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Post-Vedanga Pre-Siddhantic
Indian Astronomy [ Studies in Jaina Astronomy]
SAJJAN SINGH LISHK
Nothing is obscure about Vedānga Jyotişa (Vedic astronomy) and Siddhāntic astronomy but the post-Vedānga pre-Siddhāntic Indian astronomy has hitherto remained as a forgotten chapter in the history of ancient Indian Astronomy. The paper renders a simple probe into this field. These studies are based on mathematical analysis of astronomical texts as extant in Jaina canonical literature. It highlights the importance of astronomical analysis of Buddhistic texts and the Hindu literature like Purānas, Smytis etc. D. Pingree's views about Mesopotamian origin of ancient Indian astronomy become questionable.
Theory
The history of astronomy owes its origin to a remote antiquity. In the cradle of human civilization, history reveals that man's place in nature has always been relevant to religion and his curiosity for regulating the mode of periodic religious performances must have catered to the need for observation of celestial phenomena.? It is interesting to note that in China, since the Han dynasty, calendarical reforms were considered indispensable in order to keep the political and cosmic orders in tune. 3 Carruccio' has rightly remarked that scientific problems in general and mathematical and astronomical problems in particular show their full meanings only when they are considered in their own
1
Hocking, W. B. (1944), Science and the idea of God, p. 85. See also Pannakeek, A. (1930), 'Astrology and Its Influence upon the Development of Astronomy', Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. XXIV, No. 4, pp. 159-176. Brodrick, A. H. (1940), 'The Sacrifices of the Son of Heaven', The Asiatic Review, Vol. XXXVI, No. 125, p. 123 (January 1940). See also our paper 'An Introduction to a Thesis on Jaina Astronomy', The Jaina Antiquary, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 9-17. Yabuuti, Kiyesi (1968), 'Comparative Aspects of the Introduction of Western Astronomy into China and Japan-Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries, The Chung Chi Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 151-154. Carrussio, E, Mathematics and Logie in History and Contemporary Thought, English translation by Isabel Quigly (1964), p. 9.
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