Prof. R.N.Iyengar on the "Legend of Dhruva the Pole Star: Importance to Indian History and Culture"

[Mandyam D Srinivas]

During the first week of March there was a brilliant lecture at IIT Madras by the renowned scholar Prof. R.N.Iyengar  on the "Legend of Dhruva, the Pole Star: Importance to Indian History and Culture". Prof. Iyengar, former Professor of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and an authority on earthquake engineering and disaster mitigation, also happens to be one of the leading researchers on the Pre-siddhantic Traditions of Astronomy in India.

In his lecture, Prof. Iyengar highlighted how the Indian tradition of astronomy has the unique distinction of having observed and recorded two pole stars over a period of 5000 years. I am enclosing below a brief summary of the important points covered in the lecture.

M D Srinivas

LEGEND OF DHRUVA THE POLE STAR: IMPORTANCE TO INDIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

The north celestial pole and the south celestial pole define the axis of the daily rotation of the earth. This is also the axis of the apparent daily rotation of the stars from east to west. The axis of rotation of the earth precesses over a period of around 25,700 years, and hence the north celestial pole also shifts accordingly. When a star is located near the north celestial pole that would be the "pole star" for that epoch. What we refer to as the pole star currently, is the star Polaris (α-Ursa Minoris) which has been very close (less that  a degree away from the pole) to the north celestial pole during the last hundred years. It has been referred to as the pole star since 18th century and will continue to function as the pole star for a few more centuries.

It is important to note that there was no star near the north celestial pole prior to the 18th century for a very long period exceeding 4000 years! It was only during  the eight centuries centered around 2800 BCE (i.e. during 3200 BCE to 2400 BCE) that there was a star, the star Thuban (α-Draconis), which was fairly close to the north celestial pole.

We all know the story of Dhruva becoming the pole star as recounted in the Puranas and the ritual of  of the bride being shown the Dhruva during the wedding ceremony. The fact that this latter ritual ls mentioned in the ancient Grihya  Sutras  was cited by the German scholar Jacobi in 1897 to suggest that the Vedic literature should date back to the third millennium BCE when there was  a pole-star Thuban close to the north celestial pole. This was dismissed by all other leading Western Indologists such as Keith, Whitney, Winternitz etc., by contending that the Vedic literature did not mention any pole star Dhruva.

In his lecture, Prof. Iyengar presented clinching evidence from the Vedic literature to show that it does record the observation of the pole star Dhruva in the constellation Sisumara, which can be shown to be the same as Thuban or α-Draconis. Prof. Iyengar also presented a birds eye-view of  how the notion of Dhruva is dealt with in later Pauranic, Astronomical and other literature.

Dhruva does find a mention in the Rgveda but there is no reference to the pole star. It is in the Taittiriya Aranyaka of the Krishna Yajurveda (Prapathaka 2, Anuvaka 19) that we find a clear reference to the fourteen stars in the constellation of Sisumara (whale or porpoise) which is seen in the northern sky. The star Abhaya-Dhruva is said to be in the tail of Sisumara. The notion of the pole star Dhruva in the tail of the constellation Sisumara  is explained in greater detail in the later Puranas such as the Brahmanda Purana; and from this description it is clear that what is being referred to is the star Thuban in the Constellation of Dragon, which was the pole-star around 2800 BCE. The memory of the Vedic Dhruva continued in historic times as may be seen from the fact that while commenting on the name "Nakshatranemi"  of Vishnu-Sahasranama, all the major commentators (Adi Sankaracharya, Parasara Bhatta and Raghavendra Suri) refer to these very same verses of Taittiriya Aranyaka.

By the second millennium BCE, the north celestial pole would have shifted significantly so that one could see the movement of the star Abhaya-Dhruva  or Thuban which was the pole-star earlier. This is what is recorded in the Maitrayani Aranyaka which refers to the motion of Dhruva. This Aranyaka could be dated around 1700 BCE as it also refers to the winter solstice in the middle of the Dhanishtha Nakshatra. There are similar references to the moving of Dhruva in later literature.

The later Siddhantic astronomical works mention the north and south celestial poles but do not refer to any pole star. Brahmagupta (c. 628 CE), and later Bhaskaracarya II (c. 1150), refer to the Dhruva-Matsya (a group of twelve stars in the shape of Fish, which included some of the stars of the constellation Ursa Minor) which went around the pole. In 1423 CE, Padmanabha wrote about his Dhruva-Bhrama-Yantra, where he states that the line joining the two stars, Polaris and Kochab (α-Ursa Minoris and α-Ursa Minoris) in the mouth and tail of the fish, would function like the handle of a clock going around the north celestial pole.  He also mentions that the  Polaris (α-Ursa Minoris) was then situated around 3 degrees from the north celestial pole.

