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Ursa Major - The Seven Rishis (Hindu)

The Big Dipper stars were originally seven sages called Rishis who were married to seven sisters known as Krttika. However, the god of fire Agni fell in love with the Krttika after emerging from a sacrificial fire. He was then tricked into thinking he seduced six of the Krttika, who were actually the star Svaha in disguise. This led six of the Rishis to divorce their wives, who became the Pleiades, while the most devoted wife Arundhati remained with her husband as the star Alcor.

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74 views

Ursa Major - The Seven Rishis (Hindu)

The Big Dipper stars were originally seven sages called Rishis who were married to seven sisters known as Krttika. However, the god of fire Agni fell in love with the Krttika after emerging from a sacrificial fire. He was then tricked into thinking he seduced six of the Krttika, who were actually the star Svaha in disguise. This led six of the Rishis to divorce their wives, who became the Pleiades, while the most devoted wife Arundhati remained with her husband as the star Alcor.

Uploaded by

praful_kohale6642
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ursa Major The Seven Rishis (Hindu)

The stars of the Big Dipper were the seven sages called
Rishis. These seven sages are said to be those who made
the Sun rise and shine. They were happily married to seven
sisters named Krttika. They originally all lived together in
the northern sky.

But one day, the god of fire, Agni, emerged from the
flames of a sacrificial offering performed by the seven
Rishis and immediately fell in love with the seven Krttika.
Trying to forget his hopeless love for the Krttika, Agni
wandered in the forest where he met Svaha, the star Zeta
Tauri. Svaha was at once infatuated with Agni.

To conquer Agni's love, Svaha disguised herself as six of the seven Krttika. For six
times, Svaha made love to Agni who believed that he had conquered the attractive wives
of the seven Rishis. Svaha could mimic only six of the Krttika because the seventh
sister, Arundhati, was too devoted to her husband to be imitated. After a while, Svaha
gave birth to a child that she named Skanda. With his birth, rumors began to spread
that six of the Rishis' wives were his mother.

Six of the Rishis divorced their wives. Arundhati was the only one that remained with
her husband as the star Alcor. The other six Krttika went away to become the Pleiades.

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