''Garga-samhita'' (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Garga-saṃhitā), is an Indian

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

-language text on jyotisha (ancient Indian

astrology and astronomy Astrology and astronomy were archaically treated together (), but gradually distinguished through the Late Middle Ages into the Age of Reason. Developments in 17th century philosophy resulted in astrology and astronomy operating as independe ...

), written as a dialogue between the sages

Bharadvaja Bharadvaja (, ; also spelled Bharadwaja) was one of the revered Vedic sages (maharishi) in Ancient India. He was a renowned scholar, economist, grammarian and a physician. He is one of the Saptarshis (seven great sages or Maharṣis). His co ...

and Garga. Although attributed to Garga, it was definitely not composed by the ancient astrologer of that name, and can be dated to 6th-7th century CE.

Date and manuscripts

The text is of uncertain date, but was definitely composed after

Brahmagupta Brahmagupta ( – ) was an Indian Indian mathematics, mathematician and Indian astronomy, astronomer. He is the author of two early works on mathematics and astronomy: the ''Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta'' (BSS, "correctly established Siddhanta, do ...

's '' Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta'' (6th-7th century CE). Based on its mathematical contents, Michio Yano dates ''Garga-samhita'' to 6th-7th century CE. The text is known from a manuscript kept at the Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute (VVRI),

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

. The VVRI manuscript 2069 was copied by Thakura Datta Joshi and collated by Hariprasada Sharma at Hoshiarpur in 1960.

Content

The text is also known as the "

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

Garga-samhita" to distinguish it from the "astrological" '' Gargiya-jyotisha'', an earlier text which is also known as ''Garga-samhita''. Written in the style of the

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

, the text features a dialogue between the sages

and Garga. It contains 20 chapters: the first four chapters feature Puranic cosmology, and the subsequent chapters discuss mathematical

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

. The 20 chapters and their topics include: # ''Kālasva-rūpa-vidhāna'': time # ''Puruṣa-kṛtyā-disṛṣṭ-ividhā'' # ''Sakala-jagad-graha-sṛṣṭi-vidhāna'': dimensions of the seven worlds (including Jambu), the seven oceans, and the seven underworlds # ''Mṛtyu-graha-cakra-vidhāna'': mythological accounts of planets # ''Graha-kaṣyādibhagaṇotpatti-vidhāna'': decimal places, circumference of planetary orbits (Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) # ''Graha-madhya-vidhāna'': computation of accumulated days since the epoch of the current

kalpa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

# ''Jīvā-janma'': derivation of 36

sines Sines () is a town and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality, divided into two parishes, has around 14,214 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . Sines holds an important oil refinery and several petrochemical industries. It is also a popular ...

# ''Jīvā-vidhā'': values of sines and

versine The versine or versed sine is a trigonometric function found in some of the earliest (Sanskrit ''Aryabhatia'',Aryabhatta Aryabhata ( ISO: ) or Aryabhata I (476–550 CE) was the first of the major mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His works include the ''Āryabhaṭīya'' (which mentions that in 3600 '' ...

# ''Laghu-sphuṭa-vihāna'': ''manda'' (slow) and ''śīghra'' (fast) equations # Untitled # Untitled, explanation of irregular motions of planets using the fast apogee and the slow apogee; description of synodic arcs of five planets # Untitled: longitudes of the chief star in the ''

nakshatra Nakshatra () is the term for Lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Buddhist astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective s ...

'' # Untitled # Untitled: Maximum latitudes in minutes for various planets # ''Chāyā-vidhāna'': several topics usually dealt with a chapter titled ''Tri-praśnā-dhyāya'' in other astronomical texts. For example, raidus of the great circle, longitude of the sun, equinoctial noon hypotenuse etc. # Untitled, the conjunction of planets # ''Sūrya-grahaṇa'': solar eclipses, longitudinal and latitudinal parallaxes # ''Chedaka'': graphical representation of the three-dimensional objects on to a plane surface; briefly discusses lunar eclipses

References

Bibliography

* * {{ref end Indian astronomy texts 6th-century literature 6th-century Sanskrit literature 7th-century Sanskrit literature