Mūla (Nakshatra)
Mūla, “the root”
Grammar: neuter noun: “the root”.
Meaning: one of the twenty-seven nakshatras (the lunar mansions), lying in the rāśi Dhanus.
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 thighs of Īśvara are Dhanus, the kshetra of Bṛhaspati, made of Mūla, Pūrvāshāḍhā and the first caraṇa (quarter) of Uttarāshāḍhā (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 Mūla is on his feet. The vrata begins with Mūla: on Caitra śukla ashṭamī, when the moon is joined with Mūla, one worships the divine feet of Śrī Hari according to rule and feeds vipras (brāhmaṇas) as soon as the nakshatra is seen (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 54).
Bāṇa, Bali‘s son, reminds Bhagavān Vāmana that a gift made knowing the place, the time and the recipient becomes akshaya (imperishable). His father’s gift was a gift of land, the recipient was the Deva of devas, the time was the holy yoga of the Moon with the Jyeshṭhā and Mūla nakshatras, and the place was Kurukshetra, the crown among kshetras (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 65).
Related terms: Nakshatra · Dhanus · Pūrvāshāḍhā · Jyeshṭhā · Bhū-dāna · Kālarūpī
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 5, 14, 54, 65