Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s20.15

v1.c3.s20.15

The Nakṣatras as Stars in the Rigveda and Later.—The sense of ‘star’ appears to be adequate for all or nearly all the passages in which Nakṣatra occurs in the Rigveda.⁷ The same sense occurs in the later Saṃhitās also: the sun and the Nakṣatras are mentioned together,⁸ or the sun, the moon, and the Nakṣatras,⁹ or the moon and the Nakṣatras,¹⁰ or the Nakṣatras alone;¹¹ but there is no necessity to attribute to the word the sense of ‘lunar mansion’ in these passages.