Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s20.89

v1.c3.s20.89

1. Kṛttikās are unquestionably η Tauri, etc., the Pleiades. The names of the seven stars forming this constellation, and given above from Yajurveda texts,⁶⁸ include three—abhrayantī, ‘forming clouds’; meghayantī, ‘making cloudy’; varṣayantī, ‘causing rain’—which clearly refer to the rainy Pleiades. The word kṛttikā possibly means ‘web,’ from the root kṛt, ‘spin.’