The Authenticity of Bright Parasara Hora Sastra - I

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Dear All, The following article is from: http://www.astrologicalmagazine.com/july2009/parasara_hora_sastra.php Love and regards,Sreenadh=========================The Authenticity of Bright Parasara Hora Sastra - I

 

 

 

Shyamasundara Dasa

 

Shyamasundara Dasa

HOW DID BRIHAT Parasara Hora Sastra, BPHS, (for short) become Gospel? Ever since 1984 with the publication of the first volume of BPHS

(Parasara, 1984) with translation and commentary by R. Santanam, BPHS has been successfully marketed to Vedic astrologers in India and abroad as the preeminent text on Vedic astrology. Ranjan, the publishers, described it as: "The Gospel Book of Hindu Astrology with Master Key to Divination" (I coined the term Vedic Astrology but had not yet popularized it until 1988). This reputation was further cemented

when Sagar published their superior edition of the same work with translation and commentary by Sriman Girish Chand Sharma (Parasara, 1994).

 

The idea that one gets, is that the modern edition of BPHS is a

very ancient text dating back to the beginning of Kali-yuga (3102 B.C.). Hence the views set forth in the BPHS are seen by many as sacrosanct, infallible and on par with sacred scriptures like the Vedas or Srimad Bhagavatam. And hence BPHS is often quoted as pramana - authoritative evidence -- in Vedic astrological discourse. But what is the real status of BPHS and the implications to Vedic astrology?

 

When I first started studying jyotish in India in 1977-1983 there were very few classic texts easily available in English. The main authors to have translated texts were V. Subrahmanya Sastri to whom we owe translations of Brihat Jataka, Bright Samhita, Jataka Parijata, Sripatipaddhati, Phaladipika, Uttarakalamrita, Shatpanchasika, Prasnajnana, Jataka Tattva, Jatakadesamarga, Jatakalankara, Sanketanidhi

and Horasara.

Prof. B. Suryanarayana Rao translated and commented on several

important classics including Brihat Jataka, Jaimini Sutras and Sarvartha Cintamani. I remember from my early days of study that the "big five" main classical texts that the scholars in The Astrological Magazine eulogized and encouraged one to read and study were Brihat Jataka, Saravali, Sarvartha Cintamani, Jataka Parijata, and Phaladipika.

 

We read that in South India, especially Kerala, one was not considered a scholar

of Jyotish until he had memorized both Brihat Jataka and Prasna

Marga and not

BPHS. Brihat Jataka was considered to be the jewel among astrological literatures and indeed in my early days of study there were

many translations and commentaries on Varaha Mihira's Brihat Jataka. I have already mentioned the translations of V. Subrahmanya Sastri and Prof. B.

Suryanarayana Rao, another excellent translation was by Swami Vijnananda. A less valuable translation (in my opinion) was that of N. Iyer. . Much later P.S. Sastri also did a translation of Brihat Jataka. Indeed Brihat Jataka and its author Varaha Mihira were so famous and adored by the Jyotish Pandits that when it came to eulogize Dr. B.V. RAMAN RAMAN he was honored by calling him the modern Varaha Mihira. BPHS

as one can see from my narrative so far was hardly mentioned or popular.

 

Whereas today BPHS would be one of the first books a new student would be recommended to purchase I had barely heard of it what to speak of seen it. It was not until my third year of intense study did

I stumble upon BPHS in a university library in Kolkata in 1980. I came across it by accident when I spotted it in the card catalogs. It was a strange library, you could not just go into the stacks you had to submit

your request to a library peon and they would go into the stacks and search for the book. When they returned with the book I was enthralled and spent a long time looking through it and taking notes. The book was a

translation of some important chapters (not a complete translation) by N.N. Krishna Rau and V.B. Choudhuri, published in 1962. It was

not well printed but the content mattered more to me than the form it was in. I recall I was especially happy because for the first time I could read an explanation of how the shodasavargas were to be used. I had been trying to use shodasavargas since 1977 and had even written a computer program to calculate them but was not really sure how

to use them as no texts up to that time gave instructions on how to use

them. I was also intrigued by the idea that the author,

Parasara Muni, had indicated that each of the planets was an expansion of a different incarnation of Lord Krsna. I was determined to get a copy of this book.

 

Unfortunately only about a thousand had been made by mimeograph

copying almost 20 years earlier so it would be very hard to come by and

no book sellers had heard of it.

