This is an article series. Please read all previous articles before reading this article. The URLs for all previous articles are located in the SPECIAL THOUGHTS section.
Previously, on the topic of Vedic time measurement, we learnt about the Vedic solar calendar. This is also referred to as Sauramaana. Let’s learn some aspects of the Vedic time measurement based on the movement of the Moon. This is referred to as Chaandramaana.
As per the information available on the internet, the Moon takes 27.3 days to completion 1 revolution around the Earth. But, since the Earth revolves around the Sun, it appears as though the Moon takes 29.5 days to complete 1 revolution around the Earth, which is rounded up to 30 days. A full revolution is basically 360 Degrees. So, each day the Moon moves by an angle 360/30 = 12 Degrees relative to the Earth. The duration taken by the Moon to traverse 12 Degrees is referred to as “Tithi”. So, the duration to traverse the 1st 12 degrees is called “Prathamaa Tithi”. Likewise, the duration to traverse the next 12 degrees is called “Prathamaa Tithi”. Subsequent Tithi-s are called “Truteeyaa”, and so on. I encourage the readers to look up the names of all Tithi-s on the internet. The duration taken to traverse once around the Earth is referred to as Chaandramaana Maasa.
Anuvatsara
Further, with 29.5 days per revolution, it takes 354 days for 12 revolutions around the Earth. But it takes the Earth 365 days to go around the Sun once. This leaves a difference about 11 days per year. In other words, for each solar year… the Lunar year falls behind the Solar year by about 11 days. And in approximately 33 revolutions, the Lunar year falls behind the Solar year by 30 days. Therefore, a correction faction needs to be added to bring the Lunar year on par with the Solar year. This is similar to adding 1 extra day in the month of February in Leap Years. So, this extra month (or sort of the Leap Month) is referred to as “Adhika Maasa”. Thus, since the Lunar year requires a correction faction (leap month) to be on par with the Solar year, the Solar year is referred to as Samvatsara and the Lunar year is referred to Anuvatsara (the prefix “Anu” referring to the Lunar year being the follower of the Solar year).
Raashi and Nakshatra
Previously, we had learnt that to comprehend the position of the Earth in its current revolution around the Sun, the astronomers take the Raashi-s into account 12 Raashi-s. But we didn’t get to the actual definition of Raashi. In a clock, we see the hour needle and the minute needle and the 12 Hour-Markers arranged in a circle. Similarly, as seen from the Earth, the Sun is like the “Month Needle”, the Moon is like the “Day Needle” and the Raashi-s are like the 12 Month-Markers.
So, what is a Raashi? The astronomers took 27 Nakshatra-s as reference points. The names of the 27 Nakshatra-s are mentioned in the table below. The time taken to traverse through each Nakshatra is split into 4 Paada-s (quarters). For example, thus, there are 27X4=108 Nakshatra Paada-s. And 108/12=9 Nakshatra Paada-s comprise a Raashi.
Below are the Nakshatra Paada-s that make up each Raashi:
Thus, as per Chaandramaana, the 5 factors specific to any particular are Tithi, Nakshatra, Yoga, Karana (half Tithi), and Vaara (the day of the week). The actual definition of the word Panchanga comes from these 5 factors. Among these, I don’t quite comprehend the term “Yoga”. I’ve tried to understand through internet search, but I haven’t quite been able to comprehend it. I encourage the readers to seek a qualified scholar and learn about it. I will gladly elaborate on it in the future, if and when I’m able to understand more about it.
Mathematical models
As you can see from the explanations above, there are lots of astronomical factors to be taken into account in the computation of time. A mathematician of great popularity, by name Aaryabhata, came up with a mathematical model to compute the Sankraanti, Tithi, Nakshatra, Vaara, Yoga, Karana and all pertinent details. His student by name Laatadeva is said to have compiled a composite work of many authors and thus, he came up with another treatise referred to as the Soorya Siddhaanta. This is perhaps the most popular mathematical model being followed by the authors of Panchaanga even today. According to the Soorya Siddhaanta, the parameters are computable… but the actual calibration and verification of the accuracy of all computed parameters needs to happen on the day of the eclipse. In other words, the day and time of the eclipse is computed (or predicted) using the Soorya Siddhaanta, but does the eclipse actually happen on the predicted day at the predicted time? If it does not, which is usually the case, the difference between the actual time and computed time is applied to correct all future computations.
