तारामण्डलानि

Constellations

Constellations are patterns of stars which aid in describing locations of various celestial objects. They are associated with colorful tales which motivated the ancients of various cultures - a great mnemonic (and spiritual) device!

Various stars in a constellation are often identified with greek letters - like apha centauri, alpha virginis.

“Starting from Tilak, it has been proposed the that dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor), Bear, Draco, Hunter (in Hindu world moved to Canis Major on occassions); mR^iga and other constellations were known and figured distinctly from the ecliptic divisions in the form of the nakShatra-s.” [MT]

चान्द्रनक्षत्रताराः

राशिताराः

चान्द्र-नक्षत्रपृष्ठे राशिसूचौ दृश्यताम्।

प्रकीर्णाम्

  • Śvā “Canis Major”
  • Trishanku - southern cross
  • Śaravaṇa or Reed forest
    • Provenance: kaumAra nakShatra or khachakra nyAsa.
  • “Sārathi” “Charioteer of rohiNI’s cart

शिंशुमारः

शिंशुमारपुच्छस्थं सुविख्यातम् च।

Al-Biruni reference (in his patanjalI yogasUtra translation, commenting on siddhi-specifying sUtra “ध्रुवे तद्गतिज्ञानम्” ):
The Hindus tell rather ludicrous tales when speaking of the figure in which they represent this group of stars, viz. the figure of a four-footed aquatic animal, which they call Sukrara and also Siśumâra. I suppose that the latter animal is the great lizard, for in Persia it is called Susmar, which sounds much like the Indian śiśumâra. Of this kind of animals there is also an aquatic species, similar to the crocodile and the skink.

तारानामानि तैत्तिरीयारण्यके

Vedic Taittiriya Aranyaka names। [ऽत्र]

    1. Head: Dharma
    1. Upper Jaw: Brahma
    1. Lower Jaw: Yajna
    1. Heart: Vishnu
    1. Genital: Samvatsara
  • 6,7. Forelegs: Ashwin (twins)
    1. Navel: Atri
  • 9,10. Hind legs: Mitra & Varuna
    1. Tail-First part: Agni
    1. Tail 2nd part: Indra
    1. Tail 3rd part: Prajapati
    1. Tail End: Abhaya-Dhruva (3000BC thuban)

तारानामानि ब्रह्माण्डपुराणे

  • 1.Dharma: Head
  • 2.Uttanapada: Upper Jaw
  • 3.Kratu: Lower Jaw
  • 4.Narayana: Heart
    1. Samvatsara: Genital
  • 6-7 Ashvins: Forelegs
  • 8-9. Aryama-Varuna: Hind legs
    1. Mitra: Seat
  • 11.Agni: Tail-1
  • 12.Indra: Tail centre
  • 13.Kashyapa: Tail-3
  • 14.Dhruva: Tail end.

सप्तर्षिमण्डलम्

  • Ursa Major
  • ऋश॑यस् स॒प्तात्रि॑श् च॒ यत्। सर्वे ऽत्रयो अ॑गस्त्य॒श्च। नक्ष॑त्रै॒श् शङ्कृ॑तो ऽवसन्। (तैत्तिरीयारण्यके १.११.२)
    • अगस्त्यः (canopus) first visible in N India around 3000-3500BC; could be seen by people living south of 34 deg N [YT].
  • the Shatapatha Brahmana , when speaking about these aforementioned Pleiades as the Wives of the Saptarishis - pointedly refers to these as the “Wives of the Bears”. Perhaps in the early days, it was used to denote stars of Ursa Major, and thence later came to refer to stars in general?
    • Vedic index: the constellation of the ‘Great Bear’ (ursa). 1) v. 56, 3. 2) Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā, iii. 14, 17; Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā, xxiv. 36; Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa, i. 184. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 81. 3) Rv. i. 24, 10; Satapatha Brāhmaṇa. ii. 1, 2, 4; Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, i. 11, 2. Cf. Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, 3, 422. 4) Cf. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p. 144 (D).
  • Somethimes imagined as jAmbavAn circumambulating the foot of viShNu as it touches dhruva +++(where??)+++.

सिंहः

“Leo being clear of the Milky Way (areNavaH panthAH) it gives a snapshot into the depth of the universe. The M 96- M 66 group are a cluster of galaxies that has 2 sub groups. The M65, M66, and NGC 3628 triplet on the ‘back’ thigh below theta form one group. The other is the M 95-M 96 group along the ‘front’ facing hind leg of the lion. Even a small telescope will show at least 5 of the Leo galaxies & are part of one of the near by galaxy groups to our own local group at ~37*10^6 light years.”

दधिक्रावा

  • Pegasus.

  • भाग्यसूक्ते “सम॑ध्व॒रायो॒षसो॑ नमन्त …” इत्यादिर् उररीकरोतीव दधिक्राव्णो ऽश्वस्य प्रोष्ठपदाभिस् सम्बन्धम्

    • इह युगपत् शुचिपदानां दधिक्राव्ण उल्लेखः,
    • भगेन (फाल्गुनेन) तत्सम्बन्धः (ननु खे विपरीतदिशोर् वर्तमानौ दृश्यमाना फाल्गुन्यः प्रोष्ठपदाश्च)।

  • प्रोष्ठपदानां धिष्णियाभिस् सम्बन्धः संहितायां व्यक्तः। धिष्णियाश् च सुपर्णेन गरुत्मता सम्बन्धो ऽप्य् आम्नातः। सर्वम् एतद् अन्यत्र प्रपञ्चितम्।

From the Rgveda we may infer that dadhikra, the flying horse, probably stood for a constellation whose rising before dawn was significant to the early Arya-s. It remains as yet unclear if that was in someway associate with Pegasus.

… I posted sometime back that I think dadhikra deifies a constellation. Pegasus would come to mind but there is no evidence that H ever saw Pegasus as a horse. Now based on iranic parallel I have concluded that it is likely an interpretation of Canis Major with rainy associations

  • MT

यमुना

  • Eridanus (The southern river; the celestial yamunA of the Hindus which leads to the path of death).

अगस्त्यः

Canopus. Very close to the southern pole - so only rises above horizon at certain periods in history.

Visibility constraints

In northern hemisphere, agastya rises and sets within a short duration of time. If this happens after dark, he is visible.

Current visibility

  • Morning - Aug-Sept
  • Evening - Feb-Mar

History

  • Visible from north India about 4000BCE.
  • parAshara says agastya rises when sun is in hasta. So, 1300 BCE.
  • Varaha Mihira says Agastya rises wher Sun is in Sign Simha, 7 degrees behind the Sign Virgo/Kanya Rashi This was correct for his time, 530 CE at Ujjain.