History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.335.3

v6.c82.335.3

S 40 that deal with the materials or things that are under the influence of the several rāśis For example, Meṣa is the lord of garments, woollens, cloth made of the hair of a young goat, of *Masūra* pulse, wheat, resin, barley, gold and plants that grow on dry land.⁸³⁸ The Vāmanapurāṇa838a (chap 5 45-60) describes the appearance of the rāśis and the places and objects they reside in or dominate and the verses closely resemble the wording employed in the two Yavanajātakas of Sphujidhvaja and Mīnarāja Some verses are quoted below by way of illustration From Varāha's description it appears that Meṣa, Vṛṣabha, Karkaṭa, Siṁha, Vṛścika, Makara and Mīna are figures of animals (either four-footed or insects) and the remaining five resemble human beings with special characteristics in each case. These rāśi names have more or less the same meanings in Babylonia,⁸³⁹ in Europe including Greece and in India. But it should not be supposed that everywhere the several groups of stars were imagined to be identical with the figures of the same animals or of human beings. In China for instance, the twelve rāśis are rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, hen, dog and pig (Encyclopaedia Americana, vol. 29 under the word 'zodiac' and New Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopaedia vol 36 under 'Zodiac')839a. It is further stated that these are still found in some parts of Asia, in Japan and also among the remains of the Aztec race in America.