One of the main objectives of the National Commission for the Compilation of History of Sciences in India is to publish original texts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian etc. and their translation into English. Texts like Aryabhatiya with commentaries (3 vols.), Sisyadhirddhida with commentary (2 vols.), Rasarnava-kalpa and the Śulbasūtras of Baudhāyana, Apastamba, Kātyāyana and Mānava are some of the prestigious publications of the Commission in fulfilment of the objectives. The present text, Vatesvara-siddhanta by Vatesvara, a very important work in astronomy written towards the beginning of the tenth century, is a new addition to this series of texts.
The Vatesvara-siddhanta is the largest and most comprehensive work on Indian astronomy and throws full light on the various methods and processes employed by Indian astronomers up to the tenth century. Besides, it is sufficiently original and incorporates new methods and techniques devised by the author himself. It was studied as a standard text in astronomy during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries in India. Some of the rules and examples of this Work were adopted by the celebrated astronomers like Śrīpati and Bhāskara II. The works of Vațeśvara were available to the great Persian scholar Al-Biruni who had referred to Vatesvara and cited several of the rules in his own writings.
The work of editing the Sanskrit text of Vatesvara-siddhanta and translating it into English was taken up by Dr. K. S. Shukla, retired Professor of Mathematics, Lucknow University, who had earlier edited and translated the Aryabhaṭīya for the Commission. Only two manuscripts of Vatesvara-siddhanta, both full of errors and omissions, were available. These were utilized for the present edition. Dr. Shukla has rectified the entire text filling up the gaps wherever they occurred, and has translated it adding explanatory and Critical notes and comments
