India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s14.54

c8.s14.54

Pāṇini also subscribes to the Vedāṅga conception of the *nakshatras* as a scale divided into twenty-seven equal parts. Under this division of the ecliptic, the twelve months were named after the moon's entry into the mansion of a particular star (*Nakshtreṇa yuktaḥ kālaḥ*, IV.2.3.). When the full-moon was in conjunction with the asterism of *Chitrā*, that day was known as *Chaitrī Paurṇamāsī* (IV.2.3), and the lunar month which included the *Chaitrī Paurṇamāsī* was named *Chaitra* (VI.2.21). The name of the star even without a suffix was used as synonymous with the time, for example, the expression *adya Pushyaḥ* indicated the day named after the star, as we name our days at present after the *tithis* like *Pratipad*, *Dvitīyā*, etc. (IV.2.4).