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Early Writings on the Nakshatra from the Shaardoolakarnaavadaan
Translated with Commentaries by Kenneth Johnson

Introduction
The Shaardoolakarnaavadaan is a Buddhist text dating, probably, from the first century BC. Widely popular, it was twice translated into Chinese and once into Tibetan, becoming a standard work for Buddhist astronomy and astrology in general. Despite its Buddhist origins, the astronomy and astrology contained within the Shaardoolakarnaavadaan is characteristic of Hindu Jyotish as practiced throughout India. While the love story that prefaces the work, as well as the debate about caste which follows, are indeed of Buddhist origin, the astrological portion of the text contains no references to Buddhism, but many references to the caste system, Vaidik rituals, etc. Part of the text’s significance lies in the fact that its contents are similar to those of the legendary Garg Sanhitaā, an enormously important astronomical text, also from the 1st century BC, which was believed to contain all indigenous Indian astronomical knowledge.

Many people, even Sanskrit Pandit, have told me emphatically that this work no longer exists; but this is not quite true. In the late 1970s, Dr David Pingree, Professor of the History of Mathematics at Brown University, located three fragmentary manuscripts in Cambridge, Paris, and Bombay. They were, however, in such poor condition as to be beyond even Pingree’s considerable powers of reconstruction. The material contained in the Shaardoolakarnaavadaan is as close as we are ever likely to get to the contents of the Garg Sanhitaā, and represents an extremely clear picture of what astronomy/astrology was like in India during the 1st Christian century.

The Shaardoolakarnaavadaan deals with two lovers, of different castes, who have come together again after many incarnations, but must
overcome limitations of caste in order to reunite. The fathers of the two principals, a Brahmin and a learned outcaste named Trishanku, debate about reality, and it is within the frame of this debate that the astrological material is included.

Why should a “learned outcaste” lecture specifically about astronomy and astrology? In Hindu myth, Trishanku is a sage who strove to enter
Heaven while still in his mortal body. The gods tossed him out, and he remained suspended forever in the sky as the constellation we call the
Southern Cross. Important stars and constellations are often said to be the souls of great Rishi, as for example the Big Dipper, commonly
called the Seven Rishi (Sapt Rishi), or the bright star Canopus, associated with the sage Agastya. In the Shaardoolakarnaavadaan, the sage of the Southern Cross has incarnated once again as the outcaste father of the young lover.

The love story was the subject of a dance drama written by India’s Nobel prize-winning laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. The astrological
portions of the text have never been previously translated. The edition of the Shaardoolakarnaavadaan used here is the critical edition
edited by S. Mukhopadhyaya and published by Vishvabharati in 1954. For the basic translation I have used Apte’s Student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, with much thanks to Nicolai Bachman for his assistance and with emendations from Apte’s larger Practical Dictionary courtesy of Dr. Bruce Perry, Professor of Sanskrit, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Characteristics of the Work
In this work, all the lists begin with the Nakshatra Krittikaa, the constellation known in the West as the Pleiades. This demonstrates the
archaic, even atavistic, nature of the text. All the most ancient lists (including Atharv Ved, 19.7) begin in this fashion; inasmuch as the Hindu New Year has always begun at the spring equinox, many scholars have believed that the Nakshatra must have originated at a time when the equinox took place in the Pleiades, an era which began around 2,400 BC during the Harappan period. Despite the fact that the Shaardoolakarnaavadaan was written while the equinox was in Bharanee Nakshatra, none of the lists were ever altered to fit the actual astronomical situation. It is only after about 300 BC. that we find Nakshatra lists beginning with Ashwinee, marking the beginning of Aries.

Also, in Hindu myth the Nakshatra are the daughters of Daksh Prajāpati and consequently they are all written as feminine nouns today, though in this text some of them (Mrigashiraa, Punarvasu, Pushya, Hast, Mool, Abhijit, and Shravan) have masculine or neuter endings.

