SAMANTA CHANDRASEKHAR- Yet waiting for recognition

Statue of Samanta Chandrasekhar at Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

From Fifth Century A.D. many ancient Astronomers were born in various parts of India in different periods and have contributed a lot to the field of Astronomy. The prominent among them were Aryabhatta, Baraha Mihir, Brahmagupta, Bhaskaracharya, Shreepati, Nilakantha Somayajee, Lalla, Shreedhar and  Parameswar. Mahamahopadhyaya Chandrasekhar Singh Samanta Harichandan Mohapatra, popularly known in Odisha  as Pathani Samanta seems to be the last Hindu Astronomer.  Pathani Samanta was born in the royal family of princely state of  Khandapada (Nayagarh District) on 13.12.1835 (1957 Shakabda Pausha Krushnasthami). He was the fourth child of his parents (father Shri Shyamabandhu Singh Samanta and mother Smt. Bishnumali Devi). His parents were not happy because their first three children were not survived. They were anxiously waiting for a male child. For this purpose they were regularly visiting the nearby Rameshwar Mahadev Temple in Khuntupada village for the blessings of God Mahadev. At last their hope fulfilled when Bishnumali Devi gave birth to Pathani.  As the male child was born with the blessings of  God Mahadev, they named the child as Chandrasekhar. As per the social customs prevailed at that time the parents sold the child to a Pathan Kela because there was a belief that if the child is sold to a Pathan Kela, then he will survive from the clutches of God Yama (Death God). Then the apartyani (apatyahani) name Pathani from the word Pathan came. Since then Chandrasekhar is popularly known as Pathani Samanta.

                From childhood Pathani Samanta was very much interested in observing the stars and planets overhead. He was measuring the shadow of the trees in the morning, noon and afternoon and counting  the number of  vultures  flying high up in the sky. He was also keeping  records of birth and death of different domestic animals. Observing the son’s interest in astronomy, father Shyamabandhu Singh Samanta himself  was showing some well known stars to Pathani. At the age of 10 Samanta started learning astrology. He started recording the  rising and setting times of the stars and planets. He received  his primary education in Sanskrit from  Sanskrit Pandit  Khadenga Ananda Mishra, a Brahmin teacher of Khandapara. He taught Kavyas such as  Raghuvansa, Kumar Sambhaba, Meghaduta etc.  from his teacher. After that Pathani himself taught Lilavati, Bijaganita, Jyotish, Kavya and Vyakarana collecting these books from his family library. He was reading the ancient astronomical texts such as Aryabhattiya, Surya Sidhhanta, Siddhanta Shiromani, Pancha Siddhantika, Brahmasphuta Siddhanta and many other astronomical texts with great interest.

                Samanta did not belief the predictions mentioned in the ancient siddhantic texts without  observation. Therefore, at the age of 15 Samanta started to check the predictions mentioned in the previous Siddhantas with his own observational records. He found that the calculations given in the Surya Siddhanta and Siddhanta Shiromani are not matching with his calculations. He observed that the stars are not rising and setting in time as predicted  in the previous texts. After thorough observations Samanta came to a conclusion that the predictions made by ancient Astronomers are not correct for which he made corrections to them.  During his childhood Samanta taught astrology from his father Shyamabandhu as he has great interest in it. A person doing astrology should have some knowledge about the position of stars and planets. For this purpose he was directly observing the night sky with naked eye and recording the motions and positions of planets and stars. For this work he was taking extreme pain and spending sleepless nights. For correct and easy observation Samanta from his own imagination fabricated some simple instruments. He fabricated his own instruments out of wooden sticks and bamboo chips, the prominent among them was the  ‘Mana Yantra’ . Using this unique instrument Samanta was  measuring  the distance and height of the distant objects with great accuracy.  He also invented many new mathematical formulas for astronomical calculations.

