An argument for the Tropical zodiac
I first encountered the argument that the word rāśi is a combination of two words — Rāhu and Śikhi (Ketu) — in an online article discussing the works and ideas of the astrologer Chandrahari. The suggestion was that the chakra containing Rāhu and Ketu constitutes the zodiac. However, the idea was not developed further. Chandrahari's proposed ayanāṁśa, while different from Lahiri's, is not drastically removed from it either.
About a week ago, I had an epiphany that this linguistic idea might be literally true — but not in the usual sense. Rāhu and Śikhi need not be the lunar nodes; instead, they can be understood as the solar nodes — the nodes formed when the Sun's path (the ecliptic) intersects the Earth's daily rotational path (the equator).
Nodes, in general, are simply the two points where two great circles intersect on a sphere. For example, if we draw one circle representing the Sun's path and another representing the Moon's path, the two points where these circles intersect are the lunar nodes. The north node is the point where the Moon crosses the Sun's path while moving northward, and the south node is where it crosses while moving southward.
Now consider another example: the circle of the Sun's path and the circle of the Earth's equator. The two points where these circles intersect are well known — the equinoxes (the vernal and autumnal equinox). If we take the point where the Sun crosses the equator while moving northward as the north node, then it is entirely natural to begin the zodiac from that point.
This is not a new zodiac. We already know it as the tropical zodiac. I am increasingly inclined to view the solar north node — the vernal equinox — as the starting point of Aries, rather than some arbitrary point in the sky. It feels more natural and more observable, both of which are values deeply emphasized in Vedic astronomy.
With this approach, we no longer need elaborate explanations for why Uttarāyaṇa is said to begin on January 14/15, when in reality it begins in the sky around December 21/22. This perspective also resolves the problem of multiple zero points of the zodiac and the endless debates surrounding them.
What remains is something simple, observable, and easily measurable. If that is the case, why must we assume that the Vedic people relied on fixed stars to construct their zodiac at all?
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