Prof Iyengar concluded his talk with the observation

"Thus, while we have the luxury of counting two Pole Stars in our long cultural history spanning some 5000 years, we bear the moral responsibility of keeping alive the legend of the Vedic-Purāṇic Dhruva. I consider in this talk the Vedic evidences, Purāṇa descriptions and also later discourses to trace how the memory of Dhruva has survived through the ages."

[Ganesh R]

Dear Prof. M.D.S,

Thanks a lot for the valuable information.  I am very happy to see such a fine summary of the lecture  that Prof.  R. N. Iyengar delivered.

With deep regards

Ganesh

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[Nagaraj Paturi]

I join pujy Sataavadhaani R Ganesh Mahodaya in thanking Prof. M. D. Srinivas for providing such an excellent summary of a valuable lecture by Prof. Iyengar.

 

May we get more and more opportunities of learning such scientific expositions of our traditional knowledge from the professor.

 

Dhanyosmi.

 

Nagaraj 

--

Nagaraj Paturi

 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

 

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies

 

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,

 

(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )

 

 

 

[Bijoy Misra]

Dear Prof. Srinivas,

I admire the clarity in Prof Iyengar's analysis.  Thank you for the post. This points to the search among the early scholars 

how to deduce earthly events by watching the sky.  The sky acts as a reference to the terrestrial plane.  It could have led 

to understand the definition of "nitya" as a concept.  I have not read the Vedas (plan to do soon), but I admire this search 

of stationarity and transience and thus imagining various levels of stability.

The nutation of earth has consequence on climate change etc..

Best regards,

Bijoy Misra

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Thanks Prof. Srinivasji, for nicely giving us the gist of Prof. Iyengar's lecture on the Polestar Dhruva and the Precession of the Earth. We had Dhruva as the Polestar about 5,000 years ago and after about 3,000 years  we shall have another polestar,  Iota Cephei. Then a time will come after about 12,000 years, when Vega will be about 4 degrees away from the Northpole, etc. 

The Laukika- kala calendar, also known as the Saptarshi-kala calendar, which is  traditionally used in Kashmir and the other hilly areas of the Himalayan region, had its origin in the apparent movement of Saptarshis, due to the Precession of the Earth. . Ancient texts say that the Saptarshis moved from the star Magha to the Ashlesha, at the time when Yudhisthira left for heaven and from that time onward a calendrical convention is followed, where every subsequent century is named after one of  the 27 nakshatras. May be we should start a new thread on this topic and hope Prof. Iyengarji would also appreciate it.

Regards,

Sunil Bhattacharjya

Scanned for viruses. www.avast.com

[Sati Shankar]

Thank you very much sir, for this information... most of us who marry in Indian tradition cite the "dhruva tara"..in ceremony to wish immortality to the nuptial bond... 

I have shared your post on Facebook with weblink citation... with your kind permission. ( https://www.facebook.com/notes/sati-shankar/prof-rniyengar-on-the-legend-of-dhruva-the-pole-star-importance-to-indian-histor/10153627250923731 )

Thanks again.

Is it possible to get the complete lecture , print or recording?

Regards

Yours 

Sati Shankar

[rniyengar]

First let me thank Prof.MD Srinivas for attending my talk and for posting a review here on BVP. He has the uncanny ability of squeezing out the most essential points. I appreciate the further response of other members  to the review and my work on Vedic Jyotisha. 

 The first version of my work was published in IJHS in 2011. This can be accessed at 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262558760_DHRUVA_THE_ANCIENT_INDIAN_POLE_STAR_FIXITY_ROTATION_AND_MOVEMENT

The IITM lecture is not yet available in record. However, an earlier version of this as given at IITB is available on youtube  at 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AphtLcMDGKs&index=5...

I would be happy to respond to comments and questions about my work.

Regards

RN Iyengar

[shivraj singh]

On Wednesday, March 16, 2016 3:24 PM, rniyengar <narayana...@gmail.com> wrote

I would be happy to respond to comments and questions about my work.

Regards

RN Iyengar

---------------

Shivraj: a) Which polestar was visible during the Mahabharat war?

b) Does Mahabharat tell us about the change in the pole star?

c) If so does this information help us in dating the war?

