Bhattotpala: His Date, Life and Writings

Summary

Bhattotpala is well known as an astronomical writer and erudite scholiast on Varahamihira’s works, yet little is known about his life or the exact period in which he lived. This article tackles that problem by analysing the colophon verses appended to Utpala’s commentaries on the Brhajjataka and Brhatsamhita. In these verses Utpala states that he completed his Brhajjataka commentary on a Thursday, the ninth day of the bright fortnight of Caitra in Saka year 888, and his Brhatsamhita commentary on a Thursday, the second day of the dark half of Phalguna in the same year. Astronomical calculations show that these dates correspond to 9 March 965 and 11 January 966 CE, indicating that Utpala was active in the late ninth or early tenth century. The author reviews the various manuscript readings of the verses and refutes attempts by earlier scholars to emend the year or to equate the Saka era with a supposed “Cyrus Era.” He argues that the accepted Saka era commencing in 78 CE was used by Indian astronomers and that any attempt to shift Utpala back to the third or fourth century lacks evidence. The article also surveys Utpala’s works, noting that he wrote glosses known as Vivṛti, Cintāmaṇi and Jagaccandrikā on Varahamihira’s Brhajjataka and Brhatsamhita, as well as commentaries on the Laghu‑jataka, Yogayātrā, Vivāha‑paṭala and other texts. References to Utpala by later scholars and a list of Kashmiri astronomical writers place him around Saka 890. By synthesising the colophon evidence, calendrical calculations and manuscript testimony, the author concludes that Utpala lived in Kashmir around the mid‑tenth century and that his contributions had significant influence on subsequent Indian astronomy and astrology.