Early Vedic and Buddhist Astral Texts

This chapter is the first of three in the second part of the book, which introduces readers to the content of the astral treatises discussed earlier. These include cosmographical and Vedic astral texts translated from their Indic sources into Chinese. Some materials only exist in Chinese; for instance, certain forms of late Vedic cosmography and mathematical astronomy are preserved in Chinese Buddhist works such as the Da loutan jing and the Lishi apitan lun . These texts influenced the development of the Chinese Buddhist worldview. The Vedāṅgajyotiṣa , a treatise on Vedic mathematical astronomy partially transmitted to China, is also examined. Another lineage of early Indic texts that significantly impacted medieval Buddhist astral practices is that of Garga, dating back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Garga's astral lore later served as the basis for Chinese Buddhist astral works, including the Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna and Amoghavajra's Discourse on Asterisms and Planets ( Xiuyao jing ).