Lesson 1.: Astronomical Definitions

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JAYA JAGANNATHA!

1">            SRI JAGANNATH

VEDIC ASTROLOGY CENTER

 

ASTRONOMICAL DEFINITIONS IN JYOTISH

 

normal">(Compiled by Gauranga Das, © Copyright of SJVC and Gauranga Das )

 

DE">bhagavan paramam punyam guhyam vedaangam uttamam

font-style:italic">triskandham jyotisham horaa ganitam samhiteti ca

 

EN-US">(BPHS. 1.2.)

 

“O Supreme sage! Astrology, the supreme

limb of the Vedas, consists of three divisions. Viz. Hora, Ganita and Samhita.”

 

This is one of the beginning

shlokas of Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra, which describes that Jyotish has three

skandhas or divisions, namely Hora (natal astrology), Ganita (astronomical

calculations) and Samhita (omens and other signs). Varaha Mihira especially

mentions, that an astrologer should be well versed in all of these three

divisions. According to Prasna Marga, there’s two subdivisions of Ganita, or

astronomical calculations, namely Gola (spherical astronomy) and Ganita

(general calculations), out of which the latter deals with general description

of the heavenly bodies, while the former deals with the factors which are due

to the shperical nature of the Earth and other Grahas.

 

THE HEAVENLY BODIES

 

font-style:italic">shrinu vipra pravakshyaami bhagrahaanaam paristhitim

font-style:italic">aakaase yaani drsyante jyotir bimbaanyanekashah

font-style:italic">teshu nakshatra-samjnaani graha-samjnaani kaanichit

font-style:italic">taani nakshatra-naamaani sthira sthaanaani yaani ca

 

2">                                                       (BPHS. 3.2-3.)

 

“O brahmin, listen to me, I shall give an

account of the placement of the heavenly bodies. Out of the many luminous

bodies that are seen in the heavens, some are called stars (nakshatras) and the

others are named as planets (grahas). Those which have no movements and are

fixed in their places are called nakshatras, and the moving bodies are the

grahas.”

 

12.0pt">According to the above verse there are two classes of heavenly bodies:

the non-moving ones, or the stars (nakshatras) and the moving ones, or the

planets (grahas). To

measure the movements of the grahas in the background of the stars, we should

determine points of measurement on the sky.

12.0pt">

1. THE STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

 

According to the Surya Siddhanta

(ancient astronomical treatise) the Earth (Bhumi) could be considered a globe,

which rotates around its own axis. The two ends of this axis poke through the

surface of the Earth at the north and south pole.

 

color:red;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">1.1. The Earth’s Equator (Vishvarekha)

 

This is an imaginary line

running around the earth in the exact middle between the south and north poles.

This divides thre Earth into a northern and southern hemisphere. The difference

between the two is especially visible in the changes of the seasons (determined

by the yearly motion of the Sun). In June for example we have summer in the

northern hemisphere but simultaneously winter in the southern hemisphere.

Therefore the location of the nativity (place of birth) will be a determinant

factor in the astronomical calculations that we carry out. Therefore it is

necessary to be able to determine the location by certain measurements. To

ascertain a point on the earth globe, we will need two coordinates: the

latitude and the longitude of the place.

 

1.2. The

Latitude (Akshamsa)

 

This is the angular distance

of the place from the Equator towards the North or South. It is measured in

degrees, minutes and seconds of arc. The equator is the 0º point, and the

poles are at 90º to the south and the north. The southern or northern

latitude of the nativity will determine the time of sunrise and sunset and the

duration of the day and night, which have important role in a number of

calculations in Jyotish.

 

1.3. The

Longitude (Rekhamsa)

 

The longitude is the vertical

measurement of degrees. The earth can be divided into 360 longitudinal

meridians, each of  the extent of

1º. Now the choice of the beginning point, or 0º is not determined

astronomically. In the ancienc India the 0º meridian was the one

intersecting the ancient town of Ujjain, where one of the Jyotirlingas (Lord

Shiva’s manifestation in a glowing stone) is situated. This Jyotirlinga is

called Mahakaleshvara, and as the astrology is the science of the measurement

of the quantity and quality of time (Kala), this was naturally taken as

0º. In the modern times the latitude is better known as the angular

distance from Greenwich, where the officially accepted 0º meridian runs.

