A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in Perspective) c9.s10.5

c9.s10.5

Most of the texts on Praśna are anonymous. Among those whose authors, real or apocryphal, have been indicated are: Kerala-praśna-grantha and Kerala-granthodaharaṇa both by Mūladeva, Kerala-śastra, Kerala-praśna and Pāśaka-kerali, all by Garga, Kerali by Rāvaṇa, and Keraliya-praśnaratna by Nandarāma Paṇḍita. Of peculiar subjects dealt with are prognostication (1) on the basis of letters in the Akṣaracintāmaṇi section of Keralamata ascribed to Śiva, Keralapraśna or Keraliya-jñāna and Akṣarakevalipraśna, both anonymous; (2) on the basis of the throw of the dice in Kerala-pāśavalī of Garga and the two anonymous works Kerali-praśnavicāra and Keraliya-śakunāvalī; and (3) on the basis of arecanuts in *Keralapraśna* (anonymous, Mithila III. 180). Of works on natural astrology, a mention might be made of *Keralayātrā* on setting out on a journey, and *Keralī* on the throbbing of the limbs and on dreams, both anonymous, and *Keralī-śakuna*, on omens, the last being attributed to Vyāsa.