Note 42 — Chapter II
David Shea translation
The most ancient division of the Zodiac consisted of twelve signs, namely: मेष Mesha, the Ram; वृष Vrisha, the Bull; मिथुन Mithuna, the Pair; कर्कट Karkat´a, the Crab; सिंह Sinha, the Lion; कन्या Kanya, the Virgin; तुला Tula, the Balance; वृश्जिक Vriśchica, the Scorpion; धनु Dhanu, the Bow; मकर Makara, the sea-monster; कुम्भ Kumbha, the Ewer; [Sanskrit:मीन] Mina, the Fish.
Sripeti, the author of the Retnamálá, has described them in Sanscrit verse, of which the verbal translation is annexed:
“The Ram, Bull, Crab, Lion, and Scorpion have the figures of those five animals respectively; the Pair are a damsel playing on the vina, and a youth wielding a mace; the Virgin stands on a boat, in water, holding in one hand a lamp, in the other an ear of rice corn; the Balance is held by a weigher, with a weight in one hand; the bow by an archer, whose hinder parts are like those of a horse; the Sea-monster has the face of an antelope; the Ewer is a water-pot borne on the shoulder of a man who empties it; the Fishes are two, with their heads turned to each other’s tails, and all these are supposed to be in such places as suit their separate natures” (Sir W. Jones, vol. I. p. 336).—D. S.