Arundhati Nyaya:
This name comes from a pair of twin
stars, consisting of ‘Vashishtha’ and ‘Arundhati’, found in the constellation
of Great Bear or Ursa Major. The peculiarity of this pair of stars is that of
the two, ‘Arundhati’ is a very faint star while ‘Vashishtha’ is a bright star. When someone looks at these stars, ‘Arundhati’ doesn’t
show up easily. To show ‘Arundhati’ to a person, he is first asked to concentrate
on ‘Vashishtha’ and then asked to look for ‘Arundhati’. This is how ‘Arundhati’
becomes visible. This method of moving from gross to subtle is called
“Arundhati Nyaya” (अरुंधतीन्याय:) or ‘Arundhati-Darśana-Nyāya’ (अरुन्धतीदर्शनन्यायः). This is how God is explained with the help of an Idol, an Image or an
Idea in Indian philosophies.
A Marriage Ritual:
Normally, in the case of twin stars, one star (the daughter)
moves about the other one (the mother). However, in the case of the ‘Vashishtha-Arundhati’
twin star system, the two stars rotate about each other. The greatness of our
ancestors was that they could know that such a twin star system exists and how
they rotate even without the telescope.
During a Hindu wedding, after the Saptapathi
ritual, the groom shows the bride the 'Vashishta-Arundhati' double stars as
an example of the ideal couple symbolizing marital happiness and devotion.
This ritual also symbolizes that in married
life, one person shall not revolve around the other, but the two shall move
together, i.e. the two shall maintain their identity yet live together.
References:
February 05, 2017.
