ध्रुवस्यौत्तानपादस्य ब्रह्मर्षीणां तथैव च ।

मध्यं ज्वलति यो नित्यमुदीचीमाश्रितो दिशम् । ।

Anushasan Parva 3.15

Yudhisht́hira said:

“He (Vishwamitra) is forever staring in the form of a star between Uttanapada’s son Dhruva and Saptha Brahmarisi”

The importance of this statement is that Yudhisthira is explicitly giving us the position of a star designated as Vishvamitra. But interestingly, unlike Vashistha, Agasthya etc Indian traditional Astronomy has not preserved for us, the record of any star named Vishvamitra.

What might be the reason for such an omission? We don’t know.

Is it possible for us to re-identify the Vishwamitra Star? We can certainly try and that is exactly what we are going to do…

Our quest from Yudhisthira’s statement involves the triangulation of following 3 points:

1) Can Vishwamitra in North direction during Mahabharata times be substantiated?

2) Identification of Saptarishi

3) Identification of Dhruva Uttanapad

It is well known that Vishwamitra is among the key characters in Ramayana and much of his exploits are enumerated in detail in Ramayana than in Mahabharata.

Given that Ramayana is chronologically before Mahabharata, it is necessary to look for Ramayana as to the references it can provide us regarding the position of Vishwamitra.

1) Ramayana evidence:

Many previous researchers have considered Vishwamitra to be located in the Southern hemisphere and have tried to identify him with the Southern stars.

Indeed, Ramayana also states that after getting defeated by his arch enemy Vashistha, Vishwamitra went to settle in the Southern direction and takes up severe ascesis to become a Brahmarishi.

ततः संतप्तहृदयः स्मरन्निग्रहमात्मनः |
विनिःश्वस्य विनिःश्वस्य कृतवैरो महात्मना || १-५७-१
सदक्षिणां दिशं गत्वा महिष्या सह राघव |
तताप परमं घोरं विश्वामित्रो महातपाः || १-५७-२

But that is not to be confused as his final location!

Because, after the Trisanku episode owing to the loss of his ascetic powers, Vishwamitra plans to regain the powers through ascesis and decides to move for the Western direction.

पश्चिमायां विशालायां पुष्करेषु महात्मनः |
सुखं तपश्चरिष्यामः परं तद्धि तपोवनम् || १-६१-३

Vishvamitra performs severe penance for a long time which upsets Indra. So, Indra sends his Apsara Menaka to distract Vishwamitra. Menaka succeeds in her mission and after 10 years Vishwamitra realizes his mistake and takes to the Northern direction to continue his ascesis.

विनिःश्वसन् मुनिवरः पश्चात्तापेन दुःखितः || १-६३-१२
भीतामप्सरसं दृष्ट्वा वेपन्तीं प्रांजलिं स्थिताम् |
मेनकां मधुरैर्वाक्यैर्विसृज्य कुशिकात्मजः || १-६३-१३
उत्तरं पर्वतं राम विश्वामित्रो जगाम ह |

After a long time of ascesis, Indra once again tries to sabotage the pursuit of Vishvamitra. This time he sends Ramba, another Apsara in Indra’s court to distract Vishwamitra. But Vishvamitra curses Ramba and then laments for the fact that he has not yet gained mastery over his anger. Vishvamitra then decides to continue his penance till the time he conquers his emotions and decides to continue his ascesis in the Eastern direction.

अथ हैमवतीं राम दिशं त्यक्त्वा महामुनिः |
पूर्वां दिशमनुप्राप्य तपस्तेपे सुदारुणम् || १-६५-१

During his stay in Eastern direction Vishwamitra obtained his Brahmarishi status. And He wanders all over the Earth performing his ascesis.

Then, Ramayana states that after the marriage of Rama and Sita, Vishwamitra sets out to the Northern mountains.

अथ रात्र्यां व्यतीतायां विश्वामित्रो महामुनिः |
आपृच्छ्य तौ च राजानौ जगामोत्तरपर्वतम् || १-७४-१

From these Ramayana references we can see that Vishwamitra after moving from South to West to North to East, finally settles in the Northern direction.

So, we can say that Ramayana evidence corroborates the Yudhisthira’s statement of Vishwamitra residing in the Northern direction!

2) Saptarishi:

They are a group of 7 prominent stars traditionally identified with the Ursa Major constellation.

There have been few instances where different lists of Rishis are designated as Saptarishis. Since our evidence concerning Saptarishi comes from Mahabharata, we shall consider the Saptarishi list given by the Mahabharata.

मरीचिरत्र्यङ्गिरसौ पुलस्त्यः पुलहः क्रतुः |
वसिष्ठश्च महातेजा एते चित्रशिखण्डिनः ||१२.३२२.२७||

Shanti (322.27): The seven celebrated Rishis, viz., Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasishta of great energy, who came to be known by the name of Chitra-sikhandins

This Mahabharata list is further corroborated by Varahamihira’s Brihatsamhita.

13.5-6: The eastern-most of the group is Bhagavan Marichi, next to him is Vasishtha; followed by Angirasa and the next two are Atri and Pulastya. The next in order are the Rishis Pulaha and Kritu. The chaste Arundhathi closely appends her husband the sage Vasishtha.

