the Serpent-road, northernmost of the nine star-roads · — · Aries and Taurus (Aśvinī, Bharaṇī, Kṛttikā)
Purāṇas · c. 3rd-5th c. CE
नागावीथ्युत्तरं यच्च सप्तर्षिभ्यश्च दक्षिणम् । उत्तरः सवितुः पंथा देवयानश्च स स्मृतः ॥ ९० ॥ — cf. मत्स्य १२४.५४: अश्विनीकृत्तिकायाम्या नागवीथ्यस्त्रयः स्मृताः।
The path of the gods lies to the north of the solar sphere, north of the Nágavithi, and south of the seven Rishis. — H.H. Wilson (1840; public domain)
Matsya 124.54 states its three asterisms: Aśvinī, Kṛttikā, and yāmyā (= Bharaṇī, whose deity is Yama). Wilson's note 23 to VP 2.8 gives the same: 'The stars of the Nágavíthi are those of Aries and Taurus.' In Viṣṇu P. 2.8.90 it is a latitude marker: the Devayāna lies north of Nāgavīthī and south of the Saptarṣis. Homonym caution: Nāgavīthī is also a woman in the genealogies (daughter of Yāmī) at VP 1.15.107 — the star-road personified.
Viṣṇu Purāṇa 2.8.90; Matsya Purāṇa 124.54; Vāyu Purāṇa 50.130; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1,21.77 ·
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translationUtpala's commentary · Utpala 966 CE; the authorities he quotes (Garga, Parāśara, Kāśyapa, Devala) are all pre-Varāhamihira, surviving only in citation
अश्विन्यादित्रिभाः सर्वा नागाद्या दहनान्तिकाः। वीथयो भृगुपुत्रस्य नव प्रोक्ताः पुरातनैः॥ … तथा च काश्यपः— त्रिष्वश्विन्यादिषु यदा चरति भृगुनन्दनः। नागवीथीति सा ज्ञेया प्रथमान्या निबोधत॥ रोहिण्यादिगजा ज्ञेयाऽदित्याद्यैरावती स्मृता। मघाद्या वृषभा ज्ञेया हस्ताद्या गौः प्रकीर्तिता॥ जारद्गवी विशाखाद्या मूलाद्या मृगवीथिका। अजवीथी विष्णुभाद्याऽजाद्या तु दहना स्मृता॥ इति॥ … [९.२ टीका] पवनः स्वातिः। याम्यं भरणी। अनलः कृत्तिकाः। एतानि नक्षत्राणि नागवीथी। पैतामहात्त्रिभास्तिस्रः। पैतामहं रोहिणी तत आरभ्य त्रिभास्त्रिभिस्त्रिभिर्भनक्षत्रैस्तिस्रो वीथयो भवन्ति। तद्यथा—रोहिणीमृगशिरआर्द्रा गजवीथी। पुनर्वसुतिष्याश्लेषा ऐरावती। मघा पूर्वफल्गुनी उत्तरफल्गुनी चेति वृषभा। गोवीथ्यामिति। अश्विन्यः पौष्णं रेवती द्वे भद्रपदे पूर्वभद्रपदोत्तरभद्रपदे। एतानि चत्वारि नक्षत्राणि गोवीथी। … तथा च गर्गः— कृत्तिका भरणी स्वाती नागवीथी प्रकीर्तिता। रोहिण्याद्यास्त्रिभास्तिस्रो गजैरावतवार्षभाः॥ अहिबुध्न्याश्विपौष्णं च गोवीथीति प्रकीर्तिता। श्रवणत्रितयं ज्ञेया वीथी जारद्गवीति सा॥ मैत्रत्रिभा मृगाख्या स्याद्धस्तचित्राविशाखिका। अजवीथी तु दहनाषाढायुग्ममिति स्मृता॥ पूर्वोत्तरा नागवीथी गजवीथी तदुत्तरा। ऐरावती ततो याम्या एतास्तूत्तरतः स्मृताः॥ आर्षभी तु चतुर्थी स्याद् गोवीथी पञ्चमी स्मृता। षष्ठी जारद्गवी ज्ञेया तिस्रस्ता मध्यमाश्रिताः॥ सप्तमी मृगवीथी स्यादजवीथी तथाष्टमी। दहना नवमी ज्ञेया दक्षिणं मार्गमाश्रिताः॥