 

The book I picked up in Varanasi

By my good fortune I was introduced by a friend to an old brahmana, Pandit Dvivedi, from Varanasi who said he had a copy of the same book and would give it to me. I made arrangements to stop in Varanasi on my way to Brindavan in August 1980 and acquired the book which I still have to this day. I studied the book diligently especially

the use of the different vargas. At that time while I was living in Kolkata (1980- May 1981) I was studying Vedic astrology with Sriman Harihara Majumdhar. I asked him what his opinion was of BPHS, I remember

that he startled me by saying that unlike other well known texts BPHS started appearing only recently in the 1930-40s and that there was no standard version in Bengali. It was not till much later that I understood the significance of his statement. In 1982 I was living and studying jyotish in Bangalore and Thiruvanantampuram. I recall having a discussion with my astrology teacher Sri B.G. Sashikanta Jain regarding

which system of house division should be used, o ne choice was for unequal house division based on statements of

BPHS another was for Bhava = Rasi based on Brihat Jataka 1.4. The thing

that I remember was that I was wondering how these two texts could give

different views.

 

Later in 1982, I was discussing with my astrology teacher about the lack of classical works translated into English. We made up a list of desired texts including BPHS. I then I wrote a letter to Mr. Goel one of the owners of Ranjan Publications in Delhi submitting my desideratum. I never got a reply but I was more than pleasantly surprised when Santanam's translation and commentary on Hora Sara came out later that year and two years later they came out with Santanam's translation of the first volume of BPHS. And, later Santanam translated and published a steady stream of texts, many of which had been on my list. From this point onward, BPHS became the "bible of astrology" replacing Brihat Jataka as a primary authority on the premise that BPHS was the older text. I also followed this trend.

 

However I was somehow disturbed by what I perceived to be a focus only on BPHS and the demise of the tradition of studying other classics especially Brihat Jataka among the younger astrologers especially those who got into astrology via the internet and had never visited India.

 

Doubts about BPHS

In the summer of 1999 while reading B. S. Rao's annotated translation of Bright Jataka with commentary of Bhattotpala (Mihira, 1986) I came across an interesting point in his commentary to the 7th chapter. In Brihat Jataka 7.1 Varaha Mihira directly refers to Parasara Muni by the name of Saktipurva (son of Sakti). Later in Brihat Jataka 7.9. Rao mentions that the

learned commentator Bhattotpala laments that while he has a copy of Parasara Samhita he was unable to acquire a copy of Parasara Hora which Mihira refers to in Brihat Jataka 7.1. This struck Rao as significant because it now made him doubt the authenticity of Jataka Candrika which is supposedly an abstract of Parasara Hora but much later

than the time of Bhattotpala. On this basis Ajay Mitra Sastri (Shastri,

1969, p. 449) also doubted the authenticity of Laghu

Parasari and BPHS.

 

Why is this significant?

Bhattotpala lived in North India on the same latitude as Ujjain (Mihira, 1986, p.560). Bhattotpala finished his commentary on Brihat Jataka on 888 Saka which is either 833 AD (Vikram) or 968 AD (Shalivahan) (Mihira, 1986, p. 68). This was before the Islamic invasion

of India with attendant destruction of libraries, places of learning, decline of scholarship and general decline of Krsna's Vedic civilization

in North India. His writings indicate that he had at his access many ancient works of jyotish, many of which we only know about because he quotes them in his commentaries (Mihira, 1986, pp. 17-19). It seems that

he had access to various royal libraries in

North India particularly Ujjain which was the native place of Varaha Mihira. Yet despite his living before the general destruction in the wake of the Islamic invasion and having access to a vast quantity of

jyotish literature he was unable to see let alone acquire Parasara Hora

quoted by Varaha Mihira. How then is it that we are able to get it 1000

years later with all the difficulties and loss associated with the passage of so much time? Therefore there is great doubt as to the authenticity of the modern Bright Parasara Hora Sastra.

 

Importance of Brihat Jataka

In South India Brihat Jataka (and its commentaries) is held in

the highest esteem, not BPHS. Why? Because of its many ancient commentaries by Bhattopala and others especially the Dasadhyayi of Talakkulathur Govindam Bhattathiri. Visnu Nambudiri (fl. 1649 A.D.) the author of Prasna Marga, considered the master piece on Prasna literature, states the following, with notes by Dr. B.V. RAMAN RAMAN:

 

Stanza 28. - Brihat Jataka by Varahamihira, though short, is a very suggestive treatise pregnant with ideas. Though difficult to be comprehended by even intelligent persons, yet with the aid of the commentaries of Bhattotpala and others, it is possible to understand the

book.

Notes: Compare Varaha Mihira's own admission, ... meaning that his work is "concise, of a variety of meter and full of meaning."

 

Stanza 29. - One wearing the garland of Varahamihira in his neck along with the necklace of Krishneeya can win laurels in any astrological assembly. [sic]

Notes : Brihat Jataka deals with horoscopy and Krishneeya with Prasna. One well acquainted with these two books can, according to the author, safely claim good scholarship.

 

Stanza 30. - An astrologer who wants to make predictions should

specially study Dasadhyayi carefully.

 

Stanza 31. - Without a thorough study of the Dasadhyayi, it would be difficult to make correct predictions. So say the learned.

Stanza 32. - One, who attempts to predict without studying the Dasadhyayi, would be like a man trying to cross an ocean without a boat.