Regards,

[R. N. iyengar]

a) Which polestar was visible during the Mahabharat war?

This question indirectly presupposes a period for the MB War!  Whatever may be the period of MB several stars which have had the potential to be at the North Celestial Pole must have been visible. Hence alfa-draconis, k-draconis, i-draconis, kochab, alfa-U.minor (the current Pole Star), Vega etc must have been visible.

 b) Does Mahabharat tell us about the change in the pole star?

Yes, it does. MB mentions that the star named Dhruva was moving.

dhruvah prajvalito ghoram apasavyam pravartate|| (Bhi.Parvan 3.17)

c) If so does this information help us in dating the war?

It provides information on when MB war could not have occurred. The default option for calling a star "dhruva" should have been that it was "fixed" being too close to the North Celestial Pole so as to look fixed in naked eye observations. This was possible for only alfa-Draconis which was only seven minutes away from the Pole in 2830 BC. The name for this star originally was  Abhaya as per Tai.Ara. We have to infer that  the fixed nature of the star was observed and it acquired the name Dhruva during 2800-2900 BC. Once the star had such a special quality, the adjective became the name itself. So MB statement (Bh.P 3.17) above could not have been valid before 2830 BC. The Vedic tradition of Dhruva was never isolated from the constellation Shishumaara. MB is no exception. 

The archery competition for Draupadis' marriage was held in a town specially built in the north-eastern direction of the capital and it was named  shishumaarapura, figuratively indicating that the constellation had changed its orientation as seen from earth, due to Dhruva moving away.

tataḥ purajanāssarve sāgaroddhūta nissvanāḥ|

śiśumārapuram prāpya nyaviśan teca pārthivāḥ||

   prāguttareṇa nagarād bhūmibhāge same śubhe|

 samājavāṭaḥ śuśubhe bhavanaiḥ sarvato vṛtaḥ||   MB Ādi Parvan ( Ch 176 v 15,16)

Hence dhruva moving is a necessary condition stated in MB, but by itself not sufficient to fix a specific year for the War.

            

 Thanks for the questions.

RN Iyengar

On Thu, Mar 17, 2016 at 2:17 PM, rniyengar <narayana...@gmail.com> wrote:

[R. N. iyengar]

I have nothing more to add further to my response for query (c) in the previous post.

regards

RN Iyengar

On Thu, Mar 17, 2016 at 11:20 PM, sunil bhattacharjya <skbhatt...@gmail.com> wrote:

To my understanding, Thuban was the Pole-star from about 3700 BCE to about 1900 BCE, i.e., till when Kochab  took over as the pole-star. Kochab remained as Pole-star from about 1900 BCE to the time when the present-day pole-star Polaris became the pole-star in around 500 CE and Polaris will remain so till around 3000 CE when Gemma Cephei will take over as the Pole-star.
,
From this can we say that the date of the Mahabharata war should fall within the period 3700 BCE to 1900 BCE.? . This way, will we not be able to eliminate the dates before 3700 BCE and also the dates after 1900 BCE.

Regards,

Sunil Bhattacharjya

[shivraj singh]

On Thu, 3/17/16, R. N. iyengar <narayana...@gmail.com> wrote:

Shivraj:b) Does Mahabharat tell us about the change in the pole star?
c)If so does this information help us in dating the war?

RNI:It provides information on when MB war could not have occurred. The default option for calling a star "dhruva" should have been that it was "fixed" being too close to the North Celestial Pole so as to look fixed in naked eye observations. This was possible for only alfa-Draconis which was only seven minutes away from the Pole in 2830 BC. The name for this star originally was  Abhaya as per Tai.Ara. We have to infer that  the fixed nature of the star was observed and it acquired the name Dhruva during 2800-2900 BC. Once the star had such a special quality, the adjective became the name itself. So MB statement (Bh.P 3.17) above could not have

been valid before 2830 BC.

-------------
Thanks for the illuminating answers! And they make me ask more questions:
Shivraj: a) Do we have any information from our texts why the name changed from Abhay to Dhruv?
b) Is there no association of Dhruv with the pole star prior to Mahabharat?
c) Since the word dhruv is known from RgVed why would this significant name get associated with the pole star only during the Mahabharat period?

Regards,
Shivraj

[rniyengar]

If you read the paper and carefully watch and hear the video links to which were posted on 16th March, you will get the answers for your a) and b). 