Thus a place may have either eastern or western longitude from Greenwich and either

southern or northern latitude from the Equator. For example New York lies at

74º West of Greenwich and at 40º43’ north of the equator. This is

usually indicated thus: 74W00, 40N43. Paris is located at 2E20 and 48N52. The

longitude will influence which planets will be above the horizon, and which

ones will be under the horizon. For example while there’s noon in New York,

there will be night in Delhi. So in one chart the Sun is above the horizon,

while in another it’s under it, although the natives were born at the same time

cosmically. So the latitude determines, where the Lagna (ascendant) will be,

i.e. which sign or nakshatra will be rising on the eastern horizon at the time

of birth.

 

2. THE DIVISION OF THE SKY GLOBE

 

We can look at the sky above

us as a globe around the Earth. Thus for determining positions in the sky we

will again need two coordinates.

 

2.1. The

Celestial Equator (Nadivritta)

 

The celestial equator is the

extension of the Earth’s equator in the skies, and it divides the sky globe

into two halves.

 

2.2. The

Declination (Kranti)

 

This will be the angular

distance of a heavenly body from the celestial equator. It will be either

negative if the planet is above the northern hemisphere, or positive, in case

the planet is above the eastern hemisphere. The declination is also called 

Ayana. Thus the Sun’s yearly movement is

divided into two parts, called Uttarayana and Dakshinayana. The Sun reaches the

southest point of its traectory at the time of the winter solstice (Dec. 23)

and from there it begins travelling north, thus its declination gradually

decreases. It crosses the equator at the time of the vernal equinoxe (March 21)

when on the whole Earth the duration of day and night is equal. Then it

proceeds towards the northern hemisphere up until the point of summer solstice

when the Sun is above the northest point of the Earth and we have the longest

day in the northern hemisphere and the shortest night. After that the

declination begins increasing from the lowest negative degree, and coming to

the point of autumn equinoxe. At this time the declination of the Sun equals 0

again, and it keeps increasing positively till the point of winter solstice

again.

 

2.3. The

Ecliptic (Ravimarga)

 

The ecliptic is the Sun’s

above described path, which forms a curved line, which  once a year touches the Tropic of Cancer

(during summer solstice) and also once the Tropic of Carpicorn (during winter

solstice), and crosses the equator twice a year at the time of the equinoxes.

 

2.4. The

Celestial Latitude (Kshepa)

 

This is the angular distance

of a planet from the ecliptic (the Sun’s path). It is negative if the planet is

to the north from the ecliptic and is positive if it is to the south from it.

 

3. THE

CIRCLE OF THE ZODIAC

1">      

3.1. The

Zodiac (Bhacakra)

 

This is a broad band in the

sky extending 9 degrees on either side of the ecliptic and comprised of

different constellations (nakshatras). The planets never get very far away from

the ecliptic, therefore they are always within this belt. As the circle has no

beginning, again, as in the case of the terrestrial longitudes, we should

select an arbitrary point in the skies as the beginning of the zodiac, which

will be determined by the placement of certain stars (nakshatras), since

Parashara gave the definition that only the grahas move, and the rest of the

bodies is fixed. The zodiac consists of 360 degrees of arc (rekhas). Each

degree has 60 minutes (kala) and each minute has 60 seconds (vikala). Thus the

full extent of the zodiac may also be expressed as 21 600 minutes or 129 600

seconds of arc. There are further submeasurements like para, paratpara and

tatpara.

 

3.2. The

0º of the Zodiac

 

This point is determined on

the basis of the placement of the star which is known as Zeta Piscium in the

west. This star is no longer visible so much, therefore we can determine the

exact middle of the zodiac (180º) by the position of the star Spica.

