N?LAKANTHA

(b. T?-k-ka??iy?r [Ku??apura], Kerala, ca14 June 1444; d after 1501) astronomy.

Nilaka??ha, a Namp?tiri Brahman, was born in the house (illam) called Kel?all?r (Keralasadgr?ma), which is said to be identical with the present Etamana illam in T?-k-ka??iy?r, a village near Tirur, Kerala. His father was named J?tavedas, and the family belonged to the G?rgyagotra and followed the A?val?yanas?tra of the ?Rgveda; N?laka??ha was a Somasutv?n (performer of the Soma sacrifice). He studied Ved?nta and some astronomy under Ravi, but his principal instructor in jyoti???stra was D?modara (fl. 1417), the son of the famous Parame?vara (ca. 1380-1460), whom he also met at the D?modara house in ?latt?r (A?vatthagr?ma), Kerala. His younger brother, ??a?kara, studied astronomy under his tutelage and in turn professed that science. It is possible, but not certain, that R?ma who wrote a Laghur?m?yana in Malay?lam.

Nilakantha was a follower of Parame?vara’s dragganita system (see essay in Supplement), although he gives various parameters in his several works (see D. Pingree, in Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda21 [1971–1972], 146–148). These works include the following:

1. The Golas?ra, in fifty-six verses, gives the parameters of his planetary system, a description of the celestial spheres, and a description of the principles of computation used in Indian mathematical astronomy. It was edited by K. V. Sarma (Hoshiarpur, 1970).

2. The Siddh?ntadarpana, in thirty-two verses, gives another set of parameters and a description of (impossible) planetary models. It also was edited by K. B. Sarma (Madras, 1955). N?laka?n?tha’s commentary (vyakhya)on the Siddhantadarpanahas not been published.

3. The Candracch?y?ganita describes, in thirty-one verses, the computation of the moon’s zenith distance. Neither it nor N?laka?n?tha’s commentary (vy?khy?) has been published.

4. The Tantrasa?graha is an elaborate treatise on drgganita astronomy, composed in 1501. It consists of eight chapters:

a. On the mean motions of the planets.

b. On the true longitudes of the planets.

c. On the three questions relating to the diurnal rotation of the sun.

d. On lunar and solar eclipses.

e. Particulars of solar eclipses.

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

g. On the first visibilities of the moon and planets.

h. On the horns of the moon.

The Tantrasa¯ngraha was edited with the commentary, Laghuvrtti, of ?a¯nkara V?riyar (fl. 1556) by S.K. Pillai (Trivandrum,1958).

5. The ?ryabha?tiyabh?sya is an extensive and important commentary on the ?ryabha?tiya composed by ?ryabhata I in 499. Nilaka?n?tha’s parton for this work was the religious head of the Namp?tiri Brahmans, Netran?r?ya?na. In his commentary on K?lakriy? 12–15 he states that he observed a total eclipse of the sun on 6 March 1467 (Oppolzer no. 6358) and an annular eclipse at Anantak?setra on 28 July 1501 (not in Oppolzer). The ?ryabha?tiyabh??syawas published in three volumes by K. S. Sastri (volumes I and II) and S. K. Pillai (volume III), (Trivandrum 1930–1957).

6 and 7. In the ?ryabha?tiyabh??sya N¯ilaka?n?tha refers to his Grahanirnaya on eclipses and to his Sundar?japra?nottara in which he answers questions posed by Sundarar?ja, the author of a commentary on the V?kyakara?na. Neither of these works is extant.

8. An untitled prose work on eclipses by N¯ilaka?n?tha included in a manuscript of the Siddh?ntadarpa?navy?khy?; it refers to the ?ryabha?tiyabh??sya and thus is his last known work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nilakantha’s method of computing ? is discussed by K. M. Marar and C. T. Rajagopal, “On the Hindu Quadrature of the Circle,“ in Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, n.s. 20 (1944), 65–82. A general survey of his life and works (now superseded by the introductions to Sarma’s latest eds.) is given by K. V. Sarma, “Gargya-Kerala Nilakantha Somayajin: The Bhasyakara of the Aryabhatiya (1443–1545),” in Journal of Oriental Research (Madras) 26 (1956–1957), 24–39 ; and by K. K. Raja, “Astronomy and Mathematics in Kerala,” in Brahmavidya,27 (1963), 118–167, esp. 143–152.

David Pingree

Swaminarayan, Shree (1781-1830)

Famous saint of nineteenth-century India, born as Nilakantha at Capaiya, near Ayodhya. He developed a revised form of the traditional Vishishadvaita Vedanta of Shree Ramanujan and traveled all over India for 30 years with his disciples, initiating a religious revival that had an impact upon the masses in Gujarat, Saurashtra, and Kutch. The movement eradicated violence, drunkenness, and lawlessness among those who responded to it and attracted favorable notice from both the Christian bishop Heber and the British rulers.

Shree Swaminarayan performed miracles and was accepted by his followers as an incarnation of the Divine, the first of a succession of such incarnations, of which His Holiness Shree Pramukh Swami is the current living representative. Modern followers of Shree Swaminarayan number hundreds of thousands, and prior to the expulsion of Asians from Uganda, this faith was widespread among Indian people throughout East Africa. The Swaminarayan faith has a popular following in Great Britain and North America among Asian immigrants.

Sources:

Dave, H. T. Life and Philosophy of Shree Swaminarayan, 1781-1830. London: Allen & Unwin, 1974.