8 MEAN LONGITUDES OF THE PLANETS [CH. I in the state of Madhya Bharat. 1 Basim originally was the seat of hermitage of Sage Vatsa and was called Vatsa-gulma. 2 Later on it became a sacred place and grew into a town called Vatsyapuca after the name of the sage. Its present name Basim or Wasim is evidently a corrupt form of Vatsam (or Vatsapuram). Basim is now a seat of Hindu religion, famous for its sacred tank called Padma-tirtha. The above identification of Vatsyapura or Vatsagulma with Basim seems to be more plausible than our previous identification with KausambI (modern Kosam), the ancient capital of the Vatsa country, for two reasons : (1) Basim (longitude 77°irE from Greenwich) is nearer from the Hindu prime meridian (longitude 75°52'E from Greenwich) than KausambI (longitude 81°24'E from Greenwich). (2) Basim fits in the order in which the places lying on the Hindu prime meridian have been stated in the Maha-Bhaskariya. For, Basim lies to the north of "the White Mountain" and to the south of AvantT (modern Ujjain), as it should be. KausambI does not fit in that order. It may, however, be pointed out that the commentator Udaya Divakara seems to identify Vatsyapura with KausambI, for he writes: "The town called Vatsyapura is well known in the Vatsa country." And we know that KausambI was the capital of the Vatsa country in ancient times. AvantI is modern Ujjain in Madhya Bharat. Sthanesvara (or Sthanvlsvara) is a sacred place in Kuruksetra, famous for its sacred tank and temple of God Siva (called Sthanu Siva). 8 It is situa- ted at a distance of about two furlongs from the city of Thanesar in East Panjab. 4 "The abode of the gods" is Mem, the north pole. Circumference of the local circle of latitude : 24. 3299 (yojanas), (the circumference) of the Earth, mul- tiplied by the Rsine 5 of the colatitude (of the local place), and 1 See V. V. Mirashi, "Historical data in Dandin's Dasa-kumara-carita", Nagpur University Journal, Number 11, December 1945, lines 6-7. a See Kalyana* Tlrthanka, p. 229. Also see W. W. Hunter, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume II, London (1885), p. 188. • "sthanesvarafn ievayatanam, tadapi kuruk$etre." Udaya Divakara. 4 See Kalyana, Tlrthanka, p. 80.
- Rsine means "radius X sine".
