Astrology - A Super Science

Om Ganeshaya Namah!

Jyotish is a Sanskrit word which means "Light of God" It is made of two words Jyoti = Light and Ish = Ishwar or God. There are 4 Vedas in Indian spiritual belief system or the Vedic system and Jyotish is called as Vedanga meaning one of the parts of Vedas.

Jyotish is what we call Astrology in English or the study of stars which it essentially is, although here, stars are not just mere stars but constellations, satellites like Moon, stars like Sun and many other sensitive points which are referred to as planets but are in reality mathematically calculated points in space which have an effect on all mankind.

The importance given to Astrology in Vedic times is evident from the fact that they made it a "Vedanga" or part of Vedas. A lot of Vedic wisdom has been lost due to invaders' interference from 1100 AD, but despite great losses, families and traditions have managed to keep this great knowledge alive and today we are witnessing a revival in its understanding. Much is needed in terms of research funding and initiatives by world bodies so that this greatest science can advance and reach the highest pedestal where it truly belongs.

The invaders in India did not have any knowledge nor the wherewithal to understand and appreciate the depth of progress in mathematics, science, philosophy and life sciences. The world even today accepts and follows the virtues of rich and powerful nations, which is quite natural and understandable. The good news is that we are now seeing that the ancient wisdom like Ayurveda and Yoga are being embraced by all and slowly finding their place. One should see them as healthy practices and should not associate them with religion.

How Astrology or Jyotish is a science and more can be easily understood by the Sanskrit verses which lay out the eligibility criteria:

Ganiteshu Praveeno yah shabdshashtrey kritshramah
Nyayvid Buddhimaan Deshdikkalagyo Jeetendriyah!
Uha-poh-patu Hora Skandh Shravan Sammatah
Maitreiya! Satyatam Yaati Tasya Vaakyam Na Sanshayah!!

We shall dwell upon its literal meaning in a separate chapter. Here I lay down the meaning in brief. It means that the student of astrology or an astrologer should be proficient in mathematics, expert in language with vast variety of words at his disposal. He should be just and possess knowledge of various countries, region, its culture and prevalent societal norms. He should be able to arrive at a logical conclusion from a maze of conflicting arguments and deductions. Importantly he should be an avid reader and listener of Hora Skandh (Astrological treatises). The last line says that if the person has all these qualities, one should never doubt the words of such a person. 

Vedic or Indian astrology is unique in many ways and the Dasha system makes it very accurate for calculating the events and happenings on the scale of time. The most common Dasha system used is the Vimshottari Dasha which is a period of 120 years using 9 planets (Grahas). There are other Dasha systems also used, some of them are conditional others like Yogini Dasha is an alternate way of calculating the event timing. 

The Grahas or planets used in Vedic Astrology are:
Sun - Su
Moon - Mo
Mars - Ma
Mercury - Me
Venus - Ve
Jupiter - Ju
Saturn - Sa
Rahu (Dragon's Head) - Ra
Ketu (Dragon's Tail) - Ke


Here it is important to understand that the English translation of the Sanskrit word "Grahas" is not accurate and therefore one may raise a question by pointing out that Sun and Moon along with Rahu & Ketu are not planets. These are indeed questions raised by many who skim on the surface and jump at every opportunity to ridicule ancient Indian wisdom. The fault lies in the fact that English as a language doesn't have the capacity to address many words and state of being and mind as have been addressed in Sanskrit. 

Claims are also made by scholars that Indians did not know that Earth goes around the Sun. This was arrived because they looked at the Indian astrology which is a geocentric system and not heliocentric. Just because a particular system needs to be geocentric does not mean the people who created it did not know about the heliocentric nature of our solar system.

Apart from these nine planets (grahas)  there are 27 constellations "Nakshatras" and 12 Zodiacs. People who just get satisfied by reading Sun Signs and predictions based on just Sun should sit up and realise that astrology is a very complex and deep subject and only the very refined of us attain the ability to understand the planetary play and based on it predict events.