Transcribed from the Devanagari OCR of the printed edition at shloka_source_url (Achyuta Nand Jha ed., vol. 1) and checked word-for-word against two further independent scans of two different printed editions of the same commentary — Krishna Chandra Dvivedi's (https://archive.org/download/brihatsamhitawithbhattotpalavivrittipartidr.krishnachandradvivedi/Brihat%20Samhita%20%20with%20Bhattotpala%20Vivritti%20Part%20I%20-%20Dr.%20Krishna%20Chandra%20Dvivedi_djvu.txt) and A.V. Tripathi's (https://archive.org/download/JiUm_brihat-samhita-part-1-of-varaha-mihira-by-avadh-bihari-tripathi-saraswati-bhavan-granthamala/Brihat%20Samhita%20Part%201%20of%20Varaha%20Mihira%20by%20Avadh%20Bihari%20Tripathi%20-%20Saraswati%20Bhavan%20Granthamala_djvu.txt). Only glyph-level OCR artifacts that all three scans show to be artifacts (e.g. OCR रद्वव for रद्गव, श्व for श्च) have been normalised; every substantive reading is as scanned, and the two places where the scans genuinely differ are flagged in identification_notes.
Devala: 'All the triads from Aśvinī, from Nāgā to Dahanā — the nine vīthīs of Bhṛgu's son (Venus) were declared by the ancients.' Kāśyapa and Varāhamihira's own scheme and Garga's follow; for their renderings see db_ids 'aditya-punarvasu', 'paitamaha' and 'arshabhi'. Garga: 'Kṛttikā, Bharaṇī and Svātī are proclaimed the Nāga-vīthī…' — Literal rendering by the compiler
FIVE INDEPENDENT SCHEMES, four of them pre-Varāhamihira, are set side by side by Utpala in ch. 9 — this is the single densest surviving witness to the vīthī system, and the database's vīthī entries hitherto rest on the Purāṇas alone. (a) DEVALA and others: nine triads straight from Aśvinī, Nāgā to Dahanā. (b) KĀŚYAPA: the same triads, given asterism by asterism. (c) VARĀHAMIHIRA'S OWN (BS 9.2–3), which starts the Nāgā with Svātī instead of Aśvinī and gives the Go-vīthī four asterisms and the Dahanā two. (d) PARĀŚARA, differing again (Airāvatī four, Vṛṣabhā two, Mṛga-vīthī two, Ājī = Anurādhā/Viśākhā/Jyeṣṭhā, Vaiśvānarī = Mūla + the two Āṣāḍhās). (e) GARGA, close to Varāhamihira. Plus (f) the SAMĀSA-SAṂHITĀ, Varāhamihira's own lost epitome, agreeing with (c). Utpala explicitly notes the clash — 'atra varāhamihireṇa saha bhedaḥ', 'here there is a difference with Varāhamihira' — and Varāhamihira himself refuses to adjudicate at 9.7. For the NĀGA-VĪTHĪ specifically the split is sharp: Devala and Kāśyapa make it Aśvinī, Bharaṇī, Kṛttikā; Varāhamihira, Garga, Parāśara and the Samāsa-saṃhitā all replace Aśvinī with the far-off SVĀTĪ (Parāśara phrasing it by deity: 'āgneya-yāmya-vāyavyāni'). Utpala also supplies the variant name VYĀḌA ('serpent') for the same road, in his chapter opening.
Utpala, Vivṛti on Bṛhat Saṃhitā 9.1–9.4, quoting Devala, Kāśyapa, Parāśara, Garga and the Samāsa-saṃhitā ·
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