The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c7.67

c7.67

I have already stated that from the passage of the Taittirîya Sanhitâ just quoted we may fairly infer that the winter solstice occurred in those days on the full moon in Mâgha According to the Vedânga Jyotisha it fell a fortnight earlier, that is, on the first day of the bright half of Mâgha. It is roughly estimated that the equinox must recede about two divisional Nakshatras, *i.e.*, 26° 40', to make the seasons fall back by one month. Between the times of the Taittirîya Sanhitâ and the Vedânga Jyotisha the equinox must accordingly recede 13° 20' or nearly 14°. Now the position of the equinox as given in the Vedânga Jyotisha is 10° of Bharanî. From this to the beginning of the *divisional* Krittikâs, the distance is only 3° 20', while if we measure it from the *asterism* of Krittikâ it is 3° 20' + 10° 50' = 14° 10'. Therefore during the period that lapsed between the Taittirîya Sanhitâ and the Vedânga Jyotisha the equinox, according to Bentley, receded only 3° 20' ; while if we understand the Krittikâs to denote the asterism of that name, it gives us a precession of 14° 10'. Now as the winter solstice fell a fortnight later in the days of the Sanhitâ we must accept the latter precession of 10°, which alone corresponds with that interval of time (i. e. a fortnight) and assume that the vernal equinox then coincided with the asterism of Krittikâ, a conclusion the probability of which has already been established on other grounds. Bentley's speculation must, therefore, be rejected, unless we are prepared to allow his guess about the primary meaning of Vishâkhâ to prevail against reasonable conclusions based upon a passage from the Taittirîya Sanhitâ.