Last Updated on October 30, 2024 by Tejaswini
The year of Jyotish is neither solar nor lunar. The Vedic /Hindu / Jyotish year is a combination of the two, it is a Luni Solar year. It is a blessing for us that our Maharishis were able to intuit such high level math and astronomy and we are still following these same principles, keeping ‘Time’ correctly through the ages. Being in sync with Kaal is the secret of all spiritual practices and Jyotish is the sacred science of Time, the Shastra of Kaal.
‘Time’ on this earth is primarily calculated on the basis of the movement of the Earth. And this is because we live on this Earth so our Kaal / Time depends on the movement of this Earth. Do think a bit on this, ‘time’ is actually your own movement through space. But as you live on this Earth, your movement in space is almost the same as the Earth’s movement through space. And it is your own movement in space /time which triggers your own karmic fruits. This is Conscious Time, Kaal in Devbhasha Samskrutam, and this is the ultimate controller, the Karmaphaldata.
Sanskrit is a very precise language. There are no approximations or implied meanings here. Similarly Math is a very precise and logical language. Students of Jyotish are required to be students of Sanskrit and Math. Jyotish is based on Sanskrit and Math.
The Solar day and the Solar year
The ‘day’ in Jyotish or the Vedic day, is the time taken by the Earth to rotate around itself. This is from sunrise to sunrise. We perceive it as the apparent movement of the Sun around the Earth. This length of time is slightly variable but is an approx 24hrs, ie one ‘solar day’ or Vaar. It is composed of the Din maan – day time, sunrise to sunset and Ratri maan – night time, sunset to sunrise. We use the din maan and ratri maan for specific calculations.
The solar month starts with the Sankranti. Sankranti, (samyak kranti – auspicious going forward) is the entry of the Sun into a sign. Mesh Sankranti is the entry of the Sun into the Aries sign. And Mesh Sankranti is the beginning of the Solar year as the Sun is exalted in Aries. The solar month is exactly 30 solar days long as the Sun moves one arc degree of the zodiac in a solar day.
The Lunar day and the Lunar year
The ‘lunar day’ is called the ‘tithi’ and this is a misunderstood concept. This ‘tithi’ is loosely translated as ‘lunar day’ but it is not a ‘day’. Its duration not about 24hrs, it does not correspond with the solar day. A tithi is a variable unit of time, it can range from 19 to 26hrs and it averages at about 23hr 37min. A tithi is the time in which the arc degree distance between the Sun and the Moon in the skies changes by 12 arc degrees. A ‘lunar year’ is 360 tithis long not ‘360 days’ long. The lunar year is thus about 354.3 solar days long.
A lunar month ends on the Amavasya tithi, thus is called Amavasyant. It starts on the Shukla Pratipada, the first tithi of the bright fortnight, which occurs after the Amavasya. A lunar month is composed of exactly 30 lunar days/tithis. If you think in terms of solar days, then a lunar month can have 28-29 or so solar days. The important point is that in terms of solar days the lunar month is always less than 30 solar days long.
So when we have to use this lunar month as a factor in our Luni Solar year we have to understand this concept. – Most lunar months will have a Surya Sankranti in it. But there will come a lunar month in which the Sun does not change his sign, ie there is no Surya Sankranti, the Sun will continue in the same sign. ie the Sun will be in the same sign for two consecutive Amavasyas. And such an exceptional lunar month will repeat at fixed intervals. Only those Lunar months in which a Surya Sankranti occurs are considered to be Nija or Shuddha and are counted in our Luni Solar calendar. A Lunar month in which a Surya Sankranti does not occur is the Adhik maas. This is not counted in the Luni Solar calendar, it is extra, additional, intercalary. It repeats at specific intervals because it is a pattern in math.
An example. In the past year named Shri Shobhakruti ie 2023 – 24, the
- Karka Sankranti was on 16th July 2023. ie Sun entered Cancer sign on this day
- Ashadh Amavasya on 17th July 2023. ie the Ashadh month ended on this day
- Adhik Shravan started on Shukla Pratipada tithi on 18th July 2023
- Adhik Shravan ended on Adhik Shravan Amavasya on 16th Aug 2023
- Shuddha Shravan ie the regular Shravan started on 17th Aug 2023
- Simha Sankranti was on 17th Aug 2023 ie Sun entered Leo sign on this day
- So the extra Adhik Shravan from 17th Jul to 16th Aug did not have a Surya sankranti thus was the additional, Adhik maas.
