yajvan
21 July 2007, 05:51 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~~
Namaste,
For many this question of nakshatra could be foreign to them. This may have been asked for those that had a puja, havan, homam i.e. yajya ( pronounced yag-ya) preformed for them at an Indian temple (mandir).
The purohita ( the priest) will ask one of the following: What is your nakshatra? Or What is your birth star. To that one would respond by giving one of the 27 Nakshatra's the moon travels in a given month.
Now the purohita may also ask 'what is your gotra?' - that is, which family of rishi's are you a descendant of? Many Indian families know of this.
Perhaps someone can take the lead on this and help explain how this all works.
This post is about nakshatra's and some background on this. One's Nakshatra is the position Chandra (the moon) at birth. For me I am Rohini. When born, Chandra was in the constellation identified as Rohini. This does not change over time.
So, lets stop for a second. I hear a question - 'yajvan, you are saying there's two constellation systems. The one we're just getting use to in the jyotish folder or the 12 constellations of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc . Now your saying there's another?' . Yep. Here's the deal.
Surya, the sun, travels through and owns the 12 constellations that you perhaps have more comfort with. The moon ( Chandra, Parviti, Sita,Gauri, Lakshmi, etc.) travels and owns the 27 nakshatra's. They are visible collections of stars in the sky. Each one of the nakshatra have a quality to them, just like the 12 constellations of the Sun. These nakshasta's live inside or straddle the Sun's constellations. The Moon then travels though these constellations month-in and month-out.
Lets get a better appreciation of the name, Nakshatra.
Nakshatra - 3 different views
Naka+ksha+tra: Naka = night + ksha = destruction, defending + tri is from trai to protect. A Nakshatra then is a lunar mansion ( like your home) that protects the native. I also think of it as Ksatriya , which has at its root this ksh, to defend + tri, to protect. And this Ksh at its root has kr =to act or do. So a Ksatriya =one who protects and is like Nakshatra.
Naksha+tra: Naksha = approach or gain + tra = protect/guard. So Nakshatra = to guard or protect from approaching dangers.
Na+kshetra: This Na has multiple roots. for this explanation, it is the bija sound for jala, water or fluid. Kshetra and its form is that of a region or house. Some even use this for the sign of the zodiac. So how is this connected? The moon is associated with jala tattva and also a water rasi, Cancer. Now it is of interest to me that this Na as bija for water also refers to the moon. So together it is Na ( moon) that rules over those regions or houses (kshetra) or Nakshatras.Hence, pending how the jyotishi is looking at a chart, s/he can be viewing it as being owned by the moon and related to all the things the moon is as a karaka ( significator), as protector, and as their various qualities of each mansion (ksha) that affects the human. AS this human comes from the union of of NA ( moon) + RA (sun). From that union a name (Nama) is formed, a sound, a vibration. Many look to the Nakshatra position for naming ones child as it was created by NA + RA ( mother = moon + Father = Sun) = nara = person.
The Dimension Of Nakshatra
AS we mentioned there are 27 (there is one special 28th nakshatra, Abhijit we will talk of later). Of we have a 360 degree path of the moon divided by 27 nakshatra, that gives each a 13 degree 20 min, arc angle.
Each have a graha owner e.g. Ketu, Sun, Moon, Jupiter, etc. Lets take Rohini ( the nakshatra of Sri Krsna's birth). It resides in the constellation of Taurus and occupies 13 degrees 20 min of an arc, as the rule stated above. The Nakshatra extends from 40 degrees to 53 degrees 20 min in the constellation of Taurus. The Nakshatra is owned by the moon, and it as place where the moon is happy to be, this is called it's exaltation point.
The names of each, their locations in the sky and who owns each
This URL with give you the name and a sky map of where these Nakshatra's can be found. Note that they do straddle over the 12 constellations of the sun. That is, a Nakshatra is not constrained by the 12 sun constellations. An example would be Krittika that starts in Aries and finishes in Taurus. There are several Nakshatras like this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshatra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshatra)
This was an introduction to this concept. If there is interest we will proceed with new posts will be offered in the Jyotish Folder on HDF, with a reference back to this location as needed.
For the next post if there is interest
Sounds of the Nakshatra (Vah, Voo, Day, Pha, Nuh, Roo, etc)
Groups of 9 ( 9x3 = 27)
Sub groups or padas ( there are 4 padas per nakshatra X 27 = our divine 108 number)
Qualities of the Nakshatra
Special conditions
pranams,
~~~~~~
Namaste,
For many this question of nakshatra could be foreign to them. This may have been asked for those that had a puja, havan, homam i.e. yajya ( pronounced yag-ya) preformed for them at an Indian temple (mandir).
