The ''Nirṇayāmṛta'' (lit. "the nectar of decisions"), also transliterated as the ''Nirnayamrita'', is a 14th-16th century

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

-language text by Allāḍanātha on determining auspicious times for Hindu religious ceremonies. It comprises four chapters (''prakaraṇa''s): ''vrata-nirṇaya'', ''tithi-nirṇaya'', ''śrāddha-nirṇaya'', and ''āśauca-nirnaya''. R. G. Bhandarkar classifies ''Nirṇayāmṛta'' among the '' dharma-śāstra'' texts.

David Pingree David Edwin Pingree (January 2, 1933 – November 11, 2005) was an American historian of mathematics in the ancient world. He was a University Professor and Professor of History of Mathematics and Classics at Brown University. Life Pingree gra ...

's ''Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit'' records 24 manuscripts of the text which have several variations.

Date and place

Sources that quote the ''Nirṇayāmṛta'' include

Raghunandana Raghunandana (c. 16th century CE) was an Indian Sanskrit scholar from the Bengal region. His writings include 28 Smriti digests on Hindu law and a commentary on the Hindu law code prevalent in Bengal, the ''Dayabhaga''. Life Raghunandana was ...

(16th century), the ''Nirnaya-sindhu'' (which also quotes Raghunandana), and Bhattoji Dikshita's ''Tithi-nirnaya'' (17th century). Alladanatha names one of his sources as the ''Parijata'': if this is same as the ''Madana-pārijāta'' (c. 1375 CE), Alladanatha must have lived sometime during the 14th-16th century. Allāḍa-nātha was a son of Lakshmana (Lakṣmaṇa) Siddha, and wrote the book for a king named Sūryasena. Some manuscripts of the book attribute its authorship to Sūryasena, or to Gopi-narayana. The ''Nirṇayāmṛta'' describes Alladanatha's patron Sūryasena as the king of Ekachakra and a member of the family of Chvahuvana (possibly Chahuvana, that is the

Chauhans Chauhan may refer to: * Chauhan (surname), an Indian surname * Chaguanas, a town in Trinidad and Tobago called Chauhan by the early Indian indentured immigrant Clans * Chauhan Dynasty, a medieval Indian dynasty * Chauhan (caste), Chauhan of Lonia ...

). The text provides the following genealogy of the king: Sarupa belonged to the famous race of Chahuvanas and destroyed all his enemies. His son was Karna-deva, whose son Uddharana performed military exploits at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and wounded the elephants of the "Lord of the Shakas". Uddharana settled in the city of Ekachakra, located on the banks of the "daughter of the Sun" (the

Yamuna River The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

). His son Chandra-sena had two sons: Surya-sena the elder, and Pratapa-sena the younger. Surya-sena had a son named Deva-sena. No other source mentions this dynasty. The genealogy does not match with that of the

Sena dynasty The Sena/Sen dynasty was a List of Hindu empires and dynasties, Hindu dynasty during the Classical India, early medieval period on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. The empire at its peak cover ...

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly crea ...

identified Ekachakra with

Arrah Arrah (also transliterated as Ara) is a city and a municipal corporation in Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur district (formerly known as Shahabad district) in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the headquarters of Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur ...

in present-day

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, but that place is not located on the banks of the Yamuna River. According to one theory, Alladanatha was a contemporary of the Chauhans of

Etawah Etawah (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Iṭāvā''), also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawa ...

, who were defeated by the

Tomaras of Gwalior The Tomaras of Gwalior (also called Tomar in modern vernaculars because of Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages, schwa deletion) were a Rajput dynasty who ruled the Gwalior Fort and its surrounding region in central India during 14th–16th c ...

in 1390.

Sources

Alladanatha states that he consulted the following sources to compose his treatise:

References

{{reflist

External links

Manuscript of ''Nirnayamrita''

निर्णयामृतम् (धर्मशास्त्रनिबन्धः)
Sanskrit text published by Khemraj Shrikrishnadas Shri Venkateshwar Press Dharmaśāstra Hindu astrological texts Sanskrit texts