The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c7.61

c7.61

The passage thus supplies not only confirmatory, but direct evidence of the coincidence of the Kṛttikās with the vernal equinox in the days of the Taittirīya Sanhitā For, if the winter solstice fell on the full-moon day in Māgha, then the summer solstice, where the moon must then be, must coincide with the asterism of Maghā, and counting seven Nakshatras backwards we get the vernal equinox in the Kṛttikās. Independently of the Vedānga Jyotisha we thus have four different statements in the Taittirīya Sanhitā and Brāhmaṇa clearly showing that the vernal equinox was then in the Kṛttikās: firstly, the lists of the Nakshatras and their presiding deities, given in the Taittirīya Sanhitā and Brāhmaṇa, all beginning with the Kṛttikās; secondly, an express statement in the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, that the Kṛttikās are the mouth of the Nakshatras; thirdly, a statement that the Kṛttikās are the first of the Deva Nakshatras, that is, as I have shown before, the Nakshatras in the northern hemisphere above the vernal equinox; and *fourthly*, the passage in the Taittirîya Sanhitâ above discussed, which expressly states that the winter solstice fell in the month of Mâgha. The vernal equinox is referred to the Krittikâs directly or indirectly in all these passages and I do not think that any more confirmatory evidence from the Vedic works is required to establish the proposition that the Krittikâs coincided with the vernal equinox, when the Taittirîya Sanhitâ was compiled. As an additional proof I may, however, mention the fact, that Pitris are said to be the presiding deities of Mâgha in the Taittirîya Sanhitâ iv. 10. 1. With the Krittikâs in the vernal equinox Mâgha is the summer solstice and as the Dakshinâyana or the *ayana* of the Pitris commenced at this point, the asterism which happened to be there at that time was naturally assigned to the Pitris. The position for all the other cardinal points of the ecliptic can be thus shown to be consistent with the position of the vernal equinox in the Krittikâs.