Samvatsara

sanskrit: संवत्सर (Saṃvatsara)

Definition

Samvatsara is the year in Hindu time-reckoning. In one sense it is the first of the five years making up a calendrical Yuga (a short cycle of years) — though the names differ by author: Charak gives the five as Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idvatsara, Anuvatsara and Vatsara, while Murthy gives Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idavatsara, Anuvatsara and Idvatsara. More broadly, it's the name for each year of Jupiter's sixty-year cycle, running from Prabhava to Kshayakrit (also called Akshaya or Kshaya). Samvat is a related dating era of Northern India, the Vikrama Samvat. Chaitra is the first lunar month, opening the Hindu lunar year.

In Tradition

Across the classical and modern Jyotish literature, Samvatsara is read as a named year of Jupiter's sixty-year cycle, which begins with Prabhava, and the year you were born in is held to carry a characteristic nature for you. Charak counts knowing the sixty Samvatsaras among an astrologer's qualifications; Jataka Parijata and Murthy each give a predicted disposition for every one of the sixty named years.

In Practice

In Jataka Parijata the year-name comes first among the time-factors of Adhyaya IX, with a characteristic prediction for each of the sixty years to read the person born in it — someone born in Prabhava is daring, truthful and pious, while one born in Vishu is a shamed pauper. Sastri's Note gives mnemonic verses (slokas) for learning the sixty names by heart, and by the chapter's closing rule the year's predicted effect ripens during the dasa (planetary period) of the lord of the Savana, the 360-day year. Murthy's Section I likewise lists the sixty named years from Prabhava through Akshaya, each with a predicted nature drawn from up to four authorities. For world events, Larsen's Chaitra Pratipada chakra casts a chart for the new moon of Chaitra alongside the solar-ingress charts to read a country's affairs: the day-ruler of the Chaitra new moon stands for the ruler, and the day-lords of the ingresses for the ministers carrying out his will, their role depending on the sign of ingress.

Historical Origin

The named years are attested in the classical Jataka Parijata of Vaidyanatha Dikshita (Adhyaya IX), translated with notes by V. Subramanya Sastri. Modern authorities keep and expand the scheme: Charak's Elements of Vedic Astrology, Murthy's Phala Jyoutisha (compiling up to four authorities), Larsen's Jyotisha Fundamentals for the Chaitra Pratipada chakra, and Raman's Notable Horoscopes index for the Chaitra month and the Vikrama Samvat era of Northern India.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading