VEDIC ASTROLOGY

LESSON – 1

G u r u B r a h m a , G u r u r V i s h n u , Guru Devo Maheshwaraha, Guru Saakshat Para Brahma, Tasmai Sree Gurave Namaha

Astrology is a true science. It is an ocean of knowledge. No one can be called a master of

astrology. Everyone is a student only. An astrologer needs three important virtues. 1. Divine
grace 2. Knowledge or theory 3. Experience or practice. It is the faith of Hindu religion that we
are all driven by our past karma. We cannot change fate. Astrology is not a cure for an illness. It
is like a pain killer. It provides you information of what might happen and acts as a guide for
your course correction. One will be able to be prepared to face what is in store with some
precaution.
The Vedas have six supplementary appendixes known as the Vedangas, limbs of the Vedas. One
of these is the Jyotish Vedanga--Vedic astronomy and astrology. For thousands of years many
rishis (sages) maintained the tradition of Vedic astrology on a parallel track with the Vedas.
Portions of these have been extracted at various times and put into the Jyotish Vedanga.

Planets in sky keep on revolving around the Sun continuously & during their movement they
keep on acquiring different positions. Thousands of years ago sages in India discovered through
their sixth sense that there exists a relationship between the position of planets at the time of
birth of a person & various events that happen in his life as well as his/her personality traits.
Indian Vedic Astrology is called 'Jyotish' in Hindi language which has been derived from the
word 'Jyoti'. 'Jyoti' means Light. 'Jyotish' means to throw upon light on a person's life.

Various issues regarding a person's life like profession (job / business), education, marriage,
married life, child birth, property, foreign tour, health, disputes, financial condition can be
ascertained / estimated by calculating planetary positions at the time of his birth by some
astronomical equations. We need birth details (Date of Birth, Month of Birth, Year of Birth,
Time of Birth & Place of birth) of the person concerned for calculating planetary positions at the
time of his birth.

If a person is struggling in life because of some issue of life (viz. education, job, business, career
growth, marriage, married life, childbirth, financial condition, foreign tour, health, constructing
property / house) from a long interval of time & even after trying hard, is unable to achieve his
goal due to various obstructions in his way, he might lose hope and even take some wrong
steps in life like running away from home or committing suicide. By analyzing his horoscope /
birth chart we can tell the person concerned from how much time he has been struggling &
when the struggle would come to an end. It can also say how much he can achieve relating to
that particular issue in life.
Some people have a misconception regarding Jyotish that it is the rays emanating from the
planets that affect our lives or have some concern with our destiny but that is a myth. Rays can
only produce some physical effect. Just like Sun rays produce heat & give away light. Rays
emanating from Moon on a Full-Moon day are responsible for producing tides in the sea. They
have no concern with our destiny.

It is not the rays but the planetary positions at the time of a birth of a person as seen from his
birth place which have some correlation with the person's personality as well as his destiny
regarding various issues of his/her life. The theory given by some astrologers that if we wear
gemstones related to some planets then the rays coming from those planets will penetrate
those gemstones and will enter our skin and will alter our destiny is not correct. It has been
observed that gemstones produce some effects on the state of mind or in some cases state of
health of a person.

In Indian Vedic Astrology we must work according to the concept of relative motion & Earth is
assumed to be stationary. While Sun & Moon are planets. Also, two imaginary planets 'Rahu'
(Dragon's Head) & 'Ketu' (Dragon's Tail) are taken into consideration. These two imaginary
planets are two points on which the Moon's orbit & Earth's Equator (extended into the space)
intersects. Other planets are Mars (Mangal), Mercury (Budh), Jupiter (Guru), Venus (Shukra),
Saturn (Shani). Newly discovered planets like Uranus, Neptune, Pluto etc. are not taken into
consideration.

There were eighteen major sages of Vedic Astrology, few of whose works are documented, are:
1. Surya 2. Brahma 3. Vyasa 4. Vasishtha 5. Atri 6. Parasara 7. Kashyap 8. Narada 9. Garga
10. Marichi 11. Manu 12. Angirasa 13. Lomasa 14. Pulastya 15. Cyavana 16. Yavana 17. Bhrigu
18. Shaunaka

Indian Vedic Astrology can be broadly divided into two parts: - A. Calculation, B. Prediction
In the calculation part, birth details of a person: - date, time and place of birth are gathered and
the position of planets at the time of birth of the person is calculated using some astronomical
calculations. A 'panchang' or Ephemeris was used for this purpose earlier but nowadays many
computer software on Indian Astrology are available to do this calculation accurately. A
horoscope consisting of Lagna Kundli (Birth Chart), Chandra Kundli (Moon Chart), Navamsa
Kundli & other divisional charts as well as tables consisting details of Vimsottari Mahadasha-
Antardasha-Pratyantardasha, Yogini Dashas and Ashtottari dashas is generated.

In the prediction part, by analyzing the horoscope of the person concerned an Indian Vedic
Astrologer tries to ascertain a person's life or luck from various point of views like education,
job, career prospects, business, financial condition, property, marriage, married life, childbirth,
travel & health etc. Analysis from the point of view of married life & child birth, horoscope of
the spouse is also required. Past as well as present years of life are analyzed & than future is
told. A good astrologer can describe your past and present and also predict your future

To be Continued Next week. Ravi Natarajan.