At the age of 23 Pathani systematically recorded  all the results of his own observations. Three years after, he started writing his  Siddhantas in the form of  Slokas in Sanskrit  verse but in Odia characters. In 1869 when he was 34 years old he completed this work. Written in palm leaves this famous text is popularly known as ‘Diddhanta Darpana’.  Due to non-availability of printing facilities in Odisha at that time, this famous text  remained unpublished for more than 30 years. Prof. Mahesh Chandra Nyayaratna, Principal  of Calcutta  Sanskrit College and Prof. Jogesh Chandra Roy, Professor of  Ravenshaw College, Cuttack met Samanta and very much impressed in his scholarly works. With active supervision and involvement of  Prof. J.C.Roy  Sidhhanta Darpana, the great work of Samanta, saw the light of the day after its publication in 1899 from a Calcutta based  printing press. For publication of  Siddhanta Darpana the kings of Attamallik and Mayurbhanj provided all financial support. In the beginning Prof. Roy has written a 60 page introduction on Siddhanta Darpana in English in which the life and work of Samanta are reflected. Through this scholarly introduction  the outside world could know the correct observations, calculations and use of simple instruments of  Pathani Samanta, who was living in a small hilly region of Odisha. It was really amazing.

The original master book written by Samanta

Siddhanta Darpana

In Siddhanta Darpana Samanta Chandrasekhar has composed 2500 Sanskrit slokas in 24 chapters. Out of 2500 Slokas Samanta himself has composed 2284 slokas and  the rest 216 slokas are citations from earlier authors. Siddhanta Darpana is divided into two main parts called Purvardha and Uttarardha. The first part Purvardha is further divided into 3 sections named Madhyamadhikara, Sphutadhikara and Triprasnadhikara and the second part Uttarardha into 2 sections named Goladhikara and Kaladhikara. There are 15 chapters in 3 sections of Purvardha i.e. 4 chapters in Madhyamadhikara, 2 chapters in Sphutadhikara and 9 chapters in Triprasnadhikara. Similarly there are 9 chapters in 2 sections of Uttarardha  i.e. 6 chapters in section Goladhikara 3 chapters in section Kaladhikara. 

Planetary model by Pathani Samanta

The section Madhyamadhikara of the first part Purvardha deals with the  time period of days, months and year, mean motions and true positions of the planets. The second section Sphutadhikara mentions about the   Geocentric  Solar System. As described by Samanta, the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are revolving around the Sun on their own orbits. The Sun alongwith these planets moves around the stationary Earth. The Moon is also revolving on its orbit around the Earth. For this purpose Samanta himself  has prepared  a geocentric model of the planetary system which is exactly matching with the model of  the great astronomer of  Spain Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) and Astronomer of Kerala School Nilakantha Somayajee (1444-1544).  Prof. J.C.Roy in his English introduction  on Siddhanta Darpana  has compared Samanta Chandrasekhar properly with Tycho Brahe. That is why Samanta is called the Indian Tycho. This shows Samanta  never believed in purely geocentric planetary system instead both geocentric and heliocentric system. As he was observing  from the Earth  it seems as if all celestial bodies are moving around the Earth. Further we know nothing is stationary in the Universe. Therefore,  the planetary system as described  by Samanta Chandrasekhar from his own observations is correct. He also speaks about a force (later known as gravitational force discovered by Sir Isaac Newton) due to which the planets are attracted by the Sun and revolving around it. In the sixth chapter of  Sphutadhikara Samanta has described the use of simple almanac to find out the days and times of auspicious occasions like  marriages, bratopayan, homa yagyan, grihaprabesh etc.

The third section Triprasnadhikara deals with direction, place and time. It also contains descriptions on Solar and Lunar Eclipses, Transits of the Planets, occultations, conjunctions of planets and stars with Moon, Phases of the Moon, rising and setting of the planets and the Moon, alignment of planets etc.

