India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c13.8

c13.8

*ŚRAVISHṬHĀ AS THE FIRST NAKSHATRA*—In a list of ten *nakshatras* in *sūtra* IV.3.34, Pāṇini puts Śravishṭhā as the first. Although the other stars in the *sūtra* are not strictly in the order of the ecliptic, the commencement of the list with Śravishṭha appears to have a reason for it. Śravishṭhā was the first star in the calendar of the Vedāṅga Jyotisha which must have been compiled during the period when other Vedāṅga works including Vyākaraṇa were also written. As the subject is full of technical difficulties it would be safer to go by the opinion of experts in the matter. The relative positions of the *nakshatra* lists together with their significance is stated by G. R. Kaye as follows: 'The early lists all begin with Kṛittikā, but the *Mahābhārata* puts Śravaṇa first. The Jyotisha Vedāṅga begins with Śravishṭhā; the *Sūryaprajñapti* with Abhijit, the *Sūrya Siddhanta* with Aśvinī. But here Aśvinī is definitely equated with the vernal equinox, while Abhijit, Śravaṇa and Śravishṭhā, which are continuous, are equated with the winter solstice . . .' (The Nakshatras And Precession, *Indian Antiquary*, Vol. 50, p. 47).