Astrology

Astrology - It's interesting .....

What is Astrology ?

The word astrology comes from the early Latin word Astrologia, which derives from the Greek word Astron ("star") and Logia ("study of"—"account of the stars").

Astrological beliefs in correspondences between celestial observations and terrestrial events have influenced various aspects of human history, including world-views, language and many elements of social culture.

The stars and planets have always inspired a sense of wonder. Many cultures look skyward and see the face of the divine there. There's a cosmic dance on the grand scale, and one on the intimate scale, going on for each of us. Astrology is the study of patterns and relationships -- of planets in motion, our birth chart, synastry with others, the make-up of elements and using that knowledge as a tool to find meaning.

Is Astrology a Science ?

In fact it falls more in the category of metaphysics, the study of that which is beyond the physical. It's similar to other fields that are founded on ancient theories of energy patterns, like Feng Shui, acupuncture and yoga. Astrology at high levels is a mastery of its particular science and the intuitive arts. As the earliest known ordering of existence, long before recorded history, it's been called the "Mother of all Sciences."

“Astrology does not offer an explanation of the laws of the universe, nor why the universe exists. What it does, to put it in simplest terms, is to show that there is a correspondence between macrocosm and microcosm. In short that there is a rhythm to the universe and that man’s own life partakes of this rhythm.”

Astrology can only perceive to some extent what is in one’s destiny and how a person will be likely to use his willful action based on his basic nature. Ordinarily one cannot dodge destiny even if one knew it. However since destiny is inherently a spiritual factor it can be overcome by spiritual means only.

India’s lead in Astrology :-

Astrology has its roots in the ancient Indian Vedic scriptures. Sages of ancient India knew many facts about our universe thousands of years ago that are only being known to modern science in the recent past. Some of these facts are : -

That our Sun is quite small when compared to other suns and was known to ancient Sages of India 7000 years ago.
Description of nebulae photographed by modern sciences have been found in the Rigveda dating back to thousands of years.
That the star Vega ( called Abhijit in Sanskrit ) slipped down the sky 12000 years B.C. that is now known to modern astronomers, was already mentioned by Sage Vyas in 5561 B.C.
(Ref: The book Vedic science and Vedic time calculations by Dr. P.V. Vartak)
In Vedic astronomy, we find the statement that the Earth is a moving body but appears static, as declared by Vedic seers, long before Galileo discovered it. (Ref: The Storehouse of Wisdom Dr. R.N. Aralikatti)
The Sages of India discovered astonishingly subtle and profound psycho-biophysical connections between human organism and cosmic subterranean processes. How could people in those far-off times know so much about the conditions and factors that regulate the course of the vital processes and the character of the interaction between man and nature, particularly the influence of the celestial bodies, the Sun and Moon and the various radiation proceeding from outer space and the bowels of the earth, without any experiments or apparatus ? And all this was taken into consideration both in diagnosing and in treatment.

Does this not go to show an astonishingly high level of culture that should arouse our admiration, gratitude and desire to study ?

Indian astronomy and astrology developed together. The earliest treatise on jyotish, the Bhrigu Samhita, dates from the Vedic era. The sage Bhrigu is one of the Saptarshi, the seven sages who assisted in the creation of the universe. Written on pages of tree bark, the Samhita (Compilation) is said to contain five million horoscopes comprising all who have lived in the past or will live in the future. The first named authors writing treatises on astronomy are from the 5th century AD, the date when the classical period of Indian astronomy can be said to begin.

Jyotiṣh reasons out destiny in terms of Karma phala and its predictions are reflections of Karma Phalas. Shortest and best definition of Jyotiṣh is 'Karma-phala-vipāka-kala-vidhanam', i.e. set of rules for timing of fruition of past actions. All actions do not bear fruits instantly. Some results may be instantaneous while others may be deep and far reaching, often going beyond a single life.

Jyotiṣh studies these obscure fruits of actions which we do not even remember. Destiny or prarabdha is that part of fruits of past actions which has become dominant and has pushed other fruits into background because they do not match with the dominant group of fruits which have resulted into one's birth in this world.

