ASSAM
BooKs
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR VEDIC ASTROLOGY - By Dr. Pranav Jyoti Deka
PREAMBLE:
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Is astrology a superstition? This question is as old as astrology itself, and has remained without any satisfacto-ry answer for the last few millennia. The priests of ancient Egypt , Mesopotamia and the Aryan sages of the Vedic period accepted astrology as an enlightenment, beyond the mundane sphere of knowledge (Jnyan chakshu). On the other hand Vishnu Gupta Chanakya, one of the most knowledgeable persons of ancient India derided astrology as 'mere superstition.'
Votaries of astrology all over the world call astrology the "mystic science", the "occult science" or "secret science" etc. adding the suffix science without over caring to establish its scientific rationale. The die-hard, incredulous scientists dismiss astrology as rigmarole and superstition without even caring to know what astrology comprises of.
The word superstition is defined in the standard English language dictionaries as, "ignorant, irrational and unfounded general belief". Andre Nataf in his Dictionary of the Occult (1994.p.66. The Wordsworth.) stated, "superstition may derived from a degraded form of ancient knowledge".
Every major civilization of the ancient world practised some form of astrology. Astrology can be defined as an applied branch of knowledge where the mundane affairs are linked with the spatial observations of the celestial bodies, and with the help of statistical calculations the future is predicted on the basis of precedents.
This fledgling 'science' degraded itself to superstition probably owing to the following reasons:
(A) Capability of correctly predicting future events being a powerful tool in the hands of the priestly class, to intellectually subdue laymen, it was declared as a 'divine gift' and the subject an esoteric one. All knowledge in this direction was kept confined to the immediate family or to close-knit school of disciples. With this aim, all astrological rules were composed in a cryptic way. As for example, "The native having sun on this first house will have a disease prone childhood", simply means a child born during the early morning period, in general will have weak constitution in tender age.
(B) The 'science' of astrology is purely statistics based, and the causative principles were never studied and understood properly. From its advent, astrology was considered as a part of religious cults and the priests/astrologers hedged their ignorance with the 'divine will'. Even when the astrologers knew any occurrence to be a natural phenomenon, and its causative factors, even then they did not care to take the public into confidence. Two classic examples are:
(i) The Mesopotamians could not have drawn the basic design of the natal-zodiacal chart and attribute the 'ownership of houses to various planets', as they did, without knowing definitely that the six planets of the solar system known at that time (including Earth) revolve round the Sun and also the relative positions of the solar planets in this system. To the best of our knowledge they did not leave any record explaining how they could come to this true conclusion sans 'Newtonian mathematics', 'Copernican revolution' and Aristotelian philosophy'.
(ii) During the period of Rig Veda itself the sage Atri in all probability understood the celestial mechanism of the solar eclipse (Rg. Ve. V. 40. 5-9). It was after a lapse of nearly two thousand years Varahmihira evulgated the sacrosanct knowledge that 'solar eclipse occurs because of the shadow of the Moon', and that the 'great snake', the 'demons' or the nodes have got nothing to do with eclipses. (It will be interesting to note that the myth of great serpent swallowing the Sun during the solar eclipse was evolved in ancient Egypt at the minimum of 3000 B.C.).
(C) Nearly all the ancient and many thriving religions consider divination as a part of a religious cult. Astrology is also included in 'divination', but there is an inherent contradiction between religion and astrology. Astrology puts a limit to the omnipotence of the 'God' by stating that the 'divine will' too follows certain mathematical laws and rules of precedents. The propagators of monotheism understood this contrariety, and in all the three 'Religions of the Book', astrology is an anathema. To the true believers of Buddhist and Jain philosophy of karmic 'crime and punishment', astrology would be superfluous, but still they indulge in divination.
Few ancient emperors used to decapitate the astrologers, medieval religious zealots preferred auto-da-fe, and political dictators even today incarcerate them. The modern scientific community ridicules astrology and astrologers. Facing all these onslaughts, through the ages astrology could survive only because in all probability it is a "degraded form of ancient knowledge".
The present author, a product of the modern technical education and believer of Fortean philosophy, which advocates "temporary acceptance rather than absolute belief", came in contact with astrology through rather prosaic a material- gemstones.
In India, ninety percent of the 'ring-size' gemstones are purchased and worn on the advices of the astrologers to placate the wrathful and encourage the benevolent planets. The most cavalier attitude of ours towards gem-therapy and interlinked astrology suddenly took a drastic turn when yours truly decided to write a book on "Ancient Indian Gemology". As we had to delve into various 'Puranas', 'Sastra', Samhitas', 'Rasayanas' and 'natal-Jatakas', dealing with medicinal and astrological uses of different gemstones in ancient India, what impressed us most was that the ancient and medieval scholars of India followed a definite system of investigation which was based on meticulous observations and repeated experimentation. Astrological and astronomical tenets were revised repeatedly in the light of new experiences and calculations. It was never a blind adherence to 'earlier workers opinion'. They are social documents and not religious literature. When in these literature rational causative explanations are not available, it was not because of the lack of intellectual curiosity and capability of the scholars, but because of technical inadequacy of that time.
