Astrology No.1 ( Part 1 of 2)

[Guest guest]

Message No.1 ( Part 1 of 2)

 

Om Sree Gurubhyo Namaha

Om Namo Bagavate Vasudevaya

Hare Rama Krishna

 

I humbly submit this post to the members for the benefit of LORD’s devotees.

 

 

Dear Members,

 

Following are the extract of my astrology study materials. I am starting with this to post messages about astrology information. Hope it will not hurt anybody’s interest.

 

Thanks

Suresh

 

 

UNDERSTANDING CREATION AND THE ATMAN.

 

Veda Knowledge = pure & unadulterated knowledge.

Jyoti = Light

Isha = God

(Maha Vishnu in the highest and imperceptible form & Sri Krishna in the perceptible form)

 

Jyotish = The light of knowledge

Jyotisha = One who possess the light of this knowledge and puts it to use for Dharma.

Thus, the Work/Karma house (tenth) of the Jyotish is the ninth house (Dharma) of the horoscope and thus, Prasna Marga advises us to see the Jyotisha in the 12th house.

 

Atma = Soul; the Self; the conscious self.

 

Jyotish is described as the most superior of all Vedanga (meaning part of the Vedas) and is the eye of Sri Narayana.

 

GOD - CREATION OF UNIVERSE - ITS RELEVANCE TO JYOTISH

God, the supreme creator, created the Universe and all the forms of life and the inanimate things that exist in this Universe. Strange are his ways of portraying himself in the universe and the most unique and best form in which he has brought out his existence is the human form. The supreme Lord, Maha Vishnu, who is imperceptible, exists as 'Paramatma' - the supreme conscious self (pure Atma). However, he exists in each being including the humans as 'Jeevatma' - the conscious self with the deeds of Karma attached to it.

 

Our Atma - the Soul - our conscious self - is God. He exists in each one of us and other species as well as in the inanimate objects. It is only the wise and knowledgeable person who perceives him through strong, pure and selfless 'tapasya'. This is exactly what Bhagawan Shri Krishna, the perceptible form of Maha Vishnu, taught to Arjuna during the battle of Kurukshetra (Mahabharata - Gita Upadesa) and later on to Uddhava. To Uddhava he said: "like fire which is existent in its imperceptible form in a log, which needs only a spark to ignite and turn into a mighty flame so as to consume within itself the whole log, so am I existent in the atman and it is the spark of knowledge which enables the person to perceive me". Man perceives God after going through the rigorous cycles of

spiritualism wherein he sheds desires completely and rises above the three guna to eventually find the divine bliss. The Lord manifests himself in a human avatar only when the truth is completely lost in the world and it has to be restored.

 

God is both Purusha and Prakriti where Purusha is the Supreme Soul – the Paramatma - and Prakriti is Maya, which are the cause as well as the effect of the cause. It is the mix of Purusha and Prakriti that created the universe. Prakriti has in it all the three Guna: Satwa, Rajas and Tamas. When the equilibrium of these three Guna is disturbed, they combine and recombine and they gain the power to create. While guiding Uddhava spiritually, Shri Krishna explains how the universe and all the beings in it - Deva, demigods, Jeeva, Moola, humans, Asura etc., were created as He had willed such a creation. He created Brahma who had a lot of Rajas Guna -creative force - in him that led to the creation of the universe.

 

In Srimad Bhagavatam, to a question from Vidura to know the creation of universe, Sage Maitreya explains creation as follows:

 

"Creation neither has an absolute beginning or an end to it. The present world in which we live is just one of the series of worlds that existed earlier and that will come in the future. The cosmic energy alternates between the cycle of potentiality and expression where the phase of potentiality is dissolution and the phase of expression is creation. The cosmic energy comprises the three Guna -

Satwa, Rajas and Tamas. These Guna contain the universal intelligence, universal ego, mind, the sense and sense organs, the very subtle principle of the five-tatwa or elements viz., Agni, Prithvi, Jala, Vayu and Akash. When the equilibrium of these Guna is disturbed, they combine and recombine in various ways to create different life forms with different levels of intelligence, ego, and

tatwa etc., depending on the level of such a mixture.

 

The different forms thus created are: the stationery things known as 'sthavara' such as trees, plants, creepers, herbs etc; the brute things or animal species in which the sense of smell is very strong: then comes the human form and lastly are the Deva, Auras and Demigods like Gandharva, Yakshas, Spirits etc.

 

Sage Maitreya goes on to tell Vidura that before the creation this world was submerged under water and Lord Maha Vishnu was asleep on his Ananta – the serpent king - in the ocean, but all the while his conscious (Atma) was awake.

