Dinakara

(b. Gujarat, India, ca. 1550)

astronomy.

Dinakara, the son of R?me?vara and greatgrandson of Dunda, was a resident of B?rejya (probably Bariya [or Devgad Baria] in. Rewa Kantha, Gujarat). He belonged to the Mod?ha jn??ti (clan) of the Kau?ka gotra (lineage). He composed two sets of astronomical tables (see essay in supplement); the epoch of both is ?aka 1500 (a.d. 1578). A third set of tables has as epoch ?aka 1505 (a.d. 1583).

The Khet?akasiddhi contains tables for determining the true longitudes of the five star planets that are based on the Brahmatulya of Bh?skara II. The Can?drdrk?, which contains tables of solar and lunar motions and of weekdays, tithis, naks?atras, and yogas, was largely influenced by the Mah?dev? of Mah?deva. Dinakara in turn influenced Haridatta II. There exists an anonymous commentary on the Candr?drk? The third set of tables, the Tithis?dran??, is also based on the parameters of the Br?hmapaks?a; its purpose is to facilitate the computation of the annual pañc?n?ga (calendar).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Khet?akasiddhi is briefly discussed in ?. B, D?ks?ita, Bh?rat?ya Jyotih???tra (Poona, 1896; repr. Poona, 1931), p. 277. The Candr?rk? is described and analyzed in D. Pingree, “Sanskrit Astronomical Tables in the United States,” in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, n.s. 58 (1968), 51b-53a. Both the Khet?akasiddhi and the Tithis?ran?? are analyzed in the forthcoming Sanskrit Astronomical Tables in England by D. Pingree.

David Pingree