Vedic Astrology, the greatest fraud on the Vedas!

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Astronomy_Activities_2009 , " balachandra rao "

<balachandra_rao wrote:

 

Dear Avtar Krishen Kaul ( " Jyotirvid " ?),

Namaste! It is truly refreshing that I have this opportunity

of exchanging views of common interest between us again after about

a decade. Thanks to Dr Rathnasree & the Astronomy Group. You have

been successfully tirading against the self-proclaimed " doyens of

Hindu astrology " . It has now become a lucrative fashion among the

neo-revivalists to add the adjective " Vedic " to evey rubbish to earn

for it sanctity as well as legitimacy! E.g. Vedic Astrology, Vedic

Mathematics, Vedic Vaastu etc. That too if a " white-skinned " is the

propagandist then it wins greater value, thanks to unscrupulous

publishers who believe more in catering to the Western readership

(for dollars & sterling pounds) than to domestic readers. Pray,

where does one find even a single sentence in the Vedas on PLANETARY

astrology? It is an insult not only to the Vedas but also to the

great seers to attribute the fraud of astrology to them! So also,

the " Vedic Mathematics " (20th century origin) is demeaning the Vedas

and simultaneously ignoring the really great mathematicians like

Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Bhaskaracharyas(I & II) and Ramanujan.

Intelligent & informed reactions from the discerning members of

our Astronomy Group will be truly refreshing.

With regards, S.Balachandra Rao

 

On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 jyotirved wrote :

> " Vedic astrology " ---the greatest fraud ont he Vedas!---I

> _____

>

>

>Shri Nandivada Rathnasree ji,

>

>

>Namaskar!

>

>

><The matter is definitely of interest, please do split it in

separate

>segments and resend. >

>

>

>As desired by you, the " article " is being split into three parts.

>

>

>Regards,

>

>

>AKK

>

>

>Om tat sat brahmarpanamastu!

>

>

>Om Brahmanandam Parama sukhadam kevalam gyan moortim, dwandvateetam

gagana

>sadrisham tat-tvam asyadi lakshyam ekam

nityam

>vimalam achalamsarva dhee sakshi bhootam, bhavateetam triguna

rahitam shree

>gurum tam namami

>

>

> " Vedic Astrology " - the greatest fraud on the Vedas!

>

>

>Dear friends. Good evening to everybody!

>

>I feel highly honoured to have been invited by Shri Ajay Bhasin for

sharing

>my views about astrology and related topics with respected

personalities

>assembled here. As most of us already know, we call these

predictive

>gimmicks as " Vedic astrology " these days.

>

>

>

>When I was asked by Shri Bhasin about the heading of my talk, I had

thought

>of making it as " Vedic Astrology - the greatest fraud on the

Vedas " . On

>second thoughts, fearing that it would be too explosive a heading,

I made it

>a sugar coated bitter pill by changing it to " Do we celebrate our

festivals

>on correct days? " .

>

>

>

>Well, actually, both i.e., the fraud known as " Vedic astrology "

and " our

>celebrating all our festivals on wrong days " are inter-related.

>

>Let me start with " Vedic astrology " - as to why I call it a fraud!

>

>There is hardly anyone in India, who does not want to know as to

when his

> " sade-sati " will start or end or as to which Dasha-antardasha he is

running

>and when that will end etc. etc. even if he does not know ABC of

jyotisha.

>I have gone through all those pangs myself and made a thorough

study of all

>the astrological works besides a lot of astronomical books! I

studied

>Western system of astrology also and had become a sort of famous

astrologer,

>though my predictions were as correct as anybody else's i.e. hardly

50%.

>However, this is a secret that no " jyotishi " shares with anybody --

that

>his/her predictions are hardly more correct than fifty per cent,

whatever

>logic or Ayanamsha he/she may use! When I analyzed the reasons for

such a

>dismal rate of success, the conclusions were startling! And I am

keeping

>those very conclusions before you!

>

>

>

>Before proceeding further, I must, however, say something about

myself since

>you are well within your rights to ask me as to

what " qualifications " I have

>to demolish astrology that is being practised over the last several

>centuries, nay even millennia!

