ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF VEDIC STUDIES (EJVS) Vol. 6 (2000), issue 2 (December) ============================================================= Editor-in-Chief: Michael Witzel, Harvard University Managing Editor: Enrica Garzilli, University of Perugia Assistant Editor: Makoto Fushimi, Harvard University Technical Assistance: Ludovico Magnocavallo, Milano Editorial Board: Madhav Deshpande University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Harry Falk Freie Universitaet Berlin Yasuke Ikari Kyoto University Boris Oguibenine University of Strasbourg Asko Parpola University of Helsinki -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- email: ejvs-list@shore.net witzel@fas.harvard.edu http://www1.shore.net/~india/ejvs European mirror: http://www.asiatica.org or http://www.asiatica.org/publications/ejvs/ (©) With the authors and the editors ISSN 1084-7561 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ CONTENTS Editor's note Articles: 1. Kim Plofker How to interpret astronomical references in Vedic texts? 2. B. N. Narahari Achar Comments on "The Pleiades and the Bears viewed from inside the Vedic texts" 3.B. N. Narahari Achar Searching for nakSatras in the Rgveda ============================================================================= EDITOR's NOTE At the true start of the third millennium CE, we end this year, just like the last one, with a number of papers on Vedic astronomy, to keep up with the winter solstice spirit: the discussion of facts and their interpretations. We begin with a few important points raised by Kim Plofker from the point of view of a mathematician and historian of Indian astronomy. Incidentally, note also her interesting course on "History of Indian Mathematics" at Brown University that deals, among other items, with the Euro-/America-centric approach often seen in such studies. This is followed by comments of Narahari Achar on my paper in EJVS 5-2. I will answer, as far as it still is necessary after K. Plofker's general comments, when I have some leisure, in the new year. Finally, N. Achar contributes an interesting paper on the RV and the Jyotisha Vedanga. With best wishes for the New Year, Century and Millennium to all of our readers, MW ======================================================================= ARTICLES 1. Kim Plofker How to interpret astronomical references in Vedic texts? Department of History of Mathematics Box 1900 Brown University Providence, RI 02912, USA Kim Plofker http://www.brown.edu/Departments/History_Mathematics/plofker.html The exchange in EJVS 5, 2 (December 1999) between B. N. Achar and Michael Witzel on the subject of Vedic astronomy raises interesting points on both sides, and is conducted with admirable courtesy and attention to the texts. Achar again repeats the arguments (originally put forth by S. B. Dikshit) in favor of an astrochronological dating of the "zatapatha brAhmaNa" ("zb") to around 3000 BCE, and describes the use of modern "planetarium" software for easier inspection of celestial appearances at different dates and places. Witzel again repeats the criticisms of these arguments frequently made since Dikshit's time (particularly, in recent years, by David Pingree), and adds some suggestions on the linguistic evidence as well as some ideas for partially reconciling the opposing viewpoints. The central question, now as ever, is how to interpret astronomical references in Vedic texts: particularly, in the case discussed here, whether the "zb" states that the "kRttikAs" (Pleiades) have, in effect, a declination of zero and therefore refers to observations made approximately 5000 years ago, when the position of the earth's axis due to precession put the Pleiades as seen from the earth on the celestial equator. There is simply no way to decide this question incontrovertibly from the textual evidence without making an assumption one way or the other about the intended meaning of the Sanskrit terms. If the expression translated as, e.g., "do not depart from the east" was really intended to mean "rise exactly at the accurately determined east point," that is, on the celestial equator, then the Dikshit/Achar chronology is the most probable interpretation. If, on the other hand (as I believe), its significance was less astronomically rigorous, then that interpretation is unlikely. Achar accepts the hypothesis of greater astronomical exactitude, and suggests an interpretation of an accompanying passage about the "saptarSis" (Big Dipper) that is consistent with it. Unlike some defenders of this