           Saptarishi as per Mahabharata and Brihatsamhita

We are done with the 2 corners of the triangulation and are left with the final piece…Dhruva Uttanapad.

3) Dhruva Uttanapad:

The word Dhruva in Sanskrit can mean both pole and the star Dhruva. However, given the Yudhiṣṭhira’s reference to Dhruva Uttanapadi, it is fairly certain that the Dhruva in question here is not a pole rather we are talking of a star.

The story of Dhruva- son of Uttānapāda goes as follows:

Uttānapāda had two wives, Suruchi and Sunīti, but the latter was disliked by him. Suruchi had a son named Uttama, and Sunīti gave birth to Dhruva. One day the boy tried, like his elder brother, to take a seat in his father’s lap, but he was contemptuously treated both by the King and his favourite wife. The poor child went sobbing to its mother who told him in consolatory terms that fortune and favour were not attainable without hard exertions. With these words the youth left the paternal roof, retired to the woods, and, though quite a lad, performed such rigorous austerities that he was at last raised by Viṣṇu to the position of the Star. (Vishnu Purana: book 1, chap 11)

The identification of Dhruva in the night sky is also provided in multiple Puranas, for example:

Brahmanda Purana (22.6)

The star that (diffuses light) in the four quarters and is established at the tail of the Śiśumāra is Dhruva, the son of Uttānapāda. He is, as though, the main pivot to which all the stars and planets are attached.

(Śiśumāra is said to be a collection of stars resembling a dolphin or a Gangetic porpoise)

An elaborate description of Śiśumāra is also given in the Brahmanda Purana, which helps us to identify Śiśumāra and thus Dhruva in the night sky.

Brahmanda purana (23.103-106)

Uttānapāda should be known as its upper jaw. Yajña should be known as the other (i.e., lower jaw). Dharma is based on its head, (i.e., constitutes its head). Nārāyaṇa should be sought for in the heart and the pair of Aśvins in the forelegs. Varuṇa and Aryaman are its hind thighs. Its penis is Saṃvatsara and Mitra clings to the Apāna (anus), Agni, Mahendra, Mārīca-Kaśyapa & Dhruva are in the tail. The (last) four stars in the Śiśumāra do not set.

[A similar description for Śiśumāra is presented in Vishnu Purana, Bhagavat Purana etc]

So, the Śiśumāra is supposed to be a 14-star constellation with Dhruva as the last star of its tail. The only Northern constellation which can satisfy this criterion is the Draco constellation.

  

Constellation Draco in the middle of the image is believed to be the Śiśumāra

Thus, the star Thuban comes to be the Dhruva Uttanapadi mentioned in Mahabharata, Brahmanda Purana etc.

While Thuban was a Polar Star in the Northern sky from the 4th to 2nd millennium BCE, it is imperative to note that the name Dhruva need not be assigned to Tuban during this interval. The name Dhruva could well be a cultural / traditional memory from the previous precession cycle too.

Because, even in Brahmanda Purana Dhruva Uttanapad is not a fixed star in the sky, instead, Dhruva has a circumpolar motion around the pole.

22.7- “It is reported that it is he (Dhruva) who perpetually makes the moon and the sun revolve along with the planets. As it (Dhruva) revolves like a wheel, the stars also follow it”

We now have the answer for our 3 questions:

1) Vishwamitra must be located in the Northern hemisphere

2) Saptarishi is identified with Ursa Major

3) Dhruva Uttanapadi has been identified with Thuban

In the night sky, one can observe that it is the star K Dra or Kappa Draconis which is located between Thuban or our Dhruva and Dubhe or Kritu (part of Saptarishi)

The “नित्यमुदीचीमाश्रितो” of Mahabharata could well be the description of the circumpolar nature of Vishwamitra. Corroborating this, Kappa Draconis was indeed a circumpolar star from mid 7th millennium BCE.

One might question the identification of Vishwamitra with a 3rd magnitude star. But it is to be noted that even Dhruva/Thuban the much-celebrated star is a star with magnitude 3.65 and Kappa Draconis has a max magnitude of 3.8. Thus, when Dhruva was recognizable, it may not have been difficult to identify Kappa Draconis in the night sky.

We have reached the last stage of our journey. Considering the Mahabharata evidence and backed by corroborations of Ramayana, Brahmanda Purana and Brihatsamhita we can identify Kappa Draconis as the celebrated Brahmarishi Vishwamitra.

                        Pratyaksha of Mahabharata Shabda Pramana

How did we lose track of the star Vishvamitra?

We can only speculate.

Kappa Draconis is a star of variable magnitude ranging from +3.8 to +4. Its magnitude varies with an irregular or unknown period. So, this decrease in the apparent magnitude to the levels of +4 might (just might) have been the reason why the ancient Astronomers have lost the track of Vishvamitra.

 

Image sources:

1. Vishwamitra image: Dr. Vineet Agarwal's novel ‘Vishwamitra‘
2. Saptarishi: Google
3. Draco constellation: Google