>

>

>

>My credentials

>

>Though I am not laying any claims to being a scholar, however, I

have

>actually studied all the four Vedas in original " archaic " Sanskrit

with

>their different " Bhashyas " , besides the various Brahmanas like

Shatapatha,

>Aitreya, Tatiriya etc. etc. I have studied, (in original Sanskrit!)

about

>two hundred all the important Upanishads as well! I have also gone

through

>both the epics viz. the Valmiki Ramayana and the Mahabharata --- in

>Sanskrit and from cover to cover, besides Adhyatma Ramayana,

>Ramacharitamanasa etc. etc.! There is hardly any Purana whether the

>Bhagavata, Shivapurana, Vishnu, Narada, Devi, Varaha, Matsya and

>Vishnudharmotara etc. etc. that I have not gone through in original

>Sanskrit. I have also studied exhaustively all the ancient

astronomical

>works like the Vedanga Jyotisha, Panchasidhantika, Surya Sidhanta,

Arya

>Bhati, Sidhanta Shiromani etc. etc. To crown it all, I was not a

born

>renegade against the established traditions. On the other hand, I

was

>initially " hypnotized " by " Vedic astrology " and " panchangas " myself

and

>there is hardly any " text-book " of astrology either in Sanskrit or

Urdu or

>English or Hindi that I have not studied with due reverence, as if

I was

>studying the Vedas!

>

>

>

>Having established my credentials thus, I CAN DECLARE IT WITHOUT ANY

>HESITATION AND WITH ALL THE EMPHASIS AT MY COMMAND, THAT THERE IS

>ABSOLUTELY NO PREDICTIVE ASTROLOGY IN ANY OF THE VEDAS, UPANISHADAS

OR

>BRAHMANAS. There are, however, some references to some odd types of

>predictions in some of the Puranas and the epics and therefore

calling it as

>really a post-Vedic astrology is more correct. There is a rider

there also,

>and that is that according to these scriptures, Makara Sankranti

i.e. Pongal

>is nothing but a synonym of Uttarayana (the shortest day of the

year) i.e.

>Winter Solstice and as everybody knows, it can take place these

days only on

>or around December 21 every year. Thus the Uttarayana-cum-Makar

Sankranti

>that we are celebrating now-a-days on January 14 is absolutely

wrong and

>does not have any authority from any shastra or even modern

astronomy.

>Similarly, the Vaishakhi that is being celebrated on April 14 or so

also is

>wrong since Mesha Sankranti is nothing but Vishuva (Vernal Equinox)

or

>Vasant Sampat and it cannot take place on any day other than March

21/22,

>when the day and night are equal. Actually these Makara etc.

sankrantis were

>known as Tapah etc. months during the Vedic period as there are no

rashis in

>the Vedas but just six seasons and Madhu, Madhava etc. twelve

months. As

>such, we are celebrating all our fasts, fairs and muhurtas on wrong

days --

>thanks to " Vedic astrologers " and their " Vedic astrology " .

>

>

>

> The first and foremost thing I learnt from our shastras is that

no system

>of predictions has any sanction either from the Vedas or even

Puranas

>least of all our dharmashastras etc. since all our shastras

admonish us from

>consulting " nakshatra jeevis " so much so that the Manusmriti calls

these

>nakshatrasoochis as outcastes and not fit to sit in any sabha of

learned

>people.

>

>Those who can foresee our future do not reveal it to us beforehand:

>

>All the Ramayanas, whether Valmiki or Adhyatma or Ramacharitamanasa

etc.

>etc. say that before deciding about the coronation of Bhagwan Rama,

>Dashratha wanted his guru Vasishtha to confirm the suitable muhurta

for that

>function. It was on the advice of Vasishtha Muni that Dasharatha

decided

>to anoint Rama as the Yuvraja the very next day, as it

was " Tishya " i.e.

>Pushya nakshata then. From this anecdote, it is clear that either

Vasishtha

>Muni did not know as to what was going to happen to Dasharatha by

declaring

>Bhagwan Rama as a crown-prince or Vasishtha kept quiet deliberately

since he

>did not want to interfere in the divine dispensation!

>

>

>

>Obviously, being the son of Brahmaji and a highly exalted yogi as

well as a

>jnyani, Vasishtha-muni could peep into past as well as future. It

means

>that even if some exalted souls can foresee as to what is going to

happen,

>they do not reveal our " bhavishya " before hand, unlike some of the

>astrologers of today, who masquerade as " Parasharas "

and " Vamadevas " to tell

>us even our past and future janmas just by glancing at our birth-

charts,

>even if those charts are wrong!

