Varahamihira and the Brihat Samhita
Varahamihira was a sixth-century CE astronomer and scholar, and the Brihat Samhita is his encyclopaedic work covering astronomy, omens, architecture, gems and more.
What it is
The Brihat Samhita covers a wide range of topics, with chapters on the planets, rains, omens and the construction of temples. It is one of the important sources for later Jyotish and for the Indian tradition of omen-reading.
How it is worked out or read
The text's range is wide, and many of its topics are not part of the chart reading used on this site. Its astronomical chapters are the part most relevant to the calculations.
Where it appears on this site
The history of the texts is in the texts overview.
Who Varahamihira was
Varahamihira was a sixth-century CE astronomer and scholar, whose most famous work is the Brihat Samhita, a large encyclopaedic text. He is also associated with the Panchasiddhantika, a survey of earlier astronomical systems, which is a valuable source for the history of Indian astronomy. His writings show a broad interest that reached from the stars to architecture, omens and gems.
The date of Varahamihira is generally placed in the sixth century, and his work is a major witness to the state of Indian science in that period.
The Brihat Samhita and its range
The Brihat Samhita covers astronomy, the movements of the planets, rains and omens, the making of temples and the design of images, the choice of gems and many other subjects. Its astronomical chapters are closest to the calculations of Jyotish, while the other chapters show how wide the interests of learned Indians were. A reader who turns to it should expect a text of many interests rather than a single manual.
His other works
Besides the Brihat Samhita, Varahamihira wrote the Brihat Jataka, one of the most respected texts on natal astrology, and its shorter companion the Laghu Jataka. Works on military expeditions, the Yogayatra, and on marriage timing are also attributed to him. His Panchasiddhantika summarises five astronomical systems current in his time, the Paulisha, Romaka, Vasishtha, Saura and Paitamaha siddhantas, and is a key source for historians because some of those systems survive only through his summary.
Why his range matters
Varahamihira's work covers all three branches of Jyotish: siddhanta in the Panchasiddhantika, samhita in the Brihat Samhita and hora in the Brihat Jataka. Reading him shows how the tradition saw these as parts of one discipline. It also shows a scholar who compared systems openly and named his sources, a habit that modern readers can still learn from.
Reading him today
English translations of the Brihat Samhita and the Brihat Jataka are widely available, and several older editions are in the public domain. The Brihat Samhita is best read selectively, choosing chapters by interest, since its range is so wide. The Brihat Jataka is compact but dense, and is usually read with a commentary.
One sentence summary
Varahamihira is one of the few figures who shaped all three branches of Jyotish at once.