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0 Video to understand what Saptarishi looks like in the sky during different epochs before going into the detailed discussion over Riksha and Arkshya.
Assembled sanskrit texts and notes to solve timeline of Agastya and Rigvedic king Shrutarva-Arakshya, their connection with Big Dipper and Little Dipper…
आग॑न्मवृत्र॒हन्त॑मं॒ज्येष्ठ॑म॒ग्निमान॑वम्।यस्य॑श्रु॒तर्वा॑बृ॒हन्ना॒र्क्षोअनी॑क॒एध॑ते॥Mantra Rig 08.074.004
आ । अ॒ग॒न्म॒ । वृ॒त्र॒हन्ऽत॑मम् । ज्येष्ठ॑म् । अ॒ग्निम् । आन॑वम् । यस्य॑ । श्रु॒तर्वा॑ । बृ॒हन् । आ॒र्क्षः । अनी॑के । एध॑ते ॥
यऋक्षा॒दंह॑सोमु॒चद्योवार्या॑त्स॒प्तसिन्धु॑षु।वध॑र्दा॒सस्य॑तुविनृम्णनीनमः॥Mantra Rig 08.024.027
यः । ऋक्षा॑त् । अंह॑सः । मु॒चत् । यः । वा॒ । आर्या॑त् । स॒प्त । सिन्धु॑षु । वधः॑ । दा॒सस्य॑ । तु॒वि॒ऽनृ॒म्ण॒ । नी॒न॒मः॒ ॥
य इन्द्रः। अस्मान्। ऋक्षात्=घातकात्=ऋक्षपशुवद् भयानकात्। अंहसः=पापात्। मुचत्=मुञ्चति यः। सप्तसिन्धुषु=सर्पणशीलासु नदीषु। वा=यद्वा। आर्य्यात्=धनं प्रेरयति। यद्वा। सप्तसिन्धुषु=शिरःसु। विज्ञानं प्रेरयति। हे तुविनृम्ण=बहुधनेन्द्र ! दासस्य=उपक्षपितुर्जनस्य बधाय। बध=हननसाधकमायुधम्। नीनमः=नमय ॥२७॥
Saam Veda ~ Poorvarchika ~ Prapaathaka.1 ~ Ardhaprapaathaka.2 ~ Dashati.09
वयम् (वृत्रहन्तमम्२) अतिशयेन पापहन्तारम्। पाप्मा वै वृत्रः। श० ११।१।५।७, (ज्येष्ठम्) अतिशयेन प्रशस्यं वृद्धं वा। अतिशायनार्थे इष्ठनि ‘ज्य च’ अ० ५।३।६१, ‘वृद्धस्य च’ अ० ५।३।६२ इति सूत्राभ्यां क्रमेण प्रशस्यस्य वृद्धस्य च ज्यादेशः। (आनवम्३) अनुभ्यो मनुष्येभ्यो हितस्तम्। अनुरिति मनुष्यनाम। निघं० २।३। (अग्निम्) तेजस्विनं परमेश्वरम् (अगन्म) प्राप्ताः स्मः। (यः स्म) यः खलु (श्रुतर्वन्४) श्रुताः ख्याता अर्वाणः किरणरूपा अश्वा यस्य स श्रुतर्वा, तस्मिन् श्रुतर्वणि ज्योतिर्मये सूर्ये, श्रुतर्वन्, इत्यत्र ‘सुपां सुलुक्’ अ० ७।१।३९ इति सप्तम्या लुक्। ‘श्रुत-अर्वन्’ अत्र च ‘शकन्ध्वादिषु पररूपं वाच्यम्’ अ० ६।१।९४ वा० इति पररूपम्। तथा (आर्क्षे५) ऋक्षाणि नक्षत्राणि, तेषां समूह आर्क्षम्, तस्मिन् तारकपुञ्जे। ऋषन्ति गच्छन्त्याकाशे तानि ऋक्षाणि नक्षत्राणि। ऋष धातोः ‘स्नुव्रश्चिकृत्यृषिभ्यः कित्’ उ० ३।६६ इति स प्रत्ययः। तेषां समूहः आर्क्षम्। (बृहदनीकः५) महातेजाः सन् (इध्यते) दीप्यते, भासते। तथा चोपनिषद्वर्णः “न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्रतारकं नेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्निः। तमेव भान्तमनुभाति सर्वं तस्य भासा सर्वमिदं विभाति” कठ० ५।१५ इति।
