Samāsa Saṃhitā

Samāsa Saṃhitā
AuthorVarāhamihira
Original titleसमाससंहिता
LanguageSanskrit
SubjectAstrology
Publication date
6th-century CE
Publication placepossibly Aulikara kingdom (present-day India)

Samāsa Saṃhitā is a lost work on astrology by the 6th-century astrologer-astronomer Varāhamihira of present-day central India. An abridged version of Bṛhat Saṃhitā, it is known from excerpts in Utpala's commentary on the Bṛhat Saṃhitā.

History

Samāsa Saṃhitā ("Minor Collection"[1]), also known as Svalpa-saṃhitā ("Shorter Compendium"[2]),[3] is an abridged version of Bṛhat Saṃhitā, Varāhamihira's work on natural astrology. It is now lost, but at least 142 verses on it survive in Saṃhitā-vivṛti, Utpala's commentary on the Bṛhat Saṃhitā, often identifiable by the phrase "tatha cha Samāsa-saṃhitāyam".[4] The Samāsa Saṃhitā is the fourth most cited work in Saṃhitā-vivṛti, after the works of Parashara, Garga, and Kāshyapa.[5]

The Samāsa Saṃhitā definitely existed in the 9th century CE, when Utpala mentioned it. It was probably lost by the 11th century, when Al-Biruni wrote about Varāhamihira but did not mention it.[6]

Contents

Samāsa Saṃhitā was an abridged version of the Brihat-saṃhitā, and borrowed some verses from it verbatim.[6] However, it also contained some new content, as evident from the extracts from Utpala's commentary.[7] For example, it mentions a legend about the sage Agastya devouring the demon Vatapi, which is absent from the Brihat-saṃhitā. Similarly, only the Samāsa Saṃhitā mentions that the Varāhamihira's method of gauging rainfall is based on the Magadha system mentioned in the Artha-shastra.[6]

Ajay Mitra Shastri reconstructed a part of Samāsa Saṃhitā from Utpala's commentary on the Bṛhat Saṃhitā. Shastri's edition was published in the journal Bharātīya Vidyā volume 23.[8]

References

  1. ^ Caterina Guenzi (2021). "The Many Branches of a Tree: Jyotiṣa as a Scholarly Tradition". Words of Destiny: Practicing Astrology in North India. Division into Branches: State University of New York Press. ISBN 9781438482033.
  2. ^ Roddam Narasimha; Helaine Selin, eds. (2007). Encyclopaedia of Classical Indian Sciences. Universities Press. p. 415. ISBN 9788173715556.
  3. ^ A.M. Shastri 1991, p. 19.
  4. ^ A.M. Shastri 1991, p. 62.
  5. ^ Bill M. Mak (2019). "Bhaṭṭotpala and Scientific Learning in Tenth-Century Kashmir" (PDF). Journal of Indological Studies. 30 (30–31): 44, 58. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  6. ^ a b c A.M. Shastri 1991, p. 63.
  7. ^ A.M. Shastri 1991, p. 20.
  8. ^ A.M. Shastri 1991, p. 216.

Bibliography