As you can imagine, the computations of the Vedic timeline are quite complicated and are beyond the means of common people. Therefore, they rely on scholars who have been trained in these mathematical computations. Usually, these scholars are employed by Matha-s, and the Panchaanga written by the scholars are published by the Matha-s as their offering to the general public. Each scholar uses a different mathematical model, though the most popular is the Soorya Siddhaanta. Thus, each Matha all across Bhaarat and around the world are publishing their own Panchaanga. This has led to such a huge problem today that… there is no common ground among Hindu-s for Panchaanga.
A few centuries later, a great scholar by the name Shree Madhwaachaarya (will elaborate on him in the future) composed another mathematical model referred to as “Tithi Nirnaya”. Since all of Shree Madhwaachaarya’s works were composed with an intent to clear misinformation and confusion in the prevalent and popularly followed line of thought, it would be fair to say that he composed “Tithi Nirnaya” too to address the issues with computational inaccuracies in Soorya Siddhaanta and other prevalent astronomical prediction models. Unfortunately, this didn’t become popular despite the computational accuracy, the kind gesture and the most compassionate intent of Shree Madhwaachaarya. However, based on what I learnt recently, 4 Matha-s in the coastal town of Udupi have been using “Tithi Nirnaya” to create Panchaanga for the past 20 years.
However, the question is… Why do we need to compute the pertinent astronomical details and validate it on the day of the eclipse at all? Why look at the astronomical bodies only on eclipse? Why can we not look them up every day? This way, there is no need to check on the day of the eclipse as to how much the computation was off by… but instead, all parameters will have accurate values every day. This line of thought led to the evolution of something called Drik Ganita. The word “Drik” refers to “seeing”. So, “Drik Ganita” refers to an almanac based on actual viewing of the astronomical bodies. And the Panchaanga, which employs Drik Ganita, is referred to as Drik Panchaanga. This is by far the most accurate way of timekeeping.
Having understood the accuracy of Drik Ganita, an effort was made in the later part of the 20th century to bring all Matha-s under the Drik Panchaanga system of time computation. Some progress was made, and therefore, Drik Panchaanga-s are available for purchase today in the market. But yet, not all Matha-s have come around to sunset their adherence to legacy models and accept the newer, more accurate Drik Ganita almanac. This is usually because the main Pontiff of the esteemed Matha is not well-versed in Panchaanga computations and therefore will have to rely on advice from scholars in his Matha. The scholars advise the Pontiffs based on what benefits them. And what benefits them is the continuance of the legacy systems.
You may’ve heard everyone urging the importance of “Hindu Unity”. Catchy phrases such as “batoge to katoge” and “Ek hain to safe hain” make rounds during political speeches. But how can we think of unity when we do not have any unity in basic time keeping, which results in us celebrating same festivals on different days. You may hear some people pretending to be wise and making statements such as “Unity in Diversity”. But in reality, this just sounds great (as they say in Hindi, “sunne me accha lagta hai”). Unity in basic philosophical line of thought and time keeping standards are critical and vital to accomplish Unity of the Hindus.
All Hindu festival days and various days to observe various Vrata-s are determined using Panchaanga. Since the computation of planetary movements are not easy for common people, they rely on printed panchangas published by their respective Matha. But, a very important factor in day/time keeping is our geographical location (latitude and longitude). For example, if the Sun rises in Chennai, TN, India at 6 AM IST, the Sun rises in Udupi, Karnataka, India at about 6:22 AM IST. And Sunrise time is a very important factor in determining the Tithi for that particular day (we’ll get into this topic in the future). Most Panchaanga users ignore this basic aspect and assume that whatever they see in the printed Panchanga holds good to all places on earth, whereas it may not even hold good for 2 places in the same country following a single time zone. This should show the level of ignorance among even the orthodox Hindus. Where is the question of “Hindu Unity” when we can’t come to a common ground on something as basic as Tithi for a particular day and want to whitewash it under “Unity in Diversity”?