Prasna Marga 1.28-32 (Nambudiri, 1991, pp. 19-21) No Ancient Commentaries on BPHS

 

Another reason that casts doubt on the veracity of the modern BPHS is the complete lack of any ancient commentary on the text. The oldest commentary known to me is that of Devacandra Jha's Hindi commentary from the first half of the 20th century, that is, less than 100 years old. More

recently are the previously mentioned English translations and

commentaries of Santanam and Sharma. Why are commentaries important from a historical perspective? Commentaries ensure that the corpus of the material in the text stays intact and allows us to track changes in the text. For example we know that the Bhagavad Gita has 18 chapters and

700 verses because all the commentaries from ancient to modern have the

same number. If someone were to publish an edition of more or less than

700 verses it would be immediately detected as spurious.

 

But if a work has no commentaries then we can not know if there

have been any changes to the text unless there is some other system (such as ghanapata) of keeping the text from changing.

Brihat Jataka commentaries We can have reasonable faith and trust in the authenticity of the present version of Brihat Jataka because there are a number of commentaries on this text some of them very ancient. These commentaries preserve the text and its structure in a

way that is hard to do without commentaries.

 

Shastri (Shastri, 1969, p. 26) gives the following information about commentaries

on Brihat Jataka: "Alberuni (1.158) informs us that the Brihajjataka was commented upon by

Balabhadra who flourished sometime before Utpala (Bhatattopala)." Shastri then goes on to mention seven other commentaries some without the name of the authors.

 

Jagaccandrika aka Cintamani aka Vivrti by Bhattotapala

Jataka-vivarana by Mahidhara

Nilotpaliya -not certain of the author

Prakasa - Nityaprakasa Suri

Dasadhyayi [Talakkulathur Govindam Bhattathiri]

Nauka aka Hora-vivarana aka Varahamihira-hora-tatparya-sagara

Subodhini

Kalyanraman adds: "Brihat Jataka . is stated to have more than twenty

commentaries in Sanskrit itself, like Mudrakshari, Subhodhini, Sripatiyam,

Bhatttopalavritti, besides, those in other languages. Dasadhyayi is one of such

commentaries in Sanskrit, by Talakkulathur Govindam Bhattathiri. Perhaps next

prominent one is Vivaranam of Rudra."

(Kalyanraman, 2007, p. 203)

A recent Sanskrit commentary on Brihat Jataka is

Apurarthapradarsika by A.N. Srinivasaraghava Aiyangar, published by Adyar

Library, Chennai, in1951.

 

How to tell what is authentic in BPHS?

How to tell what is authentic in BPHS and what has been interpolated by later authors? The first thing to consider is that Varaha Mihira refers to many previous and contemporary authors: "Varaha

Mihira was an encyclopedic writer and naturally he refers to a host of earlier or contemporary authors not only on astronomy and astrology but on various other subjects also. His equally learned scholiast Bhattotpala persistently styled him as 'the redactor of the entire Jyotihsastra,' and the author himself makes his position clear in [brihat Samhita] 9.7. He declares, 'astronomy and astrology are the sciences based on Agama; should there be any difference of opinion (among ancient writers), it would not be proper on my part to put forward my view only; I shall, however, state the majority view.' The result is excellent, and his works form a valuable treasure-house of information about works and authors he consulted. His works assume still

greater importance from the fact that they are the sole source of our knowledge about many works and their authors, but

for these references, might have irrecoverably been lost to us." (Shastri, 1969, p. 424)

 

In the same chapter Shastri gives a list of all authors consulted by Varaha Mihira for composing Brihat Samhita pointing out that Varaha Mihira quoted Parasara many times (Shastri, 1969, pp. 447-449). And, in Brihat Jataka (particularly chapter 7) Varaha Mihira names many previous scholars whose works he is familiar with these include but are not limited to: Maya, Yavana, Manitha, Parasara, Satyacarya, Visnugupta, Devasvami, Siddhasena and Jivasharma. As "the redactor of the entire Jyotihsastra" it would necessitate Varaha Mihira's extensive familiarity with the works of the authors he names. Since he extensively quotes from the works of Parasara including his Parasara Hora Sastra we can presume his familiarity with its contents. Varaha Mihira has extracted from these works the essence of what is important in Jyotish (Brihat Jataka 1.2) hence a comparison of the contents of Brihat Jataka and the modern BPHS may give us some clues as to what has been interpolated into the later.

 

We should also like to say that while a study of the Brihat Jataka will prove helpful in our search for the real BPHS it should not be our sole guide. There is Satyajatakam by Satyacarya which is still extant and was held in esteem by Varaha Mihira. Some works of the Yavana

writers who also predated Mihira are still extant. And Hora Sara and Saravali will also be very helpful. These texts were all before the era of Bhattotpala. After his era I would suggest that we can also gain insight into the real BPHS from Sarvartha Cintamani and Jataka Parijata which were written relatively shortly after the era of Bhattotpala and in a region of India that had yet to experience the disruptions of the Islamic invasion and attendant destruction of libraries. So it is possible that these scholars had access to the real BrihatParasara Hora Sastra. (copyright reserved by the author)

To be continued

 

References List:

Jaimini. (1995). Jaimini Sutramritam A Classic in Vedic Astrology (I.

