The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c8.64

c8.64

To sum up: Interpreting the passage in the Taittirīya Sanhitâ, which states that the " *Phalgunî-pûrṇa-masa* is the month of the year," in the natural way suggested by the context and similar other passages in no less than five Brâhmaṇas, to mean that the winter solstice occurred on the Phalgunî full-moon in those days, we find that Mṛigashiras has been designated by a name, which, if properly understood, denotes that it was the first of the cycle of the Nakshatras, thus showing that the vernal equinox was once near it ; that Mûla can now be better understood as the star that rose at the beginning of the first night of the equinoctial year ; and finally the fortnight after the summer solstice was devoted to the feast of the manes, as the *ayana* of the *pitṛis* commenced at that point ; and that this is fully corroborated by the Parsi month of the manes falling in their primitive calendar at the same time. It was on evidence like this that the old position of the Kṛittikâs was determined, and I do not see why a similar conclusion about Mṛigashiras should not be allowed. It is true that no express statement has been cited to show that Mṛigashiras commenced the cycle of the Nakshatras in those days and that some scholars may not consider the *Agrahâyaṇi* sufficient for the purpose. In the following chapters I hope to show that there are a number of other circumstances—and even express texts—which leave little room for cautious fears like these.