SYSTEMS OF ASTRONOMY. 197 



'' A work ascribed to Parasara, a pliilosopher, 

 *' who is supposed to have lived before tlie Vedas 

 " were arranged in their present form, exhibits a 

 *' still more manifest proof of forgery, since one of 

 " the furmula^ it exhibits mentions the £era of Saca, 

 " which began Anno Domini 78." 



iVfter giving this outline, which is very defec- 

 tive in many respects, the Reviewer commences 

 his attack as follows :■— 



" It would be easy to shew, that the circum- 

 " stances so forcibly stated, by no means justify 

 " the sweeping inference deduced by our author. 

 " Vara'ha Mihira was never considered as an an- 

 " cient writer ; and is supposed, by Sir William 

 *' Jones, to have flourished A. D. 499- That he 

 " was the author of the Siirya Siddhanta, rests on 

 ^' the single authority of the commentator of the 

 ^' Bhaswotee, a, work which seems to 'have been 

 *' composed in Siam ; though we greatly wish Mr. 

 *• Bentley had imitated Sir William Joxes, on 

 " such occasions, by inserting the original passage. 

 " But on what authority does our author assume, 

 " that the Calpa, or cycle of Varxy'ha, is that of 

 ^' Vara'ha Mihira, the modern astronomer? W^e 

 *' find the Hindu cycles always distinguished by 

 *' the names of different Deities. There is the De- 

 *' vi Calpa, the Su'rya Calpa ; the present is the 

 " Vishnu Calpa^ and we entertain no doubt that 

 *' the Vara'ha Calpa derived that designation from 

 " the Vara'ha Avatar, or incarnation of Vishnu, 

 *' in tJje form of a Boar, as is the universal opinion 

 ^' of the natives. Now the name of Vara'ha Mi' 

 '' hira unquestionably does not occur in the Pu- 

 '' vans, or in any work pretending to antiquity ; 

 " and we have seen in what light we are to consi- 

 *' der the Vaba'ha Calpa^ 

 .03 