 

When the time came for creation, his mind stirred and from his navel sprang a lotus upon which was seated Lord Brahma. The Lord was imperceptible even to Brahma and began to look in the four directions (the reason why he has four heads) to seek an answer as to why he was born. When he found nobody and no answer was forthcoming, the desire to know about his birth grew in him and he

began to think and he slowly went into meditation after which he began to realize him self. He began to understand who he was, who had created him and for what reason he had been created. He then remembered his past and understood that his duty was to create. At this point of time, a storm arose and began to the lash the water furiously. Brahma, who had gained powers (Rajas Shakti) through his penance, drew within him the storm and the water. He then entered the heart of the lotus and divided it into three parts viz., heaven, earth and sky - the concept of the five tatwa or elements by which we are existent even today. The first creations of Brahma in the human form were Manu (the man) and Satarupa (the woman) from who have descended the mankind."

 

Thus, we are born with the three Guna - Satwa, Rajas and Tamas. It is only the deeds of our karma, which determine the level of Guna we will possess in our subsequent births. We thus have the Lord manifested deep in our self i.e.,

the Atma - the conscious self and the as a result of the three Guna within us, we have the mind, which is Prakriti. It is our mind that gets attracted to this material world (Maya) and this desire leads us to deeds and it is the deeds, which result in the karma. All this while, the atman remains a mute spectator as its only objective is to mix with the Paramatma from which it has been born. However, it is the karma of the mind that clings on to it and sets the atman into the cycle of births and rebirths. The only way the atman can realize its objective is when man learns to control his mind - his guna (Satwa, Rajas and Tamas) and finally rises above the level of the guna to be able to attain the 'Brahman' where he finds true bliss in divinity and eventually mixes with the Paramatma. While

Satwa guna is the doorway to self-realization and ultimately attaining Brahman, the Rajas and Tamas guna, continuously work in creating the forces of karma and bind the Atma to the material world.

 

The soul is born with an objective - to reach God. It is precisely for this reason that one has to live a Satwik life to be able to help the Atma attain the Gati (direction) towards liberation and freedom. The conception, embryonic stage, birth itself, youth, middle age, old age and finally death are the cycles, which are undergone only by the body. All through this cycle, the Atma remains unchanged.

 

It merely leaves a body when it is worn out or it is no longer of any use and takes on another body to wash away the karma that has clung to it so that it could finally achieve what it desires - liberation and freedom. This can be attained only if the Satwa guna prevails in the person, because it is Satwa guna alone through which one gains control over the Rajas and Tamas guna. It is only with this guna

that a person is able to transcend this birth into a higher level - that of the Sages and Deva - in the next birth which automatically sets it on the path to liberation and freedom finally from this world of Maya. Thus, we get to know the principle of birth and rebirth as explained by Lord Shri Krishna to Arjuna and Uddhava.

 

To be able to attain this, it is important to know what these three guna are and how one leads a Satwik life. Shri Krishna explains to Uddhava the natures of the three guna and the duties a person performs according to the percentage of these guna in him. He explains as follows:

 

a) Satwa Guna: The person has poise, self-control, forbearance, discrimination, performance of duty without expectation of fruits, truthfulness, compassion, contentment, generosity, dispassion, faith and reverence, charity, feeling of guilt and shame for ill conduct, delight in devotion to God.

 

b) Rajas Guna: Lust, desire, greed, jealousy, strife, pride, quarrelsome, prayer for selfish ends and motives, ego, self-aggrandizement, dominative, love of fame, jeer at others and be aggressive generally.

 

c) Tamas Guna: Anger, hatred, greed, cruel, false piety, inertia, lazy, sleep, expectation, fear, infatuation, hatred of God, misery, lying etc.

 

Lord Krishna says to Uddhava that the feeling of mine, I, me and such words of pride and ego emanate from the 'Avidyamaya', which is ignorance due to lack of knowledge. He says to Uddhava that the darkness spread by Avidyamaya can be cut away only by Vidyamaya - the knowledge - of the Vedas and the self.

 

Therefore, to be able to attain him, one has to rise above the Rajas and Tamas guna to Satwa Guna and finally, with steadfast practice and tapasya, one has to rise above the Satwa Guna too to break away from the desires of life (world of Maya) and seek liberation. Even while only lives in this physical world, his mental plane should be above such physical unreality and learn detachment so that the

atman is able to concentrate more and more on the Lord, which is possible only through pure Satwik disposition.

 

This is possible only through regular meditation of the Lord, which creates delight in the love of God in the mind of the person.

 

This is known as the Bhakti Marga and the Lord has recognized this Marga to be the best to be able to achieve him.

 

Sri Krishna explains to Uddhava, on his specific query of how to attain knowledge, about how he had taught knowledge (wisdom - Brahmagyana) to Brahma who spread it to others for the well being of man. He also explains him how to meditate and the control the mind when Uddhava desires to know how to attain the knowledge of the Brahman so as to gain gati for the Atma in the direction of liberation.

