Mṛgaśirā (also spelled Mr̥gaśīrṣa; Devanagari: मृगशीर्ष) is the 5th

nakṣatra Nakshatra () is the term for Lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Buddhist astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective s ...

or ''lunar mansion'' as used in

Hindu astronomy Astronomy has a long history in the Indian subcontinent, stretching from pre-historic to modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley civilisation or earlier. Astronomy later develope ...

and

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

in the constellation

Orion Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

. Its position is described in the

Surya Siddhānta The ''Surya Siddhanta'' (; ) is a Sanskrit treatise in Indian astronomy dated to 4th to 5th century,Menso Folkerts, Craig G. Fraser, Jeremy John Gray, John L. Berggren, Wilbur R. Knorr (2017)Mathematics Encyclopaedia Britannica, Quote: "(...) i ...

. The asterism's names in various languages are: * * * Sinhalese: මුවසිරස * * The first two ''pada'' (quarters) of this nakṣatra are part of ''Vṛṣabha Rāśi'' (Devanagari: वृषभ), which is ''Taurus''. The latter two ''pada'' of this star belong to ''Mithuna Rāśi'' (Devanagari: मिथुन), which is ''Gemini'' (from 23°20’ Taurus to 6°40’ Gemini), corresponding to stars in λ, φ1,

φ2 Phi ( ; uppercase Φ, lowercase φ or ϕ; ''pheî'' ; Modern Greek: ''fi'' ) is the twenty-first letter of the Greek alphabet. In Archaic and Classical Greek (c. 9th to 4th century BC), it represented an aspirated voiceless bilabial plos ...

Orionis.

Etymology

The term Mṛgaśira (मृगशिर) is a composite of two Sanskrit words, mṛga (मृग) meaning deer and śira (शिर) meaning head or precisely, the top of the head. The names Mṛgaśira (मृगशिर) and Mārgaśīrṣa/Mṛgaśīrṣa (मार्गशीर्ष) are sometimes used interchangeably. Grammatically, Mārgaśīrṣa (मार्गशीर्ष) means "of Mṛgaśira" or "related to Mṛgaśira". Thus Mṛgaśira (मृगशिर) is the correct name of the star, while Mārgaśīrṣa (मार्गशीर्ष) is the name of the month related to Mṛgaśira, i.e., the month in which moon will is in conjuncture with the Mṛgaśira nakṣatra. In Malayalam it is called Makayeeram.

Naming principles

Under the traditional Hindu principle of naming individuals according to their nakṣatras, the following Sanskrit syllables correspond with this nakṣatra, and would belong at the beginning of a first name: *Ve (Devanagari: वे) *Vo (Devanagari: वो) *Ka (Devanagari: क) *Ki (Devanagari: कि) Mṛgaśira nakṣatra extends from after 23°20' in Vṛṣabha Rāśi up to 6°40' in Mithuna. This Star is ruleed by

Mangala Mangala (, IAST: ) is the personification, as well as the name for the planet Mars, in Hindu literature. Also known as Lohita (), he is the deity of anger, aggression, as well as war. According to Vaishnavism, he is the son of Bhumi, the eart ...

and the presiding deity is

Chandra Chandra (), also known as Soma (), is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha (nine planets of Hinduism) and Dikpala (guardians of the directions). Etymology and other ...

, the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

God. He holds Amrita (nectar of immortality) and his mount is a chariot drawn by

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s. He rules the following parts of the human body: the face, chin, cheeks, larynx, palate, throat, vocal chord, arms, shoulders, thymus gland, upper ribs. The word ''mṛga'' represents forests, gardens, a search, a seeking to find, to roam about in forests and a hunter, to seek to blaze the trail, a guide and preceptor. Mṛgaśirṣa is partly in

Vṛṣabha Vṛṣabha, Vrishabha or Vṛṣa, is a month in the Indian solar calendar. It corresponds to the zodiacal sign of Taurus, and overlaps with about the second half of May and about the first half of June in the Gregorian calendar. The first da ...

and partly in

Mithuna ''Maithuna'' (Devanagari: मैथुन) is a Sanskrit term for sexual intercourse within Tantra (Tantric sex), or alternatively for the sexual fluids generated or the couple participating in the ritual. It is the most important of the Panchama ...

. It conveys the ideas of searching for beautiful faces, visit or request a girl in marriage. People born in this nakṣatra have a strong body and moderate complexion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrigashirsha Nakshatra

Etymology

Naming principles

See also

References