The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s10.17

v1.c19.s10.17

Hillebrandt¹ suggests that the pole star is to be found not merely in the Dhruva of the domestic ritual, but in the Aghnya to whose head the Açvins are said to fasten one wheel of their chariot, while the other encircles the heaven, comparing the view of later times that the sun, moon, and stars are fastened to the pole star. An alternative view makes the inviolable one the sun, and it is clear that to assume the pole star in the absence of any other hint of its existence in the Rigveda is unwise. He treats Etaça,² who is usually regarded merely as the steed of the sun, as the morning and evening star, comparing him to the later Aruṇa, who does not certainly appear in the Vedic literature. Other efforts have been made to discover the Pleiades³ and the Milky Way⁴ as well as other stars in various mythological figures, but without marked plausibility.