Graha Epithets (tArA and tArakA)

[DEVARAKONDA VENKATA NARAYANA SARMA]

I have gone through the versions given in matsya and brhmANDa purANAs.
bRhaspati's wife's name is given as tArA only in both of them. No where do
either of them call her tArakA. matsya purANa does not give a name to the
battle. bRahmaNDa puraNa which seems to be following visNu and matsya gives
the name of the battle as tArakAmaya. (Some slokas of matsya appear verbatim
in brahmNDa.)

The account in matsya purANa gives greater details. Budha, the son of candra
and tArA, is the author of a medical treatise on the treatement of elephants
called rAjaputrIya.(rAja = candra)!

Both bRhaspati and candra were hopelessly in love with tArA is attested in
matsya purAnNa.

`bhAryAm ca tAm dEvagurOranaGgabANAbhirAmAyatacArunEtrAm
tArAm sa tArAdhipatih smarArtah kEzESu jagrAha viviktabhUmau
sApi smarArtA saha tEna rEmE tadrUpakAntyA hRtamAnasEna
chiram vihRtyAdha jagAma tArAm vidhurgRhItvA svagRham tatO~pi
na tRptirAsIcca grhE~pi tasya tArAnuraktasya sukhAgamESu
bRhaspatistadvirahAgnidagdhas taddhyAnaniSThaikamanA babhUva
............................................................
sa yAcayAmAsa tatastu dainyAt sOmam svabhAryArtham anaGgataptah
sa yAcyamAnO~pi dadau na tArAm bRhaspatEs tatsukhapAzabaddhah'.

I have not been able to locate the episode in kUrma purANa.

harivamza and bhAgavata puranas also give the name as tArA only and do not
touch the tArakA. Both of them give the name of the battle as tArakAmaya.

Whether the `ka' is `svArthE'(as a synonym) or `alpE'(to indicate small
quantity) or `hrasvE'(to indicate shortness), I think it is only for common
nouns not for proper nouns. bRhaspati`s wife`s name tArA is a proper noun.
amarakOza gives

`nakSatramRkSam bham tArA tArakApyudu vA striyam'

only for the common noun `star'.

We have a very peculiar situation here. None of the purANAs I have
consulted so far,call tArA as tArakA. Most of them give the name of the
battle as tArakAmaya.


regards,

sarma.