6. The Sixfold Strength (ṣaḍbala)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Next, the strength (bala) by position (sthāna), direction (diś), time (kāla), nature (nisarga), motion (ceṣṭā) and aspect (dṛś), approved by Khattakhutta, Khindika and others, is set forth.^[1] And Samarasiṃha says [in the Tājikaśāstra]:

The general strength has been described here; [but] one should ascertain results after examining [the strength] in detail.

1. Strength by Position (sthānabala)

Beginning, then, with strength by position (sthānabala), Samarasiṃha in [treating of] the kuttha configuration [in the Tājikaśāstra] gives an indication of the detailed scheme of the five dignities:

A planet is strong in its domicile, triplicity, haddā, exaltation or musallaha.

This is described clearly, along with calculations, in Tājikamuktāvali [50–53]:

In [a division belonging to the planet] itself, a great friend, and so on, [the values] for domicile will be six, four, three, two, one, and a half, divided by twelve; for exaltation, four, three, two, and consecutive halves; then, for haddā, they will be three, two, and [consecutive] halves of that; for [the strength] produced by triplicities, two, and the halves and halves of that; for musallaha, it will be half of [the strength of ] the triplicity. Or else, in [the scheme consisting only of the planet] itself, friends, and enemies, the twelfths of points [for these dignities, reckoned] in order from the domicile, are: six, four, three; four, three, two; three, two, one; two, one, and a half; one, a half, and a [quarter] fraction, if, when the planet has been subtracted from the seventh from its own domicile, the remainder falls in its domicile and so forth; [if it falls] elsewhere, proportions should be applied.

The strength thus established from planets [occupying the divisions of their] great friends and so on will be exact when multiplied by the respective measure of aspect [strength] and divided by sixty.

These numbers divided by twelve are the strength according to the distribution of strength in the fivefold friendship [scheme]:

	Domicile (gṛha)	Exaltation (ucca)	Haddā	Triplicity (trairāśika)	Musallaha
Own division (svīya-varga)	6	4	3	2	1
Great friend’s division (adhimitra-varga)	4	3	2	1	½
Friend’s division (mitra-varta)	3	2	1	½	¼
Neutral division (sama-varga)	2	1	½	¼	⅛
Enemy’s division (śatru-varga)	1	½	¼	⅛	1⁄16
Great enemy’s division (adhiśatru-varga)	½	¼	⅛	1⁄16	1⁄32

Another table of strength by twofold friendship:

	Own division (svavarga)	Friendly division (mitravarga)	Inimical division (śatruvarga)
Domicile (gṛha)	6	4	3
Exaltation (ucca)	4	3	2
Haddā	3	2	1
Triplicity (trairāśika)	2	1	½
Musallaha	1	½	¼

Here, the numbers six, four and so on, divided by twelve, is the strength in units and [sexagesimal] fractions. Now, [a planet’s] strength here is full in its own domicile; [but as seen] from the statement ‘In [the configuration] duruḥpha, occupying the seventh sign from its domicile’, a planet is powerless in the seventh sign from its domicile.^[2] In the interval [the strength] should be understood [by] the rule of three, as with exaltation strength.

In that regard, the sun and the moon have only one domicile [each]; hence there is no ambiguity. But since the [planets] beginning with Mars have two domiciles [each], and the seventh from those are also twofold, how [should we proceed]? [In reply] to this, the method for calculating strength is stated [as follows]: the domicile that is close to Mars and so on in their motions is considered to be the [relevant] domicile, and not the one that is far away: this is the reasoning [approved by] tradition. Subtracting the sign [occupied] from the seventh from the [planet’s] domicile, then, if the remainder exceeds six, it should be subtracted from twelve; if not, it should be taken as it is. Then, its points divided by six will be the strength in points and so on.

This is demonstrated [as follows]: at the beginning of [a planet’s] own domicile, [its] strength is full, comprising thirty points; at the beginning of the seventh [sign] from it, it is nil; in the interval, [strength is calculated by] proportion. If by the 180 degrees of six signs a full strength of 30 is obtained, then how much [is obtained] by the [position] sought? Here, when the multiplier and divisor have been reduced by thirty, one unit is obtained in the place of the multiplier and six in the place of the divisor. Likewise, in the domicile of a great friend, the full strength is 20; in the seventh from the domicile of the great friend, [the strength is] nil. Then, subtracting the planet occupying a great friend’s domicile from the seventh house from that of the great friend, the remainder, [if ] exceeding six, is subtracted from twelve; if not, it should be taken as it is. Its points divided by nine will be the strength of a great friend’s domicile in points and so on.

