118 



G. Tbibaut — On the Suryaprajnapti. 



[No. 3, 



round its axis), tbe annual motion o£ tbe sun tbrough tbe circle of the 

 nakshatras is said to be apparent only, and produced by the circumstance o£ 

 the motion of the sun being somewhat slower than that of the nakshatras, 

 so that he daily lags behind by a certain quantity which accumulated during 

 a whole year amounts to an entire revolution. How the Siiryaprajnapti 

 supposes the first and third motions to take place will appear from the 

 following. 



It must be remembered at the outset that the general conception of 

 the configuration of the world which we find in the Suryaprajnapti is the 

 same as that known from the Puranas. The earth is considered to be an 

 immense circular flat consisting of a number of concentric rings, called 

 dvipas, separated from each other by ring-shaped oceans. In the centre 

 of the earth stands Mount Meru ; around it runs the first dvipa — Jambu- 

 dvipa, the only one which will concern us in the following. It is sur- 

 rounded by a circular ocean, the water of which is salt (the lavana-samudra). 

 The southern segment of the Jambudvipa is occupied by the Bharatavarsha, 

 the northern segment by the Airavata-varsha ; east and west of Mount 

 Meru are the two portions of the Videha-varsha. Sun, moon and stars 

 revolve round Mount Meru, in circles of different height above the Jambu- 

 dvipa, the same heavenly body, however, always keeping the same height. 

 The detailed features of these motions are now according to the Siirya- 

 prajiiapti as follows. 



The circumstance of the sun seeming during one half of the year to 

 approach daily more and more the north, while during the other half he 

 seems to descend towards the south is explained in the following manner. 

 On the longest day of the year which at the beginning of the cycle coincides 

 with the first day of the lunar month S'ravana, the sun describes round the 

 mountain Meru a circle, the diameter of which is 99,64<0 yojanas. The dis- 

 tance of the sun from the centre of Meru amounts therefore to 49,820 

 yojanas. On the next day the sun describes a circle concentric with the 

 first, and having a diameter greater by 5 yojanas, so that the distance 

 of the sun, from Mount Meru now amounts to 49,820 -t- 2 -f-f- yojanas. In 

 the same manner the diameter of the circle described by the sun increases 

 by 5 —f- on the third day, fourth day, etc., up to the day of the winter 

 solstice, which according to the system is the 183rd day after the summer 

 solstice. On this day the sun describes round Mount Meru a circle, the 

 diameter of which is equal to 100,660 yojanas, so that his distance from 

 Mount Meru amounts to 50,330 yojanas. Beginning from this day the 

 solar circles contract again, by the same quantity daily by which they had 

 expanded during the southern progress of the sun. During the 182 days 

 intervening between the day of the winter solstice and the day of the fol- 

 lowing Slimmer solstice the sun describes again the same 182 circles in 



