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Hindu astrology, also called Indian astrology, jyotisha (; ) and, more recently, Vedic astrology, is the traditional Hinduism system of astrology. It is one of the Vedanga in Hinduism that is connected with the study of the Vedas.
The Vedanga Jyotisha is one of the earliest texts about astronomy within the Vedas. Some scholars believe that the horoscopic astrology practiced in the Indian subcontinent came from Hellenistic influences. However, this is a point of intense debate, and other scholars believe that Jyotisha developed independently, although it may have interacted with Greek astrology.
The scientific consensus is that astrology is a pseudoscience.
The foundation of Hindu astrology is the notion of bandhu of the Vedas (scriptures), which is the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm. The practice relies primarily on the sidereal zodiac, which differs from the tropical zodiac used in Western (Hellenistic) astrology in that an ayanāṃśa adjustment is made for the sidereal time of the Great year. Hindu astrology includes several nuanced sub-systems of interpretation and prediction with elements not found in Hellenistic astrology, such as its system of ( nakshatras). 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. Hellenistic astrology and astronomy also transmitted the twelve zodiacal signs beginning with Aries and the twelve astrological places beginning with the ascendant. The first evidence of the introduction of Greek astrology to India is the Yavanajataka which dates to the early centuries CE. The Yavanajātaka ( "Sayings of the Greeks") was translated from Greek to Sanskrit by Yavanesvara during the 2nd century CE, and is considered the first Indian astrological treatise in the Sanskrit language.Mc Evilley "The shape of ancient thought", p. 385 ("The Yavanajātaka is the earliest surviving Sanskrit text in horoscopy, and constitute the basis of all later Indian developments in horoscopy", himself quoting David Pingree "The Yavanajātaka of Sphujidhvaja" p. 5) However the only version that survives is the verse version of Sphujidhvaja which dates to AD 270. The first Indian astronomical text to define the weekday was the Āryabhaṭīya of Āryabhaṭa (born AD 476).
In the 300 years between the first Yavanajataka and the Āryabhaṭīya, Indian astronomers likely focused on Indianizing and Sanskritizing Greek astronomy, according to Michio Yano We no longer have the astronomical texts from these 300 years. The later Pañcasiddhāntikā of Varāhamihira summarizes the five known Indian astronomical schools of the sixth century. Indian astronomy preserved some of the older pre-Ptolemaic elements of Greek astronomy.
The main texts upon which classical Indian astrology is based are early medieval compilations, notably the , and Sārāvalī by . 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 late 8th century. The Sārāvalī likewise dates to around 800 CE. N. N. Krishna Rau and V. B. Choudhari published English translations of these texts in 1963 and 1961, respectively.
India's University Grants Commission and Ministry of Human Resource Development decided to introduce "Jyotir Vigyan" (i.e. ) or "Vedic astrology" as a discipline of study in Indian universities, stating that "vedic astrology is not only one of the main subjects of our traditional and classical knowledge but this is the discipline, which lets us know the events happening in human life and in universe on time scale" in spite of the complete lack of evidence that astrology actually does allow for such accurate predictions. The decision was backed by a 2001 judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, and some Indian universities offer advanced degrees in astrology.Mohan Rao, Female foeticide: where do we go? Indian Journal of Medical Ethics Oct-Dec2001-9(4), issuesinmedicalethics.org This was met with widespread protests from the scientific community in India and Indian scientists working abroad. A petition sent to the Supreme Court of India stated that the introduction of astrology to university curricula is "a giant leap backwards, undermining whatever scientific credibility the country has achieved so far".
In 2004, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition, Astrology On A Pedestal , Ram Ramachandran, Frontline Volume 21, Issue 12, Jun. 05 - 18, 2004 Introduction of Vedic astrology courses in varsities upheld, The Hindu, Thursday, May 06, 2004 concluding that the teaching of astrology did not qualify as the promotion of religion. 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. despite continuing complaints by scientists, astrology continues to be taught at various universities in India, 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.
Skeptics have thoroughly debunked the claims made by Indian astrologers.. For example, although the planet Saturn is in the constellation Aries roughly every 30 years (e.g. 1909, 1939, 1968), the astrologer Bangalore Venkata Raman claimed that "when Saturn was in Aries in 1939 England had to declare war against Germany", ignoring all the other dates. Astrologers regularly fail in attempts to predict election results in India, and fail to predict major events such as the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Predictions by the head of the Indian Astrologers Federation about war between India and Pakistan in 1982 also failed.
