6. The Sankrānts.

The solar year begins with the entrance of the sun into Mesha or Aries.[4] The day on which the sun passes into a new sign is called Sankrānt, and is to some extent observed as a holy day. But the Til Sankrānt or entry of the sun into Makara or Capricorn, which falls about the 15th January, is a special festival, because it marks approximately the commencement of the sun’s northern progress and the lengthening of the days, as Christmas roughly does with us. On this day every Hindu who is able bathes in a sacred river at the hour indicated by the Joshis of the sun’s entrance into the sign. Presents of til or sesamum are given to the Joshi, owing to which the day is called Til Sankrānt. People also sometimes give presents to each other.

7. The nakshatras or constellations of the moon’s path.

The Sankrānts do not mark the commencement of the Hindu months, which are still lunar and are adjusted to the solar year by intercalation. It is probable that long before they were able to measure the sun’s progress along the ecliptic the ancients had observed that of the moon, which it was much easier to do, as she is seen among the stars at night. Similarly there is little reason to doubt that the first division of time was the lunar month, which can be remarked by every one. Ancient astronomers measured the progress of the moon’s path along the ecliptic and divided it into twenty-seven sections, each of which represented roughly a day’s march. Each section was distinguished by a group of stars either on the ecliptic or so near it, either in the northern or southern hemisphere, as to be occultated by the moon or capable of being in conjunction with it or the planets. These constellations are called nakshatras. Naturally, some of these constellations are the same as those subsequently chosen to mark the sun’s path or the signs of the zodiac. In some cases a zodiacal constellation is divided into two nakshatras. Like the signs, the nakshatras were held to represent animals or natural objects. The following is a list of them with their corresponding stars, and the object which each was supposed to represent:[5]

Nakshatra.Constellation.Object.Corresponding zodiacal sign.
1.Aswini.β and γ Arietis.A horse’s head.Aries.
2.Bharani.35, 39 and 41 Arietis.Pudendum muliebre.Aries.
3.Krittika.Pleiades.A knife.Part of Taurus.
4.Rohini.α, γ, δ, ε, θTauri (Aldebaran).A wheeled carriage or a temple.Taurus.
5.Mrigasiras.λ, φ1, φ2, Orionis (Orion’shead).A deer’s head.
6.Ardra.Betelgeux or α Orionis (one of Orion’sarms).A gem.
7.Punarvasu.Gemini or Castor and Pollux.A house.Gemini.
8.Pushya.γ, δ and θ Cancri.An arrow.Cancer.
9.Aslesha.δ, ε, η, ρ andσ Hydrae.A wheel.
10.Magha.α, γ, ε, ζ, η andμ Leonis.A house.Leo.
11.Pūrva Phālguni.δ and θ Leonis.A couch.Leo.
12.Uttara Phālguni.β and 93 Leonis.A bed.Leo.
13.Hasta.α, β, γ, δ and εCorvi.A hand.
14.Chitra.Spica (α Virginis).A pearl.Virgo.
15.Swāti.Arcturus (α Boötis).A coral bead.
16.Visacha.α, β, γ and ιLibrae.A garland.Libra.
17.Anurādha. β, δ and π Scorpionis.A sacrifice or offering.Scorpio.
18.Jyestha.α, σ and τ Scorpionis.An earring.Scorpio.
19.Mula.ε, ζ, η, θ, ι, κ, λ,μ, υScorpionis.A lion’s tail.Scorpio.
20.Pūrva Ashādha.δ and εSagittarii.A couch or an elephant’s tusk.Sagittarius.
21.Uttara Ashādha.ζ and σSagittarii.An elephant’s tusk or the singāra nut.Sagittarius.
22.Sravana.α, β and γ Aquilae.The footprint of Vishnu.
23.Dhanishtha.α, β, γ and δDelphinis.A drum.
24.Sata-bhishaj.λ Aquarii.A circular jewel or a circle.Aquarius.
25.Pūrva Bhadrapada.α and β Pegasi.A two-faced image.
26.Uttara Bhadrapada.γ Pegasi and αAndromedae.A two-faced image or a couch.
27.Revati.ζ Piscium.A tabor.Pisces.

8. The revolution of the moon.

All the zodiacal constellations are thus included in the nakshatras except Capricorn, for which Aquila and Delphinis are substituted. These, as well as Hydra, are a considerable distance from the ecliptic, but may perhaps be nearer the moon’s path, which, as already seen, slightly diverges from it. But this point has not been ascertained by me. The moon completes the circuit of the heavens in its orbit round the earth in a little less than a lunar month or 27 days 8 hours. As twenty-seven nakshatras were demarcated, it seems clear that a nakshatra was meant to represent the distance travelled by the moon in a day. Subsequently a twenty-eighth small nakshatra was formed called Abhijit, out of Uttarāshādha and Sravana, and this may have been meant to represent the fractional part of the day. The days of the lunar month have each, as a matter of fact, a nakshatra allotted to them, which is recorded in all Hindu almanacs, and enters largely into the Joshi’s astrological calculations. It may have been the case that prior to the naming of the days of the week, the days of the lunar month were distinguished by the names of their nakshatras, but this could only have been among the learned. For though there was a nakshatra for every day of the moon’s path round the ecliptic, the same days in successive months could not have the same nakshatras on account of what is called the synodical revolution of the moon. The light of the moon comes from the sun, and we see only that part of it which is illuminated by the sun. When the moon is between the earth and the sun, the light hemisphere is invisible to us, and there is no moon. When the moon is on the opposite side of the earth to the sun we see the whole of the illuminated hemisphere, and it is full moon. Thus in the time between one new moon and the next, the moon must proceed from its position between the earth and the sun to the same position again, and to do this it has to go somewhat more than once round the ecliptic, as is shown by the following figure.[6]