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 c30: Chapter XXIV. Use of Table VIII

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 c30

Language: English

Chapter XXIV. Use of Table VIII

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213. Table VIII is a very comprehensive as well as a very useful table. It is designed to convey some very useful information by itself and taken with Tables VI and VII, it enables us to take the first and most important step in calculating tithis, that is, to ascertain the exact mean ending moment of a tithi in any year, past, present or future.

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Let us interpret the table, taking the entries for a particular day, say the 340th day of the solar year, A.D. 1908 (Kaliyuga 5009).

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214. Column 1. "Week day 4", i.e., if the first day of the year was 1, the 340th day of the year would be the 4th day of the week, i.e., an addition of 3; the first day of the year being 4, Wednesday, the 340th day would be 3 + 4 = Saturday.

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215. Column 2. "Days reckoned from Jan. 1: 5, 6 Decr." and there is the following footnote: "When two dates are given in any of these columns, use the first in a leap year: otherwise use the second".

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The meaning of these entries is that the 340th day of the English Calendar year, reckoned from 1 January, is 5 December if it was a leap year, otherwise it would be the 6 December. By the expression "if it was a leap year", we mean, "if in the course of reckoning we have had to pass a 29th February".

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The entry in this column is meant to be of use only with reference to the English Calendar. If we want to know, for instance, how many days there are between 15 March and 23 Oct. we take the corresponding figures from col. 2 of Table VIII, i.e., 74 and 296, and we know the interval to be 222 days. We should always remember that the meaning of such problems and their solution is: "From a particular hour on 15th March to the same hour on 23rd Oct. there are 222 whole days". (Vide note prefixed to Sec. 128.)

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216. Column 3. The third column means: "The 3rd Feb. is the 340th day reckoned from 1 March". This column is useful for ascertaining the A.D. equivalent of dates in Indian Solar Years which began in March, i.e., up to and inclusive of expired Kaliyuga 4853, A.D. 1752, see the examples in Sections 142, 180 and elsewhere, and rules in Sec. 144.

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217. Column 4. The fourth column means: "The 5th March is the 340th day reckoned from 1st April, if we have passed 29th February in our reckoning: otherwise the 340th day reckoned from 1st April is the 6th March of the following year". This column is useful in ascertaining the A.D. equivalent of days in solar years, subsequent to A.D. 1752. See examples worked out in Chapters VI, VII and elsewhere.

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218. Column 5. The fifth column means:—

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"The 340th day of the Hindu Solar Year is, more or less, the 6th Panguni (Tamil), the 6th Meenam (Malabar) or the 6th Chaitra (Bengal Solar)". We say "more or less", because if we want to know exactly what day in the solar year corresponds to 6th Panguni, 6th Meenam, or 6th solar Chaitra, we should first of all determine the beginning of these months, according to (1) the moment of Sankrânti, and (2) the rule of practice followed in the respective provinces. See examples worked out in Sec. 181 and elsewhere.

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In the present case, supposing we are concerned with the Solar Year 5011 Kaliyuga, A.D. 1910 the year began as follows:—

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According to the rule followed in Malabar and the Tamil country, the month begins on the same day on which the Sankrânti occurs, if the Sankrânti occurred before ·50 of a day. [Sec. 144 (3)]. Therefore the 1st Panguni or 1st Meenam in the year, expired Kaliyuga 5011, was the 335th day of the Solar year and the 340th day would be the 6th Panguni or 6th Meenam.

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In Bengal the month begins the day after Sankrânti, if the Sankrânti is before ·75 of the day. Therefore in Bengal the first Chaitra in the Solar year K.Y. 5011 (expired) will be the 336th day of the Solar year and the 340th day of the Solar year will only be the 5th Chaitra.

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219. Column 6. The 6th column is the central column of the whole Table. The figure 340 in the present case is the guide in using the other columns.

