Hindu astrology
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Hindu astrology, also called Indian astrology, Jyotisha (
The
Following a judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2001 which favoured astrology, some Indian universities now offer advanced degrees in Hindu astrology. A statistical study conducted by Nagesh Rajopadhye and astrology researcher Prakask Ghatpande found that none of the basic principles of astrology they tested had valid predictive power. They said it is no better than pure chance, like tossing a coin.[9] The scientific consensus is that astrology is a pseudoscience.[10][11][12][13][14]
Etymology
Jyotisha, states Monier-Williams, is rooted in the word Jyotish, which means light, such as that of the sun or the moon or heavenly body. The term Jyotisha includes the study of astronomy, astrology and the science of timekeeping using the movements of astronomical bodies.[15][16] It aimed to keep time, maintain calendars, and predict auspicious times for Vedic rituals.[15][16]
History and core principles
The foundation of Hindu astrology is the notion of
According to Michio Yano, Indian astronomers must have been occupied with the task of Indianizing and Sanskritizing Greek astronomy during the 300 or so years between the first Yavanajataka and the Āryabhaṭīya.[17]: 388 The astronomical texts of these 300 years are lost.[17]: 388 The later Pañcasiddhāntikā of Varāhamihira summarizes the five known Indian astronomical schools of the sixth century.[17]: 388 Indian astronomy preserved some of the older pre-Ptolemaic elements of Greek astronomy.[17]: 389 [20][21][22][16]
The main texts upon which classical Indian astrology is based are early medieval compilations, notably the
Modern Hindu astrology
Astrology as a science
Astrology has been rejected by the scientific community as having no explanatory power for describing the universe. Scientific testing of astrology has been conducted, and no evidence has been found to support any of the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological traditions.[25]: 424 There is no mechanism proposed by astrologers through which the positions and motions of stars and planets could affect people and events on Earth. In spite of its status as a pseudoscience, in certain religious, political, and legal contexts, astrology retains a position among the sciences in modern India.[26]
India's
In 2004, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition,[32][33] concluding that the teaching of astrology did not qualify as the promotion of religion.[34][35] In February 2011, the Bombay High Court referred to the 2004 Supreme Court ruling when it dismissed a case which had challenged astrology's status as a science.[36] As of 2014,[update] despite continuing complaints by scientists,[37][38] astrology continues to be taught at various universities in India,[35][39] and there is a movement in progress to establish a national Vedic University to teach astrology together with the study of tantra, mantra, and yoga.[40]
Indian astrologers have consistently made claims that have been thoroughly
In 2000, when several planets happened to be close to one another, astrologers predicted that there would be catastrophes,
Texts
Time keeping
[The current year] minus one,
multiplied by twelve,
multiplied by two,
added to the elapsed [half months of current year],
increased by two for every sixty [in the sun],
is the quantity of half-months (syzygies).
— Rigveda Jyotisha-vedanga 4
Translator: Kim Plofker[42]
The ancient extant text on Jyotisha is the Vedanga-Jyotisha, which exists in two editions, one linked to Rigveda and other to Yajurveda.[43] The Rigveda version consists of 36 verses, while the Yajurveda recension has 43 verses of which 29 verses are borrowed from the Rigveda.[44][45] The Rigveda version is variously attributed to sage Lagadha, and sometimes to sage Shuci.[45] The Yajurveda version credits no particular sage, has survived into the modern era with a commentary of Somakara, and is the more studied version.[45]
The Jyotisha text Brahma-siddhanta, probably composed in the 5th century CE, discusses how to use the movement of planets, sun and moon to keep time and calendar.[46] This text also lists trigonometry and mathematical formulae to support its theory of orbits, predict planetary positions and calculate relative mean positions of celestial nodes and apsides.[46] The text is notable for presenting very large integers, such as 4.32 billion years as the lifetime of the current universe.[47]
The ancient Hindu texts on Jyotisha only discuss time keeping, and never mention astrology or prophecy.
Discussion
The field of Jyotisha deals with ascertaining time, particularly forecasting auspicious day and time for Vedic rituals.[16] The field of Vedanga structured time into Yuga which was a 5-year interval,[42] divided into multiple lunisolar intervals such as 60 solar months, 61 savana months, 62 synodic months and 67 sidereal months.[43] A Vedic Yuga had 1,860 tithis (तिथि, dates), and it defined a savana-day (civil day) from one sunrise to another.[52]
The Rigvedic version of Jyotisha may be a later insertion into the Veda, states David Pingree, possibly between 513 and 326 BCE, when Indus valley was occupied by the Achaemenid from Mesopotamia.[53] The mathematics and devices for time keeping mentioned in these ancient Sanskrit texts, proposes Pingree, such as the water clock may also have arrived in India from Mesopotamia. However, Yukio Ohashi considers this proposal as incorrect,[20] suggesting instead that the Vedic timekeeping efforts, for forecasting appropriate time for rituals, must have begun much earlier and the influence may have flowed from India to Mesopotamia.[52] Ohashi states that it is incorrect to assume that the number of civil days in a year equal 365 in both Hindu and Egyptian–Persian year.[54] Further, adds Ohashi, the Mesopotamian formula is different from the Indian formula for calculating time, each can only work for their respective latitude, and either would make major errors in predicting time and calendar in the other region.[55] According to Asko Parpola, the Jyotisha and luni-solar calendar discoveries in ancient India, and similar discoveries in China in "great likelihood result from convergent parallel development", and not from diffusion from Mesopotamia.[56]
Kim Plofker states that while a flow of timekeeping ideas from either side is plausible, each may have instead developed independently, because the loan-words typically seen when ideas migrate are missing on both sides as far as words for various time intervals and techniques.
