Surya Siddhanta is the first among the traditions or doctrines (siddhanta) in archaeo-astronomy of the Vedic era.Infact, it is the oldest ever book in world which describes earth as sphere but not flat, gravity being reason for objects falling on earth etc.
This is the knowledge that the Sun god gave to an Asura calledMayain Treta Yuga.ThisMayais father-in-law ofRavana, the villain of first ever epic poem, Ramayana.Going by calculations of Yugas, first version ofSurya Siddhantamust have been known around 2 million years ago.However, the present version available is believed to be more than 2500 years old, which still makes it the oldest book on earth in Astronomy.
This book covers kinds of time, length of the year of gods and demons, day and night of god Brahma, the elapsed period since creation, how planets move eastwards and sidereal revolution. The lengths of the Earth’s diameter, circumference are also given. Eclipses and color of the eclipsed portion of the moon is mentioned.
This explains the archeo-astronomical basis for the sequence of days of the week named after the Sun, Moon, etc. Musings that there is no above and below and that movement of the starry sphere is left to right forAsuras(demons) makes interesting reading.Citation of the Surya Siddhanta is also found in the works of Aryabhata.The work as preserved and edited by Burgess (1860) dates to the Middle Ages.
Utpala, a 10th-century commentator of Varahamihira, quotes six shlokas of the Surya Siddhanta of his day, not one of which is to be found in the text now known as the Surya Siddhanta. The present version was modified by Bhaskaracharya during the Middle Ages.
The present Surya Siddhanta may nevertheless be considered a direct descendant of the text available to Varahamihira (who lived between 505–587 CE)
Table of contents in Surya Siddhanta are :-
- The Mean Motions of the Planets
- True Places of the Planets
- Direction, Place and Time
- The Moon and Eclipses
- The Sun and Eclipses
- The Projection of Eclipses
- Planetary Conjunctions
- Of the Stars
- Risings and Settings
- The Moon’s Risings and Settings
- Certain Malignant Aspects of the Sun and Moon
- Cosmogony, Geography, and Dimensions of the Creation
- The Gnomon
- The Movement of the Heavens and Human Activity
Methods for accurately calculating the shadow cast by a gnomon are discussed in both Chapters 3 and 13.
Few excerpts from Surya Siddhanta
- The average length of the tropical year as 365.2421756 days, which is only 1.4 seconds shorter than the modern value of 365.2421904days !
- The average length of the sidereal year, the actual length of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun, as 365.2563627 days, which is virtually the same as the modern value of 365.25636305 days. This remained the most accurate estimate for the length of the sidereal year anywhere in the world for over a thousand years!
- Not content to limit measurements to Earth, the Surya Siddhanta also states the motion, and diameters of the planets! For instance the estimate for the diameter of Mercury is 3,008 miles, an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 3,032 miles. It also estimates the diameter of Saturn as 73,882 miles, which again has an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 74,580.
- Aside from inventing the decimal system, zero and standard notation (giving the ancient Indians the ability to calculate trillions when the rest of the world struggled with 120) the Surya Siddhanta also contains the roots of Trigonometry.
- It uses sine (jya), cosine (kojya or “perpendicular sine”) and inverse sine (otkram jya) for the first time!
- “Objects fall on earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. therefore, the earth, the planets, constellations, the moon and the sun are held in orbit due to this attraction”. (this was also discussed inPrasnopanishad
It was not until the late 17th century in 1687, that Isaac Newton rediscovered the Law of Gravity. - The Surya Siddhanta also goes into a detailed discussion about time cycles and that time flows differently in differently circumstances, the roots of relativity. Here we have a perfect example of Indian philosophy’s belief that science and religion are not mutually exclusive. Unlike, Abrahamic religions, one does not have to dig and try all ways to force scientific truth from scriptures. By contrast it is stated in cold hard numbers by the Sun God, Surya.
- This work shows that spirituality is all about the search for Truth (Satya) and that Science is as valid a path to God as living in a monastery. It is the search for ones own personal Truth that will lead one ultimately to God.
