The Siddhāntasundara of Jñānarāja: An English Translation with Commentary

2 Chapter on Cosmology: Section 2 Rationale of Planetary Motion

2. Chapter on Cosmology Section 2: Rationale of Planetary Motion This section of the Siddhāntasundara gives the theory behind planetary motion, including cosmic winds moving heavenly bodies. (1) At noon, according to the solar day at the beginning of the bright paks .a in the month of madhu, the Creator [that is, the god Brahmā], residing in Siddhapura , attached the circle of the stars and the planets, who were at the beginning of [the zodiacal sign] Aries, to the Pravaha wind, which blows in a westward direction. Thereupon the courses of the year and so on, and all the motions of the planets simultaneously began; they did not [commence] at the beginning of the kalpa. The description is not entirely clear. Why, for example, is Brahmā, the god of creation, said to be in Siddhapura? At any rate, the main point is clear, namely, that Brahmā attaches the stars and the planets to one of the cosmic winds, called Pravaha, which carries the fixed stars across the heavens.157 That the motion of the heavenly bodies did not commence at the beginning of the kalpa follows from the saurapaks .a’s idea of a śr .s .t .ikāla, a period of creation during which the planets do not move.158 (2–3) “Tied to the wind, [the planets], which possess their own forms and are headed by the sun, and the stars always circumambulate from left to right [the deity ] Parameśvara of three forms [that is, those of Vis .n . u, 157 The cosmic winds were described by Jñānarāja in the previous section (Siddhāntasundara 1.1.64); see also Introduction, page 14. 158 See Siddhāntasundara 1.1.20 and accompanying commentary. 71 72 2. Chapter on Cosmology, Section 2 Śiva, and Brahmā], who is on the Meru mountain.”—If [such an argument is made], [we counter that it is] not to be seriously considered, [because if so], how is human suffering caused by [the planets] moving through the zodiacal signs? They [that is, the planets] always instruct human beings for the good. The fruition of past actions inevitably comes about. Jñānarāja here presents an argument, which he subsequently refutes. The argument, plainly stated, asserts that the motion of the planets and the stars is mechanical. The cosmic winds carry the heavenly bodies around the Meru mountain, the home of the god Parameśvara,Parameśvara the combined form of the three gods Vis .n .u, Śiva, and Brahmā. The motion is such that the heavenly bodies circumambulate the deity from left to right, as is considered auspicious in the Indian tradition. However, if the motion of the heavenly bodies is merely mechanical, how can their positions among the zodiacal signs influence human beings? In other words, a purely mechanical model would invalidate astrology, which Jñānarāja believes in, and which in medieval India was closely connected with astronomy . Since the motion of the planets and their location on the zodiac instruct mankind, Jñānarāja rejects the argument. (4) Dense māyā covers this world like a shadow. Within [the world] is the tree of the sphere of celestial bodies, which yields good fruits, and which has the polestar as its root. The planets headed by the sun, which move about in the constellation-branches [of the tree] that [in turn] move due to the wind, always bestow good and bad fruits [of past actions] on human beings according to their destiny. In this verse, Jñānarāja envisions the cosmos as an enormous tree. The zodiacal constellations represent the branches of the tree. These branches move as a result of the cosmic wind, and the planets move along the branches with their own independent motion. They bestow both good and bad on human beings. The Sanskrit term māyā means “illusion.” It is the illusion by which humans fail to see the world as it is and how it works. 2. Chapter on Cosmology, Section 2 73 (5) For the inhabitants of Siddhapura, the planets began to move eastwardly from the zenith. They are being led by the winds, their apogees, declinations, and nodes, as well as [moving by] their own force. Siddhapura is one of the four mythical cities (described in Siddhāntasundara 1.1.22–23) on the terrestrial equator. Why the commencement of the...