hypothesis, he has carefully read and understood the arguments of its opponents, particularly Pingree. But I think Achar has neglected Pingree's discussions of the parallels with early first-millennium BCE Mesopotamian astral sciences (particularly omens), which lie at the heart of the hypothesis of Mesopotamian-Indian transmissions that provides an alternative explanation of the "zb"'s statements. Witzel (also without explicitly noting possible Mesopotamian connections) focuses primarily on the advantages of a looser interpretation of "rising in the east": it permits a chronology that fits better, historically and linguistically, with what we know of the "zb". It is, in addition, perfectly consistent with everything else we know for certain about the practices of Vedic astronomy---which, unfortunately, is hardly anything at all. Witzel also suggests a possible combination of the two hypotheses, according to which the statement about the Pleiades in the east, like the name "Bear" for the "saptarSis", could be a survival from an earlier era preserved in the "zb" without disrupting his chronology for the work itself. While this irenic proposal is not in itself unreasonable, I don't think either side will be truly convinced by its implication that a concern for precise astronomical determinations existed among the Indo-Europeans of the late fourth millennium, but had been lost except for a few vestigia by the late Vedic period. In my view, the chief disadvantage of Achar's hypothesis is the absence of unambiguous and detailed attestations of an astronomy sufficiently developed to give rise to the precision he postulates. Where is the explicitly _quantitative_ astronomy his conclusions appear to assume, where are the units of measurement, the standardized reference systems, the observational records, the descriptions of observational practices, the refinements of calendrical computation? If one reads all the astronomical references in Vedic texts "loosely", that is, without requiring them to conform to precise technical meanings, they form a consistent and reasonable (though sketchy) picture of a minimal astronomy concerned mostly with the regulation of a simple luni-solar liturgical calendar, and taking note of other celestial features such as constellations and eclipses without attempting any predictive mathematical schemes concerning them---a picture very like the one we have of late second-millennium Mesopotamian or early first-millennium Greek astronomy. It does not challenge in any way the conservative chronology for the Vedic period maintained by most Indologists on the basis of linguistic and archaeological evidence. The problem is, of course, that we have such a scanty textual record from this period that it is impossible to exclude all alternative interpretations beyond dispute. If the astronomical references are translated under the assumption that they reflect a highly developed astronomical system of great antiquity, they can support that assumption too. The best we can hope for is that disputants on both sides will continue to develop and explain their own reconstructions without mischaracterizing those of their opponents, and with the realization that the choice of one hypothesis over the other is ultimately determined by one's own assumptions about the probable nature of Vedic astronomy. *** *** *** 2. B. N. Narahari Achar Comments on "The Pleiades and the Bears viewed from inside the Vedic texts" B. N. Narahari Achar, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152 Narahari Achar Witzel [1] has raised a number of issues directly related to my paper [2] in the same issue of EJVS. I offer the following comments, therefore, "quietly, peacefully and even justifiably." (i) Isolated sentences Witzel is right when he comments editorially that one can not just quote an isolated sentence and build a theory on it. Nor should any one, on the basis of some theory, which ignores the cultural context, deny what the passage itself says. (ii) Sky in Vedic and post-Vedic times I also agree that the situation in 2900 BCE differs far more from the current situation in 2000 CE, than from the situation in 1000 BCE. However, contrary to his remark, in my paper [2], the sky had been examined over a very long period of time from about 4500 BCE to 2000 CE, as could be seen from the comment there about the circumpolar nature of saptarSi maNDala. It had been found that the azimuth of the Pleiades moves towards the north by almost 3* in 500 years. This is also in agreement with Witzel's findings with the Voyager