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220. Column 7. The 7th column should be read with the 8th. The two columns mean; "In a year where there is no adhika mâsa, the 1st tithi of the dark fortnight (indicated by dark figures) of Chaitra, which is called bahula prathamâ or badi 1, ends on the 340th day of the Lunar Year at ·5861 of the day". If we find out the beginning of the lunar year, which we can do from Tables VI and VII, or Tab. X, all we have to do is to add to it the ending moment of a tithi, as given in Table VIII, and then we know the day and fraction of day of the Solar Year or of the English Calendar year, when the mean tithi ends. Examples of this process are given throughout the work. If there has been an adhika mâsa during the year, which we can ascertain from Table X or XII, the tithi is advanced one month.

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221. Thus, supposing we want the 3rd bahula tithi of Mâgha in expired K. Y. 5010 (A.D. 1909) when there was an adhika Śrâvana, we proceed as follows:—

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Our mean tithi, Māgha bahula tṛitīyā, ended on the 321st day of the Solar Year at ·2479 of the day or on the 333rd day of the English Calendar year, reckoned from 1st April (i.e., 27 Feb. 1910) at ·2479 of the day.

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222. Column 8. The 8th column, as we have just seen, gives the order of tithis in each lunar month, beginning with the bright fortnight (light figures) and ending with the dark fortnight (heavy figures).

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223. Column 9. The 9th column gives the moon's anomaly at the ending moment of each tithi. The figure in this column should be added to the moon's anomaly at the moment of the first new moon in the solar year. The moon's anomaly at the first new moon in the solar year is given in the appropriate column of Table X. Tables VI and VII combined give only the moon's anomaly at the commencement of the solar year and if we are using Tables VI and VII to determine the moon's anomaly, we should take care to add the interval *between the commencement of the solar year and the first new moon in the solar year*. Thus, suppose we want the exact ending moment of the 12th tithi of the bright fortnight of Āshāḍha in the year A.D. 484 (K.Y. 3585 expired) and we wish to use Tables VI, VII, and VIII; we proceed as follows:—

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| | Commencement of Solar year. | First new moon in solar year. | Moon's anomaly. |
| (Table VI) A.D. 400 | Mr. 17·4857 | 23·8447 d. | 21·748 d. |
| (Table V) *Add for 84 years.* | ·7355 | 0·5453 | 13·466 |
| | Mr. 18·2212 | 24·3900 | 35·214 |
| *Add interval between commencement of solar year and first new moon in solar year* | .. | .. | 24·390 |
| | | | 59·604 |
| *Deduct two whole anomalistic months (Table II)* | ... | ... | 55·109 |
| | | | 4·495 |
| *Add (from Table VIII), for ending moment of Āshāḍha Sudi 12 (no Adhika masa)* | ... | 70·8734 | 15·764 |
| | | 95·2634 | 20·259 |
| ☉'s Eqn. for 95·26 days (Table IX-c) : −·0455 * | | | −·045 |
| ☽'s Eqn. for 20·214 days (Table IX-b) : +·4138 | | | 20·214 |
| | +·3683 | +·3683 | |
| *Add commencement of solar year A.D. 484* | March 18 ·2212 | | |
| | March 113·8529 days | | |

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reckoned from 1 Mr. A. D. 484, etc., as in Sec. 260 infra.

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224. Column 10. The tenth and last column gives the sun's sidereal longitude for Nakshatras and Yogas: that is, it gives the sun's longitude by putting 365·25875 days = 29°5306.

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∗ If we re-calculated the ☉'s eqn. for ☉'s anom. of 95·26+·37 (☽'s + ☉'s eqns.), we shall find it to be− ·0466 which is the ☉'s eqn. adopted by Prof. Jacobi in Vol. I, Ep. Ind. We have noted however in Sec. 212 supra, as well as in Sec. 260 infra, that this is a refinement seldom required in practice.

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The method of using this column is explained in the chapters of the Text, headed "Nakshatras" and "Yogas" and also under "Use of the Tables", vide Sections 36, 49, 185, etc.

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This column gives the sun's longitude for whole days: for fractions of days, when necessary, we should add the equivalent from Table V (last column). The use of this column is not necessary if we prefer to take the Sun's longitude in degrees from Tables XVII-A and XVII-C. See examples in Secs. 186, 287 and elsewhere.