Basham, Arthur Llewellyn;
The Wonder that was India : A survey of the culture of the Indian sub-continent before the coming of the Muslims
Sidgwick and Jackson, 1954 / Evergreen New York, 1959, 568 pages
topics: | india | history | ancient | art | technology
from appendix II: Astronomy, p.490.
The nakShatras, known in the time of Rg Veda, reflects the moon's
positions against the fixed stars, 27 days and 7 3/4 hours.
[B.Rao: p.35-36, from Lahiri Ephemeris 1995]
1. aSvinI (beta and gamma Arietis) [-"-]
2. bharaNI (35, 39, and 41 Arietis) [41 Arietis, Algol mag: 2.7variable ]
3. kr^ttikA (Pleiades) [Alcyone mag 2.96]
4. rohini (Aldebaran) [Aldebaran 1.06, Rigel 0.34, Bellatrix ]
Capella brahmahr^day
5. mr^gaSiras (lambda, phi Orionis) [epsilon,lambda orionis, polaris,
betelgeuse 0.6v)
6. ArdrA (alpha Orionis - Betelgeuse)
7. punarvAsU (alpha and beta geminorum - Castor, Pollux)
8. puShyA (gamma, delta and theta Cancri)
9. ASleShA (delta, epsilon, eta, rho, and sigma Hydrae)
10. maghA (alpha, gamma, epsilon, zeta, eta, and mu Leonis - Regulus)
11. pUrva-phalgunI (delta and theta Leonis)
12. uttara-phalgunI (beta and 93 Leonis - denebola)
13. hastA (alpha to epsilon Corvi)
14. chitrA (Virgo - Spica)
15. svAti (Bootes - Arcturus )
16. viSAkhA (alpha, beta, gamma and iota Librae)
17. anurAdhA (beta, delta and pi Scorpionis)
18. jyeShThA (alpha, sigma, and tau Scorpionis - Antares)
19. mUlA (epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu and
nu Scorpionis)
20. pUrvAShARhA (delta and epsilon Sagittarii)
21. uttarAShARhA (zeta and sigma Sagittarii)
22. SravaNA (alpha, beta and gamma Aquilae - Altair)
23. dhaniShThA or SraviShThA (alpha to delta Delphinis)
24. SatabhiShaj (gamma Aquarii etc.)
25. pUrva-bhadrapadA (alpha and beta Pegasi - Markab)
26. uttara-bhadrapadA (gamma Pegasi and alpha Andromedae - Alpheratz)
27. revatI (zeta Piscium etc.)
28th intercalary nakshatra to compensate for the sidereal month being
eight hours more than 27 days - Abhijit (alpha, epsilon and zeta
Lyrae - Vega - between uttarAShARhA and SravaNA). The vedic calendar
had lunar months split into two pakShas of 15 days, with the day
(tithi) being designated by the moon phase at sunrise (sometimes a
tithi would be skipped if started after sunrise and ended before the
next).
agrahAyaN = agra (first) + ayan (travel of the sun, e.g. uttarAyan),
is the month where the sun crosses the equator - solstice
- eplictic meets equator. This was in mArgaSirSha (Orion)
in 5000-4000 BC giving some indication of the origin of
the nakshatra system.
1970's work by Asko Parpola and other Finnish scientists in reading
the Indus Valley script appears to indicate that the 27 nakshatras
were of Harappan origin. - H.J.J. Winter, in A.L. Basham (ed.),
A cultural history of India, p.161
Aquarius kuMbha Aquila garuRa aries meSha auriga sArathi bootes bhUtapa cancer karka canis major br^hallubdhaka capricornus makara (crocodile-like) cassiopeia SarmiSThA cetus timingala cygnus haMsA gemini mithunA libra tula orion mr^ga [? kAl-puruSha] perseus yayAti pisces mIna sagittarius dhanu scorpio vr^Shchika taurus vr^Sha ursa major saptarShi ursa minor dhruvamatsya virgo kanyA