Western Astrologer, Western Vaishnav

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The tenth canto of the Bhagavat Purana describes the role of the ancient astrologer/ancient Vaishnav in the narration of the meeting of Nanda and Vasudev, the father and adopted father of Shree Krishna, thusly:

 

Although Krsna was the real son of Vasudeva and Devaki, because of Kamsa's atrocious activities Vasudeva could not enjoy the birth ceremony of his son. But Nanda Maharaja, the foster father, celebrated the birth ceremony of Krsna very joyfully. The next day, it was declared that a male child was born of Yasoda. According to Vedic custom, Nanda Maharaja called for learned astrologers and brahmanas to perform the birth ceremony. After the birth of a child, the astrologers calculate the moment of the birth and make a horoscope of the child's future life. Another ceremony takes place after the birth of the child: the family members take baths, cleanse themselves and decorate themselves with ornaments and garlands; then they come before the child and the astrologer to hear of the future life of the child. Nanda Maharaja and other members of the family dressed and sat down in front of the birthplace. All the brahmanas who were assembled there on this occasion chanted auspicious mantras, according to the rituals, while the astrologers performed the birth ceremony. All the demigods are also worshiped on this occasion, as well as the forefathers of the family. Nanda Maharaja distributed 200,000 well decorated, dressed and ornamented cows to the brahmanas. He not only gave cows in charity, but hills of grains, decorated with golden-bordered garments and many ornaments. ( Krishna Book, Chapter Five )

 

The traditional task of the astrologer is to define the karmic parameters of the individual's life as they will manifest in terms of time, and to advise on the exercise of the limited free will within those parameters.

 

But what is the role and purpose of astrology for the modern, Western practioner as well as for the modern,Western public? The traditional function is still intact in that the purpose is still to define the karmic parameters of the individual's life in terms of time, and to advise. But the modern context of the Western world provides additional advantages and disadvantages.

 

But in modern times, Vedic astrology provides favorable exposure to those outside the ambit of Vedic culture and vaishnavism, and can perform yeoman service from the threshold of Vedic dharma. One who introduces another to spiritual life and orients along the dharmic path becomes very dear to Shree Krishna. In the eighteenth chapter of Gita, He tells us:

 

There is no servant in this world more dear to me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.

 

A profession which involves introducing and orienting peoople towards the Vedic version of things is a very nice profession indeed! In fact, such a profession is definitely missing in the lives of Western devotees of Krishna. Simply put, there is very little in the way of professions which allow devotees of Krishna, and followers of Vedic dharma in general, to express themselves.

 

For example, it is extremely difficult to make an living at priestly activities such as temple worship. In most temples of the greater Hare Krishna movement, pujaris are only given a place to stay and some maintenence for their families, if that. Even brahmin priests have to take responsibility for their families, and pujari work in Western temples does not allow them to do that. In India, private ownership of temples is permitted, such that temples which are nicely organized, and where the worship goes on nicely, attract devotees who offer donations. These donations support not only the diety worship, but the family expenses of the priest, too- temple worship becomes the family business. But this concept is not acceptable in Western society where all churches either belong to some kind of hierarchical structure, such as the Catholic Church, or to the actual members of the congregation, as in most Protestant churches. Private ownership of temples, which provides a living to the priest's family, is out of the question in the West.

 

Nor is it possible to make a living teaching Sanskrit. There are a few university positions available, but most of them are filled by Hindus from India whose native language is one of the dialects of Sanskrit which use the Devanagari script- Hindi or Bengali or Gujarati, ect. They are naturally qualified. There are such few possibilities of making a living through teaching Sanskrit, though, that we will not even consider the possibility any further.

 

Musicians who play Indian music, such as the tablas or Sarod of North India or the mridangas and sitars of the South Indian ragas, also have a difficult time making a living from their trade in the West. There is simply very little market for these skills.

 

Not all devotees of Krishna are adept at book sales, and begging on the plea of selling a few sticks of incense, or hiding one's true identity with the purpose of selling stickers at sporting events are not socially acceptable professions, either.

