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Question – 75
What is Bodhāyana
Amavasya? How can it be related to Trayodasi Amavasya of the Mahabharata?
Answer:
Answering the
second question first, the unusually earlier Amavasya coming on Trayodasi tithi
upset the regular sequence of tithi-s in existence until then. Seeing the anomaly,
and to retain in memory the earlier than normal Amavasya, rishi Bodhayana of
the Mahabharata period conceived the idea of an earlier Amavasya which came be
to be called in his name as Bodhayana Amavasya. The details of this are incorporated in Bodhayana Sutra.
Usually, a day is recognized
by the tithi or star that is prevalent at sunrise. With the sequence of tithi-s
getting disturbed by the Trayodasi Amavasya, that is, with Amavasya starting on
the day of Trayodasi itself, the subsequent phases of the moon had seen the
starting of Amavasya earlier than the regular time. Since the time taken to
cover a tithi differs depending upon the moon’s transit in perigee or apogee, it
was seen at times that the Amavasya tithi started a little early than it was in
the previously existing scheme - by starting on the evening of Caturdasi and
ending before the evening of the next day. Such an Amavasya was picked out by
rishi Bodhāyana who suggested special tarpan rules to be observed on those
Amavasya-s.
This Amavasya is
identified as one that starts in the afternoon or the evening of Caturdasi
tithi but ends before sunset the next day. Since Amavasya means the conjunction
of the sun and the moon, the presence of Amavasya for the whole night was taken
as a pointer. In this case, the Prathma tithi starts on the night of Amavasya (which
was present at sunrise). The appearance of initial phases of moon will skip
days in this case. One may recall the Islamic practice of seeing the crescent
moon to start their month of Ramadan or break their fast but failing to see it
at times. This happens after Bodhayana Amavasya.
Though the
Prathama (first) phase starts at night, the moon will not be seen because the
conjunction with the sun had just ended. The moon may not be visible in the
next night also. On the third night only, the crescent moon will be visible.
Following Bodhayana
Amavasya, there will be a Tithi-Dvayam within
the first five tithi-s. Tithi-Dvayam means two tithi-s must run in a day,
particularly in the afternoon time (aparāhna kāla), both being the Śrāddha
tithi-s. This brings us to the next issue of Śrāddha tithi that appear on the same day. This did not happen before the Trayodasi Amavasya
in the Kartika month in 3136 BCE.
Considering the
new development of occasional anomalies in the starting of Amavasya tithi, the
concept of Bodhayana Amavasya was introduced. The followers of rishi Bodhayana
started observing this Amavasya. The kind of tarpan done by them once again reiterate
that some calamity had happened then because they do tarpana for Acārya-s,
teachers, friends and departed persons of other families too, whereas in
regular tarpana only one’s own ancestors are offered oblations. Perhaps families
were wiped away in the calamity at that time, prompting others to do the
tarpana ceremony for all those known to them.
The introduction
of Bodhayana Amavasya since the time of Mahabharata thus stands as a living
testimony for an abnormal Amavasya, coming before normal time.
