Varāhamihira ( 20/21 March 505 – 587), also called Varāha or Mihira, was an ancient Indian
astrologer-astronomer who lived in or around
Ujjain in present-day
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
, India.
Date
Unlike other prominent
ancient Indian
The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ancient India:
Ancient India is the Indian subcontinent from prehistoric times to the start of Medieval India, which is typically dated (when the term is ...
astronomers, Varāhamihira does not mention his date. However, based on hints in his works, modern scholars date him to the 6th century CE; possibly, he also lived during the last years of the 5th century.
In his ''
Pancha-siddhantika'', Varāhamihira refers to the year 427 of the ''Shaka-kala'' (also ''Shakendra-kala'' or ''Shaka-bhupa-kala''). Identifying this
calendar era
A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one '' epoch'' of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, the current year is numbered in the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era ...
with the
Shaka era
The Shaka era (IAST: Śaka, Śāka) is a historical Hindu calendar era (year numbering), the epoch (its year zero) of which corresponds to Julian year (calendar), Julian year 78.
The era has been widely used in different regions of the Indian ...
places Varāhamihira in the 505 CE. Alternative theories identify this calendar era with other eras, placing him before the 5th century CE. However, these theories are inaccurate, as Varāhamihira must have lived after
Aryabhata
Aryabhata ( ISO: ) or Aryabhata I (476–550 CE) was the first of the major mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His works include the '' Āryabhaṭīya'' (which mentions that in 3600 ' ...
(born 476 CE), whose work he refers to. The particulars of the date mentioned by Varāhamihira -
Shukla ''
pratipada'' of the
Chaitra month of the Shaka year 427 - align accurately with 20-21 March 505 CE.
Al-Biruni also places Varāhamihira in 505 CE.
In accordance with the contemporary tradition, 505 CE was most probably the year in which Varāhamihira composed ''Pancha-Siddhantaka'' or began planning it. However, some scholars believe that it was the year of Varāhamihira's birth or of another important event in his life. This is because according to Amaraja, the author of a commentary on
Brahmagupta
Brahmagupta ( – ) was an Indian Indian mathematics, mathematician and Indian astronomy, astronomer. He is the author of two early works on mathematics and astronomy: the ''Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta'' (BSS, "correctly established Siddhanta, do ...
's ''
Khanda-khadyaka'', Varāhamihira died in 587 CE (Shaka year 509). If Varāhamihira wrote his work in 505 CE even at the young age of 25, he must have been over 105 years old at the time of his death, which seems exceptionally high to these scholars. Consequently, these scholars consider date Varāhamihira's lifespan to 505-587 CE. Other scholars doubt the accuracy of Amaraja's statement, since he lived a thousand years after Varāhamihira.
According to a historically inaccurate tradition, Varāhamihira was associated with the first century BCE legendary emperor
Vikramaditya. This tradition is based on ''Jyotirvid-abharana'', a work attributed to
Kalidasa, which states that Varāhamihira (along with Kalidasa) was one of the
navaratnas ("nine gems") at Vikramaditya's court. However, this text is a literary forgery, and is dated variously from 12th-18th century. Varāhamihira definitely did not live in the same century as some of the purported "Navaratnas", such as the much older
Kalidasa.
Early life
Much of the undisputed information about the life of Varāhamihira comes from a stanza in his ''
Brhaj-jataka''. According to this stanza, he was a resident of
Avanti, was a son of Aditya-dasa, and studied at Kapitthaka through the boon of the sun god.
Ancestry
Varāhamihira's father Aditya-dasa likely trained him in
jyotisha (Indian
astrology and astronomy), as suggested by the ''Brhaj-jataka'' stanza and the opening stanza of ''Pancha-siddhantika''.
Varāhamihira's commentator
Utpala calls him "Magadha-dvija". According to one interpretation, this means that Varāhamihira was Brahmana (''dvija''), whose ancestors belonged to the
Magadha region.
According to another theory, the word "Magadha" in this context refers to the sun-worshipping
Maga cult that Varāhamihira was a part of. In his ''
Brhat-samhita'', Varāhamihira mentions that the Magas were the only people suitable for consecrating an image of the Sun god. The Magas, as they came to be known in India, originated from the
Magi
Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Per ...
priests of the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...
. Historian
Ajay Mitra Shastri cites a ''
Bhavishya Purana'' passage according to which the term "Magadha" is a synonym of "Maga" and refers to "those who contemplate on the Maga". According to Shastri, Utpala has used the word "Magadha" to denote the Magas, who had been accepted as Shaka-dvipi (Maga) Brahmins in the Indian society.
