Fwd: IS INDIA'S GIFT TO THE WORLD SUPERSTITION?

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Der friends,

Namaskar!

The following post appeared on May 11, 2007, in WAVES-Vedic forum.

This disucssion is about the topic of some overseas scholars' effort

to prove the existence of the so called Sayana Makara etc. rashis

in the Vedas on the basis of their convoluted interpretaions of some

Mantras!

AKK

WAVES-Vedic , " Avtar Krishen Kaul "

<jyotirved wrote:

 

Dear friends,

Namaskar!

If someone claims authrotitatively

<In all the Vedic texts there are methods given to calculate the

shortest day of the year, Uttarayana, and the entry into Capricorn,

the most important festival in India. >

he/she, instead of advising us to perform Tapasya and yoga for

calculating such phenomena, should not have any hesitation in

quoting those Vedic mantras which advise us the methodology of

calculating them!

 

Calculating Uttarayana,incfact, is not an esoteric phenomenon for

which one has to take recourse to tapasya and/or yoga! On the other

hand, it is just a geographical/astronomical phenomenon and can be

calculated by anybody with the help of just a gnomon! The most

ancient Indian astronomer, viz. Acharya Lagadha of the Vedanga

Jyotisha, never advised us to take recourse to Tapasya or yoga to

clculate such phenomena but he just gave some mathematical

procedures! It was only Maya the mlechha who hoodwinked us by

claiming that the planetary knowledge had been revealed to him by

Surya Bhagwan as he had performed " Tapasya (sic!) " . As everybody

knows, the fundamental arguments of the Surya Sidhanta of Maya the

mlechha are the most inaccurate, in fact absurd! That much for

gaining planetary knowledge through Tapasya! On the other

hand,today's " Vedic astrologers " , including these " Tapasvis "

and " yogis " , have to depend on NASA/JPL for calculating even their

own haroscopes! Why don't they calculate at least their own " Vedic

horoscoopes " through their own tapasya and yoga or with the help

of " Vedic mantras (sic!) " ?

You will be surprised to know that the scholar informing us <In all

the Vedic texts there are methods given to calculate the

shortest day of the year> cannot read, much less write, Sanskrit at

all! Still we are sermonized and pontificated on the Vedas, which

the most well read scholars like Acharya Sayana or Max Muler, for

that matter, approached with temerity!

 

Coming to " Capricorn " symbol in " Vedic astrology " , right from the

date of Varahamihira the charlatan to the so called greatest Vedic

astrolgoer on the twentieth century, we do not find any references

to " Capricornus " symbol as " depicted " by the scholar! In India,

names of Rashis are written in an alphabetical form and it is " Ma "

for Makar Rashi. In horoscopes, rashis are depicted by numbers as

10 for Makar (taking Mesha as 1). In South Indian charts even the

numbers are not given as they are accustomed to read charts in a

particular format!

Thus it is actually a Greek symbol of Capricornus constellation

which was/is used by Western astrologers for their so called

Capricorn astrological sign! Now it is the same Greek symbol which

is being thrust down the throat of Akhanda Bharatam! In other

words, it is Greek astrology that is being practised on the

shoulders of the Vedas!

Then again, the scholar is silent about nakshatras, when actually,

as every Hindu knows, the Vedas are full of references to them, as

against no reference whatsoever to the so called Makar Sankranti!

And how does the scholar relate Ashvini, Bharni etc. nakshatras to

the so called Mesha etc. astrologcial signs!

The million dollar question is: which nakshatra fits into the so

called Makar Sankranti!

With regards,

Avtar Krishen Kaul

 

 

 

WAVES-Vedic , " Robert E. Wilkinson "

<robtw@> wrote:

>

> Re: IS INDIA'S GIFT TO THE WORLD SUPERSTITION?

> Posted by: " Avtar Krishen Kaul " jyotirved@ a_krishen

> Mon May 7, 2007 7:55 pm (PST)

>

>

>

> Dear friends,

> Namaskar!

