62 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XVI, 
quarrel among the gods. Budha (Mercury) was born to Tara 
and the Moon; and from Budha sprang the lunar race. 
Mars is said to be the son of Siva, au is sometimes 
equated with Karttikeya, who was also the son of Siva. 
Karttikeya is the god of war and rides a peacock and carries 
a bow and arrows. He was fostered by the Krittikas (? the 
Pleiades) and hence his name. 
Mercury is Budha (‘wise’) and the son of the Moon and 
Tara: Venus (Sukra, ‘brilliant’ ) is the son of Bhrigu ; Jupiter 
is Brihaspati or ‘ Lord of prayer’; Saturn (Sani), the son of the 
Sun and Chhaya, always has a malignant influence. Of these 
four planets no specially significant myths are related. 
Rahu, a semi-reptilian monster, stole and drank some of 
the amrita of the gods and so became immortal. Vishnu 
thereupon struck off his head, but, as he had secured immor- 
bat he his head at least), Rahu was placed in the heavens. 
It that Rahu’s theft of the amrita was discovered by 
the ae pi Moon and that in revenge he occasionally swallows 
them and thus causes eclipses. The myth is, possibly, partly 
exotic. Astronomically Rahu became the moon’s ascending 
node, and Ketu, a later introduction, _ descending node. 
There is some confusion in modern texts: Rahu was called 
Kabandha, ‘ headless,’ but the Seis of Ketu as Cauda 
Draconis made this nomenclature anomalous. 
According to Jacobi, Garuda was a sun- tod. Vinata, a 
daughter of Daksha, impatiently opened one of her eggs. It 
contained a bird (Aruna) whose upper half only was developed. 
Aruna became the charioteer of the sun. Vinata’s second 
ege produced Garuda, an enormous bird. He became the 
servant of the Nagas, who, —— promised to set him free | 
if he procured for them the amrita. ‘Eventually he vanquished 
ardian gods and shosared it, in spite of Indra, whose 
eg (vajra) caused the loss of only one feather. On the 
strewn with kuéa grass Garuda placed the amrita and 
invited the snakes to partake of it. While they bathed, Indra, 
o had become friendly with Garuda, carried off the amrita. 
Garde was rewarded by Vishnu who chose him as his vahana, 
and ae him his standard to rest upon. 
: a Ques na a oem myth based upon RV i, 71 
(and AB iii, 335), becomes a star picture embracing 
Sirius, Orion’s Belt herr ees The Taittiriya Brahmana 
gives a star picture of Prajapati. and. the Brihat Samhita 
(viii 105) gives a nakshatra purusha,? which is obviously 
derived from the kala purusha (‘ time man’)—a human figure 
1 ERE ii, 804. It is doubtful, but the myth is given because of its 
— with the Rahu myth. 
2 See also the Matsya ‘Partno, ch. liv. 
