TRADITIONAL USE AND DESCRIPTION
This collection of instruments measures the full range
of the movement of the Sun and its yearly move on the ecliptic1 in relation to one's position on Earth.
This remarkable-looking instrument combines a very unique
instrument-the Niyat Chakra Yantra (Stable Circle Instrument)-with
four other instruments: the Samrat Yantra (equatorial sundial),
the Dakshinovritti Yantra (the meridinal wall instrument), the
Kark Rashivalaya Yantra (the Cancer Zodiac instrument), and the
Agra Yantra (the amplitude instrument).
Instrument One
NIYAT CHAKRA YANTRA--Stable Instrument
This instrument displays the meridian circles of four
other locations on Earth. The instrument consists of four semicircles
attached to a central gnomon, two to the left and two to the
right. The gnomon is inclined so as to point directly to the
celestial north pole.
The four locations whose meridian circles are indicated by
the Niyat Chakra Yantra are four hours east and west and five
hours east and west of one's location. The semicircles are each
marked in degrees to give the declination of the Sun on the meridian
of these four other locations designated by each of the semicircles.
By observing the Sun's shadow (cast by the appropriate peg)
as it crosses each of the semicircles, the declination of the
Sun at solar noon (as it crosses that local meridian) at each
of the locations can be determined.
1
An imaginary great circle on the celestial sphere that represents
the apparent annual path of the Sun as viewed from Earth.
Instrument Two
SAMRAT YANTRA--Equatorial Sundial
This instrument is virtually identical to the Samrat
Yantra located directly to the north in the Observatory (see
page 12). This Samrat Yantra differs in that the gnomon is split
and the Niyat Chakra Yantra is located in the middle of the gnomon.
It consists of the center quadrant (of three) on the western
side and the quadrant on the eastern side of the Misra Yantra.
The shadow of the Sun cast on the quadrants by the gnomon yields
the local solar time. At noon on the day of the equinox, the
shadow of the Sun cast by the peg will line up directly with
the line marked on the side of the gnomon.
Instrument Three
DAKSHINOVRITTI YANTRA--Meridian Wall Instrument
This instrument is a smaller, slightly different version
of the one located in the northwest of the Observatory (see page
11). It consists of a semicircular scale and a peg at the center
point of the semicircle on the eastern side of the Misra Yantra
(this semicircle is inverted as compared to the other meridinal
wall instrument). The function of this instrument is to determine
the altitude of the Sun at noon.
Instrument Four
KARK RASHIVALAYA YANTRA--Cancer Zodiac Instrument
Located on the north inclined face of the Misra Yantra
is a semicircular scale graduated with 180-degree markings. The
plane of the north face of the Misra Yantra (where this scale
is located) is parallel to the plane of the ecliptic when it
is tilted furthest to the north as Kark (Cancer Zodiac Sign)
culminates on the meridian. At a particular time of day, the
pin will cast a shadow across the measuring surface as the sunlight
enters the plane of the instrument. At the moment the Sun enters
that plane, the Zodiac Sign of Kark is located directly overhead,
and the shadow of the pin yields the position of the Sun on the
ecliptic.
Instrument Five
AGRA YANTRA--Amplitude Instrument
This instrument is located on the west side of the
Misra Yantra. It consists of three quadrants. This instrument
illustrates the angle of the Sun at noon on the spring and autumn
equinox and on the winter and summer solstice.
VEDIC INFLUENCE OF THE MISHRA YANTRA--THE VIEW OF
MAHARISHI VEDIC SCIENCESM
The planets revolve around the Sun, and each has a
correspondence in the individual physiology. The planets move
in a huge cosmic circle; the change is constant, and because
of different variations in the movement and the speed of all
the planets, different effects are produced on the physiology.
The purpose of viewing the Misra Yantra is to promote balance
between these influences and one's physiology and awareness.
Observing the Misra Yantra allows the degree of balance to
be measured between the inner value of unbounded wholeness and
the outer isolated point value of attention. Observing this yantra
brings out the inner intelligence through the intellect, mind,
senses, and behavior and takes it to the level of cosmic behavior.
The net result is that the inner unmanifest and outer manifest
are being observed, so balance is upheld by awareness. Viewing
this yantra allows one to observe the isolated specific point
values of attention on the enormous background of nonmoving empty
space-the unmanifest unbounded reality. The effect is to see
the gross expression of Natural Law and to connect it with subtler
expression and eventually with the Transcendent; the total unmanifest
gets imprinted in the awareness.
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