The astronomical time cycles contained in the text were remarkably accurate at the time.
- That which begins with respirations (prana) is called real…. Six respirations make a vinadi, sixty of these a nadi
- And sixty nadis make a sidereal day and night. Of thirty of these sidereal days is composed a month; a civil (savana) month consists of as many sunrises
- A lunar month, of as many lunar days (tithi); a solar (saura) month is determined by the entrance of the sun into a sign of the zodiac; twelve months make a year. This is called a day of the gods. (Day at North Pole)
- The day and night of the gods and of the demons are mutually opposed to one another. Six times sixty of them are a year of the gods, and likewise of the demons. (Day and Night being six months each at South Pole)
- Twelve thousand of these divine years are denominated a chaturyuga; of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two solar years
- Is composed that chaturyuga, with its dawn and twilight. The difference of the kritayuga and the other yugas, as measured by the difference in the number of the feet of Virtue in each, is as follows:
a.The tenth part of a chaturyuga, multiplied successively by four, three, two, and one, gives the length of the krita and the other yugas: the sixth part of each belongs to its dawn and twilight.
b.One and seventy chaturyugas make a manu; at its end is a twilight which has the number of years of a kritayuga, and which is a deluge.
c.In a kalpa are reckoned fourteen manus with their respective twilights; at the commencement of the kalpa is a fifteenth dawn, having the length of a kritayuga.
d.The kalpa, thus composed of a thousand chaturyugas, and which brings about the destruction of all that exists, is a day of Brahma; his night is of the same length.
e.His extreme age is a hundred, according to this valuation of a day and a night. The half of his life is past; of the remainder, this is the first kalpa.
f.And of this kalpa, six manus are past, with their respective twilights; and of the Manu son of Vivasvant, twenty-seven chaturyugas are past;
g.Of the present, the twenty-eighth, chaturyuga, this kritayuga is past..
Planetary Diameters in Surya Siddhanta
Surya Siddhanta also estimates the diameters of the planets. The estimate for the diameter of Mercury is 3,008 miles, an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 3,032 miles.
It also estimates the diameter of Saturn as 73,882 miles, which again has an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 74,580.
Its estimate for the diameter of Mars is 3,772 miles, which has an error within 11% of the currently accepted diameter of 4,218 miles.
It also estimated the diameter of Venus as 4,011 miles and Jupiter as 41,624 miles, which are roughly half the currently accepted values, 7,523 miles and 88,748 miles, respectively.
Trigonometry in Surya Siddhanta
Surya Siddhanta contains the roots of modern trigonometry. It uses sine (jya), cosine (kojya or “perpendicular sine”) and inverse sine (otkram jya) for the first time, and also contains the earliest use of the tangent and secant when discussing the shadow cast by a gnomon in verses 21–22 of Chapter 3:
Of [the sun’s meridian zenith distance] find thejya(“base sine”) andkojya(cosine or “perpendicular sine”). If then thejyaand radius be multiplied respectively by the measure of the gnomon in digits, and divided by thekojya, the results are the shadow and hypotenuse at mid-day.
In modern notation, this gives the shadow of thegnomonat midday as :
Even today many astrologers in India use Surya Siddhanta as base to compute their Panchangs (Almanacs) in many languages.
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FAQs
Which is the oldest book on astronomy in India? ›
Vedanga Jyotisha is another of the earliest known Indian texts on astronomy, it includes the details about the Sun, Moon, nakshatras, lunisolar calendar. The Vedanga Jyotisha describes rules for tracking the motions of the Sun and the Moon for the purposes of ritual.
What is the ancient book Surya Siddhanta? ›'Sun Treatise') is a Sanskrit treatise in Indian astronomy dated to 505 CE, in fourteen chapters. The Surya Siddhanta describes rules to calculate the motions of various planets and the moon relative to various constellations, diameters of various planets, and calculates the orbits of various astronomical bodies.
Which is the oldest astronomy book in the world? ›Surya Siddhanta is the first among the traditions or doctrines (siddhanta) in archaeo-astronomy of the Vedic era. Infact, it is the oldest ever book in world which describes earth as sphere but not flat, gravity being reason for objects falling on earth etc.