In first section Goladhikara of the second part Uttarardha Samanta Chandrasekhar has tried to find out the answers to many questions raised in his mind. For example he  has solved questions Why the Earth has tilted to its axis 23.50  ? Why the period of days and nights are not equal throughout the year ? It is shorter in winter and longer in summer. Is there any life exists on the Moon and the Mars ? He has solved all the questions raised in his mind by giving very interesting examples. Goladhikara also mentions   the  sentences from earlier Siddhantas of Aryabhatta, Barahamihir, Bhaskaracharya, Brahmagupta etc. The section also deals with the mathematics such as  spherical trigonometry, geometry, arithmetic, algebra etc.  In seventeenth chapter in Goladhikara, Samanta has further described about the geocentric planetary system. In a sloka he has told that the Earth is in the centre of the Universe and stationary. The Sun alongwith other planets and the Moon and moving around the stationary Earth. He has opined the  shape of the Earth is round not a flat one. From observation of  phases of the Moon he has told that the shape of the Moon is also round. In twentieth chapter in section Goladhikara Samanta has described  about his own instruments. They are Gola Yantra (Eka Kakshya Yantra and Bahu Kakshya Yantra), Yasthi Yantra, Golardha Yantra, Swoyambaha Yantra, Chapa Yantra,  Chakra Yantra and Mana Yantra. From among them Mana Yantra  made up of two sticks in the form of English alphabet ‘T’,  which all Odia people know that Samanta was measuring the height and distance of mountains etc. using this instrument. In twenty first chapter Samanta has mentioned about the changes of  the seasons at different positions of  the latitude on the Earth. This chapter shows that Samanta has also solved some deeper questions raised in his mind.

                The second section Kaladhikara of Uttarardha speaks about different ways of reckoning times. According to Samanta Chandrasekhar  the principal time is a year which is called Abayabee. A year is divided into ayan, seasons, moths, fortnights, weeks, days, dandas etc. Samanta also tells that there are nine types of time division. They are Chandra, Nakshyatra,  Sabana, Baharspatya, Soura, Manab, Paitrya, Daiba and Brahmya. The chapter also describes about Sankranti Tithi (Solar Month). According to it the end point of a zodiac sign is also the entry point to the next zodiac sign. The day on which the Sun leaves the last zodiac sign is called ‘Masanta’ and next day when Sun enters the next zodiac sign is called ‘Sankranti’ (Sankramana).

                The twenty third chapter in Kaladhikara speaks about prayer to Purusottam. In this chapter Samanta Chandrasekhar has praised to the Neelachalanath Shri Jagannath. At the end of every chapter of Siddhanta Darpana Samanta has prayed to the God and shown his devotion towards Lord Jagannath. He has offered his famous treatise  Siddhanta Darpana on the feet of Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath. He has described about Jagannath temple, Gods and Goddess worshiped, Kalpabata inside the premises of the temple, twenty two steps, Ratna Singhasan, Badadanda, Mahodadhi etc. He has prayed before  Shri Jagannath for the well being of human kind. In the chapter Samanta has praised to the Dasavataras of Lord Vishnu. He has also praised to his holy birth place Utkala Bhoomi.

                The Twenty fourth chapter in Kaladhikara deals with the conclusion to the famous text Siddhanta Darpana. In this chapter Samanta Chandrasekhar has given a brief account on all twenty four chapters described in five sections. In this chapter Samanta has also described some  interesting facts on mathematics in detail which is mentioned in ‘Koutaka Panjika’. These were written by his father Shri Shyamabandhu Singh Samanta. Using his techniques mentioned in it any one can prepare a new  almanac (Panji).

                Really,  Siddhanta Darpana composed by Samanta Chandrasekhar is the latest valuable classic of high order. It has great scientific value and is also a fine piece  of literary work. The international journals the Nature and the Knowledge  have acknowledged the greatness of the naked eye Astronomer Samanta Chandrasekhar and his contributions to the field of Astronomy. The original Sanskrit script of Siddhanta Darpana is translated into Odia with the efforts of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. Shri Bira Hanuman Shastri of  Sadashiva Sanskrit College, Puri  was assigned the job who translated  all the Sanskrit slokas and gave descriptions in Odia language. This Odia version of Siddhanta Darpana was published by the Utkal University and printed at Maharaja Shri Ramachandra  Utkal University Press, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar in 1976. From the introduction given by Sri Bira Hanuman Shastri, it is  evident that the original Siddhanta Darpana was published in three volumes i.e. in Sanskrit, Odia and English by Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.

