At a glance
- Reading focus
- Similar names do not ensure identical boundaries or calculations.
Definition and details
A lunar mansion is not a location on the Moon. It is a sky marker or division used with lunar position and time. Nakṣatra practice depends on the textual convention; Chinese mansions have their own reference-star and coordinate uses. Translation or borrowing of names does not establish identical boundaries, ordering or purpose.
Structure and history
Mansion vocabulary travels through Sanskrit works, Chinese Buddhist translation and other regional texts, sometimes alongside weekdays or electional advice. NDL’s long-title record identifies a Sukuyō witness, while the Tibetan institution includes nakṣatra among five calendrical components. These support comparison of vocabulary without fixing an unsupported single transmission date.
A concrete example
A national almanac places nakṣatra beside tithi, yoga and celestial longitudes. Examine when the Moon enters a division: the classification can change during a civil day. A natal-mansion description must additionally specify whether it uses instantaneous position or a date table, since those selection methods need not yield identical labels.
Context and limits
Historical astronomical use can be checked through maps and tables, while personality and relationship meanings belong to astrology. Compare reference planes, counts and boundaries before comparing myths. Do not interchange systems simply because both use mansion terminology, or judge two people’s suitability by a name; preserve transliteration and source version.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- India Meteorological Department · Rashtriya PanchangInstitutional / reference source
Government almanac description covers tithi, nakshatra and modern calculations, without validating astrology.
- NDL · 宿曜經Institutional / reference source
National library record for Sukuyōkyō, useful for title and witness identification rather than full textual content.
- Men-Tsee-Khang · Introduction to Tibetan AstrologyPrimary / tradition source
Practitioners’ institutional account of calendrical computation and lineages; legendary origins are not historical proof.