This is demonstrated by proportions: if by the 180 degrees of six signs a full strength of 20 [is obtained], then how much [is obtained] by the [figure] sought? Here, when the multiplier and divisor have been reduced by twenty, one unit is obtained in the place of the multiplier and nine in the place of the divisor. Thus in [the matter of ] planetary strength, the correct strength is to be found by the rule of proportion from the respective maximum strength and the respective seventh house, as above. The exaltation strength has already been calculated by proportion; the strength in the exaltation of a great friend and so on should be found by proportion as described [above]. In the absence of an exaltation sign, the [planet’s] own exaltation strength should be worked out.^[3]

Now, as there is no statement to the effect that [a planet suffers] loss of power in the seventh from [its own] haddā, decan or ninth-part, the proportion is [calculated] by degrees only, as follows:^[4] {the strength begins with the beginning of the current haddā [occupied by] the planet; the maximum strength [of ] 15 [points] is at the middle of the haddā; and the strength is nil at the end of the haddā. Therefore, of the parts elapsed and remaining to the planet in the haddā, the lesser degrees of the haddā multiplied by fifteen and divided by half the degrees of the current haddā will be the [planet’s] own strength of haddā. This is demonstrated by proportions: if by half the degrees of the current haddā fifteen points are obtained, then how much is obtained by the lesser degrees out of the parts elapsed and remaining to the planet in the haddā?

Next,} the [decan] strength increases from the beginning of the [planet’s] {own} decan; the full strength [of ] 10 [points] is at the completion of the fifth degree; and the strength is nil at the completion of the tenth degree. Therefore, of the parts elapsed and remaining to the planet in its current decan, the lesser degrees and so on multiplied by two will be the [planet’s] {own decan} strength in points and so on. This is demonstrated [as follows]: if by five degrees a strength of ten points [is obtained], then how much [is obtained] by the [position] sought? Here, when [the multiplier and divisor] have been reduced by five, one unit is obtained in the place of the divisor and two in the place of the multiplier.

{Next, the [musallaha] strength begins at the beginning of the musallaha; the full strength [of ] 5 [points] is at the middle; [and the strength is] nil at the end [of the musallaha]. Therefore, of the parts elapsed and remaining to the planet in its current musallaha, the lesser degrees and so on multiplied by three will be the [planet’s] own musallaha strength in points and so on. This is demonstrated [as follows]: if by half the musallaha, amounting to one degree and forty minutes, a strength of five points [is obtained], then how much [is obtained] by the [position] sought? Here, the multiplier is three times the divisor; therefore, [the answer] is obtained when the degrees and so on are multiplied by three.}41

Thus the strength of [a planet in] the decan of a great friend and so on [is found] by proportion. A planet’s strength of haddā, decan and musallaha should be found from the maximum strength described above.^[5] Thus one should understand the result [of a planet] in its own and other ninth-parts, and in its own or other haddās, by proportion from the respective degrees. As to that, the maximum strength in the haddā is 15 points, and the maximum strength in the musallaha is 5 points. Then, the total of all such strength, multiplied by the total [strength] of the aspects cast by other planets on the planet [under consideration] and divided by sixty, is the exact [strength].

Following this definition of the detailed scheme of the five dignities, a different strength by position is described by Samarasiṃha in the same [Tājikaśāstra]:

[The planet] that, [placed] in the ascendant or an angle, or in [a house] approaching them,^[6] aspects the ascendant; male [planets in the interval] from the tenth house to the third, and female [planets from the fourth house] up to the ninth; male planets in male signs, and female planets in female signs, are strong; or for all of them, male or female, they are strong in a fixed sign.

This is described clearly, along with calculations, in Tājika-muktāvali [47–48]:

A planet in the ascendant, an[other] angle, or [a house] approaching one has a strength of one, a half or a quarter unit, respectively. Female [planets] have one unit between [the angle of] the earth and the ninth [house]; male [planets] are fruitful in the following houses. All [planets get one unit] in a fixed sign, those called male and female in male and female signs, [respectively].

Here, a planet in the ascendant has full strength; in an[other] angle, half strength; in a succedent or cadent house, a quarter strength.^[7] Full strength, then, comprises sixty points; half, thirty points; a quarter, fifteen points.

