Decoding date in Sanskrit verse

Martin Gansten Martin.Gansten at TEOL.LU.SE
Wed Nov 30 16:18:24 UTC 2005


There seem to be two eras (Saka and Vikrama) used in this verse:
gaja-tri-muni-bhUmi, as you say, is 1738 (Saka), while
rAma-adri-nAga-SaSacihna is 1873 (Vikrama). The third line gives the
half-month (waxing moon), tithi, and day of the week (Wednesday). I am less
certain of the number of the tithi, as I have never before seen suta used
for a numerical value. It might be 5 (referring to the 5th house of a
horoscope), but on the whole I rather think not, particularly as one does
not normally speak of 'the 15th tithi'. Another guess would be that suta =
savana, and therefore 3. This would give us shukla-trayodashi coinciding
with a Wednesday. Unfortunately we do not get a nakshatra.

Without knowing what starting point of the year, or of the months, the
author used, the dating becomes a bit speculative; but for a
shukla-trayodashi Wednesday, one possibility would be 12 February, 1816.
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than myself will be able to tell us what
calendaric norms were in use at the text's time and place of origin.

Regards,
Martin Gansten





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