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Vivaha Patala
(Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala of Sage Saunaka and Laghu Vivaha Patala of Varahamihira)

Translation and notes by

Veneet Kumar & Sreenadh OG Ancient Indian Astrology Foundation

Contents
Part I: Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala 1. Introduction .................................................07
2. Sage Saunaka ...............................................................10 3. Chapter 1 : Origin of Question ........................................13 4. Chapter 2 : Gain of Bride ...................................................28 5. Chapter 3 : Worship of Sachi ............34 6. Chapter 4 : Results of Year etc .........37 7. Chapter 5 : Results of Nakshatra ........53 8. Chapter 6 : Strength of the Nakshatras .........62 9. Chapter 7 : Results based on Janmarksha and Transit . .....69 10. Chapter 8 : House Planet Results ..........84 11. Chapter 9 : Combinations ..........................................93 12. Chapter 10 : Things to do in 4th day after marriage ...........100

Part II: Laghu Vivaha Patala of Mihira 1. Introduction .106 2. Prayer ..108 3. Worship of Sachi .112 4. Importance of Marriage Lagna ...114 5. Year, Ayana, Season, Month etc for Marriage ...115 6. Nakshatras that are good for marriage ....116 7. Janmadi Nakshatras ....117 8. Strength of Tithi, Day, Karana, Nakshatra and Lagna ...120 9. Mutual Placement of Moon-signs ...121 10. Planets conjoining Moon ......122 11. Moons sign ..123 12. Planets in Various Houses ....124 13. General results for Benefic and Malefic planets ...126 14. The combinations indicating queen (Rajni Yoga) ....128

15. Gana Yogas ..129 16. Atma-Upekshaka-Poshaka-Vadhaka Houses....135 17. Rules according to places (desas) ....136 18. Secret of Muhurta.....140 19. Conclusion....141

Appendix I: Vivaha Patala from Brihat Samhita 1. Planets in Various Houses ..143 2. Specialty of Godhuli Time .146 3 Conclusion148 4. Books of Reference.148

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Part - I ^ () Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala (by Sage Saunaka)

Introduction
Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala is a rare text, hitherto unpublished in any language, and probably so is the case with Laghu Jataka of Varaha Mihira. We availed the manuscript of SVP (Saunakiya Vivaha Patala) from BORI (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute) and the manuscript of LVP (Laghu Vivaha Patala) in Roman script from net. These were our main source texts, apart from the quotes from the same found in Bhattolpalas commentary, King Bhojas works, Brihat Daivajna Ranjana etc all of which helped in verifying and amending many slokas. While working on this text we noticed that there are many other resources dealing with Vivaha Patala in more elaborate way such as Raja Martanda by King Bhoja, Garga Samhita, Vivaha Patala Sarasamucchaya by Krishnasankar Kesavarama Raika. We have utilized the untranslated, unpublished manuscripts of these texts available with us to cross reference while preparing the translation and brief commentary of Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala of Sage Saunaka and Laghu Vivaha Patala of Varahamihira. Another point to remember here is that Vasishta Samhita and Kasyapa Samhita also may have Vivaha Patala present in them - but we are yet to go through these manuscripts fully. (Currently what is available in the market with the name 'Vriddha Vasishta Samhita is not the real Vasishta Samhita, but actually a muhurta text with the real name 'Jagan Mohana'. The real Vasishta Samhita is yet to be published even though available as manuscript.)

History and description of the text

This text came to us as a manuscript availed from Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI). Later we realized that the many quotes from this text can be found in Brihat Daivajna Ranjana as well. To make the text more interesting and valuable we have provided our extra inputs and thoughts
wherever we felt relevant.

Why this book is unique This book is unique because this is the one of the rare texts we know which comprehensively addresses the question how to predict based on the marriage muhurta? Just like someone prepares a horoscope based on Birth time, similarly one can prepare a complete horoscope based on Marriage time using this text. Thus this text seems to emphasize the fact that any important time that is relevant to an individuals life can be taken, and based on the same the whole life events of that native can be predicted.

Changes to source text We have made corrections to the source text only where it was unavoidable, and have utilized the maximum cross reference materials available with us to get the correct readings. Also if anywhere alternate readings were available we have taken care to mention the same. To make the text more understandable and user friendly we have inserted many sub-headings in every relevant section.

Period of Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala It is interesting to note that internal evidence available from this also point to that fact that the author of this text lived during 3rd century BC. The following quote from 4th Chapter sloka 21 of Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala provides the clue about the period this text. The sloka reads as follows -