१. ऋ० ८।७४।४, ‘यस्य श्रुतर्वा बृहन्नार्क्षो अनीक एधते’ इत्युत्तरार्द्धपाठः।२. वृत्रहन्तमं शत्रूणां हन्तारम्—इति वि०। अतिशयेन तमोहन्तारम्— इति भ०। पापानामतिशयेन हन्तारम्—इति सा०।३. अनुर्मनुष्यः तस्यापत्यम्। मनुष्येण हि मन्थनेन अग्निर्जन्यते—इति वि०। अनवो मनुष्याः तेभ्यः हितम्—इति भ०। मनुष्यसम्बन्धिनम्, तेषां हितकारिणम्—इति सा०।४. श्रुतर्वन्निति विवरकारेण आमन्त्रितान्तं स्वीकृतम्, तच्चिन्त्यं स्वरविरोधात्। श्रुतर्वा नाम ऋषि—इति वि०। श्रुतर्वणि राज्ञि—इति भ०। ‘श्रुतर्वनाम्नि राजनि’—इति सा०।५. आर्क्ष्यः ऋक्षस्य पुत्रः इति वि०। आर्क्ष्ये ऋक्षपुत्रे—इति भ०। ऋक्षपुत्रे—इति सा०। सर्वैः ‘आर्क्ष्ये’ इति पाठं मत्वा व्याख्यातम्।६. बृहदनीकः बृहत्तेजाः—इति भ०।
Lets see the etymology of Ursa and Riksha.
Ursa / ursine (adj.)
“pertaining to a bear,” 1550s, from Latin ursinus “of or resembling a bear,” from ursus “a bear,” cognate with Greek arktos, from PIE *rtko- (see arctic). (source also of Avestan aresho, Armenian arj, Albanian ari, Latin ursus, Welsh arth); see bear (n.) for speculation on why Germanic lost the word.
Now Riksha
ऋक्ष n. the twelfth part of the ecliptic
ऋक्ष m. pl. the seven stars, the Pleiades, the seven Ṛṣis, RV. i, 24, 10 ; ŚBr. ii ; TĀr
ऋक्ष mn. a star, constellation, lunar mansion, Mn. ; MBh. ; R.
Conclusion on etymology; The word significantly shows sanskrit to Avestan variant “Riksha~Rishi~Araksha~Aresho” and Avestan to Greek variant “Aresho~Arctos”~and Avesta Aresos to Latin Ursus. Latin Ursus is a genus in the family Ursidae (bears)
From the above pic of Ursa major and Ursa minor together gives away word Ursa as a common name and common pictorial presentation of these two constellation. We call it Big dipper/bear and Little dipper/bear in English. Indians call a part of big dipper as Saptarishi-the seven primordial sages who are remembered as the progenitors of humankind. I have found earlier that Mrigashirsha nakshatra is Rudra, the hunter, and all the stars around this deer are hunter group constellations which is greek Orion the hunter constellation itself. I also identified Canis Minor and Major of Ptolemaic chart with Sarameya and later Mrigavyaadha, both connote Dogs and are present as mythical beings in Rigveda, Puranas and Itihasas. From both the above etymologies we connect that Avestan knows Riksha as Aresho and we know that Arkshya is Riksha’s son in Rigveda.
This post is about empirical testing of presence of Bear stars in Rigveda and its timing via King Shrutarva.
