an e magazine from ASSAM & NAGALAND      

HOW IT ALL BEGAN :

In the present day Indian gem market, where ninety percent of individual 'ring-size' gemstones are sold and purchased for astrological purposes and worn either to

placate the 'malevolent' or to encourage the 'benevolent' planets, even the most die-hard sceptical scientist gemologist will inadvertently learn the names of the planetary deities of Indian astrology and about their favourite gemstones.

The present author being a trained economic geologist that too in a strictly agnostic environment of the Communist Russia, imbibed the 'no nonsense' attitude and his notion of astrology related gem-therapy was totally negative.

The scenario suddenly changed in the autumn of 1993. After suffering from a prolonged bout of viral infection induced fever, resulting in mental depression, the author was moping at home for months, then his ever credulous spouse dispensed the age-old advice given by Indian house-wives through the ages, "why don't you consult some knowledgeable astrologer, and you should know them in plenty?"

The ignominy was enormous, but people do get desperate when box-full of medicines and arrays of specialists apparently cannot render any help. The pillar of rational thinking did go to an astrologer like any other lesser mortal.

Fortunately the astrologer gentleman was erudite, non-greedy, and a compassionate person. He went through the horoscope, praised the 'planetary conjunctions' under which yours truly was born. He proceeded to draw a number of circles and squares, did some arithmetic of the simplest nature, then solemnly declared that the recovery has already started and will be complete within a month or two as indicated by 'Mahadasha, Antardasha', Saturn, Rahu etc. etc. The author's wife and children will prosper, and he will live to ripe old age in comfort and honour. For an hour of comfort and solace he charged a very modest fee. The astrologer also provided a piece of paper with a picture of a circle divided into twelve equal segments. He assured that all the future happenings till death and beyond will be known from this piece of paper and whenever deciphering is felt to be necessary, we should not hesitate to consult the astrologer again.

The present author was more intrigued by the piece of paper than the lengthy discourse on planetary influences. Most of it could have been said by any astute, socially conscious person having no knowledge of astrology. The author all his adult life has dealt with 'a diamond for Venus and a ruby for the Sun', but when the planets faced him in real life in the form of a cryptic design, there was no elation, only confusion.

After few days of pondering, curiousity took the upperhand and it was decided to consult the astrologer again, not to have a peep at the future, but to understand how astrology works and the basis of the predictions. The result of the visit was highly disappointing. If there was only confusion in the first meeting, the second meeting was chaos.

The astrologer after hearing my request, and politely refusing the hefty fees offered, assured that there is nothing esoteric or confusing in Indian astrology. There are about fifteen widely accepted classical texts in Indian astrology with hundreds of tenets or rules, which one must first learn by heart. Then the aspiring astrologer must have a competent Guru (teacher) who only can teach him how to apply these rules in real life. Then with age and experience, the budding astrologer may turn into a famous or an insignificant astrologer as his fate dictates.

The mechanism is quite simple. "Just see", the gentleman took a sheet of paper, deftly drew a circle, two crosses within the circle, then divided the circle into twelve equal sectors, "this house belongs to the Sun, this one to Moon, these two to Mercury, two to Venus, two to Mars, similarly two each to Jupiter and Saturn. The Rahu and Ketu do not own any house."

"Why"?

"Because there was no vacant house left, all were occupied".

"I am not enquiring only why Rahu and Ketu were left homeless. I would have liked to know what made you decide that a particular segment belongs to Sun, and why the Sun and the Moon owns only one house each, while rest of the planets are hogging two houses leaving Rahu and Ketu without a roof over their heads?"

The modest astrologer took the banter lightly and replied in all seriousness. "I am but an ignorant astrologer, I doubt whether any astrologer even one trained in 'Kashi' will be able to provide an answer to this question".

Further discussion brought out that the gentleman had his training in a traditional 'Sanskrit tola' (school) where inquisitiveness was not considered to be a positive virtue. In toto repetition was the forte. At the same time, the present author's questions were not generated by any idle curiosity. His experience with the literature on classical Indian gemology has taught him that the authors of technical texts in the ancient India rarely if ever indulged in fantasy. Books of the genre of "Bestiary" are not found in Sanskrit. As the honest astrologers has claimed that not only himself but no other person can explain how astrology operates, and cannot even interpret the most basic tool in their profession, the design of the birth-chart, the astrologers are either perpetuating the greatest and the longest hoax on Earth, or else it is a case where the ancient knowledge got degraded and covered by ignorance of subsequent ages. While interpreting the verses on gemstones, the present author learnt that the ancient writers might have drawn occasionally wrong conclusions, but their observations were masters of obfuscation. Careless copying and wrong translation might have changed an individual 'sloka' to gibberish but on the whole the ancient Indian 'technocrats' did not waste their time in nonsense.

After an hour-long pestering with 'hows' and 'whys' 'the patience of Job' gave in. The exasperated gentleman asked, "Do you understand Sanskrit language?"

"Upto an elementary level" was the answer. The astrologer picked up a well-thumbed, thick book from his table and handed over to the present author with these words "all right, take this book and go though it. This is 'Parasar's Vrihat Hora Sastra'. The Indian astrology is founded on this book. I should also warn you, for thousands of years, thousands of best brains in the world tried to decipher this design of the natal-chart, and how astrological predictions are made, and unfortunately quite a good number of them went mad. If you find the book useful, keep it with you, but in all probability you will return the book within a day or two, just like few others before you did." Thereafter the author was curtly dismissed.

The donated book is still with us, and it took about three years for the author to understand that the venerable and well-meaning astrologer was very much in wrong in every count.