Astrology History

 Astrology History
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History
Further information: Indian astronomy and Hindu chronology

Jyotiṣa is one of the Vedāṅga, the six auxiliary disciplines used to support Vedic rituals.[8]:376 Early jyotiṣa is concerned with the preparation of a calendar to fix the date of sacrificial rituals.[8]:377 Nothing is written on planets.[8]:377 There are mentions of eclipse causing "demons" in the Atharvaveda and Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the Chāndogya mentioning Rāhu.[8]:382 In fact the term graha, which is now taken to mean planet, originally meant demon.[8]:381 The Ṛgveda also mentions an eclipse causing demon, Svarbhānu, however the specific term of "graha" becomes applied to Svarbhānu in the later Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa.[8]:382

It is only after the Greek settlement in Bactria (third century BC) that explicit references to planets are attested in Sanskrit texts.[8]:382 It was only after the transmission of Hellenistic astrology that the order of planets in India was fixed in that of the seven-day week.[8]:383 Hellenstic astrology and astronomy also transmitted the twelve zodiacal signs beginning with Aries and the twelve astrological places beginning with the ascendant.[8]:384 The first evidence of the introduction of Greek astrology to India is the Yavanajātaka which dates to the early centuries CE.[8]:383 The Yavanajātaka ("Sayings of the Greeks") was translated from Greek to Sanskrit by Yavaneśvara during the 2nd century CE, under the patronage of the Western Satrap Saka king Rudradaman I, and is considered the first Indian astrological treatise in the Sanskrit language.[9] However the only version that survives is the later verse version of Sphujidhvaja which dates to AD 270.[8]:383 The first Indian astronomical text to define the weekday was the Āryabhaṭīya of Āryabhaṭa (born AD 476).[8]:383 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.[8]:388 The astronomical texts of these 300 years are lost.[8]:388 The later Pañcasiddhāntikā of Varāhamihira summarizes the five known Indian astronomical schools of the sixth century.[8]:388 It is interesting to note that Indian astronomy preserved some of the older pre-Ptolemaic elements of Greek astronomy.[8]:389

The main texts upon which classical Indian astrology is based are early medieval compilations, notably the Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, and Sārāvalī by Kalyāṇavarma. The Horāshastra is a composite work of 71 chapters, of which the first part (chapters 1–51) dates to the 7th to early 8th centuries and the second part (chapters 52–71) to the later 8th century. The Sārāvalī likewise dates to around 800 CE.[10] English translations of these texts were published by N.N. Krishna Rau and V.B. Choudhari in 1963 and 1961, respectively.

Modern India

David Pingree notes that astrology and traditional medicine are the two traditional sciences that have survived best in modern India, although both have been much transformed by their western counterparts.[11]

Astrology remains an important facet of Hindu folk belief in contemporary India. Many Hindus believe that heavenly bodies, including the planets, have an influence throughout the life of a human being, and these planetary influences are the "fruit of karma." The Navagraha, planetary deities, are considered subordinate to Ishvara, i.e., the Supreme Being, in the administration of justice. Thus, these planets can influence earthly life.[12]

Status of astrology

See also: Astrology and science

In the early 2000s, under the Bharatiya Janata Party led government in India, astrology became a topic of political contention between the religious right and academic establishment, comparable to the "Creation science" debate in US education.

The University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government decided to introduce "Jyotir Vigyan" (i.e. jyotir vijñāna) or "Vedic astrology" as a discipline of study in Indian universities, backed up by a decision by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, despite widespread protests from the scientific community in India and Indian scientists working abroad.[13] In September of the same year, the Supreme Court of India issued a notice to the Ministry of Human Resource Development in reaction to a petition, stating that the introduction of astrology to university curricula is "a giant leap backwards, undermining whatever scientific credibility the country has achieved so far".[14]

In 2004, the Supreme Court dismissed a further petition, judging that the teaching of astrology does not qualify as promotion of religion.[15] In February 2011, the Bombay High Court reaffirmed astrology's standing in India when it dismissed a case which had challenged it status as a science.[16]

Elements

There are sixteen Varga (Sanskrit: varga, 'part, division'), or divisional, charts used in Hindu astrology:[17]:61–64

Rāśi – zodiacal signs

The Nirayana - sidereal or fixed zodiac is an imaginary belt of 360 degrees (like the Sāyana - tropical zodiac), divided into 12 equal parts. Each twelfth part (of 30 degrees) is called a sign or rāśi (Sanskrit: 'part'). Vedic (Jyotiṣa) and Western zodiacs differ in the method of measurement. While synchronically, the two systems are identical, Jyotiṣa uses primarily the sidereal zodiac (in which stars are considered to be the fixed background against which the motion of the planets is measured), whereas most Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac (the motion of the planets is measured against the position of the Sun on the Spring equinox). This difference becomes noticeable over time. After two millennia, as a result of the precession of the equinoxes, the origin of the ecliptic longitude has shifted by about 22 degrees. As a result the placement of planets in the Jyotiṣa system is consistent with the actual zodiac, while in western astrology the planets fall into the following sign, as compared to their placement in the sidereal zodiac, about two thirds of the time.

Nakṣatras - lunar mansions

Nakshatras

A Nakṣatra or lunar mansion is one of the 27 divisions of the sky, identified by the prominent star(s) in them, used in Hindu astrology.[17]:168

Historical (medieval) Hindu astrology enumerated either 27 or 28 nakṣatras. Today, popular usage[clarification needed] favours a rigid system of 27 nakṣatras covering 13°20’ of the ecliptic each. The missing 28th nakshatra is Abhijeeta. Each nakṣatra is divided into quarters or padas of 3°20. Of the greatest importance is the Abhiśeka Nakṣatra which is the King amongst all the Nakṣatras and worshipping and propitiating this Nakṣatra has the power to remedy all the other Nakṣatras. Remedial measures are in general the high-water mark of all realistic predictive astrology work and go a long way in mitigating Karma.

Daśā-s – planetary periods

The word Dasha (Devanāgarī: दशा, Sanskrit,daśā, 'planetary period') means 'state of being' and therefore the Daśā governs to a large extent the state of being of a person. The Daśā system shows which planets may be said to have become particularly active during the period of the Daśā. The ruling planet (the Daśānātha or 'lord of the Daśā') eclipses the mind of the native, compelling him or her to act as per the nature of the planet.

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 (signs). The primary system used by astrologers is the Viṁśottarī Daśā system, which has been considered universally applicable in the Kaliyuga 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 margin based on accuracy of the birth-time grows 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, some of which have been named above.

Grahas – planets

Nine grahas (Navagrahas) are used.[17]:38–51 from Grah (Devanāgarī: ग्रह, Sanskrit: graha, 'seizing, laying hold of, holding')[18]

The Nine Planets of Vedic Astrology or Jyotiṣa are the forces that capture or eclipse the mind and the decision making of the human being-thus the term 'Graha'. When the Grahas are active in their Daśās or periodicities they are particularly empowered to direct the affairs of the person or the inanimate being as the case may be. Even otherwise, Grahas are always busy capturing us in some way or other, for better or for worse.

Gocharas – transits

The 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').

The study of transits is based not only on the transit of the Moon/ Cañdra, which spans roughly two days, but also the movement of the slightly faster planets such as Mercury/Budha and Venus/ Śukra. The movement of the slower planets Guru, Śani and Rāhu-Ketu is always of considerable import. Astrologers must study the transit of the Daśā lord and must also study transits from various reference points in the horoscope.