I never said anything to the effect you imply in your c). 

thanks...RNI

[shivraj singh]

On Friday, March 18, 2016 at 11:23:49 AM UTC+5:30, shivk...@yahoo.com wrote:

On Thu, 3/17/16, R. N. iyengar <narayana...@gmail.com> wrote:

Shivraj:b) Does Mahabharat tell us about the change in the pole star?  
c)If so does this information help us in dating the war?

RNI:It provides information on when MB war could not have occurred. The default option for calling a star "dhruva" should have been that it was "fixed" being too close to the North Celestial Pole so as to look fixed in naked eye observations. This was possible for only alfa-Draconis which was only seven minutes away from the Pole in 2830 BC. The name for this star originally was  Abhaya as per Tai.Ara. We have to infer that  the fixed nature of the star was observed and it acquired the name Dhruva during 2800-2900 BC. Once the star had such a special quality, the adjective became the name itself. So MB statement (Bh.P 3.17) above could not have
 been valid before 2830 BC.
-------------
Thanks for the illuminating answers! And they make me ask more questions:
Shivraj: a) Do we have any information from our texts why the name changed from Abhay to Dhruv?
b) Is there no association of Dhruv with the pole star prior to Mahabharat?
c) Since the word dhruv is known from RgVed why would this significant name get associated with the pole star only during the Mahabharat period?

Regards,
Shivraj

On Friday, March 18, 2016 9:00 PM, rniyengar <narayana...@gmail.com> wrote:

If you read the paper and carefully watch and hear the video links to which were posted on 16th March, you will get the answers for your a) and b). 

I never said anything to the effect you imply in your c). 

thanks...RNI

-----------------------

In your paper it is mentioned that the fixed star in the northern sky known as Dhruva is not mentioned in the RgVed. But Dhruv is mentioned as the Naabhi of the entire world!

RV 10.5.3

ऋतायिनी मायिनी सं दधाते मित्वा शिशुं जज्ञतुर्वर्धयन्ती ।
विश्वस्य नाभिं चरतो ध्रुवस्य कवेश्चित्तन्तुं मनसा वियन्तः ॥३॥

[rniyengar]

Mr.Shivraj,

I don't claim to be infallible; nor am I a great Vedavid. With my limited knowledge I have published some results.Whether these are correct or wrong; useful or useless; it is for other sincere scholars to check, verify, and decide.

Throwing darts each time as you (whose identity is shrouded in mystery; because you have never disclosed your affiliation) do, takes us nowhere.  The word Dhruva and its derivatives occur some 59 times in RV. Why don't you study all such occurrences with the help of SaayaNa Bhaashya,  analyse the data scientifically and publish a paper right royally  to demonstrate your implied claim that the "Fixed star in the northern sky known as Dhruva is already known to RV"?  Thanks for reading my paper. Please write your comments to the Editor of IJHS so that there could be a dispassionate discussion on the worth of my work. If you have published or written some material on these topics it is necessary and in fact worthwhile for you to share the same with this Group.Otherwise you can not be taken seriously; at least I will not.

I am attaching the commentary of SayaNa on your RV verse as a parting gift.. .and wishing you well in your peregrinations.

Cheers!

RN Iyengar

[shivraj singh]

Dr Iyengar,
I think you may have misunderstood my intent. I hold your work in high regard and I am not throwing any darts.

Let me also make a gift to you: Verse 6:27:8 of Rigved mentions Abhayvarti as a Parthav and this is none other than the dynasty started by Dhruv himself as is mentioned in Vishnu Puran.

From Rigved 6:27:8
द्वयाँ अग्ने रथिनो विंशतिं गा वधूमतो मघवा मह्यं सम्राट् ।
अभ्यावर्ती चायमानो ददाति दूणाशेयं दक्षिणा पार्थवानाम् ॥८॥

From VishnuPuran:
"The sons of Dhruva, by his wife Śambhu, were Bhavya and Slisht́i. Suchcháyá, the wife of the latter, was the mother of five virtuous sons, Ripu, Ripunjaya, Vipra, Vrikala, and Vrikatejas. The son of Ripu, by Vrihatí, was the illustrious Chakshusha, who begot the Manu Chákshusha on Pushkarińí, of the family of Varuńa, the daughter of the venerable patriarch Anarańya. The Manu had, by his wife Navalá, the daughter of the patriarch Vairája, ten noble sons, Uru, Pura, Satadyumna, Tapaswí, Satyavák, Kavi, Agnisht́oma, Atirátra, Sudyumna, and Abhimanyu. The wife of Uru, Ágneyí, bore six excellent sons, Anga, Sumanas, Swáti, Kratu, Angiras, and Śiva. Anga had, by his wife Suníthá, only one son, named Veńa, whose right arm was rubbed by the Rishis, for the purpose of producing from it progeny. From the arm of Veńa, thus rubbed, sprang a celebrated monarch, named Prithu, by whom, in olden time, the earth was milked for the advantage of mankind"