At present there is a big communication gap between the scientists and the astrologers, and false pretences of both the parties have increased the chasm. Before trying to lessen this rift, it would be proper to point out that:
(a) Astrology is just a system of general prediction of a trend, comparable to stock-exchange prognosis. Any accurate fulfillment of an 'improbable and detailed prediction' would surprise the astrologer concerned even more than this clients. As a rule, the astrologer is not able to repeat this feat at will, and often he may not be even able to support his successful prediction with appropriate texts from classical astrological works. Such successful predictions probably belong to the realm of 'intuition' and parapsychology. In the ancient India of 'Puranas' and 'Epics', to obtain an accurate picture of the future, sages were supposed to take recourse of meditation (Dhyana) and not of astrology.
(b) The most banal objection raised against the Indian astrology is that the 'Rahu' and 'Ketu' (the nodes) are accepted as 'planets', whereas no such planets exist in reality within the solar system. It is no fault of the astrologers that the word 'Graha' in Sanskrit has been wrongly translated into the English word 'planet' (Sun too is a graha in the Indian astrology). Varahmihira clearly stated that Rahu and Ketu are not celestial bodies, nor have they got anything to do with the solar or lunar eclipse. Rahu and Ketu are simply two points of 'hidden effect' (Pravaba, or Chayan graha).
From the point of view of astronomy, Rahu and Ketu are respectively two points (nodes) where the lunar orbit and the ecliptic intersect, and the point located at 1800 away on the lunar orbit. Astrophysically, Rahu is the place where the solar wind crosses the 'lunar cosmic dust laden lunar orbit', and Ketu is the place where the of the magnetotail of the earth intersects the lunar orbit. Astrologically Rahu is a wide area of effect, as it covers the houses where it is located along with 12th and 2nd houses (900 space). Rahu is evidently a disturbing factor in the normal flow of the solar wind, whereas the 'effect of Ketu' can be accepted only if one accepts that the 'energy beam' of the magnetotail returns back to the Sun-facing hemisphere of the Earth owing to directional reversal of the magnetotail as postulated by J. Piddington(1966).
(c) Opponents of astrology declare that the natal-chart is a meaningless scrawl with an arbitrary distribution of planetary ownership of zodiacal houses.
The fact is that the design of the natal chart which was finalized in Mesopotamia and has remained unaltered for the last three thousand years, is a codified map of the solar system with the Sun, Moon and six planets showing their relative orbit within the solar system (the enigma why the Moon is placed nearest to the Sun, and the logic behind the design will be discussed subsequently).
(d) One major objection against the Indian astrology is that most of the Naksatras (combination of stars) which are supposed to influence the 'fate' are located at a distance from the Earth which may vary from tens to millions of light years away. However powerful may be the energy regime within these Naksatra, the distance from our Earth is too great for them to have any significant influence on the biological world on this Earth. Even the energy received on Earth's surface from quasar and neutron stars are too feeble to bring any appreciable change in an individual's life.
In reality the Naksatra are used in the Indian astrology as only indicators (like milestones) to ascertain the angular positions of the celestial members of the solar system, in relation to the earths observation posts.
It is comparatively easier to put forward 'rational explanations' in support of astrology than to provide scientifically verifiable proof. We are submitting the evidences and the readers can draw their own conclusions about the scientific veracity of astrology.
From the Sixties of the present century a number of authors have come out with a mass of statistical data evincing that the success of astrological predictions goes much beyond the possibilities for achieving the same by mere chance or coincidence [Gauquelin, M; Davies.P; Eysensk. H.T.; Brown F.A.(Jr) and others]. Weakness of this form of scientific evidence is that no definite motive force behind the astrological 'influence' has been identified. Secondly, the antagonists may argue that there may be entirely different causative factors behind the statistically supported 'successful' astrological predictions.
For the last one century, the proponents of 'scientific astrology'
are loosely using terms such as 'cosmic force', 'cosmic rays', 'cosmic
energy' etc. in their literature never bothering to clearly define
these terms. From the thirties of the twentieth century, studies of
the effects of the sunspot cycles on the terrestrial electromagnetic
field disturbances brought out a statistical relationship between
increase in the incidence of 'accidents and crime with violence' and
the increase in the quantum of electromagnetic disturbances in the
Earth's atmosphere is triggered by intensification of solar turbulence.
