This statement of Manu and Aśvaghoṣa also remind us of one incident in Skandapurāṇa. Here it is said– in acient times, there was a Chaṇḍalā daughter, honested, and with virtues of being a dedicated wife–
āsīt purā mahādevi satī cādhamayonijā
akṣamāleti vai nāmnā satīharmaparāyaṇā.

Once, there broke out a famine. Sages, becomeing very hungry, came to the house of a Chaṇḍala. That Chanḍala had a huge stok of corns. Sages, knowing that, asked for food. They even said– one who can keep such a stock of corns at this time of famine– should not be called a Chaṇḍala at all. We can understand, this praise of a Chaṇḍala from the lips of Brāhmaṇa(s) came only as a means of getting food at the time of famine. The Chaṇḍāla also understood this, and said exactly those words uttered by the Brāhmaṇa(s) at other times– Brāhmaṇ(s) should not accept food from a Chaṇḍla, and if they do, they must go to naraka, and so on. The sages, however, did not pay heed to the moral advice of the Chaṇḍāla, and cited many examples where apparently ̍adharma̍ (non-ethical) has been considered as ̍dharma̍ at a time of crisis, and again asked for food–
dadasvānnaṃ dadasvānnmasmākamiha yācatām.

The Chaṇḍāla said, “Well, I̍ll give you food. But I have one condition. I have a daughter called Akṣmālā. Let the seniormost and the greatest among you get married to her. Hearing the request or declaration of the Chaṇḍalā, the sages were somewhat disturbed at first, but after some deliberation, they convinced the great-souled Vaśiṣṭha to marry Akṣmālā. Considering the importance of āpaddharma (ethics for a period of crisis), Vaśiṣṭha married Akṣamālā–
vaśiṣṭho̍pi samākhyāya āpaddharmaṃ mahāmanāḥ
kālasyānantaraprekṣī prodvavāhāntyajāṅganām.

After narrating this incident, Skandpurāṇa says– then, Akṣamālā stopped the solar energy by the power of her Satīdharma and asceticism ( rudh/ rundh dhātu means ̍to stop̍), and since then her name was Arundhatī–
yadā svakīyatejobhirarkavimvamarundhata
arundhatī tadā jātā devadānava-vanditā.
After this, Skandapurāṇa mentions the argument of Manusaṃhitā and says that the husband̍s virtues get transmitted into the wife, and in this way, Akṣamālā became Arundhatī by the power of her dedicated association of her husband.

The process of beholding Arundhatī in the evening sky is associated with the legend of Akṣamālā̍s stopping the solar energy. It is to be further noted the smallness and almost invisible status of Arundhatī beside Vaśiṣṭha can also be a sign of Akṣamālā-Arundhati̍s so-called low-caste situation. The scholars have analysed the statement of Aśvaghoṣa in Buddhacarita–
Akṣamālā is of course Arundhatī. This ̍Akṣ̍a̍ here means the cycle of the constellation of the stars named after the seven sages. Arundhatī is located beside Vaśiṣṭha, on the northern sky , as if she is the most important element, like a locket– nakṣatra-cakrabhūṣaṇam. It is again to be noted that the astronomical name of Vaśiṣṭha is Mixar, which means ̍waistband̍ or girdle. So here is also a notion of an axis-cycle, whereas Arundhatī or Alcor is like the gem of the axis– sā hi uttarasyāṃ diśi gagane saptarṣimaṇḍalacakre mālārūpeṇa vartate, sarvebhyaśca ujjvalatvāt tasyā mālārūpeṇa sthitatvācca nakṣatracakabhūṣaṇam. akṣasya nakṣatracakrasya māleva bhūṣaṇatvād akṣamālā.

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