Decoding date in Sanskrit verse

[Martin Gansten]

As Valerie says, jña in such contexts always means Mercury, so the day has
to be Wednesday. Matching it with the tithi is the main problem, as we do
not know the numerical value associated with suta. (My guess 3 was just
that: a guess, and perhaps not the most likely one.) The year is probably a
current year (that seems to be the standard in my experience), and
probably, as suggested by Michio Yano, 1817 CE -- not 1816, as the year in
the Indian eras typically begins later than the western calendar year.
There are, however, several possibilities here, as well as in the
calculation of the months, as I remarked earlier. If the year is 1817 CE,
the only two-digit tithi coinciding with Wednesday in Phalguna-sukla is 26
February, a dasami, as also pointed out by Michio Yano.

Regards,
Martin Gansten