The Orion, or Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas c9.69

c9.69

I have already alluded to the Parsi legends of the Chinvat Bridge and the dogs that keep it. There is, however, one more circumstance to which I wish here to refer. The star Tistrya has been identified with Sirius and the identification, if not absolutely correct, is at least sufficiently so for general purposes. But I think that the word itself has not been yet satisfactorily explained. I propose to derive Tistrya from Tri-stri which in Sanscrit means three-stars. Tri-stri may easily be corrupted into Tistri, Tister. Tister is, therefore, the same as Kerberos or trishiras and the fact that Tistrya is called Tir or arrow in Modern Persian further confirms this derivation, for the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa (iii. 33) calls it the three-starred or tripartite arrow of Rudra in the sky. I have in the last chapter shown that if we commence with the summer solstice and regard Fravashinam as the first month of the year, Tistreye corresponds to Mārgaśirṣha. If Tister is understood etymologically to mean the belt of Orion this coincidence of the months can be better accounted for. I am therefore of opinion that Tistrya should not be identified with Sirius, but with the belt of Orion. We can then better understand why the star should have been spoken of as Tistryeni* probably indicating more stars than one and also Pauryeni, the first. The Parsis have preserved another interesting relic of the asterism of Mṛigashiras, but I reserve it for the next chapter.