Shastri theorizes that "Varaha-mihira" may be a Sanskritized form of the Iranian name "Varaza-Mihr", and may refer to a legend mentioned in the ''Mihr
Yasht'' of the ''
Avesta''. According to this legend, the god Verethraghna, in the form of a boar (''varaza''), precedes Mihr in his march. Shastri notes that the 5th century
Sassanian monarch
Bahram V
Bahram V (also spelled Wahram V or Warahran V; ), also known as Bahram Gur (New Persian: , "Bahram the onager unter), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') from 420 to 438.
The son of the incumbent Sasanian shah Ya ...
bore the name Mihrvaraza, which is quite similar to Varahamihra. Academic
J.E. Sanjana suggests that Varāhamihira was descended from an Iranian Magi priest.
Some scholars, such as M.T. Patwardhan and A.N. Upadhye, have identified Varāhamihira with Bazurjmehr, mentioned in
Firishta's writings as a minister of the Sasanian king
Khusraw Nushirwan (r. 531-578). However, A.M. Shastri dismisses this theory as unconvincing.
There are several historically inaccurate legends about the ancestry of Varāhamihira:
* Jain writers
Merutunga (14th century) and Rajashekhara-Suri claim that his original name was Varaha, and he was a brother of the Jain patriarch
Bhadrabahu. He gained knowledge because of a favour by the Sun, because of which the suffix "Mihira" ("Sun") was added to his name. Jain authors seem to have fabricated this story to prove the pre-eminence of the Jain astrology over the Brahmanical astrology.
* Another 20th century legend, purportedly based on "some old
Gujarati text" claims that Aditya-dasa's wife was called Satya-vati alias Indu-mati: Varāhamihira was born to them in their fifties by the boon of the Sun. He was originally known as Mihira, and was given the prefix "Varaha" by King Vikramaditya when he correctly predicted that a boar (''varaha'' in Sanskrit) would kill the king's son.
* A tradition associates Varāhamihira with
Berachampa in
West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
, where a mound called "Varāhamihira's house" is located. This seems to be the result of an attempt to associate the locality with a famous figure. A legend from the Bengal region claims that Varaha and Mihira were a father-son duo at Vikramaditya's court, and the poet
Khana was Mihira's wife. This legend is of no historical value. "Varaha" and "Mihira" were alternative names for the same person - Varāhamihira, as attested by the later astronomical works.
* Another legend claims that the
Mimamsa teacher
Shabara-svamin had four wives, one from each
varna, and Varāhamihira was his son from his Brahmin wife. Some scholars, such as S.K. Dikshit, have theorized that Aditya-dasa (or Aditya-deva) was another name of Shabara-svamin, but no historical evidence supports this tradition.
Birthplace
Kapitthaka, where Varāhamihira studied, was probably his birthplace.
While "Kapitthaka" is the most popular reading the place's name, several variants of this name appear in various manuscripts, including Kampilyaka, Kapilaka, Kapishthala, and Kapishkala. Utpala suggests that this village had a sun temple. According to one theory, Kapitthaka is the modern
Kayatha, an archaeological site near Ujjain. Statues of the sun deity
Surya
Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...
(whom Varāhamihira worshipped) dated 600-900 CE have been found there, and ''
kapittha'' trees are abundant in and around Kayatha. However, no historical source suggests that Kapitthaka was another name for Kayatha. According to another theory, Kapitthaka is same as
Sankissa (ancient Sankashya) in present-day Uttar Pradesh: according to the 7th-century Chinese traveler
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
, this town was also known as Kah-pi-t'a. Historian
Ajay Mitra Shastri notes that Kah-pi-t'a is phonetically similar to Kapittha or Kapitthaka.
Based on the term "Magadha-dvija" (see above),
Sudhakara Dvivedi suggests that Varāhamihira was born and brought up in Magadha, and later migrated to Ujjain.
Ajay Mitra Shastri disputes this, noting that Utpala describes him as "Avantikacharya" (
Acharya
In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a religious teacher in Hinduism and Buddhism and a spiritual guide to Hindus and Buddhists. The designation has different meanings i ...
of
Avanti) and "Magadha-dvija": these two terms cannot be reconciled if "Magadha-dvija" is interpreted as "
Dvija (Brahmana) of Magadha"; instead "Magadha" here means
Maga, as attested by the ''
Bhavishya Purana''.
Residence
Besides the above-mentioned stanza, Varāhamihira's association with Avanti is confirmed by other evidence: in ''Pancha-siddhantika'', he calls himself ''Avantyaka'' ("of Avanti"), and the later commentators such as
Utpala and Mahidhara describe him as ''Avantikacharya'' ("
acharya
In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a religious teacher in Hinduism and Buddhism and a spiritual guide to Hindus and Buddhists. The designation has different meanings i ...
of Avanti"). Utpala also describes Varāhamihira's son Prthu-yashas as Avantikacharya, in his commentary on ''Shat-panchashika''.
