Dear friends,

Jai Shri Ram!

A lot of discussion is going on about the Surya Siddhanta (SS) these days in
various forums. It is, as such, worthwhile to see as to how authentic an
astronomical or even religious work it is.
For this purpose, we shall be using the Surya Siddhanta with English
translation by Bapudeva Sastri (1891 AD) and the edition of Ranganatha with
his goodartha prakashika commentary (1603 AD) besides Sudhavarshini
commentary by Pandit Sudhakar Dwivedi (1880) and SS of
Panchasiddhantika of Varahamihira (6th century AD). In short, we shall be
scrupulously avoiding the translation by Ebnezeer Burgess, since some die-
hard "lonely" scholar-monks of the SS are of the view that being a Christian,
Burgess had deliberately misinterpreted that work.
All these editions of the SS are freely available at www.wilbourhall.org.

Is Surya Siddhanta an astronomical or even a religious work? No!

Absolutely Not!
Shlokas two to ten of the first chapter of the SS state that in the fag end of the
present Krita i.e. Satya Yuga, a great asura i.e. Demon, (maha-asurah) named
Mayaa pleased the Surya Bhagwan with his penance. The sun-god, in turn,
bestowed the knowledge of planetary astronomy on that great demon
through an amsha born of Himself (that is an “incarnation” of Surya
Bhagwan) , since the sun-god Himself had neither the time for doing so nor
would Maya-mahasura bear his scorching heat and refulgence.
Thus the SS claims that the knowledge of astronomy was revealed to Mayaa
demon through Surya Bhagwan Himself.
An explanation of some of the words is necessary here:

a) Asuraas is an antonym of suras. They are, as such, those creatures who act
exactly against the suras i.e. devas (gods). If the gods are benevolent and
pious, asuras are cruel and crafty. They are liars of the worst kind and
are even known as rakshyass. The most prominent examples of such asuras
are Hiranyakashyapa, who was killed by Narasimha; Ravana, who abducted
the wife of Bhagwan Ram, besides his brother Kumbakarna, his son
Meghanada and his sister Shrupanakaha. Even Mahishasura was an asura
who was killed by goddess Durga! Same is the case with Sunda, Upasunda,
Rakhtabeeja, Dommravarna etc. etc.

They were all asuras and had become so powerful that they had to be
annihilated by divine incarnations!
b) And that is why Bhagwaan Krishna has said in the Gita that anbydoy born
with asura prakriti (nature) gets annihilated whereas the ones who are of a
daiva prakriti prosper.

So the very nature of the recipient viz. a rakshasa of such a lofty knowledge
which is "the most sacred secret"(rahasyam etat punyam) puts a question
mark on the authenticity of the SS!

c) Astronomy, as is common knowledge, is not such a science as can be

acquired In a jiffy, and that also by a great demon i.e. rakshasa!

d) Astronomically, the sun is a star comprising helium and hydrogen! Neither of the
components favour human life as we know. As such, astronomically, it is impossible for
the sun, a star hundreds of times larger than the earth, to “impart” any knowledge to
anybody, leave alone a sinful great demon named Mayaa.

e) In Satya-yuga and Treta-yuga, as per the Ramayana, even Shudras, leave alone
demons, were not allowed to learn the Vedic scriptures. As such, as per the
dharmashastras, it was impossible for sun-god to have bestowed planetary knowledge
to a demon!

f) Regarding Mayaa, we hear about two such names in the two Itihasas: One is Mayaa
the father-in-law of the Rakshasa King Ravana of Tretayuga and the other is Mayaa, the
architect in the Mahabharata, of Dwaparayuga. In neither of the two itihasas, there is
absolutely no mention that either of the two Mayaa-danavas had ever acquired any
knowledge of astronomy, and that also directly from the sun-god.

g) Acharya Lagadha of 14th century BCE also has not referred to any earlier
astronomical work from which true planetary positions could be calculated. On the
other hand, Lagadha has, through his Vedanga Jyotisha, given only the methodology---
a very crude one indeed!---of calculating mean tithi, nakshatra etc. Lagadha was not
even able to calculate the mean longitudes, leave alone true longitudes, of the sun and
moon either---and there is absolutely no mention of any planet like Mangal, Shani etc. in
that work---not even their mean longitudes, not to speak of true longitudes!

