rahu
राहु rāhuThe ascending lunar node, the severed immortal head of the demon Svarbhanu; a 'shadow planet' of insatiable appetite, obsession and eclipse.
Where this term appears
- The Navagraha: The Nine Planetary Powers Deities
Rahu and Ketu are the two points where the Moon's path across the sky crosses the Sun's, the lunar nodes, the places where eclipses happen.
- Eighty-five titles and no text: the Saura tantras and how a tradition disappears Lineages
The textual roster is older: Varahamihira's own list of the planets already runs to nine, Rahu and Ketu included.
- The Pancha Bhuta Sthalam: Five Element Temples Temples
The temple is also the foremost place to perform the rites for Rahu and Ketu , the shadow-planets, and Sambandar's hymn sings the theme: for Shiva's servant, the sun and moon and "serpents twain", the dragons o…
- What is Jyotisha? Scriptures
He explains eclipses as shadows, and in the mechanism he never once mentions Rahu , the demon the tradition held responsible.
- The Government of the Cosmos Treatise
…ni (Saturn) — and then two more that are unique to the Indian scheme, Rāhu and Ketu , the two points where the moon's path crosses the sun's, the invisible "shadow-planets" held responsible for eclipses.