[ 11 ] "scopesand "meters," it may be thought useless to put forward the poor work of a Hindu whose education is in no way superior to that of an astronomer of pre-telescopic Europe. And there are men, too, who have thought that much nonsense has already been written about him. Let them but calmly take stock of the present state of Hindu astronomy. Let them find out a couple of mathematicians, brought up wholly in Sanskrit studies, wbo can intelligently attack the intricate calculations of a solar eclipse. Nor is there any noticeable endeavour to revive the sciences. What with natural apathy, and what with want of encouragement by endowments, no addition to the stock of the world's knowledge has been made by my countrymen for many a long year, If in these circumstances, something, however poor, is laid before us, something, however crude, is evolved from within, wo should rejoice over it. Whatever may be thought of the merits of the work, I regard it as a misfortune that the author has not found a man to introduce his work, better qualified than myself, whose daily Avocations run in a different groove. For my part, I shall deem my efforts amply rewarded, if my countrymen, to whom original researches are as yet a thing of the future, find in the life and doings of my author a living ona mple of what patient inquiry after truth and diligent struggle after knowledge can achieve. But I caution them again against high hopes. To appreciate the man, one must compare his work with others produced under similar conditions. It will be unfair to expect anything new in the work which will be useful to those who have studied Digitized by Google