                Besides Siddhanta Darpana, Samanta Chandrasekhar had composed another two small treaties named ‘Darpanasara’ and ‘Darpadipika’. They contain subjects like astrology, simple almanac etc. All the auspicious occasions/festivals are observed all over the state of Odisha including the rituals in Jagannath Temple using the almanac prepared by Samanta Chandrasekhar.

As a Teacher

                Pathani Samanta had many students. Rudranarayan Jyotirbhushan Bhattacharya from Medinipur Nandigram (West Bengal) came to Samanta’s home and remained for two years. He read Siddhanta Darpana and translated all slokas into Bengali and prepared Rudra Panjika in his state. Pandit Gadadhar Bidya Bhushan also taught astronomy and astrology from Samanta. Other prominent students of Samanta were Damodar Bani Bhushan from Talcher, Rajaballav Mishra of Khandapara, Harihar Satapathy from Ghumusara, Adikanda Tripathy from Adhanga Shasan and Sadashiv Khadiratna from Khauruni. Sadashiv Khadiratna has prepared a simple almanac named ‘Khadiratna Panjika’.

                Besides, many great scholars visited Khandapara and discussed with Pathani Samanta. They collected a number of important information from Samanta. These scholars were Markandeya Tarka Panchanan, Chintamani Tarka Bachaspati, Samanta Biswanath Mohapatra  Kavya Tirtha, Madhusudan Tarka Bachaspati and Jagannath Mishra. They all praised the talents of Pathani Samanta.

Family

                There was a king named Bairagi  Singh ruling like King Indra in the princely state of Khandapara Garh. He had got the title of Mardaraj Bhramarabara from the Gajapati Maharaja of  Puri. Shri Neeladri Singh a very powerful king was the son of Bairagi  Mardaraj Bhramarabar  Singh. Shri Nrusingh Singh was the son of Shri Neeladri Singh. Shri Nrusingh Singh was the father of Shri Shyamabandhu Singh Samanta. Shyamabandhu was a great scholar. Samanta Chandrasekhar was the son of Shri Shyamabandhu Singh Samanta. Samanta’s mother was Smt. Bishnumali Devi. Samanta Chandrasekhar  was a great scholar and astronomer scientist who was residing in a small hilly state in a remote corner of Odisha and also far away from modern English education. He had great interest in astronomy from his childhood.  At that time though the western astronomers were observing the sky with modern gadget like telescope, Samanta was not aware of it and observing the sky with naked eye using a few handmade instruments but with great accuracy.

Family Life

                According to a book on the life history  of Samanta  Chandrasekhar titled ‘Pathani Samanta Jeebani Darpana’ written by Shri Raghunath Singh Samanta, the grand-son  of Pathani Samanta, the marriage of Pathani Samanta was held in 1857 with Sita Devi, the daughter of  the then Anugul King. On the day of his marriage Pathani reached Anugul in a big marriage procession. Though Pathani was a great scholar and  had vast knowledge in Sanskrit, he was not so handsome. When Pratima Devi, the mother of Sita Devi saw the new son-in-law she  refused to give her daughter to Pathani. Therefore, disturbance arose in an auspicious occasion. When this news came to Pathani, he sat with his friends on the Devi Mandap infront of Anugul Palace and recited slokas from Damayanti Swayambar.   Hearing his slokas with good tune the people present there astonished.  Then Pratima Devi agreed and the marriage ceremony completed with happiness.

                After marriage Pathani became the father of five sons and six daughters. Five sons were Pitabasa, Basudeva, Jadunath, Gadadhar and Chakradhar. From among them Basudeva and Jadunath expired at the age of 20 and 16 respectively. From among six daughters two  survived and one of them married to the son of Talcher king and the other one was married to the son of Banki Dewan. Though he was busy in family life, he was always  engaged himself in his astronomical observations. For this purpose he was spending sleepless nights. Pathani was a devotee of Shri Jagannath and was sparing some time in worship and prayers both in the morning and evening. His wife Sita Devi was also a highly religious lady. She was looking after the children and all house works with sincerity. Therefore, their family life was very happy.