The Jyotisha texts present mathematical formulae to predict the length of day time, sun rise and moon cycles.[52][63][64] For example,
- The length of daytime = muhurtas[65]
- where n is the number of days after or before the winter solstice, and one muhurta equals 1⁄30 of a day (48 minutes).[66]
Water clock
A prastha of water [is] the increase in day, [and] decrease in night in the [sun's] northern motion; vice versa in the southern. [There is] a six-muhurta [difference] in a half year.— Yajurveda Jyotisha-vedanga 8, Translator: Kim Plofker[65]
Elements
There are sixteen
Zodiac
The Nirayana, or
English | Sanskrit[68] | Starting | Representation | Element | Quality | Ruling body |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aries | मेष, meṣa | 0° | ram | fire | movable (chara) | Mars |
Taurus | वृषभ, vṛṣabha | 30° | bull | earth
|
fixed (sthira) | Venus |
Gemini | मिथुन, mithuna | 60° | twins | air | dual (dvisvabhava) | Mercury |
Cancer | कर्क, karka | 90° | crab | water
|
movable | Moon |
Leo | सिंह, siṃha | 120° | lion | fire | fixed | Sun |
Virgo | कन्या, kanyā | 150° | virgin girl | earth | dual | Mercury |
Libra | तुला, tulā | 180° | balance | air | movable | Venus |
Scorpio | वृश्चिक, vṛścika | 210° | scorpion | water | fixed | Mars |
Sagittarius | धनुष, dhanuṣa | 240° | bow and arrow | fire | dual | Jupiter |
Capricorn | मकर, makara | 270° | crocodile | earth | movable | Saturn |
Aquarius | कुम्भ, kumbha | 300° | water-bearer | air | fixed | Saturn |
Pisces | मीन, mīna | 330° | fishes | water | dual | Jupiter |
Nakṣhatras, or lunar mansions
The
Historical (medieval) Hindu astrology enumerated either 27 or 28 nakṣatras. In modern astrology, a rigid system of 27 nakṣatras is generally used, each covering 13° 20′ of the ecliptic. The missing 28th nakshatra is Abhijeeta. Each nakṣatra is divided into equal quarters or padas of 3° 20′. Of greatest importance is the Abhiśeka Nakṣatra, which is held as king over the other nakṣatras. Worshipping and gaining favour over this nakṣhatra is said to give power to remedy all the other nakṣatras, and is of concern in predictive astrology and mitigating Karma.[citation needed]
The junction of two Râshis as well as Nakshatras is known as Gandanta.[69]
Daśās – planetary periods
The word
There are several dasha systems, each with its own utility and area of application. There are Daśās of grahas (planets) as well as Daśās of the Rāśis (zodiac signs). The primary system used by astrologers is the Viṁśottarī Daśā system, which has been considered universally applicable in the Kali Yuga to all horoscopes.
The first Mahā-Daśā is determined by the position of the natal Moon in a given Nakṣatra. The lord of the Nakṣatra governs the Daśā. Each Mahā-Dāśā is divided into sub-periods called bhuktis, or antar-daśās, which are proportional divisions of the maha-dasa. Further proportional sub-divisions can be made, but error margins based on accuracy of the birth time grow exponentially. The next sub-division is called pratyantar-daśā, which can in turn be divided into sookshma-antardasa, which can in turn be divided into praana-antardaśā, which can be sub-divided into deha-antardaśā. Such sub-divisions also exist in all other Daśā systems.
Heavenly bodies
The
- Surya (Sun)
- Chandra (Moon)
- Budha (Mercury)
- Shukra (Venus)
- Mangala (Mars)
- Bṛhaspati or Guru (Jupiter)
- Shani (Saturn)
- Rahu (North node of the Moon)
- Ketu (South node of the Moon)
The navagraha are said to be forces that capture or eclipse the mind and the decision making of human beings. When the grahas are active in their daśās, or periodicities they are said to be particularly empowered to direct the affairs of people and events.
Planets are held to signify major details,[71] such as profession, marriage and longevity.[72] Of these indicators, known as Karakas, Parashara considers Atmakaraka most important, signifying broad contours of a person's life.[72]: 316
Rahu and Ketu correspond to the points where the moon crosses the ecliptic plane (known as the ascending and descending nodes of the moon). Classically known in Indian and Western astrology as the "head and tail of the dragon", these planets are represented as a serpent-bodied demon beheaded by the Sudarshan Chakra of Vishnu after attempting to swallow the sun. They are primarily used to calculate the dates of eclipses. They are described as "shadow planets" because they are not visible in the night sky. Rahu and Ketu have an orbital cycle of 18 years and they are always retrograde in motion and 180 degrees from each other.