 

3.3. The

Tropical (Sayana) and Sidereal (Nirayana) Zodiac

 

The above statements reveal

that the zodiac used in Vedic astrology is linked with the stars, and is

immovable in comparison to them. On the other hand, observation confirms that

the Sun’s yearly cycle on the Ecliptic does not fully coincide with it’s making

a complete circle relative to the stars, but the former is a bit shorter. This

in other words means that the Sun at the time of vernal equinoxe will not come

back to the same point of the sidereal zodiac, but a little less than that.

This is called precession. The tropical zodiac is fixed to the Sun’s movement

through the ecliptic, and thus it’s called the movable (sayana) zodiac.

 

3.4. The

Precession (Ayanamsha)

 

As the two zodiacs are

rotating compared to each other, there’s a certain cycle to it, which is 25 870

solar years long. Then there is a certain point of coincidence, when the 0

degrees of both zodiacs exactly coincide. Although authorities differ on this,

the most widely accepted opinion is that the last coincidence was at the vernal

equinoxe in 285 AD. There are also different opinions regarding the yearly

value of precession. Varaha Mihira states that it’s approximately 50 1/3

vikalas or seconds of arc. Of course the precession has a negative value, so

the vernal equinoxe is pushed back to Pisces, then Aquarius etc. over the

years. Also the value of the ayanamsha is not linear but cyclical, as it

describes the change of the position of the ecliptic towards the celestial

equator.

 

3.5. The

Ayanamsha Value

 

Out of the number of  suggested precessional values, the Lahiri or

Chitra Paksha Ayanamsha stands out as the most accurate, although testing with

divisional charts indicates that even this may be inaccurate for a couple of

seconds of arc. But until a more exact ayanamsha value is suggested, this is

recommended for calculations. Lahiri Ayanamsha is verified on the basis of the

placement of the above mentioned star Spica, which forms the exact middle of

the Chitra nakshatra. According to this system, the Ayanamsha value at the

present time is 23º52’40”. This means that the Sun will this much fall

behind the 0º Aries of the sidereal zodiac at the time of the vernal

equinoxe. So it will be somewhere around 6 degrees of Pisces.

 

4. THE

DIVISIONS OF THE ZODIAC

 

4.1. The

Nakshatra Chakra

 

As we have mentioned earlier, the basis of

the division of the zodiac is the placement of different constellations in it.

The constellations are divided into areas in the sky, each of which covers

13º20’ of the whole zodiac. Thus there are 27 nakshatras beginning from

Ashwini and ending with Revati. There is also a 28th nakshatra

called Abhijit. This is an intercalary Nakshatra, i.e. it does not have any own

extension, rather it ocuppies the last quarter of the Uttarashadha Nakshatra

and the first 1/15th part of the Shravana Nakshatra, i.e. it extends

from 276°40’ to 280°53 1/3’ of the zodiac. The division of Nakshatras is based

on the Moon, which makes a complete cycle in the zodiac within one month. The

Moon spends approximately one day in each Nakshatra. Every Nakshatra may be

further divided into four quarters (padas) 3°20’ each. Thus the zodiac will

have 108 nakshatra padas, which are also called navamshas (1/9th of

a sign).

 

4.2. The Rasi Chakra

 

There other main method for the division of

the zodiac is based on the  Sun. The Sun

travels through the zodiac within one year, and during this he meets the Moon

12 times. Thus there will be 12 months within one year. Therefore we could

divide the zodiac into 12 rasis or signs, in which the Sun will spend one month

each. These signs will have an extent of 30°.

 

4.3. The Divisional charts (Amsas

or Vargas)

 

The signs of the zodiac may be

further divided into subparts. Maharishi Parashara and other Jyotish authors

have specifically mentioned the following subdivisions of the signs: Hora

(D-2), Drekkana (D-3), Caturthamsa (D-4), Panchamsa (D-5), Sashthamsa (D-6),

Saptamsa (D-7), Ashtamsa (D-8), Navamsa (D-9), Dasamsa (D-10), Rudramsa (D-11),

Dwadasamsa (D-12), Shodasamsa (D-16) Vimsamsa (D-20), Siddhamsa (D-24),

Nakshatramsa (D-27), Trimsamsa (D-30), Khavedamsa (D-40), Akshavedamsa (D-45),

Shashtyamsa (D-60), Ashtottaramsa (D-108), Dwadasamsa-Dwadasamsa (D-144) and

Nadiamsa (D-150). The most important divisional chart is however the Navamsha,

as it is based both on the division of the Sun and the Moon.