Rangacarya, Trans. Second ed.). New Delhi: Sagar Publications.

Jaimini. (2006). Jaimini Sutram (Complete) (P. S. Sastri, Trans.

Revised ed.).

New Delhi: Ranjan Publications.

Kalidasa. (2005). Uttara Kalamrta (P. S. Sastri, Trans.). New Delhi: Ranjan

Publications.

Kalyanraman, V. (2007). Indian Astrology an Appraisal (First ed.). Nagercoil,

India: CHB Publications.

Mahadeva. Jataka Tattvam. Translated by Sastri. Bangalore: Sastri, V.

Subramanya, 1941.

Mihira, V. (1986). Brihat Jataka (B. S. Rao, Trans. Fifth ed.). Bangalore: IBH

Prakashana.

Nambudiri, V. (1991). Prasna Marga (B. V. RAMAN, Trans. second ed. Vol. 1).

Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. LTD.

Ojha, G. K. (1972). Predictive Astrology of the Hindus. Gurgaon:

Srhi Gopesh

Kumar Pratishthan.

Parasara. (1984). BPHS (R. Santhanam, Trans. First ed.

Vol. 1). New Delhi: Ranjan Publications.

Parasara. (1994). BPHS (G. C. Sharma, Trans. First ed.

Vol. 1). New Delhi: Sagar Publications.

Pingree. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit and Other Indian Manuscripts

of the Chandra Shum Shere Collection in the Bodleian Library

(Jyotihsastra, Part 1): Oxford University Press, 1984.

Shastri, A. M. (1969). India as Seen in The Brihatsamhita of Varahamihira (First

ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

=========================

[Guest guest]

Dear Sreenadh ji,

 

Namaste,

 

Looks like it doesnt rain but pours!!! After recent drought of astro info, there

is enough material posted by yourself, for the brains to ache to assimilate the

information.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

warmest regards

Sheevani

, " sreesog " <sreesog wrote:

>

> Dear All,

> The following article is from:

> http://www.astrologicalmagazine.com/july2009/parasara_hora_sastra.php

> <http://www.astrologicalmagazine.com/july2009/parasara_hora_sastra.php>

> Love and regards,

> Sreenadh

> =========================

> The Authenticity of Bright Parasara Hora Sastra - I

> [Honorary Senior

> Correspondent]

> <http://www.astrologicalmagazine.com/july2009/parasara_hora_sastra.php#>

> Shyamasundara Dasa

> <http://www.astrologicalmagazine.com/july2009/parasara_hora_sastra.php#>

> Shyamasundara Dasa

> HOW DID BRIHAT Parasara Hora Sastra, BPHS, (for short) become Gospel?

> Ever since 1984 with the publication of the first volume of BPHS

> (Parasara, 1984) with translation and commentary by R. Santanam, BPHS

> has been successfully marketed to Vedic astrologers in India and abroad

> as the preeminent text on Vedic astrology. Ranjan, the publishers,

> described it as: " The Gospel Book of Hindu Astrology with Master Key to

> Divination " (I coined the term Vedic Astrology but had not yet

> popularized it until 1988). This reputation was further cemented when

> Sagar published their superior edition of the same work with

> translation and commentary by Sriman Girish Chand Sharma (Parasara,

> 1994).

>

> The idea that one gets, is that the modern edition of BPHS is a very

> ancient text dating back to the beginning of Kali-yuga (3102 B.C.).

> Hence the views set forth in the BPHS are seen by many as sacrosanct,

> infallible and on par with sacred scriptures like the Vedas or Srimad

> Bhagavatam. And hence BPHS is often quoted as pramana - authoritative

> evidence -- in Vedic astrological discourse. But what is the real

> status of BPHS and the implications to Vedic astrology?

>

> When I first started studying jyotish in India in 1977-1983 there were

> very few classic texts easily available in English. The main authors to

> have translated texts were V. Subrahmanya Sastri to whom we owe

> translations of Brihat Jataka, Bright Samhita, Jataka Parijata,

> Sripatipaddhati, Phaladipika, Uttarakalamrita, Shatpanchasika,

> Prasnajnana, Jataka Tattva, Jatakadesamarga, Jatakalankara, Sanketanidhi

> and Horasara.

>

> Prof. B. Suryanarayana Rao translated and commented on several

> important classics including Brihat Jataka, Jaimini Sutras and

> Sarvartha Cintamani. I remember from my early days of study that the

> " big five " main classical texts that the scholars in The Astrological

> Magazine eulogized and encouraged one to read and study were Brihat

> Jataka, Saravali, Sarvartha Cintamani, Jataka Parijata, and Phaladipika.

