Fwd: In Defense of Astrology

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hinducivilization , Jyotishi <jyotish2000 wrote:

 

" In the month of Chaitra, on the

auspicious tithi of Navami, Lord Raam

was born in Cancer Ascendant with the

Moon in Punarvasu and five planets in

exaltation with the Moon conjoining

Jupiter in Cancer Ascendant. "

- Sage Valmiki in the Ramayan

 

VEDIC ASTROLOGY

 

In Defense of Astrology

 

Daughter of famed astrologer B. V. Raman reasons with

doubting scientists

 

By Gayatri Devi Vasudev, Bangalore

Hinduism Today

July, August, September 2002

 

When the University Grants Commission of India brought

Vedic astrology into the teaching curriculum of

universities throughout the holy land of Bharat

recently, an avalanche of letters and articles

condemned the decision. These assaults revealed a

great ignorance of Jyotish, especially among the

scientific community. All of the attacks followed the

same pattern. The critics first projected their own

preconceived misconceptions about astrology and then

struck them down with faulty arguments that included a

sizeable amount of fabricated statistics, concocted

details and insubstantial references to movies and

even sayings of great men like Gautama Buddha and

Swami Vivekananda quoted out of context.

 

Any scientist who belittles the study of astrology

will say it is impossible that planets and man have a

connection. However, belief in impossibility is the

starting point for logic, deductive mathematics and

natural science.

 

The state of scientific thinking today approximates,

in some ways, that which prevailed at the end of the

19th century. Scientists of that period were gloating

over their past successes and were beginning to

believe that all the important problems of physics had

been solved --laws of motion, conservation of energy,

gravity, electricity, magnetism, thermodynamics and

more. This belief was neither true nor justified, as

we all know now.

 

Science has gained much through the years but has

stopped short in its attempts to understand the

ultimate mystery of life. To advance further, it must

now focus on ideas that are beyond observation by

conventional methods. New methods must be evolved and

explored. Otherwise, doubt will stagnate progress. It

is here that a resurgence of Jyotish, or Vedic

astrology, can make a great difference in the

development of human thought.

 

Insights from History

 

There is a common misconception that astrology was

brought to India by Alexander the Great. Alexander was

born in 356 bce. Yet it is a verified historical fact

that court astrologers examined the chart of Gautama,

the Buddha, born as Prince Siddhartha in 623 bce, to

predict that Siddhartha would be the " king of kings "

or " the emperor of renunciation. " And long before

this, in the historical epics, the Mahabharat and the

Ramayan, clear references were made to astrological

predictions.

 

In the Ramayan, the legendary Sage Valmiki describes

the configuration of planets at the birth of Raam: " In

the month of Chaitra, on the auspicious tithi of

Navami, Lord Raam was born in Cancer Ascendant with

the Moon in Punarvasu and five planets in exaltation

with the Moon conjoining Jupiter in Cancer Ascendant. "

This was thousands of years before the flourishing of

Greek culture.

 

When Valmiki talks of the rising sign Cancer and

exaltation of planets, it is strong and irrefutable

evidence of the indigenous origins of the astrological

signs (rasis) and of the Indians' knowing them before

the Greeks.

 

For calculating the true positions of planets, a high

level of knowledge of astronomy is required. The

Mahabharat shows that even as early as 5,000 years

ago, ancient Indians had advanced greatly in the study

of both astronomy and Jyotish. Therefore, it is not

true that astrology came into India from Greece.

Astrology was born in India, discovered by the Vedic

rishis. It is based on an intimate understanding of

the correlation between planetary movements and

terrestrial happenings.

 

The Facts of Science and Astrology

 

All Vedic Astrology is in Sanskrit and covers hundreds

and thousands of permutations and combinations of

planetary positions. Any criticism of this ancient and

complex system should be made by someone with at least

a minimal background in its study. This is not usually

the case. Unfounded criticism of Vedic astrology is

quite prevalent today and originates primarily from

two sources: first, a lack of basic knowledge about

astrology, and second, an assumption that anything

beyond the established and " proven " laws of science

cannot be recognized or respected by science.

