Date of Jyotisa Vedanga

[Luis Gonzalez-Reimann]

At 03:22 PM 03/22/2000 +0100, K. Elst wrote:

>As for the 1st millennium AD Tamil texts mentioning Krttika as the beginning
>of the lunar calendar: this is perfectly normal, as calendars once
>established tend to be preserved for ages (that is precisely their whole
>point: putting time on a permanent common denominator).

Then you agree that an old tradition can be preserved (you even consider it
"normal") even though it no longer corresponds to "what is actually
observed," which was your main complaint earlier.  But, somehow, this
should not apply to the JV, for you say that:

>But that is a very different matter from the JV,
>where the position of the solstices is given as such, not as a calendrical
>relic.

How is it different?  The JV is meant to provide calendrical information
for the celebration of the sacrifice, it is not an abstract text on astronomy.
In the JV how can you make a distinction between an astronomical position
"given as such" and one with a calendrical purpose?

By the way, Pingree considers the nakSatras in  the VJ to be tropical, not
sidereal (Jyotihsastra: Astral and Mathematical Literature, p. 10.
Harrassowitz, 1981)

Regards,

Luis Gonzalez-Reimann
University of California, Berkeley