Axes | BCE years on the x-axis and longitudes/nakṣatra sectors on the y-axis |
Green Dots | Equinoctial Full Moons |
Red Sector | Extent of Kṛttikā sector containing SE (Sun at 0°) in its 1st amśa |
Blue Sector | Extent of Viśākhā sector containing AE (Sun at 180°) in its 3rd amśa |
Sloping Red/Blue | Visible Kṛttikā/Viśākhā longitudes adjusted for precession |
Light Gray Band | Epoch when visible Kṛttikā/Viśākhā are in their respective sectors ~1980-1610 BCE |
Dark Gray Band | Epoch for AE FM at 4th amśa of Viśākhā closest to visble Viśākhā ~1700-1610 BCE |
1980-1610 BCE | The visible Kṛttikā & Viśākhā are contained in their respective sectors |
1700-1610 BCE | The equinoctial FM at ¾ viṣākhā sector is nearest to visible viśākhā |
Maghādi scheme | The Maghādi scheme of MAU is consistent with the equinoctial full moon scheme of BP |
Verse | From | To | Ṛtu | Span |
---|---|---|---|---|
श्रविष्ठादीनि चत्वारि पौष्णार्धञ्च* दिवाकरः । वर्धयन् सरसस्तिक्तं मासौ तपति शैशिरे ॥ 47 |
श्रविष्ठा begin | रेवती mid | शिशिर | 270°-330° |
रोहिण्यन्तानि विचरन् पौष्णार्धाद्याच्च भानुमान् । मासौ तपति वासन्तौ कषायं वर्धयन् रसम्॥ 48 |
रेवती mid | रोहिणी end | वसन्त | 330°-30° |
सार्पार्धान्तानि विचरन् सौम्याद्यानि तु भानुमान् । ग्रैष्मिकौ तपते मासौ कटुकं वर्धयन् रसम्॥ 52 |
मृगशिरा begin | आश्लेषा mid | ग्रीष्म | 30°-90° |
सावित्रान्तानि विचरन् सार्पार्धाद्यानि भास्करः । वार्षिकौ तपते मासौ रसमम्लं विवर्धयन्॥ 53 |
आश्लेषा mid | हस्ता end | वर्षा | 90°-150° |
चित्रादीन्यथ चत्वारि ज्येष्ठार्धञ्च दिवाकरः। शारदौ लवणाख्यं च तपत्याप्याययन् रसम्॥ 54 |
चित्रा begin | ज्येष्ठा mid | शरद् | 150°-210° |
ज्येष्ठार्धादीनि चत्वारि वैष्णवान्तानि भास्करः । हेमन्ते तपते मासौ मधुरं वर्धयन् रसम् ॥ 55 |
ज्येष्ठा mid | श्रवण end | हेमन्त | 210°-270° |
The best fit method finds the epoch where most stars of nakṣatra-s are in their prescribed span
The error metric for each epoch
Epoch | Scheme | Start | Season |
---|---|---|---|
earlier | 2 Ayana/6 Ṛtu based sun transit | ||
1800 BCE | MAU/BP Equinoctial full moon scheme | Maghādi | dakṣināyaṇa |
1300 BCE | VGJ/ādityacāra and PT with 4½ nakṣatra-s per season | Śraviṣṭhādi | uttarāyaṇa |
500 BCE | VGJ/ṛtusvabhāva with 12 solar months | Śravaṇādi Revatyādi Bharaṇyādi |
uttarāyaṇa vasanta spring equinox |
Solar zodiac is certainly part of original Indian knowledge - that has been recorded and evolved over time.
An observer noticing the sunrise point of the eastern horizon will notice the point oscillate between north-east in the summer to south-east in the winter and back to north-east in the summer - much like a swing.
The extreme north and south points are the dakṣiṇāyana and uttarāyaṇa start - the winter and summer solstices respectively. The points in between are called the viṣuvat - spring and autumn equinoxes.
One full swing of the sun lasts 366 days and is made of two ayanas the dakṣiṇāyana and uttarāyaṇa each of 183 days
In one full swing from uttarāyaṇa, the sun traverses through six ṛtus (seasons) in order - namely varṣā, śarad, hemanta, śiśira, vasanta, grīṣma,- each ṛtu is of 61 days.