>

> We read that in South India, especially Kerala, one was not considered

> a scholar of Jyotish until he had memorized both Brihat Jataka

> and Prasna Marga and not BPHS. Brihat Jataka was considered to

> be the jewel among astrological literatures and indeed in my early days

> of study there were many translations and commentaries on Varaha

> Mihira's Brihat Jataka. I have already mentioned the translations of V.

> Subrahmanya Sastri and Prof. B. Suryanarayana Rao, another

> excellent translation was by Swami Vijnananda. A less valuable

> translation (in my opinion) was that of N. Iyer. . Much later P.S.

> Sastri also did a translation of Brihat Jataka. Indeed Brihat Jataka

> and its author Varaha Mihira were so famous and adored by the Jyotish

> Pandits that when it came to eulogize Dr. B.V. RAMAN RAMAN he was

> honored by calling him the modern Varaha Mihira. BPHS as one can see

> from my narrative so far was hardly mentioned or popular.

>

> Whereas today BPHS would be one of the first books a new student would

> be recommended to purchase I had barely heard of it what to speak of

> seen it. It was not until my third year of intense study did I stumble

> upon BPHS in a university library in Kolkata in 1980. I came across it

> by accident when I spotted it in the card catalogs. It was a strange

> library, you could not just go into the stacks you had to submit your

> request to a library peon and they would go into the stacks and search

> for the book. When they returned with the book I was enthralled and

> spent a long time looking through it and taking notes. The book was a

> translation of some important chapters (not a complete translation) by

> N.N. Krishna Rau and V.B. Choudhuri, published in 1962. It was

> not well printed but the content mattered more to me than the form it

> was in. I recall I was especially happy because for the first time I

> could read an explanation of how the shodasavargas were to be used. I

> had been trying to use shodasavargas since 1977 and had even written a

> computer program to calculate them but was not really sure how to use

> them as no texts up to that time gave instructions on how to use them.

> I was also intrigued by the idea that the author, Parasara

> Muni, had indicated that each of the planets was an expansion of a

> different incarnation of Lord Krsna. I was determined to get a copy of

> this book.

>

> Unfortunately only about a thousand had been made by mimeograph copying

> almost 20 years earlier so it would be very hard to come by and no book

> sellers had heard of it.

>

> The book I picked up in Varanasi

> By my good fortune I was introduced by a friend to an old brahmana,

> Pandit Dvivedi, from Varanasi who said he had a copy of the same book

> and would give it to me. I made arrangements to stop in Varanasi on my

> way to Brindavan in August 1980 and acquired the book which I still

> have to this day. I studied the book diligently especially the use of

> the different vargas. At that time while I was living in Kolkata (1980-

> May 1981) I was studying Vedic astrology with Sriman Harihara

> Majumdhar. I asked him what his opinion was of BPHS, I remember that he

> startled me by saying that unlike other well known texts BPHS started

> appearing only recently in the 1930-40s and that there was no standard

> version in Bengali. It was not till much later that I understood the

> significance of his statement. In 1982 I was living and studying

> jyotish in Bangalore and Thiruvanantampuram. I recall having a

> discussion with my astrology teacher Sri B.G. Sashikanta Jain regarding

> which system of house division should be used, o

> ne choice was for unequal house division based on statements of BPHS

> another was for Bhava = Rasi based on Brihat Jataka 1.4. The thing that

> I remember was that I was wondering how these two texts could give

> different views.

>

> Later in 1982, I was discussing with my astrology teacher about the

> lack of classical works translated into English. We made up a list of

> desired texts including BPHS. I then I wrote a letter to Mr. Goel one

> of the owners of Ranjan Publications in Delhi submitting my

> desideratum. I never got a reply but I was more than pleasantly

> surprised when Santanam's translation and commentary on Hora Sara came

> out later that year and two years later they came out with Santanam's

> translation of the first volume of BPHS. And, later Santanam translated

> and published a steady stream of texts, many of which had been on my

> list. From this point onward, BPHS became the " bible of astrology "

> replacing Brihat Jataka as a primary authority on the premise that BPHS

> was the older text. I also followed this trend.

>

> However I was somehow disturbed by what I perceived to be a focus only

> on BPHS and the demise of the tradition of studying other classics

> especially Brihat Jataka among the younger astrologers especially those

> who got into astrology via the internet and had never visited India.