Which is the oldest book in India? ›The Vedas are considered as the oldest surviving literature of Indian subcontinent. The Vedas were believed to be from the pre-vedic period.
What is the oldest book in Hinduism? ›The Rigveda Samhita is the oldest extant Indic text. It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas). The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities.
Who wrote the first astronomy book? ›The Almagest /ˈælmədʒɛst/ is a 2nd-century Greek-language mathematical and astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths, written by Claudius Ptolemy ( c. AD 100 – c. 170).
Who wrote the book Siddhanta? ›Siddhānta Śiromaṇi (Sanskrit: सिद्धान्त शिरोमणि for "Crown of treatises") is the major treatise of Indian mathematician Bhāskara II. He wrote the Siddhānta Śiromaṇi in 1150 when he was 36 years old. The work is composed in Sanskrit Language in 1450 verses.
What is the origin story of Surya? ›Surya was born as the son of Sage Kashyapa and Aditi, and was one of the Adityas. He got married to Sanjana (sometimes called Saranya), the daughter of Vishwakarma. But his wife could not tolerate the heat coming from him and went back to her father's home after creating her shadow called Chaya to take her place.
Who wrote Surya Siddhanta in Gupta dynasty? ›Aryabhatta wrote Aryabhatiya and Suryasiddhanta.
What is the first book in Earth? ›The first ever books
The first book ever written that we know of is The Epic of Gilgamesh: a mythical retelling of an important political figure from history. In the 14th century, the Jikji was printed in Korea in movable (metal) type: a collection of Buddhist Zen teachings.
How is the oldest book in the world? ›
The world's earliest complete, dated and printed book goes back to May 11, 868. And yet, this work came to the limelight only in the early 20th Century. A.S.Ganesh tells you the tale of the oldest printed book, which bridges over a millennium... A page from The Diamond Sutra.
What is the name of the first book in India? ›The first book printed in India was Conclusões e outras coisas Printing in Goa during 1556 CE (cc Prasanna Sivakumar). The first book printed in India in an Indian language was tampirAn vaNakkam (தம்பிரான் வணக்கம்) in 1578, a 16-page translation of the Portuguese "Doctrina Christam".
How old is the oldest Indian literature? ›The earliest works of Indian literature were orally transmitted. Sanskrit literature begins with the oral literature of the Rig Veda, a collection of literature dating to the period 1500–1200 BCE.
Who made the first book in India? ›The earliest, surviving printed book in India is the Compendio Spiritual Da Vide Christaa (Spiritual Compendium of the Christian life) of Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereira, the Portuguese Archbishop of Tharangambadi(place Tamil Nadu).
Which religion book is the oldest? ›The Rigveda (padapatha) manuscript in Devanagari, a scripture of Hinduism, is dated 1500–1000 BCE. It is the oldest religious texts in any Indo-European language.
Which Vedic book is oldest? ›The Rigveda is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text.
What is the oldest book in the Bible? ›The first book written was probably 1 Thessalonians, written around 50 CE. The final book (in the ordering of the canon), the Book of Revelation, is generally accepted by traditional scholarship to have been written during the reign of Domitian (81–96).
Who wrote the famous book on astronomy? ›Aryabhatiya or Aryabhatiyam, a Sanskrit astronomical treatise, is the magnum opus and only known surviving work of the 5th century Indian mathematician, Aryabhatta.
Who is the father of old astronomy? ›NICHOLAS COPERNICUS: THE FATHER OF MODERN ASTRONOMY 1543-1943. Science.
Who is the ancient father of astronomy? ›Galileo Galilei pioneered the experimental scientific method and was the first to use a refracting telescope to make important astronomical discoveries. He is often referred to as the “father of modern astronomy” and the “father of modern physics”.
What is written in Surya Siddhanta? ›
It is a book or text about astronomy. It is in Sanskrit language and has 14 chapters. The Surya Siddhanta describes rules to calculate the motions of various planets and the moon relative to various constellations, and calculates the orbits of various astronomical bodies.
