Most of us are familiar with the fact that rashis represent certain colours. Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra mentions the colours of eleven of the 12 rashis. (The part of the manuscript containing the colour of Meena seems to have been lost). Other authors sometimes mention other colours for the rashis. The table below gives a summary:
RASHI COLOURS
|
RASHI |
Ojha |
Parashara |
Hora Sara |
Sarvarth Cintamani |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mesha |
Bloodred |
Bloodred |
Red |
Red |
|
Vrishabha |
White |
White |
White |
White |
|
Mithuna |
Parrot green |
Grass green |
Green |
Green |
|
Karka |
Whitish red |
Pale red |
Pink |
Red |
|
Simha |
Pale white like smoke |
White |
Brown |
Smoky |
|
Kanya |
Multi-coloured |
Variegated |
Grey |
Variegated |
|
Tula |
Black |
Black |
Variegated |
Black |
|
Vrishcika |
Golden |
Reddish brown |
Black |
Golden |
|
Dhanu |
Brownish |
Tawny |
Golden |
Yellow |
|
Makara |
Whitish yellow |
Variegated |
Yellow |
White-red |
|
Kumbha |
Darkish white |
Deep brown |
Variegated |
Mongoose colour |
|
Meena |
White |
-- |
Thick brown |
White |
In the same way, the nakshatras have been assigned certain colours. The colour indications for the present charts have been derived from Shubakara (6, p.16) who says that these colours have been cognized by the ancient Maharishis. There is definitely a correspondence between these, and the colours of the rashis mentioned in the older textbooks. For the sake of comparing the colours of nakshatras with those of the rashis, the table below shows which nakshatras overlap which rashis. This is done in the first two columns, the third column gives the colour indications for the Nakshatras mentioned in the charts, while the remaining four columns provide the colours of the Rashis as given by the following source books:
Column 4: Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra
by Parashara (1, p.50)
Column 5: Hora Sara by Prityuyashas (19, p.14)
Column 6: Sarvarth Chintamani (Vyankatesh Sharma; Chapter 1, verse 55)
Column 7: Predictive Astrology of the Hindus (by G.K. Ojha; 20, p.57)
Above lists show that there is a definite convergence between the rashi and nakshatra colours. That is to say: nakshatras, overlapping certain rashis, tend to represent the same colours as the rashis do. In some cases however, there is a clear divergence of colour indications, in the case of Punarvasu (lead), Pushya (black-red), and Ashlesha (black-red), who are overlapping Karka rashi, which is generally designated as pink (white red). No textbook mentions even a trace of black in Karka.
Likewise, Dhanishtha (silver grey), Shatabhisha (blue green) and Purvabhadrapada (silver grey) do not tally with the deep brown indication for Kumbha, which they are overlapping. On the other hand Hora Sara labels Kumbha as variegated, while Ojha's indication for Kumbha as 'darkish white' can also be rhymed with the 'silver grey' of Dhanishtha and Purvabhadrapada. While the text of Parashara makes no mention of the colour of Meena, both Saravali (17, p.43) and Sarvatha Chintamani (18, p.32) label it as white, and so does the modern author Ojha (20, p.57). Brihat Jataka (2, p.16) classifies it as 'of the colour of fish'. Hora Sara however labels it as 'deep brown'.
All these indications are not absolutely different from the colours of two overlapping stars: silver grey (Bhadrapada), brown (Revati). The 'purple' of Uttarabhadrapada however brings in a new element.
As there are many more colours on our beautiful earth then the few mentioned for the rashis, we can assume that the list of rashi colours mentions only the most important ones, while many more shades also fall in their domain. The nakshatras, representing a more refined division of the kalapurusha, can provide us with a more variegated colour scheme.
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