>

> Doubts about BPHS

> In the summer of 1999 while reading B. S. Rao's annotated translation

> of Bright Jataka with commentary of Bhattotpala (Mihira, 1986) I came

> across an interesting point in his commentary to the 7th chapter. In

> Brihat Jataka 7.1 Varaha Mihira directly refers to Parasara Muni by the

> name of Saktipurva (son of Sakti). Later in Brihat Jataka 7.9. Rao

> mentions that the learned commentator Bhattotpala laments that

> while he has a copy of Parasara Samhita he was unable to acquire a copy

> of Parasara Hora which Mihira refers to in Brihat Jataka 7.1. This

> struck Rao as significant because it now made him doubt the

> authenticity of Jataka Candrika which is supposedly an abstract of

> Parasara Hora but much later than the time of Bhattotpala. On this

> basis Ajay Mitra Sastri (Shastri, 1969, p. 449) also doubted the

> authenticity of Laghu Parasari and BPHS.

>

> Why is this significant?

> Bhattotpala lived in North India on the same latitude as Ujjain

> (Mihira, 1986, p.560). Bhattotpala finished his commentary on Brihat

> Jataka on 888 Saka which is either 833 AD (Vikram) or 968 AD

> (Shalivahan) (Mihira, 1986, p. 68). This was before the Islamic invasion

> of India with attendant destruction of libraries, places of learning,

> decline of scholarship and general decline of Krsna's Vedic civilization

> in North India. His writings indicate that he had at his access many

> ancient works of jyotish, many of which we only know about because he

> quotes them in his commentaries (Mihira, 1986, pp. 17-19). It seems that

> he had access to various royal libraries in North India

> particularly Ujjain which was the native place of Varaha Mihira. Yet

> despite his living before the general destruction in the wake of the

> Islamic invasion and having access to a vast quantity of jyotish

> literature he was unable to see let alone acquire Parasara Hora quoted

> by Varaha Mihira. How then is it that we are able to get it 1000 years

> later with all the difficulties and loss associated with the passage of

> so much time? Therefore there is great doubt as to the authenticity of

> the modern Bright Parasara Hora Sastra.

>

> Importance of Brihat Jataka

> In South India Brihat Jataka (and its commentaries) is held in the

> highest esteem, not BPHS. Why? Because of its many ancient commentaries

> by Bhattopala and others especially the Dasadhyayi of Talakkulathur

> Govindam Bhattathiri. Visnu Nambudiri (fl. 1649 A.D.) the author of

> Prasna Marga, considered the master piece on Prasna literature, states

> the following, with notes by Dr. B.V. RAMAN RAMAN:

>

> Stanza 28. - Brihat Jataka by Varahamihira, though short, is a very

> suggestive treatise pregnant with ideas. Though difficult to be

> comprehended by even intelligent persons, yet with the aid of the

> commentaries of Bhattotpala and others, it is possible to understand the

> book. Notes: Compare Varaha Mihira's own admission, ... meaning

> that his work is " concise, of a variety of meter and full of meaning. "

>

> Stanza 29. - One wearing the garland of Varahamihira in his neck along

> with the necklace of Krishneeya can win laurels in any astrological

> assembly. [sic] Notes : Brihat Jataka deals with horoscopy

> and Krishneeya with Prasna. One well acquainted with these two books

> can, according to the author, safely claim good scholarship.

>

> Stanza 30. - An astrologer who wants to make predictions should

> specially study Dasadhyayi carefully.

>

> Stanza 31. - Without a thorough study of the Dasadhyayi, it would be

> difficult to make correct predictions. So say the learned.

>

> Stanza 32. - One, who attempts to predict without studying the

> Dasadhyayi, would be like a man trying to cross an ocean without a boat.

> Prasna Marga 1.28-32 (Nambudiri, 1991, pp. 19-21) No Ancient

> Commentaries on BPHS

>

> Another reason that casts doubt on the veracity of the modern BPHS is

> the complete lack of any ancient commentary on the text. The oldest

> commentary known to me is that of Devacandra Jha's Hindi commentary

> from the first half of the 20th century, that is, less than 100 years

> old. More recently are the previously mentioned English

> translations and commentaries of Santanam and Sharma. Why are

> commentaries important from a historical perspective? Commentaries

> ensure that the corpus of the material in the text stays intact and

> allows us to track changes in the text. For example we know that the

> Bhagavad Gita has 18 chapters and 700 verses because all the

> commentaries from ancient to modern have the same number. If someone

> were to publish an edition of more or less than 700 verses it would be

> immediately detected as spurious.

>

> But if a work has no commentaries then we can not know if there have

> been any changes to the text unless there is some other system (such as

> ghanapata) of keeping the text from changing. Brihat Jataka

> commentaries We can have reasonable faith and trust in the authenticity

> of the present version of Brihat Jataka because there are a number of

> commentaries on this text some of them very ancient. These commentaries

> preserve the text and its structure in a way that is hard to do without

> commentaries.

>

> Shastri (Shastri, 1969, p. 26) gives the following information about

> commentaries on Brihat Jataka: " Alberuni (1.158) informs us

> that the Brihajjataka was commented upon by Balabhadra who

> flourished sometime before Utpala (Bhatattopala). " Shastri then goes on

> to mention seven other commentaries some without the name of the

> authors.

