A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in Perspective) c10.s8.136

c10.s8.136

This author was a Nampūtiri who hailed from Mūkkola (Skt. Muktisthala) in North Malabar. He refers, in his works, to Nārāyaṇa, his teacher on Jyotiṣa, and to his patron, the Zamorin of Kozhikode. In his *Mantrasāra*, he says that the name of his house was ‘Rājakula’ (Mal. ? ) and that he imbibed his knowledge in *mantraśāstra* from Dāmodara, son of Nīlakaṇṭha of the Bhāradvāja-gotra, who belonged to Kuṇḍapura (Mal. Tṛkkaṇṭiyūr).³ He wrote, on natural astrology, the *Sāmudrasāra*, called also *Aruḍhapraśna* and *Lāñchana-śastra*, a comprehensive work which dealt with omens, palmistry, astrological query etc. He is the author also of another work, in Malayalam *maṇipravāla* verses, tentatively entitled *Ayuḥpraśna*, but dealing, besides *Ayus*, with *Aṣṭamaṅgala*, *triṣphuṭa*, *viṣṭi* etc.⁴