The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c8.2

c8.2

Phâlgunî full-moon, the new year's night—Sâyana's explanation unsatisfactory—Phâlguna could not be a Vasanta month—Two fold character of the seasons, lunar and solar, superfluous—Discussion of a passage in Shushruta—Bhâskara Bhatta's explanation.—Winter solstice on the full-moon in Phâlguna—The position of other cardinal points Vernal quinox in Mrigashiras—*Agrahâyani*—Native Lexicographers' explanation of the word—Grammatically objectionable—Its real meaning according to Pânini—Erroneous rank of Mârgashirsha amongst months according to the Bhagavad Gîtâ and Amara—Mârgashirsha could not have been the first month of the solstitial or the equinoctial year—It leads to the libration of the equinoxes—Possible reason of the libration theory—Mrigashiras—*Agrahâyana* or the first Nakshatra in the year—Mûla, its primary meaning—Evidence of the summer solstice occuring in Bhâdrapada—Origin of the annual feasts to the manes amongst Hindus and Parsis—Comparison of the primitive Hindu and Parsi calender—Summary of results.