When the rains subsided, the King ordered that the Brhat Samhita be transcribed onto copper plates and placed in every temple library from Taxila to Kanchipuram. He asked Varāhamihira, “But tell me truly—how did you know?”
Varāhamihira, a man in his fifties with sharp, patient eyes and a turban wrapped high over his brow, bowed. “Your Majesty, the Brhat Samhita does not ‘claim.’ It records. It observes. It calculates.”
He unrolled a long palm-leaf manuscript. “See here, Chapter 21: Signs of Rainfall . I do not pray for clouds. I read them. The colour of the sun at dawn, the direction of the wind from the western hills, the nesting height of the egrets in the marsh.”
Thus ends the story of the Brhat Samhita —a testament to the idea that the most magical thing in the world is a careful, honest observation. This story is a dramatization. The real Brhat Samhita (c. 6th century CE) is a 106-chapter encyclopedia covering astronomy, astrology, architecture, hydrology, agriculture, gemology, perfumery, and even sexual physiology. Varāhamihira did serve at the court of Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) of the Gupta Empire. The chapters on rainfall, animal omens, and Vāstu are genuine. The dialogue and plot are imaginative constructs to convey the spirit of the work.
Varāhamihira did not argue. He simply placed a bet: “If the rain does not fall on the third day, I will throw my Brhat Samhita into the Shipra River. But if it does, you will read one chapter of my work every morning for a month.”
The King, amused, agreed.
For the drought, he turned to Chapter 28: The Movements of Living Beings .
Varāhamihira’s heart quickened. He turned to the clay tablet on which he had recorded daily wind direction, humidity, and the halo around the moon.
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