Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad, Alberuni's India (v. 1)

(London :  Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.,  1910.)

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  Page 218  



2l8
 

ALBERUNPS INDIA.
 

Page 107.
 

The names
of the
months
derived
from those
of the lunar
mansions.
 

People think, with regard to the order of the names
of suns as given by the Vishnu-dharma, that it is
correct and undisturbed; for Vasudeva has a separate
name in each month, and his worshippers begin the
months with Margasirsha, in which his name is I{iesava.
If you count his names one after the other, you flnd that
one which he has in the month Caitra, Vishnu, in accord¬
ance with the tradition of the Vishnu-dharma.

The names of the months are related to those of the
lunar stations. As two or three stations belong to each
month, the name of the month is derived from one of
them. We have in the following table written these
particular stations with red ink (in this translation with
an asterisk), in order to point out their relationship with
the names of the months.

If Jupiter shines in some lunar station, the month to
which this station belongs is considered as the dominant
of the year, and the whole year is called by the name of
this month.

If the names of the month given in the following
table differ in some respects from those used heretofore,
the reader must know that the names which we have
hitherto used are the vernacular or vulgar ones, whilst
those given in this table are the classical:—
 

The Months.
 


 

The Lunar

Stations.
 

The Months.
 

16
17
 

The Lunar
Stations.
 

Karttika
 

!
 

3
4
 

Krittika.*
Rohini.
 

Vais'a,kha
 

\
 

Visakha. *
Anuradha.
 

Margasirsha
 

!
 

5
6
 

Mrigaslrsha.*
Ardra.
 

Jyaishtha
 

\
 

00 0-
 

Jyeshtha.*
MWa. ■
 

Pausha    .
 

{
 

7
8
 

Punarvasu.
Pushya. *
 

Ashadha
 

!
 

20
21
 

Purva,shadha *
Uttarashadha.
 

M^gha    .
 

1
 

9
10
 

Aslesha.
Magha.*
 

S'ravana
 

!
 

22
23
 

S'ravana.*
Dhanishta.
 


 

1
 

II
 

Purva-phal-
gunl.*
 


 

(
 

24

2S
 

S'atabhishaj.
Purva-bhadra-
 

Phalguna
 

■|
 

12
1.3
 

Uttara-phal-

guni.
Hasta.
 

Bhadrapada
 

1
 

26
 

pada.*
Uttara-bhadra-
pada.
 

Caitra.    .
 

■1
 

14
IS
 

Qiirk.*
Svatl.
 

Asvayuja
 

{
 

27
I
2
 

Revatl.
As'vinl. *
Bharani.
  Page 218