Just as a swing appears to be stationary at the extreme points, the sun appears to be stationary at the uttarāyaṇa and dakṣiṇāyana start points before resuming its oscillation. An observer will notice that the sun is stationary at the uttarāyaṇa and dakṣiṇāyana start points for about 14 sunrises each.
The period from one sunrise to another is called a ahorāṭra/day. A ṛtu is made of 61 ahorāṭras/days. An ayana is made of 183 ahorāṭras/days.One swing of the sun with 366 ahorāṭras/days is samvatsara/year.
ahorāṭra | ṛtu | ayana | samvatsara | |
---|---|---|---|---|
ahorāṭra | 1 | |||
ṛtu | 61 | 1 | ||
ayana | 183 | 3 | 1 | |
samvatsara | 366 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
Assuming the dakṣiṇāyana point to be the day 1 of the 366 day cycle, the following table shows the day number of the start of each ṛtu and ayanas.
day num | ṛtu | ayana | equinox/ solstice | sunrise image as seen by an observer |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | varṣā start | dakṣiṇāyana start | summer solstice | sun rises north east |
62 | śarad start | dakṣiṇāyana | - | - |
92 | śarad mid | viṣuvat | autumn equinox | sun rises true east |
123 | hemanta start | dakṣiṇāyana | - | |
183 184 |
śiśira start | dakṣiṇāyana end uttarāyaṇa start |
winter solstice | sun rises south east |
245 | vasanta start | uttarāyaṇa | - | - |
274 | vasanta mid | viṣuvat | spring equinox | sun rises true east |
306 | grīṣma start | uttarāyaṇa | - | - |
366 | grīṣma-end | uttarāyaṇa end dakṣiṇāyana start |
summer solstice | sun rises north east |
We noted that each of the 366 sunrises occurs at different points on the eastern horizon due to the sun's swing. In addition, the stars that are visible just prior to each sunrise at the sunrise point also change. The stars that are visible just prior to sunrise are said to belong to the nakṣatra of that day.
During uttarāyaṇa and dakṣiṇāyana the sun seems to rise at a stationary point for about 14 days. The stars visible prior to sunrise for these two stationary points define the sector/span of a nakṣatra - of about 14 days - more precisely 13<sup>5</sup>/<sub>9</sub> days.
A nakṣatra is a span of time of about 14 days and contains the stars that are visible at sunrise in its time span. There are 27 such equal nakṣatra spans in a 366 day cycle. Each of the 27 nakṣtra while of equal time span contains varying counts of stars - between 1 and 6 - totaling 83 stars. The 27 nakṣatra are named in a fixed cyclical order.
The current order starting from Aśvinī along with their star count listed below, is an inherited order from around 1500 years ago. The order of the nakṣatra begins with Kṛttikā and ends with Revatī in more ancient texts.
Aśvinī 3 |
Bharaṇī 3 |
Kṛttikā 6 |
Rohiṇī 5 |
Mṛgaśiras 3 |
Ārdrā 1 |
Punarvasu 2 |
Puṣya 1 |
Aśleṣā 6 |
Maghā 6 |
Pūrva Phalgunī 2 |
Uttara Phalgunī 2 |
Hasta 5 |
Citrā 1 |
Svātī 1 |
Viśākhā 2 |
Anurādhā 4 |
Jyeṣṭhā 3 |
Mūla 4 |
Pūrva Aṣāḍhā 4 |
Uttara Aṣāḍhā 4 |
Śravaṇa 3 |
Śraviṣṭhā 4 |
Śatabhiṣā 1 |
Pūrva Bhādrapadā 2 |
Uttara Bhādrapadā 2 |
Revatī 1 |
The choice of the first nakṣatra to start the cycle contains information on the epoch and the convention for the year start.
There are texts that associate specific nakṣatras with the ṛtus - seasonal naḳsatras . Such seasonal naḳsatras also contain vital information on the epoch of the text.
In this Maghādi epoch day 1 of dakṣiṇāyana is at Maghā start.
Over 100's of years,
We see the start of Maghā nakṣatra on day 1 of dakṣiṇāyana in the chart above. This is true for a certain epoch. After about a 1000 years, the start of Maghā nakṣatra will be on day 14 of dakṣiṇāyana. Equivalently day 1 of dakṣiṇāyana will move to Āśleṣā start.
