Indian Chronology (Solar, Lunar and Planetary): A Practical Guide to the Interpretation and Verification of Tithis, Nakshatras, Horoscopes and other Indian Time-records, B.C. 1 to A.D. 2000 c18: Chapter XIII. Jovian Cycles, Years, and Months
Indian Chronology (Solar, Lunar and Planetary): A Practical Guide to the Interpretation and Verification of Tithis, Nakshatras, Horoscopes and other Indian Time-records, B.C. 1 to A.D. 2000 c18
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Chapter XIII. Jovian Cycles, Years, and Months
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JOVIAN CYCLES, YEARS, AND MONTHS. [Note.—For the calculation of the mean period of a Jovian year, see sec. 230 infra.]
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97. A Jupiter's cycle of 60 Jovian years is often met with in Indian chronology as a mode of reckong time. Each of the years in the cycle receives a name corresponding to the name of one of the years in Table I, but while the so-called Jupiter's cycle in Table I, as used to this day in Southern India, is merely a cycle of 60 Indian solar years, the Jupiter's cycle, properly so called, which has been in use in Northern India and which is given in Table XIV, is a cycle of real Jovian years, calculated by means of the multiplication tables in Table V and the following table for centuries.
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| Kaliyuga. | Christian Era. | Jupiter's Samvat (with bija). | Kaliyuga. | A.D. | Jupiter's Samvat (with bija). |
| 3001 | B.C. 101 | 36·1117 | 4101 | 1000 | 8·9817 |
| 3101 | B.C. 1 | 17·2817 | 4201 | 1100 | 50·1517 |
| 3201 | A.D. 100 | 58·4517 | 4301 | 1200 | 31·3217 |
| 3301 | 200 | 39·6217 | 4401 | 1300 | 12·4917 |
| 3401 | 300 | 20·7917 | 4501 | 1400 | 58·6617 |
| 3501 | 400 | 1·9617 | 4601 | 1500 | 34·8317 |
| 3601 | 500 | 43·1317 | 4701 | 1600 | 15·9917 |
| 3701 | 600 | 24·3017 | 4801 | 1700 | 57·1717 |
| 3801 | 700 | 5·4717 | 4901 | 1800 | 38·3417 |
| 3901 | 800 | 46·6417 | 5001 | 1900 | 19·5117 |
| 4001 | 900 | 27·8117 | 5101 | 2000 | 0·6817 |
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98. We shall take an example of a Jupiter's Samvat and show how it is calculated. The Date of a Sanskrit Manuscript is given by its author as "Saka 1396, (Vikrama) Samvat 1531, year *Subhakrit*, Kārttika Sudi 9, after Dakshināyana on Wednesday, Dhanishtha Nakshatra, Vriddhi yoga, Kaulava karana, the moon in Kumbha" (*Indian Antiquary*, XIX, p. 27). For the Nakshatra, Yoga, Karana and Zodiacal Sign in this case, see sec. 266, infra.
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We first calculate the tithi in the usual way:— By Table X the Kārttika New Moon of Vikrama 1531 (A.D. 1474), was
(2) Monday, October 10·85
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| ☽'s Equation + ·20 | | ☉'s Anomaly | ☽'s Anomaly |
| ☉'s Equation - ·15 | | 20·27 | 4·559 |
| | | 177·18 | 11·856 |
| + ·05 | | 8·86 | 8·86 |
| | Add for 9 tithis | 8·86 | | 25·275 |
| | Equation | + ·05 | | ☉'s Eqn. - ·15 |
| (4) Wednesday, Oct. | 19·76 | 206·31 | | 25·12 |
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We have now to find the equivalent in Jupiter's cycle of the 206·31 days of the solar year A.D. 1474.
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| Equivalent of A.D. 1400 (by above table) | 53·6617 |
| " 74 years (Table V) Jupiter's Samvat | 14·8658 |
| " 200 days ( do. ) | ·5540 |
| " 6 days ( do. ) | ·0166 |
| | 69·0981 |
| Deduct completed cycle | 60 |
| | 9·0981 |
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That is, No. 9 of Jupiter's cycle (according to Table XIV) *i.e.*, *Subhakrit* had expired on the day in question of the solar year.
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99. The year of Jupiter's cycle, ordinarily quoted in N. India, is that which was completed at the *beginning* of the solar year, and in this case inasmuch as only ·098 of the Jovian year, *i.e.*, only 36 days, had elapsed since the beginning of *Subhakrit* up to the 206th day of the solar year, the previous Jovian year, *Plava*, must have been current at the beginning of the solar year A.D. 1474. When the Jovian year quoted is only that which had been completed at the beginning of the solar year, all we have to do is to calculate the Jovian year for the *integral* solar year we are dealing with or, which is much simpler, read off the corresponding year of Jupiter's cycle from Table XIV.
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100. Altogether, we see there are three meanings which might be attached to the citation of a year of Jupiter's cycle:—
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(1) A year of the southern cycle (Table I), which is merely a solar year with a Jovian name.
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(2) A year of the northern cycle (Table XIV), which is the Jovian year actually completed at the beginning of a solar year.
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(3) A year of the northern cycle (Table XIV), being the Jovian year actually completed at the actual moment we are dealing with.
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The context alone must enable us to conjecture which of these meanings is to be attached to a citation of a Jovian year.