Recognitions

                Pathani Samanta was a great Astronomer Scientist, Poet, Sanskrit scholar and he had good memory power. Once Samanta predicted a solar eclipse will occur and will be seen from British. At that time Pandit Raghunatha Acharya of Madras state did not accept the predictions made by Samanta. But fortunately that solar eclipse occurred in time and seen from British. This event gave him fame. The then British Government wanted to honour him for his extraordinary work. The British Commissioner called on Samanta to be present in a Darbar organized at Cuttack. Before attending the ceremony the British Saheb  asked Pathani Samanta  to tell the height of Saptasajya hill seen from Cuttack. Without any delay Samanta using his simple instrument Mana Yanta calculated the height of the hill and told it is  1178 hataa and 16 anguli. Then Saheb matched the result with the map and found it correct. Saheb embarrassed Samanta with happiness.  On 5th October, 1893 a Darbar was organized in which on behalf of British Government Commissioner Saheb honoured Samanta Chandrasekhar with the tittle ‘Mahamahopadhyaya’. The Commissioner himself  offered garland and presented the ‘Sananda’ to Samanta. Similarly accepting his astronomical prescriptions for regulation of rituals in the Jagannath Temple, Gajapati Maharaja of Puri  had awarded him the title of ‘Harichandan Mohapatra’ in 1870.

Mahaprayana (Death)

                The slokas from Siddhanta Darpana reveals that Samanta Chandrasekhar had a great desire to spend his last period of life at Purusottam Kshetra Puri. From calculation he calculated the  date and time of his Mahaprayana (death). Before sixteenth day of his death Samanta started his journey to Puri. Middle son Gadadhar accompanied him. However, Samanta reached at Puri without facing any problem on the way. After reaching Puri Samanta immediately visited Shri Jagannath Temple to pray before the God. He  entered Shri Mandir and offered prayer to Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath, Shri Baladev and Maa Subhadra near Ratna Singhasan. He stayed in the house of  Parikuda king situated in Markanda Sahi, Puri from where Neelachakra of Shri Mandir is clearly visible. While staying at Puri Pathani Samanta suffered with fever which continued for several days. He was treated with utmost care by a famous Kabiraj of Puri. But he did not respond to the medicines and recovered from the disease. On 13th December, 1904 (Jyestha Dwadashi tithi) Pathani Samanta passed away. The light of a bright star of Utkal Bhoomi gone out. But the remarkable  contributions of son of the soil remained immortal for ever.

Memory

                In memory of Pathani Samanta many organizations/institutions have been established in his name. In his birth place Khandapara and at Bhubaneswar Samanta Chandrasekhar Smruti Parishads have been established. At Puri a Government College named after him as Samanta Chandrasekhar Autonomous College has been set up by Government of Odisha. Government of Odisha has also established the only planetarium at Bhubaneswar named after him as Pathani Samanta Planetarium. Similarly an Amateur Astronomers’ Association has been formed in Odisha named after Pathani Samanta as ‘Samanta Chandrasekhar Amateur Astronomers’ Association’ in short SCAAA. This Association is presently functioning in the premises of Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Bhubaneswar.

                Besides, in memory of Pathani Samanta a number of his full size statues have been installed in various places of Odisha.

Further to let the outside world to know about the life and work of Pathani Samanta, many authors have published books and  also articles  in national and international journals, newspapers and  souvenirs. Odisha Bigyan Academy, an organization under the  Government of Odisha has instituted an award named Samanta Chandrasekhar Award to recognize the Odia Scientists for their outstanding contributions to the field of science.

Reference :

1.            ‘Siddhanta Darpan’ by Shri Bira Hanuman Shastry published by Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.

2.            ‘Pathani Samanta Jeebani Darpana’ by Shri Raghunath Singh Samanta published byPathani Samanta Planetarium, Bhubaneswar.

3.            ‘Jyotirbigyaninka Jeebani’ by Sri Golak Bihari Pradhan published by The Book Point, Bhubaneswar.

4.            Article on ‘Samanta Chandrasekhar : Life and work’ by Prof. L. Satapathy and Dr.P.C. Naik published in Current Science (25th October, 1995).