Varāhamihira

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Varahamihira wrote the Brihat samhita, an influential encyclopedic text in Sanskrit. This text exists in
many Indian scripts, and was copied, preserved in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples and monasteries.

Varāhamihira

Born 505 CE

Ujjain

Died 587

Ujjain

Period Gupta era

Subject Encyclopedia

Notable works Pancha-Siddhāntikā, Brihat-Samhita, Brihat Jataka

Varāhamihira (c. 505 – c. 587),[1] also called Varāha or Mihira, was an ancient Indian astrologer,
astronomer, and polymath who lived in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh, India). He was born at Kayatha,[2] in
the Avanti region, roughly corresponding to modern-day Malwa (part of Madhya Pradesh, India), to
Adityadasa. According to one of his own works, he was educated at Kapitthaka.[3] The Indian tradition
believes him to be one of the "Nine Jewels" (Navaratnas) of the court of ruler Yashodharman
Vikramaditya of Malwa.[4][5] However, this claim appears for the first time in a much later text and
scholars consider this claim to be doubtful because neither Varahamihira and Vikramaditya lived in the
same century nor did Varahamihira live in the same century as some of the other names in the "nine
jewels" list such as the much older Kalidasa.[6]

Varāhamihira's most notable works were the Brihat Samhita, an encyclopedic[7] work on architecture,
temples, planetary motions, eclipses, timekeeping, astrology, seasons, cloud formation, rainfall,
agriculture, mathematics, gemology, perfumes and many other topics.[8][9][10] According to
Varahamihira, in some verses he was merely summarizing earlier existing literature on astronomy, Shilpa
Sastra and temple architecture, yet his presentation of different theories and models of design are
among the earliest texts that have survived.[11][12] The chapters of the Brihat Samhita and verses of
Varahamihira were quoted by the Persian traveler and scholar Al Biruni.[13]
Varāhamihira is also credited with writing several authoritative texts on astronomy and astrology. He
learned the Greek language, and praised the Greeks (Yavanas) in his text for being "well trained in the
sciences", though impure in ritual order.[14] Some scholars consider him to be the strong candidate as
the one who understood and introduced the zodiac signs, predictive calculations for auspicious
ceremonies and astrological computations.[15][16][17]

Contents

1 Works

1.1 Pancha-Siddhantika

1.2 Brihat-Samhita

1.3 On Astrology

2 Contributions

2.1 Trigonometry

2.2 Combinatorics

2.3 Optics

3 See also

4 Notes

5 References

6 External links

Works

Part of a series on

Hindu scriptures and texts

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Pancha-Siddhantika

Varāhamihira's main work is the book Pañcasiddhāntikā (“Treatise on the Five Astronomical Canons”)
dated c. 575 CE, which gives us information about older Indian texts which are now lost. The work is a
treatise on mathematical astronomy and it summarises five earlier astronomical treatises by five
authors, namely the Surya Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta, Paulisa Siddhanta, Vasishtha Siddhanta and
Paitamaha Siddhanta. It is a compendium of Vedanga Jyotisha as well as Hellenistic astronomy
(withGreek, Egyptian and Roman elements).[a] Varahamihira was the first one to mention that the
Ayanāṃśa, or the shifting of the equinox, is 50.32 arc seconds per year.

They [the Indians] have 5 Siddhāntas:

Sūrya-Siddhānta, the siddhānta of the Sun, thought to be composed by Lāṭadeva, but actually composed
by Mayasura also known as Mamuni Mayan as stated in the text itself.

Vasishtha-siddhānta, so called from one of the stars of the Great Bear, composed by Vishnucandra,

Paulisa-siddhānta, so called from Paulisa, the Greek, from the city of Saintra, which is supposed to be
Alexandria, composed by Paulisa.

Romaka-siddhānta, so called from the Rūm, ie. the subjects of the Roman Empire, composed by
Śrīsheṇa.

Paitahama-siddhānta.

Brihat-Samhita

Another important contribution of Varahamihira is the encyclopedic Brihat-Samhita. Although the book
is mostly about divination, it also includes a wide range of subjects other than divination. It covers wide-
ranging subjects of human interest, including astronomy, planetary movements, eclipses, rainfall,
clouds, architecture, growth of crops, manufacture of perfume, matrimony and domestic relations. The
volume expounds on gemstone evaluation criterion found in the Garuda Purana, and elaborates on the
sacred Nine Pearls from the same text. It contains 106 chapters and is known as the "great compilation".

On Astrology
Varahamihira's Brihajjataka is a Sanskrit text on predictive astrology based on the Vedic Astrology
system. The above manuscript was copied in Nepal in 1399 CE in the Nepalaksara script, and is now in
the Cambridge University Library.

Hora Shastra or Brihadjathaka is a most acclaimed astrological work by Mihira. It is mostly in code
language. More than a dozen commentaries have been written for this work. The Kerala School of
Astrology is mainly based on the Brihadjathaka.

