History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.669
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.669
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It has already been shown how in Vedic works the year was denoted by several synonyms such as saṁvatsara, samā, varṣa. In the Nārada-saṁhitā¹⁰¹¹ it is said that there are nine kinds of reckonings of time, viz. Brāhma (of Brahmā), Daiva (of the gods), Mānusa (human), pitrya (of the Pitrs), Saura, Sāvana, Cāndra, Nākṣatra and Bārhaspatya, but that in ordinary wordly matters only five of these are employed. The Vedāṅga-jyotiṣa appears to refer to four when it says that in a *yuga* (of five years) there are 61 *sāvana* months, 62 lunar months, 67 nākṣatra months. Hemādri (*on Kāla*, p. 9) dwells on only three of these year reckonings, viz. cāndra, saura, and sāvana, while Mādhava (in Kālanirṇaya-kārikās 11-12) speaks of two more, viz Nākṣatra and Bārhaspatya. The Viṣṇudharmottara speaks of four (not mentioning Bārhaspatya). The three mentioned by Hemādri are those most employed in religious and civil matters, and dharmaśāstra works are specially concerned with them, while the other two are rarely referred to in the latter. A cāndra month¹⁰¹² is a time period from the end of one amāvāsyā (New Moon) to the next amāvāsyā and twelve such months make the cāndra year of 354 days It is also called a lunation. The length of a cāndra month varies from 29.246 to 29.817 days owing to the eccentricity of the moon's orbit and other causes and its average period is 29.53059 days. A saura month is the time taken by the sun to move through one sign of the zodiac;
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twelve such months constitute the solar year,¹⁰¹³ and the first day of a solar year is the first day of the Saura month, Meṣa. If the entry of the sun into the sign is in the day time then that day is the first day of the month. If the entry is in the night, the next day is the first day of the month. The time of entry of the sun into a rāśi differs from almanac to almanac and the result is that the entry may be before sunset in one almanac and after sunset in another Therefore, there may be the difference of one day as to the first day of the month. Owing to the adoption of different ayanāmśas and the difference in the length of the year, the Dṛk, Vākya and Siddhānta almanacs may differ about the first day of the year, about Pongal and other festivals. A Sāvana year is of 12 months of 30 days each, the day being counted from one sunrise to the next. A nākṣatra month is the time taken by the moon to pass through the 27 nakṣatras; the Bārhaspatya year is the time taken by Jupiter to pass through one sign of the zodiac (i. e about 361 days). According to modern astronomy, Jupiter takes 11.86 years (for its revolution round the sun). All these four or five divisions are not mentioned in early works and even in later days all these four divisions do not appear to have been fully utilised, though mentioned in astronomical and dharmaśāstra works. Kauṭilya provides that¹⁰¹⁴ the month for workmen is of thirty days and nights, the Saura month is one half day larger i. e.
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(30½ days in a month), the lunar month a half day less (i. e. 29½ days), the nākṣatra month is of 27 days, the intercalary month is of 32 days ( *or* occurs in the 32nd month?), the month is of 35 days (for the wages) of those who tend horses and of 40 days for those who are keepers of elephants. The month for workmen was of 30 days, but it need not have coincided with Full Moon or New Moon, while lunar months end with amāvāsyā or pūrṇimā. The Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta quoted by Utpala on Bṛhat-saṁhitā II 4 p 40 provides that from the saura reckoning one derives the extent of Yuga, the year, Viṣuvat, Ayana, seasons, the increase and decrease in the length of the day and night, from the cāndra the details about tithis, karaṇas, intercalary month or *kṣaya* month, all acts to be performed at night; from *sāvana* reckoning sacrifices, the *savanas* (the three soma libations) the motions of planets, fasts, impurities on birth and death, medical treatment, expiations and other religious rites Vide Viṣṇudharmottara I. 72. 26-27 for similar verses.