Kamal?kara

(b Benares, India, ca. 1610)

astronomy.

Kamal?kara was a scion of a family of astronomers whose origin is traced back to a Mah?r?s?t?ra Br?hman?a, R?ma of the Bh?radv?jagotra, who lived in Gologr?ma on the west bank of the God?var? River (near Pathri, Mah?r?s?t?ra). R?ma’s son was Bhat?t??c?rya, and Bhat?t??c?rya’s son was Div?kara of Golagr?ma, a pupil of Gan?e?a of Nandod (b. 1507). Div?kara moved to Benares, where his five sons were born between about 1560 and 1570. Vis?n?u, Mall?ri, and Vi?van?tha were the main commentators on Gan?e?a?s principal astronomical works. The eldest, Kr?s?n?a, had two sons, of whom Nr?si?ha (b. 1586) continued the family tradition of commenting on Gan?e?a; the other was ?iva, Nr?si?ha had four sons: of these Div?kara (b. 1606), Kamal?kara, and Ran?gan?tha were all noted astronomers in Benares between 1625 and 1675.

Kamal?kara, who studied under his elder brother Div?kara (himself a pupil of his uncle ?iva), was the leading rival of Mun??vara Vi?var?pa among Benares astronomers. He combined traditional Indian astronomy with Aristotelian physics and Ptolemaic astronomy as presented by Islamic scientists (especially Ulugh B?g). Following his family’s tradition he wrote a commentary, Manoram?, on Gan?e?a’s Grahal?ghava and, like his father, Nr?si?ha, another commentary on the S?ryasiddh?nta, called the V?san?bh??ya, both of which are still unpublished. His chief claims to fame are his Siddh?ntatattvaviveka (see essay in supplement), written in Benares in 1658, and the later supplement, ?e?av?san?.

The Siddh?ntatattvaviveka contains fifteen chapters:

1. On the units of time measurement.

2. On the mean motions of the planets.

3. On the true longitudes of the planets.

4. On the three problems related to diurnal motion.

5. On the diameters and distances of the planets.

6. On the earth’s shadow.

7. On the lunar crescent.

8. On the heliacal risings and settings.

9. On the syzygies.

10. On the lunar eclipses.

11. On the solar eclipses.

12. On the planetary transits.

13. On the p?tas of the sun and moon.

14. On the “great problems.’

15. Conclusion.

The Siddh?ntatattvaviveka has been edited with his own notes by Sudh?kara Dube (Dvivedin) (5 vols., Benares Sanskrit Series 1, 2, 3, 6, and 14 [Benares, 1880–1885]; 2nd ed. revised by Mural?dhara Jh? [Benares, 1924–1935]). It was also published with his own commentary by Gang?dhara Misra (Lucknow, 1929). The ?e?av?san? is a collection of additional discussions of various topics in the siddh?ntatattvaviveka, and is published as an appendix to volume 5 of the Benares Sanskrit Series edition of that work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Articles on Kamal?kara are Sudh?akara Dube (Dvivedin), Gan?akataran?gini (Benares, 1933), pp. 98–99, repr. from The Pandit, n.s. 14 (1892); ?. B. Diks?ita, Bh?ratiya Jyoti???stra (Poona, 1896; repr. Poona, 1931), pp. 287–288; Padm?kara Dvivedin, “Kamal?karabhat?t?a,” in Proceedings of the Benares Mathematical Society, 2 (1920), 67–80; and D. Pingree, Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit, ser. A, II (Philadelphia, 1971), pp. 21–23.

David Pingree