The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c6.54.4

c6.54.4

Bhâskarâchârya could give no satisfactory solution of the difficulty, and asks his readers to reconcile the conflicting statements on the supposition that the doctrine may be regarded as referring to "judicial astrology and the fruits it foretells."* Had Bhâskarâchârya however known that the word uttarâyana was sometimes used for devayâna to denote the passage of the sun from the vernal to the autumnal equinox, I am sure, he would not have asked us to be satisfied with the lame explanation that the doctrine of the Sanhitâ-writers need not be mathematically correct as it refers exclusively to judicial astrology. It is difficult to say whether the ancient Aryas ever lived so near the north pole as to be aware of the existence of a day extending over at least two or three if not six months of the year. But the idea that the day of the Devas commences when the sun passes to the north of the equator, appears to be an old one. In the Taittirîya Brâhmaṇa iii. 9. 22. 1.