In 2000, when several planets happened to be close to one another, astrologers predicted that there would be catastrophes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami. This caused an entire sea-side village in the Indian state of Gujarat to panic and abandon their houses. The predicted events did not occur and the vacant houses were burgled.
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. 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. The text is notable for presenting very large integers, such as the lifetime of the current universe being 4.32 billion years.
The ancient Hindu texts on Jyotisha only discuss timekeeping and never mention astrology or prophecy. These ancient texts predominantly cover astronomy, but at a rudimentary level. Technical horoscopes and astrology ideas in India came from Greece and developed in the early centuries of the 1st millennium CE. Later medieval era texts such as the Yavana-jataka and the Siddhanta texts are more astrology-related.
The Rigvedic version of Jyotisha may be a later insertion into the Veda, states David Pingree, possibly between 513 and 326 BCE, when the Indus Valley was occupied by the Achaemenid from Mesopotamia. The mathematics and devices for timekeeping 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, 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. Ohashi states that it is incorrect to assume that the number of civil days in a year equals 365 in both the Hindu and Egyptian–Persian years. 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. 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.Asko Parpola (2013), "Beginnings of Indian Astronomy, with Reference to a Parallel Development in China", History of Science in South Asia, Vol. 1, pages 21–25
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. Further, adds Plofker, and other scholars, that the discussion of timekeeping concepts is found in the Sanskrit verses of the Shatapatha Brahmana, a 2nd millennium BCE text. Water clocks and sun dials are mentioned in many ancient Hindu texts such as the Arthashastra. Plofker suggests that the arrival of Greek astrology ideas in India may have led to a roundabout integration of Mesopotamian and Indian Jyotisha-based systems.
The Jyotisha texts present mathematical formulae to predict the length of daytime, sunrise and moon cycles. For example,
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 a six-muhurta difference in a half year.— Yajurveda Jyotisha-vedanga 8, Translator: Kim Plofker
| Aries | 0° | ram | Agni | movable (chara) | Mars | |
| Taurus | 30° | bull | Prithivi | fixed (sthira) | Venus | |
| Gemini | 60° | twins | Vayu | dual (dvisvabhava) | Mercury | |
| Cancer | 90° | crab | water | movable | Moon | |
| Leo | 120° | lion | fire | fixed | Sun | |
| Virgo | 150° | virgin girl | earth | dual | Mercury | |
| Libra | 180° | balance | air | movable | Venus | |
| Scorpio | 210° | scorpion | water | fixed | Mars | |
| Sagittarius | 240° | bow and arrow | fire | dual | Jupiter | |
| Capricorn | 270° | crocodile | earth | movable | Saturn | |
| Aquarius | 300° | water-bearer | air | fixed | Saturn, Rahu | |
| Pisces | 330° | fishes | water | dual | Jupiter, Ketu |
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′.
The junction of two Râshis as well as Nakshatras is known as Gandanta.
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.
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,: "Each planet is supposed to be the karaka or indicator of certain events in life." such as profession, marriage and longevity.
Of these indicators, known as Karakas, Parashara considers Atmakaraka most important, signifying broad contours of a person's life.
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.
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.
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.
Dhana Yogas are formed by the association of wealth-giving planets such as the Dhaneśa or the 2nd Lord and the Lābheśa or the 11th Lord from the Lagna. Dhana Yogas are also formed due to the auspicious placement of the Dārāpada (from dara, 'spouse' and pada, 'foot'—one of the four divisions—3 degrees and 20 minutes—of a Nakshatra in the 7th house), when reckoned from the Ārūḍha Lagna (AL). The combination of the Lagneśa and the Bhāgyeśa also leads to wealth through the Lakṣmī Yoga.
Sanyasa yoga 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. Some modern practices complement planetary yogas with the use of tools such a gemstone, pearls, rudraksha beads, etc.
The meanings of the bhāvas are very similar to the triplicities in Western astrology. The houses are divided into four purusharthas (Sanskrit: 'aims in life') which point to mood or meaning of the house. These four purusharthas are Dharma (duty), Artha (resources), Kama (pleasure) and Moksha (liberation). They correspond to the 12 bhavas as follows:
These 4 aims of life are repeated in above sequence 3 times through the 12 bhavas:
| 4 |
| 8 |
| 12 |
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. 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.
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