Gocharas – transits
A natal chart shows the position of the grahas at the moment of birth. Since that moment, the grahas have continued to move around the zodiac, interacting with the natal chart grahas. This period of interaction is called gochara (Sanskrit: gochara, 'transit').[67]: 227
The study of transits is based on the transit of the Moon (Chandra), which spans roughly two days, and also on the movement of Mercury (Budha) and Venus (Śukra) across the celestial sphere, which is relatively fast as viewed from Earth. The movement of the slower planets – Jupiter (Guru), Saturn (Śani) and Rāhu–Ketu — is always of considerable importance. Astrologers study the transit of the Daśā lord from various reference points in the horoscope.
Yogas – planetary combinations
In Hindu astronomy, yoga (Sanskrit: yoga, 'union') is a combination of planets placed in a specific relationship to each other.[67]: 265
Rāja yogas are perceived as givers of fame, status and authority, and are typically formed by the association of the Lord of Keṅdras ('quadrants'), when reckoned from the Lagna ('ascendant'), and the Lords of the Trikona ('trines', 120 degrees—first, fifth and ninth houses). The Rāja yogas are culminations of the blessings of Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī. Some planets, such as Mars for Leo Lagna, do not need another graha (or Navagraha, 'planet') to create Rājayoga, but are capable of giving Rājayoga by themselves due to their own lordship of the 4th Bhāva ('astrological house') and the 9th Bhāva from the Lagna, the two being a Keṅdra ('angular house'—first, fourth, seventh and tenth houses) and Trikona Bhāva respectively.
Sanyāsa Yogas are formed due to the placement of four or more grahas, excluding the Sun, in a Keṅdra Bhāva from the Lagna.
There are some overarching yogas in Jyotiṣa such as Amāvasyā Doṣa, Kāla Sarpa Yoga-Kāla Amṛta Yoga and Graha Mālika Yoga that can take precedence over Yamaha yogar planetary placements in the horoscope.
Bhāvas – houses
The Hindu Jātaka or Janam Kundali or
Dṛiṣṭis
The principle of Drishti (aspect) was devised on the basis of the aspect of an army of planets as deity and demon in a war field.[73][74] Thus the Sun, a deity king with only one full aspect, is more powerful than the demon king Saturn, which has three full aspects.
Aspects can be cast both by the planets (Graha Dṛṣṭi) and by the signs (Rāśi Dṛṣṭi). Planetary aspects are a function of desire, while sign aspects are a function of awareness and cognizance.
There are some higher aspects of Graha Dṛṣṭi (planetary aspects) that are not limited to the Viśeṣa Dṛṣṭi or the special aspects. Rāśi Dṛṣṭi works based on the following formulaic structure: all movable signs aspect fixed signs except the one adjacent, and all dual and mutable signs aspect each other without exception.
See also
References
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Each planet is supposed to be the karaka or indicator of certain events in life
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Bibliography
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- Raman, BV (1992). Planetary Influences on Human Affairs. ISBN 978-8185273907.
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Further reading
- Burgess, Ebenezer (1866). "On the Origin of the Lunar Division of the Zodiac represented in the Nakshatra System of the Hindus". Journal of the American Oriental Society.
- Chandra, Satish (2002). "Religion and State in India and Search for Rationality". Social Scientist
- Fleet, John F. (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 491–501. . In
- Jain, Sanat K. "Astrology a science or myth", New Delhi, Atlasntic Publishers 2005 - highlighting how every principle like sign lord, aspect, friendship-enmity, exalted-debilitated, Mool trikon, dasha, Rahu-Ketu, etc. were framed on the basis of the ancient concept that Sun is nearer than the Moon from the Earth, etc.
- Pingree, David (1963). "Astronomy and Astrology in India and Iran". Isis – Journal of The History of Science Society. pp. 229–246.
- Pingree, David (1981). Jyotiḥśāstra in J. Gonda (ed.) A History of Indian Literature. Vol VI. Fasc 4. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
- Pingree, David and Gilbert, Robert (2008). "Astrology; Astrology In India; Astrology in modern times". Encyclopædia Britannica. online ed.
- Plofker, Kim. (2008). "South Asian mathematics; The role of astronomy and astrology". Encyclopædia Britannica, online ed.
- Whitney, William D.(1866). "On the Views of Biot and Weber Respecting the Relations of the Hindu and Chinese Systems of Asterisms", Journal of the American Oriental Society
- Popular treatments
- Frawley, David (2000). Astrology of the Seers: A Guide to Vedic (Hindu) Astrology. Twin Lakes Wisconsin: Lotus Press. ISBN 0-914955-89-6
- Frawley, David (2005). Ayurvedic Astrology: Self-Healing Through the Stars. Twin Lakes Wisconsin: Lotus Press. ISBN 0-940985-88-8
- Sutton, Komilla (1999). The Essentials of Vedic Astrology. The Wessex Astrologer, Ltd.: Great Britain. ISBN 1902405064
External links
- Hindu astrology at Curlie