India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s15.t1.1

c8.s15.t1.1

*NĀMA*)—Pāṇini knows the custom of naming persons after the asterism of their birth (IV.3.34; 37; VIII.3.100); *e.g.*, Tishya (a boy born under Tishya); Punarvasu (a boy born under Punarvasu, IV,3,34.¹ Such *Nakshatra* names are practically unknown in the entire Vedic literature (except perhaps Chitra and Ashāḍha, which also may be differently interpreted.² This class of names is post-Vedic and constitutes a chronological landmark in social history separating the age of the *Sūtras* from that of the *Brāhmaṇas*.