The work usually lists twenty-eight Nakshatra rather than twenty-seven, for it usually (though not always) includes Abhijit, which is something of a mystery. Abhijit is included in all the earliest lists of the Nakshatra (including Atharv Ved, 19.7); in the beginning, there were clearly twenty-eight lunar mansions rather than the current twenty-seven. Abhijit’s importance to the early Nakshatra tradition is critical. In the Mahaabhaarat, the great king and exemplar of the Dharm, Yudhishthir, is born in the Muhoort or hour of Abhijit. Why was Abhijit left out of the later Nakshatra count? No one really knows. Mahaabhaarat 3.37.219.7-10 reads: “The Goddess Abhijit, the younger sister of Rohinee and her rival, has gone to the forest to mortify herself, for she wishes to be the eldest…. Now a constellation has dropped from heaven.” Abhijit is the star Vega, hence nowhere near the ecliptic and not on the path of the planets and the luminaries.

The Legend of the Southern Cross
Only Selected Chapters

Chapter 1. Birth in the Nakshatra
One born in the Krittikaa becomes honored and famous. One born in Rohinee becomes very fortunate, also a giver of pleasure. One born in
Mrigashiraa becomes a seeker of battles. One born in Āardraa becomes a fountainhead of food and drink. [1] One born in Punarvasu becomes a farmer and a cowherd. One born in Pushya becomes possessed of good qualities. [2] One born in Aashleshaa becomes lustful. One born in Maghaa becomes full of knowledge, also magnanimous. [3] One born in Poorvaa-Phaalgunee becomes diminished in life-span. One born in Uttaraa-Phaalgunee becomes accustomed to fasting and is intent upon heaven. [4] One born in Hast becomes a thief. [5]

One born in Chitraa becomes skilled in dancing and singing and knows all the rules of ornamentation. One born in Swaatī becomes a mathematician, or the best among mathematicians. [6] One born in Vishaakhaa becomes a soldier of the king. One born in Anuraadhaa becomes a merchant, also a trader. One born in Jyeshthaa becomes diminished in life-span and in abundance. One born in Mool becomes possessed of sons, also famous. One born in Poorv-Aashaadhaa becomes a practitioner of Yog. One born in Uttaraa-Aashadhaa becomes a lord among devotees, also well-born. One born in Abhijit becomes a famous man. One born in Shravan becomes honored by kings. One born in Dhanishthaa becomes wealthy. One born in Shatabhishaa becomes an ascetic. [7] One born in Pūrvaa-Bhaadrapadaa becomes the general of an army of thieves. One born in Uttaraa-Bhaadrapadaa becomes a seller of perfumes, also a Gandharv. [8] One born in Revatee becomes a navigator. [9] One born in Ashwinee becomes a seller of horses. One born in Bharanee becomes a victim-slayer. [10]

Chapter 3. Regions and Places
O, Pushkarasaarin, Krittikaa Nakshatra is possessed by the people of Kaling [11] and Magadh. [12] Rohinee is possessed by all of humankind. Mrigashiraa is possessed by those of Videh [13] and those who serve near the king. Thus Aardraa is possessed by kshatriya and Braahman. Punarvasu is possessed by those with emeralds. Pushya Nakshatra is possessed by all those dressed in beautiful clothing [14] and those who serve at the feet of the king. Aashleshaa is possessed by the Naag and the Himaalaya. [15] Maghaa Nakshatra is possessed by the Gaudikans. [16] Poorvaa-Phaalgunee is possessed by thieves. Uttaraa-Phaalgunee is possessed by the people of Avantee. [17] Hast is possessed by the Sauraashtrikan. [18]