Major difference in Indian and Western Astrological Worlds :-

Theory says that Zodiac wheel starts with Aries 0 degrees, and is constant. When a top is rotating , it bends slightly and rotates. If a point is imagined on the top , it make circles. These circles will not coincide each other. There will be some deviation between each circle.

Similarly, the Zodiac is also deviating slowly from its constant position. It is calculated to be around 51 seconds per year. This deviation is called Precession of equinoxes, or Ayanamsa. Indian Astrologers are not taking this Ayanamsa into account when they calculate Planet positions. So their system is called ‘Nirayana’. But westerners apply this correction in their calculations. So western system is called 'Sayana' system. This is the major difference in Indian and Western Astrological worlds.
| Sayana = Nirayana + Ayanamsa |

Indian Astrology ( Jyotish ) :-

Jyotisha (or Jyotish from Sanskrit jyotiṣha - "light, heavenly body") is the traditional Hindu system of astrology, also known as Hindu astrology, Indian astrology, and more recently Vedic astrology. Vedanga Jyotisha is one of the earliest texts about astronomy within the Vedas.

Jyotish is one of the Vedanga, the six auxiliary disciplines used to support Vedic rituals. Early Jyotiṣha was concerned with the preparation of a calendar to fix the date of sacrificial rituals.

Nothing is written on planets. There are mentions of eclipse causing "demons" in the Atharvaveda and Chandogya Upanishad, the Chandogya mentioning Rahu. In fact the term graha, which is now taken to mean planet, originally meant demon.

Jyotish has been divided into three main branches : -

Siddhanta : Indian astronomy.
Samhita : Mundane astrology, predicting important events related to countries such as war, earthquakes, political events, financial positions, electional astrology, house and construction related matters ( Vaastu Shastra), animals, portents, omens, and so on.
Hora : Predictive astrology in detail.

Sub-divisions of Jyotiṣh :-

Vedic Jyotiṣh has two branches, Ganita (Siddhanta) and Phalita (Samhita plus Hora). Ganita means mathematics, but in practice it does not include the calculations involved in making horoscopes and predictions, it is merely a synonym for Siddhanta in the parlance of traditional jyotish. Phalita or predictive astrology has two main branches, Samhita and Hora, which have many sub-branches as shown below.
But in actual practice, Samhita and Hora are enumerated as separate branches due to vast difference in their subject matter and traditional taxonomy talks of three Skandhas or divisions of Jyotiṣa : -

Siddhanta which literally means "theory" (siddha + anta", i.e. "established conclusions") is traditional astronomy for special uses of astrology, which has many varieties broadly divided into two classes Apaurusheya and Paurusheya on whose basis later Tantra and Karana texts were derived.

Samhita , which includes :

Medini Jyotisha (mundane astrology) or predictive astrology of territorial regions and is used for predicting important events such as earthquakes, weather events like storms or rains, war, national politics and economy, prices ( Argha-kanda ), etc, based on analysis of astrological dynamics in the horoscope of a territorial region of all sizes including whole world, and/or general transit events ( Graha-Chara ).
84 Chakras (astrological ) which are widely used in Medini Jyotiṣh as well as in Hora, such as Panch-Shalaka or Sarvatobhadra Chakras which originated in archaic Yamala Tantras.
Muhurt (electional astrology) for finding auspicious timing of important events and actions like war, marriage, travel, etc.
Vaastu-Shastra which is used for construction of houses, temples, forts and towns. Varaha Mihira included iconography and sculpture under Samhita.
Shakuna-Shastra (omens)
Diverse topics like astrological and similar attributes of materials, trees, animals, regal attributes and items, etc.

Hora : Predictive astrology of individuals, whose main branch is called Jataka.

