middle of last century, made it also 4" 9°. Now I should be glad to know how this is to point out the difference of time between the two astronomers, or when they re- spectively lived. I say it is impossible ; .but even supposing the latter astronomer had made it 4" 8°, or Digitized by Google 198 THE MODERN ASTROITOMY 4" 10% the difference, in that case, could only arise from a greater or leas degree of accuracy in the ob- *rvation made, and had nothing whatever to do with time* Hence it most clearly follows, that the longitudes of the stars, reckoned from the com-' mencement of the Hindu sphere, can never point out the time when any astronomer lived, or any book in which they are given was written or com- posed. But, notwithstanding the clearness of this fact, and the soundness of the foundation on which it stands, Mr. Colebrooke has endeavoured to prove the antiquity of the Surya Siddhanta from the longi- tudes of the stars given in that work, reckoning from the commencement of the Hindu sphere. 'In the Brahma Siddhanta^ the longitude of the star Cor Leonis is reckoned at 4" 9° from the commencement of the Hindu sphere : in the Surya Siddhanta it is also 4* 9° : in the Varahi Sanhita it is 4" 9"^ : in the Siddhanta Siromani it is 4* 9^ : in the Siddhanta Sar^ vabhauma, a still more modem book, it is also 4' 9^: and in the Grahu Laghava, another modem work,, it is also 4* 9° : all exhibiting the same longitude, though composed or written at different dates, and by different persons. The reason of this must be obvious. A certain point is fixed on by all the Hindu, astronomers, from which they compute the precession of the equinoxes : at that point they also give the positions of the stars in the Lunar Asterisms^ or what they suppose they were at that time ; and this makes all Hindu writers, let their respective times be what it may, agree nearly with each other; for the positions so given, have no reference whatr ever to the age or time of the writer or his book, but merely to the common epoch to which they c^U refer ; that is to say, the point of time when th^rc Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS. 199 was BO precession^ and the beginning of AnDim was cut by the equinoctial colure. Therefore tables com- puted for this pointy for the sake of uniformity and ccmvenience, are found in books of various dates, or no dates expressed, without having the slightest re- ference to the time of any of them. Hence I say that the whole of Mr. Colebrooke's notions on this point are altogether unfounded. Indeed the facts against such ideas are incon- testible. The observation made by Vasishtha on die stsur Canopus, who found it in 3% or the begin- ning of Cancer, which is the same as given in the Surya Siddhanta, would fully prove this ; but the positions of the planets given by that work, prove that it was even of a much later date than the ob^ servation on Canopus by Vasishtlia. Mr. Cole^ l^ooke, however, is not disposed to admit the cor^ rectness of this mode of determining the antiquity of astronomical books by the positions of the planets, except where it suits his purpose. He saw it was sufficiently correct in the case of the Brahma Sid^ dkanta; but he would not admit it to be so wiUi respect to the Suiya SUddhanta : and why ? Because Varaba Mihira, whom he in^etgined had lived thirteen or fourteen hundred years ago, had mentioned the Suiya Siddhanta^ therefore he was determined to adopt a new mode (by the longitudes of the fixed stars from the beginning oiJjwini\ ior determining the ag^ of the Surya Siddhentay which mode, if exacts ought to determine the ages of all other books also i but the truth is, it neither gives the ag^ of the Surya Siddhanta, nor of ay other work whatever, as may be easily laeenfrom :the explanation above given. But to put this in a still stron^r light, suppose we designate the books above mentioned by the letters Digitized by Google 200 THE MODERN ASTRONOMY of the alphabet, aud call them a, b, c, rf, and e, stating that they were of dififerent ages, and that each of them made the longitude of Cor Leonis from the beginning of the Hindu sphere 4' 9°, and then ask Mr. Colebrboke, or any other person, which was the oldest : it is clear that he could not tell. He would perhaps say, let me know the name of the book, and I will then tell you. But there is no magic in the nameof the book; and if the method could not determine the question, without knowing the name of the book, it is no method whatever; it is a downright delusion. Mr. Colebrooke might perhaps say, that as they gave the same longitude, they might have been borrowed from each other, the more modern from the older ; but this is not the case, and even if it was so, it would not be solving the question; for the Surya Siddhanta would then stand in the same predicament, as the author of it might also have borrowed, and therefore its real time would still be totally unknown.