Varahamihira and His Times
Synopsis
The present work deals with some interesting problems concerning Varahamihira, who was one of the greatest Jyotisa writers of ancient India and a true representative of the life and culture of the Gupta age, and his numerous writings. The questions dwelt upon include, inter alia, the genesis of his name which was due to certain socio-religious phenomena, the determination of the Saka-kala employed by him, the chronological and historical implications of his allusion to Maharajadhiraja Dravyavardhana of Avanti, the reconstruction of the text of the Samasa-samhita, the abridged but quite important version of the Brhat-samhita, the bearing of the Yoga-yatra reference to the practice of carrying the images of the divine guardians of directions at the time of a military march on the determination of the divine image held aloft by the army of Porus while on move against Alexander, references by him to the traditional polymath Nagnajit and his work Citra-laksana vis-?-vis the existing work going under this title, iconological data in his writings, the true meaning of the Ajivikas mentioned by him, the ascertainment of his place in the history of Vastuvidya and of the Arabic polymath Alberuni’s references to him, and of his supposed relationship with the Jaina patriarch Bhadrabahu as narrated by some medieval Jaina writers. Some allied questions including the date of Kalyanavarman, the author of the Saravali, and certain problems concerning Bhattotpala, Varahamihira’s well-known commentator, have been touched upon in appendices. The views of the author on these questions reflect the results of his sustained studies spread over nearly last three decades. The studies comprised in the present work evince author’s excellent grasp of literary and archaeological sources and would, hopefully, be found useful and thought-inspiring by students of early Indian history.
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