[Advaita-l] Sringeri Panchanga

[Anand Hudli]

>I am not advocating sayana system. Use nirayana system taking into
>consideration correct or mutually agreed ayanamsa depending upon
>what you consider the Aries 0. It is meaningless to use a panchanga which
>uses one ayanamsa for eclipses and another for tithis.

The proponents of the Sayana system question the very basic assumption made
by the Nirayana followers - is Nirayana system really driksiddha or
driktulya(equivalent to observation)? The very use of *any* (nonzero)
 ayanAshma means that the spring and vernal equinoxes are not the actual
spring and vernal equinoxes anymore. For example, the spring equinox should
be really March 20 or March 21, but as per the Nirayana panchanga it would
be around April 14. The Sayana followers ask what is the meaning of Spring
(or vernal) equinox? The duration of day and night should be the same all
over the world. This condition (driktulya) is not satisfied by April 14,
the date arrived at by Nirayana system, but it is satisfied by the Sayana
system. In a similar way, the winter solstice is when the duration of the
day is shortest in the Northern Hemisphere. This occurs on Dec 20 or Dec 21
according to the Sayana system, and Jan 14 or Jan 15 according to the
Nirayana System, which is called the Makara Sankranti. Again, Jan 14 or Jan
15 is not the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, so it is not
driktulya.

Anand