Calendar Series Article 4 – Why a pure sidereal calendar is also wrong?

In my previous article, I wrote with conviction and proof “Why Chaitra etc. months can’t follow the tropical rashis?” Any genuine and unbiased person is welcome to debate with me on this topic face to face or via video conferencing.

In this article, I am going to elaborate why a pure sidereal calendar is equally wrong.

The Chaitra etc. months have always been sidereal in nature, even in the Vedic era. The Vedic people used to align the seasons from Chaitra etc. months to follow a tropical or seasonal year for their annual rituals. Initially it was just the seasons, later they also followed the seasonal Madhu etc. months.

We need to remember that the number of adhik maas (the intercalary months) in the tropical setup shall be less than the number of adhik maas in the sidereal setup since tropical year length is less than the sidereal year length. So, it is wrong to follow the adhik maas as obtained in Chaitra etc. months of the sidereal framework in the tropical framework. Any calendar that specifies the same adhik maas for the tropical as well as sidereal setup is wrong and against the astronomical facts.

The Vedic people were aware of it. They were able to differentiate between the two, the tropical and sidereal. And it is not without any proof and not a mere belief. In my book “Resolving the Indian Calendar Anomalies”, I’ve given all the details supported by the verses on how they used to obtain the adhik maas in a tropical framework. In addition, I’ve also provided my idea how it shall be done in the modern world, when astronomy accuracy in terms of observations is far better today, based on the same Vedic guidelines. An article is too little space for that.

Any calendar reformer who has not understood this difference is sure shot to fail in his endeavors sooner or later. Because of lack of clarity on this differentiation, the corruption has already happened. To me, the corruption began after Madhu etc. months came into vogue since before that, it was just the seasons and Chaitra etc. months.

Due to the corruption, some started favoring a pure tropical setup; some started favoring a pure sidereal setup and some even started fiddling with the zodiac suggesting a shift of zodiac which is against the astronomical framework any day. The fact is that all are wrong somewhere.

Having said it, the calendar that is currently followed in India by the majority has its own flaws since it does not give equal importance to the tropical setup. The manadhyaya chapter of the Surya Siddhanta clearly mentions the word “Vatsar” for the solar mana. In my earlier work “The Unanswered – Part II”, I have given the details on various types of years including Vatsar.

It’s always better to refer to the original texts for better understanding than the compendium works like Nirnaya Sindhu and Dharam Sindhu. Directly jumping to any compendium work or a supplement work without understanding the original texts is definitely going to create the confusions.

Neither there is any need of a zodiac shift nor need to follow a pure tropical or a pure sidereal system. There is no need to even get confused by certain verses that are in relation to the tropical framework only. The need is to understand the equal importance of the tropical and sidereal framework. Once we’ve understood the distinction properly, we’ll find all the controversial verses are valid except the corruption part.

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