Nakshatra

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Nakshatra (Sanskrit: ???????, IAST: Nak?atra) is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of 28 (sometimes also 27) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to the most prominent asterisms in the respective sectors.

The starting point for the nakshatras according to Vedas is "Krittika" (it has been argued because the Pleiades may have started the year at the time the Vedas were compiled, presumably at the vernal equinox), but, in more recent compilations, the start of the nakshatras list is the point on the ecliptic directly opposite to the star Spica called Chitr? in Sanskrit, which would be Ashvin?, an asterism that is part of the modern constellation Aries, and these compilations therefore may have been compiled during the centuries when the sun was passing through the area of the constellation Aries at the time of the vernal equinox. This version may have been called Mesh?di or the "start of Aries". (Other slightly different definitions exist). However, both starting points for a list of nakshatras are now out-of-date, as the sun now passes through Pisces at the time of the vernal equinox, so a current list should start with P?rva Bh?drapad? or Uttara Bh?drapad? or Revat? at the vernal equinox. But some Hindu calendars are based on the older versions (i.e. the Indian national calendar).

The ecliptic is divided into each of the nakshatras eastwards starting from this point.

The number of nakshatras reflects the number of days in a sidereal month (modern value: 27.32 days), the width of a nakshatra traversed by the Moon in about one day. Each nakshatra is further subdivided into four quarters (or padas). These play a role in popular Hindu astrology, where each pada is associated with a syllable, conventionally chosen as the first syllable of the given name of a child born when the Moon was in the corresponding pada.

The nakshatras of traditional bhartiya (Indian) astronomy are based on a list of 28 asterisms found in the Atharvaveda (AV? 19.7) and also in the Shatapatha Brahmana (II.1.2). The first astronomical text that lists them is the Vedanga Jyotisha.

In classical Hindu scriptures (Mahabharata, Harivamsa), the creation of the nakshatras is attributed to Daksha. They are personified as daughters of the deity and as wives of Chandra, the Moon god, or alternatively the daughters of Kashyapa, the brother of Daksha.

Each of the nakshatras is governed as 'lord' by one of the nine graha in the following sequence: Ketu (South Lunar Node), Shukra (Venus), Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon), Mangala (Mars), Rahu (North Lunar Node), Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shani (Saturn) and Budha (Mercury). This cycle repeats itself three times to cover all 27 nakshatras. The lord of each nakshatra determines the planetary period known as the dasha, which is considered of major importance in forecasting the life path of the individual in Hindu astrology.

In Vedic Sanskrit, the term nák?atra may refer to any heavenly body, or to "the stars" collectively. The classical concept of a "lunar mansion" is first found in the Atharvaveda, and becomes the primary meaning of the term in Classical Sanskrit.

Video Nakshatra

In the Atharvaveda

In the Atharvaveda (Shaunakiya recension, hymn 19.7) a list of 28 stars or asterisms is given, many of them corresponding to the later nakshatras:

Interestingly enough, the term "nakshatra" has a different meaning as demonstrated in the Surya Siddhanta, which is an ancient text on astronomy. In the early chapters, the author Mayasura or Mayan, describes various time units. He writes that a "prana" is a duration of 4 seconds. He then continues with a discussion of a number of time units with progressively long durations made up of the shorter time units all composed of a number of pranas. Amongst those time units are something he calls "nakshatra". For example: 15 pranas are in a minute; 900 pranas in an hour; 21600 pranas in a day; 583,200 pranas in a nakshatra (month). According to Mayan, a nakshatra is a time unit with a duration of 27 days.

This 27-day time cycle has been taken to mean a particular group of stars. The relationship to the stars really has to do with the periodicity with which the Moon travels over time and through space past the field of the specific stars called nakshatras. Hence, the stars are more like numbers on a clock through which the hands of time pass (the moon). This concept was discovered by Dr. Jessie Mercay in her research on Surya Siddhanta.

Maps Nakshatra

List of Nakshatras

The classical list of 27 nakshatras is first found in the Vedanga Jyotisha, a text dated to the 600-700 BCE. The nakshatra system predates the Hellenistic astronomy which became prevalent from about the 2nd century CE.

In Hindu astronomy, there was an older tradition of 28 Nakshatras which were used as celestial markers in the heavens. When these were mapped into equal divisions of the ecliptic, a division of 27 portions was adopted since that resulted in a cleaner definition of each portion (i.e. segment) subtending 13° 20' (as opposed to 12° 51 3/7' in the case of 28 segments). In the process, the Nakshatra Abhijit was left out without a portion. The Surya Siddhantha concisely specifies the coordinates of the twenty seven Nakshatras

The following list of nakshatras gives the corresponding regions of sky, following Basham.

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Padas (quarters)

Each of the 27 Nakshatras cover 13°20' of the ecliptic each. Each Nakshatra is also divided into quarters or padas of 3°20', and the below table lists the appropriate starting sound to name the child. The 27 nakshatras, each with 4 padas, give 108, which is the number of beads in a japa mala, indicating all the elements (ansh) of Vishnu:

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See also

• Atmakaraka
• Navagraha
• Panchangam
• Gandanta
• Chinese constellation
• Twenty-eight mansions
• Decans (Egyptian)
• Saptarishi

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References

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External links

Indian Astrology

Source of the article : Wikipedia