Bharatiya Jyotihshastra (History of Indian Astronomy), translated by R. V. Vaidya v2.c12.s5.9.2

v2.c12.s5.9.2

Corrections recommended by different astronomers to be applied to the mean places of planets have been given before at several places. It is evident that these could not have been devised at random. Keśava, for one has described the observations actually taken by him (page 129). KAMALĀKARA the author of Siddhāntatattvaviveka has declared that the pole star has a shifting motion. Even in these days we come across persons who have a liking for observing things. One finds several persons who can correctly point out the planets and several stars even though they have not studied astronomy. Thus two persons who had absolutely no knowledge of English, Sanskrit and astronomy once casually told that the pole star is not stationary ; and one of them was very fond of observing stars, risings and settings of planets and their conjunctions, and he was very helpful to the author. Once a Vaidic Brāhmaṇa named Pādhye, a resident of Āgāśī, casually met the author in Poona in Śaka 1809. He had not studied any system of astronomy. Still, he chanced to state that, while most of the stars moved from east to west, some stars (those near the North Pole) move in a reverse direction, that is from west to east ; and he told that he came to know of it from his brother Nārāyaṇa Janārdan Pādhye. That brother died in Śaka 1795. At that time he was about 22 years old. He was surprisingly intelligent. There may be several such people living. The experiences related here may appear very trivial to some ;