Thus if there had been any work of the nature of the SS available in the 14th century,
Lagadha would certainly have referred to it and may be not even bothered to compile a
very crude astronomical work himself then!
Thus the so called Maya the great demon is telling a lie that astronomy was revealed to
him by Surya Bhagwan Himself as it is an impossibility astronomically as well
as according to dharmashastras!.
So even if Mayaa-mahaasura is a fictitious name of the compiler of the SS, he has
revealed his true aasuric nature that he was a first class liar and had absolutely no good
intentions about the Hindu community!
Was the SS a creation of rakshasas and when was it created?
Since the SS is said to have been revealed in the fag end of Krita-yuga i.e. Satya-yuga, which
is followed by Tretayuga, if at all we presume that it has been written by some real Mayaa
Maha-asura, we will have to zero in on the Mayaa, the father-in-law of the Rakshasa king
Ravana! Why?
Because, Bhagwan Ram, as per the Valmiki Ramayana, who was a contemporary of Ravana,
is supposed to have Incarnated in Treta-yuga.
We have therefore to zero on the date of SS creation in late Satya-yuga!
As per the same SS, Shlokas 15 to 20 of Adyaya one, Dwapara-yuga plus two sandhis i.e. its
dawn and twilight have a total span of 864,000 solar years. Similarly, Treta-yuga plus two
sandhis have a total span of 1,296,000 solar years. Even if we ignore the 5112 years of so
called Kaliyuga which are supposed to have elapsed as per the same SS till date, it means
that the SS was revealed to Mayaa the demon 1,296,000 plus 864,000 years = 2,160,000
years ago!
That is a large number of years---more than two million i.e. twenty lakhs of years prior to the
current twenty-first century AD!
“Mayaa” is the greatest liar, and as such can neither be a Rishi nor a Hindu!
Hindus call the SS as "Shri Surya Siddhanta" and it is also known as aarsha-grantha i.e. a
work by some Rishi!
Myth and astronomy are poles apart. So are archaeology and myth!
By now it is an open secret that leave alone twenty-lakh years, we do not have any
worthwhile records of even one tenth of that duration i.e. two lakh years!
Nay even of the period of about 5000 BC except for pyramids of Egypt!
Then again, “Our species, Homo sapiens, originated in Africa around 200,000 BC. Written
language dates back only to about 7000 BC.” Hawking – The Grand Design (Bantam) page
17.
Does it mean that the great demon Mayaa got his Surya Siddhanta millions of years back
even before the species homo sapiens themselves evolved?
Well, I know that except for some "extra-ordinary scholar-monks" and "Vedic astrologers",
nobody is such a nitwit to believe such a lie!
Obviously, such a lie can be manufactured only by a crafty rakshasha---a maha-asura and not
by some Rishi!
Thus to call such an absurd work as the Surya Siddhanta as "Shri Surya Siddhanta" and
attribute it to some Rishis is a great insult to the real Rishis!

The “Jyotisha Upanishat” beats hollow all the Vedas and Upanishadas in antiquity!
Mayaa the great demon, as per the same SS, is supposed to have got jyotishopnishat-adyaya
of the same SS also from Surya Bhagwan Himself. As such, some “extraordinary scholars”
claim the SS to be a jyotisha-upanishat!
What is surprising is that no scholar has till date been able to fix the date of the Rigveda ---
the earliest Veda---prior to about 5000 BCE!
That is hardly seven thousand years back!
Even if we go by B.G. Tilak’s estimate, the Rigveda is not older than 10000 BCE in any case
by any stretch of imagination!
And if we compare two million years with 12000 years, we are left with a staggering deficit
of about two million years!
That also means that the Jyotisha-Upanishat is supposed to have been revealed millions of
years even before the earliest Veda, viz. the Rig Veda!
On the other hand, Chaanodgya Upanishat is supposed to refer to the Mahabharata and the
Puranas as the fifth Veda which means that that Upanishat is a work of a much later date
after the Puranas, which, as per these very scholars, are supposed to have been compiled at
the start of Kaliyuga. And kaliyuga, as per these very scholars, started around 5000 years
back!
My God, this Jyotisha-Upanishat beats all the Vedas and the Upanishadas hollow in its
antiquity by more than two million years!
As such, the jyotisha-upanishat ruse is yet another lie and in fact a great insult to the entire
Vedic lore! No rishi could have ever thought of dishing out such lies!
To be contd…../2
Jai Shri Ram!
A K Kaul