Historian
Ajay Mitra Shastri, relying on Utpala, believes that "Avanti" here refers to the city of
Ujjayini in the
Avanti region of central India. Scholar Dániel Balogh, however, notes that Avanti here may refer to the city of Ujjayini or the Avanti region in general: there is no concrete evidence that Varāhamihira lived in the city; he may have lived elsewhere in Avanti.
Royal patron
Varāhamihira likely lived in the
Aulikara kingdom, as the Aulikaras ruled Avanti in the 6th century CE. Varāhamihira's ''
Brhat-samhita'' states that on the topic of omens (''shakuna''), one of the works he consulted was that of Dravya-vardhana, the king of Avanti. Dravya-vardhana likely belonged to the Aulikara dynasty, several of whose members bore names ending in ''-vardhana''.
Historian
Ajay Mitra Shastri notes that Dravya-vardhana is the only person for whom Varāhamihira employs the honorific ''
Shri'', although he mentions several other notable people. Moreover, he mentions Dravya-vardhana's work before he mentions reputed authorities such as the
Saptarishis and
Garga. According to Shastri, this, combined with the fact that both Dravya-vardhana and Varāhamihira lived in Avanti, suggests that Dravya-vardhana was the royal patron of Varāhamihira. Shastri theorizes that Dravya-vardhana was a successor of
Yashodharman alias Vishnu-vardhana, who may have also been a patron of Varāhamihira.
Some other historians identify Dravya-vardhana with the earlier Aulikara ruler
Drapa-vardhana. Shastri disputes this, arguing that Varāhamihira describes Dravya-vardhana as a ''maharajadhiraja'' (emperor), while the
Rīsthal inscription describes Drapa-vardhana as a ''senapati'' (commander). Balogh disagrees with Shastri, noting that Varāhamihira actually uses the term ''nrpo maharajadhiraja-kah'' (''nrpa'' or ruler "connected to the emperor") for the king, which Shastri has misunderstood as ''maharajadhirajah'' (emperor). Only one manuscript reads ''maharajadhirajah'', which can be discarded as it doesn't fit the metre; three others have ''maharajdhiraja-jah''. Thus, the actual title of Drapa-vardhana was ''nrpa'', which is much closer to ''senapati'' in status. Utpala also interprets the term ''maharajadhiraja-kah'' to mean "born in the dynasty of the (or an) emperor".
Hans Bakker interprets the term to ''maharajadhiraja-kah'' as a governor installed at Ujjayini by the contemporary Gupta emperor. Balogh believes that Dravya-vardhana was probably same as Drapa-vardhana: "Dravya" may be a variant arising from a mistake in a medieval manuscript, which is the source of later manuscripts.
Balogh disputes Shastri's assertion that Varāhamihira shows a particularly reverential attitude to the king, and even if he did, this is no evidence that the two were contemporaries. Varāhamihira consulted the king's work instead of the original work of Bharadvaja that it was based on; according to Balogh, this actually makes it more likely that the king lived at a time earlier than Varāhamihira, who did not have access to the older work of Bharadvaja.
According to Balogh, Varāhamihira likely lived during the reign of the Aulikara kings Prakasha-dharman, Yashodharman, or an unknown successor of Yashodharman. However, unlike Shastri, Balogh believes that Varāhamihira did not have a royal patron.
Religion
Several scholars theorize that Varāhamihira came from a
Brahminized family of the sun-worshipping
Magi
Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Per ...
priests (see
Ancestry
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...
above). He was a worshipper of the sun god
Savitur, and stated that he had received all his knowledge by the grace of this god.
For example, in ''Brhaj-jataka'', he states that he was able to compose the text because of a boon by the Sun. While he mentions other deities, he devotes a much larger number of verses to the Sun. His commentator Utpala credits his sharp intellect to a boon by the Sun. Some later writers describe him as an incarnation of the Sun god. Utpala, for example, declares that the Sun descended on earth in the form of Varāhamihira to save the jyotisha-shastra from destruction. The ''Subhashita-ratna-kosha'' quotes stanzas that praise Varāhamihira as an incarnation of Vishnu and the Sun, presumably because of two parts of his name (''
varaha
Varaha (, , "boar") is the avatar of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a wild boar, boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu.
In legend, when the demon Hiranyaksha steals ...
'' referring to an avatar of Vishnu, and ''mihira'' meaning sun).
Sun worship seems to have been his family's religion, as his father Aditya-dasa's name literally means "slave (or servant) of the Sun". ''Kutuhula-manjari'', a later text, suggests that Varāhamihira was born to Aditya-dasa by the blessings of the Sun. Varāhamihira's son Prthu-yashas also invokes the Sun in the opening stanza of his work ''Shatpanchashikha''.
