56* ORICTX AND DECLINE OF THE 



ta, it is said, that i\lAyA, the chief engineer of the 

 Daityas^ and the son of Twash ta', made tapasya in 

 honour of the siui, in order to ohtain astronomical 

 knowledge; the sun appeared to him, and said, " 1 

 know the rectitude of thy heart, aud I am much 

 pleased with thy iapa.sy a. I shall -therefore impart 

 unto thee the doctrine of Time, and of the revolu- 

 tions of the planets. Bat as no body can bear my 

 refulgence, and as it is not in my power to stop my 

 course, for a single moment (for this reason go back 

 to thy ownpu7'i, town, or place of abode, and there I 

 shall impart unto thee knowledge, in the town of 

 JRomaca, where I shall become the Mle'ch'haVata'- 

 RA, through the curse of Brahma'). This ibrm of 

 mine, here present, will teach thee every thing:" 

 then the sun, having directed this new form to teach 

 him, disappeared, and Maya bowed himself to the 

 ground before this emanation. 



The sloca between the two brackets is not found 

 in general in the copies of the Surya-siddhanta ; yet 

 without it there seems to be somethmg Avanting : 

 but whether an interpolation or not, its purport 

 is established in the following astronomical treatises. 

 In the beginning of the Siddljanta-Raja, the au- 

 thor says, from history (Itihdaa) I know, that Bha's- 

 cara-Su'rya became a Rdmaca, through the curse 

 of Puru'hu'ta and Viranchi. He became a Yavamt 

 in Romaca-pattanay and in the garb and countenance 

 of a Rbmaca, he composed a most complete treatise 

 on astronomy. 



In the beginning of the Suryarun'a-sanrcada, the 

 sun is introduced, saying, " I gave the Rdmaca-Sidd'- 

 hanta to Romaca, whilst living among the YavmiaSj 

 in consequence of Brahma's curse. Romaca taught 



