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Astronomical Identity of SapthaRishi's, Dhurva & Arundhathi

During many traditional Hindu marriages, the presiding priest usually shows the

bride, a star called Arundhathiin the night sky. Sadhwi Arundhathi is the wife ofsage Vasishtha. This famous couple from vedic times, well known for their

harmony and devotion to each other, is revered as a an ideal couple worthy of

emulation by all married couples. Nowadays not many can identify this star in thenight sky. This article aims to help in identifying this star in the night sky for

those who are interested.

The star pairArundhathi-Vasishtha is in the famous constellation Ursa Major. It

is also called Big Dipper or Great Bear. In India this constellation is called

Saptha Rishimandala (Seven Sages). Vasishtha is one of the sevenRishis. Theastronomical identity of these stars is very easy to establish due to explicit

definitions given by Varaha Mihira in hisBrihatSamhita (Ref 1)(circa 550 AD).

Varaaha Mihira in hisBrihat-Samhitha, dedicates 13th chapter to Saptha Rishis.The relevant verses provide following descriptions roughly translated as;

We have on Vriddha Gargas authority that in the Northern Sky, the

SapthaRishis revolve aroundDhruva Nayaka like a necklace.

From east to west thesaptha muni's Marichi, Vasishtha, Angirasa, Athri,

Pulasthya, Pulaaha andKrathu sit. ChasteArundhathi accompanies sageVasishtha.

These descriptions provide us with adequate information about the explicitastronomical identity of the nine stars, called asDhruva, Arundhathi & Saptha

Rishiss.

The Seven Sages are Marichi, vasishtha, angirasa, athri, pulasthya, pulaaha,and kruthu. Varaaha Mihira notes that Saptha Rishis circles aroundDhruva

naayaka (Ref 1), which clearly stands for Ursa Major & Polaris. He provides us

the proper names of seven dominant stars, and attributes the origin of these names

to sage VruddhaGarga. In all probability Vriddha gargais same as GargyaRishiofAthrvana veda 19 kaanda 6-7 sooktha whose time was approximately

2400 BC.(Ref 2). Figure 1 and 2 illustrate a sky view of Ursa Major(Ref 3) from

a modern astronomical software. This constellation in Northern Hemisphere

appears to rotate around the pole star Polaris. Dhruva clearly is Polaris.

Figure 1 shows the night sky with ursa Major/Saptha Rishis. Thered line joining the seven dominant stars provides us with the shape of a Big

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Dipper. Star identities Mizar and Alcor fall on each other.

The saptha Rishis are the seven major stars of Ursa Major. Based on VaraahaMihiras verses, we can easily identify starting from east, that Marichi is ArabAlkaid, Vasishtais Mizar, Angirasa is Alioth, Athri is Megrez,Pulasthya is Phecda, Pulaaha is Merak and Krathu is DuBhe. Thecompanion star forMizaris Alcor. Hence Arundhathi stands forAlcor. In the

figure 1, Vasishta and Arudhathi (Mizar-Alcor) can not be seen separately.

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Figure 2 Shows the zoomed in picture of the stars near Mizar.

The starArundhathiis difficult to separate from Vasishta for people with pooreyesight.Arundhathis brightness is a fourth magnitude star and is within 0.2degrees of Vasishtha, which is twice as bright.

Nakshathra Arabname

Bayeridentity

HenryDraper

SAO Brightness

Marichi Alkaid 85 h UMa HD 120315 44752 1.86

Vasishtha Mizar 79 z UMa HD 116656 28737 2.27

Angirasa Alioth 77 e UMa HD 112185 28553 1.77Athri Megrez 69 D UMa HD 106591 28315 3.31

Pulasthya Phecda 64 g UMa HD 103287 28179 2.44Pulaaha Merak 48 b UMa HD 95418 27876 2.37

Krathu DuBhe 50 a UMa HD 95689 15384 1.79

Arundhathi Alcor 80 UMa HD 116842 308 4.01

Dhruva Polaris 1 a UMi HD 8890 28751 2.02

The table provides the modern astronomical identity of the nine stars from vedic

period, not in the ecliptic track. The 27 daily stars are in ecliptic plane. Dhruva(Polaris) is not illustrated in any of the figures, as its identity is very well known

in the sky.

Other cultures of the world also have historically used the keenness of eyesight to

distinguish between the two stars Vasishtha-Arundhathi (Mizar-Alcor) as an asset.In India, it is said anecdotally that people who are approaching death can not

separateArundhathi from Vasishta and hence can not seeArundhathi. Perhaps eye

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sight has more to do with this.

In conclusion this article hopefully will assist those who wish to identify

Arundhathi and Saptha Rishis in the sky. In USA, which is in the Northern

Hemisphere, Ursa Major is easily visible most of the year.

Dr S.BalakrishnaJune 15, 2000

References1) M.R.BhatBrihat-Samhita of Varaaha Mihira(Original Sanskrit text & English commentary)Motilal Banarasidass Publications, 1981.

2) S.BalakrishnaNames of Stars from Period of vedas, 1998

3) Wayne AnnalaLoad-Star Pro Software, Zephyr Services, Pittsburgh, 1994

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