Regards,

--------------------------------------------
On Sat, 3/19/16, rniyengar <narayana...@gmail.com> wrote:

Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Re: Prof. R.N.Iyengar on the "Legend of Dhruva the Pole Star: Importance to Indian History and Culture"
To: "भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्" <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Saturday, March 19, 2016, 2:23 PM

Mr.Shivraj,I don't claim to be

infallible; nor am I a great Vedavid. With my limited
knowledge I have published some results.Whether these are
correct or wrong; useful or useless; it is for other
sincere scholars to check, verify, and

decide.Throwing darts each time as you (whose

identity is shrouded in mystery; because you have never
disclosed your affiliation) do, takes us nowhere.  The word
Dhruva and its derivatives occur some 59 times in RV. Why
don't you study all such occurrences with the help of
SaayaNa Bhaashya,  analyse the data scientifically and
publish a paper right royally  to demonstrate your
implied claim that the "Fixed star in the northern sky
known as Dhruva is already known to RV"?  Thanks for
reading my paper. Please write your comments to the Editor
of IJHS so that there could be a dispassionate discussion on
the worth of my work. If you have published or written some
material on these topics it is necessary and in fact
worthwhile for you to share the same with this
Group.Otherwise you can not be taken seriously; at least I

will not.I am attaching the commentary of SayaNa

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Dear friends,

There are more than a dozen Dhruvas in the Puranas and one has to  be clear as to which one is being referred to and in what context. Moreover the Vedas love paroksha interpretation and one cannot just take literal translation of a Vedic verse and connect it to any particular person. I appreciate the guarded approach of Dr. Iyengar.

Regards,

Sunil KB

[shivraj singh]

On Monday, March 21, 2016 5:34 AM, sunil bhattacharjya <skbhatt...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear friends,

There are more than a dozen Dhruvas in the Puranas and one has to  be clear as to which one is being referred to and in what context.

---------

Shivraj: The Vishnupuran text that I had referenced in the previous mail (please read it again) makes it clear which Dhruv is being talked about. The two necessary conditions are:

a) Dhruv has to have a progeny named Prithu.

b) This Prithu has to be a famous king. Famous because the RgVedic rishi calls Samrat Abhyavarti a descendant of Prithu.

If you can furnish textual evidence that more than one Dhruv of the Purans had progeny named Prithu and that Prithu was also a famous king then your argument is valid.

If you cannot provide evidence your argument will have to be rejected.

Regards,

[sunil bhattacharjya]

You have quoted Vishnu purana but forgot to give your translation and your interpretation of the Vedic verse, which you quoted and show where Dhruva is specifically mentioned.

[shivraj singh]

On Monday, March 21, 2016 9:54 PM, sunil bhattacharjya <skbhatt...@gmail.com> wrote:

You have quoted Vishnu purana but forgot to give your translation and your interpretation of the Vedic verse, which you quoted and show where Dhruva is specifically mentioned.

================

Shivraj: The translation of RV 6.27.8 is:

"Two wagon-teams, with damsels, twenty oxen, O Agni, Abhyavartin Cayamana,
The liberal Sovran, giveth me. This guerdon of Prthu's seed is hard to win from others."

As I mentioned earlier if you know of other kings named Prithu from the lineage of other Dhruvs please educate us.

Otherwise the description given in Vishnupuran has to be believed which connects the great king Prithu (from whom Prithvi got its name) to Dhruv.

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Do you think "pArthavAnAm"  as no derivational relation with the "children of Prithivi" ?

BTW, Dr. Iyengar had indicated that y ou have not disclosed your identity. Why don't you do the favour of showing that you are not illusive.

Virus-free. www.avast.com

[shivraj singh]

On Wednesday, March 23, 2016 10:27 AM, sunil bhattacharjya <skbhatt...@gmail.com> wrote:

Do you think "pArthavAnAm"  as no derivational relation with the "children of Prithivi" ?

----------------------

Shivraj: No. Because the grandsire of  Dhruv's and Prthu's clan, Uttaanpad, is clearly mentioned in RgVed 10.72.4

भूर्जज्ञ उत्तानपदो भुव आशा अजायन्त ।
अदितेर्दक्षो अजायत दक्षाद्वदितिः परि ॥४॥

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Your statement is wrong. Uttanpada and Prithu were in different Manvantaras.