>

> Jagaccandrika aka Cintamani aka Vivrti by Bhattotapala

> Jataka-vivarana by Mahidhara

> Nilotpaliya -not certain of the author

> Prakasa - Nityaprakasa Suri

> Dasadhyayi [Talakkulathur Govindam Bhattathiri]

> Nauka aka Hora-vivarana aka Varahamihira-hora-tatparya-sagara

> Subodhini

> Kalyanraman adds: " Brihat Jataka . is stated to have more than twenty

> commentaries in Sanskrit itself, like Mudrakshari, Subhodhini,

> Sripatiyam, Bhatttopalavritti, besides, those in other languages.

> Dasadhyayi is one of such commentaries in Sanskrit, by

> Talakkulathur Govindam Bhattathiri. Perhaps next prominent one

> is Vivaranam of Rudra. "

> (Kalyanraman, 2007, p. 203)

> A recent Sanskrit commentary on Brihat Jataka is

> Apurarthapradarsika by A.N. Srinivasaraghava Aiyangar, published by

> Adyar Library, Chennai, in1951.

>

> How to tell what is authentic in BPHS?

> How to tell what is authentic in BPHS and what has been interpolated by

> later authors? The first thing to consider is that Varaha Mihira refers

> to many previous and contemporary authors: " Varaha Mihira was an

> encyclopedic writer and naturally he refers to a host of earlier or

> contemporary authors not only on astronomy and astrology but on various

> other subjects also. His equally learned scholiast Bhattotpala

> persistently styled him as 'the redactor of the entire Jyotihsastra,'

> and the author himself makes his position clear in [brihat Samhita]

> 9.7. He declares, 'astronomy and astrology are the sciences based on

> Agama; should there be any difference of opinion (among ancient

> writers), it would not be proper on my part to put forward my view

> only; I shall, however, state the majority view.' The result is

> excellent, and his works form a valuable treasure-house of information

> about works and authors he consulted. His works assume still greater

> importance from the fact that they are the sole

> source of our knowledge about many works and their authors, but for

> these references, might have irrecoverably been lost to us. " (Shastri,

> 1969, p. 424)

>

> In the same chapter Shastri gives a list of all authors consulted by

> Varaha Mihira for composing Brihat Samhita pointing out that Varaha

> Mihira quoted Parasara many times (Shastri, 1969, pp. 447-449). And, in

> Brihat Jataka (particularly chapter 7) Varaha Mihira names many

> previous scholars whose works he is familiar with these include but are

> not limited to: Maya, Yavana, Manitha, Parasara, Satyacarya,

> Visnugupta, Devasvami, Siddhasena and Jivasharma. As " the redactor of

> the entire Jyotihsastra " it would necessitate Varaha Mihira's extensive

> familiarity with the works of the authors he names. Since he

> extensively quotes from the works of Parasara including his Parasara

> Hora Sastra we can presume his familiarity with its contents. Varaha

> Mihira has extracted from these works the essence of what is important

> in Jyotish (Brihat Jataka 1.2) hence a comparison of the contents of

> Brihat Jataka and the modern BPHS may give us some clues as to what has

> been interpolated into the later.

>

> We should also like to say that while a study of the Brihat Jataka will

> prove helpful in our search for the real BPHS it should not be our sole

> guide. There is Satyajatakam by Satyacarya which is still extant and

> was held in esteem by Varaha Mihira. Some works of the Yavana writers

> who also predated Mihira are still extant. And Hora Sara and Saravali

> will also be very helpful. These texts were all before the era of

> Bhattotpala. After his era I would suggest that we can also gain

> insight into the real BPHS from Sarvartha Cintamani and Jataka Parijata

> which were written relatively shortly after the era of Bhattotpala and

> in a region of India that had yet to experience the disruptions of the

> Islamic invasion and attendant destruction of libraries. So it is

> possible that these scholars had access to the real BrihatParasara Hora

> Sastra. (copyright reserved by the author)

>

> To be continued

>

> References List:

> Jaimini. (1995). Jaimini Sutramritam A Classic in Vedic Astrology (I.

> Rangacarya, Trans. Second ed.). New Delhi: Sagar Publications.

> Jaimini. (2006). Jaimini Sutram (Complete) (P. S. Sastri, Trans.

> Revised ed.). New Delhi: Ranjan Publications.

> Kalidasa. (2005). Uttara Kalamrta (P. S. Sastri, Trans.). New Delhi:

> Ranjan Publications.

> Kalyanraman, V. (2007). Indian Astrology an Appraisal (First ed.).

> Nagercoil, India: CHB Publications.

> Mahadeva. Jataka Tattvam. Translated by Sastri. Bangalore: Sastri, V.

> Subramanya, 1941.

> Mihira, V. (1986). Brihat Jataka (B. S. Rao, Trans. Fifth ed.).

> Bangalore: IBH Prakashana.

