Alexandrinus with the author of the Pauliṣa Siddhānta is totally false". A number of his writings share similarities with the earlier texts like Vedanga Jyotisha. Some scholars consider Varāhamihira to be the strong candidate for the one who understood and introduced the zodiac signs, predictive calculations for auspicious ceremonies and astrological computations in India. Varāhamihira's works contain 35 Sanskritized Greek astronomical terms, and he exhibits a good understanding of the Greek astronomy. He praised the Greeks (Yavanas) for being "well trained in the sciences", though impure in ritual order. A Bṛhat-Saṃhitā verse (adhyāya II, śloka 14), reads: म्लेच्छा हि यवनास्तेषु सम्यक् शास्त्रमिदं स्थितम् । ऋषिवत् तेऽपि पूज्यन्ते किं पुनर्दैवविद् द्विजः ॥, romanized as mlecchā hi yavanās teṣu samyak śāstram idaṃ sthitam, ṛṣivat te’pi pūjyante kiṃ punar daivavid dvijaḥ. (“The Yavanas are of low origin. When this science (sic) has come to stay with them and when such shastras are worshipped as sages, how much more should an astrologer of twice-born origin be?”) Legacy Varāhamihira gained reputation as the most eminent writer on jyotisha after his death, and his works superseded nearly all the earlier Indian texts in this area. Several later Indian astrologer-astrnomers speak highly of him, and acknowledge his works among their main sources. The 11th-century writer Al-Biruni also greatly admires him, describing him as an excellent astronomer. Among Varāhamihira's contribution to physics is his statement that reflection is caused by the back-scattering of particles and refraction (the change of direction of a light ray as it moves from one medium into another) by the ability of the particles to penetrate inner spaces of the material, much like fluids that move through porous objects. See also List of Indian mathematicians Notes References Bibliography External links The Brihat-samhita; complete translation by N. Chidambaram Iyer Online edition with glossary Pancasiddhantika, Brihat Jataka, Brihat Samhita and Hora Shastra Various editions in English and Sanskrit. (PDF) The Brihat Jataka (1905) (PDF) – archived from Wayback Machine 505 births 587 deaths 6th-century Indian mathematicians Medieval Indian astrologers 6th-century Indian astronomers 6th-century astrologers 6th-century Indian writers Sanskrit writers