 

Knowledge is the Jyoti (light) in the dark path of Maya. It is through knowledge that we are able to break the shackles of ignorance and go towards self realization and finally towards God. Sri Krishna says that he, as Maha Vishnu, gave the knowledge of the four Vedas - the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda and Sama Veda first to Brahma and who, in turn, gave it to his son Manu. From Manu the knowledge of the Vedas was learnt by the seven patriarchs and sages - the Brighus and others - who then spread in different manners and methods of understanding. Sri Krishna explains to Uddhava, as he had done to Arjuna in the battlefield, of his Universal Form or the Kala Purusha, in what way was it relevant to the present world and why it was important to know it for self-realization and

liberation of the soul.

 

He says: - I am the Self in all the beings; their friend and benefactor

 

I am the God of all

I am the supreme cause of their life and death

I am the everything in all beings and objects - animate and inanimate

I am the motion, of all that is moving.

I am the virtue, and even-mindedness

I am the soul, of all things that are subtle

I am the primary attribute, of all attributes - Universal intelligence of

I am the the intellect which is the life principle of living as life evolves further and progresses further by the growth of intelligence

 

I am the soul, of all things that are subtle

I am the mind, of all things difficult to subdue and control

I am the Brahma, of all the teachers of Vedas

I am the Om, (A.U.M.) among all the sacred words

I am the Bhrighu, among the great seers the relevance to Jyotish - Krishna

explains the power of clairvoyance attained through meditation or yoga shakti)

I am the Narad, among the divine seers (again the relevance to Jyotish & clairvoyance)

I am the Manu, of all kingly sages

I am the Kapila, of all perfect souls

I am the Prahalad, of the children born of Diti

I am the Surya (Sun), of all luminaries and the king of all men1

I am the Gold, among all the metals

I am the Yama, among all the controllers

I am the Monastic order, of all orders of life

I am the Brahmin, of all the castes

I am the Ganges, of all the rivers

I am the Ocean, of all waters

I am the Bow, of all weapons

I am the Shiva, of all the wielders of the bow

I am the Mount Meru, of all abodes

I am the Himalayas, of inaccessible places

I am the Asvattha, of all trees

I am the Barley, of all grains

I am the Vashishta, of all priests

I am the Brihaspati of all who know about the "Brahman"2

I am Kartikeya (Skanda), among all the generals

 

1) hence Surya is considered the king of all planets and the source of life (jeeva) and also the Naisargika Atmakaraka in Jyotish

 

2) Brahmagyan - the knowledge of self and discrimination. Hence, Brihaspati is considered to represent God in the horoscope of a person and holds a vital place in the chart. He is the sustainer of life - Jeeva - given by Surya and is the natural significator of 'Dhi Shakti' - intelligence because of which we gain knowledge and learn to discriminate

 

I am Brahma, among all the pioneers

I am the study of Vedas, among all sacrifices

I am the vow not to injure anyone, among all the vows

I am the Self, among all purifiers

I am the perfect control and perfect concentration of mind, among the spiritual disciplines

I am the power to discriminate between the self (atman) and the non-self (material world of Maya), among all the intellectual powers

I am Satarupa, among women

I am Manu, among men

I am Narayana, of all saints

I am Sanatkumara, of all celibates

I am the Monastic vows, of all religious vows

I am the Introspection, of all sources of well being

I am the truthful word and silence, of all secrets

I am Sukra, of all the wise3

I am spring, of all seasons4

I am Vyasa, of the knowers of Vedas5

I am Vasudeva, of all Lords

I am the self, of all devotees

I am Sapphire, of all gems

I am the Lotus bud, of all things beautiful

I am the Kusa, of the sacred grass

I am the clarified butter, of all oblations

I am the energy and tenacity, of the strong ones

I am the devotion, of the devout

I am the water, the sweet taste

I am the lustre of the Sun, Moon and Stars6

I am the music, of the spheres

I am the creator, preserver and destructor of all things living and non-living

I am the constitute the function of all organs

I am the five tatwa7 - Agni, Prithvi, Jala, Vayu and Akash

I am the Ego & cosmic intelligence8

I am the the three guna - Satwa, Rajas and Tamas

I am the the supreme knowledge, 'Brahman' and realization

 

3) hence, asura guru Sukracharya (Venus) is another vital planet in the horoscope of human. He possesses the Sanjeevani Mantra and he alone has the power of rebirth

 

4) spring is the season which brings forth new life and colour to the world. The power of Sukracharya, as spring is the season lorded by Sukra, is seen in this season

 

5) hence, Maharishi Vyasa is revered by all Jyotishas and Vedanta seekers as God - "Vyam Vyasadevaya Namah"

 

6) hence, the study and relevance of the luminaries, planets and stars in the life of man - Jyotish

 

7) Elementary forms of existence as Agni (Fire/Energy), Jala (Water/Liquid), Prithvi (Earth/Solid), Vayu

(Wind/Gas) and Akash (Sky/Ether or Vaccuum)

 

(contiued to Part 2 of 2)

Check out India Rakhi Special for Rakhi shopping, contests and lots more.

http://in.promos./rakhi/index.html