Now, a planet exactly on the ascendant has full strength; [but] the ascendant house commences from the second of arc marked by the junction [following] the twelfth house. From that [junction] up to the [cusp] marking that [first house], results increase; and from the second of arc marked by [the cusp of ] the first house up to that marking the junction [following] the first [house], results of the house decrease. When the planet occupies the interval, proportion should be applied; and that proportion has been set forth above in the context of calculating the results of a house, with the words ‘The distance between the planet and the [house] junction should be found’ and so on.^[8] Therefore, for a planet placed in the ascendant, its strength is the [numerical] house result itself; for a planet placed in an[other] angle, its strength is half its house result; for a planet placed a succedent or cadent [house], its strength is one fourth of its house result.^[9]

Next, because female planets are said to be strong in the six houses beginning with the fourth, by the reasoning above, the [numerical] house result of female planets placed in the six houses beginning with the fourth is itself [their] strength arising from that placement. Similarly, for male planets placed in the six houses beginning with the tenth, the [numerical] house result itself is [their] strength.

Next, the strength of planets occupying a fixed sign. Concerning that, the strength increases from the beginning of the sign; after fifteen degrees, the strength is full; at the end of the sign, it is nil. Therefore, for a planet placed in the former half of the sign, the degrees traversed, and, for a planet placed in the latter half of the sign, the degrees remaining, multiplied by four, is the strength. This is demonstrated [as follows]: if by fifteen degrees the full strength [of ] 60 [points] is obtained, then how much [is obtained] by the degrees traversed by or remaining for the planet occupying the fixed sign? Here, when both [multiplier and divisor] have been reduced by fifteen, the degrees should be multiplied by four: thus [the answer] is obtained. Similarly, the strength of male and female planets occupying odd and even signs, [respectively], should be understood in the manner of the strength of planets occupying a fixed sign. This concludes the strength by position (sthāna-bala).

2. Strength by Direction (digbala)

Next, the strength by direction (digbala) is described in the same place [Tājikamuktāvali 58]:

Occupying the ninth, third, sixth, first, eleventh, fifth and twelfth place, [respectively], the planets [reckoned] from the sun become endowed with strength by direction.

Here, by the [same] reasoning [as] above, the strength of the sun and other [planets] in the ninth and other places should be understood to equal the [numerical] results of the house. This itself is the first strength of joy described by Samarasiṃha. This concludes the strength by direction (dig-bala).

3. Strength by Time (kālabala)

Next, the strength by time (kālabala). Regarding that, Samarasiṃha [says in the Tājikaśāstra]:

If Jupiter and Saturn rise [heliacally] at the end of night, and Venus, the moon and Mars in the evening, then they are strong; also [strong are] male planets in the day, and the others, at night.^[10]

Here, the phrase ‘in the evening’ denotes the time when the seventh cusp from the sun rises.^[11] The moon and Mars then have full strength [of ] 60 [points]. Concerning this, it is never possible for Venus to be [in] the seventh from the sun; therefore, the word ‘seventh’ should be understood here to denote maximum elongation. Thus, the strength should be established from the maximum elongation of Venus from the sun, amounting to fifty degrees. And it is said in Tājika-muktāvali^[12] :

The moon and Mars are strong in the seventh from the sun, Venus at a distance of fifty degrees.

When [their longitude is] equal to [that of] the sun, all [planets] are powerless.^[13] Now, calculating the strength: the distance between the sun and the moon or Mars should be established [so that it is] less than six [signs]: those degrees, divided by three, will be the strength. This is demonstrated in the same way as exaltation strength. Then the distance between the sun and Venus, out of the fifty degrees [possible], should be established; thereafter, these degrees multiplied by six and divided by five will be the strength of Venus. This is demonstrated [as follows]: if by fifty degrees sixty points are obtained, then how much [is obtained] by the [elongation] sought? When both [places] have been reduced by ten, the multiplier is six and the divisor, five: thus [the answer] is obtained.

