Nakshatra
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Nakshatra (Sanskrit: नक्षत्रम्, romanized: Nakṣatram) is the term for a lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of the 27 (sometimes 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to the prominent star or asterism in or near the respective sectors. Every nakshatra is divided into four padas (lit. "steps").
The starting point for the nakshatras according to the Vedas is "Krittika" (it has been argued that this is because the Pleiades may have marked the start of the year at the time the Vedas were compiled, presumably at the vernal equinox), but in more recent compilations, the start of the nakshatra list is the point on the ecliptic directly opposite the star Spica, called Chitrā in Sanskrit. This corresponds to Ashwinī, a part of the modern constellation of Aries. These compilations, therefore, may have been compiled during the centuries when the sun was passing through Aries at the time of the vernal equinox. This version may have been called Meshādi or the "start of Aries".[1][full citation needed][2]
The first astronomical text that lists them is the Vedanga Jyotisha.[3][better source needed]
In classical Hindu scriptures like the Mahabharata (Shalya Parvan,section 35)[4] and Harivamsa, the creation of the asterisms is attributed to Daksha.[5] The nakshatras are personified as daughters of Daksha and as wives of Chandra, the god of the Moon. When Chandra neglected his other 26 wives in favour of Rohini, his father-in-law cursed him with leprosy and proclaimed that the Moon would wax and wane each month.[6] The nakshatras are also described as the daughters of Kashyapa.
Nakshatra is one of the five elements of a Pañcāṅga. The other four elements are:
Etymology
[edit]The sanskrit term naksatra denotes a special class of heavenly bodies associated with the moon. The term naksatra consists of the root náks-(meaning "to attain") combined with the suffix -tra (or -l-atra, meaning "place"), meaning "the place to which the moon attains".[7]: 1075–1076
History
[edit]Historically, nakshatra referred to stars or star-groups associated with the Moon's path. In later jyotisha, the term also came to denote 27 equal divisions of the ecliptic. In this equal division system, each nakshatra spans 13° 20'.[7]: 1081
The Atharva veda contains a list of 28 nakshatras. Other ancient Indian scriptures like the Taittiriya Samhita (4.4.10.1-3) and the Shatapatha Brahmana (10.5.4.5) record 27 nakshatras.[4]
In the Atharvaveda
[edit]
In the