Chitraa is possessed by birds with two feet. Swaati is possessed by those who have roamed about like mendicants. Vishaakhaa is possessed by the watery ones. Anuraadhaa is possessed by merchants and their carts. Jyeshthaa is possessed by doorkeepers. Mool is possessed by travelers. Poorvaa-Aashaadhaa is possessed by Balkh and Uttaraa-Aashaadhaa is possessed by Kamboja. [19] Abhijit is possessed by all those who travel to the South and by those of Taamra Parnikaa. [20] Shravan is possessed by killers and thieves. Dhanishthaa is possessed by Kuru of the Paanchaal. [21] Shatabhishaa is possessed by ascetics and by those who have encompassed the Atharv Ved. Poorvaa-Bhaadrapadaa is possessed by perfume sellers and those of Greek Kaamboj. [22] Uttaraa-Bhaadrapadaa is possessed by Gandharv. Revatee is possessed by navigators. Ashwinee is possessed by horse merchants. Bharanee is possessed by those made with beautiful feet and beautiful bodies.

Chapter 5. Eclipses
O, Pushkarasaarin, If a lunar eclipse occurs in in Krittikaa, the eclipse is possessed by the people of Kaling and Magadh. [23] If a lunar eclipse occurs in Rohinee, the eclipse is possessed by all of humankind. If a lunar eclipse occurs in Mrigashiraa, the eclipse is possessed by the people of Videh and those who serve near the king. Thus should it be said [24] as regards Aardraa, Punarvasu, and Pushya. If a lunar eclipse occurs in Aashleshaa, the eclipse is possessed by the Naag and the Himaalaya. If a lunar eclipse occurs in Maghaa, the eclipse is possessed by the Gaudikan. If the Moon is grasped in Poorvaa-Phaalgunee, the eclipse is possessed by thieves. If the Moon is grasped in Uttaraa-Phaalgunee, the eclipse is possessed by the people of Avantee. If the Moon is grasped in Hast, the eclipse is possessed by the Sauraashtrikan.

If the Moon is grasped in Chitraa, the eclipse is possessed by birds and by the two-legged. If the Moon is grasped in Svwaatī, the eclipse is possessed by all those who have roamed about like mendicants. If the Moon is grasped in Vishaakhaa, the eclipse is possessed by the watery ones. If the Moon is grasped in Anuraadhaa, the eclipse is possessed by merchants and their carts. If the Moon is grasped in Jyeshthaa, the eclipse is possessed by doorkeepers. If the Moon is grasped in Mool, the eclipse is possessed by travelers. If the Moon is grasped in Poorvaa-Aashaadhaa, the eclipse is possessed by the people of Avantee. [25] If the Moon is grasped in Uttaraa Aaashaadhaa, the eclipse is possessed by Kaamboj. If the Moon is grasped in Abhijit, the eclipse is possessed by all those who travel to the south and by those of Taamra Parnikaa. If the Moon is grasped in Shravan, the eclipse is possessed by thieves and killers. If the Moon is grasped in Dhanishthaa, the eclipse is possessed by Kuru of the Paanchaal. If the Moon is grasped in Shatabhishaa, the eclipse is possessed by ascetics and by those who have encompassed the Atharv Ved.

If the Moon is grasped in Poorvaa-Bhaadrapadaa, the eclipse is possessed by perfume sellers and those of Greek Kaamboj. If the Moon is grasped in Uttaraa-Bhaadrapad, the eclipse is possessed by Gandharv. If the Moon is grasped in Revatee, the eclipse is possessed by navigators. If the Moon is grasped in Ashwinee, the eclipse is possessed by horse merchants. If the Moon is grasped in Bharanee, the eclipse is possessed by those upon the seacoasts. [26]

Chapter 7. Categories of Muhoort
O, Pushkarasaarin, There are four Dhroova [27] Nakshatra, as I shall explain. Hear me. Namely: They are the three Uttara and Rohinee. [28]
Here may one dwell high in happiness. And here should people plant seeds. And here may any fitting thing be entered into. And here one should anoint a king. And whatever other actions are mentioned, one may cause those to be done.