Next, the strength of Jupiter or Saturn begins immediately after midnight; at the end of the third watch, the strength is full; at the end of the fourth watch, the strength is nil. Therefore, after one has calculated the duration of night from [the position of ] the sun, if the time sought closely follows midnight, then midnight should be subtracted from that [time; but] if the time sought falls after the third watch, that [time] should be subtracted from the duration of night. The remainder multiplied by sixty and divided by the duration of a watch gives the strength of Jupiter or Saturn.^[14]

Next, planetary strength by day and so forth. Concerning this, if, after the sun has been subtracted from the ascendant, the remainder is less than three [signs], then those signs and so on multiplied by twenty is the strength.^[15] [If the remainder is] greater [than three signs], it should be subtracted from six. The remainder in signs and so on, multiplied by twenty, is the strength of the male planets. But if the sun subtracted from the ascendant yields more than six [signs], the male planets have no strength; similarly, if the sun subtracted from the ascendant yields less than six [signs], there is no strength for the female planets. [If the number of signs is] greater than six [it should be made] less by six; [if it is] greater than nine, [it should be] subtracted from twelve: the remainder multiplied by twenty is the strength of the female planets, because male and female planets have been said to be powerful by day or night, [respectively]; but [their strength] ceases at the junction [of day and night].

This is described clearly in Tājika-muktāvali 54:

The ascendant being made less by the sun, by increase up to three signs and by decrease on the other side, is one unit when [the planet] is male. For the other planets, it should be understood by increase from six signs up to nine and by decrease on the other side.

The meaning is as follows: the ascendant being made less by the sun, the strength up to three signs is one unit by increase, [that is], by increment. After three signs, the strength for male planets is one unit by decrease. For the other planets, [that is], the female planets, the strength is one unit from the seventh up to the end of nine [signs]. On the other side, [that is], from the tenth to the end of the twelfth, the strength should be understood to be one unit by decrease: that is meant. This concludes the strength by time (kāla-bala).

4. Strength by Nature (nisargabala)

Next, strength by nature (nisargabala); and the strength by nature is described in the Tājikapradīpa:

One seventh of a unit is the strength of Saturn; that of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, the moon and the sun is the same multiplied by two and so on, [respectively].^[16]

This concludes the strength by nature (nisarga-bala).

5. Strength by Motion (ceṣṭābala)

Next, strength by motion (ceṣṭābala). Samarasiṃha [says in the Tājikaśāstra]:

[A planet] slow in motion, not swift in motion, not retrograde, free from malefic aspects, not joined to malefics, joined to [or] aspected by benefics, having risen [heliacally], is strong; also, in one degree with the sun …^[17]

This is described clearly in Tājikamuktāvali [47–48]:

Their degrees [and minutes] doubled and subtracted from one unit yield the strength of [planets] placed in the degree of the sun. The strength of [a planet] in the same minute of arc as a benefic, not joined to a malefic, is one unit, or of [a planet] occupying the middle part of its direct motion [or heliacal] rising, not moving swiftly, of middling motion.^[18]

Here, in whatever sign and ninth-part the sun is [placed], the degrees and so on of a planet occupying that same ninth-part [should be] doubled and subtracted from sixty: the remainder is the strength [of that planet].^[19]

Next, the strength of [a planet] in the same minute of arc as a benefic planet is sixty points. But if [its longitude] is smaller or greater, the distance between the two should be subtracted from thirty. Those degrees doubled are the strength [of the planet]. Concerning this, it should also be understood that when [the planet] in the same minute of arc as a benefic is [also] joined to a malefic, then it has no strength.

Next, the strength of a planet increases from the day when it commences its direct motion and from the day when it rises [heliacally]. As many days as there are, then, from the day of the planet’s [assuming] direct motion up to [the beginning of ] retrogression, and likewise from the day of [heliacal] rising up to setting, dividing them by half, after that number of days the strength amounts to sixty points. On the day of retrogression or setting, the strength is nil; in the interval, [the strength is calculated by] proportion: if full benefic strength is obtained by the days [up to] the middle, then how much [is obtained] by the days elapsed from the day of [the beginning of ] direct motion or remaining [before retrogression]; likewise, by the days elapsed from the day of the planet’s [heliacal] rising or remaining [before setting]?

Now, the knowledge of the days of [heliacal] rising, setting and [commencing] retrograde and direct motion by an easy method is described by my venerable teacher in the Siddhāntacintāmaṇi:

After setting in the east there is rising in the west; thereafter retrogression; then setting; next, rising in the east; [then] Mercury is direct until setting, for thirty-two, thirty-two, four, sixteen, four and thirty-two [days, respectively]. For Venus, [the same is true] for two and a half months, eight months, twenty-three days, nine [days], twenty-three days, and eight months, in order. After the setting of Mars there is rising; thereafter retrogression; after that, direct motion; then setting, in that order, for four, ten, two and ten [months, respectively]. For Jupiter, [the same is true] for one month, four and a quarter, four, and four and a quarter, [respectively]; for Saturn, for one and a quarter, three, four, and three and a half [months, respectively].