From the Pauranic and Rigvedic story we understand that Big dipper or Riksha did have a child. The story of RikSha’s son Arksha and its connection given to Shrutarvan is not just a coincidence in terms of connecting it with sky phenomena. For example Dhruva, who was the son of Uttaanapaada finds place in the sky as a pole star by Vishnu who got appeased from his great penance. Indian Itihasa books like Ramayana and Mahabharata have these stories mentioned in between of ongoing events are widely known. These are deemed as myths as they appear in the form of shruti. It appears that these stories were mandatory to be placed in between for they encoded the timing. According to the Mahabharata, Shrutarva was a Rajarshi, with whom Agastya Rishi went to ask for money. [Commentary and Reference. Mahabharata Dictionary] Impressed by his wife’s advise, Agastya Muni went to king Shrutarva, Vraghnashva/Brihadastha and Ikshvaku lineage Trasadrasyu of Ikshvaku lineage to ask for money, but due to the empty fund of all the kings, those kings apologized to Agastya Muni. He, along with Agastya, begged the demon king Ilval and asked him for wealth and wealth for his kingdom. Rig veda gives additional evidence that Shrutarva was Rikshas’s son Arakshya [श्रुतर्वनाम्नि राजनि’—इति सा०।५. आर्क्ष्यः ऋक्षस्य पुत्रः इति वि०।]
Arcas of Hellens
Arcas of Hellens (Greek myth on Ursa) connect with Arkshyas of Rigveda instantly for their phonetic semblances which is again not a coincidence. Taittiriya and Shatapatha Brahmanas have Riksha for Saptaṛshis. It appears that names of Rigveda had gone far and wide till Hellens, as former is older than later. Now until Arkshya was of no importance in the sky the king’s name wouldn’t have had got associated with it as Riksha’s son. Thus it appears that the time of Rigvedic king Shrutarva was experiencing Little dipper Polaris as a Pole Star, i.e., just in one previous cycle [2100 CE +25,750 BCE= 23,650 BCE], also this would be the time when rise of Agastya will coincide exactly with autumnal equinox at Kuruksetra like higher latitudes making it the exact tirtha similar to todays times. Why higher latitudes because Rikshas have connection with Saptasindhu river.
King Alarka, near contemporary of Ikshvaku king Sagara and Agastya-Lopamudra
Yet a similar story of Agastya is associated with King Alarka, contemporary of Vaidarbha whose daughter was Lopamudra. King Alarka is just few generation below Ikshvaku King Sagara. Now Sagara is much later to King Trasadasyu, who is an ancient Ikshvaku king himself. A similar story of Agastya and Lopamudra cannot be present in both king’s timeline separated apart by a huge lapse of time.
We have already seen the sinusoidal graph of Agastya-Canopus in the Srijan talk video. We have also seen that Amarkosha states that Lopamudra with Agastya is also a pole star similar to Maitravaruna duo. Thus it gives evidence of similar conditions of Agastya and Lopamudra together during these two king’s time. We need to identify, then, who is the Lopamudra star in the sky which would be seen from Vidarbha during Agastya time who is seen from upper Kurukshetra region. Mandsaur pillar inscription gives King Alarka and Mandhatṛ as Chakravartin in their kalpas. Thus these kings are of importance and were associated with Agastya-Lopamudra’s similar situation in their times.
