Dear Artur,

I was not sure if you were seeking only information from the Indian jyotiṣa siddhānta texts, i.e., astronomical texts proper. You say here that you are preparing a short paper on the traces of the knowledge of several astronomical cycles --- as reflected in Indian mythological narratives. If we include mythological narratives as possible sources of knowledge of astronomical cycles, there are more sources to draw upon. One such source is the writings of R. Shamasastry (died 1944), which I mention in case you have not already consulted them.

Most relevant to the saros cycle are Shamasastry's 1938 book, Drapsa: The Vedic Cycle of Eclipses, a Key to unlock the treasures of the Vedas, and his 1940 book, Eclipse-Cult in the Vedas, Bible, and Koran, a Supplement to the "Drapsa". David Pingree in his 1973 article, "The Mesopotamian Origin of Early Indian Mathematical Astronomy," discusses the five-year cycle taught in the Jyotiṣa-vedāṅga, and notes that there is no obvious parallel to this in the 18-year saros eclipse cycle (p. 8): "If we look in cuneiform texts for a five-year intercalation-cycle, we are frustrated." Shamasastry attempts to show that the Vedic texts, through their symbolism, do refer to a 19-year eclipse cycle that is parallel to the saros cycle. He begins his Preface to Drapsa as follows:

"What is ascribed to the Vedic poets in the following pages is not a knowledge of mathematical astronomy which they never had, nor prediction of eclipses with mathematical accuracy which they never did. All that is claimed for them is a knowledge of the famous eclipse-cycle which they seem to have been using in common with the Chaldeans, Israelites, and other contemporary nations."

I do not have the knowledge to evaluate Shamasastry's statements, and I list these books only as possible sources to check. What attracted me to his writings was his 1936 translation of the Vedangajyautisha. The Jyotiṣa-vedāṅga is so brief that many of its verses are enigmatic. Shamasastry said that the same system was taught in the Jaina astronomical texts, Sūryaprajñapti, Jyotiṣkaraṇḍa (or Jyotiṣakaraṇḍaka), and Kālalokaprakāśa. Using these Jaina texts he arrived at what he thought were satisfactory interpretations of the enigmatic verses of the Jyotiṣa-vedāṅga. Here in Drapsa, too, he used one of these, as he says in his Preface (p. vii):

"In interpreting the seven Vedic Metres as Gnoman's shadow-measures of seven ordinary or intercalary months and of the solstices, my chief authority is the Jaina astronomical work entitled the 'Kālalokaprakāśa' on the Gnoman's shadow-measure of months and solstices, with which the Vedic metrical shadow-measures are identical."

I would be happy to provide scans of any of these writings that I refer to. These are normally ones that I have already gathered, either in the original or as photocopies that I made of them, and include the writings of R. Shamasastry, David Pingree, the Jyotiṣa-vedāṅga, and the Sūryaprajñapti with Malayagiri's commentary. The exceptions here are the Kālalokaprakāśa and the Jyotiṣakaraṇḍaka with Malayagiri's commentary (I do have the Prakrit Jyotiṣakaraṇḍaka, but I need the edition with the Sanskrit commentary, apparently 1928). Despite decades of searching, and even contacting David Pingree about them while he was still alive, I have not yet been able to obtain these two texts. If anyone can provide me with photocopies or scans of them, I would be very grateful. 

Best regards,

David Reigle

Colorado, U.S.A.