Answer to quiz

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Answer to quiz

 

 

Last week I wrote:

 

Some time ago Mr. Rath sent the following text to this forum. I propose a

quiz to the members of this forum. Mr. Rath is fond of trying to stump

others and show his superiority by asking astro-trivia questions such as

"Why do Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have special aspects?" He asked me that

question via one of his students sometime ago. (He did the same to KN Rao.)

My response to this and other such silly questions is that it is much more

important to know things like how to answer the questions of those whose

charts you are reading like: should I move to X, Y or Z? And answer them

correctly.

 

Another of his trivia questions was to ask why (astrologically) did Lord

Rama have to spend 14 years in the forest?

 

In the following text he reveals the "answer" to this question. Can anyone

tell us why the example that he uses regarding the chart of Lord Rama is

completely wrong?

 

I will wait for 1 week to see if anyone has the answer. If no one comes up

with it I will give it.

 

 

Shyama

________________

 

First to refresh your memory here is the example that Mr. Rath gives.

Comments follow:

______________________________

 

The Moola Dasa of Bhagwan Shri Ram began from Moon and is given in the

following Table. Readers will appreciate that the periods are exactly as per

the Ramayana. Sri Rama was exiled (Vanvas) during the Saturn Dasa for 14

years

starting from His 24th year.

 

Dasa

Period

Age

Remarks

 

Jupiter

10

10

Janma

 

Moon

10

20

Shiksha & Janaki Vivaha, and

 

Mars

3

23

Diksha (by Vishwamitra)

 

Saturn

14

37

Dandakaranya (Vanvas)

 

Sun

1

38

Simhasana

 

Venus

12

50

Mantra Pada (Sita is banished and birth of sons - Luv & Kush)

 

Rahu

17

67

End of all Rakshasha/demons

 

Ketu

3

70

Establishment of 'Eka Patni Dharma' in the world

 

Mercury

13

83

Dharma (establishment of dharma in the world)

 

___

 

First we point out that several others have given some good answers as to

why this is incorrect but now I will point out three reasons why this is

wrong. Two are weak, one is strong. First the weak reasons:

 

1) Mr Rath says: "Readers will appreciate that the periods are exactly as

per

the Ramayana." In his analysis he says that Rama got diksha from Visvamitra

during Mars Dasa which he has calculated to be between 20-23. But according

to the Valmiki Ramayana (Gita Press edition) 1.20.2 Rama was less than 16,

that is 15 years of age when Visvamitra took him to kill that Rakshasas and

at which time he was initiated into the use of celestial missiles. He was

also married to Sita Devi at the age of 15. After the marriage and return to

Ayodhya of the all the four married couples we don't hear much about

Visvamitra what to speak of his giving Diksa to Rama. This all took lace

prior to the wedding.

 

2) Mr. Ratha says Rama was sent to the forest at the beginning of Sani Dasa

or 24 years of age. But according to Valmiki Ramayana 2.20.45 Sri Rama was

27 years old at the time of exile. This is confirmed by the Padma Purana,

Uttarakhanda 250.19.181-183 (as quoted by Gita Press editors) where it says

that the exile happened 12 years after the marriage of Rama to Sita, which

took place at age 15.

 

However, Mr. Rath is quite capable of juggling numbers to smooth out these

minor problems.

 

3) To understand what in my opinion is the real problem with this example of

using Lord Rama's chart for this or any example of a Dasa system we must

first read what Varaha Mihira states in Brhat Jataka 7.5:

 

"Now the maximum lengths of lives of different creatures are being stated:

Men and elephants live highest up to 120 years and 5 days; horses, 32 years;

camels and asses, 25 years; bullocks and buffaloes, 24 years; dogs (and

clawed animals) 12 years; goats, rams and deer, etc, 16 years."

 

Bhattotpala the commentator says that Varaha Mihira has given this to mean

that if you want to calculate the ayurdaya of a creature other than a man

then you take the same method of calculation but apply it proportionally.

Thus since clawed animals like dogs have a maximum of 12 (human) years

longevity. And since 120/12 = 10 then the duration of the planetary periods

used for dogs should be those used for humans divided by 10.

 

The point he is making is that Dasa systems have to relate to the life span

of the species in question. Indeed Parasara Muni states in Brhat Parasara

Hora Sastra 46.14 "In Kali Yuga the natural lifespan of a human is generally

taken as 120 years. Therefore, Vimshottari Dasa (120 year system) is

considered to be the most appropriate and the best of all Dasas." [Ranjan

edition]

 

The problem with Mr. Rath's example is that he is trying to fit a Kali Yuga

Dasa system (we will leave aside any debate as to whether the Dasa itself is

bona fide) on a personality Who appeared during the Treta Yuga, a Yuga when

the average lifespan was not 100 years but 10,000 years. Indeed many

personalities lived well beyond a mere 10,000 years. Valmiki himself

underwent 60,000 years of tapasya and that didn't use up his lifespan.

Dasaratha also lived much longer than 10,000 years; in the Ramayana

1.20-8-15 he tells us that he was 60,000 years old when Lord Rama was born.

And what to speak of His whole lifespan, just in His lamentation at the

exile of Sita Lord Rama performed agnihotra yajnas for 13,000 years. Thus to

try and fit a Kali Yuga Dasa system on Treta Yuga beings is not correct, but

futile. If we want to apply such systems then we have to follow the

suggestion of Varahara Mihira who tells us that the Dasa system must be

proportional to the expected lifespan.

 

Since the expected lifespan in Treta Yuga is 10,000 years, that is 100 X 100

years then that means that any Kali Yuga system, if it were at all

applicable-we don't know what Dasa systems were used in Treta Yuga or if we

can apply a Kali Yuga Dasa to Treta Yuga even after making them

proportional-would have to be multiplied by a factor of 100. Thus in the

example of Mr Rath above the Saturn period would not be 14 years long but

rather 1400 years long. Similarly all the periods would have to be

multiplied by 100. Since he has Jupiter as the opening period with a Kali

Yuga length of 10 years then for Treta Yuga it would be 1000 years long

which would include marriage, exile in the forest and killing of Ravana.

 

If he or anyone else says that such long lifespans as mentioned in the

Ramayana are mythological or exageration then that just means the person has

performed Sastra-ninda, and is a Nastika -- atheist and not worthy of

speaking to and should be shunned by the wise.

 

Your humble servant

 

Shyamasundara Dasa

 

www.ShyamasundaraDasa.com