Jataka which is used to analyze natal horoscopes (birth charts) known as Janma-Kundali. It includes Varshaphala. One of its branch Nasta-Jataka studies those persons whose birth details are unknown.
Prashna (horary astrology) from which horoscopes based on the moment and a query are made. Prashna is also used to make horoscopes without birth data in Nasta-Jataka.
Samudrika Shastra studies palmistry, Mukhakriti-Vijnanam or study of facial features, Anga-Lakshanam or features of different parts of body, etc. and correlate these things with planets of horoscopes.
Svara-Shastra

Strictly speaking, Hora-Shastra is based on birth time of the native and therefore Jataka is the only true branch of Hora, but Prashna, Samudrika and Svara-Shastra are helpful in Hora especially when birth time is unknown. Even when birth time in known these disciplines help in removing errors and arriving at greater and better details.

Ganita or Siddhanta Skandha (branch) of Jyotish is traditionally sub-divided into three sub-branches : -

Siddhanta : It provides planetary calculations together all requisite formulas and their geometry from the beginning of Creation and provides details of all periods and sub-periods of entire Kalpa or Day of Lord Brahma of 4.32 billion years, of which 1,955,885,111 years (in 2011 AD) have elapsed since the beginning of present Creation. In actual practice, no siddhanta is directly used for Panchangas or horoscopes, because it is very difficult to make each and every computation from the beginning of Creation. Siddhanta is used only for creating Tantra and Karana texts for practical purposes.
Tantra : When planetary positions at the onset of current Yuga are tabulated and computations for succeeding years are made on the basis of these tables, the technique is called Tantra in Jyotisha. It has nothing to do with Tantra of philosophy. The only available Tantra text is Soma-Siddhanta which gives calculations from the beginning of Kaliyuga. Extant version of Surya-Siddhanta enables one to make computations from the beginning of creation, but also gives planetary positions at the end of recent Krit Yuga (beginning of Treta Yuga), hence it provided Treta Yuga's Tantra method as well.
Karana : When starting point of Kaliyuga receded, Tantra method became difficult to use and Karana texts were created which used same method from some nearby year. Most famous Suryasiddhantic Karana text is Makaranda Sarani, made for Shaka 1400 or 1478 AD.

Original 18 Siddhantas :-

Mahabharata (1.70.43) defined siddhanta as "siddha-paksha-sthapanam", i.e., establishing the proven theory. It is said there were 18 ancient siddhantas, but when ancient siddhantas are enumerated from diverse sources excluding all texts after 400 AD, the list crosses 18 : -

1. Brahma-siddhanta or Pitamaha
2. Surya-siddhanta
3. Soma-siddhanta
4. Brihaspai-siddhanta
5. Garga-siddhanta
6. Narada-siddhanta
7. Parashara-siddhanta
8. Paulastya-siddhanta
9. Vasishtha-siddhanta
10. Vyasa-siddhanta
11. Atri-siddhanta
12. Kashyapa-siddhanta
13. Marichi-siddhanta
14. Manu-siddhanta
15. Angirasa-siddhanta
16. Lomasha-siddhanta
17. Pulisha-siddhanta
18. Bhrigu-siddhanta
19. Shaunaka-siddhanta (Soma-siddhanta )
20. Chyavana-siddhanta
21. Yavana-siddhanta

Soma-Siddhanta is a Tantra variety of Surya-Siddhanta. Narada Purana gives details of planetary calculations which are perfectly in harmony with Surya-Siddhanta. Shaunka Hora states that Kaushika Viswamitra learned accurate astronomy from Maya who first got Surya-Siddhanta. Shaunaka-Siddhanta is stated by some to be same as Soma-Siddhanta. Yavana-Siddhanta cannot be included among archaic Siddhantas given by rishis or gods. Omitting Yavana-Siddhanta from the list and considering two Siddhantas to be mere synonyms of other siddhantas, the list can be reduced to the customary number 18. It is wrong to assume that there were 18 different siddhantas warring against each other. There was only one siddhanta received by sages in different eras.