At the same time, it is not practical to print a Panchaanga for each geographical location on earth. And thus, in general, printed Panchaanga-s are not reliable. And I don’t think the publishers specify which place their Panchaanga is valid for. If they do, then only people living in that particular place will buy their Panchaanga, and that is bad for business. And, they may even publish Panchaanga-s for only big cities where there is a higher potential for sales. Bottom line is… printed Panchaanga-s are unreliable. Therefore, with due respect to the Matha-s and scholars well-versed in Panchaanga, I’ve completely rejected them.
Fortunately, we are in the Internet age. And there are plenty of online portals that help us pull up information about the current day in any place we are interested in. And all these have become available in our handheld mobile phones. I use this portal called “DrikPanchang” to look up all pertinent information about any day anywhere in the world. Many people approach me regarding Tithi, Nakshatra, festivals, Vrata-s and so on as applicable to their particular location. The above portal lets users pull up information for any place on earth.
Next, we’ll learn to use the above online portal to determine
- the Tithi for your location,
- your Vedic birthday each year and learn why it makes sence,
- the day to do Upavaasa on Ekaadashi, and most importantly
- the day to celebrate what is perhaps THE MOST IMPORTANT of ALL the festivals
- the eclipses, many other festivals and their importance
Wish you all a very happy Chaandramaana Yugaadi.
Thus, as per Chaandramaana, the 5 factors specific to any particular are Tithi, Nakshatra, Yoga, Karana (half Tithi), and Vaara (the day of the week). The actual definition of the word Panchanga comes from these 5 factors. Among these, I don’t quite comprehend the term “Yoga”. I’ve tried to understand through internet search, but I haven’t quite been able to comprehend it. I encourage the readers to seek a qualified scholar and learn about it. I will gladly elaborate on it in the future, if and when I’m able to understand more about it.
Mathematical models
As you can see from the explanations above, there are lots of astronomical factors to be taken into account in the computation of time. A mathematician of great popularity, by name Aaryabhata, came up with a mathematical model to compute the Sankranti, Tithi, Nakshatra, Vaara, Yoga, Karana and all pertinent details. His student by name Laatadeva is said to have compiled a composite work of many authors and thus, he came up another treatise referred to as the Soorya Siddhaanta. This is perhaps the most popular mathematical model being followed by the authors of Panchaanga even today. According to the Soorya Siddhaanta, the parameters are computable… but the actual calibration and verification of the accuracy of all computed parameters needs to happen on the day of the eclipse. In other words, the day and time of the eclipse is computed (or predicted) using the Soorya Siddhaanta, but does the eclipse actually happen on the predicted day at the predicted time? If it does not, which is usually the case, the difference between the actual time and computed time is applied to correct all future computations.
As you can imagine, the computations of the Vedic timeline are quite complicated and are beyond the means of common people. Therefore, they rely on scholars who have been trained in these mathematical computations. Usually, these scholars are employed by Matha-s, and the Panchaanga written by the scholars are published by the Matha-s as their offering to the general public. Each scholar uses a different mathematical model, though the most popular is the Soorya Siddhaanta. Thus, each Matha all across Bhaarat and around the world are publishing their own Panchaanga. This has led to such a huge problem today that… there is no common ground among Hindu-s for Panchaanga.
A few centuries later, a great scholar by the name Shree Madhwaachaarya (will elaborate on him in the future) composed another mathematical model referred to as “Tithi Nirnaya”. Since all of Shree Madhwaachaarya’s works were composed with an intent to clear misinformation and confusion in the prevalent and popularly followed line of thought, it would be fair to say that he composed “Tithi Nirnaya” too to address the issues with computational inaccuracies in Soorya Siddhaanta and other prevalent astronomical prediction models. Unfortunately, this didn’t become popular despite the computational accuracy, the kind gesture and the most compassionate intent of Shree Madhwaachaarya. However, based on what I learnt recently, 4 Matha-s in the coastal town of Udupi have been using “Tithi Nirnaya” to create Panchaanga for the past 20 years.