 

4.4. The

Celestial Longitude (Sphuta)

 

The position of the planets in

the zodiac is expressed through the celestial longitude, which is counted from

the beginning of Aries. Sometimes the degree of the planet within a sign is

indicated, or also its position in the Nakshatra padas and the divisional

charts.

 

Assignments:

 

tab-stops:list 45.7pt">

EN-US;font-style:italic">1.

EN-US;font-style:italic">Explain the changing of the seasons and its connection

with the above mentioned astronomical factors.

tab-stops:list 45.7pt">

EN-US;font-style:italic">2.

EN-US;font-style:italic">There are some days of the year when the Sun either

doesn’t rise or set above certain parts of the globe. Please explain this

phenomenon.

tab-stops:list 45.7pt">

EN-US;font-style:italic">3.

EN-US;font-style:italic">Parasara mentions two classes of heavenly bodies: the

moeving and non-moving ones. Please explain, what will be the difference

between their roles in the astrological interpretation.

tab-stops:list 45.7pt">

EN-US;font-style:italic">4.

EN-US;font-style:italic">If you are able to construct your own chart, please do

it and explain as many astronomical principles from it as you can (terrestrial

latitude/longitude, season, Sun’s cycle, Sunrise/Sunset etc.). Also try to

determine which planets are above and under the horizon in your chart. In which

Ayana the Sun is?

EN-US">

EN-US">Yours,

EN-US">

Gauranga Das Vedic

Astrologer

<gauranga (AT) brihaspati (DOT) net>

Phone: +36-309-140-839

Jyotish Remedies:

WWW.BRIHASPATI.NET

12.0pt">

[Guest guest]

Pujya guruji,

I have submitted my answers for assingment 1 along with my doubts.I couldn't

follow a sentence in your leson on declination

"It will be either negative if the planet is above the northern hemisphere, or

positive, in case the planet is above the eastern hemisphere. The declination

is also called Ayana".Can you please clarify if the portion relating to

eastern hemisphere is a typo or something that i am missing?

Assignments:

 

1. Explain the changing of the seasons and its connection with the

above mentioned astronomical factors.

Ans: The change of seasons is due to the 23.5 degree inclination of the axis of

the earth to the sun and the motion of the earth around the sun.This manifests

as the declination .as the earth orbits the sun, declination varies from 23.45

degrees north to 23.45 degrees south.This increases or decreases the amount of

time the sun is visible to us and consequent heating/cooling of the earth.

2. There are some days of the year when the Sun either doesn’t

rise or set above certain parts of the globe. Please explain this phenomenon.

Ans : This happens in the poles(North and South).Only one half of the earth is

illuminated by the sun at a time.Due to the tilt of the earth's axis, the

regions around the north pole and the south pole will always fall in the darker

side/illuminated side during some parts of the year.So, there is continuous

darkness or continuous light in these areas.So the sun does not rise or set in

certain parts of the globe.

3. Parasara mentions two classes of heavenly bodies: the moeving

and non-moving ones. Please explain, what will be the difference between their

roles in the astrological interpretation.

Ans: I am guessing this answer.The moving bodies are the planets whereas the

fixed bodies are the stars(nakshatras).The effect of the nakshatras will remain

throughout life whereas the effect of the planets change in accordance with

transits.Therefore, the nakshatra lords are more capable of protecting the

native during the entire life,probably ,more so for the lord of the janma

nakshatra.this might be because, tra in nakshatra means to protect(from gurudev

Sanjay Rath's tapes) and the janma nakshatra is the nakshatra in which moon is

present at birth.we are made up of soul, mind and body.Lord krishna says in the

Bhagavad gita that we have to rein the mind which is always restless. so

propitiating the lord of the janma nakshatra will help us control the mind and

only then we can go the next higher state of realising the soul.

