पुलस्त्य Pulastya

Phecda · γ Ursae Majoris · Ursa Major

saptarshiidentification likelyattestations 2 Phecda γ UMaHIP 58001mag 2.41

Attestations

Bṛhat Saṃhitā

पूर्वे भागे भगवान्मरीचिरपरे स्थितो वसिष्ठो +अस्मात् । तस्याङ्गिरास्ततो +अत्रिस्तस्यासन्नः पुलस्त्यश्च ।। १३.०५ ।।

The eastern-most of the group is Bhagavan Marichi; the next to him is Vasishtha; the next is Angirasa and the next two are Atri and Pulastya. — N. Chidambaram Iyer (1884), ch. XIII v. 5, p. 81

Fifth from the east in the BS 13.5 order; conventional mapping gives Phecda. BS gives the order only.

Bṛhat Saṃhitā 13.5 · text · translation

Vaṭeśvara & Sāmanta · composed 1869 CE (Śaka 1791); edited by Joges Chandra Ray, Calcutta 1899

सप्तर्षीणां ध्रुवं प्राग्भिर्नोक्तः सञ्चारसम्भवात् । तथाप्यनुभवात्तेषां व्यवस्था क्रियतेऽधुना ॥ ४१ ॥ पूर्व्वायं शकटाकारमुदक्स्थमुडुसप्तकम् । सुरर्षिमण्डलं प्रोक्तं व्यक्तं विश्वनमस्कृतम् ॥ ४२ ॥ तत्पूर्व्वोन्नतरेखायै मरीचिः पश्चिमे ततः । वसिष्ठोऽरुन्धतीयुक्तस्तत्पश्चादङ्गिराः स्थितः ॥ ४३ ॥ तत्पश्चाच्चतुरस्रस्य शम्भुदिश्यत्रिरस्य च । पुलस्त्यो दक्षिणे तस्य पश्चिमे पुलहः स्थितः ॥ ४४ ॥ क्रान्त्यन्ताः सौम्यबाणांशा लिख्यन्तेऽङ्गशराः५६ क्रतोः । पुलहस्यैकपञ्चाशत्५१ पुलस्त्यस्याग्निसायकाः५३ ॥ ५३ ॥ अङ्गपक्षिण५८ एवात्रेः षष्टि६०रङ्गिरसो मता । द्वाषष्ट्यंशा वसिष्ठस्य६२ मरीचेः षष्टि६०रीक्षिता ॥ ५४ ॥

Devanagari transcribed by the compiler from the page FACSIMILE (archive.org scan leaf n221 = printed p. 119) because the archive.org OCR of this volume is unusable for Devanagari; the page image itself was fetched in this session at https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.292705/page/n221.jpg . Every numeral was re-read at full scan resolution. Cross-checked against a second, independent scan of the same Ray edition at https://archive.org/download/siddhantadarpanachandrashekarsimha1897_252_Z/ , which agrees character for character on the figures. Round brackets and the figures in them are the PRINTED EDITION'S own: (n) is the serial number of the asterism/star, the figure after it the edition's decoding of the preceding bhūtasaṅkhyā word-numeral, so no numeral has been silently converted here. A handful of the compound word-forms in this worn 1899 type are uncertain and are marked in this database as read, not emended; the FIGURES, which carry the astronomy, were verified at high magnification in both scans. Devanagari transcribed by the compiler from the page FACSIMILE (archive.org scan leaf n222 = printed p. 120) because the archive.org OCR of this volume is unusable for Devanagari; the page image itself was fetched in this session at https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.292705/page/n222.jpg . Every numeral was re-read at full scan resolution. Cross-checked against a second, independent scan of the same Ray edition at https://archive.org/download/siddhantadarpanachandrashekarsimha1897_252_Z/ , which agrees character for character on the figures. Round brackets and the figures in them are the PRINTED EDITION'S own: (n) is the serial number of the asterism/star, the figure after it the edition's decoding of the preceding bhūtasaṅkhyā word-numeral, so no numeral has been silently converted here. A handful of the compound word-forms in this worn 1899 type are uncertain and are marked in this database as read, not emended; the FIGURES, which carry the astronomy, were verified at high magnification in both scans.

(41) 'The ancients did not state the dhruva of the Seven Ṛṣis, because of the possibility of [their] motion; nevertheless, from observation their arrangement is now determined. (42) The seven stars standing in the north, cart-shaped, [with the front] to the east — that is called the circle of the divine sages, manifest, saluted by all. (43) At its eastern raised line is Marīci; west of that, Vasiṣṭha together with Arundhatī; behind that stands Aṅgiras. (44) Behind that, of the quadrilateral … Pulastya is to the south, and west of him stands Pulaha. … (53) The northern arrow-degrees measured from the ecliptic are written down: fifty-six for Kratu, fifty-one for Pulaha, fifty-three for Pulastya; (54) fifty-eight for Atri, sixty is held for Aṅgiras, sixty-two degrees for Vasiṣṭha, and sixty observed for Marīci.' — Literal rendering by the compiler

★ SĀMANTA MEASURES THE SEVEN SAGES, WHICH NO EARLIER SIDDHĀNTA WOULD DO. XII.41: 'The ancients did not state the dhruva of the Seven Ṛṣis, because of the possibility of their moving; nevertheless, from observation, their arrangement is now determined.' XII.53–54 then give northern polar-latitude degrees measured from the ecliptic: Kratu 56, Pulaha 51, Pulastya 53, Atri 58, Aṅgiras 60, Vasiṣṭha 62, Marīci 60. This star's figure is 53°, against a true 1870 polar latitude of 53.01° — a difference of 0.01°. Taken together the seven figures reproduce the true sequence α 55.60, β 50.05, γ 53.01, δ 58.73, ε 61.85, ζ 63.92, η 60.58 in the right order and to within 2° throughout, which CONFIRMS INDEPENDENTLY the standard assignment Kratu = α, Pulaha = β, Pulastya = γ, Atri = δ, Aṅgiras = ε, Vasiṣṭha = ζ, Marīci = η. The topological description at XII.42–44 agrees: the seven form a cart (śakaṭa) standing in the north with its front to the east; Marīci is at the eastern end, west of him Vasiṣṭha together with Arundhatī, behind that Aṅgiras, then the quadrilateral with Pulastya to the south, Pulaha west of him and Kratu north of that — i.e. handle-tip to bowl, exactly the Big Dipper.

Siddhānta Darpaṇa of Candraśekhara Sāmanta, Grahagaṇita, Tripraśnādhikāra, 12th prakāśa (Bhagrahayogavarṇana) 41–45, 53–54 · text · translation