My Experiments with Vedic Astrology – Introduction

Nobody knows how and when Vedic astrology was discovered or developed. We all have heard about Parashara, the great Sage , the seer , author of Brihat Parashara Horashastra, Grandson of Vashistha , father of Veda Vyasa ( Author of Epic Mahabharata). Parashara is considered as one of the institutions of Vedic Astrology and his book BHP (Brihat Parashara Horashastra) is considered as one of the foundation book in Vedic astrology. When I mention ” author ” , I would clarify – ” HE  himself never wrote the texts, he was known as a traveling teacher, and the various texts attributed to him are given in reference to Parashara being the speaker to his student”.The reason I started with Parashara is simply because he was the first known Vedic scholar in India, this does not mean that there were no scholars after his period. In fact there were many. Yukteswar , Krishnamurthy , BV Raman and I am sure there are many others who are not well known but are contributing to this one of the most misunderstood and intriguing subject.

Astrology is considered as a pseudo- science by our scientific community and there is nothing right or wrong about it , the only truth which needs to be understood is that there is still a great deal of work in astrology which needs to be done. We all should take this responsibility and become a part of this journey and treat it as just another science.

I do not wish to be prescriptive about astrology , but empirical. How do we use Astrology? Predictive science? I believe astrology should not be treated as ” Fate -listic”(fatalistic) – it is more than just a  predictive tool. It should be used to unlock the doors of understanding of this concept of ” life” itself. In India the attitude of fatalism is sending a wrong message across the world about Vedic astrology. Yes it is possible to predict events using principles of  astrology, as it functions on the concept of ” Prarabdha” , the karmic cycle or karmic debt. But it also helps us understand the real cause of suffering and joy in our daily lives. The biggest problem with us ( human beings) is that we do not want to accept suffering because we do not want to understand reasons behind it. I believe that if we can understand, then only we can make peace and that’s one of the ” spiritual ” aspect of astrology. So for example if someone wants to excel as an orator, the ” Will” to achieve it , to be able to invest efforts that would help harness and produce the desired result is important rather than looking into the horoscope and just wait!. It might take 10 years or 500 years would depend upon the ”Prarabdha”.

Our horoscope is essentially a photocopy or a snapshot of our Prarabdha  – result based on the effort that we would have invested in our previous lives!. So the Will is more important than Fatalism. Astrology can only give us indications , and these indications help us find direction , which I believe cannot be achieved via any other  tool or ” Science “- For me a good astrologer is more effective than a great Psychiatrist!.