Dhaniṣṭhā Nakṣatra

At a Glance

The Name

Dhanishta joins dhana, wealth, to a word for the most, so it means the richest. Joni Patry calls it the richest one, and Dr Arjun Pai calls it the wealthy star. The older name is Shravishtha, from shru, to hear. It means the most heard, which is to say the most famous. The Taittiriya Brahmana already plays on that root when it names the star. Varahamihira usually calls it by its gods, Vasava or the star of the Vasus, and Tamil and Malayalam call it Avittam. Monier-Williams gives two sources for dhanishtha: the superlative of dhan, 'to run', so 'very swift' (Rigveda 10.73.1), or dhana, so 'very rich'. Vic DiCara reads the name instead from a root dhan, 'to sound', as 'beloved sound'. That root is known only from the old word lists, and the dictionary does not derive the star's name from it.

The star's shakti is given in modern books as khyapayitri, the power to give fame and abundance. Dr Pai teaches the same name and adds that the result is bringing people together. The Brahmana itself names no shakti. Its picture for the star is being above and well-being below, the world and the good of the world.

Where the Star Stands

Dhanishta sits across the line between Capricorn and Aquarius. Its first two quarters are in Capricorn and its last two in Aquarius, and Saturn rules both. Mars rules the star itself. Mars is exalted in Capricorn, and his exact point of exaltation, Capricorn 28 degrees, lies inside Dhanishta's second quarter. Jupiter is debilitated in Capricorn, though his exact point of fall, Capricorn 5 degrees, is far outside the star.

The stars are the small diamond of Delphinus, the Dolphin, with a short tail. On the Lahiri reckoning the brightest, alpha Delphini, stands at Capricorn 23 degrees 31 minutes, just inside the first quarter. Aditya on Dr Pai's panel gives the same figure. The Surya Siddhanta takes the western star of the group as the marker. That is beta Delphini, at Capricorn 22 degrees 29 minutes, a degree before the star begins. The whole group sits about thirty-two degrees north of the Sun's path. Aditya also notes that beta and gamma Delphini are each double stars, and that zeta Delphini has a brown dwarf beside it, a body too small to burn as a star.

Where the Year Began

The Vedanga Jyotisha, the oldest Indian astronomy text, starts its year when the Sun turns north at the beginning of this star. The Mahabharata keeps the same order when it says the stars begin with Shravishtha. Varahamihira quotes the old rule many centuries later, and notes that in his own time the solstice had moved. Varahamihira also starts Jupiter's cycle of sixty years with a rising in Dhanishta.

The Start of Panchaka

The second half of Dhanishta, the part in Aquarius, opens the panchaka, the five stars that run to the end of Revati. Muhurta Chintamani (2.48) says that while the Moon is in Aquarius or Pisces a person should not cremate the dead, set out toward the south, make a bed or put a roof on a house. Dr Pai adds that South Indian priests hold special shanti rites when someone dies in the third or fourth quarter of Dhanishta.