Bhādrapadā (Nakshatra)
Bhādrapadā · bhadra-padā, “the auspicious feet”
Grammar: feminine noun; bhadra (auspicious) and pada (foot): “the auspicious feet”. There are two: Pūrva (the former) and Uttara (the latter) Bhādrapadā.
Meaning: the pair of nakshatras (lunar mansions) Pūrvabhādrapadā and Uttarabhādrapadā.
In the scriptures: when the devatā of Daksha‘s yajña fled into the sky in the form of a deer, Bhagavān Śiva pursued it as Kālarūpī, the form of Time, and occupied the sky. Pulastya Maharshi describes that body to Nārada limb by limb, each limb a rāśi with its nakshatras. The shanks of the Svāmī are Kumbha, made of the third and fourth pādas of Dhanishṭhā, Śatabhishak and three pādas of Pūrvābhādrā. The two feet of Maheśvara are Mīna, the second house of Bṛhaspati, made of the last pāda of Pūrvābhādrā, Uttarābhādrā and Revatī (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 5).
In their teaching on conduct to the rākshasa king Sukeśī, the ṛshis give rules by nakshatra: no meat is eaten on Mūla, Mṛgaśira and Bhādrapadā (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 14).
In the Nakshatra Purusha vrata, the twenty-seven nakshatras are the limbs of Śrī Hari, the nakshatra-purusha form of Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, and the two Bhādrapadās are his sides. In the rite, when the moon is joined with Pūrva and Uttara Bhādrapadā, one worships the sides of Śrī Hari and, for the gaining of one’s wish (ishṭa-siddhi), offers balls of jaggery as the dohada, the special offering that fulfils the longing (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 54).
Related terms: Nakshatra · Kumbha · Mīna · Revatī · Kālarūpī · Dohada
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 5, 14, 54