The purohita ( the priest) will ask one of the following: What is your nakshatra? Or What is your birth star. To that one would respond by giving one of the 27 Nakshatra's the moon travels in a given month.
Now the purohita may also ask 'what is your gotra?' - that is, which family of rishi's are you a descendant of? Many Indian families know of this.
Perhaps someone can take the lead on this and help explain how this all works.
This post is about nakshatra's and some background on this. One's Nakshatra is the position Chandra (the moon) at birth. For me I am Rohini. When born, Chandra was in the constellation identified as Rohini. This does not change over time.
So, lets stop for a second. I hear a question - 'yajvan, you are saying there's two constellation systems. The one we're just getting use to in the jyotish folder or the 12 constellations of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc . Now your saying there's another?' . Yep. Here's the deal.
Surya, the sun, travels through and owns the 12 constellations that you perhaps have more comfort with. The moon ( Chandra, Parviti, Sita,Gauri, Lakshmi, etc.) travels and owns the 27 nakshatra's. They are visible collections of stars in the sky. Each one of the nakshatra have a quality to them, just like the 12 constellations of the Sun. These nakshasta's live inside or straddle the Sun's constellations. The Moon then travels though these constellations month-in and month-out.
Lets get a better appreciation of the name, Nakshatra.
Nakshatra - 3 different views
Naka+ksha+tra: Naka = night + ksha = destruction, defending + tri is from trai to protect. A Nakshatra then is a lunar mansion ( like your home) that protects the native. I also think of it as Ksatriya , which has at its root this ksh, to defend + tri, to protect. And this Ksh at its root has kr =to act or do. So a Ksatriya =one who protects and is like Nakshatra.
Naksha+tra: Naksha = approach or gain + tra = protect/guard. So Nakshatra = to guard or protect from approaching dangers.
Na+kshetra: This Na has multiple roots. for this explanation, it is the bija sound for jala, water or fluid. Kshetra and its form is that of a region or house. Some even use this for the sign of the zodiac. So how is this connected? The moon is associated with jala tattva and also a water rasi, Cancer. Now it is of interest to me that this Na as bija for water also refers to the moon. So together it is Na ( moon) that rules over those regions or houses (kshetra) or Nakshatras.Hence, pending how the jyotishi is looking at a chart, s/he can be viewing it as being owned by the moon and related to all the things the moon is as a karaka ( significator), as protector, and as their various qualities of each mansion (ksha) that affects the human. AS this human comes from the union of of NA ( moon) + RA (sun). From that union a name (Nama) is formed, a sound, a vibration. Many look to the Nakshatra position for naming ones child as it was created by NA + RA ( mother = moon + Father = Sun) = nara = person.
The Dimension Of Nakshatra
AS we mentioned there are 27 (there is one special 28th nakshatra, Abhijit we will talk of later). Of we have a 360 degree path of the moon divided by 27 nakshatra, that gives each a 13 degree 20 min, arc angle.
Each have a graha owner e.g. Ketu, Sun, Moon, Jupiter, etc. Lets take Rohini ( the nakshatra of Sri Krsna's birth). It resides in the constellation of Taurus and occupies 13 degrees 20 min of an arc, as the rule stated above. The Nakshatra extends from 40 degrees to 53 degrees 20 min in the constellation of Taurus. The Nakshatra is owned by the moon, and it as place where the moon is happy to be, this is called it's exaltation point.
The names of each, their locations in the sky and who owns each
This URL with give you the name and a sky map of where these Nakshatra's can be found. Note that they do straddle over the 12 constellations of the sun. That is, a Nakshatra is not constrained by the 12 sun constellations. An example would be Krittika that starts in Aries and finishes in Taurus. There are several Nakshatras like this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshatra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshatra)
This was an introduction to this concept. If there is interest we will proceed with new posts will be offered in the Jyotish Folder on HDF, with a reference back to this location as needed.
For the next post if there is interest
Sounds of the Nakshatra (Vah, Voo, Day, Pha, Nuh, Roo, etc)
Groups of 9 ( 9x3 = 27)
Sub groups or padas ( there are 4 padas per nakshatra X 27 = our divine 108 number)
Qualities of the Nakshatra
Special conditions
pranams,