Note 480 — Chapter I

When a well is to be dug, an expert is first called to select a likely spot on which to dig. A Brahman is then consulted as to the auspicious hour on which the work of digging should be commenced.480 For this purpose, Tuesdays and those days on which the earth sleeps are to be avoided. The earth is supposed to be asleep on the following six days in every month, namely: the 1st, the 7th, the 9th, the 10th, the 14th and the 24th days following a sankrānti (i.e., the day on which the sun crosses from one constellation to another). Excluding these days, a date is generally fixed on which the Chandra-graha (or the planet moon) is favourable to the constructor of the well.481