II program. This piece of information is important in establishing the limits to be discussed later. (iii) Vedic east Witzel has argued that the "Vedic east" infact comprises a very large region spanning from the NE to SE, i.e., the azimuth ranging from 45* (= NE) to 135* (= SE), including 90* (=the true east). While it may be acceptable or even required under certain circumstances, it would be very difficult to accept such a large range in the present context. This can be easily seen as follows: the azimuth for the Sun at sunrise on the summer solstice day would be about 62*, and at sunrise on winter solstice day it would be about 118* at the latitude of Delhi. Both of these values are well within the 'east' marked off by Witzel, and thus the Sun would stay in the 'east' throughout the year! No uttarAyana, or dakSiNAyana. More appropriate limits for the true east can be estimated from the fact that the Vedic priests were required to establish the east-west line (prAcI) at the time of yajJa. This could be done with no more sophisticated equipment than a stick and a piece of rope. A skillful priest could draw the east-west line within 1* of the true east-west line, if the conditions were right, but could do no worse than 3*. By far the average margin of error would have been 2*. A 5* deviation from such a line could be detected, and certainly an 8-13* deviation. Note also that there were professional star gazers: nakSatra darza, VS (XXX.10) Now allowing a 3* margin of error in establishing the true east-west line, (and remembering that a 3* range in azimuth for the Pleiades corresponds to about 500 years), Pleiades could be thought of as not deviating from the east for about 500 years on either side of 3000 BCE, i.e., from 3500 BCE to 2500 BCE. (iv) Further comments on 'saptarSis' and 'udyanti' Finally, Witzel adds these remarks: "The present tense of ud i, udyanti, however, which would point, in some scholars' opinion, to c. 3000 BCE, is easily explained, when we actually look at the Big Dipper when it appears in the early evening even today; it moves towards the north pole, surpasses it and sets in the west (see sky maps in Witzel 1996). This observation solves N. Achar's problem of the Ursa Major "rising" in the North. It actually rises, when it gets dark, in the north (nowadays with its easternmost stars from below the horizon, for late Vedic times cf ZB 13.8.1.9); Ursa Major then turns upwards, and is, after a few hours actually higher than the north pole (now situated at c. 30* in the southern Punjab/Delhi).. So why can the Vedic texts not speak of 'ud-yanti', especially so, as the north is also called ut-tara('situated on the side of ud 'up'), and as the northern direction includes all regions from 45*=NE to 90*=E and 315*=NW(sic). Generally speaking, the use of the actual term 'to rise' (ud i) is not strange at all as the stars close to the north pole move 'upwards' towards the pole (thus northwards),.." However, the actual current situation as seen at Delhi is a little more complex in that the Big Dipper when it appears in the sky in the early evening does not always appear near the horizon and move upwards as the night progresses. Some times, when it appears in the early evening, it is already high in the sky and actually moves downwards as the night progresses. Some time it is seen setting at the early evening and rising late in the night. For a short period in the year, it is not seen at all early in the evening, but rises only late in the night. (Of course, one member, alpha Ursa Majoris, which is circumpolar at Delhi, never rises or sets. But is seen at different parts of the sky in the early evening at different times of the year.) All this is caused by the fact that earth's rotation takes only 23hours and 56 minutes, where as the mean solar day is a full 24 hours. Therefore, a star, which rises at the true east at 8:00 p.m. tonight, will rise at 7:56 p. m. tomorrow. In a month's time it would be rising two hours earlier, therefore would already be high in the sky at 8:00 p.m. Three months from now, it would be seen overhead at 8:00 p.m. Six months from now it would be seen setting at 8:00p.m., and so on. It would indeed be strange to use the term 'to rise', when the Big Dipper is already high in the sky when it first appears in the early evening after sun set, and actually moves downwards as the night progresses. This can be seen for example during the months of May and June. The Big Dipper is already almost overhead at 8:00 p.m., moves downwards and sets in the early morning hours. When