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CHAPTER FIVE  Recipient and Remodeler Indian Eclipse Reckoning I shall not now speak of the knowledge of the Hindus . . . of their subtle discoveries in astronomy, discoveries that are more ingenious than those of the Greeks and the Babylonians, and of their valuable methods of calculation which surpass description . . . If those who believe, because they speak Greek, that they have arrived at the limits of science, would read the Indian texts, they would be convinced, even if a little late in the day, that there are others who know something of value. —Severus Sebokht (b. Nisibis [Syria], ca. 575), a Syrian bishop, working in the later stages of his career at Kennesrin on the west bank of the Euphrates—a prolific scholar who played a critical role in introducing Indian concepts into Syrian intellectual culture, and ultimately, to the Islamic Near East. It shall not be possible for an astronomer to assert his views convincingly before an assembly of scholars merely on the basis of the computation of mean planets etc. without a proper exposition of the underlying rationale. I am therefore composing this section expostulating astronomical rationale by means of astronomical models and diagrams through which they could be clear even as a myrobalan1 placed on one’s palm. —Bhāskara II introducing his Golādhyāya (chapter on the “Sphere”) from the Siddhāntaśiroman .i (composed in 1150) 2.1.2; as translated by K. V. Sarma (1985) p. 287. 5.1 Overview Astronomy in premodern India,2 just like almost every member in the discipline of jyotih .śāstra3 or the “exact sciences,” inherited a wealth of material from other cultures. For this reason, India has been characterized as the “recipient and remodeler of foreign elements.”4 Indian astronomy was influenced first by Mesopotamia, next by Greece, in turn by Islam, and then and most recently by modern ideas. However, sources were not adopted wholesale; each element 156 RECIPIENT AND REMODELER from the foreign scientific culture was altered in some way. It might be abbreviated , it might be expanded, improved, or misunderstood. But the fundamental modifications meant that this astronomy, albeit originally borrowed, could be considered distinctly Indian. These alterations firmly set Indian astronomy apart from the cultures whence it originated. The very first Sanskrit astronomical works that remain preserved are the Vedāṅgajyotis .a of Lagadha (composed sometime around 400 BCE)5 and (perhaps ) some Jaina texts, including the Candapannatti, the Suyapannatti, and the Jyotis .karan .d .ikā from the second half of the first millennium BCE. Some time later, in the fifth and sixth centuries CE, a new genre of astronomical literature appeared. These works were usually written in the siddhānta format, a type of detailed astronomical treatise characterized by its comprehensiveness and universality . In siddhāntas the choice of the epoch is typically the start of a major cosmic era, and the organization of their topics follows a traditional order. The earliest of these Siddhāntas include the Paitāmahasiddhānta (early fifth century6 ), the Āryabhat .ı̄ya of Āryabhat .a I (after 499), and the Brāhmasphut .asiddha ̄nta of Brahmagupta (628) which provided the basis of Indian astronomy for many centuries to come, even up until recently. But knowledge of Sanskrit astronomy precedes these texts—they imply that a developed astronomical tradition already existed prior to their composition. For, as evidenced by a treatise composed by the sixth-century astronomer Varāhamihira,7 entitled the Pañcasiddha ̄ntikā (literally the “Five Siddhāntas”), astronomy was developed to such a point that there was already the need for a historical survey of the discipline thus far.8 Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of Indian astronomical works is the format in which they were preserved. By far the majority of principal works in the jyotih .śāstra tradition were written in verse; for the exact sciences in early India as well as many other genres of intellectual inquiry were to be studied, for the most part, in an oral environment. To ensure their survival and to facilitate memorization, rules and operations were composed in metrically definite and repetitive patterns, that is, in verse. This “scientific poetry” made heavy demands on the scientist-composer. The metrical requirements and the assimilation of mathematical concepts into such a strict framework entailed a certain measure of obscurity of expression, even forcing the composer at times to discard necessary material in order to conform to these metrical requirements...

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