This concludes the knowledge of days of rising and setting and so forth.

[Table for Mercury and Venus]:

		Mercury (budha)		Venus (śukra)
Eastern setting (pūrvāsta) to western rising (paścimodaya)		32 days		75 days
Western rising (paścimodaya) to retrogression (vakra)		32 days		240 days
Retrogression (vakra) to western setting (paścimāsta)		4 days		23 days
Western setting (paścimāsta) to eastern rising (prāgudaya)		16 days		9 days
Eastern rising (prāgudaya) to direct motion (mārga)		4 days		23 days
Direct motion (mārga) to eastern setting (pūrvāsta)		32 days		240 days

[Table for Mars, Jupiter and Saturn]:

	Mars (maṅgala)		Jupiter (bṛhaspati)		Saturn (śani)
Setting (asta) to rising (udaya)	4		1		1;7,30
Rising (udaya) to retrogression (vakra)	10		4;7,30		3
Retrogression (vakra) to direct motion (mārga)	2		4		4
Direct motion (mārga) to setting (asta)	10		4;7,30		3;15

Next, the planets’ strength by [daily] motion. Concerning this, what does ‘not swift’ mean? A planet of slow motion, [that is], whose true motion is less than its mean motion, is strong; so also, a planet of middling motion, [that is], whose true motion equals its mean motion, is strong. [But] a planet whose true motion exceeds its mean motion should be understood to be bereft of strength. Here, twice the minutes of arc corresponding to the [daily] motion of Mars is its strength; the minutes of arc of Mercury’s motion multiplied by six and divided by seventy-nine is its strength; for Jupiter, [the strength is the minutes of arc] multiplied by twelve; for Venus, [its minutes of arc] less by one third; for Saturn, [the minutes of arc] multiplied by thirty. The substance [of these calculations] should be learnt from the tradition of one’s teacher. This concludes the strength by motion (ceṣṭā-bala).

6. Strength by Aspect (dṛgbala)

Next, strength by aspect (dṛgbala) [is described] in the same [work]:^[20]

As much as a planet aspects the ascendant, that much strength does it have. And [the strength] of [a planet] aspected by benefics [and] free from the fourth-[sign] aspect of a malefic planet is a quarter less.

Here, whichever planet aspects the ascendant by any amount, that is the amount of its aspect strength. Further, the strength of a planet aspected by a benefic is a quarter less than the amount of the benefic aspect; however, [only] a planet free from the fourth-[sign] aspect of a malefic is intended, [for] if that [aspect] is present, there is no strength: hence Samarasiṃha says [in the Tājikaśāstra], ‘A strong [planet] aspects the ascendant’.^[21] This concludes the strength by aspect (dṛg-bala).

Footnotes and references:

[back to top]

[1]:

While these ‘six strengths’ (ṣaḍbala) play an important part in classical Indian astrology (see, e.g., Jātakakarmapaddhati 3), the classification is not used in the Greek or Perso-Arabic traditions.

[2]:

The source of this quotation is not known. As given, it appears to form part of a line in the syllabic sragdharā metre. However, the orthography of Tājika technical terms is quite fluid, and a change from duraṣphe to duraphe (both variants being common) would make it qualify as the first or third quarter of a stanza in the moraic āryā metre favoured by Samarasiṃha in his Tājikaśāstra. The name (from Arabic ḍuʿf ‘weakness’) refers to the last of the 16 Tājika yogas; cf. section 3.16.

[3]:

As each of the seven planets has only one sign of exaltation, five signs of the zodiac remain in which no planet is exalted. Balabhadra is addressing a scenario where the planet under consideration occupies one of these five signs.

[4]:

Over the next three paragraphs, several sentences and stray phrases have been enclosed between {curly brackets}. These represent text that is not present in the earliest text witnesses and which from the context seems likely not to have formed part of the original Hāyanaratna but to have begun as glosses on a difficult passage. I have nevertheless chosen to include rather than exclude these passages, as they do not contradict the reasoning of the surrounding text.

[5]:

In the version supported by the three earliest text witnesses (B N G), the foregoing two sentences read as a single sentence: ‘Thus the strength of [a planet in] the decan of a great friend and so on should be found by proportion.’

[6]:

That is, a succedent house.

