Word origin · etymology
Sanskrit āśleṣā, related to ā-śliṣ and āśleṣa.
The verb ā-śliṣ expresses clinging or embracing; āśleṣa names contact and entwining, with āśleṣā used for the mansion. The variant Āśreṣā is also attested. Neither form literally means that a person is deceptive or venomous.
Monier-Williams (1899): āśliṣ / āśleṣa / āśleṣā — University of Hyderabad digital edition ↗
How we know · epistemology
Lexical attestation, ritual tradition and a stated coordinate convention
The embracing vocabulary and name variants have lexical support; the hymn supplies its ritual identity. The serpent emblem is documented in modern teaching. Moral labels attached to people are additional claims, not conclusions established by those sources.
Monier-Williams (1899): āśliṣ / āśleṣa / āśleṣā — University of Hyderabad digital edition ↗Taittiriya Nakshatra Sukta — Sanskrit text, Rajagopal Iyer transcription ↗Minakshi Srivastava, Jyotish Global: Basics of Nakshatra, slide 42 ↗
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