History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.963

v6.c81.963

*Grahaṇa* (eclipse, solar and lunar). Great importance was attached from very ancient times to eclipses. An extensive literature has accumulated on this subject. Vide among others Hemādri on Kāla 379-394, Kālaviveka 521-543, Kṛtyaratnākara 625-631, Kālanirṇaya 346-358, Varṣakriyākaumudī 90-117, Tithitattva 150-162, Kṛtyatattva 432-434, Nirṇayasindhu 61-76, SmK 69-80, Dharmasindhu 32-35, Gadādharapaddhati (Kālasāra) 588-599. A total eclipse of the Sun is referred to even in the Ṛgveda V 40.5, 6, 8 'O Sun! when Svarbhānu, the son of an asura, struck you with darkness. O Indra! when you struck down the wiles of Svarbhānu that existed below the heaven, Atri secured the Sun which had been concealed by darkness that deviated from the usual rule (or law) by means of the highest (or 4th) prayer' &c.⁶²¹ It is stated in the Śāṅkhāyana Brāhmaṇa (24 3) that the Atris performed the Saptadaśa-stoma three days before Viṣuvat and thereby smote the demon Svarbhānu that had pierced the sun with darkness i. e. the solar eclipse (in Ṛg. V. 40 5 ff.) took place three days before the autumnal Viṣuvat (equinox)