4. If you are able to construct your own chart, please do it and

explain as many astronomical principles from it as you can (terrestrial

latitude/longitude, season, Sun’s cycle, Sunrise/Sunset etc.). Also try to

determine which planets are above and under the horizon in your chart. In which

Ayana the Sun is?

Ans: My chart is given below:

I do not know how to find terrestrial latitude and longitude from the

chart. In the lesson you mentioned that "The southern or northern latitude of

the nativity will determine the time of sunrise and sunset and the duration of

the day and night, which have important role in a number of calculations in

Jyotish" .But, this is not helpful enough for me.The season is the summer

season as the sun in gemini is between aries and cancer (for summer in northern

hemisphere).The sun is at 4 Ge 20 and lagna is at 3 Vi 49.The difference in

their longitude is 89 deg 29 min.Assuming lagna moves roughly at 2 hrs per

sign(30 deg), at sunrise, the lagna should be conjunct the sun and therefore,

the sunrise should be (89.5/30)*120mins = 358 mins before my birth which would

be roughly 5hrs 58 min before birth, ie,6:40 in the morning.But, the sunrise on

that day was at 6:02 a.m.This is obviously due to the approximation made of 2hrs

<=> 1 sign movement for lagna.Sunset should be arrived at using declination.But,

i dont have the declination value for the time of my birth.The Sun in gemini

means that the Ayana is uttarayana(between capricorn and cancer).Planets above

the horizon are those which have higher longitudes than sun in the natural

zodiac and within 180 degrees from the sun.These are moon, saturn and

rahu(chayagraha).The planets below the horizon are Kuja, Sukra, Guru, Budha and

Kethu. The other details that can be studied are : Sun in 4th degree of Gemini

means that i was born on the 5th day of gemini, which implies that sun must

have entered gemini on 15th june 1977. The difference in longitude between the

sun and the moon is 28 degrees 8 mins.Thithi means subtraction. There are 15

thithis in the bright half and 15 in the dark half.so expunging the difference

in sun and moon's longitudes by (15 + 15) = 30 gives me a remainder of 1

degrees and 52 mins.So , the thithi should have been 2nd thithi with balance of

8/60=0.13. But, I was born in tritiya thithi.obviously, i have made a

mistake.Can you please correct me?

Kindly take mercy on my ignorance,

Your sishya,

K.N.Sriram

Born on June 19th, 1977 at Bombay, India at 12;38 p.m.

-- These

calculations were made using "Jagannatha Hora Lite". It is a free software from

Sri Jagannath Vedic Centre. You can download it from

http://www.geocities.com/~astrowhiz or

http://www.sjvc.net.--

Date of Birth: November 4, 2001Time of Birth: 8:15:27 pmTime

Zone of Birth: 5:00 West of GMTLongitude of Birth: 77 W 48Latitude of

Birth: 40 N 49Lunar month (maasa): Aswayuja Lunar day (tithi): Sukla

TritiyaTithi balance: 0.6558Nakshatra balance: 0.0644Sun-Moon Yoga:

