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INTRODUCTION
Chāyā - lagnar ca dakşiņāyanavişuvesu api aśve uttarm
ayane I lagnam svāti vişuveșu pañcasv api dakşinayane il daksināyanagateșu pañcasv api visuvesu aśve aśvinīnakṣatre lagnam bhavati Pityādi Vedänga Jyotişa p. 50.
The Sanskrit chāyā of the verse and the commentary are by Ac. Malayagiri; and its English translation by Dr. Sham Shastry is as follows:
"The Lagna of the five Vishuwas or equinoctial days in a yuga is the rise of the Ashwini Nakshatra in the Uttarayana and that in the five Dakshinayanas is the rise of the Swati Nakshatra'. Vedānga Jyotişa p. 30.
The inconsistency that is there in the above-given two quotations is this that in the Sanskrit commentary on the verse there occurs 'Nakshatra of vishuva (equinoctial) day falling in Dakshiņāyana is Ashwini' while in English translation this Ashwini Nakshatra has been connected with vishuva day falling in Uttarāyaṇa. I wrote a letter to Dr. Sham Shastry in this regard. Therein I wrote: 'In your English translation you present the truth. The reason is clear. It is this that in Ashwini Nakshatra, vishuya day of Uttarāyana (i.e. vasantasampāta) was taking place nearly 2000 years ago. Otherwise, in Ashwini Nakshatra, vishuva day of Dakshināyana (i.e. sharadasampāta), as mentioned by Sanskrit commentator, had taken place at least more than 14000 years ago.'
This verse of Jyotisakarandaka is obscure and misleading. In it the term dakşiņāyana occurs twice and hence there arises a problem as to whether it is to be construed with Aśvini or Svāti. And only those scholars who have properly studied various astronomical evidences available in ancient Jaina literature can solve it.
In the Sanskrit works on Jyotişa we find a textual evidence for the existence of vasantasampāta in between Citrā Nakşatra and Svāti Nakşatra. In the Bhāşya on sulbasūtra, Karkācārya has explicitly stated to this effecto. If it is so, then why Svāti's relation
5. The motion of the sampāta point is vāma (right to left), and one
complete rotation around Nakşatracakra takes nearly 26000 years. At present vasantasampata takes place in Uttară Bhādrapadā Nakşatra. The distance from Aśvini Nakşatra to Uttarā Bhādrapadā Nakşatra
is 14000 years pūrva. 6. Vedakālanirnaya by Pt. D. Chulet.
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