 

In science, facts precede theories. Apples fall to the

ground; so do material objects and unsupported bodies.

Planets move around their primaries in accordance with

Kepler's Law of Motion. Taking these facts into

account, Newton began his investigations and came up

with the law of gravitation. He attributed gravitation

to the forces of mutual attraction between material

objects. Later, when Einstein came on the scene, he

explained the same phenomenon as due to the curvature

of space in the neighborhood of the material object.

Both were great scientists. However, each had his own

theory which the respective contemporary scientific

community accepted. The same phenomenon had two

divergent theories of scientific explanation. Yet, the

fact of falling bodies remained. In other words, one

cannot say that because there are different theories

of explanation, the bodies do not fall at all.

 

Where astrology is concerned, the primary function of

science seems most often not to ask hypothetical

questions but to explain corroborated facts. Yet, an

astrologist might ask, " Do those who question

astrology accept the facts of astrology as a basic

working premise? "

 

Here are some accepted facts of Vedic astrology.

Celestial events in different parts of the universe

are interlinked. That which occurs in one part of the

universe has a repercussion elsewhere in the cosmos.

The cosmos for us on Earth begins with the solar

system and its members, the navagrahas: the Sun, Moon,

Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.

Thus, Vedic astrology is simply the study of planetary

and celestial movements and their connections with

what happens on Earth.

 

Scientific Proof and the Five Senses

 

Regarding the connection between man and planet, what

is needed is a scientific theory that explains the

facts of Vedic astrology in terms acceptable to

scientists. Yet a scientist would be the first to

state that there is no such thing as ultimate

scientific proof. He would admit that it is impossible

to really prove any scientific model or theory. One

can only show, he would say, that for a limited set of

circumstances, the model or theory makes predictions

that are consistent with the data. Although it is not

possible to truly prove a scientific theory, it is

possible to disprove it. Yet disproving one theory

does not imply that another theory cannot be

established.

 

As in science, astrological facts are to be understood

under certain controlled conditions only. These

conditions are defined in astrological texts. Where

there is a variance in the conditions defined, there

is bound to be a variance in the astrological facts

and their operation. Such variance is often overlooked

by scientists judging Vedic astrology. This indicates

a bias and prejudice on the part of those making the

judgment.

 

Western scientific thought, to which most scientists

owe allegiance, draws on the traditions of Greek

rationalist thinking which gives credence only to that

which is within the purview of the five senses.

Because of the prestige science has attracted due to

its technological achievements, there is a tendency to

accept what it says as sacrosanct without critical

examination.

 

Also, scientific methods, as recognized and identified

today, follow a closed system of reasoning which

insulates it from factors that its methods cannot

account for. Assuming such methods are beyond

question, scientists keep on freely changing theories,

discarding earlier ones for new ones, and have no

qualms about it. It is not logical that these same

scientists should profess to know the nature of matter

energy in it's entirety, as well as all the laws of

the universe, yet dare to dismiss Jyotish because it

establishes conclusions that science cannot prove by

it's rules or that it perceives a level of exostance

beyond the five senses. They could certainly lear from

a few among their peers who have trancended the

trivial to accomplish great things. When edison was

asked to define electricity, he said " Why define? It

exists. Use it. " Could not the same be said of vedic

astrology?

 

A massive inferiority complex has been ingrained into

the Indian psyche by the Macaulayite Education system

(introduced by the British as a replacement for and

superior to the already-existing Indian system of

learning) and unless this is uprooted, a very sorry

state of affairs will continue barring an honest

appreciation of the intellectual legacy we have from

ancient India.

 

- - -

 

" In the month of Chaitra, on the auspicious tithi of

Navami, Lord Raam was born in Cancer Ascendant with

the Moon in Punarvasu and five planets in exaltation

with the Moon conjoining Jupiter in Cancer Ascendant. "

 

- Sage Valmiki in the Ramayan

 

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2002/7-9/48-49_Vedic Astrology.shtml

 

 

Jai Maharaj

Om Shanti

 

 

 

 

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