] [Convert the position of Sun into minutes and add 400 minutes to it. Divide it by 360 degrees. The remainder (when multiplied by six) indicates seasons beginning with spring.] The word ] means multiply 36 by 10 and thus we get 360 degrees. Why add 400 minutes? Seasons are related to the Tropical zodiac and equinox and not to the Sidereal zodiac. Thus converting the Sidereal longitude of Sun into Tropical longitude is required to correctly identify the season. This is why it is asked to add 400 minutes to the (sidereal) longitude of Sun. This gives us an excellent clue about the period of this text! This statement points to the fact that during the period of Sage Saunaka the vernal equinox was 400 min (i.e. 6 deg 40 min) ahead of Meshadi (the first point of Aries), in Aries 6 deg 40 min, in the middle of Aswini Nakshatra. Currently vernal equinox is approximately 24 deg 45 min less than Meshadi. Thus from the period of Sage Saunaka the vernal equinox moved (24 deg 45 min + 6 deg 40 min) 31 deg 25 min backward. At the speed of approximately 50 sec per year this would take 2262 years! Thus, if the mean precession rate is assumed to be 50 sec per year, then the approximate period of this text and sage Saunaka would be BC 3rd century! Let us remember that the student of Sage Saunaka the grammarian Katyayana was also believed to have lived during BC 3rd century itself, re-confirming the accuracy of this calculation, and the authority of the above quote. i.e. Period of Sage Saunaka and Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala = 3rd century BC

Thus in short, the above quote advice us to divide the tropical longitude of Sun with 360, (and also multiply the remainder with 6 to get the season number) and the result indicates the seasons beginning with spring. This is absolutely right! And since adding 400 min (to convert Sidereal longitude to Tropical longitude) is specific to BC 250 approx, the period of SVP becomes clear. The accuracy of the above calculation is confirmed and thus this strong internal evidence helps us to pinpoint the period of Sage Saunaka and this text Saunakiya Vivaha Patala in BC 3rd century.
Hope that you will enjoy this text. With regards, Veneet & Sreenadh

Sage Saunaka
Sage Saunaka is a much respected sage with whom numerous puranic stories, mythologies, and legends are connected with.

As per Puranic Encyclopedia of Vettam Mani 1) General. A renowned acarya. He is believed to be the author of the famous works - "Rgveda Anukramani", "Aranyakam", "Rkpratisakhya", etc. The famous Asvalayanacarya was Saunaka's disciple. Acaryas like Katyayana, Patanjali and Vyasa belonged to his class. Saunaka's real name was "Grtsamada". It was because he was the son of Sunaka that he got the name "Saunaka". 2) Birth. Saunahotra, the son of the sage Sunahotra, once performed a yaga. Indra attended that yaga. At that time Saunahotra rescued Indra from an attack of the Asuras. Indra, who was pleased at this, blessed Saunahotra that he would be born in his next birth in the Bhrgu family under the name "Saunaka". 3) Genealogy In Vayu Purana his genealogy is given in two forms. i) Ruru ( PramadvarJ) - Sunaka-Suunaka-Ugrasravas ii) Dharmavrddha Sunahotra Grtsamada Sunaka Saunaka. (Vayu Puraaa, 92, 26) . 4) Important works. Saunaka is believed to be the author of numerous works. The most important of them are given below: (1) Rkpratisakhya (2) RgvedacchandanukramanI (3) Rgvedarsyanukramam (4) Rgveda Anuvakanukramani (5) Rgvedasuktanukramam (6) Rgvedakathanukramanl (7)

Rgvedapadavidhana (8) Brhaddevata (9) Saunakasmrti (10) Caranavyuha and (11) Rgvidhana. Matsya Purana, Chapter 252 mentions that Saunaka had written a work on the science of architecture.

5) Disciples. The chief disciple of Saunaka was Asvalayana. Once Asvalayana wrote and dedicated to his Guru (master) two treatises entitled "Grhyasutra" and "Srautasutra" to please him. After reading it, Saunaka destroyed his own work on "SrauteSastra". Asvalayana wrote his treatise after having studied the ten works of Saunaka on Rgveda. Katyayana, the disciple of Asvalayana later received the ten books written by Saunaka and the three books written by Asvalayana. Katyayana gave his disciple Patanjali, the two works, "Yajurvedakalpasutra" and "Samaveda Upagrantha" which were written by himself. From this we may infer that the series of Saunaka's disciples was as follows: Saunaka Katyayana Patanjali Vyasa. As per Wikipedia Shaunaka (Sanskrit: ) is the name applied to teachers, and to a Shakha of the Atharvaveda. It is especially the name of a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian, author of the gveda-Prtikhya, the Bhaddevat, the Caraa-vyha and six Anukramas (indices) to the Rigveda. He is claimed as the teacher of Katyayana and especially of Ashvalayana, and is said to have united the Bashkala and Shakala Shakhas of the Rigveda. In legend, he is sometimes identified with Gritsamada, a Vedic Rishi. According to the Vishnu Purana, Shaunaka was the son of Gritsamada, and invented the system of the four levels of human life. Asvalayana

gveda-Prtikhya is attributed to Shaunaka who taught it to others in a satra-yajna (a 12-day


very large scale collective yajna) held in Naimisha according to Vishnumitra of Champa town, the commentator of Uvaa's commentary of gveda-Prtikhya. Shaunaka had a prominent role in the epic Mahbhrata. The epic Mahbhrata was narrated to Shaunaka by a story teller named Ugrasrava Sauti during a conclave of sages headed by Shaunaka in a forest named Naimisha. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaunaka) An interesting point to note here is that Saunaka is considered as the teacher of Katyayana who is believed to have lived during 3rd century BC. Wikipedia says the following about Katyayana Ktyyana (c. 3rd century BC) was a Sanskrit grammarian, mathematician and Vedic priest who lived in ancient India. Works: He is known for two works:

The Varttika, an elaboration on Panini grammar. Along with the Mahbhsya of Patajali, this text became a core part of the Vykarana (grammar) canon. This was one of the six Vedgas, and constituted compulsory education for students in the following twelve centuries. He also composed one of the later Sulba Sutras, a series of nine texts on the geometry of altar constructions, dealing with rectangles, right-sided triangles, rhombuses, etc. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyayana) As clarified earlier the internal evidence available from within Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala also points to that fact that he lived during 3rd century BC.

