The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c8.52

c8.52

For says he "Mṛigashirṣham (is) Mṛigashiras; Āgrahāyaṇī (is used) to denote the very same*;” thus implying that a feminine word is used to denote what he supposed might be regarded only in the neuter gender. This is, indeed, a plausible explanation. It not only absolves Amarasinha from the charge of having given a wrong, or at least a distorted, word, but makes him warn his readers not to misunderstand the word Āgrahāyaṇī for the full-moon night—a mistake into which almost all his commentators have, however, unfortunately fallen. It may further explain why instead of the Nakshatra, the full-moon day (both of which were on this theory denoted by the same word Āgrahāyaṇī) came to be regarded as the first night of the year and so gave rise to later speculations. But the fact that Amarasinha mentions Mārga-shīrsha first amongst the months shows that he was not altogether free from the influence of the speculative theory; and the explanation above stated must therefore be accepted with caution.