it actually comes above the horizon in the daytime, it can not be seen in the sky. By the time Sun sets, when it can be seen again, it is almost overhead. The situation in 3000 BCE has been described in [2] and the problem of 'to rise' has been discussed. The statement in ZB appears to be problematic, because, sAyaNa, who could not have observed the circumpolar nature of the Big Dipper 500 years ago and at the southern latitude he was located, associated 'udyanti' with both saptarSis and kRttikAs. Everybody else just followed him. It is interesting to note that RV 1.24.10 makes no reference whatsoever to rising or setting of the RkSAH. RV Rgveda VS vAjasaneyi saMhita ZB zatapatha brAhmaNa References [1]. Witzel, M., "The Pleiades and the Bears viewed from inside the Vedic texts", EJVS, 5-2, 1999. [2]. Achar, Narahari B. N., "On Exploring the Vedic Sky with Modern Computer Software", EJVS, 5-2 1999. *** *** *** 3. B. N. Narahari Achar Searching for nakSatras in the Rgveda B. N. Narahari Achar, University of Memphis, Memphis TN 38152 I. The Problem nakSatras, variously translated as asterisms or lunar mansions, with an enduring list of 27 ( some times 28) in number have been the hallmark of Indian astronomy since antiquity and continue to be in use even today [1-5]. The word nakSatra has been used in the Vedic literature in the sense of (i) stars in general, (ii) asterisms, i.e., groups of stars 27 (28 ) in number, situated more or less along the ecliptic, (iii) arc divisions of the ecliptic. We shall not be concerned with case (i), which is very general, nor with case (iii), which is an abstract astronomical concept, definitely in use since the time of vedAGga jyotiSa (VJ). It is true that even in Rgveda, the word nakSatra has been used some times in the sense of a star in general, and the sun itself is referred to as a nakSatra [2-4]. However, in this paper, we shall be mainly concerned with case (iii), which represents the predominant sense of the word nakStra, the one referring to asterisms which mark the path of the sun and the moon along the ecliptic [5]. As has been noted by Dikshit [1] and others, the Rk samhita does not explicitly mention the names of all the 27 nakSatras, but mentions only a few by name. Complete lists of 27/28 nakSatras have been available in the Vedic literature, in the saMhita texts including AV, TS, KS, MS, in the brAhmaNa texts, TB, SB, PB, KB, and in the araNyaka and sUtra texts. But, a comparable list explicitly containing the names of all the nakSatras is not available in RV. Although scholars such as Ludwig, Zimmer [6] and Tilak [7], find indirect evidence for the knowledge of all the 27 (28) nakSatras in RV[8], there are some scholars who believe that all the nakSatra s were not known at the time of RV [9]. However, one would then be at a loss to explain the sudden appearance of a complete list such as that found in AV or TS, and the recognition of nakSatravidya as a branch of study, (CU VII. i. 2. 4; TB III. 4. 4. 1) and of "nakSatradarza" as a professional (VS XXX.10). Is there direct and incontrovertible evidence to demonstrate that all the nakSatra s are, in fact, known in RV? II. The List of nakSatras Several comparative studies of the lists of 27/28 nakSatras found in various Vedic texts, and attempts to identify the nakSatras with names of stars in modern star catalogues have been made [10]. It is known that by the time of VJ, the concept of nakSatra had developed into a purely astronomical abstract concept of designating 1/27 part of the ecliptic. As already explained earlier, we are concerned here with the case where nakSatras refer to bright stars along the ecliptic marking the paths of the sun and the moon. Each nakSatra is also associated with a presiding deity. A list of 27 nakSatras and the associated deities taken from TS is given in table 1. Table 1 The list of nakSatras and their presiding deities from TS No. Name Presiding deity 1 krittikA agni 2 rohiNI prajApati 3 mRgazIrSa soma 4 ArdrA rudra 5 punarvasU aditi 6 tiSya bRhaspati 7 AzreSA sarpa 8 maghA pitR 9 phalgunI aryamA 10 phalgunI bhaga 11 hasta savitA 12 citrA indra 13 svAtI vAyu 14 vizAkhe indrAgni 15 anUrAdhA mitra 16 rohiNI indra 17 vicRtau pitR 18 ASADhA ApaH 19 ASADhA vizvedeva 20 zroNA viSNu 21 zraviSThA vasu 22 zatabhiSaj indra 23 proSThapada ajaekapAt 24 proSThapada ahirbudhniya 25 revatI pUSA 26 azvayujau azvin 27 apabharaNI yama (a) The number of nakSatras: is it 27 or 28? Some scholars have argued that originally the number of nakSatras was 27 and that it became 28 later when a