> Nambudiri, V. (1991). Prasna Marga (B. V. RAMAN, Trans. second ed. Vol.

> 1). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. LTD.

> Ojha, G. K. (1972). Predictive Astrology of the Hindus. Gurgaon: Srhi

> Gopesh Kumar Pratishthan.

> Parasara. (1984). BPHS (R. Santhanam, Trans. First ed. Vol. 1).

> New Delhi: Ranjan Publications.

> Parasara. (1994). BPHS (G. C. Sharma, Trans. First ed. Vol. 1).

> New Delhi: Sagar Publications.

> Pingree. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit and Other Indian

> Manuscripts of the Chandra Shum Shere Collection in the Bodleian

> Library (Jyotihsastra, Part 1): Oxford University Press, 1984.

> Shastri, A. M. (1969). India as Seen in The Brihatsamhita of

> Varahamihira (First ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

>

> =========================

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Sheevani ji, It was not drought but just that the grass hoppers went for a tour in highlands. As always they are usually back with a vigor! I think not only me, but Bhaskar ji, Neelam ji, Shankar Bharadwaj ji etc also will not be an exception. May be our good old smart axx Sunil ji will also be back in action soon I hope (we are missing him a lot - I feel), back from his treasure hunt!. Love and regards,Sreenadh , "Sheevani" <sheevani147 wrote:>> > Dear Sreenadh ji,> > Namaste,> > Looks like it doesnt rain but pours!!! After recent drought of astro info, there is enough material posted by yourself, for the brains to ache to assimilate the information.> > Thanks for sharing.> > warmest regards> Sheevani

[Guest guest]

Dear sreenadh ji,

 

Sure Sunilji is missed very much by all.. He has his own affectionate low-keyed

way of giving valuable information.. It all adds to the multiple flavours of

AIA. Lets see what gems he has collected while he has been away!

 

warmest regards

Sheevani

, " sreesog " <sreesog wrote:

>

> Dear Sheevani ji,

> It was not drought but just that the grass hoppers went for a tour in

> highlands. [] As always they are usually back with a vigor! I think

> not only me, but Bhaskar ji, Neelam ji, Shankar Bharadwaj ji etc also

> will not be an exception. [] May be our good old smart axx Sunil ji

> will also be back in action soon I hope (we are missing him a lot - I

> feel), back from his treasure hunt!. []

> Love and regards,

> Sreenadh

>

> , " Sheevani "

> <sheevani147@> wrote:

> >

> >

> > Dear Sreenadh ji,

> >

> > Namaste,

> >

> > Looks like it doesnt rain but pours!!! After recent drought of astro

> info, there is enough material posted by yourself, for the brains to

> ache to assimilate the information.

> >

> > Thanks for sharing.

> >

> > warmest regards

> > Sheevani

>

[Guest guest]

Yes I too miss him very much... At times he is very abrupt in his mode

of expresssions which he being a clear hearted man and innocent person,

he cannot remain without, for a long time. His patience has too to give

way at times. At such moments even Bhaskar knows and feels the heat of

the flame and keeps away not be caught in his line of fire...HaHa... I

remember once I had to moderate him in Jyotish Ganga, for got scared

that the member will run away due to his wrath of anger... He is

undoubtedly an affectionate, lovable and a pure man , worth making a

good friend.

 

Yes I have been missing him for a pretty long time now. Such are the

ways of the world . People meet and then seperate for God knows how much

time, and then come back for a joyous reunion again...

 

We shall await his homecoming eagerly...

 

best wishes,

 

Bhaskar.

 

 

, " Sheevani "

<sheevani147 wrote:

>

>

> Dear sreenadh ji,

>

> Sure Sunilji is missed very much by all.. He has his own affectionate

low-keyed way of giving valuable information.. It all adds to the

multiple flavours of AIA. Lets see what gems he has collected while he

has been away!

>

> warmest regards

> Sheevani

> , " sreesog " sreesog@

wrote:

> >

> > Dear Sheevani ji,

> > It was not drought but just that the grass hoppers went for a tour

in

> > highlands. [] As always they are usually back with a vigor! I

think

> > not only me, but Bhaskar ji, Neelam ji, Shankar Bharadwaj ji etc

also

> > will not be an exception. [] May be our good old smart axx Sunil

ji

> > will also be back in action soon I hope (we are missing him a lot -

I

> > feel), back from his treasure hunt!. []

> > Love and regards,

> > Sreenadh

> >

> > , " Sheevani "

> > <sheevani147@> wrote:

> > >

> > >

> > > Dear Sreenadh ji,

> > >

> > > Namaste,

> > >

> > > Looks like it doesnt rain but pours!!! After recent drought of

astro

> > info, there is enough material posted by yourself, for the brains to

> > ache to assimilate the information.

> > >

> > > Thanks for sharing.

> > >

> > > warmest regards

> > > Sheevani

> >

>