Help with a date

[Martin Gansten]

>zarabANataraNivarSe ravikaravadi phAlgune tRtIyAyAm .

zara and bANa both mean 'arrow', and hence the number 5 (from the five
arrows of Kamadeva); taraNi here means 'the sun', and hence the number 12
(from the twelve solar months in a year). According to the rule aGkAnAM
vAmato gatiH, this gives the year (varSa) 12-5-5. MW gives the meaning of
vadi as 'in the dark half of any month (affixed to the names of months in
giving dates)', but here the name of the month follows: phAlgune. The
entire compound ravi-kara-vadi apparently means 'in the dark-fortnight-day
(vadi) of the sun (ravi) and the [lunar mansion] hasta (kara)' -- in which
case we must conclude that the author's calendar was slightly off: the moon
did not enter hasta, nor was the tithi (kRSNa)tRtIyA until 19 January,
which was not a Sunday but a Tuesday. (Bhandarkar obviously went by the day
of week rather than the tithi and nakSatra in fixing the date as the 17th.)

Regards,
Martin Gansten