288 G. Thibaut —Vardha Mihiras FahchasiddlLantilcd. [No. 2, 
in Yavanapnra, at the beginning of Wednesday ; turn (the number of 
solar years remaining after the deduction of 427) into months, add the 
months, (i. e., the elapsed lunar months of the current year), put the 
result down in two places, multiply it (in one place) by 7 and divide by 
228, add the resulting adhimasas (to the number of months obtained 
above) ; multiply the sum by 30, add the tithis, (i. e., the elapsed tithis 
of the current month), put the result down in two places ; multiply it 
(in one place) by 11, add 514 and (divide) by 703 ; deduct the quotient 
(from the number of tithis found above). The final result is the 
(savana) ahargana according to the Romaka Siddhanta; in the Paulisa 
too it is not very much different.” 
The above is a very concisely stated rule for a rough calulation of 
the ahargana, i. e., the sum of civil days elapsed from a certain epoch 
down to a given date. The general principles of the calculation do 
not differ from the usual ones and therefore stand in no need of elucida¬ 
tion. Concerning the details we have in the first place to notice that 
the S'aka date 427 has to be deducted from the given sum of years. 
This means of course that the ahargana is to be calculated from the end 
of the 427th year of the S'aka era. The question remains whether 427 
S'aka elapsed is to be taken as the time when the Romaka Siddhanta was 
written or at least is the epoch fixed upon by the author of the Romaka 
Siddhanta as the starting-point of his calculations, or whether the named 
year represents either the time of the composition of the Panchasiddhan- 
tika or the epoch selected by Yaraha Mihira himself. The former alter¬ 
native is indeed primd facie the much more probable one as the date 
appears in the text in connexion with other details which certainly ori¬ 
ginally belonged to the Romaka and not to Yaraha Mihira. The latter 
alternative can, however, not be rejected altogether; for it is by no 
means impossible that while the principles of the calculation of the 
ahargana are taken from the Romaka, the particular date from which it 
starts might have been chosen by Yaraha Mihira himself. It is more¬ 
over the habit of the writers of karana-granthas to take for their epoch- 
either the year in which their book is actually composed or at least spine 
very near year. And finally Albiruni as well as the Hindu Astronomers 
of IJjjain who in the beginning of this century furnished Dr. W. Hunter 
with the list of astronomers published by Colebrooke (Algebra, p. xxxiii) 
took 427 as the date of Yaraha Mihira himself {Gf. Kern, Preface to 
the Brihat Samhita, p. 2.) On the other hand as Prof. Kern points out, 
it is certainly most improbable that Yaraha Mihira whose death has been 
ascertained by Dr. Bhau Daji to have taken place in 587 A. D. should 
have written the Pafichasiddhantika in 505 already. The other argument 
adduced by Prof. Kern against 505 being the date of the Panchasiddhan- 
