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| The Reason for Setting the Intercalary Month and the Method for Determining the Positions of the Sun and Moon in the Vedic Calendar |
| LÜ Peng, JI Zhigang |
| School of History and Culture of Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China |
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Abstract The Vedic calendar, called the Vedāngajyoti?a, is a mathematical astronomy system that appeared in about the 9th century BC in India. Different from the Indian Siddhānta astronomy, which is greatly influenced by Greek astronomy, Vedāngajyoti?a astronomy is intimately related to Vedic ritual, and can be regarded as Indian native astronomy. Studies on the Vedic calendar began at the end of the 19th century, nevertheless many questions remain unanswered, such as the reasons for, and the detail of, the setting intercalary month, the derivation and verification of the calculation of determining the positions of the sun and the moon, etc. Based on the Sanskrit texts and commentary given by Dvivedin, a Pandit at the beginning of the 20th century, this paper explains what the Vedic calendar is by means of the concept of the four measures of time, and then discusses the above-mentioned outstanding questions. The setting of the intercalary month is related to the Indian traditional naming of months, while the correspondence of bhā?śas to nak?atras, which is for determining the positions of the sun and the moon, can be derived from and verified by the trairāśika (Rule of Three) and the ku??aka (Pulverizer) method. Actually, the Vedāngajyoti?a is an idealized calendar, for it emphasizes mathematical structure and calculation instead of real observation of the heaven bodies.
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Received: 10 June 2019
Published: 24 June 2021
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Cite this article:
LÜ Peng, JI Zhigang. The Reason for Setting the Intercalary Month and the Method for Determining the Positions of the Sun and Moon in the Vedic Calendar. Studies in the History of Natural Sciences, 0, (): 210691-210691.
URL:
http://www.shns.ac.cn/ OR http://www.shns.ac.cn/Y0/V/I/210691
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