Vedic Astrology and the tran-Saturnian Planets
By Shyamasundara Das
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.