सोमसिद्धान्तः मूलग्रन्थ- लिप्यन्तर-टीका-आंगलव्याख्यासहितः- The Soma Siddhanta with the Original Text- Transliteration, Commentary and English Explanation

About the Book The experiences and knowledge from our past are recorded in manuscripts which have been handed down to us over several thousand years. The Government of India, through the Department of Culture, took note of the importance of this vast tangible heritage and, in order to preserve and I conserve as well as to make access to this wealth easy, established the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM). In order to disseminate the knowledge content of manuscripts, the Mission has taken up several programmes such as lectures, seminars, and workshops. The Mission publishes the proceedings of the above-said programmes under the following series: "Samraksikā" (on conservation), "Tattvabodha" (comprising lectures based on manuscripts delivered by eminent scholars), "Samiksikā" (research oriented papers presented in the seminars), and "Krtibodha" (transcribed and edited texts prepared at advanced level manuscriptology workshops conducted by NMM).

NMM has taken up a project for publishing rare and unpublished manuscripts in three forms: (a) facsimile, (b) critical edition with annotation, and (c) critical edition with translation. This series has been named "Prakāsīkā".

This book 'Somasiddhanta' an astronomical text is getting published by the Mission, under its Prakashika series along with translation in English.

This edited text 'Somasiddhanta' contempo rary with modern Süryasiddhanta consists of three thousand and thirty five verses. The text is presented in the form of a dialogue between Candra and Saunaka. It follows Suryasiddhanta and according to S. B. Dikshit, modern Pañcasiddhantika replaces Paitâmahasiddhanta and Pulisasiddhanta with Brahmasiddhanta of Sakalyasamhita and Somasiddhanta. In ten chapters, the text explains contemporary astronomical observations.

About the Author The editor is an independent researcher of history and philosophy of science. He is associated with many well-known organisations. He presented papers in a number of national and international seminars on history of Science, history of Indian Astronomy, history of Mathematics, observational astronomy, astronomy education which were highly appreciated. He successfully completed two projects on Siddhantic texts as a project investigator of Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi. At present the author is working in a project on a Kara a text at the Asiatic Society, Kolkata. He, as a coordinator, is also engaged in locating manuscripts from different villages in order to conserve them properly on behalf of National Mission for Manuscripts, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India.

Foreword Knowledge related to astronomy has been prevalent in India since the Vedic period. Vedas especially Rk and Yajus along with Brahmanas are testimony to this fact. As an example, Rg Veda verse 1.83.5 indicates the apparent motion of the Sun which is the cause of life, cause of creation. In the great epic, Rāmāyaṇa, there are more than five hundred references of positions of planets starting from the Bäla-kända where the birth of Shri Rama was described. Astronomical references to planetary positions in the great war of Mahabharata clearly point to this. Bhisma-Parva, Šalya-Parva and Udyoga-Parva abound with references of celestial phenomena.

Gradual discoveries related to astronomy contributed to its rich heritage and they are recorded in writing during first to sixth century C.E. Astronomer of India observed, systematically analysed and recorded the positions of planets with the passage of time. And thus the old Süryasiddhanta was composed in 400 C.E. which was widely accepted and followed throughout India. Later in the seventh century, a modified version of old Süryasiddhanta was composed.

The present publication, 'Somasiddhanta' is contemporary of the new Suryasiddhänta. The name of the author of the Somasiddhanta is not known till date. The uniqueness of this Siddhantic text lies in its encompassing all aspects of astronomy in a compact form.

Shri Somenath Chatterjee, an independent researcher on history of science and astronomy, has done a commendable job by preparing the critical edition of the Somasiddhanta. He has also explained the text in English along with the diagrams, wherever necessary for easier understanding of the content.

I am sure researchers and persons interested in astronomy all over the world, will be benefitted by this publication.

Introduction Development of Astronomy in Classical Age (Aryabhata to Jnanaraja) The one-thousand-year history and development of Indian astronomy is quite fascinating, especially to the researchers and students of astronomy. Vedänga Jyotişa (VJ) is the first astronomical text found in India (1370 BCE) and no other reliable evidence other than Jain texts is found up to Paitämahasiddhänta (80 CE approx.), which can throw light to the development of astronomical knowledge.

Varähamihira is the first scholar who felt the importance of astronomical manuscripts and compiled them in the first half of the sixth century. Till date, the best evidence of ancient astronomical knowledge of India contains in the Pañcasiddhantikä of Varähamihira i.e. Paulisasiddhanta, Romakasiddhanta, Vasisthasiddhanta, Surya siddhanta and Paitāmahasiddhanta. It is no doubt a great work indeed and Pt. G. Thibaut and Sudhakara Dvivedi translated this whole work with an elaborate introduction which was published in 1889. After this no such work is found based on original manuscript. S.B. Dikshit introduced a new idea of modern Pañcasiddhäntikā. He included Somasiddhanta and Brahmasiddhanta of Sakalyasamhita excluding Paulisasiddhanta and Paitāmahasiddhanta. Dikshit said, "The Pancasiddhantikā included all the siddhantas excepting Soma siddhanta.""...these Siddhantas and those which are to be considered now, are different, and this fact will be further corroborated by the discussion which will follow. The Siddhantas whose study is going to be made now are extant and different from those belonging to the Pañcasiddhantikä group; and that is why the epithet 'modem" has been applied to them.

**Contents and Sample Pages**