As we are witnessing a great planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Mars over the evening sky on December 21, 2020, I was curious about what the ancient hindus had written about planetary orbits and conjunctions.

Sure enough, the ancient text of Surya Siddhanta is a complete treatise developed by the ancient hindus, with the current known texts dating back to 2500 years ago, making it one of the oldest works of astronomy. The work seems to cover various aspects of planetary movements, eclipses, planetary conjunctions, as well as trigonometric principles.

The Opening verse in Surya Siddhanta is a homage to the eternal, unmanifested formless Brahman, from which all matter is created:

English Transliteration:

achinty-avyakta-rupaāya nirguṇaāya guṇaātmane

samasta-jagat-aadhaara mūrtaye brahmaṇe namaha

Audio Recording:

To that whose shape is formless and unmanifested, is unaffected by material qualities, whose quality is eternal, who takes the form of this entire universe, salutations to that supreme brahman ...

We will explore other fascinating aspects of this treatise in upcoming articles.

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