DhruvaSun-Moon Karana: TaitulaVara (weekday): Sunday

Sunrise = 6:45 am (Apparent rise - upper limb)Ayanamsa = 23-52-41Dasa year

length chosen = 365.2425 days

Planet Position Pada CharaK

Ascdt 3 Vi 49 U.Pha. 3 - Sun 4 Ge 20 Mrigasira 4

PKMoon 2 Cn 28 Punarvasu 4 DKMars 16 Ar 11 Bharani 1

PiKMercury 21 Ta 46 Rohini 4 AmKJupiter 23 Ta 32 Mrigasira 1

AKVenus 18 Ar 40 Bharani 2 MKSaturn 20 Cn 17 Aasresha 2

BKRahu 27 Vi 22 Chitra 2 GKKetu 27 Pi 22 Revathi 4 -

BhavaLg 13 Vi 04 Hastha 1 - HoraLg 22 Sg 04 Poo.Shaa. 3 -

GhatiLg 19 Li 04 Swathi 4 - Dhooma 17 Li 40 Swathi 4 -

Vyati 12 Vi 19 Hastha 1 - Pari 12 Pi 19 U.Bhaa. 3 -

I.Chapa 17 Ar 40 Bharani 2 - Upaketu 4 Ta 20 Krittika 3 -

Kaala 3 Ge 15 Mrigasira 3 - Mrityu 17 Cn 59 Aasresha 1 -

ArthaPr 10 Le 48 Makha 4 - YamaGha 4 Vi 17 U.Pha. 3 -

Mandi 1 Sc 59 Visakha 4 - Gulika 20 Li 47 Visakha 1 -

+----------------------+| |

| | || | Mar | Mer |

|| Ket | | | Sun || | Ven

| Jup | || | | |

||-------------|---------------------------|-------------|| |

| || | |

Moo || | | ||

| | Sat || |

| ||-------------| R A S I |-------------||

| | || |

| || | | ||

| | || |

|

||-------------|---------------------------|-------------|| |

| | Asc || | | GL |

|| HL | Mnd | | BL || |

| Glk | || | | |

Rah |+----------------------+

+----------------------+|

| | | || GL | BL |

| || | | | ||

Ket| Glk | | || | |

| ||-------------|---------------------------|-------------||

| | Mer \ || |

| || Asc | | Moo

|| | | || |

| Mnd ||-------------| N A V A M S A

|-------------|| | | ||

| | Mar || Sat |

| || | | Jup ||

| |

||-------------|---------------------------|-------------|| |

| | || | | |

Ven || | Sun | HL | || |

| | Rah || | | |

|+----------------------+

Vimsottari Dasa:

Jupi 2001-11-04Satu 2002-11-15 Merc 2005-11-18 Ketu 2008-07-28 Venu

2009-09-06 Sun 2012-11-05 Moon 2013-10-18 Mars 2015-05-19

Rahu 2016-06-27 Jupi 2019-05-04Merc 2021-11-14 Ketu 2024-04-12 Venu

2025-04-09 Sun 2028-02-08 Moon 2028-12-15 Mars 2030-05-16

Rahu 2031-05-13 Jupi 2033-11-30 Satu 2036-03-06Ketu 2038-11-15 Venu

2039-04-13 Sun 2040-06-12 Moon 2040-10-18 Mars 2041-05-19

Rahu 2041-10-15 Jupi 2042-11-02 Satu 2043-10-09 Merc 2044-11-17Venu

2045-11-14 Sun 2049-03-16 Moon 2050-03-16 Mars 2051-11-15 Rahu 2053-01-14

Jupi 2056-01-15 Satu 2058-09-15 Merc 2061-11-14 Ketu

2064-09-14Sun 2065-11-14 Moon 2066-03-04 Mars 2066-09-02 Rahu 2067-01-08

Jupi 2067-12-03 Satu 2068-09-20 Merc 2069-09-02 Ketu

2070-07-09 Venu 2070-11-14Moon 2071-11-15 Mars 2072-09-14 Rahu 2073-04-15

Jupi 2074-10-15 Satu 2076-02-14 Merc 2077-09-14 Ketu

2079-02-14 Venu 2079-09-15 Sun 2081-05-15Mars 2081-11-14 Rahu 2082-04-12

Jupi 2083-05-01 Satu 2084-04-06 Merc 2085-05-15 Ketu

2086-05-13 Venu 2086-10-09 Sun 2087-12-09 Moon 2088-04-15Rahu 2088-11-14

Jupi 2091-07-28 Satu 2093-12-20 Merc 2096-10-26 Ketu 2099-05-16

Venu 2100-06-03 Sun 2103-06-04 Moon 2104-04-28 Mars 2105-10-28

 

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