History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c41.7

v3.c41.7

Oldenberg in his note on Śāṅ. gṛ. IV. 5. 2 ‘when the herbs appear, under the nakṣatra Hasta or Śravaṇa’ (S. B. E. vol. 29, p. 112) remarks ‘the nakṣatra Śravaṇa is evidently considered as particularly fit for this occasion because of its name containing an allusion to *śruti*’. But this conjecture has no plausibility. Hardly any ancient writer makes the suggestion that Śravaṇa and Śruti are brought together on account of the root ‘śru’. The presiding deity of Hasta is Savitṛ. Owing to the supreme importance given to the Gāyatrī verse (of which Savitṛ is the deity) and to the fact that Veda study begins with the recitation of the Gāyatrī, the nakṣatra Hasta would be closely connected with the starting of Veda study. As a matter of fact the Śāṅ. gṛ. IV. 5. 2 mentions Hasta first and then Śravaṇa; the Hira. gṛ. does not name the Śravaṇa nakṣatra at all, but names Hasta in this connection; while the Āśv. gṛ., Pār. gṛ. and several others mention both Śravaṇa and Hasta.