History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.268

v2.c23.268

There is another way of deriving names from nakṣatras set forth in medieval works on Dharmaśāstra and Jyotiṣa. Each of the 27 nakṣatras is divided into four pādas and to each pāda a specific letter is assigned (e. g., cū, ce, co and lā for the pādas of Aśvinī) from which names are derived for persons born in those pādas (e. g. Cūḍāmaṇi, Cedīśa, Coleśa and Lakṣmaṇa for the four pādas of Aśvinī).⁵⁶⁵ These names are secret and are even now muttered into the ear of the brahmacārī in Upanayana and are known as the name in the daily saṁdhyā prayer.