The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c12.36

c12.36

From this the next recorded step is to Ashvinî. There is, however, an interesting story related in the Mahâbhârata which evidently refers to an abortive attempt to reform the calender when the seasons had again fallen back by a fortnight. In the 71st chapter of Âdiparva we are told that Visvâmitra attempted to create a new world,* and make the Nakshatras commence with Shravaṇa, instead of Dhaniṣṭha; and the same story is alluded to in the Ashvamedha Parva, chapter 44. The tradition can also be found in other Purâṇas where Visvâmitra is represented as endeavouring to create a new celestial sphere. It appears, however, that he did not succeed, and the Krittika-system, as modified by the Vedânga Jyotiṣa, continued to regulate the calendar until the list of the Nakshatras was quietly made to begin, as noticed in the third chapter, with Ashvini in later times.