> It has been said in the above post:

> <In all the Vedic texts there are methods given to calculate the

> shortest day of the year, Uttarayana, and the entry into Capricorn,

> the most important festival in India. >

>

> 1. I have studied all the four Vedas. I have not found

any " methods "

> in any of the Vedas to calculate the Uttarayana etc.. As such,

Would

> the concerned scholar kindly quote the exact mantras from the Vedas

> which tell us as to how to calculate Uttarayana and other Rashis

etc.

>

>

>

> Having previously responded to Krishen-ji's continuing confusion

about the connected significance of the Veda, the, Makar Sankranti,

the Uttarayana and the Capricorn Hieroglyph, I see no need to

comment further. Permit me to repost my former response which speaks

directly to the limitations of his method of so called 'study' of

the Veda.

>

>

>

> Dear Krishen-ji

>

>

>

> Like most scholars, you believe that Truth is obtained through

study and interpretation of existing knowledge in the form of books

scriptures, etc. and you place a special emphasis on translation and

interpretation. To arrive at Truth in this way is not Truth itself,

but merely a mental consensus about Truth beyond which you cannot

go. All of the scholars you mention with 'names to be reckoned with'

suffer from this same limitation.

>

> Recognizing this at some level and unsatisfied with their

conclusions you vowed to do your own research:

>

>

>

>

>

> " .I did not believe any of those scholars and vowed to myself to

go through all the Vedic lore to prove those scholars wrong. AND I

DID GO THROUGH ALL THE FOUR VEDAS AND THE VEDANGAS LITERALLY WITH A

TOOTH-COMB. HOWEVER, I MUST ADMIT THAT THERE ARE ACTUALLY NO MESHA

ETC. RASHIS IN ANY OF THE VEDAS AND/OR VEDANGAS, NOR IS THERE ANY

MENTION OF MANGAL OR SHANI IN ANY OF THESE WORKS. " akk

>

>

>

> But what have you actually proven with all your efforts except

that you have reached the same limitation that they have. You may

wish to regard your 'lack of discovery' as definitive but in your

heart you know it is capitulation and so you write:

>

>

>

> " . what cannot be cured, has to be endured! As such, I had no

alternative but to believe that there were actually no Mesha etc.

Rashis or Mangal, Shani etc. planets in the Vedas. " akk

>

>

>

> This is the crux of your error Krishen-ji, to say you have 'no

alternative but to believe' is a contemptible affront to the very

wisdom tradition that you claim to espouse. Worse yet, you consider

your woefully insufficient efforts to be the last and most

authoritative word on the subject. Unfortunately, this mental

arrogance has become the standard for what passes as Vedic Wisdom in

India today. Listen carefully to these words of Sri Aurobindo and

Patrizia and ask yourself if you are capable of such an effort. If

you find that you are not up to the task, at least learn to respect

the wisdom of those who are.

>

>

>

> " .The perfect truth of the Veda, where it is now hidden, can

only be recovered by the same means by which it was originally

possessed. Revelation and experience are the doors of the Spirit. It

cannot be attained either by logical reasoning or by scholastic

investigation. [sanskrit text].'Not by explanation of texts nor by

much learning', 'not by logic is this realisation attainable.'

Logical reasoning and scholastic research can only be aids useful

for confirming to the intellect what has already been acquired by

revelation and spiritual experience. This limitation, this necessity

are the inexorable results of the very nature of Veda. " Sri

Aurobindo Archives & Research Vol. 4, No. 2, December 1980. Under

the title 'The Life Divine, Chapter II' \

>

>

>

> " This is the key to the difference between the Veda and what

followed. It is the point Sri Aurobindo makes when he states that

dristi, sruti, smriti, ketu formed the foundation of the Vedic

experience. These are illuminations that arise solely within one's

inner being, never through dissolution of the nexus of one's

consciousness by extension to the Beyond. Yet though this Earth-

orientation is the primary ingredient in a true Vedic quest, its

very first premise, it is entirely overlooked today. Indeed, we have

the moderator of the Hindu Calendar Forum (A. Krishen Kaul)

referring to such intuitive insights as 'hallucinations'. Patrizia

Norelli-Bachelet, " Sri Aurobindo and the Condition of Vedic Wisdom

in India "

>

>

>

> With regards,

>

> Robert

>

 

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