Mandhatṛ’s grandson Trasadasyu, contemporary of Shrutarva and Agastya-Lopamudra
Trasadasyu is termed as grandson of Mandhatṛ which would make Agastya a contemporary of him too from the constellation point of view. On the contrary we must not forget that father can be a predecessor and son/grandson can be successor with huge time lapse if not the immediate successor. Thus the previous cycle of 23,900 BCE also would not fit with King Shrutarva and Trasadasyu. We thus need to explore more in regard of Mandhatṛ. Moreover , the time of 23,900 BCE could be of King Alarka-Sagara who also had similar Agastya-Lopamudra conditions, and to corroborate this we need to look into when Jahnavi had done confluence with Bhagirathi River at Bhaironghati, in Uttarakhand (see Jadh Ganga) as Bhagiratha is near successor of King Sagara. The major tectonics did change many routes of little upper tributaries in the past. If one recalls how sage Jahnu’s drank Ganga and then discharged her from his right ear would fascinate self as to how Indians recorded tectonic, geographical histories in the past in the form of stories or names. One such example is place name Vinaashana from where Saraswati disappeared. This data is yet to be explored via geo-tectonic and paleochannel of Jadh ganga region where these names are still remebered.
Ending note with how to find King Shrutarva’s time who is contemporary to Trasadasyu and Agastya.
Indeed we need a Polestar Polaris who is Riksha’s son Arkshya. Keeping at bay who Lopamudra could be, who is also a potential candidate as evidence, Agastya would still be visible in north, i.e., Kurukshetra or Saptasindu region where Shrutarva is mentioned in RV 08.024.027. This is to be estimated one cycle previous to Kashi King Alarka’s timeline. This can be objectively tested, we get 23,650 (Polaris-Polestar)+25750( cycle of precession of equinoxes)=49400 BCE to be timeline of King Shrutarva. Phew! that is the evidence from too deep antiquity. Trasadasyu’s presence in Danastuti of 8th mandala and presence of Saraswati along with Shrutarva, Riksha are evidence that the bear constellation was known to Indian sages along with grand river Saraswati and they had noted these two cluster of opposite constellation as bear and its son. Later the big bear turned into Saptarishi i.e., only seven stars.
Conclusion
- King Shrutarva, contemporary of Trasadasyu is associated with Polaris-Polestar, at least is from 50,000 BCE (lower limit).
- King Alarka, conemporary of Sagar, is also associated with Polaris-Polestar, at least is from 24,000 BCE (lower limit).
- Agastya-Lopamudra are present in both the above cases thus Agastya appears as the sheet anchor of many king’s timelines and scales huge time-lapse in antiquity.
- Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are Indian homeland in Greek sky map.
- Hellen’s Arcas is an Indian Arkshya, son of Riksha.
This note is for “an excerpt” from the forthcoming book, “The Agastya Code”.
*श्रुतर्वा हिन्दू पौराणिक ग्रंथ महाभारत के अनुसार एक राजर्षि थे, जिनके पास अगस्त्य ऋषि धन माँगने गये थे। टीका टिप्पणी और संदर्भ. महाभारत शब्दकोश |लेखक: एस. पी. परमहंस | –अपनी पत्नी की वाणी से प्रभावित होकर अगस्त्य मुनि धन माँगने के लिये राजा श्रुतर्वा, व्रघ्नश्व तथा इक्ष्वाकु वंशी त्रसदृस्यु के पास गये किन्तु सभी राजाओं का कोष खाली होने के कारण उन राजाओं ने क्षमाप्रार्थना करते हुये अगस्त्य मुनि को….अगस्त्य ऋषि के काल में राजा श्रुतर्वा, बृहदस्थ और त्रसदस्यु थे। इन्होंने अगस्त्य के साथ मिलकर दैत्यराज इल्वल को झुकाकर उससे अपने राज्य के लिए धन-संपत्ति मांग ली थी। ‘सत्रे ह जाताविषिता नमोभि: कुंभे रेत: सिषिचतु: समानम्। ततो ह मान …
NB to self. (वि॒श्वक॑र्मा॒विम॑ना॒आद्विहा॑याधा॒तावि॑धा॒ताप॑र॒मोतसं॒दृक्।तेषा॑मि॒ष्टानि॒समि॒षाम॑दन्ति॒यत्रा॑सप्तऋ॒षीन्प॒रएक॑मा॒हुः॥) <it appears that the सप्तऋ॒षी word for big dipper started appearing in the Rigveda’s 10th mandala.>
