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चित्रशिखण्डिनः Citraśikhaṇḍinaḥ

Big Dipper / Great Bear · α–η Ursae Majoris · Ursa Major

collectiveidentification likelyattestations 2

Attestations

Lexicons, Nirukta & Buddhist · c. 6th century CE
सप्तर्षयो मरीच्यत्रिमुखाश्चित्रशिखण्डिनः ॥ १.३.२२९ ॥
'Ursa major.' Footnote: 'The seven principal stars in Ursa major are the seven sages; Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishthá.' — H.T. Colebrooke (1808)

Second collective name for the Seven Sages, 'the bright-crested ones', given as a straight synonym of Saptarṣayaḥ. Colebrooke glosses the verse 'Ursa major' and names the seven in a footnote. Cross-confirmed internally: six verses earlier the Amarakośa calls Bṛhaspati citraśikhaṇḍija, 'son of a Citraśikhaṇḍin' (i.e. of Aṅgiras, one of the seven).

Amarakośa 1.3.229 (Dig-varga) · text · translation
Mahābhārata & Rāmāyaṇa · Nārāyaṇīya stratum, c. 1st–4th c. CE
ye hi te munayaḥ khyātāḥ sapta citraśikhaṇḍinaḥ / … marīcir atryaṅgirasau pulastyaḥ pulahaḥ kratuḥ / vasiṣṭhaś ca mahātejā ete citraśikhaṇḍinaḥ //

CE lines 12,322.026a and 12,322.027a/027c; the ellipsis marks the omitted 026c. Vulgate chapter numbering for the Nārāyaṇīya differs from the CE; Ganguli's corresponding Śānti Parva section was not fetched.

Literal rendering by the compiler: 'Those munis who are renowned as the seven Citraśikhaṇḍins … Marīci, Atri and Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasiṣṭha of great splendour — these are the Citraśikhaṇḍins.' — Literal rendering by the compiler (no public-domain translation of the CE chapter was fetched in this session)

The Mahābhārata is in fact the locus classicus for this name, which the database currently carries only from the lexicons. Nārāyaṇīya 12.322.26-27 names 'the seven munis famed as the Citraśikhaṇḍins' and then lists them individually: Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasiṣṭha — the same seven the Bṛhat Saṃhitā maps onto α–η UMa. HONEST CAVEAT on the discrimination test: in this passage they are treated as sages who authored a śāstra, not explicitly as stars, so the passage attests the NAME for the seven but not, by itself, a celestial reference. The name itself ('bright-crested') is stellar in force, and the seven are the standard star-seven, which is why it is recorded here as likely rather than certain.

Mahābhārata 12.322.26-27 (Critical Edition, Śānti Parva, Nārāyaṇīya) · text · translation

See also

Saptarṣayaḥ / Ṛkṣāḥ, Ṛkṣāḥ