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Occultations of the Moon In Jaina Astronomy
Sajjan Singh Lishk
S. D. Sharma
Abstract
The Moon occults some Nakshatras ( asterisms ) from the Northern direction and some from the Southern direction; some are occulted from either direction depending upon the position of the lunar nodes. This paper analyses the relevant data as given in Jaina texts (Ganitānuyoga ) and proves that the latitude of the Moon was determined in the Post-vedãng Pre-hellenistic, the dark period in the history of Indian Astronomy.
Theory
Oocultation of the Moon with Nakshatras ( asterisms ) has remained an object of interest since ancient times in India. The Phenomenon of occultation deserves some explanation here. There are different kinds of conjunctions like Kalayuti (longitudes equal), Bhedayuti ( declinations equal ) etc. ( Sengupta 1947 ). The occultation of the Moon with a Nakshatra implies that the Moon's cusp is directed on the 2nd lunar day of the dark balf toward the
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