The above diagram is the horoscope of a famous personality. What can we tell from it? We can tell whether the person was born at night or day, we can tell what time of the day the person was born, we can tell whether it was waning moon or waxing moon on that day, and one step further we can tell the date of birth of the person. Well a lot of more things can be said. Suppose we are at the age before calendars we invented, just by seeing the above diagram, we can tell whether it was summer or winter, we can tell when the next eclipse will occur, etc. Are you wondering what a horoscope is, well horoscope is nothing but the map of the sky or position of planets at the time of birth of the person.
You may be wondering, if I am talking about astronomy or astrology. The answer is both. Astrology and Astronomy always go hand in hand, in modern times since Astronomy is proven by modern science and because it covers objects outside our solar system, it was separated into a separate science. But astrology remains a mystic science and doesn’t command much respect among modern thinkers as astronomy does. If we see the history careful, all the prominent astronomers had belief in astrology like Aryabhatta, Newton, Galileo, Keppler. I would call astrology a mystic science not because it is false, but because of the inability of modern science to prove it. May be that is the way God wanted it to be.
Various cultures and traditions have different forms of astrology eg. Vedic(Indian), Chinese, Egyptian, Western astrology, etc. I would be talking about the Indian astrology, one I am familiar with. The origin of astrology is not known yet; some believe it exists since 3000BC. There are many reference in Mahabharata about astrology, in fact one of the Pandavas (Sahadeva) was an expert astrologer. From the astronomical evidences given in Mahabharata, the Kurushetra war has been dated to 1000BC. There are evidences in history, of astrologers having predicted the nature of death of Alexander the great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon. The predictions of Dr.B.V.Raman, during the Second World War were astonishingly true. There are very many facts that prove Astrology can withstand the test of time.
Before Keppler could formulate the planetary motion, before Newton could discover the gravitation force, before Galileo could prove Heliocentric model, and even before westerns were arguing about a spherical earth, ancient Indian astrologers were able to calculate not only the current position of planets, but accurate position of planets in past, present and future. It is a common practice even today of astrologer giving planetary position for the coming year and some for a decade ahead using the same old method in what is called a Panchang. There are two main steps in Astrology before coming to the point of giving predictions, one is casting the horoscope for the birth time of the individual, second is the studying the impact on the individual based on the position of the planets. The first step is unquestionably accurate and has been proven by modern science but the second step is yet to derive (modern) science explanation. It is not fair to blindly reject the astrological work of such great Maharishis like Parasara, Varahamira, etc who had deep understanding of the universe.
Earth is under the influence of numerous heavenly bodies, particularly the sun, moon and other planets in the solar system because of their size and proximity to earth. Tides, volcanoes, earthquakes, and many other physical phenomenons is a result of these influences. It is logical that the planets can influence man on earth, since human body is made up of earthly mater like water, iron, calcium, etc. It is a known fact that lunatics (lunar – moon, lunatic – mentally ill person) become hyper active on full moon days.
Late Dr.B.V.Raman, a modern day astrologer has renewed enthusiasm in astrology. He has written many books explaining the science behind astrology. The purpose of this article is not to bring in belief in astrology but to make you think rationally before rejecting this conventional belief. Today’s astrologers cannot be compared with the ancient day’s astrologers who didn’t need a telescope or satellite to see the world as it is. Interpretation of one’s horoscope depends on the astrologer’s skill; of course it is not an easy task to master this divine skill. If some predictions go wrong it is solely due to the astrologer’s misinterpretation and not that astrology is defective.
A quote from B.V.Raman to conclude with
Those who know Astrology can only indicate in a way what will take place in future. Who else, except the Creator, Brahma, can say with certainty what will definitely happen?" - B. V. Raman
-Saravana Kumar G (Author of this article)
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