Whatever is destroyed, burned, even pierced or removed
Will swiftly be made auspicious.
One born here is blessed, learned and famous;
He will become auspicious, of great enjoyment and a great Yogee.

O, Pushkarasaarin, There are four swift Nakshatra. Namely: Pushya, Hast, Abhijit, and Ashwinee. [29]
During these swift ones, the expert may cause actions to be done. Studying, the commencement of mantras, the beginning of a long journey
and going about on horses may all be done. Yoking cows and horses, actions involving herbs, [30] and all healing regimens may all be done. And during these four may rites be made to commence. And whatever is destroyed or burned or pierced will be made auspicious. Thus it ought to
be said.

One ought to know that one who is born here is auspicious and famous,
Great in enjoyment, a great Yogee and a lord,
Greatly wealthy, great in enjoyment, and of the highest greatness,
A benevolent Kshatriya and a Braahman who is a family priest.

Ah, but Pushkarasaarin, There are five dreadful Nakshatra. Namely: Maghaa, the three Poorvaa, and Bharanee are the five.
And whatever is destroyed or burned or pierced during these will not be made auspicious.

It should be said: There are six that are half-dark. Namely: They are Aardraa, Aashleshaa, Swaatī, Jyeshthaa, Shatabhishaa and Bharanee. The nine-portion and the six-portion are two fields. Rohinee, Punarvasu, and Vishaakhaā, and the three Uttaraa are of both portions. There are fifteen fields.

Krittikaa, Maghaa, Mool, and the three Poorvaa: these six are the former parts. Mrigashiraa, Pushyā, Hast, Chitraa, Anuraadhaa, Shravan, Dhanishthaa, Revatee, and Ashwinee: these nine Nakshatra are the latter parts, and these fields are linked by thirty Muhoort. [31]

O Braahman, there are also favorable Muhoort and there are unfavorable Muhoort. There are mixed Muhoort. When the combination among all these Nakshatra is favorable, the result is that there are favorable Muhoort. When unfavorable Muhoort are the result, they are not favorable. When once again there are mixed outcomes, there are ordinary results.

Chapter 11. The Binding and Liberation of Prisoners
"O, Pushkarasaarin, One who is bound and obstructed in the Krittikaa will be liberated after three nights, as it is said. One who is bound and obstructed in Rohinee will be liberated after three nights. One who is bound and obstructed in Mrigashiraa will be liberated after 21 nights. One who is bound and obstructed in Aardraa will be liberated after a fortnight. One who is bound and obstructed in Punarvasu will be
liberated after seven nights. In Pushya, after three nights. In Aashleshaa, after thirty nights. In Maghaa, after sixteen nights. In Poorvaa-Phaalgunee, after ten nights. In Uttaraa-Phaalgunee, after seven nights. In Hast, after five nights. In Chitraa, after seven nights. In Swaatī, after ten nights.

In Vishaakhaa, after twenty-six nights. In Anuraadhaa, after thirty-one nights. In Jyeshthaa, after eighteen nights. In Mool, after thirty-six
nights. In Poorvaa-Aashaadhaa, after fourteen nights . In Uttaraa-Aashaadhaa, after fourteen nights. In Abhijit, after six nights. In Shravan, Dhanishthaa, Shatabhishaa, Pūrvabhādrapadā, Uttarabhādrapadā, and Revatī, after fourteen
nights. In Aśvinī, after three nights. One who is bound and obstructed
in Bharaṇī will obtain much suffering, as it is said.

[1] Here we see the author indulging in what I believe to be a kind of word play. I have translated the term utsa
as “fountainhead,” even though this seems a strange word choice to
describe one who bestows a great deal of food and drink all around.
However, it should be remembered that the adjective ārdra means “wet” or “moist,” so a kind of pun may be intended. And though I have chosen to translate pānāna simply
as “drink,” it often has the connotation of liquor, an alcoholic drink.
This also fits with the typical perception of Ārdrā as a fierce or
unruly constellation, governed by Rudra, the destructive aspect of Ṥiva.


