Page 74 - SBV (English)

14 Çré Bhaktisiddhänta Vaibhava

With trademark punch, his foreword to Sürya-siddhänta delivered his
abhorrence toward dilution and distortion of çästréya truth:
From time immemorial Indians have been reputed among
non-Indians as being well versed in different types of sciences.
Western scholars unanimously consider India the birthplace
of mathematics. Upon studying the primeval reference books,
Indologists marvel at the unlimited research found in the
mathematically-based jyotiña-çästra of the ancients of India.
Among the eighteen most respected of such astronomical
manuscripts of hoary India, Çré Sürya-siddhänta is unanimously
accepted as the oldest. Negligence has pushed this book to
the verge of oblivion. Indians have always been lackadaisical
about protecting the unbroken glory of their ancestors, and
I do not expect that they will give that up upon the words
of someone like myself. Nevertheless, being driven by my
conscience, I take pleasure in presenting this version of the
text along with a translation, devoting myself with utmost
effort for the benefit of the today’s jyotiñés and laics, even
though I am incapable of effectively doing so.

At present the majority of persons reputed as learned are
averse to çästréya understanding. They shamelessly promote
themselves as knowledgeable in çästra even if totally unaware
of its contents. The disease has taken the form of aversion
and inordinate desire for honor. This evil has engulfed the
jyotir-térthas, and resultingly their work is incomplete and
short-sighted. I have brought out this translation of Çré
*
Sürya-siddhänta with the hope of attracting the attention of
really intelligent thinkers toward the study of astronomy. The
jyotir-térthas spend most of their life avidly expanding their
bellies and have completely stopped cultivating the complex
knowledge of mathematical jyotiña-çästra received in guru-
paramparä. Additionally, they take the help of tables provided
in different reference books, and without ever reading or
even seeing Çré Sürya-siddhänta they continually quote it to
defend their wrong calculations. But considering how many

* Jyotir-tértha—an expert in astronomical calculations, particularly those for determining
timings for yajïas, festivals, oblations, rituals, and so on.