Rashi in Vedic literature, the Relevant Chronology and the Sidereal calendar

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Dear list-members,

 

For quite sometime there has been the controversy as to whether the Rashis are

mentioned in the Vedic literature or not and whether the Vedic calendar is

Sidereal or not. The following details, I hope, should allay the doubts on

these topic.

 

 

A) Rashi in Veda

 

1)

Rarshis are mentioned in the Veda. Rig Veda (RV) mentions Vrshabha (RV 6.47.5;

8.93.1), Mithun (RV 3.39.3), Simha (RV 5.83.7; 9.89.3) and Kanya (RV 6.49.7).

There is also mention of Kumbha  (Rasi), where Agastya and Vasishtha were born.

The verse is :

 

सतà¥à¤°à¥‡ ह जाताविषिता नमोभिः

कà¥à¤®à¥à¤­à¥‡ रेतः सिषिचतà¥à¤ƒ समानम |

ततो ह मान उदियाय मधà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¤ ततो

जातं रषिमाहà¥à¤°à¥à¤µà¤¸à¤¿à¤·à¥à¤ à¤® || (RV 7.33.13)

 

Ordinarily Kumbha will mean a pot or kalash but we know that Agastya was born

from the womb of his mother haribhoo and not from a pot. So we understand that

Agastya was born in Kumbha Rashi. Here one has to interpret the metaphors

properly.

 

Dr.Vartak pointed out the mention of  Mesha, Vrischika  and Dhanu Rashis in

Veda. He also identified Anas-Ratha with Tula Rashi and Shyena  as Meena

Rashi in the Veda.  I fully support Dr. Vartak's view as he knows that the

Veda itself says that it has Paroksha and Pratyaksha meaning of the verses.

 

2) Rashi in Vedanga Jyotisha

 

Meena Rashi is clearly mentioned in the Vedanga Jyotisha (Yajur Vedanga

Jyotisha-verse 5).  The verse is :  

 

Ye brihaspatina bhuktva MEENAN prabhriti rasayaH

 

te hritaH panchabhiryataH yaH seshaH sa parigrihaH

 

(Yajur Vedanga Jyotisha - sloka 5)

[

Here 'Meenan prabhriti RasayaH' means Meena and other Rashis. As Dr. Vartak

points out Meena was called  Shyena in the Veda  

 

3) Rashi in Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana

 

Brahma Rashi (which included the Abhijit as well as the Sravana Nakshatra) is

mentioned in the Mahabharata ( 6.3.17). The Verse is as follows:

 

 वकà¥à¤°à¤¾à¤¨à¥à¤µà¤•à¥à¤°à¤‚ कृतà¥à¤µà¤¾ च शरवणे

पावकपà¥à¤°à¤­à¤ƒ

 बरहà¥à¤®à¤°à¤¾à¤¶à¤¿à¤‚ समावृतà¥à¤¯

लॊहिताङà¥à¤—ॊ वयवसà¥à¤¦à¤¿à¤¤à¤ƒÂ 

 

I have identified the Brahma rashi as the Makar Rashi, which presently includes

Sravana but not Abhijt (as the Abhijit had moved out of the ecliptic), due to

the precession of the earth. The Brahma Rashi was so named as it included the

Abhijit Nakshatra, which is ruled by Brahma. After the fall (ie. the moving

away) of the Abhijit from the ecliptic it was dropped from the list of the 28

nakshatras and after the Mahabharata time only 27 Nakshatras are considered to

be in the ecliptic and conequently the Brahma rashi was renamed as Makara Rashi

in the Bhagavata purana. Similarly it is understandable  that Shyena in the

Veda  was renamed as Meena in the Vedanga Jyotisha like the way the Brahma

Rashi was renamed as the Makar rashi after the  Abhijit Nakshatra was dropped

from the list of the Nakshatras.

 

In the above discussion the presnce of the Rashis in Veda and Vedanga Jyotisha

has been irrefutably established.

 

B)  Chronology relevant to Astrology  and astronomy proves that Rashis are

indigenous

 

Chronologically the the important dates for Indian Jyotisha are as follows:

 

Rashis in Veda (antiquity = circa 7000 BCE)

 

Brahma Rashi  in Mahabharata (antiquity = circa 3139 BCE). Brahma Rashi was

renamed as Makara Rashi when Abhijit was dropped from the count of the

Nakshatras as it moved away from the ecliptic. The fall of the Abhijit ferom the

ecliptic is mentioned in the mahabharata.

 

Rashi in Bhagavata Purana (antiquity = circa 3042 BCE)

 

Rashi in Vedanga Jyotisha (antiquity =  circa 2400 BCE to 1800 BCE)

 

Date of Aryabhatta (1325 BCE). He wrote Aryasiddhanta.

 

Date of Varahamihira (124 BCE). He wrote Panchasiddhantika, which included

Suryasiddhanta. Varahamihira himself mentioned his date in terms of the

Sakanta-kala (which starts from 551 BCE) and not Saka- kala (which starts from

78 CE).

 

We all Indians and particularly the Kashmiris should be proud that Kashmir has

the credit of giving India one of the earliest traditional Hindu calendars,

called Laukika or Saptarshi calendar, which started from 3077 BCE (ie. 25 years

aftyer the start of the Kali yuga in 3102 BCE).  Alberuni and Kalhana mentioned

that calendar. We all salute the great Kashmiri Astronomers of the past.

Because of the unbroken tradition of this calendar we can now boldly fix the

date of the Mahabharata war  as well as the date of the Bhagavata

Purana without depending on the astronomical and other evidences.  

 

This amply shows that the Rashis are indigenous and could not have been imported

from Greece or Babylonia.  

 

C) Vedic calendar is Sidereal. Vedas give Tropical months too.

 

Vedic calendar is Sidereal and have the Sidereal or the Rashi-based solar

months. The Rashis are conglomerates or groups of Nakshatras. However the

Tropical or seasonal -months  were also recognised in the vedic

literature. The seasonal months are based on the Solstices and the equinoxes.

For example the first month after the Winter Solstice is the seasonal month of

Tapa. The seasonal months occur in different Nakshatras at diferent times. As

the seasonal months do not permanently occur in the same Nakshatra and Rashi for

ever, one can use that information for the dating of the past events mentioned

in the Vedic literature, in cases where the solsticial and equinoctal data are

given alongside the events.

 

Regards,

 

Sunil K. Bhattacharjya