Utpala's commentary · mūla 6th c. CE; Utpala's commentary 966 CE
उत्तरमार्गो याम्यादि निगदितो मध्यमस्तु भाग्याद्यः। दक्षिणमार्गोऽषाढादि कैश्चिदेवं कृता मार्गाः॥९.६॥ [टीका] कैश्चिदाचार्यैरेवमनेन प्रकारेण मार्गाः कृताः। ते च गर्गादयः। याम्या भरणी तदादिको नवनक्षत्रान्त उत्तरो मार्गो निगदित उक्तः। … मध्यमस्तु भाग्याद्यः। भाग्यं पूर्वफल्गुनी तदादिको नवनक्षत्रान्तो मध्यमो मार्गः। … तथा च गर्गः— अश्वयुग्भोगपर्यन्तेऽषाढादौ नवके गणे। वर्तमानः सदा क्रूरो दक्षिणे पथि वर्तते॥ शुक्रो निऋतिपर्यन्ते भाग्यादौ नवके गणे। वर्तमानश्च मध्यस्थो मध्यमे पथि वर्तते॥ भरण्यादौ मघान्ते च तृतीये नवके गणे। वर्तमानः शुभो ज्ञेय उत्तरे पथि वर्तते॥ इति॥
Transcribed from the Devanagari OCR of the printed edition at shloka_source_url (Achyuta Nand Jha ed., vol. 1) and checked word-for-word against two further independent scans of two different printed editions of the same commentary — Krishna Chandra Dvivedi's (https://archive.org/download/brihatsamhitawithbhattotpalavivrittipartidr.krishnachandradvivedi/Brihat%20Samhita%20%20with%20Bhattotpala%20Vivritti%20Part%20I%20-%20Dr.%20Krishna%20Chandra%20Dvivedi_djvu.txt) and A.V. Tripathi's (https://archive.org/download/JiUm_brihat-samhita-part-1-of-varaha-mihira-by-avadh-bihari-tripathi-saraswati-bhavan-granthamala/Brihat%20Samhita%20Part%201%20of%20Varaha%20Mihira%20by%20Avadh%20Bihari%20Tripathi%20-%20Saraswati%20Bhavan%20Granthamala_djvu.txt). Only glyph-level OCR artifacts that all three scans show to be artifacts (e.g. OCR रद्वव for रद्गव, श्व for श्च) have been normalised; every substantive reading is as scanned, and the two places where the scans genuinely differ are flagged in identification_notes. Garga's three couplets follow Achyuta Nand Jha's scan, which reads नवके गणे (locative) where Krishna Chandra Dvivedi's reads नवकं गणे, and निऋतिपर्यन्ते where his reads नि ऋतिपर्यन्तं; मघान्ते is from Krishna Chandra Dvivedi's scan (Jha's OCR has मधान्ते, a घ/ध confusion). None of these affects the sense or the names.
Mūla 9.6 (Iyer 1884, ch. IX v. 6, verbatim): 'According to others the nine constellations from Bharani form the northern Veedhi or path, the nine from Poorvaphalguni form the central path and the nine from Poorvashadha form the Southern path.' Commentary (compiler): 'By certain teachers the mārgas were made in this way — and they are Garga and the rest. Yāmyā is Bharaṇī; the northern mārga is declared to be the nine asterisms beginning with it… The middle one begins with Bhāgya: Bhāgya is Pūrva-Phalgunī, and the middle mārga is the nine asterisms beginning with it… And so Garga: "Reckon the nine beginning with Āṣāḍhā and ending with the enjoyment of Aśvayuj: moving there Venus is always cruel, and moves on the southern path. Reckon the nine beginning with Bhāgya and ending with Nirṛti: moving there Venus stands in the middle, and moves on the middle path. Reckon the third nine, beginning with Bharaṇī and ending with Maghā: moving there Venus is to be known as auspicious, and moves on the northern path."' — N. Chidambaram Iyer (1884) for the mūla verse; commentary and Garga quotation rendered by the compiler
'That of Bhaga' = PŪRVA-PHALGUNĪ, whose regent is Bhaga. Varāhamihira's word at BS 9.6 ('madhyamas tu bhāgyādyaḥ'), glossed by Utpala 'bhāgyaṃ pūrva-phalgunī', who then enumerates the middle mārga's nine asterisms from Pūrva-Phalgunī to Mūla, confirming the equation arithmetically. Utpala independently glosses the deity at BS 97.4: 'yonir bhagaḥ pūrva-phalgunyāḥ'. Modern star follows the database's 'purva-phalguni' entry. This is also the scheme Utpala attributes to 'Garga and others' — he names them ('te ca gargādayaḥ') where Varāhamihira says only 'kaiścit'.
Mahābhārata & Rāmāyaṇa · c. 1st–4th c. CE (Bhīṣma omen chapters)
bhāgyaṃ nakṣatram ākramya sūryaputreṇa pīḍyate / śukraḥ proṣṭhapade pūrve samāruhya viśāṃ pate //
CE lines 06,003.014a/014c. CE 6.3 = vulgate Bhīṣma Parva Section III; the numbering coincides.
The Sun's offspring (Sani) approaching towards the constellation Bhaga, afflicteth it. The planet Sukra, ascending towards Purva Bhadra, shineth brilliantly, and wheeling towards the Uttara Bhadra, looketh towards it, having effected a junction (with a smaller planet). — Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883-96)
'Bhāgya nakṣatra' = the asterism of Bhaga = Pūrva-Phalgunī, whose presiding deity is Bhaga throughout the nakṣatra-devatā lists (Taittirīya Saṃhitā 4.4.10, Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna, Sūrya Siddhānta tradition). It stands in a list of omens where every other item is a planet-on-nakṣatra statement, so a nakṣatra is certainly meant, and Ganguli renders it 'the constellation Bhaga'. This is a deity-derived alias of the same family as Maitra, Āgneya, Prājeśa and Raudra already in the database, but Bhāgya itself is not yet recorded. The δ Leonis identification is the Sūrya-Siddhānta yogatārā of Pūrva-Phalgunī and is imported, not epic; the epic gives no position. NOTE the ambiguity: a minority reading takes bhāgya generically as 'the natal asterism', but the parallel construction of the surrounding verses (maghāsu, śravaṇe, proṣṭhapade, jyeṣṭhām) makes the proper-name sense far more likely.
Mahābhārata 6.3.14 (Critical Edition, Bhīṣma Parva) = vulgate/Ganguli Bhīṣma Parva Section III ·
text ·
translation