The Surya Siddhanta

by Phanindralal Gangooly

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The oldest and most important treatise of the post-Christian period on Indian Astronomy that has come down to us is the Surya Siddhanta consisting 14 chapters written in slokas.  Alberuni says that Lata was the author of this work.  According to the introductory verses Surya, the sun god, revealed it to Asura Maya in the city of Romaka.

This translation stands out as a model of research work in the field of Hindu astronomy. After sometime Calcutta University published a reprint of this valuable work in 1935 with an Introduction which attempts at tracing the growth and development of the basic text as to its date, authorship and methods. The present book is a reprint edition of the Calcutta University edition.

About the Translator:

Born in 1805, Ebenezer Burgess was an American missionary who spent 15 years in India (1839-1854). During his time there he found a need for a good text on Hindu astronomy, and so made this translation, first published in 1860. Mr. Burgess died in 1870. This is a reprint of the 1935 reprint by Calcutta University. Burgess concludes the Hindu civilization dates back to 2000 BC, and no earlier. Their knowledge of astronomy was therefore not derived from the Greeks. Among many other analysises, he carefully compares nakshatras to Arabic & Chinese lunar mansions. I can find no astrology in this book, but it will be a useful resource for the serious student. There are no Sanskrit slokas in this book.