The precession is a slow process and takes about 25,800 years to complete one cycle. That is the sunrise point will return to the same nakṣatra/star for the same ṛtu after 25,800 years.
Precession causes the seasonal nakṣatras to drift with time. Many ancient text associate nakṣhatras with seasons - this association contains vital information on the epoch of the text.
The direction of precession is opposite to the direction of the sun's annual transit through the nakshatras. Incidentally the moon also transits through the nakṣatras in the same direction as the sun. The moon's transit through the nakṣatras is called the lunar month of about 27 days.
About every 1000 years the start of season move backwark by one naḳsatra. In addition the precession causes the pole star to change.
The following table/pictures shows the start of the spring equinox seasonal naḳsatra and the pole star for the last 5000 years.
Epoch | Spring Equinox | Dakṣiṇāyana | Uttaryāṇa | Pole Star | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Uttara Bhādrapadā | Ārdrā | Mūla | Polaris | |
1000 years ago | Revatī | Punarvasu | Pūrva Aṣāḍhā | - | |
2000 years ago | Aṡvinī | Puṣya | Uttara Aṣāḍhā | - | |
3000 years ago | Bharanī | Aśleṣā | Śravaṇa | - | |
4000 years ago | Kṛttikā | Maghā | Śraviṣṭhā | - | |
5000 years ago | Rohiṇī | Pūrva Phalgunī | Śatabhiṣā | Thuban |
Present Day |
5000 years ago |
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- $$\lambda = L' + \frac{\sum l}{1{,}000{,}000}; \beta = \frac{\sum b}{1{,}000{,}000}$$
$$\lambda = 218.3164477+481267.88123421T -0.0015786T^2$$ $$+ \frac{1}{538841}T^3 - \frac{1}{65194000}T^4 + \frac{\sum l}{1{,}000{,}000}$$
Computatonally, the alignment is found to be - when the visible kṛttikā and viśākhā are - *contained in their respective sectors* - when the equinoctial full moon at - ¾ viśākhā sector is - nearest to visible viśākhā
$$ \begin{aligned} \mathbb{B}_{epoch} &= \mathop{\arg \min}\limits_{ {epoch} {} \in -2500,500,50} \mathbb{E}_{epoch} \\ \mathbb{E}_{epoch} &= \frac{1}{27}{\sum_{न=1}^{27} \frac {\sum_{त=1}^{T_{न}} err_{न,त}} {T_{न}}} \\ err_{न,त} &= \begin{cases} 0, & \text{if {} $long_{न} \lt long_{त}< long_{न+1}$} \\ else & min(\bigl| long_{त} - long_{न}\big| , | long_{त} - long_{न+1}\big|) \end{cases} \end{aligned} $$
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|#|nakṣatra | day span | number of stars | cumulative stars | |-:|---:|:---:|:---|--| 1|Maghā | 1-14 | 6 | 6 2|Pūrva Phalgunī | 14-28 | 2 | 8 3|Uttara Phalgunī | 27-41 | 2 | 10 4|Hasta | 40-55 | 5 | 15 5|Citrā | 54-68 | 1 | 16 6|Svātī | 67-82 | 1 | 17 7|Viśākhā | 81-95 | 2 | 19 8|Anurādhā | 94-109| 4 | 23 9|Jyeṣṭhā |109-123| 3 | 26 10|Mūla |123-136| 6 | 32 11|Pūrva Aṣāḍhā |136-150| 4 | 36 12|Uttara Aṣāḍhā |150-163| 4 | 40 13|Śravaṇa |163-177| 3 | 43 14|Śraviṣṭhā |177-190| 4 | 47 15|Śatabhiṣā |190-204| 1 | 48 16|Pūrva Bhādrapadā |204-217| 2 | 50 17|Uttara Bhādrapadā|217-231| 2 | 52 18|Revatī |231-245| 1 | 53 19|Aśvinī |245-258| 3 | 56 20|Bharaṇī |258-272| 3 | 59 21|Kṛttikā |272-285| 6 | 65 22|Rohiṇī |285-299| 5 | 70 23|Mṛgaśiras |299-312| 3 | 73 24|Ārdrā |312-326| 1 | 74 25|Punarvasu |326-339| 2 | 76 26|Puṣya |339-353| 1 | 77 27|Aśleṣā |353-366| 6 | 83