Vedic Astrology and the tran-Saturnian Planets

Hare Krsna!

Thank you for your interest, appreciation and comment. In divination "graha" is a class of entities which have the power to grasp, sieze, etc. As I pointed out but did not go into detail, because that is not the subject of the article, that in actuality a divinatory "graha" is not a causal agent but a "sign" if you will, and astrology is a language dealing with deciphering these signs.

In any case the class of divinatory "grahas" contains in it gross physical objects such as certain planets, as well as mathematical points. Because they are mathematical doesn't make them non-empirical. The Lagna, one of the Grahas, is clearly observable, just look at the Eastern horizon, that is the Lagna. The signs are rotating from East to West daily. They rise in the East and set in the West. The point of the zodiac on the Eastern horizon at the moment in question is the "Lagna", in Greek it was known as the "horoskopien", that is, the point found on the East when you scrutinize the hour of the event, and from which the word horoscope comes from.

Rahu and Ketu, the North and South Nodes of the Moon, though calculated mathematically are very real places. To understand what they are we must dust off our memories and remember a little Euclid.

The Sun rotates around the Earth. The motion of the Sun describes a plane, that is, it is as if the Sun were travelling on a surface in a somewhat circular motion (elliptic). This plane of the Sun is the reference plane.

The Moon also rotates around the Earth, and this motion also describes a plane. The plane of the Moon's motion is not parrallel to that of the Sun but rather intersects it at an angle of about 5 degrees.

When two planes intersect they describe a line (remember this point).

The Sun's plane is the reference plane, the top side is the "North" side, the bottom is the "South" side. When the Moon in its orbit moves from the South to the North side of the Sun's plane that point is called the North Node of the Moon, aka Rahu. And, similarly, when it moves from North to South, that point is called the South Node of the Moon, aka Ketu. These two points Rahu and Ketu fall on the line of the intersection of the planes of the Sun and Moon and are intimately associated with the Lunar and Solar eclipses.

When the Sun is near Rahu or Ketu and when it is a New Moon (Moon conjoined with Sun) or Full Moon (Moon 180 degrees from Sun) an eclipse takes place. In the first case it is a Solar eclipse, and in the second a Lunar eclipse. The intensity of the eclipse will vary according to how close both the Sun and Moon are to Rahu and Ketu. The closer they are the more colinear (straighter line) they become.

It is said in sastra that Rahu is a graha, and indeed it is. Now, as to whether a loka is associated with it I'm not certain if there are references to that. I vaguely recall that there is such a reference. From a 3 dimensional empirical stand point such lokas have not been found, but this doesn't exclude the possibility, as Sadaputa has often pointed out, that the 3 dimensional position is not the complete description, and it exists at a higher dimesion in the area of the 3rd dimesional address. (He gives the example of sending a letter to a certain street address in Manhattan NY, a place full of sky scrapers, a two dimensional address may locate a building, but once at the building more directions would be necessary to specifiy what floor in the 3rd dimension it was located.)

Rahu and Ketu, located on the line of the intersection of the planes of the Sun and Moon, move backward at the rate of one revolution in about 18 years. Their movements can be measured and calculated.

Thus, Rahu and Ketu, are real and not imaginary, just as the Eastern horizon is not imaginary. But these three points are not the same as the Sun or other planets.

>Or are the grahas a different kind of reality altogether, >never to be observed from anywhere by anyone, but to be >assumed by calculation due to "their" observed effects?

They are a different kind of reality, but not in the sense that you mention. They are different, because by the will of Lord Krsna, they have special divinatory significance.

