Makara (Rāśi)

Makara, “the crocodile, the sea-creature”

Grammar: masculine noun: the crocodile, the great creature of the waters.

Meaning: the crocodile; and the tenth of the twelve rāśis (the signs through which the Sun and the planets move), the house of Śani, named for its form as a crocodile.

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 knees of Parameśvara are Makara, the house of Śani, made of the second, third and fourth caraṇas (quarters) of Uttarāshāḍhā, Śravaṇa and two caraṇas of Dhanishṭhā (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 5).

Nārada then asks the form and marks of the twelve rāśis, and Pulastya Maharshi tells each in turn. Makara has the face of a deer, the shoulders of a bull, eyes and hair, and is like a crocodile. It moves in the rivers and dwells in the ocean. Pulastya Maharshi closes by saying that what he has told of the rāśis is very secret and ancient, not to be told to anyone (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 5).

In the dvādaśa-patraka yoga, the yoga of the twelve leaves that Brahmā (Pitāmaha) teaches Sanatkumāra, each leaf has a syllable, a place on the body, a rāśi and a month. The tenth leaf is the syllable de on the thighs, with the Makara rāśi and the month Māgha (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 35).

In its plain sense the word names the crocodile:

  • The mighty rākshasas Rambha and Karambha, who had no sons, did tapas for many years in the waters of the five rivers (pañcanadī), Karambha in the midst of the water. Indra took the form of a makara, seized Karambha by the legs, dragged him away and killed him (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 18).
  • The makarī (crocodile) in the lake that seized the king of elephants was the gandharva Hūhū, made a crocodile by the śāpa (curse) of Devala. Bhagavān Vishṇu, who rides Garuḍa, drew both out of the lake and cut its throat with his cakra; slain by Kṛshṇa, Hūhū was freed from the śāpa and went to svarga (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58).

Related terms: Rāśi · Kālarūpī · Uttarāshāḍhā · Śravaṇa · Dhanishṭhā · Gajendra

Sources

  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 5, 18, 35, 58