What is Siddhanta in Indian philosophy? ›Siddhānta (सिद्धान्त) is a Sanskrit term denoting the established and accepted view of any particular school within Indian philosophy; literally "settled opinion or doctrine, dogma, axiom, received or admitted truth; any fixed or established or canonical text-book on any subject" (from siddha, adj.
Was brahmasphuta siddhanta the first book to mention zero? ›Zero. Brahmagupta's Brahmasphuṭasiddhānta is the first book that provides rules for arithmetic manipulations that apply to zero and to negative numbers.
Is Surya the creator of the universe? ›The Vedas assert Sun (Surya) to be the creator of the material universe (Prakriti). In the layers of Vedic texts, Surya is one of the several trinities along with Agni and either Vayu or Indra, which are presented as an equivalent icon and aspect of the Hindu metaphysical concept called the Brahman.
What does Surya mean in astrology? ›According to Vedic astrology, the planet Sun is called Surya Dev. It is worshipped as lord in various forms and religions, but there is another aspect to it. According to Vedic studies, the sun is in the form of a planet and it is considered superior among the other eight planets.
Why is Surya so famous? ›He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerous awards including two National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and two South Indian International Movie Awards.
Who was the first famous astronomer of ancient India? ›Aryabhata I (ad 476) is one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers of ancient India. He dominated the ancient Indian mathematical world as Plato did the Greek philosophical world.
How many Siddhantas are there? ›Snapshot. We move on with the series on Indian Astronomy and Mathematics to cover the era of the 18 Siddhantas.
Who was the first Indian astronomer who said that the earth revolves around the sun? ›| Āryabhaṭa | |
|---|---|
| Era | Gupta era |
| Main interests | Mathematics, astronomy |
| Notable works | Āryabhaṭīya, Arya-siddhanta |
The Epic of Gilgamesh. What, When and Where: An epic poem concerning or (very) loosely based on the historical King Gilgamesh, who ruled Sumerian Uruk (modern day Iraq) in 2700 BC. This is the oldest written story, period, anywhere, known to exist.
What is the first book of God? ›
The Book of Genesis (from Greek Γένεσις, Génesis; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית Bəreʾšīt, "In [the] beginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament.
Who wrote the oldest book? ›The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BC (classical Sumerian). The earliest literary author known by name is Enheduanna, a Sumerian priestess and public figure dating to ca. 24th century BC.
What is the oldest human text? ›The world's oldest literature is widely accepted to be the Sumerian “Instructions of Shuruppak”, which dates to somewhere around 2600 B.C.E. But the title of “most famous literature from circa 2000 B.C.E.” belongs to a story that comes from ancient Mesopotamia: The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Where is the oldest book in America? ›Typically when we talk about the oldest "American" book, we are referring to the Bay Psalm Book, printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1640 (and it is, incidentally, the current record-holder for most expensive printed book sold at auction).
What are the oldest writings known to man? ›The earliest known writing was invented there around 3400 B.C. in an area called Sumer near the Persian Gulf. The development of a Sumerian script was influenced by local materials: clay for tablets and reeds for styluses (writing tools).
When was the first book called? ›The earliest example of a dated, printed book is a Buddhist text called the Diamond Sutra (868 CE). Woodblock printing was a meticulous process that involved carving an entire page of text onto a wooden block, then inking and pressing the block to print a page.
When was the first book ever wrote? ›The oldest known are dated around 2100 BC. But some scholars believe that these could be transcriptions of earlier Sumerian texts. Integrated versions have been found dating from around 2000-1700 BC. The most complete “standard” version was written on 12 clay tablets sometime between 1500 – 1200 BC.
What is the oldest modern book? ›The Bible, a Book of Fact and Prophecy, Volume II: Mankind's Oldest Modern Book.
What is Indian ancient books? ›Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas form part of this detailed study. The history, methodology, mythology, philosophy and teachings of these sets of incredible literature are discussed individually.
