The Sūryasiddhānta is a complete work on Hindu astronomy and is more popular and widely studied in North India than in the South. In order to enhance its prestige and antiquity, it is stated in the text itself (1.29) that it had been communicated by a representative of the God Sun to Maya, several thousand years ago. However, both internal and external evidence show that the work was composed between AD 600 and 1000. In about 500 verses, distributed through 14 chapters, the work deals with all aspects of Hindu astronomy, and also cosmology, geography, astronomical instruments, and time‐reckoning. It follows the midnight day‐reckoning.
The contents of the work are comprehensive. Chapter I speaks about the circumstances that led to the composition of the work, the aeons and aeonary revolutions of the planets, the principles underlying the computation of the planets and the nodes, the position of the planets at the beginning of the current aeon, the Prime meridian and local time, and the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bag, A. K. Ahargana and Weekdays as per Modern Suryasiddhanta. Indian Journal of History of Science 36 (2001): 55–63.
Dikshit, S. B. Bharatiya Jyotish Sastra. (History of Indian Astronomy). Pt. II. Trans. R. V. Vaidya. Calcutta: Positional Astronomy Centre, India Meteorological Department, 1981.
Pingree, David. Jyotiḥśāstra: Astral and Mathematical Literature. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1981.
The Sūryasiddhānta: A Text‐book of Hindu Astronomy. Trans. Ebenezer Burgess. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1989.
The Sūryasiddhānta with the Commentary of Parameśvara. Ed. Kripa Shankar Shukla. Lucknow: Department of Mathematics and Astronomy, Lucknow University, 1957.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Sarma, K.V. (2008). Sūryasiddhānta. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9602
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9602
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4559-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4425-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law