However, the question is… Why do we need to compute the pertinent astronomical details and validate them on the day of the eclipse at all? Why look at the astronomical bodies only on eclipse? Why can we not look them up every day? This way, there is no need to check on the day of the eclipse as to how much the computation was off by… but instead, all parameters will have accurate values every day. This line of thought led to the evolution of something called Drik Ganita. The word “Drik” refers to “seeing”. So, “Drik Ganita” refers to an almanac based on actual viewing of the astronomical bodies. And the Panchaanga, which employs Drik Ganita, is referred to as Drik Panchaanga. This is by far the most accurate way of timekeeping.
Having understood the accuracy of Drik Ganita, an effort was made in the later part of the 20th century to bring all Matha-s under the Drik Panchaanga system of time computation. Some progress was made, and therefore, Drik Panchaanga-s are available for purchase today in the market. But yet, not all Matha-s have come around to sunset their adherence to legacy models and accept the newer more accurate Drik Ganita almanac. This is usually because the main Pontiff of the esteemed Matha is not well-versed in Panchaanga computations and therefore will have to rely on advice from scholars in his Matha. The scholars advise the Pontiffs based on what benefits them. And what benefits them is the continuance of the legacy systems.
You may’ve heard everyone urging the importance of “Hindu Unity”. Catchy phrases such as “batoge to katoge” and “Ek hain to safe hain” make rounds during political speeches. But how can we think of unity when we do not have any unity in basic timekeeping, which results in us celebrating the same festivals on different days. You may hear some people pretending to be wise and making statements such as “Unity in Diversity”. But in reality, this just sounds great (as they say in Hindi, “sunne me accha lagta hai”). Unity in basic philosophical line of thought and time keeping standards are critical and vital to accomplish the Unity of the Hindus.
All Hindu festival days and various days to observe various Vrata-s are determined using Panchaanga. Since the computation of planetary movements is not easy for common people, they rely on printed panchangas published by their respective Matha. But a very important factor in day/time keeping is our geographical location (latitude and longitude). For example, if the Sun rises in Chennai, TN, India at 6 AM IST, the Sun rises in Udupi, Karnataka, India at about 6:22 AM IST. And Sunrise time is a very important factor in determining the Tithi for that particular day (we’ll get into this topic in the future). Most Panchaanga users ignore this basic aspect and assume that whatever they see in the printed Panchanga holds good to all places on earth, whereas it may not even hold good for 2 places in the same country following a single time zone. This should show the level of ignorance among even the orthodox Hindus. Where is the question of “Hindu Unity” when we can’t come to a common ground on something as basic as Tithi for a particular day and want to whitewash it under “Unity in Diversity”?
At the same time, it is not practical to print a Panchaanga for each geographical location on earth. And thus, in general, printed Panchaanga-s are not reliable. And I don’t think the publishers specify which place their Panchaanga is valid for. If they do, then only people living in that particular place will buy their Panchaanga, and that is bad for business. And, they may even publish Panchaanga-s for only big cities where there is a higher potential for sales. Bottom line is… printed Panchaanga-s are unreliable. Therefore, with due respect to the Matha-s and scholars well-versed in Panchaanga, I’ve completely rejected them.
Fortunately, we are in the Internet age. And there are plenty of online portals that help us pull up information about the current day in any place we are interested in. And all these have become available in our handheld mobile phones. I use this portal called “DrikPanchang” to look up all pertinent information about any day, anywhere in the world. Many people approach me regarding Tithi, Nakshatra, festivals, Vrata-s and so on as applicable to their particular location. The above portal lets users pull up information for any place on earth.
Next, we’ll learn to use the above online portal to determine
1) the Tithi for your location,
2) your Vedic birthday each year and learn why it makes sence,
3) the day to do Upavaasa on Ekaadashi, and most importantly
4) the day to celebrate what is perhaps THE MOST IMPORTANT of ALL the festivals
5) the eclipses, many other festivals and their importance
Wish you all a very happy Chaandramaana Yugaadi.
