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5 Apr, 5 tweets, 2 min read
The next 3 nakShatra-s (mantra of only 1st shown) anUrAdhA; jyeSThA and mUla/vichR^itau are parts of the constellation of Scorpius. The glorious constellation in midst of the Milky Way. It is notable that if mUlam is root the vishAkhe are the dual branches. jyeShThA could mean Image
the foremost or the trunk. Thus it is possible that in old Aryan uranography the whole Scorpius-Libra complex was seen as a tree rooted ay the nether end of the equinoctial colure. This probably gave rise to the vaiShNava concept of the viShAkhayUpa mentioned in the pa~ncharAtra
texts & illustrated in some of the early vaiShNava iconography & coinage from the kuShANa age. The redness of Antares is recognized as it is termed the second rohiNI in the taittirIya saMhitA. The constellation is a heap of riches for the lay astronomical observer. The 3 glorious
globulars M4, NGC 6144 and M80 leave unforgettable impression on anyone looking at them with reflector of even 6 in. I saw them with the 3in refractor -- the first telescope I made. Under the clear skies of Rajmachi, Mh I have seen M4 with naked eye (my eyesight was good then).
My first memories of this part of the sky are from when the Halley's comet passed by. Shortly thereafter, I tested my 3in reflector on NGC 6124 (the open cluster on the right) & M7 next to the mUla asterism. Both glorious sights for any small instrument

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manasataramgini Profile picture
5 Apr
The next page the 2 aShADhA-s: another glorious part of the sky associated with the Sagittarius arm & the center of the Milky Way. The globular clusters surrounding the halo of the MW are superimposed against it. Most spectacular of these is M22, 1 of the brightest seen just NW Image
of the teapot of Sagittarius. Of the other globulars M 28, M 69, M 70 & M54. Of these M 54 has a remarkable history of being the core the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy a companion of the Milky Way that is undergoing capture! While associated with the center of the MW &
unlikely to be a constellation for external galaxy sight on good nights with a telescope of at least 6in 1 could see Barnard Galaxy -- 1 to the NW of the teaspoon part of Sgr. I have seen this twice in my life once under v.clearl skies in Texas with a mere 6in & once with a 10in
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manasataramgini Profile picture
5 Apr
Next page of the illustrated nakShatra-sUktam: the 2 vishAkhA-s. This nakShatra is termed the nakShatra mistress of the nakShatra-s. It is easily visible but not particularly bright making this appellation more of mystery. Tradition holds it takes the shape of a toraNa or festoon Image
That is quite like the modern form. However, its old name vishAkhe with dual branches might relate to a larger constellation (see subsequent pages). It is the constellation of the ikShvAku clan. Coming 1/2 way across the sky from the kR^ittikA-s it is associated with dual form of
skanda: vishAkha. The astronomical significance is obvious: with kR^ittikA the nakShatra of skanda & vishAkhe being positioned antipodally as the 2 "branches" of kumAra. The skanda-vishAkhau dual of the kaumAra tradition might also evoke the older indrAgnI dual associated with it
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manasataramgini Profile picture
3 Apr
Traditions instinctively value historical antiquity because it signals an stable strategy to its votaries. Thus even the nirgrantha & tathAgata respectively claimed that they were one in a long series of teachers/incarnates who existed alongside known H historical figures like
uddAlaka AruNi or rAma the ikShvAku or kR^iShNa devakIputra or the pANDu-s. Their tradition wrote pseudo-rAmAyaNa-s and pseudo-bhArata-s to emphasize the deep history of their mata to their followers i.e. it is antiquity was not less than that of their ortho-religious (H) rivals
This idea was probably quite deep in the Indian psyche -- that's why perhaps kAlidAsa actually had a verse protesting the idea that not all that is old is necessarily a positive signal. Even as late as as the 1700s the H students of Euclid commented that it has value because it
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manasataramgini Profile picture
2 Apr
Shortest R^ik-s of the RV: Our ancestor jamadagni bhArgava composed foot-short gAyatrI-s: 9.67.16-18 for the soma ritual 16 syllables each
pavasva soma mandayann indrAya madhumattamaH ||
asR^igran devavItaye vAjayanto rathA iva ||
te sutAso madintamAH shukrA vAyum asR^ikShata ||
1st to indra; second to the deva-s; 3rd to vAyu.
The we have 5 shortest R^ik-s of 10 syllables:
4.17.15 asiknyAM yajamAno na hotA ||
5.41.20 siShaktu na Urjavyasya puShTeH ||
5.42.17=5.43.16 urau devA anibAdhe syAma ||
10.20.1 bhadraM no api vAtaya manaH ||
The last of these is a
famous incantation that is used as an opening for auspicious thought to come while beginning RV study.
atri uses such a R^ik 3 times 5.41.20 for nourishment from the apasaras Urvashi; 5.42.17=5.43.16 as an incantation for wide unrestricted sphere of action.
4.17.15 is a riddle
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manasataramgini Profile picture
31 Mar
I'll give a rather difference response to the proposed answer which I think is only a case of sonic similarity because therein a simile of the son bowing to his father is used -- i.e. the votary bows to rudra like a son to his father. However, in this case rudra exalts his son's
glory by playing his student. This mytheme of the father playing along to lose to his son to enhance his glory is an old IE one. In the foundation of the Olympic games Zeus appears as a wrestler & purposely loses to Herakles to enhance his glory. Similarly, indra loses to arjuna
at khANDava in order to enhance his son's glory. Similarly, I suspect that these mytheme has been incorporated in the case of rudra enhancing kumAra. Now the overall myth my be traced back to several ancient mythemes in the shruti: 1) skanda as the teacher of the secret brahman
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manasataramgini Profile picture
28 Mar
Page 3 of our illustrate nakShatra-sUkta showing the 4th nakShatra ArdrA associated with brightest star as seen from the earth Sirius. The hands of rudra were associated with the other forward stars like beta. Another rich part of the sky with the open cluster M41 below Sirius Image
A good challenge in this constellation is to see the companion star of Sirius . It was predicted by great mathematician Friedrich Bessel through the wobble of Sirius and seen only later by others. It is a small star about the size of the Earth but with the mass of the sun. It
orbits Sirius at about the distance of Uranus from the Sun. We managed to see it with a 10 inch reflect with rare spectacular skies in 2018. It will remain at its widest separation over the next 3 years or so but is an extremely challenging object -- seeing something at the solar
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