Jyotihshastra: Astral and Mathematical Literature c8.6

c8.6

The earliest work that we know to have been devoted to muhūrta was the Ratnakośa composed by Lalla in, probably, the eighth century. Though a few fragmentary manuscripts of this work survive, and there are numerous quotations from it in later commentaries and nibandhas, its contents are not yet clear. However, Śrīpati, who wrote his Jyotiṣaratnamālā³ at Rohiṇikhaṇḍa in about 1050, claims to base a large part of it on the Ratnakośa. The contents of Śrīpati’s work are: saṃvatsara (1) or the sixty-year cycle of Jupiter; the characteristics of tithis (2), week-days (3), yogas (4), karaṇas (5), nakṣatras (6), and muhūrtas (7); the upagrahas (8); the Sun’s entry into the zodiacal signs (saṅkrānti; 9); planetary transits (gocara; 10; cf. BS 103); the influence of the Moon (11) and of the ascendant (12); the saṃskāras (13); laying the sacred fire (14); the consecration of the king (15); military expeditions (yātrā; 16); marriage (vivāha; 17); building (vāstu; 18); entering the house (19); wearing clothes (20); and installing images of the gods (21). This became the standard arrangement for a pure muhūrta text; as usual, while the details of the interpretations of phenomena may vary, and while the methods employed tend to become increasingly elaborate, the basic structure of muhūrta, like those of the other sciences we have investigated in this volume, tended to remain unchanged. Śrīpati wrote his own Marāṭhī commentary on the JRM.⁴ Of the Sanskrit commentaries the grandest is the vivṛti completed by Mahādeva, Āmarāja's nephew, in Gujarāt in 1264; it is especially valuable for its numerous citations of jyotiṣa, dharma, purāṇa, and other types of texts. Other commentaries were composed by Dāmodara⁵ (Bālāvabodha); Paramakāruṇika⁶ (Bālabodhinī in Gujarātī or Rājasthānī; the earliest dated manuscript was copied in 1636); and Vaijā Paṇḍita (the earliest dated manuscript was copied in 1493).