nakSatra, abhijit, was added in between uttarASADha and zroNa. Other scholars have argued that in the original list the number of nakSatras was 28, and that it became 27 when abhijit was dropped. In the Vedic saMhitas, 28 nakSatras are mentioned in AV(XIX.8.2) and MS(XI.13.20), but a majority of other saMhita texts give only 27: TS(IV.4.10), KS( XXXIX.13),and VS(IX.7). Among the brAhmaNa texts, TB(1.5.1) gives only 27, but, TB(1.5.2.3) mentions abhijit, and TB(3.1.1.6) gives 28. On the other hand, ZB(X.5.4.5) specifically mentions 27 nakSatras and 27 upanakSatras, while PB(23.23) and KB(5.1) also give only 27. Thus there appears to be a preponderance of the number 27, and it is not easy to decide which of the two, if either, is earlier. In fact, both numbers may have co-evolved, with 27 specifically for astronomical purposes as in VJ, and 28 specifically for ritual purposes as in nakSatreSThi. This is seen for example, when the same text, TB, gives 27 in one section, (1.5.1) and in the very next, (1.5.2.3) mentions abhijit. Furthermore, as Sen [2] has remarked, no "nakSatra-space" is allotted for abhijit. On the other hand, the legends of fall of abhijit point to its removal from the list. In view of all these, we will regard 27 as the number. (b) Variant names of nakSatras It has been noted that all the lists of nakSatras in Vedic texts mentioned above begin with krittika and a comparison of the names of the nakSatras from the saMhita texts TS, KS, MS, and AV together with the list from VJ has been given by Sen [2]. Although most of the names are the same, there are some variations. The most notable variations are seen for the stars given in table 2. There are other minor differences such as a short-vowel ending in one list, but a long-vowel ending in others for the name of the same nakSatra. Moreover, the pairs of nakSatras, (9,10), (18,19), and (23, 24) in table 1., are distinguished in other lists by the addition of the prefixes pUrva-, and uttara-. It should be noted that although the names appear to be different, the presiding deity is the same. It follows, therefore, that the same nakSatra, presided by the same deity may have alternate names. These differences in names of nakSatras should not therefore be construed as some "basic instability in their tradition"[9]. Table 2. Variant names of nakSatras in samhita texts nakSatra no., TS, MS, KS, AV, deity 3, mRgazIrSa, invagA, invakA, mRgazIrSa, soma 4, ArdrA, bAhu, bAhu, ArdrA, rudra 6, tiSya, tiSya, tiSya, puSya, bRhaspati 13, svAtI, niStya, niStya, svAtI, vAyu 16, rohiNI, jyeSThA, jyeSThA, jyeSThA, indra 17, vicRtau, mUla, mUla, mUla, pitR 21, zroNA, zroNA, azvattha, zravaNa, viSNu 28, apabharaNi, bharaNi, apabharaNi, bharaNyaH, yama (c) Variant deities of nakSatras In general, each nakSatra is presided by a deity, and the deity remains the same across the lists even though the names of nakSatras might be different. However, there are two nakSatras for which the names are the same across the lists, but the deities are apparently different. This is shown in table 3a. Table 3a. Variant deities of citrA and zatabhiSaj nakSatra . List, TS(IV.4.10), TB(1.5.1), TB(3.1.1), TB(3.1.4) 12,. citrA, indra, indra, tvaSTA, tvaSTA 22,. zatabhiSaj, indra, indra, varuNa, varuNa In his commentary on TB(1.5.1), sAyaNa observes: "pUrvaM citrAnakSatrasvAmI yo'yamindraH uktaH soyaM tvaSTA paramaizvarya yogAdindra ucyate". explaining that because of the supremacy of divine faculties, tvaSTA is referred to as indra. In a similar vein, for the second nakSatra, sAyaNa says, "atra tu indra zabdena paramaizvarya yogAd varuNo gRhyate." In other words, here indra denotes varuNa. There is one nakSatra, # 17, which is denoted by apparently different names in different lists, and is also associated with apparently different deities as indicated in table 3b. Table 3b. Names and deities of nakSatra #17 in different lists List, TS(IV.4.10), TB(1.5.1), TB(3.1.1), TB(3.1.4) Name, vicRtau, mUlavarhani, mUla, mUla Deity, pitR, nirRti, nirRti, prajApati In commenting on TS(IV.4.10), sAyaNa observes, "pitR zabdo'tra mUlavAcI" and later, "atra prajApati zabdena nirRtir vivakSyate", explaining that nirRti is the deity associated with nakSatra #17, mUla. In summary then, Vedic texts give a list of 27 nakSatras, each nakSatra has a unique abhimAni devata, presiding deity. Even though the names in different lists appear to be different, they refer to the same nakSatra, for, the deity is the determining factor. The problem is to find a comparable list of nakSatras in RV. III. The Clue The