Dasadyayee

February 23, 2010

Dear All, The following article is from: http://www.astrologicalmagazine.com/Aug2009/dasadyayee.php Love and regards,Sreenadh==============================Dasadyayee

Commentary for BRIHAT JAIAKA by Talakkulathur Bhattathiri

BRIHAT JATAKA OF THE famous astronomer cum astrologer,

Varahamihira is one of the authoritative texts in predictive astrology.

It is held that Brihatjaiaka has more than twenty commentaries in Sanskrit itself, like Mudrakshari, Subhodhini, Sripatiyam, and Bhattotpalavriti.

It is held that Brihatjaiaka has more than twenty commentaries in Sanskrit itself, like Mudrakshari, Subhodhini, Sripatiyam, and Bhattotpalavriti. Besides, these there are commentaries in other languages also. A prominent commentary "Vivaranam"

of Rudran (Uzhutravarier) that was available only in Sanskrit has been brought out in vernacular, just a few years ago. Dasadyayee is one

of such commentaries in Sanskrit. This is by the legendary genius Govindan Bhattathiri of Talakkulathur, who lived in Kerala between 1237 and 1295 AD.

Varahamihira was one among the nine literary gems who adored the court of Vikramaaditya during the 6th century BC. Kalidasa refers to him as `Khayato' or very famous. This great astrological savant has been able to encompass and put into excellent shape the science of predictive astrology, in his Brihatjaiaka. Restricting the number of slokas to 383, in his famous work, Varahamihira says that his work is `Swalpam Vriththa Vichithram Artha Bahulam.' This means that though prima facie the work may appear to be small, it is something strange with a lot of meaning and hidden ideas.

It was perhaps during his evening days Talakkulathur Bhattathiri chose to write an exhaustive commentary for the famous Brihatjaiaka of Varahamihira. After his extensive travels and coming back to the Pazhoor village, where he met his famous astrologer son through a kaniyan woman, he decided to live at the gatehouse or padippura of the house of the kaniyan. After some years when he died, his body was interned there itself in the padippura. This spot has now become a place of high sanctity for astrologers and seekers of astrological advice. The descendents of the kaniyan family do the Prasna at the gate, even to day, in front of the samadhi, which is venerated and worshipped. It is believed that, irrespective of the erudition of the persons handling the Prasna queries on that spot, the results come out meticulously correct due to the divine blessings of Bhattathiri, who it is believed, is guiding them properly, by his eternal and ethereal presence. This spot is famous in Kerala as the Pazhoor Padippura.

It is said that when Bhattathiri took up the task of writing a commentary for the Brihatjaiaka, he wanted to make it extensive and exhaustive. Brihatjaiaka is a work in 383 stanzas divided into 25 chapters.

Taking perhaps the cue from the words "Swalpam Vrithivichithramartha Bahulam" of Varahamihira, meaning that `though the work may appear to be small, it is something unique, with a lot of inherent meaning and hidden ideas', Bhattathiri endeavoured in his Dasadyayee to bring out many of those hidden meanings contained in the Brihatjaiaka.

Taking perhaps the cue from the words "Swalpam Vrithivichithramartha Bahulam" of Varahamihira, meaning that `though the work may appear to be small, it is something unique, with a lot of inherent meaning and hidden ideas', Bhattathiri endeavoured in his Dasadyayee to bring out many of those hidden meanings contained in the Brihatjaiaka. When Bhattathiri set out to find the hidden meanings in the slokas, naturally the work became voluminous. By the time he had completed the annotations for first ten chapters, he found that he had covered most of the contents of the remaining chapters. He felt that attempting to comment on the remaining chapters would be a futile and repetitive labour. Hence he stopped his commentaries with the tenth chapter. Thus his work of commentary earned the name "Dasadyayee" or a work in ten chapters. But the author in all humility, while concluding,

says that he has no capacity to enlarge it further. As it is a full-fledged commentary of the original text, it was the practice of the astrologers in Kerala especially of the north and middle regions to learn by-heart the Brihatjaiaka along with Dasadyayee, a practice, however, now seen given a go-by.

The beauty of Dasadyayee lies in the fact that while commenting

upon elaborately the first ten chapters of the Brihatjaiaka, Bhattathiri has dealt with the contents of most of the important slokas of the remaining chapters also. This can be seen from the exhaustive commentaries for the first ten chapters. The author has not only touched upon the gist of some of the slokas of the uncommented later chapters, but also brought out their intricate, relevant and hidden facets. He has brought out these in the masterly interpretation of the slokas of the first ten chapters themselves, exhibiting his incisive and

sharp intellect.

The commentary contains abundant allusions to many other treatises. This fact alone can speak for the versatility and brilliance of the author. A subtle suggestion contained in the commentary is that the study of the Brihatjaiaka has to be attempted only with such profound background knowledge.

Prasna Marga extols the necessity for mastering Dasadyayee for effective predictions. It says:

Horaayastu dasaadyayam

Vaakyaayam kriyataam sramah:

Daivagjnena viseshena

Phalamaadeshtya mischata

In short any astrologer who wants to master the art of predictions should specially study Dasadyayee.

