वैश्वानरी Vaiśvānarī

the road of Vaiśvānara (Fire) · — · Scorpius/Sagittarius (Mūla, Pūrva- and Uttara-āṣāḍhā)

star roadidentification disputedattestations 3stars 3

Attestations

Purāṇas · c. 3rd-5th c. CE

मूलं पूर्वोत्तराषाढ़े वीथी वैश्वानरी भवेत्।। १२४.५८ ।।

Mūla and the two Aṣāḍhās — that road would be Vaiśvānarī. — Literal rendering by the compiler

Southernmost vīthī, Matsya 124.59. Directly contradicts Matsya 124.53, which gives the same three asterisms to Ajavīthī. The 1916 translator marks both verses corrupt and his rendering 'tentative only'.

Matsya Purāṇa 124.59 · text · translation

Utpala's commentary · Utpala 966 CE; the authorities he quotes (Garga, Parāśara, Kāśyapa, Devala) are all pre-Varāhamihira, surviving only in citation

अथ मार्गास्त्रयो भवन्त्युत्तरमध्यमदक्षिणाः। पुनरेकैकशस्त्रिधा नव वीथय इत्याचक्षते। तत्रोत्तरे नागगजैरावत्यः। मध्ये वृषभगोजारद्गव्यः। दक्षिणे मृगाजदहनाः। तासां नागाऽऽग्नेययाम्यवायव्यानि। गजवीथी रोहिण्यादीनि त्रीणि। चत्वारि परमैरावती। वृषभा फल्गुन्यौ। गोवीथी प्राक्प्रोष्ठपदादीनि चत्वारि। श्रवणधनिष्ठावारुणानि जारद्गवी। मृगवीथी त्वाष्ट्रहस्तम्। आजी मैत्रमैन्द्राग्न्यधिपमैन्द्रम्। मूलमषाढाद्वयं च वैश्वानरीमितीच्छन्ति। … [९.३ टीका] अषाढाद्वयं पूर्वाषाढोत्तराषाढा चेति दहनवीथी। … [काश्यपः] अजाद्या तु दहना स्मृता॥

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.

Parāśara: '…and Mūla with the two Āṣāḍhās they hold to be the Vaiśvānarī.' Utpala on 9.3: 'The two Āṣāḍhās, Pūrvāṣāḍhā and Uttarāṣāḍhā, are the Dahana-vīthī.' Kāśyapa: 'and the Dahanā, beginning with Ajā (Pūrva-Bhādrapadā), is so remembered.' — Literal rendering by the compiler

RESOLVES A CONTRADICTION THE DATABASE FLAGS AS UNRESOLVED. The database's 'vaishvanari' entry rests on Matsya 124.59 (Vaiśvānarī = Mūla + the two Āṣāḍhās) and marks it 'disputed' because Matsya 124.53 gives the same three asterisms to the Ajavīthī, with the 1916 translator calling both verses corrupt. Utpala quotes PARĀŚARA — a pre-Varāhamihira authority, independent of the Purāṇic transmission — reading exactly the Matsya 124.59 assignment: 'mūlam aṣāḍhā-dvayaṃ ca vaiśvānarīm itīcchanti', 'and Mūla with the two Āṣāḍhās they hold to be the Vaiśvānarī'. Matsya 124.59 is therefore the sound verse. SECOND NAME-FORM: Varāhamihira, Devala, Kāśyapa, Garga and the Samāsa-saṃhitā all call the ninth vīthī DAHANĀ ('the burning one', also a fire-name) and place it at the two Āṣāḍhās (Varāhamihira, Garga) or at Pūrva-Bhādrapadā, Uttara-Bhādrapadā and Revatī (Devala, Kāśyapa) — so Vaiśvānarī and Dahanā are the same slot under two fire-epithets but with different contents, which is why the identification stays 'likely' rather than 'certain'.

Utpala, Vivṛti on Bṛhat Saṃhitā 9.3–9.4, quoting Parāśara and Kāśyapa · text · translation

Mahābhārata & Rāmāyaṇa · Bāla Kāṇḍa, c. 1st–3rd c. CE

evaṃ bhavatu bhadraṃ te tiṣṭhantv etāni sarvaśaḥ / gagane tāny anekāni vaiśvānarapathād bahiḥ //

CE reference R_1,059.030 = vulgate Bāla Kāṇḍa 60.

All these innumerable stars, O foremost of anchorets, shall remain in the firmament outside the path of Vaiśwānara and shining in their splendour, Trisanku shall dwell with bended head, like unto an immortal. — Manmatha Nath Dutt (1892)

The database carries Vaiśvānarī only from the Purāṇas; the Rāmāyaṇa attestation is materially earlier and, more usefully, it is used as an OPERATIVE boundary rather than a catalogue heading: Viśvāmitra's new asterisms are to stand 'outside the Vaiśvānara path'. That presupposes a three-road (or at least an inside/outside) division of the sky already in force when the Bāla Kāṇḍa was composed, with the Vaiśvānara road as the reference band beyond which the far-southern stars lie. This is the clearest early functional use of the mārga concept the database has. The identification with the middle/solar road follows the Purāṇic scheme already recorded (margas, jaradgava, airavati).

Rāmāyaṇa 1.59.30 (Critical Edition, Bāla Kāṇḍa) = Griffith Book I Canto LX · text · translation

वैश्वानरी Vaiśvānarī

Attestations

See also