Everything can have divinatory significance, indeed, there are texts such as Brhat Samhita by Varaha Mihira which has an extensive description of omens. An omen being a seemingly ordinary thing, which in special circumstances, and to the trained eye, takes on divinatory signification. For example a bucket of milk or water is just that, milk or what, nothing special unless you are very thirsty. But suppose you were setting off on an important trip and just as you were departing from your rural Indian village the local cowherd girl was entering the village carry buckets full of milk. This would be a good omen, your journey will be successful. Why? Because the buckets were full. Had they been empty it would have presaged failure. Why did they have divinatory significance? Because to an a yogi astrologer everything is connected to God, and thus to a higher consciousness, and God can speak to us in many ways. Thus when an important event is about to be performed one should have your eyes and ears open to observe the omens and find out what the will of Krsna is.

There are also other kinds of grahas besides the kind formally used in astrology. Prasna Marga in some chapters describes several catagories of these grahas, mostly quite negative. Ayurvedic texts have similar descriptions. These grahas are usually enties on the subtle plane which can disturb the mind, cause madness, or even kill. Some are protective. As in Prahlad's assertion that he was protected by "Krsnagraha" the Supreme graha.

Parasara Muni also states that each of the astrological grahas excluding Lagna is a manifestation of one of Lord Krsna's avataras.

I hope this answers your question.

yhs shyamasundara dasa

PANDORA'S BOX

Presently in Western astrology their is a great welter of confusion caused by the introduction of these "planets." It started with Neptune, Uranus and Pluto but once Pandora's box was opened they could not stay the flood. Now there are eight Uranian planets (used by the Cosmo-biologists): Cupido, Hades, Zeus, Kronos, Apollon, Admetos, Vulcanus and Poseidon; these planets are not physical entities but fictional. And sixteen asteroids commonly used: Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Psyche, Eros, Lilith, Toro, Sappho, Amor, Pandora, Icarus, Diana, Hidalog, Urania and Chiron. Some authors have written books on individual asteroids and their placement in the chart. Then there is Trans-Pluto, also known as Bacchus, it supposedly lies beyond the orbit of Pluto and has not been discovered yet! But some Western astrologers already delineate Bacchus's meaning in charts and write books on it. If this assault on our Vedic sensibilities were not enough there is still more. A group of Western astrologers is in the process of cataloging about 2400(!) other "less" important asteroids, calculating ephemerides for them, naming them and giving them meanings. Then there are those who advocate the Vertex (a point calculated by spherical geometry) and such points as the Galactic center. Soon in Western astrology the chart will be so crowded with detritus that it would be more meaningful to scatter a handful of confetti and try to read that. Is this what we want to happen to the discipline of Vedic Astrology?

In 1987-88 when I worked at MATRIX software developing the first professional Vedic astrology program I became very familiar with Western astrology in all its phases. MATRIX had the most sophisticated Western astrology software and those programs contained every conceivable technique known to Western astrology. Some were so bizarre that I was baffled how anyone could possibly take them seriously.

Since MATRIX was in the business of writing software they had to please all their clients and to do so they incorporated all techniques. I once asked the senior astrologer-programmers what methods they used from the welter of "stuff" that they programmed. They replied that they used only transits, not even Secondary Directions (progressed charts) or Solar Returns! Then I asked them if they used the gaggle of asteroid-cum-planets mentioned above. They replied in the negative. They suggested that only "kooks" went in for such things and it was not the domain of serious astrologers. But I countered by saying that if they accepted Neptune, Uranus and Pluto why stop there? Pandora's box has been opened and pandemonium reigned. Many of the so called New Age astrologers who use all the confetti planets accuse the others of being "fuddy duddies" for their conservative views. If the serious Western Astrologers really want to be consistent they should also give up Neptune, Uranus and Pluto.

MATRIX Software was (is) at the cutting edge of Western Astrology and many famous Western Astrologers would often come and visit. There were also several experienced Western astrologers on the MATRIX staff. Yet with all this talent in Western astrology, it was a tribute to Vedic astrology that all those who sought out astrological advice came to me. When I asked why, my several factors one of which rejects trans-Saturnian planets.

End of part 2-Vedic Astrology and the Trans-Saturnian Planets

To be continued.