Varāhamihira was well-versed with the
Vedic tradition. He recommends the performance of several ancient Hindu rituals such as
Punyaham and chanting of
Vedic hymns.
Varāhamihira praises Vishnu in the chapters 42 and 104 of Brhat-samhita, leading A.N.S. Aiyangar and K.V.R Aiyangar to speculate that he came in contact with the
Shrivaishnava saints (Alvars); however, A.M. Shastri dismisses this theory, describing the praise for Vishnu as an example of religious eclecticism.
In ''Brhat-samhita'', Varāhamihira discusses the iconography of several Brahmanical deities, including
Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
,
Baladeva,
Ekanamsha,
Shamba,
Pradyumna, consorts of Shamba and Pradyumna,
Brahma
Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...
,
Skanda,
Indra
Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes
Indra is the m ...
,
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
, Surya, the divine mothers (
Matrikas),
Revanta,
Yama,
Varuna, and
Kubera. These were presumably the popular gods worshipped during his period. He also describes the iconography of two non-Brahmanical faiths, that of the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
and the
Jinas. He appears to have been religiously liberal, as he reveres the Buddha as "the father of the world" and devotes an entire stanza to Buddha's iconology (compared to shorter descriptions of several Brahmanical deities). A verse in the ''Brhat-samhita'' describes the iconography of
Ganesha
Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...
, but this verse appears only in one or two manuscripts, and is likely a later interpolation. Similarly, a ''Tikanika-yatra'' verse in which the author reveres Ganesha (among other deities), is likely spurious; this verse appears only in one manuscript.
Works
Varāhamihira is credited with writing several authoritative texts on
astronomy and astrology. He was also known for his poetic skills, and the 11th-century writer
Kshemendra describes him as a great poet.
He apparently wrote a set of two works - detailed and short - in the following areas:
The chronological order of some of these works can be determined based on the internal evidence and Utpala's commentary. In order or earliest to latest, these works are:
* ''Pancha-siddhantika''
* ''Brhaj-jataka''
* ''Brhad-yatra''
* ''Yoga-yatra'' (according to Utpala, Varaha-mihira wrote this because he was dissatisfied with ''Brhad-yatra'')
* ''Brhad-vivaha-patala''
* ''Brhat-samhita''
''Laghu-jataka'' states that it was written after ''Brhaj-jataka'', and Utpala's commentary states that it was written after the abridged version of ''Pancha-siddhantika''. However, its order with respect to the other works is not certain.
Later authors also mention or quote from some other works composed by Varaha-mihira. Manuscripts of some other works attributed to Varaha-mihira exist, but these attributions are of doubtful nature.
Influences
The ''
Romaka Siddhanta'' ("The Doctrine of the Romans") and the ''
Paulisa Siddhanta'' were two works of Western origin which influenced Varāhamihira's thought. The ''Pauliṣa Siddhānta'' is often mistakenly thought to be a single work and attributed to
Paul of Alexandria (c. 378 CE). However, this notion has been rejected by other scholars in the field, notably by
David Pingree who stated that "...the identification of Paulus Alexandrinus with the author of the ''Pauliṣa Siddhānta'' is totally false". A number of his writings share similarities with the earlier texts like ''
Vedanga Jyotisha
''Vedanga Jyotisha'' (), or ''Jyotishavedanga'' (), is one of earliest known Indian texts on astrology ('' Jyotisha''). The extant text is dated to the final centuries BCE, but it may be based on a tradition reaching back to about 700-600 BCE.
...
''.
Some scholars consider Varāhamihira to be the strong candidate for the one who understood and introduced the zodiac signs, predictive calculations for auspicious ceremonies and astrological computations in India.
Varāhamihira's works contain 35 Sanskritized Greek astronomical terms, and he exhibits a good understanding of the Greek astronomy. He praised the Greeks (''Yavanas'') for being "well trained in the sciences", though impure in ritual order.
Legacy
Varāhamihira gained reputation as the most eminent writer on
jyotisha after his death, and his works superseded nearly all the earlier Indian texts in this area. Several later Indian astrologer-astronomers speak highly of him, and acknowledge his works among their main sources. The 11th-century writer
Al-Biruni also greatly admires him, describing him as an excellent astronomer.
See also
*
List of Indian mathematicians
Indian mathematicians have made a number of contributions to mathematics that have significantly influenced scientists and mathematicians in the modern era. One of such works is Hindu numeral system which is predominantly used today and is likely ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
The Brihat-samhita; complete translation by N. Chidambaram IyerOnline edition with glossary
Various editions in English and Sanskrit. (PDF)
''The Brihat Jataka'' (1905)(PDF) – archived from
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varahamihira
505 births
587 deaths
6th-century Indian mathematicians
Medieval Indian astrologers
6th-century Indian astronomers
6th-century astrologers
6th-century Indian writers
Sanskrit writers