Secondly, any reason why you do not want to tell us who you are?  Prof. Iyengar. raised this point first. Hope you will do this favour to us.

This email has been sent from a virus-free computer protected by Avast. www.avast.com

[shivraj singh]

--------------------------------------------

On Thu, 3/24/16, sunil bhattacharjya <skbhatt...@gmail.com> wrote:
Your statement is wrong. Uttanpada and Prithu were in different Manvantaras.

------
What is wrong about my statement?

[sunil bhattacharjya]

My reply shows that.

No threats detected. www.avast.com

[shivraj singh]

Dear Sunil,
I am sure you do not understand what a Manavantar is. I am also certain that the RgVedic Rishi knew about the chronology of Uttaanpad and Prthu.

As I have asked you before and I will do so once again: If you know of other families, besides the one we are discussing, where a grandsire Uttanpad had in his lineage a Prthu please let us know.

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Shivraj,

Earlier in BVP you have yourself asked me to educate you, which in plain words mean that you are asking me to teach you. Now for teaching, the teacher has yo know the background of the person to be taught. So please let us know your background.  Dr. Iyengar also asked you to reveal your identity. Once before I asked you to read the puranas, as several of  the puranas have given historical information such as genealogy / chronology, but instead of welcoming my suggestion you have been crying over it. What type of student do you want to become, without letting know about yourself, even when asked?

After reading my earlier mail you should have looked at the Manvantara, in which Uttanapada lived as well as the  Manvantara in which Prithu lived, but you did not even try to look at it and yet you are passing baseless judgement as follows:

< I am sure you do not understand what a Manavantar is. I am also certain that the RgVedic Rishi knew about the chronology of Uttaanpad and Prthu.>

This is not a non-moderated group and I hope the active moderatorji is looking at what is happening in this thread.

 

This email has been sent from a virus-free computer protected by Avast. www.avast.com

[shivraj singh]

Continuing the quest for Dhruv in RigVed:
In RV verse 8.9.10:
यद्वां कक्षीवाँ उत यद्व्यश्व ऋषिर्यद्वां दीर्घतमा जुहाव ।
पृथी यद्वां वैन्यः सादनेष्वेवेदतो अश्विना चेतयेथाम् ॥१०॥

and RV 10.148.5:
श्रुधी हवमिन्द्र शूर पृथ्या उत स्तवसे वेन्यस्यार्कैः ।
आ यस्ते योनिं घृतवन्तमस्वारूर्मिर्न निम्नैर्द्रवयन्त वक्वाः ॥५॥

Vena is mentioned as the father of Prthi.

In Shatapath Brahman 5.3.5.4 Prthi is mentioned as the first man annointed as the king.

As a reminder Vishnupuran gives this lineage for Dhruv and his family.
1: Uttanapada; 2: Dhruva; 3: S'lishti; 4: Ripu; 5: Chakshusha; 6: Manu Chakshusha; 7: Uru; 8: Anga ; 9: Vena; 10: Prthu.

So far in Rigved in the previous few posts we have encountered Uttaanpad, Vena and Prthu. We have also encountered Prthu's son Abhyavarti who is referred to as a Samrat and not as a rajaka or rajanya. Shatpath Brahman explains that a Samrat was the highest form of a king and only those who had done Vajapeya sacrifice could be called Samrat. Prthu was the first king amongst men.

Dhruv as an immovable concept, mentioned alongside concepts such as "Naabhi of the world" in Rigved and the fact that many members of Dhruv's family are known to the Rishis of Rigved makes me believe that Dhruv the pole star is known to the Rishis of Rigved.

Are we smart enough to understand what Rishis of Rigved knew is a whole another question.

Regards,
Shivraj
PS: There is more data in Rigved which clarifies the knowledge of the polestar. I will get to it time permitting soon.

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[sunil bhattacharjya]

Dear friends,

The discussion went to the Rigveda verse  6:27:8 :

द्वयाँ अग्ने रथिनो विंशतिं गा वधूमतो मघवा मह्यं सम्राट् ।
अभ्यावर्ती चायमानो ददाति दूणाशेयं दक्षिणा पार्थवानाम् ॥८॥

In this verse the word  पार्थवानाम् refers to Prithu"s descendents. One should not forget that Pritu himself was a descendent of Dhruva and not the other way round.

Regards,

Sunil KB

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