Try to understand how this math works – in the first year, the Sun and Moon calendars are out of sync by about 11 days, in the second year by about 22days and in the third year they are brought back in sync by the adhik month correction system. Again in the 4th year they are out of phase by about 11days and so on.
Thus our solar and lunar years are always aligned by this inbuilt adhik month. This is an integral alignment and we have always followed it. (The ancient Greeks also followed it and called this the Metonic cycle) . Our Vedic year is and always has been 365.25 days, ie the commonly understood regular year. Our calendars are accurate and self correcting because our ancient Jyotishis were extraordinary at both math and astronomy. The concept of the adhik month is fundamental to our calendar making. A lunar month without a Surya sankranti is an adhik month, which will repeat at specific intervals. And the addition of this intercalary month automatically and perpetually keeps correct time.
Now it might be useful to list out a few more technical terms.
- Varsha – is the time interval of the annual solar movement. This is linked to the seasons. In Sanskrit and in all Bharatiya languages, ‘Varsha’ means ‘year’. Varsha is derived from Varshaa, the rainy season. Our year is linked to the seasons and thus to the Sun. When your son touches your feet, for blessing him with a long life you say ‘Jivet sharadam shatam’. ‘Sharad’ is the autumn season and considered to be one of the most delightful months. Thus you bless your son to live for a 100 autumn seasons. We perceive our time in seasons. We can also consider the year to be the time between the solstices or the equinoxes as these events are easier to calculate using Math/Ganit and are evident by Astronomy/ Gol.
- Samvatsar – is commonly understood as the name of the ‘year’. Eg the current Hindu year is called the Shri Krodhi naam samvatsar. But more correctly Samvatsar is the calculated year. The Samvatsar is the annual apparent Solar movement on which the Lunar correction is superimposed. The samvatsar is a composite of the lunar and the solar movements which are mathematically calculated and maintained throughout time. And this correction factor, the Adhik maas occurs every 3 samvatsars.
- Samvat – is one more word that is used in calendar making. Samvat means an Era. At the present time we follow two major samvat systems. One is the Shaka samvat – ie the British calendar year minus 78 yrs. And the second is Vikram samvat which is British calendar year plus 57 yrs. The length of the year is the same, only the name/number of the year varies as per the founding king.
- Then Chaitraadi and Kartikaadi.
- In most of Bharat, the year ends with the Phalgun Amavasya when the Sun and Moon are in Pisces. And starts with the Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, ie the Chaitradi system. Chaitra is the first month of the year. Our national panchangam is Chaitraadi.
- But in Western India, specifically in Gujarat, the Kartikaadi system is followed. The year ends on Ashwin Amavasya when the Sun and Moon are in Libra ie on Deepavali Amavasya. (Here the Sun is debilitated and the Lunar energies are predominant.) And starts on Kartik Shukla Pratipada.
Both Phalgun and Ashwin Amavasyas are highly potent energies where one should if possible stay up the entire night to channelise them by doing their pujas. In fact every Amavasya is a burst of energy which should be utilised mindfully.
All this confusion has risen because in the past 50yrs or so, we have stopped learning the Math and the visual Astronomy involved in Jyotish. I doubt if the ‘software’ astrologers of today can even visually identify the Nakshatra in the night skies. (In fact the night skies are not even visible anymore in the cities because of the light pollution. Even in the small town in the hill state where I live, there are very high levels of light pollution.)
Learning Ganit and Gol was a method of ensuring that the intellectually capable first learnt the math and astronomy and only then took up Jyotish. This meant that they could predict intelligently, accurately and consistently.
If you really want to learn Jyotish the way it should be learnt, then at least do the calculations of your own horoscope, with its divisional charts, ashtakvarga, planetary strengths, etc, everything by hand. It may take you a few months but all your basic concepts will be clear after this exercise.
The concept of Time /Kaal in Jyotish is rooted in the celestial movements of the Sun, Moon and the Earth, together. Our Maharishis had a profound understanding of this cosmic order and through meticulous calculations and alignment they have ensured the accuracy and perpetuity of the Luni Solar calendar. Several astronomical events, eg Sankranti, Amavasya, tithi, vaar, adhik maas etc are combined in the most perfect manner to arrive at the Vedic Year, ie the Samvatsar of the Hindus.
I have written a technical answer to a question which several of my readers seem to have, thus I am also giving the specific reference book – Mantreshwar’s Phaldeepika.
Dr. Tejaswini Arvind Patil
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