Page 76 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

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hand, mention the Krittikas as the first of the Nak,hatras and the
winter solstice is shewn to have then occurred in the month of
Magha. This means that the vernal equinox must be placed at least
26° 40' or nearly 27° in front of Revati. Now imagine the position
of the Indian astronomer, who could neither reject the statement
in the Vedic works, nor the one in the Bhagvad Gita. Both were
sacred and unquestionable texts and it would be no wonder if,
to his great relief, he got over the difficulty by proposing a libra-
tion of the equinoxes, 27 ° on either side of Revati ! The hypothesis
is now given up by modern astronomers as mathematically incor-
rect; but no reason has yet been assigned why it found place in the
Hindu astronomy. A theory may be erroneous, but even an errone-
ous theory cannot become prevalent without a good cause. It has
been suggested by Bentley and approved by Prof. Whitney, • that
the limits of the libration might have been determined by the fact
that the earliest recorded Hindu year had been made to begin
when the sun entered the asterism of Krittika or 26° 40' in front
of Revati But this alone is not enough to suggest the theory of
1
libration.- For, unless the Hindu astronomer had grounds- to
him conclusive and otherwise inexplicable-for holding that the
vernal equinox fell 27 ° on each side of Revati, he would not have
proposed the libration of the equjnoxes. So far as I know no such
grounds have been yet discovered by modem scholars, and if the
explanation given above accounts for tbe:theory in all its details,
I see no reason why it should not be accepted as a probable expla-
nation. Perhaps, it may be asked, what grounds I have to suppose
that the astronomers combined the two statements declaring that
M agba and Margashirsba were both, each in its turn, the first
months of the year, and so obtained the theory of the libration
of the equinoxes,. 1his is, however, not the place to go fully into
this discussion; fer all that I am bound to prove, as far as the
present inquiry is concerned, is that if we accept the theory that
the .~htrasha full-moon was ever the new year's night, it
leads us to an abs_urd conclusion, and this is evident from the
above whether it does or does not give the real explanation of the
libration theory. I may, however, remark that when we actually
find Amarsinba first stating ( i. 3.13 ) that' seasons comprise
two months · each beginning with Magha, and three such seasons

• See Surya Siddhinta, p. 103.