[7]:

Balabhadra interprets the words nikaṭa and upasthita (used in the foregoing quotations from Samarasiṃha and the Tājikamuktāvali, respectively) not in the dynamic sense of ‘approaching’–that is, succedent–but in the static sense of ‘near’, which would apply equally to succedent and cadent houses. Such an interpretation is alien not only to Greek and Perso-Arabic astrology, but even to pre-Islamic Indian tradition, which distinguishes between the strength of these two types of houses (see, e.g., Bṛhajjātaka 1.17–18).

[8]:

Presumably Balabhadra has in mind the stanza from Tājikamuktāvali 17, quoted in section 1.9, in which case this is not an exact quotation.

[9]:

Cf. note 44.

[10]:

This sentence, clearly based on Sahl’s somewhat defective account, conflates three similar but separate ways of dividing the planets into two groups: diurnal and nocturnal sect, gender, and superior/inferior position relative to the sphere of the sun; see Gansten 2018. For Mars to rise heliacally in the evening is astronomically impossible.

[11]:

That is, the ecliptical point opposite the sun. This is not correct: Balabhadra mistakes the heliacal rising intended by Samarasiṃha (following Sahl) for acronychal rising, when a planet appears opposite the sun and thus rises as the sun sets. As Venus can never rise acronychally, Balabhadra is forced to adopt a highly contrived interpretation of Samarasiṃha’s statement.

[12]:

A punning allusion to the name of the somewhat unusual metre employed here: praharṣiṇī ‘delighting’.

[13]:

This statement conflicts with what will be said below in the context of strength by motion; cf. note 53.

[14]:

A watch (prahara) is a quarter of the day or, as in this case, night, beginning at sunset. The third watch thus commences at midnight and lasts for half of the time between midnight and the following sunrise.

[15]:

In other words, the day strength would be considered full not at true midday (when the sun culminates), but when the point 90° ahead of the sun in the ecliptic rises, which may occur either before or after noon–a curiously counter-intuitive definition.

[16]:

In other words, the strength of Mars is 2⁄7 of a unit; that of Mercury, 3⁄7, etc., making the total strength of the seven planets 4 units. This idea seems to originate in pre-Islamic India rather than with any Arabic-language source; cf. Jātakakarmapaddhati 3.19. The sequence of the planets in increasing order of strength is the two malefics, the neutral Mecury, the two benefics, and the two luminaries.

[17]:

The quotation from Samarasiṃha ends a quarter into a stanza. Viśvanātha, quoting the same verse in his commentary on Saṃjñātantra 2.69, supplies the next quarter: ‘or in a fixed sign: then, too, they are strong’. The doctrine that a planet is strong when slow in motion agrees with Indian tradition but not with Greek or Perso-Arabic ones, which consider swiftness a strength; possibly Samarasiṃha misunderstood his sources. Conversely, the doctrine that a planet is strong when conjunct the sun within one degree–known as being ‘synodic’ or, later, ‘in the heart’ of the sun–is in line with Greek and Perso-Arabic traditions but contrasts with pre-Islamic Indian astrology, where this exception to the general principle of combustion is unknown (as demonstrated by Viśvanātha; cf. note 55). See Gansten 2018.

[18]:

‘The middle part of its direct motion’ means the midpoint between the time when a planet previously resumed direct motion and the time at which it will turn retrograde. ‘The middle part of its [heliacal] rising’ similarly means the midpoint between the time when the planet last became visible after leaving its conjunction with the sun and the time when it will last be visible before its next conjunction. For the superior planets, the latter position (here considered strong) will necessarily coincide with their retrograde motion (here considered weak), leading to contradiction. This is a partial and less sophisticated version of the Greek and Perso-Arabic doctrines of apparent planetary cycles in relation to the sun (see, e.g., Paul. Al. 14 and Abū Maʾshar Abbr. 2).

[19]:

Balabhadra here adopts a forced interpretation of Samarasiṃha’s word bhāga (lit. ‘part, portion’, typically used in the sense of ‘degree’ in astrological contexts) as ‘ninth-part’. A different solution to the problem posed by Samarasiṃha’s statement is proposed by Viśvanātha, who correctly notes that even a planet conjunct the sun within a ninthpart would be combust or invisible, and therefore suggests the (mistaken) emendation ‘not in one degree with the sun’.

[20]:

Although the work last quoted was, properly speaking, Rāma Daivajña’s Siddhāntacintāmaṇi, Balabhadra is probably referring back to Samarasiṃha’s Tājikaśāstra, which serves as his starting point for the discussion of the ‘sixfold strength’.

[21]:

This exact phrase is not quoted elsewhere in the text.