clue comes from VJ [11], which regards the nakSatras as divisions of the ecliptic. However, each division gets its name from a prominent asterism near by (referred to as yogatAra in later works), and is presided by the same deity as the one for the asterism. Thus. one finds the deities of the 27 nakSatras as "agniH prajApatiH somo rudro'ditir bRhaspatiH sarpazca pitarazcaiva bhagazcaiva aryamApica savitA tvaSTATha vAyuzcendrAgnI mitra eva ca indro nirRtir Apo vai vizvedeva stathaivaca viSNur vasavo varuNo'ja ekapAt tathaivaca ahirbudhnya stathA pUSA azvinau yama eva ca" RJ(25-27) This agrees essentially with the list of deities discussed earlier. There is also a list of nakSatras indicated symbolically as follows: "jau drA gaH khe zve'hi ro SA cin mU SaNyaH sUmA dhANaH re mRghA svApo jaH kRSyo ha jye SThA ityRkSA liGgaiH" RJ(14) This zloka arises in connection with the procedure for determining the nakSatra at any parva. The nakSatras are indicated here symbolically by means of syllables, which are either the beginning or the ending syllables of their names, or names of the presiding deities, according to: 1) jau for Azvayujau, 2) drA for ArdrA, 3) gaH for bhagaH (deity of pUrvaphAlguNi), 4) khe for vizAkhe, 5) zve for vizvedevAH (deity for uttarASDhA), 6) hiH for ahirbudhnyaH (deity for uttara proSThapadA), 7) ro for rohiNI, 8) SA for AzreSA, 9)cit for citrA, 10) mU for mUlA, 11) Sa for zatabhiSaj, 12) NyaH for bharaNyaH, 13) sU for punarvasU, 14) mA for aryamA (deity for uttara phAlguNi), dhAH for anUrAdhAH, 16) NaH for zravaNaH, 17) re for revatI, 18) mR for mrgazIrSA, 19) ghAH for maghAH, 20) svA for svAtI, 21) paH for ApaH (deity for pUrvASADhA), 22) jaH for aja-ekapAt (deity for pUrvaproSThapadA),23) kR for krttikAH, 24) SyaH for puSyaH, 25) ha for hastA, 26) jye for jyeSThA and finally 27) SThAH for zraviSThA. The list begins with azvini and follows with every sixth nakSatra from it as given in a traditional list of nakSatras such as the one in table 1. What is notable about this list is that there are several nakSatras which are denoted by the beginning or the ending syllables of the names of the deities, rather than that of the nakSatras (3, 5, 7, 14, 21, and 22 in the above list). Again, there is another zloka for determining the name of the nakSatra which occurs at the beginning of each of the ayanAs in the five year yuga of VJ: "vasus tvaSTA bhavojazca mitras sarpo'zvinau jalaM dhAtA kazcAyanAdyAs syuH" RJ (9) The nakSatras at the beginning of the ayanAs in the five year yuga, are zraviSThA, citrA, ArdrA, pUrvaproSThapadA, anUrAdhA, AzreSA, azvinI, pUrvASADhA, uttaraphAlguNi, and rohiNI, respectively. They are all indicated by the names of the deities presiding over them. It follows therefore that nakSatras are equally well enumerated by the names of the presiding deities. This is the clue that helps in searching for nakSatras in RV. IV. The finding Since the nakSatras may be indicated by the names of deities, all that one has to do is to search in RV for a list of some 27 names of deities that would correspond to the nakSatras. It is to be expected that the most likely place to find such a list would be the fifth mandala, which is the book of the atri family, for atri is reputed to be one of the premier astronomers. One does not have to try very hard, for the famous "svasti no mimIta" sUkta, RV(V. 51) , which is recited at rituals for peace ("zAnti karmANi") contains such a list! This sUkta, RV(V. 51), has svastyAtreya for its RSi, contains fifteen Rks, composed in gAyatri, uSNi, triSTubh and anuSTubh meters. Its "viniyoga"s are elaborated in the AzvzlAyana sUtra. It begins with an invitation to agni for partaking of the soma drink and asks him to bring all the deities who protect us for partaking of soma. "agne sutasya pItaye vizvairUmebhir Agahi " It mentions, Indra, indrAgni, soma, rudra, vAyu, vizvedevAH, mitra, varuNa, vasu, AdityAH, azvin, bhaga, aditi, pUSan, bRhaspati, Rbhus, and deities of "sarvegaNAH". The last category includes deities belonging to rudragaNa and Aditya gaNa and hence would include sarpa, nirRti, ajaekapAt, ahirbudhnya, dhAtR, aryamA, tvaSTA, and viSnu among others. In short, sUkta RV(V.51) includes the presiding deities of all the nakSatra s. There is no doubt that nakStras are meant, for the last Rk of the sUkta says, "svasti panThAm anucarema sUryA candramasAviva" (V.51.15), referring to the path of the sun and the moon, the ecliptic. The sUkta also mentions one nakSatra by name, "svasti paThye revatI" (V. 51. 