History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.117

v6.c82.117

About months a good deal would have to be said later on. The word is either 'mās' or 'māsa'. We have 'mās' in Ṛg. I. 25. 8, IV 18. 4, X 52. 3 'He (Agni) appears every day and every month' and we have 'māsa' in Ṛg. III. 31. 9, V. 78. 9 (may the boy lying in the womb of his mother for ten months come out alive &c.), X. 184. 3. 'Mās' (the measurer) also means the Moon, as in Ṛg. VIII. 94. 2, X 12.7 ('sūrye jyotir-adadhur-māsyaktūn,' the gods placed light in the Sun and darkness in the Moon), X. 64. 3, X. 68. 10, X 92. 12, X. 93. 5. The words 'mās' (moon) and 'māsa' (month) are Indo-European, as variants of the same occur in many languages of the so-called Aryan family of languages.