Kamban, the renowned Tamil poet, compares his effort of composing his mighty Kambramayana to the great desire of a cat to drink the entire Ocean of Milk. In a way, this feeble attempt of this scribe is also due to his insatiable desire to drink a few drops of that vast expanse of ocean of nectar, Dasadyayee. He is well aware that to master

or understand it fully would only be a task well-nigh impossible, with his limited knowledge. Nevertheless, like taking a sip from a cup, he is trying to look into some portions of the vast commentary and share it

with our readers. The assessment of his own work by the famous Acharya

as "arthabahula" - gives us the hint that only Bhattathiri could delve into that vast ocean and bring to us the variety of meanings

and interpretations, through his work Dasadyayee.

Anyone revelling in the reading of the work could see how the commentator brings out the secret and hidden meanings of the Brihatjaiaka that in the ordinary course may not be explicable even to any ardent student or scholar of Astrology.

Let us refer to the first sloka of Chapter 1 of Brihatjaiaka. The first line of the sloka runs thus.

Moorthitve parikalpitha: sasabritho varthmapunarjanmana

Each word of the sloka, apart from what it ordinarily connotes, is supposed to stand for some other meaning.

Bhattotpala interprets this sloka as merely an invocation addressed to the great and glorious Sun. But Dasadyayee sees in it multiple meanings. Perhaps this is consistent with Varahamihira's

own claim to this effect. Scholars see in it the method of casting unknown horoscopes - Nashta Jataka. There are other equally important or significant meanings, derived from it.Each word of the sloka, apart from what it ordinarily connotes, is supposed to stand for some other meaning. The word `moorthitve' is suggestive to mean one of the ashtamoorthis of Siva. It can also be held that moorthi implies the bhava or the Lagna. Similarly each word of this sloka is held to be capable of indicating a variety of meanings and incisive interpretations.

Let us take the word ` Moorthithveparikalpitassasabritha:

and examine its numerical significance.

The word `Moorthitve' means 465 in katapayaadi

count. (`thve' is 4 `rthi' is 6 and `mu' is 5)

The letters are to be deciphered from right to left. (Anganamvamathogathi)

From this number `parika ' or 121 should be subtracted.

When `parika 'is subtracted from `Moorthitve',

we get 465 minus 121 = 344.

Again from the reminder, got by subtracting `parika' from `moorthitve' the value of the reversed (sodhayed vilomena) `pitha' should be subtracted. `pitha'

is 61. When reversed it becomes 16. So 16 should be subtracted from 344. So the answer will be 344-16= 328

The commentary then says to this value the number `sasa

' = 55 should be added.

This gives the answer 328 + 55 = 383

This gives the number of slokas in Brihatjaiaka as 383.

This interpretation is according to the famous commentary "Vivaranam".

A study of Dasadyayee will convince anyone that the commentator

has enlarged the meaning and purport of each sloka of the first ten chapters of Brihatjataka, in all possible ways of interpretation. Many of the lurking details unfold in the commentary. To know how Bhattathiri has handled the commentary to make it all pervading and exhaustive, the following few excerpts from Dasadyayee may help.

The sloka 4 of Chapter 1, of Brihatjaiaka gives the details of the different parts of the body ruled by the twelve signs. Bhattathiri enlarges his interpretations to 13 detailed parts. He extends its import to the field of Prasna and says in the third part of his annotation: "This Acharya has done this work, giving importance to the delineation of horoscopes. But the rules for Prasna are also inherent in this."

Proceeding further he says: "According to Jaataka, the strength

or weakness of that part of the body is to be decided taking into account the position of benefic and malefic planets found in the different rasis indicating the different parts of the Kaalapurusha." Here he refers to sloka 5 of Chapter 24. This is how he eliminates the necessity for any separate exposition for that sloka. He says:

"In the chapter on Nashta Jataka, it has been stated `lagnatrikonothamaveeryayuktam

bham prochyatemgalabanadibirva' meaning that the Janma rasi has to

be decided, taking into account the stronger among the Lagna or Trikonas. Otherwise take into account the part of the body the questioner touches to decide the rasi. Find the rasi required through the angasparsa. The rasi denoted by the sparsa or touch of the part of the body by the questioner can reveal the affected part of wounds, cuts or deformity.

Again in part 6 he adds: "This is useful in Prasna also. If the

rasis of Udaya and Arooda are occupied by malefics, it must be concluded that the disease pertains to that part of the body indicated by them."

It is evident that Dasadyayee explains the various ways through

which the rules of Brihatjaiaka can be used in Prasna. During the days

of Bhattathiri, only texts like Daivagjnavallabha, Krishneeya and the like were available for delineating the rules for Prasna. Perhaps Dasadyayee is the first treatise to compare and correlate the rules of prediction from the Hora sastras and the rules of Nimittas from the Samhitas to explain how these could be employed effectively in handling Prasna.

Part 2 of the commentary for verse 20 of Chapter 4, draws attention to the import of the contents of verse 10 of Chapter 21 suggesting the cause for blindness. This is yet another example for including the comments for a sloka from beyond the chapter 10.

