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बाहू (रुद्रस्य) Bāhū (Rudrasya)

'the two Arms' of the deer/Orion: usually taken as Betelgeuse and Bellatrix · α Orionis and γ Orionis · Orion

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Attestations

Vedic corpus
रुद्रस्य बाहू ।मृगयवः परस्ताद्विक्षारोऽवस्तात्
[Paraphrase] Of Rudra are the two Arms (Bahu); the hunters above, ... below. No public-domain English translation of the Taittiriya Brahmana exists; rendering above is the researcher's own paraphrase of the Sanskrit. Cf. P.-E. Dumont (1954), copyrighted, not quoted. — Researcher's paraphrase (no public-domain translation); cf. P.-E. Dumont (1954)

TB 1.5.1 gives Rudra's nakshatra as the dual Bāhū 'the two arms' in place of Ārdrā, fitting the picture of the celestial deer (Orion): the two bright shoulder stars Betelgeuse + Bellatrix. Which two stars are meant is not stated in the text; Betelgeuse-Bellatrix is the common scholarly reading, and the mention of 'hunters' (mṛgayavaḥ) alongside is part of the same Orion tableau.

Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa 1.5.1.1 · text · translation

See also

Ārdrā