Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s20.202

v1.c3.s20.202

(6) Others, again, according to the Gṛhya ritual, began the year with the month Mārgaśīrṣa, as is shown by its other name Āgrahāyaṇa 150 (‘belonging to the commencement of the year’). Jacobi and Tilak 151 think that this one denoted the autumn equinox in Mṛgaśiras, corresponding to the winter solstice in Phālgunī. But, as Thibaut 152 shows clearly, it was selected as the beginning of a year that was taken to commence with autumn, just as some took the spring to commence with Caitra instead of Phālguna.¹⁵³