[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Science, technology and education](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science) › [Jyotihshastra: Astral and Mathematical Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.pingree-1981) › c4.5 # Jyotihshastra: Astral and Mathematical Literature c4.5 Jyotiḥśāstra: Astral and Mathematical Literature c4.5 - **Language:** English ### [c4.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.pingree-1981.c4.5) This purpose shifted somewhat later on when it was no longer as important to decide when Vedic sacrifices should take place as it was to fix the proper moments (\*muhūrta\*) for performing the \*saṃskāras\* and to compute the calendar (\*pañcāṅga\*) which indicated festivals, auspicious and inauspicious times (\*tithis\*, \*yogas\*, or \*karaṇas\*), entries of the Sun into zodiacal signs (\*saṅkrāntis\*), eclipses (\*grahaṇas\*), and the like. Another motive for the development of astronomy in India, at least after the second century A.D., was the need to compute with reasonable accuracy the positions of the planets for the purpose of casting horoscopes. And a final goal of the astronomers, though only to a slight degree realized, was the application of this science to geographical problems. Such practical aims, of course, must often have been secondary to individuals whose primary motivation was intellectual curiosity. - [Previous: c4.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.pingree-1981.c4.4) - [Next: c4.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.pingree-1981.c4.6) - [Up: c4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.pingree-1981.c4) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.pingree-1981.c4.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.pingree-1981.c4.5) · Pramāṇa