Commenting on the term "Malsyoughatee" in sloka 5 of Chapter 1,

Bhattathiri in part 9 of his commentary, suggests that the usage of the

terms in a reverse order only indicates that the rasis may have to be reckoned in that way also sometimes.

Sloka 13 of chapter 2 of Brihatjaiaka reads:

Tridasatrikonachaturasrasaptama-

Nyawalokayanti Charanabhivridhidha:

Ravijaamarejyarudhira: Pare Chaye

Kramasho Bhavanthi Kila Veekshanedhika:

This means in plain language:All planets aspect their Tridasa (3rd and 10th) one fourth; to its Trikona

(5th and 9th) one-half, to its Chatussara (4th and 8th) three fourths and to its Saptama (7th) fully. Saturn,

Jupiter and Mars have respectively better or full drishti to the above mentioned places.

This means that Saturn has full aspect to its 3rd bhava and l0th bhava apart from its 7th house aspect mentioned earlier. Jupiter has full aspect to its 5th and 9th bhavas apart from its 7th house aspect. Mars has full aspect to its 4th and 8th houses, apart from its 7th house. The other planets, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury and Venus have full aspects only to the 7th house.

A Summary of the aspects is given below:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Sun

x

¼

¾

½

x

Full

¾

½

¼

x

Moon

x

¼

¾

½

x

Full

¾

½

¼

x

Mars

x

¼

Full

½

x

Full

½

¼

x

Mercury

x

¼

¾

½

x

Full

¾

½

¼

x

Jupiter

x

¼

¾

Full

x

Full

¾

Full

¼

x

Venus

x

¼

¾

½

x

Full

¾

½

¼

x

Saturn

x

Full

¾

½

x

Full

¾

½

Full

x

x = Nil Aspect

Bhattathiri explains how the intensity of the various aspects mentioned varies and how to reckon the intensity of aspect of a planet to any point. For a planet having one-fourth aspect at the beginning of the 3rd bhava and three-fourths at the beginning of 4th bhava, the aspect the planet will have on the middle of 3rd bhava will be one-half.

He sees further interpretations for the stanza as well and suggests that it indicates the distance of the seven planets from the Earth.

Commenting on " Ravijaamarejyarudhira: Pare Chaye Kramasho Bhavanthi Kila Veekshanedhika: he says that one can see Ravija (Saturn),

Amaredya (Jupiter), Rudhira (Mars) and Pare (others) better and better. Pare means the Sun, Venus, Mercury and then the Moon in that order.

Thus, the distance of the various planets becomes evident. But how do you know that it is the Sun, Venus, Mercury and then the Moon in that order that Varahamihira meant by the term Pare? The commentator says that even for this, the great author has given some indications and

that is the order mentioned for the first three planets viz., Saturn,

Jupiter and Mars. Planets are normally mentioned in the order of the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,

Venus and Saturn. Jupiter comes sixth

from Saturn and Mars comes sixth from Jupiter.

This is the order referred to by Varahamihira. Hence the next planet ought to be the sixth from Mars i.e., the Sun and then comes Venus, Mercury and the Moon in that order. Bhattathirippad says that the word Cha in Pare Chaye stands for the Moon which comes last.

Expanding the meaning of the term "kila" of the same verse, he emphasizes the need to reckon the aspects in both Jaataka and Prasna and

correlates the verse 1 of Chapter 21 to divine, progeny.

He further says that Kalahoradhipakrama is also included in this sloka. The order is the same as for the distance of the planets. Finding more meaning in the term Charanabhivridhdhita: he says: "gets increased by Charanam (one-fourth)". In other words it is ¼, ½, ¾ and 1

and adding them up, we get ¼ + ½ + ¾ + 1 = 2½ which in ghatikas represent exactly the duration of a Kalahora. This suggests that the duration of one Kalahora is 2½ ghatikas and the planetary order to be considered in this respect will be in the order of Saturn,

Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon.

A reader of the monumental Dasadyayee will know that each and every sloka in the first ten chapters of Brihatjaiaka has been dealt with in minute detail by this incomparable commentator.

The above narration is to bring out just one instance, of the many, where the brilliant Bhattathirippad has given various interpretations to a sloka. This original sloka is meant to deal with planetary aspects in a conceptual form. But it is astounding to see how

Bhattathiri has so deftly interpreted it to bring out much of the inner

implications of the measure of the aspects A reader of the monumental Dasadyayee will know that each and every sloka in the first ten chapters of Brihatjaiaka has been dealt with in minute detail by this incomparable commentator.

It will be only apt to conclude this tribute to Dasadyayee

and Bhattathiri echoing the author's own concluding remarks to

his monumental work:

Punarvachanam apasabdaprayoga:

nyayavirodhaschatra sandyeva sambhava:

tasmadetam vakyamya:

kaschid bhudha:

pasyati chet kshandumarhati.

naisha pandityaprakatanaya krita:

"This annotation can contain surely repetitions, faulty use of words and opinions not acceptable to commonsense. If the learned find

such drawbacks they must pardon me. This has been done not to display any erudition. This is done to tell what little I know to any neophyte

who is less learned."