[2] The actual term is ṣīlavān. I have translated this as
one who is “possessed of good qualities,” though another possibility
would be “one who practices meditation.” I toyed with this idea,
especially since the love story that makes up the early part of the Ṥārdūlakarṇāvadāna often uses the term, “a member of the Buddha’s ṣīla”
in precisely that sense. However, the word is also used simply to mean
something which is a habit, or to which one has become accustomed. There
is no reason to believe that the same author who wrote the love story
also wrote this nakṣatra text; therefore I have chosen to err on the
side of conservatism.


[3]
This is a glowing prediction indeed! Here we might wish to remember
that Maghā is the first magnitude star Regulus, a cornerstone of
celestial mythology all over the world. This constellation is ruled by
the pitaraḥ or ancestors. Coming, as it does, close to the summer solstice and thus serving as a marker for the ayana or half year, Maghā is often said to begin the ayana which
is ruled by the spirits of the ancestors, as opposed to the other half
year, from the winter solstice back to Maghā, which is ruled by the
gods.


[4] The word for “intent upon heaven,” is svargaparāyaṇa, a term which implies deep and constant meditation until the world is transcended.


[5] This is highly unusual. For the most part, Hasta is considered to be one of the most favorable nakṣatras. The word hasta simply
means hand, and is most often interpreted as referring to the
protective hand of the sun god Savitṛ, the deity who rules this
asterism. This is the only time I have ever seen it interpreted as the
clever hand of a thief or pickpocket (which must be the sense of the
word here), but there is no other way to translate caura except “thief.”


[6]
There may be a reference to astrologers here. When the text says that
those born under Svātī become “mathematicians,” the word is gaṇika, which can also mean “astrologer.” All the same, I have never seen the word ganika used to describe an astrologer elsewhere – jyotiṣi is the term almost universally used. There is indeed a division of jyotiṣ described in some medieval texts which is called ganita,
but the texts themselves imply that this relates solely to the
mathematical calculations involved, and all of my contemporary teachers
have agreed. Therefore I have translated ganika in its more common meaning.


[7] The word used here is mūlika. This is derived from mūla, meaning, among other things, a root. There is a form of asceticism called mūlakacchraḥ, which involves subsisting only on roots and herbs. A mūlika
would appear to be the type of ascetic who follows this diet. This
seems to be related to some of Ṥatabhiṣā’s most important associations.
The name of the asterism means “one hundred doctors,” and it has always
been regarded as the constellation of the healer, the Ayurvedic
physician, the herbalist.


[8] This is probably the best example of word play in the text. I have chosen to leave the word gandharva
untranslated. It refers to a category of semi-divine beings who amuse
themselves playing celestial music and making love. In human terms, the
word can also refer to a musician of great skill, which is certainly the
meaning intended here. The root of the word is gandhaḥ, meaning an aroma or fragrance, and a “seller of perfumes” is gandhika,
derived from the same root. Hence there is a kind of pun on the idea of
aroma or fragrance. There may be a pun on eroticism as well; in
folklore, the perfume seller is in a perfect position to carry messages
and act as liaison between women and men intent upon romance; the gandharvas spend all their time making love.


[9]
Revatī has always been the sign of the traveler, for it is ruled by the
Vedic deity Pūṣan, a god of crossroads and a kind of psychopomp. All
the same, it is surprising to find this expressed through the word nāvika,
meaning “navigator.” References to sea-faring are few and far between
in Indic literature; no matter how far they journeyed, Hindu navigators
always stayed within sight of the shore and sailed by “coasting.” It may
be significant that this text was written at about the same period of
time that India was establishing its first “colonial” kingdoms in Burma,
Cambodia, and Indonesia.


