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In the ideal calendar of 360 days in Mul Apin, the equinoxes and solstices are placed on the fifteenth day of every month, on the night of the full moon. The turning points of the solar year in the early Vedic liturgical calendar are also associated with full moons. In this calendar, it is recognized that the month might be counted, from the night of the new moon, as in Mesopotamia, not only from the night of the full moon, as was normal in Yajurvedic texts.
Taittirīyasaṁhitā 7.5.6:
Having made up the month with the six-day periods they leave out a day, for they behold the months by the six-day periods. Having made up the months with the half-months, they leave out a day, for they behold the months by the half-months. Having made up the months by the new moon night, they leave out a day, for they behold the months by the new moon night. Having made up the months by the full moon night, they leave out a day, for they behold the month by the full moon night. He who pours (liquid) into a full (vessel) wastes the liquid; he who pours out from a full (vessel) places breath in it. In that, having made up the months with the full moon night, they leave out a day, they place breath in the year, and the performers of the Sattra breathe along it. If they did not leave out a day, then the year would fall asunder, as falls asunder a skin bag tied tight, and they would be ruined. In that, having made up the months with the full moon night, they leave out a day, they place out-breathing in the year, and the performers of the Sattra breathe out along it, and are not ruined. At the full moon (the Soma) of the gods is pressed. In that, having made up the months with the full moon night, they leave out a day, with the sacrifice to the gods they go to another sacrifice. They cleave asunder the sacrifice, in that (after performing it) as a series of six-day rites they leave out a day. They offer an animal for Prajapati. Prajapati is all the gods; verily with the gods do they offer the sacrifice. They leave the pressing, who leave out the day.
Source (list of abbreviations)
Taittirīyasaṁhitā 7.5.6
Bibliography
| Keith 1914 | Keith, A. B. The Veda of the Black Yajus School entitled Taittiriya Sanhita. Translated from the original Sanskrit Prose and Verse. 2 Vols. Harvard Oriental Series 18-19. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press 1914. |
| Pingree 1998, 128 | Pingree, David. “Legacies in Astronomy and Celestial Omens.” In: S. Dalley (ed.). The Legacy of Mesopotamia. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1998, 125-137. |
Amar Annus
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