The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c9.4.1

c9.4.1

We shall first take up Mṛigashiras or Âgrahāyaṇî according to Amarasinha. The very name of the Nakshatra, which means "an antelope's head,"* suggests the figure of the asterism But the constellation consists of so many stars that it is very difficult to say which of them might have suggested the name. I may here remark that the doctrine of "Yogatârâs" or the junction stars cannot be supposed to have been developed in the early days we are here speaking of. I do not mean to say that single stars may not have been or were not specifically named. But wherever a constellation is spoken of, it is more probable that the whole group was intended, as in the case of the Seven Bears or the Kṛittikās; and hence the determination of the junction stars, as given in later astronomical works, cannot help us beyond indicating where we are to look for the constellation described in the old works. For instance, if we take Mṛigashiras we are told that one of the three small stars in the head of Orion is the junction star. This means that we must look for Mṛigashiras in the constellation of Orion. But how can these three stars give us the figure of an antelope's head? The three stars are so close that between themselves they give us no figure at all. It is, however, suggested that the two stars in the shoulders and two in the knees of Orion give us the four feet of the antelope, whose head may then be said to correspond with the three stars in the Orion's head.