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Varāhamihira ( 20/21 March 505 – 587), also called Varāha or Mihira, was an ancient Indian astrologer-astronomer who lived in or around Ujjain in present-day Madhya Pradesh, India.
In his Pancha-siddhantika, Varāhamihira refers to the year 427 of the Shaka-kala (also Shakendra-kala or Shaka-bhupa-kala). Identifying this calendar era with the Shaka era places Varāhamihira in the 505 CE. Alternative theories identify this calendar era with other eras, placing him before the 5th century CE. However, these theories are inaccurate, as Varāhamihira must have lived after Aryabhata (born 476 CE), whose work he refers to. The particulars of the date mentioned by Varāhamihira - Shukla paksha pratipada of the Chaitra month of the Shaka year 427 - align accurately with 20-21 March 505 CE. Al-Biruni also places Varāhamihira in 505 CE.
In accordance with the contemporary tradition, 505 CE was most probably the year in which Varāhamihira composed Pancha-Siddhantaka or began planning it. However, some scholars believe that it was the year of Varāhamihira's birth or of another important event in his life. This is because according to Amaraja, the author of a commentary on Brahmagupta's Khandakhadyaka, Varāhamihira died in 587 CE (Shaka year 509). If Varāhamihira wrote his work in 505 CE even at the young age of 25, he must have been over 105 years old at the time of his death, which seems exceptionally high to these scholars. Consequently, these scholars consider date Varāhamihira's lifespan to 505-587 CE. Other scholars doubt the accuracy of Amaraja's statement, since he lived a thousand years after Varāhamihira.
According to a historically inaccurate tradition, Varāhamihira was associated with the first century BCE legendary emperor Vikramaditya. This tradition is based on Jyotirvid-abharana, a work attributed to Kalidasa, which states that Varāhamihira (along with Kalidasa) was one of the navaratnas ("nine gems") at Vikramaditya's court. However, this text is a literary forgery, and is dated variously from 12th-18th century. Varāhamihira definitely did not live in the same century as some of the purported "Navaratnas", such as the much older Kalidasa.
Varāhamihira's commentator Utpala calls him "Magadha-dvija". According to one interpretation, this means that Varāhamihira was Brahmana ( dvija), whose ancestors belonged to the Magadha region.
According to another theory, the word "Magadha" in this context refers to the sun-worshipping Maga Brahmin cult that Varāhamihira was a part of. In his Brhat-samhita, Varāhamihira mentions that the Magas were the only people suitable for consecrating an image of the Sun god. The Magas, as they came to be known in India, originated from the Magi priests of the Achaemenid Empire. Historian Ajay Mitra Shastri cites a Bhavishya Purana passage according to which the term "Magadha" is a synonym of "Maga" and refers to "those who contemplate on the Maga". According to Shastri, Utpala has used the word "Magadha" to denote the Magas, who had been accepted as Shaka-dvipi (Maga) Brahmins in the Indian society.
Shastri theorizes that "Varaha-mihira" may be a Sanskritized form of the Iranian name "Varaza-Mihr", and may refer to a legend mentioned in the Mihr Yasht of the Avesta. According to this legend, the god Verethraghna, in the form of a boar ( varaza), precedes Mihr in his march. Shastri notes that the 5th century Sasanian Empire monarch Bahram V bore the name Mihrvaraza, which is quite similar to Varahamihra. Academic J.E. Sanjana suggests that Varāhamihira was descended from an Iranian Magi priest.
Some scholars, such as M.T. Patwardhan and A.N. Upadhye, have identified Varāhamihira with Bazurjmehr, mentioned in Firishta's writings as a minister of the Sasanian king Khosrow I (r. 531-578). However, A.M. Shastri dismisses this theory as unconvincing.
There are several historically inaccurate legends about the ancestry of Varāhamihira:
Based on the term "Magadha-dvija" (see above), Sudhakara Dvivedi suggests that Varāhamihira was born and brought up in Magadha, and later migrated to Ujjain. Ajay Mitra Shastri disputes this, noting that Utpala describes him as "Avantikacharya" (Acharya of Avanti) and "Magadha-dvija": these two terms cannot be reconciled if "Magadha-dvija" is interpreted as "Dvija (Brahmana) of Magadha"; instead "Magadha" here means Maga Brahmin, as attested by the Bhavishya Purana.
Historian Ajay Mitra Shastri, relying on Utpala, believes that "Avanti" here refers to the city of Ujjayini in the Avanti region of central India. Scholar Dániel Balogh, however, notes that Avanti here may refer to the city of Ujjayini or the Avanti region in general: there is no concrete evidence that Varāhamihira lived in the city; he may have lived elsewhere in Avanti.
Historian Ajay Mitra Shastri notes that Dravya-vardhana is the only person for whom Varāhamihira employs the honorific Shri, although he mentions several other notable people. Moreover, he mentions Dravya-vardhana's work before he mentions reputed authorities such as the and Vrddha Garga. According to Shastri, this, combined with the fact that both Dravya-vardhana and Varāhamihira lived in Avanti, suggests that Dravya-vardhana was the royal patron of Varāhamihira. Shastri theorizes that Dravya-vardhana was a successor of Yashodharman alias Vishnu-vardhana, who may have also been a patron of Varāhamihira.
