History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.794

v6.c82.794

In the details about the theory of yugas, manvantaras and kalpas there are some divergences. A few may be pointed out Āryabhata appears to hold that the extent of each of the four yugas was the same and not in the traditional proportion of 4, 3, 2, 1, when he says that he was twenty-three years old when three *yugapādas* and 3600 years had elapsed (vide Kālakriyāpāda 10 quoted in note 995 above) Brahmagupta (I. 9) says¹⁰⁹⁴ that, though Āryabhata declared that the four pādas of yugas, viz. Kṛta and the others, were equal, not one of them was equal to what the smṛtis declare them to be There is another discrepancy also Āryabhata in his Daśagītikā verse 3 states that Manu is a period of 72 yugas, while all the smṛtis and purāṇas declare that a manvantara is equal to 71 yugas. Āryabhata appears to have held that the day of Brahmā is equal to 1008 catur yugas and Brahmagupta (I 12) refers to this view. The celebrated scientific astronomer Bhāskarācārya¹⁰⁹⁵ (born in śaka 1036, 1114 A D ) impatiently says ‘some say that half of the life of Brahmā (i. e 50 years) has passed away, while others say that half plus eight years has passed away Whatever the true tradition may be, it is of no use, since planetary positions are to be established from the days that have passed in the current day of Brahmā ’