Editing Nakshatra (section)

==In the Atharvaveda==
[[File:Nakshatras.jpg|thumb|300px|Nakshatras in a circle]]
In the [[Atharvaveda]] (Shaunakiya recension, hymn&nbsp;19.7) a list of 27&nbsp;stars or asterisms is given, many of them corresponding to the later nakshatras:<ref name="griffithveda">
{{cite book
 |translator=Griffith, R.T.H.  |translator-link=Ralph T. H. Griffith
 |year=1895
 |title=Hymns of the Atharva Veda
}}
:Original text via <br />
{{cite web
 |title=Gretil
 |publisher=[[University of Goettingen]]
 |url=http://fiindolo.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil.htm#Veda
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202232942/http://fiindolo.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil.htm
 |archive-date=2012-02-02
}}
:from <br />
{{cite book
 |editor-first=Chatia |editor-last=Orlandi
 |year=1991
 |title=Gli inni dell Atharvaveda (Saunaka)
 |type=trasliteration
 |place=Pisa, IT
}}
:collated with the edition of
{{cite book
 |editor1=Roth, R.
 |editor2=Whitney, W.D.
 |year=1856
 |title=Atharva Veda Sanhita
 |place=Berlin, DE
}}
</ref>{{efn|
From [[Ralph T. H. Griffith|Griffith]] (1895) ''Hymns of the Atharva Veda'':<ref name=griffithveda/>
<poem>
1 &emsp; citrā́ṇi sākáṃ diví rocanā́ni sarīsr̥pā́ṇi bhúvane javā́ni
:: turmíśaṃ sumatím ichámāno áhāni gīrbhíḥ saparyāmi nā́kam

2 &emsp; suhávam agne kŕ̥ttikā róhiṇī cā́stu bhadráṃ mr̥gáśiraḥ śám ārdrā́ 
:: púnarvasū sūnŕ̥tā cā́ru púṣyo bhānúr āśleṣā́ áyanaṃ maghā́ me

3 &emsp; púṇyaṃ pū́rvā phálgunyau cā́tra hástaś citrā́ śivā́ svātí sukhó me astu 
:: rā́dhe viśā́khe suhávānurādhā́ jyéṣṭhā sunákṣatram áriṣṭa mū́lam

4 &emsp; ánnaṃ pū́rvā rāsatāṃ me aṣādhā́ ū́rjaṃ devy úttarā ā́ vahantu 
:: abhijín me rāsatāṃ púṇyam evá śrávaṇaḥ śráviṣṭhāḥ kurvatāṃ supuṣṭím

5 &emsp; ā́ me mahác chatábhiṣag várīya ā́ me dvayā́ próṣṭhapadā suśárma 
:: ā́ revátī cāśvayújau bhágaṃ ma ā́ me rayíṃ bháraṇya ā́ vahantu<ref name=griffithveda/>
&nbsp;
</poem>
}}{{columns-list|colwidth=18em|
# [[Ashvini|Ashwini]]
# [[Bharani]]
# [[Kṛttikā]] (the [[Pleiades]])
# [[Rohini (nakshatra)|Rohinī]] ([[Aldebaran]])
# [[Mrigashīrsha]]
# [[Ardra Nakshatra|Ārdrā]] ([[Betelgeuse]])
# [[Punarvasu]] ([[Castor (star)|Castor]] and [[Pollux (star)|Pollux]])
# [[Pushya]]
# [[Ashlesha (nakshatra)|Asleshā]]
# [[Magha (nakshatra)|Maghā]] ([[Regulus]])
# [[Purva Phalguni]]
# [[#List of Nakshatras|Uttara Phalguni]] ([[Denebola]])
# [[Hasta (nakshatra)|Hasta]]
# [[#List of Nakshatras|Chitrā]] ([[Spica]])
# [[Svati|Svāti]] ([[Arcturus]]) 
# [[Vishākhā]]
# [[Anuradha (nakshatra)|Anurādhā]]
# [[Jyeshtha (nakshatra)|Jyeshthā]]
# [[Mula (nakshatra)|Mūla]]
# [[#List of Nakshatras|Purva Ashadha]] 
# [[Uttara Ashadha]]
# [[Shravana]]
# [[Dhanishta]]
# [[Shatabhisha|Satabhishak]] ([[Sadachbia]])
# [[Purva Bhadrapada]]
# [[Uttara Bhādrapadā|Uttara Bhadrapada]]
# [[Revati (nakshatra)|Revati]]
}}

This 27-day cycle has been taken to mean a particular group of stars. This has to do with the periodicity with which the Moon travels past the specific star fields called nakshatras. Hence, the stars are more like numbers on a clock, through which the hands of time (the moon) pass. This concept is described by J. Mercay (2012) in connection with ''[[Surya Siddhanta]]''.<ref name="mercay">
{{cite book
 |author=Mercay, Jessie
 |year=2012
 |title=Fundamentals of Mamuni Mayans Vaastu Shastras: Building architecture of Sthapatya Veda and traditional Indian architecture
 <!-- Mercay, 2006 – 2012 -->
 |publisher=AUM Science and Technology publishers
}}
</ref>