It has been previously discussed how the vernal equinox was in kṛttikā nakṣatra. In the same Taittirīya Saṇhitā mantra, there are also mentions of Phālguna and Caitra paurṇamī-s, which are mentioned as alternate days for ekāṣṭaka, the day samvatsara satra and other year long sacrifices should usually begin. We must side-track to discuss this a little further since in the previous blog it was not all that relevant. Ekāṣṭaka here has been intrepreted to mean, by Mimānsaka-s following Jaimini, and Āpasthamba, as the kṛṣṇa aṣṭamī of Māgha. There were some objections to this day, since it is said to be a ‘distressed’ day, for the following reasons:

• According to the bhāshyakāra Sāyaṇa, it is ‘distressed’ because the previous year has already ended, and that the preparations for the new satra must commence before the new year commences and not just after the previous year ends

• According to another bhāshyakāra Shabara, it is ‘distressed’ because it is extremely cold during this time, and taking holy baths during this time would be undelightful

• Shabara also holds that the word ‘reversed’ (vyasta) here means reversing of the āyana, meaning the change brought in due to the recent winter solstice

These are the objections to ekāṣṭaka, hence the alternatives being provided. Both of these days are mentioned to be “mouth of the year”. But why should there be three beginnings to an year? Sāyaṇa asserts that because these months fall in first of seasons, vasanta. He also tries to say this can be the case because the days can be interpreted as solar and lunar, but we must remember that the lunar calendar has always been adjusted to match the solar calendar, in our times with the addition of adhika māsa. There is really no basis to fully believe in such double tracking of dates, and hence must be interpreted differently. It may be fair to say that, like currently, as also in Sāyaṇa’s times, vasanta began in Phālguna but we have no reason to believe it did the in the same month during the times of shruti-s. There are also other mantra-s in other Brāhmaṇa-s that put Phālguna paurṇamī as the first night of the year, meaning the night of the first day of a new year. So the only logical conclusion here is that the all these three days have been, at different points, the beginnings of the year, that is the winter solstice, and have been remembered in tradition (according to Tilak, they cannot be the vernal equinox because such interpretation would give ‘unreasonable’ dates). A commentator by the name of Bhāskara Bhaṭṭa explains as much, commenting on the Saṇhita mantra-s:

एवं दूषयित्वा पक्षान्तरं परिगृण्हाति फल्गुनीपूरर्णमास इत्यादि। फल्गुन्या युक्तः पूर्णमासः फल्गुनीपूर्णमासः। मुखं वा इति। अत्र केचिदा(हृः?) फाल्गुनादि संवत्सर इति।

So considering that when Phālguna paurṇamī was the first night of the year, winter solstice fell near uttara bhādrapadā, the vernal equinox in mṛgashīra, summer solstice in uttara phalguni and autumnal equinox in mūla. I would like to emphasize that we are talking of the nakṣatra-s here, and that the reader does not correlate them with the māsa-s named after them. The solstitial and equinoctical events are tracked through the path of the Sun, and only the tithi is lunar. Alright, but this is just a theory based on one interpretation of those mantra-s. So, is there any chance we find support for this in the Veda-s?

Āgrahāyaṇi, which literally means “commencing the year” (also could mean “first-coming”) is a synonym for mṛgashīra, and hence the month itself being called Āgrahāyaṇika or simply Agrahāyaṇa. In uttarapatha villages of India, Mārgashīra is still called Agahan, clearly stemming from Agrahāyaṇa. If the older understanding of commencing a year from the vernal equinox be applied to this, this means mṛgashīra gets this name because it was quite literally the first nakṣatra of the year. Tilak discusses some derivations and etymology of Āgrahāyaṇi, and he says that it appears in providing such etymology, there was some confusion between Āgrahāyaṇi and Āgrahāyaṇa and the ancient grammarians assumed Āgrahāyaṇa to mean the month of Mārgashīra instead of the nakṣatra of mṛgashīra. This discussion is extremely detailed and covers many commentators and different rules of vyākaraṇa, which this idiot writer cannot fully explain and also since these are just notes, are not really worth getting into currently. Basically, the confusion is explained away and we are to understand that, as mentioned earlier, Āgrahāyaṇa or Agrahāyaṇa is the nakṣatra, and not the month (primarily, the month gets its name due to the former). And just as uttarāyaṇa in Māgha means vernal equinox falling in kṛttikā, uttarāyaṇa in Phālguna means vernal equinox in mṛgashīra. And even more if the autumnal equinox against kṛttikā in vishākhā renders it to mean “divided” in the equinoctical sense, autumnal equinox against mṛgashīra in mūla would render its meaning as the “root” (or first) in the sense that it was the first nakṣatra that rose in the east upon the evening. But this meaning of mūla is still conjecture.

Uttarāyaṇa on Phālguna paurṇamī puts the start of dakṣiṇāyana on Bhādrapada paurṇamī, in the nakṣatra of uttara phalguna. This makes Bhādrapada kṛṣṇapakṣa as the first pakṣa of dakṣiṇāyana. Those aware of the traditions, will definitely know that the pitṛ pakṣa also begins in Bhādrapada even today. And there is no better reason as to why Bhādrapada kṛṣṇapakṣa should specifically mark this period, apart from the ancient memory of a pitṛ pakṣa beginning at this time. Expanding our horizons here, if we look to other Indo-European cultures, we do find similar traditions and practices. For example, the festival of Fravardigan celebrated among the Pārsi-s is also a festival to celebrate the ancestors of Zoroastrians, which begins around vernal equinox today, Pārsi new year day. But there are grounds to believe that the older-Avestan calendar began not with vernal equinox, but with summer solstice. This is in keeping with how the Zoroastrians are opposed to vaidika-s in many aspects, and if the latter began their year with the colder, darker winter solstice, surely the former would choose the more hotter, dampier summer solstice. More information can be found from this site. Additionally, the fourth month since Fravardigan, Trishtreye is the month of Sirius constellation, which is close to mṛgashīra, and hence would become the vaidika equivalent of Mārgashīra. Also the fourth month before Fravardigan, Dathusho is dedicated to the Creator, Ahura Mazda which makes sense metaphorically if you consider that in the same time period Dathusho would have begun with the vernal equinox and hence would be the month of plenty. Could such attribution to Ahura Mazda also imply that at one point the Avestan calendar too began with the vernal equinix like the old vaidika calendar? We do not know for sure, but it is not entirely impossible.

We will further see extremely ancient legends attached to these nakṣatra-s spanning different cultures that would further make a case for mṛgashīra stronger. Something to keep in mind is, so far Tilak ji has not commented on Caitra paurṇamī, on whether it was meant as a even older date or something else, because if it is the former the dating of such recordings goes even further back. We shall see if any such clarifications are made in following chapters.

To be continued.