Some other historians identify Dravya-vardhana with the earlier Aulikara ruler Drapa-vardhana. Shastri disputes this, arguing that Varāhamihira describes Dravya-vardhana as a maharajadhiraja (emperor), while the Rīsthal inscription describes Drapa-vardhana as a senapati (commander). Balogh disagrees with Shastri, noting that Varāhamihira actually uses the term nrpo maharajadhiraja-kah ( nrpa or ruler "connected to the emperor") for the king, which Shastri has misunderstood as maharajadhirajah (emperor). Only one manuscript reads maharajadhirajah, which can be discarded as it doesn't fit the metre; three others have maharajdhiraja-jah. Thus, the actual title of Drapa-vardhana was nrpa, which is much closer to senapati in status. Utpala also interprets the term maharajadhiraja-kah to mean "born in the dynasty of the (or an) emperor". Hans Bakker interprets the term to maharajadhiraja-kah as a governor installed at Ujjayini by the contemporary Gupta emperor. Balogh believes that Dravya-vardhana was probably same as Drapa-vardhana: "Dravya" may be a variant arising from a mistake in a medieval manuscript, which is the source of later manuscripts.
Balogh disputes Shastri's assertion that Varāhamihira shows a particularly reverential attitude to the king, and even if he did, this is no evidence that the two were contemporaries. Varāhamihira consulted the king's work instead of the original work of Bharadvaja that it was based on; according to Balogh, this actually makes it more likely that the king lived at a time earlier than Varāhamihira, who did not have access to the older work of Bharadvaja.
According to Balogh, Varāhamihira likely lived during the reign of the Aulikara kings Prakasha-dharman, Yashodharman, or an unknown successor of Yashodharman. However, unlike Shastri, Balogh believes that Varāhamihira did not have a royal patron.
Sun worship seems to have been his family's religion, as his father Aditya-dasa's name literally means "slave (or servant) of the Sun". Kutuhula-manjari, a later text, suggests that Varāhamihira was born to Aditya-dasa by the blessings of the Sun. Varāhamihira's son Prthu-yashas also invokes the Sun in the opening stanza of his work Shatpanchashikha.
Varāhamihira was well-versed with the Vedic tradition. He recommends the performance of several ancient Hindu rituals such as Punyaham and chanting of Vedic hymns.
Varāhamihira praises Vishnu in the chapters 42 and 104 of Brhat-samhita, leading A.N.S. Aiyangar and K.V.R Aiyangar to speculate that he came in contact with the Shrivaishnava saints (Alvars); however, A.M. Shastri dismisses this theory, describing the praise for Vishnu as an example of religious eclecticism.
In Brhat-samhita, Varāhamihira discusses the iconography of several Brahmanical deities, including Vishnu, Balarama, Ekanamsha, Shamba, Pradyumna, consorts of Shamba and Pradyumna, Brahma, Kartikeya, Indra, Shiva, Surya, the divine mothers (Matrikas), Revanta, Yama, Varuna, and Kubera. These were presumably the popular gods worshipped during his period. He also describes the iconography of two non-Brahmanical faiths, that of the Gautama Buddha and the Jinas. He appears to have been religiously liberal, as he reveres the Buddha as "the father of the world" and devotes an entire stanza to Buddha's iconology (compared to shorter descriptions of several Brahmanical deities). A verse in the Brhat-samhita describes the iconography of Ganesha, but this verse appears only in one or two manuscripts, and is likely a later interpolation. Similarly, a Tikanika-yatra verse in which the author reveres Ganesha (among other deities), is likely spurious; this verse appears only in one manuscript.
He apparently wrote a set of two works - detailed and short - in the following areas:
| Mathematical astronomy ( tantra) | Pancha-siddhantika | Now lost, known from Utpala's commentary |
| Horoscopy ( hora): natal astrology | Brihat Jataka | Laghu-jataka |
| Horoscopy: marriage | Brhad-vivaha-patala | Svalpa-vivaha-patala |
| Horoscopy: journeys | Brhad-yatra and Yoga-yatra | Svalpa-yatra |
| General astrology ( samhita) | Brhat-samhita | Samasa-samhita |
The chronological order of some of these works can be determined based on the internal evidence and Utpala's commentary. In order or earliest to latest, these works are:
Laghu-jataka states that it was written after Brhaj-jataka, and Utpala's commentary states that it was written after the abridged version of Pancha-siddhantika. However, its order with respect to the other works is not certain.
Later authors also mention or quote from some other works composed by Varaha-mihira. Manuscripts of some other works attributed to Varaha-mihira exist, but these attributions are of doubtful nature.
Some scholars consider Varāhamihira to be the strong candidate for the one who understood and introduced the zodiac signs, predictive calculations for auspicious ceremonies and astrological computations in India.
Varāhamihira's works contain 35 Sanskritized Greek astronomical terms, and he exhibits a good understanding of the Greek astronomy. He praised the Greeks ( Yavanas) for being "well trained in the sciences", though impure in ritual order.
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