His son Prithuyasas also contributed to Hindu astrology; his book Hora Sara is a famous book on
horoscopy. Khana (also named Lilavati elsewhere), the medieval Bengali poet astrologer, is believed to
be the daughter-in-law of Varahamihira.

Contributions

Trigonometry

Varahamihira improved the accuracy of the sine tables of Aryabhata.

Combinatorics

He also records the first known 4×4 magic square[citation needed].

Optics

Among Varahamihira's contribution to physics is his statement that reflection is caused by the back-
scattering of particles and refraction (the change of direction of a light ray as it moves from one medium
into another) by the ability of the particles to penetrate inner spaces of the material, much like fluids
that move through porous objects.[19]

See also

Hora Sara

List of Indian mathematicians

Notes

The Pañca-siddhāntikā ("Five Treatises"), a compendium of Greek, Egyptian, Roman and Indian
astronomy. Varāhamihira's knowledge of Western astronomy was thorough. In 5 sections, his
monumental work progresses through native Indian astronomy and culminates in 2 treatises on
Western astronomy, showing calculations based on Greek and Alexandrian reckoning and even giving
complete Ptolemaic mathematical charts and tables.[18]
References

Brian Evans (24 February 2014). The Development of Mathematics Throughout the Centuries: A Brief
History in a Cultural Context. John Wiley & Sons. p. 61. ISBN 978-1118853979. Varahamihira, a
mathematician born around 505 CE and died 587 CE, who was also known for innovation with Pascal's
triangle.

RK Sharma & OP Misra (2003). Archaeological Excavations in Central India: Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh. New Delhi: Mittal Publication. ISBN 81-7099-874-3.

O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Varāhamihira", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive,
University of St Andrews

History of Indian Literature. Motilal Banarsidass Publications. 2008. p. 46.

Ram Gopal (1984). Kālidāsa: His Art and Culture. Concept Publishing Company. p. 15.

Moriz Winternitz (1985). History of Indian Literature. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 45–47. ISBN 978-81-208-
0056-4.

Ariel Glucklich (2008). The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective. Oxford University
Press. pp. 10, 123–126. ISBN 978-0-19-971825-2., Quote: "[...] the new temples and inconography, the
science of architecture, the enormous encyclopedia the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira [...]"

Ivor Grattan-Guinness (2016). Companion Encyclopedia of the History and Philosophy of the
Mathematical Sciences: Volume Two. Taylor & Francis. pp. 954–956. ISBN 978-1-134-88832-0.

Varahamihira; M Ramakrishna Bhat (1996). Brhat Samhita of Varahamihira. Motilal Banarsidass. pp.
549–561, 737–738, 874–876. ISBN 978-81-208-1060-0.

Varahamihira; M Ramakrishna Bhat (1996). Brhat Samhita of Varahamihira, Part 1. Motilal Banarsidass.
pp. 1–19. ISBN 978-81-208-1060-0.

Michael Meister (2003). Gudrun Bühnemann (ed.). Maònòdalas and Yantras in the Hindu Traditions.
BRILL Academic. pp. 251–260. ISBN 90-04-12902-2.

T. A. Gopinatha Rao (1985). Elements of Hindu Iconography. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 25, 58–59. ISBN
978-81-208-0878-2.

Varahamihira; M Ramakrishna Bhat (1996). Brhat Samhita of Varahamihira, Part 2. Motilal Banarsidass.
pp. 960–961. ISBN 978-81-208-1060-0.

Chaudhuri, Kirti Narayan (1990). Asia Before Europe Economy and Civilisation of the Indian Ocean from
the Rise of Islam to 1750. Cambridge University Press. p. 54. ISBN 0521316812.

Moriz Winternitz (1985). History of Indian Literature. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 685–697. ISBN 978-81-
208-0056-4.

David Pingree (1963), Astronomy and Astrology in India and Iran, Isis, Vol. 54, No. 2, University of
Chicago Press, pp. 229-246
Sarma, K. V. (2008). "Varāhamihira". In Helaine Selin (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science,
Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp. 2184–2185.
doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9604. ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.

"Varahamihira". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007.

"Varahamihira". Science, Civilization and Society.

External links

The Brihat-samhita; complete translation by N. Chidambaram Iyer Online edition with glossary

Pancasiddhantika, Brihat Jataka, Brihat Samhita and Hora Shastra Various editions in English and
Sanskrit. (PDF)

The Brihat Jataka (1905) Pdf edition internet archive

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Hindu astrology

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Indian mathematics

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Indian astronomy

Authority control Edit this at Wikidata

Categories: 505 births587 deaths6th-century Indian mathematiciansMedieval Indian astrologers6th-

century Indian astronomers6th-century astrologers6th-century Indian writers

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