Can Kshaya Maasa only occur from Kaartika to Magha?

Recently someone asked me that when kshaya maas, the lost lunar month, could only occur from Kaartika to Magha as per an ancient text, it implied that luni-solar months Chaitra, Vaisakha would only be seasonal months?

I asked the name of that ancient text and he, who believes only in the tropical zodiac, replied that it was Siddhanta Shiromoni. I tried to find the sloka (verse) that mentions so, but couldn’t locate it.

Anyway, I believe it may be mentioned like that in some commentary work and that’s why that person was saying so.

To investigate, let’s go deeper into it and find out the truth.

A lunar month becomes a kshaya month when the Sun stays in the same zodiac sign in that particular month. Obviously, if we consider mean values, such a scenario cannot occur since the mean solar month is always more than the mean lunar month. When the true Sun is considered, only then such a situation can take place and a lunar month may be lost, termed as the kshaya month.

The true value of Sun is dependent on the movement of apsis (the farthest and the closest point of the Sun to the Earth), and perihelion currently happens in the month of January, on 14th, which may give an impression that a kshaya maas can only occur in the lunar months surrounding January and if someone considers Chaitra etc. months as seasonal, he or she would point to the months from Kaartika to Magha.

So, is that person right when he says that Chaitra etc. months are seasonal since a kshaya maas can only occur from Kaartika to Magha?

My answer to this question is ‘No’.

Let me explain.

In the case of the Earth, apsis revolves and completes the revolution of the 360 degree zodiac in about 23000 years as per modern astronomy if the zodiac is tropical (seasonal) and about 112000 years if the zodiac is sidereal (based on nakshatras).

It is clear from the above that if Chaitra etc. months are considered seasonal, Kshaya months would shift in about 23000 years, which is faster than the sidereal consideration of 112000 years. Also, we can easily conclude that when the apsis moves, kshaya month can occur in any luni-solar month in future and not just Kaartika to Magha as is stated.

Now, in terms of the Siddhanta Indian astronomy, the revolution cycle is nirayana, which is very close to an anomalistic year, and the apsis revolution is completed not even in a maha yuga of 4320000 years, which is quite a large figure. All this implies that if someone makes a statement that kshaya maas can occur only from Kaartika to Magha, he would only be considering such a large figure and which can only be true when Chaitra etc. months are considered to be sidereal luni-solar months.

Therefore, Chaitra etc. months cannot be related to the apsis revolution, and any lunar month can be a kshaya maas in the long run.

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