 

Most Western followers of Vedic dharma practice their lifestyle only over the weekends, or in bits at a time in the early mornings or evenings. During the day, they lead very non-Vedic, non-devotee lives at work, rendering service to companies with some mundane or materialistic purpose. Even transplanted, caste brahmins from India fall into this pattern and become descendents of brahmins, not brahmins anymore- brahma bandhus. Brahmins cannot become obliged to anyone and, therefore, cannot offer service to others such that they become dependent on remuneration.

 

We don't want to fool ourselves, we are what we do. The consciousness that we develop is a culmination of that to which we expose ourselves in life. Nobody can dedicate their working lives to materialistic endeavors -Shrama eva hi kevalam- and then say but I am really something else, It may be all right to work some mundane job as a stop-gap measure, but over the long run, working everyday in materialistic environments flows against one's spiritual life. It is similar to trying to ignite some firewood everyday, then dousing it with water, then trying to dry it out and ignite it again. It is actually possible to do, but it takes extra time and endeavor.

 

It is in this context thatVedic astrology shines. It actually provides a straight-forward, genuine, brahminical profession from which the devotee can give advise in terms of time, karma, reincarnation and philosophy. Advise-giving is the prescribed type of profession for a brahmin, and the brahminical platform is a good platform from which to cultivate Krishna sambhandha, Krishna consciousness. As such, astrology is the perfect profession for the devotee, one which will support and reinforce his or her persuit of dharma.

 

Of course, there are a few obstacles for any aspiring brahmin-astrologer.To begin with, it truly is a brahminical science handed own by the celestial beings ( demigods ) who first engendered human presence on the Earth. The brahmins were a very philosophical community. For example, lamenting was against their principles, and they were extremely honest.

 

The current population on the face of our planet, though, is not so prepared to receive brahminical arts or sciences. ( kalau shudra sambhava ), and the typical client which a Vedic astrologer encounters has experienced some kind of mental and emotional collapse, and is experiencing difficulty in some way. The person is not going to be above lamentation or melancholy, and is going to want to hear that life will be improving, or that there will be a chance for things to improve in the near future. Imagine a middle-aged, ex housewife who has just been substituted for a twenty-year old, gold-digging, home wreaker. Imagine if the astrologer were to correctly interpret her karma, telling her that Yes, your favorable, Venusian karma has been exhausted, and from now on you will be single, enjoy low status and experience financial difficulty. The person would probably not be able to bear the truth if it means that the negative, currently-manifesting karma is not going to improve anytime soon.

 

This has given rise to a whole breed of astrologers who take advantage and interpret in an open-ended way. They will typically say that there are some planets in favor, some against, such that various results are possible, depending on the planetary karma that the person develops. Some even peddle astrological jewelry in an unscrupulous way, telling that this jewel or that one will alliviate one's karma reactions. This type of fortune telling doesn't actually come out and predict and define the future, but this type of client doesn't really want to hear about the absolute nature of time, anyway ( See the VNN article Time- Days of the Future Past?). We are exaggerating a little in order to make a point, but the basic idea stands. It is difficult for an astrologer who adopts an honest and objective mode of interpretation to build up a successful, private practice in the middle of such confusion of the Kali Yuga.

 

Still, there are sufficient opportunities for accurate, objective predictors. One can start building up a practice by interpreting the charts of friends, even for free, in order to acquire experience. Word of mouth and exposure through astrological journals can help one to make further progress, and an aspirant astrologer can build from that point onwards. Astrology provides a unique occupation for devotees, followers of dharma, and especially their children.

 

And yes, it is important to start early because one has to dedicate some time to astrology in order to assimilate a very complex system, and to acquire the experience necessary to interpret. One doesn't interpret so much from book knowledge, one largely interprets from practice and experience- jñanam and vijñanam.

 

For all of these reasons, the author invites the readers of VNN to join us on the discussion list where all aspects of parampara, Vedic astrology are on topic!