[10] I am not the least bit happy with this translation, but I don’t know what else to do with it. The compound noun is vadhyaghātaka. The word ghātaka means “slayer,” but vadhya
is more difficult. It can mean one sentenced to execution, or enemy, or
victim. However, the compounds formed from it relate primarily to
execution: a vadhyapaḍhahaḥ is a drum beaten at the time of execution, while vadhyasthānaṃ is the place of execution and vadhyamālā is the garland placed around the neck of the condemned man. Perhaps “executioner” would be a better translation. The nakṣatra is ruled by Yama, the god of death, who was himself the first human sacrifice.


[11]
Kaliṅga, though now identified as a region on the southeast coast of
India (sometimes known as the Coromandel coast), was anciently a kingdom
much farther north along the eastern coast, not far from present-day
Calcutta.


[12] Magadha is the southeastern portion of the present-day state of Bihar, as well as the name of the principal city of the region.


[13] Videha was an ancient kingdom often mentioned in the Mahābhārata. It lay in present-day northern Bihar as well as in parts of Nepal.


[14] This might also mean “all those who dwell in beautiful houses.”


[15]
The Nāgas were serpent beings, wise but treacherous; they frequently
mated with human beings to produce unusual demi-gods. They live beneath
the earth. The word haimavat can mean mountains generically as
well as the Himalayas in particular; though I have translated the word
literally, one should understand that the author may be using it in a
general way to give the sense of “depths and heights” to the whole
phrase.


[16] Gauḍa was a region of ancient India, but I have been unable to determine its precise location. A Puraṇic reference says: vaṃgadeśaṃ samārabhya bhuvaneśaṃtagaḥ śive | gauḍadeśaḥ samākhyātaḥ sarvavigcāviśāradaḥ ||


[17]
Avanti was an ancient name for the city now called Ujjain, a sacred
city which is one of the sites of the Kumbha Mela and which contains the
temple of Mahakala (“great time”). Ujjain was the prime meridian of
ancient India, and an important center for astronomy and astrology.
Apte’s dictionary remarks that the women of Avanti were regarded as
highly skilled in all the erotic arts.


[18]
Saurāṣtra is the peninsular portion of the state of Gujarat, an
important region all the way back to the days of the Harappan
civilization, and, at the time of the composition of the Ṥārdūlakarṇāvadāna, an important trading entrepot with the Roman Empire.



[19]
This is not Cambodia but a kingdom located in the northern reaches of
the Indus, presumably in present-day Pakistan and close to modern
Kashmir.


[20]
This was the name of a river in Malaya, renowned for its pearls. Though
“Kamboja” is not “Cambodia,” one wonders if “all those who travel to
the south” may indeed refer to traders and colonists from India who were
exploring and settling in Southeast Asia at the time this text was
written.


[21] This is the famous battlefield of Kurukṣetra, where the mythic conflict that forms the centerpiece of the epic Mahābhārata was fought.


[22]
There were two kingdoms called Kamboja, one of them a Greek-speaking
state to the north of the Hindu Kamboja, hence close to the Indo-Greek
cultural capital of Gandhara.

[23]
The reader will quickly see that this chapter essentially follows the
series of attributions already established in Chapter 3 regarding
regions and countries. There are only a few variations. For explanation
of the place names, see the footnotes to that chapter.


[24] It is unclear as to whether the term vaktavyaṁ
(thus should it be said) means that the following three nakṣatras ought
to be interpreted like Mṛgaśirā or like the material detailed in
Chapter 3.


[25]
This is very likely a mistake. Chapter 3 links Pūrvāṣāḍhā with the
Central Asian city of Balkh, while Avanti is attributed only to
Uttaraphalgunī . Here Avanti is mentioned with both Pūrvāṣāḍhā and
Uttaraphalgunī , which is very likely a copyist’s error.

[26]
This attribution is quite different from Chapter 3, wherein Bharaṇī is
linked with “those made with beautiful feet and beautiful bodies.”