Which book was printed first? ›William Caxton was the first Englishman to learn to use a printing press. The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye was his first printed book, and the first book printed anywhere in English. It was produced in 1473 on the Continent, in either Bruges or Ghent.
Who is the first Hindi book? ›
Parīksāguru (1882): The First Hindi Novel and the Hindu Elite.
What is the oldest written text in India? ›The earliest undisputed deciphered epigraphy found in the Indian subcontinent are the Edicts of Ashoka of the 3rd century BCE, in the Brahmi script.
What is the oldest Indian written language? ›Sanskrit: Next in line is Sanskrit, the ancient language of India which can be traced back to 2000BC in its earliest written form. . While today only a very small group of people still speak the language, it has had a large influence on several western languages as part of the common Indo—European language root.
What is the oldest language in the world? ›Sumerian can be considered the first language in the world, according to Mondly. The oldest proof of written Sumerian was found on the Kish tablet in today's Iraq, dating back to approximately 3500 BC.
Which is the first Indian novel book? ›Rajmohan's Wife, published in 1864 by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay (1838–94), is generally regarded as the first Indian novel in English, significant not only because its author was the greatest Bengali novelist of the nineteenth century but also because it speaks to an emergent genre in the literature of colonial ...
Who invented the first book in the world? ›Around the 2nd or 3rd century CE, the Romans began to create the first "books". A codex was an ancient book form in which individual sheets of papyrus, parchment, or paper were folded in half and sewn together at the fold.
Who was the first Indian to win the book? ›Arundhati Roy is the first Indian Citizen to win the Booker Prize.
Who founded astronomy in India? ›Brahmagupta, (born 598—died c. 665, possibly Bhillamala [modern Bhinmal], Rajasthan, India), one of the most accomplished of the ancient Indian astronomers. He also had a profound and direct influence on Islamic and Byzantine astronomy.
When was astronomy discovered in India? ›The oldest mention of astronomy in India dates back to second millennium BC and has been found in the Vedas. In Indian languages, the science of astronomy is called “Khagola-Shastra”.
Who is the father of astronomy in India? ›Vainu Bappu – who went on to be fondly remembered as the “father of modern Indian astronomy”. Manali Kallat Vainu Bappu was born on 10 August 1927 in Hyderabad.
Who first started astronomy? ›
The first documented records of systematic astronomical observations date back to the Assyro-Babylonians around 1000 BCE. From this cradle of civilisation in Mesopotamia – in the southern part of present-day Iraq – astronomers had built up knowledge of the celestial bodies and recorded their periodic motions.
Who is the father of old astronomy in India? ›Shri Manali Kallat Vainu Bappu was born on 10th August 1927, in the Nizamiah Observatory, Hyderabad. He was born to Manali Kukuzhi and Sunanna Bappu. Vainu Bappu was an excellent student and actively participated in extracurricular activities such as debates, sports, etc.
What was invented in astronomy in India? ›Indian mathematicians invented the number system that uses zero, which is the basis of our decimal system. The first known astronomy text in India appeared in about 600 A.D. Written by Aryabhata, it described planetary motions and eclipses.
What is the ancient history of astrology in India? ›Indian astrology came explicitly to light around 1200 BCE, when the monk Lagadha compiled the Vedānga‐Jyotiṣa on the basis of Vedas, in which lunar and solar months are described, with their adjustment by Adhimāsa (lunar leap month). ṛtus (seasons), years, and yugas (eras) are also described.
Who is known as Indian astronomers? ›(b) India`s ancient Astronomers Aryabhatta (476-550 A.D), Varahamihira (505-587 A.D), Brahmagupta (598-668 A.D), Bhaskara-1 (600-680.
What is the oldest book in history? ›A Buddhist holy text, the Diamond Sūtra is considered to be the oldest surviving dated printed book in the world. Found in a walled up cave in China along with other printed materials, the book is made up of Chinese characters printed on a scroll of grey printed paper, wrapped along a wooden pole.
What is world's oldest religion? ›The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, lit.
What is the first religion in the world? ›Table of Contents. Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Today, with more than 1 billion followers, Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam.