History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.61

v6.c82.61

Before proceeding further clarification is required on certain points. At least several centuries before Christ Jyotiṣa had attained the position of being one of the six *aṅgas* (auxiliary studies) of the Veda The Muṇḍakopaniṣad⁶⁸⁵ states that the *aparā vidyā* (inferior exoteric knowledge) comprises Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaveda, Śikṣā (Phonetics), Kalpa (ritual texts), Vyākaraṇa (grammar), Nirukta (Etymology), Chandas (metrics) and Jyotiṣa (astronomy and mathematics). The Āpastamba-dharmasūtra enumerates the same six aṅgas of the Veda In the Pāṇinīya Śikṣā⁶⁸⁶ the science of the movements of heavenly bodies is said to be the eye of the Veda. The Jyotiṣa which is Vedāṅga (of the Ṛgveda and Yajurveda) was concerned with purely astronomical matters. In the Vedāṅga-Jyotiṣa⁶⁸⁷ it is remarked 'the Vedas arose for the purpose of (use in) sacrifices; sacrifices are enjoined according to the order of times; therefore he who knows Jyotiṣa which is the science laying down the (proper) times knows sacrifices. Just as a tuft of hair stands on the head of peacocks or a jewel (in the heads) of cobras, so *gaṇita* (astronomical calculations) stand at the head of all the sciences that are (spoken of as) Vedāṅgas'. This shows that the words Jyotiṣa and *gaṇita* are used as synonyms in the Vedāṅga-jyotiṣa The Vṛddha-vāsiṣṭhasiddhānta (Benares S. Series) says 'this śāstra is indeed the eye of the Veda, therefore, among the *aṅgas* (limbs, subsidiary lores of Veda) it has got pre-eminence; a man endowed with all other limbs and therefore appearing to be perfect is worth nothing, if he is devoid of eyes' Gradually, however, Jyotiṣa came to include three distinct branches (*skandhas*) viz the determination of the motions of planets by means of calculations which was called Tantra, the second called *horā* that deals with horoscopes and (was also called *jātaka*) and the third called Śākhā which was an extensive branch and included many topics of divination which are summarised in Br. S. chap. II. A work embodying complete presentation of the three branches was called *saṃhitā*⁶⁸⁸ and he who well knew the three branches, viz Gaṇita, Horā and Śākhā was called, as Garga says, 'Saṃhitāpāraga' (master of saṃhitā). Varāhamihira⁶⁸⁹ himself tells us in the Bṛhaj-jātaka, that, for the benefit of astrologers, he compiled a comprehensive work on Jyotiṣa in its three branches The word Saṃhitā appears to have been used in two senses, the first⁶⁹⁰ (a wider sense) referring to a complete presentation of Gaṇita, Horā and Śākhā, while the second (a narrower sense) refers only to the Śākhā part Why the third branch was called śākhā is not satisfactorily explained anywhere. It was so called probably because it had to deal with numerous circumstances, such as the fruits of the simple and retrograde movements of planets; the movements of Agastya (Canopus) and *saptarṣis* (Ursa Major), the conjunctions and oppositions of planets, haloes, meteors. earthquakes, lore about the movements and cries of birds, *nīrājana*, removal of the evil effects of *utpātas*. In this sense saṃhitā was what is called *natural astrology*. Horā again had three sub-sections, viz. *jātaka* or *janma* (judicial astrology, predictions from the situations of the zodiacal signs and planets at a person's birth), Yātrā or Yātrika (Bṛhaj-jātaka 28.4-5) that dealt with prognostications on starting on a journey or on a king's marching against an enemy derived from the tithi, nakṣatra, the week-day, the muhūrta, the moon's position, dreams, throbbing of limbs, the cries of birds, and *vivāha* i. e examining the horoscopes of the parties to a marriage (called Vivāhakāla or Vivāhapaṭala).