[27] The word dhrūva
means “fixed” or “constant,” but I have chosen to leave this term
untranslated because it has a range of associations which cannot easily
be resolved into a single word. Dhrūva is the name for the northern
star, which is generally regarded as the “center of the universe,” the
world axis from which a direct line leads from one’s sacred space (the
place of ritual or spiritual practice) to the world beyond. Anything
done when the Moon is in one of the dhrūva nakṣatras places
that action at the very center of the universe; hence it is the time for
religious rituals, the anointing of kings, etc.


[28] The four dhrūva nakṣatras listed in the text are precisely the same as those listed in the standard work on the subject, the Bṛhatsaṃhitā of Varāhamihīra (c. 550 CE), and thus the same ones recognized as such into modern times.


[29]
These are almost but not quite the same swift nakṣatras listed by
Varāhamihīra, who omits Abhijit. See my previous comments regarding this
nakṣatra, which was dropped from the list of nakṣatras at some unknown
point in history.


[30] I am reading cauṣadhīkarmāni rather than coṣadhīkarmāni. Either way, the reference is to the healing arts and goes along with the succeeding reference to “healing regimens.” Apte’s Student Dictionary lists a word coṣaḥ,
which means either an inflammation or “sucking” (presumably a reference
to the shamanic healing practice known as “cupping and sucking”). This,
however, is a rather unlikely reading. The reference to herbs is
perfectly in context. One of the swift nakṣatras is Aśvinī, and the
various actions such as beginning long journeys, riding on horses,
taking herbs or beginning healing regimens all relate to the Aśvins of
mythology, who daily make a long journey across the sky in a chariot
pulled by swift horses, and who are renowned as healers, especially with
herbs. A well-known Ayurvedic herbal preparation is named for one of
the individuals they healed.


[31] There is much here that is unexpected and “new” to us. For example, many are familiar with the categories of the nakṣatras used in muhūrta
or electional astrology and described by Varāhamihira. The text begins
with an outline of these same categories, but then breaks off in the
middle of the discourse, to be followed by the exposition of a
completely different system of categorization which, to the best of my
knowledge, is entirely unknown to present-day practitioner of Jyotiṣ.
This entire method of classifying or categorizing the nakṣatras is
unknown to me and, I suspect, to any other contemporary practitioner of
Jyotiṣ. (The Ṥārdūlakarṇāvadāna was
ignored during the medieval period because of its Buddhist origins; it
remains virtually unknown even now.) It will quickly be seen that these
nakṣatra categories constitute a whole different way of classifying the
lunar mansions.

Referring to the table below, anyone relatively familiar with the
nakṣatras will see that this method of classification, though ancient,
is also inherently psychological. The “half-dark” nakṣatras are the ones
which tend to be more troublesome, while the “Early Field” includes
those which tend to be morally ambivalent. The “Mixed Field” leans more
towards those nakṣatras which are typically considered positive, and the
“Later Field” is almost wholly so.

There are some unexpected judgments here as well. Why, for instance,
should Svātī and Ṥatabhiṣa be included among the more difficult lunar
mansions? Our current psychological interpretations might acknowledge a
certain pridefulness or arrogance in Svātī and a certain melancholy or
even morbidity in Ṥatabhiṣa, but we would still expect to find them
among the “Early Field” of nakṣatras or even the “Mixed.” And what is
Rohiṇī, acclaimed throughout almost all early texts as the “queen of the
nakṣatras,” doing in the “Mixed Field”? All of this deserves further
contemplation and study.


HALF-DARK

Ārdrā Aśleṣā Svātī Jyeṣṭā Ṥatabhiṣa Bharaṇī

EARLY FIELD OF ACTION

MIXED FIELD OF ACTION

LATER FIELD OF ACTION

Kṛttikā
Maghā
Pūrvaphalgunī
Mūlā
Pūrvāṣāḍhā
Pūrvabhādrapadā

Rohiṇī
Punarvasu
Uttaraphalgunī
Viśākhā
Pūrvāṣāḍhā
Uttarabhādrapadā

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