Bharatiya Jyotihshastra (History of Indian Astronomy), translated by R. V. Vaidya v2.c12.s5.5

v2.c12.s5.5

Europeans say that our people have no knowledge of observation, that our country lacks the tradition of taking observations, and that they have no instruments for taking them; and they put forth this plea as the main ground for their contention that the Hindus borrowed the science of astronomy from the Greeks. Certainly it cannot at all be said that our people have no liking for observing natural phenomena or that they have no such tendency. This has been proved on the basis of many things pointed out in Part One. Thus the 27 nakṣatras, were known to us even in the dim and distant past, the Vedic times. The Rigveda refers to Saptarṣi stars and the planets. The Yajurveda describes the 27 nakṣatras at great length. In addition to this, the author has pointed out allusions to the constellations known as the pair of divine dogs, the divine boat, and the Prajāpati controlling the nakṣatras. The Taittirīya Saṃhitā narrates a lengthy story about the extreme love of the Moon for Rohiṇī, and the origin of the story is found in the phenomena of the Moon’s close conjunction with the star Aldebaran, and the latter’s occultation by the Moon, which occurs repeatedly in a period of six years out of every nineteen. The Āśwalāyansūtras allude to Dhruva and Arundhati. We know of the phenomenon of saturn splitting the car of Rohiṇī 7000 years ago. The Mahābhārata abounds in the description of planets, comets and stars, and the instances have already been cited before. Even the Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki refers to the planets and stars at many places. Clusters of stars are mentioned in the Yājñavalkya Smṛti. Our liking for the observation of phenomena becomes evident from these several references occurring in works which are not purely astronomical. Again, there is no doubt that some at least out of the saṃhitās compiled by Garga and others belong to a period prior to that in which our astronomical system was firmly established. They mainly deal with the question of “grahacāra” i.e. the movements of planets through the nakṣatras. Varāha Mihira has in a long chapter entitled Ketucāra described a good many comets. In the beginning of the chapter, he observes,‘ गार्ग्यं शिखिचारं पाराशरमसितदेवलकृतं च ।। अन्यांश्च बहून् दृष्ट्वा क्रियतेयमनाकुलचारः which means that he was describing the comets on the basis of the descriptions given by Garga, Parāśara, Asit, Deval, and many other sages. The author is giving below some of the quotations from Parāśara and others, cited by Bhaṭotpala in his commentary on the above verse :—