Moon and Cycle of death and rebirth

[Luis Gonzalez-Reimann]

At 11:14 AM 12/30/2000 -0500, S. Palaniappan wrote:
>
>I would appreciate if anybody could tell me if in any of the ancient north
>Indian traditions, the moon is described as exemplifying the nature of life
>as consisting of waxing and waning, dying and being born again. Thanks in
>advance.

G. von Simson already gave some useful references.
The Rg Veda says that the Moon becomes new again and again as it is born:

navo navo bhavati jAyamAnaH, 10.85.19 (repeated in TaittirIya SaMhitA 2.4.14).

See the previous verse (RV 10.85.18) for a comparison with the Sun's
movement. See also: VAjasaneya SaMhitA 23.45-46, and Zatapatha BrAhmaNa
13.2.6.10-11.

I dealt in some detail with the ascending-descending nature of Vedic
astronomical cycles and their relation to later ideas of rebirth in:

Gonzalez-Reimann, Luis. 1988. Tiempo ciclico y eras del mundo en la India
(Cyclical Time and World Ages in India). Mexico City: El Colegio de Mexico.

Best,

Luis Gonzalez-Reimann
University of California, Berkeley