As Surya-siddhanta states (chapter-1, verse-9), same Surya-siddhanta was given with "Kalabheda" in different eras. Varaha Mihira says Surya-siddhanta is the siddhanta of Vedic goddess Savita. At present, Surya-Siddhanta and Soma-Siddhanta are available in full, the latter being a Tantra version of the former and Narada-Siddhanta is available in some detail in Narada Purana, which shows no difference with Surya-siddhanta. Brahma-Siddhanta is said to emanate from Lord Brahma and is available in some detail in Brahma Vaivarta Purana, but shows no difference with Surya-Siddhanta.

All other siddhantas have been completely lost because they were no longer needed, as is the case with Soma-siddhanta which was useful during initial centuries of Kaliyuga as its formulations prove but nobody touches it now. Hence, Surya-Siddhanta seems to be the basis of all siddhantas which were Tantric manifestations of same Surya-Siddhanta for different eras with respective Beeja-Samskaras.

In Rigveda, the year is divided into 12 months, the special 13th month called extra month correlates the Solar and Lunar months. In Taittireeya Brahmana, the 6 seasons are described. The details of planets as gods, solar and lunar eclipses are available in Rigveda.

The oldest available book on Astrology is ‘Rigjyothisha’, written by Lagadha. In this book, there are 5 types of years described, along with the ruling deities. The 2 ayanas (parts) of the year are also mentioned, along with their starting stars. Precision of equinoxes are explained. And the 27 stars are also given in this book.

There are 18 pioneers in Indian Astrology, who contributed for its development : -

1. Surya, 2. Pitamaha, 3. Vyasa, 4. Vasishta, 5. Atri, 6. Parasara, 7. Kasyapa, 8. Narada, 9. Garga, 10. Mareechi, 11. Manu, 12. Angeerasa, 13. Lomasa, 14. Poulisa,
15. Chyavana, 16. Yavana, 17. Bhrigu, and 18. Saunaka.

There are 27 stars and each star has 4 padas (quarters). Thus a total of 27 x 4 = 108 star padas will arise, which have been distributed in the zodiac. Since 12 signs are there in the Zodiac, every sign gets 9 padas. Each pada is of 3 degrees 20 minutes duration and 9 x 3deg 20min = 30 degrees. So each sign takes 30 degrees duration.
There are planets whose role is to bestow the results of past deeds, done either in this birth or carried from previous births. Planets merely transmit the results which we earlier stored in the form of radiation. There are 9 planets identified: Sun, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus , Rahu (Ascending Node) and Ketu (Descending Node). All the planets are not comfortable in all the signs. A planet is comfortable in its exaltation, or friendly or own house. Then it may give good results. A planet is not comfortable in enemy camp, and can give bad results.
Each planet aspects its opposite planet, i.e, the house and planet in 7th from it. Additionally, Jupiter has 5th and 9th aspects. Mars has 4th and 8th aspects. And, Saturn has 3rd and 10th aspects.
By observing the inter-relationships between the signs, planets, stars and their positions, we can understand the inherent capabilities of a human being, his thought process, and his weaknesses, and finally conclude what he has in store for his future. Various Dasa- systems are developed to know what planets are currently influencing a human being and promoting him to do what kind of things.
Indians call planets 'Grahas'. Graha means that which catches. Grahas are those which catch the human beings and shed their influence on them. Grahas affect all inanimate and animate objects in this world. This is the reason Grahas are also personified as gods by Indians. Another greatness of Indian Astrology lies in providing remedial measures for various problems faced by human beings. The remedies are mentioned by sages in various works and also in Vedas. But the suitability of a remedy for a case is to be judged by a competent astrologer.

Zodiac is the outer wheel from where the radiation from different celestial bodies is received, filtered and sent to earth. Indian Astrology links the planets and stars with gods. Gods are representatives of certain types of energies. The entire Zodiac chart is divided into 12 signs, starting from Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

There are 4 things to be done in a human life : -

Dharma (righteous path),
Artha (wealth),
Kaama (Desire),
Moksha (Unification of soul with God).

These are one by one represented by the 12 houses of the zodiac. The hidden meaning is - A man should follow righteous path to achieve wealth and fulfill his desires. At the same time he must be desirous to reach God, and find ways to finally unify himself with the super soul. The potentiality to achieve this is represented step wise by the zodiac.