Astronomy and Cosmology

Author(s): L C Jain
Publisher: Rajasthan Prakrit Bharti Sansthan Jaipur

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3. SOURCE MATERIAL
Shankar Balkrishna Dixit, in his Indian Astronomy 27 has given the historical evolution of the astronomy into three stages : Vedic era, Vedānga era, and Astro-theoretical era,
VEDIC LITERATURE
As is well known, the Vedic literature28 is regarded as the oldest literature as well as the outstanding effort of the ancient Indians towards collection of the contemporary knowledge, leaving apart the still unknown treasures of the civilization of the Indus valley, or of the pre-Harappan cultures. The three distinct classes of this literature are the Samhilās (the Rgveda, the Sāmaveda, the Yajurveda and the Atharvaveda ), the Brāhmaṇas (Aitareya, Kauşitaki, Pancavimśa, Jaiminiya, Katha-fragment, Taittiriya, Satapatha, and Gopatha), as well as the Aranyakas-Upanişads (forest texts and secret doctrines; including Chāndogya, Kena, Mahānārāyaņa, Svetas'vatare, Maitrāyaṇi, Bșhadāraṇyaka, İşā, Mundaka and Praśna).
According to Winternitz, the view on Vedic chronology generally followed is, “we shall probably have to date the beginning of this development about 2000 or 2500 B. C. and the end of it between 750 and 500 B. C.”29. During this period, the times of occurence of the parvas ( "Knots of time"), viz., full moon, new moon, equinoxes, solstices etc. were investigated for religious performances. Dixit have tried to find out relevant astronomical details in various parts of the literature. 27. Cf. Bhāratiya Jyotişa, Hindi trans. by S. N. Jharkhandi,
Lucknow, 1975. 28. Cf. Bose, D.M., Sen, S, N., Subbarayappa, B. V, A concise History of
Science in India, New Delhi 1971. 29. Max Müller holds the view that the oldest of the Vedas could not have
been composed earlier than 1200 B. C. Hermann Jacobi and B. G. Tilak, on the basis of precession, etc. opine this date to be in the third millennium B. C. Cf. ibid. pp. 22-23.
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