>

>

>

>The Gita is said to be the gist of all our shastras. When Arjuna

expressed

>his doubt by saying naitadvidmah katarnno gareeyo, yadva jayema

yadi va no

>jayeyuh " I do not know what is good for me nor do I know whether we

will win

>or the Kauravas will win the war " , Bhagwan Krishna neither asked

him to

>consult some soothsayer nor did He tell him to wear some ruby! He

just

>advised Arjuna " hato va prapsyasi swargam jitva va bokshyase

maheem " i.e.

> " You must fight. If you get killed in the war, you will go to the

heavens

>and if you win it you will be the lord of the whole world " .

>

>Thus all it boils down to is the fact that those who know

(including Lord

>Krishna Himself!) as to what is going to happen and when do not

divulge such

> " secrets " before hand to us.

>

>

>

>Remedial measures are a farce:

>

> Almost all the jyotishis suggest one or the other remedial

measure to their

>clients, and mostly these are gems like diamond or ruby or sapphire

etc.

>etc. What is surprising is that we have become so obsessed with

Jyotish

>that we forget the entire itihasa of our past!

>

>(i) If these gems are that efficacious, why was then Dasharatha

not

>suggested some " ruby " or " coral " to ward off the evil Dasha that

was going

>to kill him when Rama would leave for the forests? Well, because

our Rishis

>did not believe in such gimmicks at all!

>

>(ii) Bhagwan Krishna was born in a prison --- I wonder why He

could not

>use some " sapphire " to be born in a palace!

>

> (iii) Vasudeva and Devaki---the parents of Bhagwan Krishna---

were in

>chains when He was born! It is said that Lord Krishna was a

complete - 16

>kala sampoorna --- divine incarnation of Vishnu and was thus really

>Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient! But in spite of His

Omniscience,

>Omnipotence and Omnipresence, Lord Krishna could not relieve the

miseries of

>his parents, Vasudeva and Devaki, who had to remain in chains till

Krishna

>killed Kansa!

>

>

>

>What does it demonstrate? Just the fact that if the Omniscient,

Omnipresent

>and Omnipotent Krishna could not relieve the miseries of His own

father or

>mother before the appointed time, how can a ruby or a sapphire---or

some

>Mangala or Shani yagya--- remove all our miseries or fulfil all our

>ambitions? Obviously, we are being taken for a ride by such

Jyotishis!

>

>

>

>iv) Then not in the distant past, Smti Indira Gandhi would run after

>astrologers for knowing her future. She wore a rare and original

ekamukhi

>rudraksha, which only either the Maharaja of Nepal had or she was

wearing!

>It is said that some top-notch jyotishis had suggested that

rudraksha to

>her! Ironically, both the King of Nepal as well Mrs. Indira Gandhi

were

>assassinated " by the people " they " had trusted " ----ekamukhi

rudraksha not

>withstanding!

>What does it prove? That we should not be hoodwinked by

soothsayers!

>

>

>

>v) Then again a well known Tantrik of yore---highly respected by

the then

>PM--- is out on bail, not by dint of his " Tantra-Kriya " but because

of some

>legal loopholes in FERA!

>Similarly, Dhirendra Brahmachari, another high profile " Tantrik " ,

met with

>an accident in the plane he was flying himself! If he could not

see his own

>death looming large how could he forewarn others!

>

>

>What does that prove? Obviously, it warns us against relying on any

>soothsayers, especially if they call themselves " Vedic Jyotishis "

since they

>are taking us for a ride literally.

>

>Kalasarpa Dosha -- a non-existent fear psychosis:

>

>These days we hear a lot about Kalasarpa Dosha! It is said to be

present in

>any horoscope if all the planets are between Rahu and Ketu! My

God! What a

>humbug! Rahu and Ketu are actually nodes of the Moon! That means

they are

>just mathematical points without any dimensions ---therefore

without any

>physical existence whatsoever! So according to " Vedic astrologers "

even

>such " non-existent " phenomena can make our lives miserable for

which we must

>do some upay! Do you need any other proofs for the jugglery that

these

>cheats are indulging in?

>

>THE ONLY EFFECTIVE REMEDY, or UPAY, THEREFORE, IS THAT WE MUST

REMEMBER HIM,

>THE ALMIGHTY, EVERY MOMENT OF OUR LIVES AND LEAVE EVERY THING TO

HIS DIVINE

>WILL!.

>

>

>

>

>

>