14). It should be mentioned that the sUkta does contain names of deities such as dyAvapRThvI, and mitrAvaruNau, which are not directly connected with the nakSatra system. But, then the sUkta is not limited to just deities of nakSatras. In view of these facts, (i) that nakSatras can be enumerated in terms of the presiding deities, (ii) that sUkta RV(V.51) contains such a list of deities, (iii) that the sUkta specifically refers to the path of the sun and the moon, and (iv) that it mentions one nakSatra, revatI by name, one is compelled to conclude that all the nakSatras are known in RV. It might also be noted that partial lists of deities presiding over the nakSatras are scattered throughout RV. Acknowledgement This work was supported in part by a Faculty Development Assignment Grant from the University of Memphis List of Abbreviations AV atharvaveda CU chAndogya upaniSat KB kauSItakI brAhmaNa KS kAThaka saMhita MS maitrAyaNI samhita PB paJcaviMza brAhmaNa RV Rgveda SB zatapatha brAhmaNa TB taittirIya brAhmaNa TS taittirIya samhita VJ vedAGga jyotiSa RJ RgjyotiSa References and Notes [1].Dikshit, S. B., BharatIya JyotiS zastra, Government of India Press, (Calcutta, 1969), pp. 43-57. [2].Sen, S. N. , "Astronomy" in A concise History of Science in India, Bose, D. M., Sen, S. N., and Subbarayappa, B. V., Indian National Science Academy, (New Delhi, 1971), pp 58-135. [3]. Macdonell, A. A. and Keith, A. B., Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Motilal Banarsidass, (New Delhi, 1958), vol. I, pp. 409-431 [4]. Jaggi, O. P., Indian Astronomy and Mathematics, Atma Ram and Sons, (Delhi, 1993). [5] References to and views of scholars such as Colebrooke, Whitney, Weber, Burgess, Hommel, Thibaut and Mueller can be found in references [2] and [3]. [6]. References to Ludwig and Zimmer can be found in [3]. [7] Tilak, B. G., The Orion, Cosmo Publications, (New Delhi, 1984) p. 158. [8] "catustrimzad vAjino devabandhor vaGkrIr azvasya svadhitiH sameti" ." The four and thirty ribs of the swift charger, kin to the gods, the slayer's hatchet pierces" RV (I 162. 18). As the sacrificial horse is the symbol of the heavens, thirty four ribs represent the sun, the moon, the five planets and 27 nakSatras. Furthermore, "catustrimzatA purudhA vi caSTe sarUpeNa jyotiSA vivratena" " With four and thirty lights he looks around him, lights of one color though their ways are divers" RV (X. 55. 3). Translations are mostly taken from Griffith. [9].Pingree, D.,"History of Mathematical Astronomy of India", in Dictionary of Scientific Biography, XV, (New York, 1978) pp. 533-633. [10] Saha, M. N. and Lahiri, A. C., Report of the Calendar Reform Committee, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, (1955). This is the authorized report from the Government of India. However, a recent effort by Western scholars see : Pingree, D. and Morissey, P., "On the identification of the s of the Indian naksatras", Journal for the History of Astronomy, xx, 99-119, 1989, which completely ignores the list in the Calendar Reform Committee Report. Most recent effort is based on computer simulations using planetarium software: Narahari Achar, B. N., On the Identification of Vedic NakSatras (To be published) [11] Sastry, T. S. Kuppanna., VedAGga JyotiSa of Lagadha, Indian National Science Academy, (New Delhi, 1985). [12] The fact that the nakSatras are actually represented by their deities has also been noted in a little known book in Kannada, by Shenoi, B. P. V., BrAhmI lipi mattu sindhU saMskRti, zrI lalitA prAcya saMzodhanAlaya, (Mangalore, 1977). The author is grateful to Dr. Nayak for bringing this book to his notice. ================================================================================ COLOPHON Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies ============================ Editors: Michael Witzel witzel@fas.Harvard.edu Enrica Garzilli garzilli@shore.net Makoto Fushimi fushimi@fas.Harvard.edu Madhav Deshpande MMDESH@UMICH.EDU Harry Falk FALK@FUB46.ZEDAT.FU-BERLIN.DE Yasuke Ikari ikari@zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp Boris Oguibenine boris@atacama.ehess.fr Asko Parpola APARPOLA@KATK.HELSINKI.FI Technical Assistance: Ludovico Magnocavallo ludo@shore.net, ludo@sumatrasolutions.com EJVS-list@shore.net http://www.shore.net/~india/ejvs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- (©) COPYRIGHT NOTICE The Materials in this journal are copyrighted. ONE COPY OF THE ARTICLES AND REVIEWS MAY BE MADE FOR PRIVATE STUDY ONLY. ALL COPIES MADE FOR WHATEVER PURPOSE MUST INCLUDE THIS COPYRIGHT NOTICE. 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