I hope that is good enough information on Sage Saunaka. In the astrological context this great sage is important and known to as the author of Brihat Saunaka Hora, Laghu Saunaka Hora, Sri Saunakiya Vivaha Patala etc. Many of his works, as well numerous quotes from his lost works are still available. Some of the available quotes from Brihat Saunaka Hora indicate that Sage Vatsyayana was also student of Sri Saunaka. Third century BC must have been a very vibrant period in the literary history of India, with so many scholars living at the same time and in touch with each other. That was probably the period of King Asoka (304232 BC) in the north and the Satavahana Kings (230 BC220) in central India. If this Sage Saunaka is connected to Naimisaranya as MBh puts it, then he lived 45 miles north of Lucknow in Uttarpradesh (Naimisaranya is here) and was certainly within Asokas empire. -0-

Part - II ( ) Laghu Vivaha Patala (By Varahamihira)

Introduction
This astrology work on marriage named Laghu Vivaha Patala was written by Varahamihira during the 1st half of 6th century AD. This is a small but important work, hitherto unavailable with a proper English translation along with the original Sanskrit quotes in Devanagari. We are happy present this rare work to the inquisitive reader. This work is important - both historically as well as for the knowledge it contains. Bhattolpala wrote a commentary named Chintamani to this book in 10th century AD.

Meters Just like in case of all his other works, Mihira made this work an aesthetic beauty with the use of numerous meters. LVP contains 19 meters. These meters are - 1.Arya, 2.Indravajra, 3.Upajati, 4.Upendravajra, 5.Totaka, 6.Puspitagra, 7.Rathoddhata, 8.Vamsasthavila, 9. Vasantatilaka, 10.Viyogini, 11.Vrishabhacharita, 12.Mandakranta, 13.Malini, 14.Sankhanidhi, 15.Salini, 16.Sardulavikridita, 17.Sikharini, 18.Sloka, and 19.Sragdhara.

Ancient Authors In LVP Mihira refers to 13 ancient authors prior to his time such as - 1.Raibhya, 2.Garga, 3.Jivasarman, 4.Devala, 5.Devakirti, 6.Parasara, 7.Babhru, 8.Bhaguri, 9.Bhrugu, 10. Mandavya, 11.Vatsya, 12.Satya, and 13.Harita. Bhattolpala in his Chintamani commentary to LVP refers to 16 ancient authors prior to his time such as 1.Raibhya, 2.Garga, 3.Jivasarman, 4.Devala, 5.Parasara, 6.Bhaguri, 7.Bhrugu, 8. Mandavya, 9.Vatsya, 10.Satya, and 11.Harita, 12.Manikyamuni, 13.Vasishta, 14.Vadarayana (Badarayana), 15.Vishnugupta, 16.Saunaka. It is interesting to note that except Devakirti and Babhru, all the other ancient authors mentioned by Mihira are quoted by Bhattolpala too. The authors Manikyamuni, Vasishta, Vadarayana, and Vatsya are not mentioned by Mihira. We may assume that by the time of Bhattolpala the books by Devakirti and Babhru was no more available. The authors which Bhattolpala quotes but Mihira didnt in LVP (he mentions them as well as many others in his other works such as BS and BJ), such as Vasishta, Vadarayana (Badarayana), Vishnugupta, Saunaka are also better ancient than

Mihira. The period of Manikyamuni is uncertain. Vishnugupta is probably the author of Arthasastra itself, who lived during BC 370 - BC 283. Saunaka, the author of VP and the guru of Katyayana the grammarian lived around BC 350. The period of Badarayana the astrologer might also be somewhere around this period itself, based on the fact that he too mentions Yavana (probably Persians) and also based on his style of writing. Anecdote Bhattolpala tells an interesting anecdote about Mihira and his works. The Sun god Savitur created a science book of the heavenly bodies with three large sections. He was afraid that it might be scattered and lost, and he came back to earth in Kali yuga disguised as Varahamihira, and rewrote it into much smaller texts. Thus got created numerous texts by Varahamihira such as - Pancha siddhantika, Briahat Jataka, Brihat Samhita, Brihat Vivaha Patala, Laghu Vivaha patala, Laghu Jataka, Brihat Yogayatra etc. Thanks We express our sincere gratitude to every resource and people that were helpful to us in the preparation and publishing this rare ancient work. We hope that in future we would be able to avail, translate and publish Brihat Vivaha Patala of Mihira too.

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