A number of scientists came out hesitatingly with statements like,
"There appears to be links between the life functions and geomagnetic
field". The geomagnetic field in its turn is affected by the
fluctuations of the solar-terrestrial and interplanetary energy field.
P. Seymour (1988) in his book 'Astrology: the Evidence of Science'
came out boldly with the suggestion that the interplanetary electromagnetic
force field is the "link of astrological influence".
Adynamy of this genre of work is that successive authors have failed
to establish that the ancient formulators of astrological tenets of
any civilization knowingly or unknowingly followed particular laws,
systems or periodicity of 'electromagnetic energy field' construed
by the modern physicists and confirmed by instrumental verification.
If they could demonstrate that at least some cardinal rules governing
astrological predictions or predictive classifications are exactly
same, or at least very much similar to the established rules of cosmic
physics, the 'scientific astrology' would then have stronger legs
to stand.
Our investigation in that direction convinced us that the sequence of the position of the stars in the classification of the Nakasatras (star assemblage), done on the basis of their 'lordship' or control upon the nature of the ventures expected to have successful outcome if commenced during the stellar-lunar conjunction (as visualized in the Vedic astrology, that is elective astrology)and suitably amended by the post-Vedic Parasara and Varahamihira has close resemblance with the periodicity of the energy level in the 27-day solar-terrestrial energy cycles established by the science of astrophysics.
Vedic astrology is selected for our thesis because being elective astrology, it is comparatively simple. Moreover the resemblance of sequential positions of the 'Naksatras' of different classes in the 'Vedic' stellar classification and the 'energy of the day' in the 27-day solar cycle is uncanny.
The present author's meagre knowledge of astrology and astrophysics compelled him to confine this work to only lunar-stellar elective astrology which is essentially of the Vedic origin; hence this book is named 'Scientific Evidence for Vedic Astrology'. We are submitting evidence and suggesting explanations which are quintessentially scientific.
The post-Vedic astrology as is in vogue in modern India as the 'mainstream Indian astrology' (generally known as Parasari Paddhati) has been synthesized with elements of the Vedic astrology (Stellar-lunar conjunctions); the Babylonian-Sumerian astrology (Ascendant-zodiacal astrology); Chinese astrology (annual result -Abdaphalam); and astrology based on transits of the celestial bodies (Gochar phalam). The non Vedic astrology has been dealt with in this book albeit very briefly and are placed in the appendices.
The present author knows that he is risking his credentials as a scientist by writing this book, and that has been done only because he sincerely believes that the classical astrological literature contain many pieces of information gathered and codified on the basis of thousands of years of meticulous field observations. As modern science is giving little importance to these informations, the scientists are often 'rediscovering the wheel'.
1. Till very recently the two widely accepted hypotheses about the origin of the solar system, the 'Nebular' and 'Tidal' hypotheses which visualized that all the planets of the solar system were generated at the same time from one and the same source, which makes it essential that the constituent materials of all the planets be the same.
The Indian astrologers through the ages claimed that each planet has got its own different and distinguishing physico-chemical characters (Dhatu). The data sent by the 'Mariner' and the 'Voyagers' support the astrologers' view.
2. 'Effects' of the solar eclipses on the biological world was noted by the astrologers much before modern science and scientists.
3. The periodicity of repetition of the 'evil years' to be ten to twelve years worked out by Yavanacharya and started in the form of 'Abdaphalam' much prior to the discovery of telescope and establishment of the cycle of sunspot maxima.
4. Astrophysicists agree that only a fraction of solar and cosmic energetic particles reaching the Earth can enter the atmosphere, and once they enter, they are subjected to 'enormous focusing' and further direction of movement of energetic particles are not understood.
Indian astrologers in the section of planetary aspects (Grahadrishti) made some suggestions about the directions of movement, which has not drawn the deserving attention of scientists.
The present knowledge of science about the effects of solar and interplanetary cosmic energy on molecular biology, heredity, healing process, brain neurons etc. is so poor that it does not allow us to give any meaningful answer to the question, how astrology functions? At present we have to be satisfied with the statistical conformation that they often do work. There is no hope that some of the vital question pertaining to astrology will be answered in the near future. As for example, why a particular person gets born in a particular time under a definite celestial design? Why a child's natal-chart has a close resemblance to one or both the parents' natal-chart? Why some particular families get their children born at high noon whereas rest of the mankind mostly gets born in the evening, early night or in the morning?
The scientific community cannot sweep astrology under the carpet simply because it does not know the answers. Refusal to investigate whether any degraded form of ancient knowledge is hidden within this 'superstition' called astrology may be counted as one form of obscurantism.
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