ब्राह्मस्फुटसिद्धान्त (ब्रह्मगुप्त - शून्य, कुट्टक, बीजगणित एवं सम्पूर्ण २१ अध्याय सान्वय सटीक)

250 ARABIC AND INDIAN DIVISIONS OF THE ZODIAC tary on Ulugh Beg, and that the Kāmūs makes this term to be the name of eight stars in the form of a bow. 8. Puṣya, the eighth asterism, is described as an arrow, and consists of three stars, the chief of which being also the middle most, has no latitude, and is 12° to 13° distant from the seventh asterism, being placed by Hindu astronomers in 106° of longitude. This is evidently δ Cancri; and does not differ widely from the eighth lunar mansion Nethrah, which according to Ulugh Beg and others consists of two stars, including the nebula of Cancer. The Indian constellation comprises two other stars besides δ Cancri, which are perhaps γ and β of the same constellation. 9. Aśleṣā, the ninth asterism, contains five stars figured as a potter’s wheel, and of which the principal or eastern one is placed in 7°S, and according to different tables, 107°, 108° or 109° E. This appears to be intended for the bright star in the south- ern claw of Cancer (α Cancri), and cannot be reconciled with the lunar mansion Tarf or Tarfah, which comprises two stars near the lion’s (siṁha) eye, the northernmost being placed by Mohammad of Tīzīn in 24° of N. declination. 10. Maghā, the tenth asterism, contains like the last, five stars, but which are figured as a house. The principal of the Southern one has no latitude; and according to all authorities, has 129° longitude. This is evidently Regulus (α Leonis) : which is exactly 129½° distant from the last star in Revatī. The tenth lunar mansion of Arabians is Jebhah, which comprises three (some say, four) stars, nearly in the longitude of the lion’s heart. In this instance, therefore, the Indian and Arabian divisions of the zodiac coincide. This nakastra consists of α, γ, η and ν Leonis. 11. Pūrva-Phālgunī is the eleventh nakṣatra and is repre- sented by a couch or bedstead; it consists of two stars deter- mined by the place of the chief star (the northernmost, accord- ing to the Sūrya-Siddhānta) in 12°N and 144°E., or according to Brahmagupta, the Śiromaṇi and the Grahalāghava 147° or 148° E. They are probably δ and θ Leonis. The Arabian name for this lunar mansion is zubrah or Khertan.