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101. Also, where the second of the modes of citation is followed, it is evident that if any other Jovian year has had its beginning as well as its end in the course of a solar year, that Jovian year will be *kshaya* or suppressed.
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Hence it is that certain Jovian years are actually suppressed in the northern system of reckoning. The suppressed years are shown by blanks (......) in Table XIV.
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For instance, the Jovian equivalent of A.D. 1514 (solar year) is 34·8317 + 14·1638 48·9955
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And the Jovian equivalent the next year, of A.D. 1515* (solar year) is 34·8817 + 15·1755 = 50·0072. That is, the 48th Jovian year, Vrisha was current † at the beginning of Solar Year A.D. 1514* and the 50th Jovian year (Subhanu), was current † at the beginning of Solar Year A.D. 1515*. Therefore the 49th Jovian year Chitrabhanu which was not used in this particular cycle of 60 years, was kshaya or suppressed. Of course there would be no suppression of a Jovian year if the third mode of citation was always used: but it is evident that the third mode, which requires an exact knowledge of the actual beginning and end of a Jovian year and which might be used by an author, would not be in popular use.
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† The Jovian year current at a particular moment is, as the reader will have observed from the example already given, the Jovian year actually completed at that moment, omitting fractions. As no other Jovian year is ever referred to in the northern system, we need not be careful to distinguish between expired and current Jovian years, but may use the expressions as synonymous.
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102. *Fourth Mode of Citation (4).* There is a fourth mode of citation of Jovian years which we often find in Malayalam inscriptions, and that is to cite, instead of one year out of every sixty, one year out of every twelve. In twelve Jovian years the planet Jupiter passes through the twelve signs of the zodiac and each sign corresponds to one of the twelve years of Jupiter's revolution. In the above case Jupiter having completed 9 Jovian years ‡ would be described as being in the 10th sign of the zodiac, i.e., Makara (Eye-table.)
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‡ "Jovian year" does not mean the period of revolution of Jupiter's orbit (which is a little less than 12 solar years) but one-twelfth of that period, which is roughly equivalent to a solar year.
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103. *Fifth Mode of Citation (5).* In this the 12 Jovian years receive the names of the 12 lunar months, Kârttika being the first and Asvina the 12th. The Jovian years § (properly, months) are distinguished from lunar months by the prefix Mahâ. Thus, Mahâ-Kârttika, Mahâ-Mârgaśîra, etc. In the example in sec. 98, Jupiter was in Mahâ-Srâvana.
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104. *Sixth Mode of Citation (6).* This is the heliacal rising system, in which the Jovian cycle begins with the heliacal rising of Jupiter, i.e., his re-appearance after a conjunction with the sun. The system is exhaustively dealt with by Mr. Dikshit in his introduction to Vol. III of Dr. Fleet's *Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum*, and all the citations of this kind, hitherto found in inscriptions, are there collected.
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105. Readers in Southern India will be mainly interested in the 1st and 4th modes of citation, of which the latter is otherwise called the "mean-sign system" § and which is met with in Travancore inscriptions, e.g., those discussed by Dr. Schram in *Indian Antiquary* Vol. XXV (1896), pp. 9—11; and by Professor Kielhorn at pp. 53, 174. *Ibid.*
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§ In Part IV. of this book on Planetary Chronology, the reader will find a direct method of calculating either the mean or the actual sign or rasi occupied by Jupiter at any moment. (See Sec. 288).
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We shall cite an example: "Kollam 389, Jupiter in Kumbha, and the Sun 18 days old in Mîna, THURSDAY, Pushya Nakshatra, 10th Lunar day".
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Kollam 389 is equivalent, as we shall see in sec. 112 *infra* to A.D. 389 + 825 = A.D. 1214 (Indian Solar Year).
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We might calculate the day of the solar year in one of two ways, either by taking the equivalent of the solar date from Table VIII or the Eye-table or by calculating the solar date of the tithi. The first is the simpler method and it gives us 335 + 18 = 353 days.
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∗ For convenience of reference, we use the expressions "Solar Year A.D. 1514" to mean "the Indian Solar Year which began in A.D. 1514, i.e., Saka 1436=Vikrama 1571=Kaliyuga 4615, which began in March, A.D. 1514".
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The Jovian equivalent of 1214 A.D. is 31·3217 + 14·1638 = 45·4855 (Sec. 98.) 350 days is (35 days × 10) = ·9694 Table V. 3 " " = ·0083 do. 46·4632
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Dividing the total equivalent by 12, we have as remainder 10·4632, *i.e.*, Jupiter has left the 10th sign and is in the 11th, *i.e.*, Kumbha (4th mode of citation). Or, we can calculate Jupiter's mean sign for 353 days of A.D. 1214 direct from Table XVII (pp. 202, 203), thus : 220·10° + 64·86° + 29·33° = 314·29°, *i.e.*, (by Eye-Table) Jupiter was in Kumbha.
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106. The equivalent in the Northern Cycle of the 46th Jovian year is (by Table XIV) *Pramathin* (3rd mode of citation), while the Southern Cycle (1st mode of citation) the Jovian name for the solar year A.D. 1214 is (by Table I) *Bhava*. The Jovian year (Northern System) current at the beginning of the solar year A.D. 1214 was No. 45 *Bahudhanya*, which would be cited in cases where the 2nd mode of citation was in use.