Fwd: Jyotish is very much Bharatiya (Was: How Bharatiya is Bharatiya Jyotisha?)

[Guest guest]

hinducivilization , " Jai Maharaj "

<jyotish2000 wrote:

 

Jyotish is very much Bharatiya.

 

A Brief History of Astrology

 

http://www.flex.com/~jai/articles/history1.html

 

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi

http://www.mantra.com/jyotish

Om Shanti

 

--- End forwarded message ---

[Guest guest]

hinducivilization , " Avtar Krishen Kaul "

<jyotirved wrote:

 

Shri Jai Maharaj ji,

Namaskar!

Thank you for the response.

I have visited the web-site

http://www.flex.com/~jai/articles/history1.html

 

My views about the points regarding Bharatiya Jyotisha vis-a-vis the

above web-site are:

 

1. It states, " Posted on the Net in the early 1990s by Dr. Jai Maharaj "

 

It means it has been posted about fifteen years back by some Dr. Jai

Maharaj. Is this Jai Maharaj an allopathic doctor or has some

University awarded him some doctorate? Did he earn that doctorate

for some dissertation or was it an honorary one, as is usually

awarded by jyotishis to themselves? Secondly, does it mean that

there have been no new discoveries regarding " Bharatiya Jyotisha "

since 1993-4?

2. It also states, " In Bharat records exist today which point clearly

to a highly developed knowledge of astrology as far back as about

6,500 BCE and actual manuscripts are still extant which were written

about 3,700 BCE. " . This is a self-contradictory statement! On the

one hand it states that records exist which point to a highly

developed knowledge of astrology about 6500 BCE but then in the same

breath it says that actual manuscripts are still extant which were

written about 3700 BCE! Do you have the records of 6500 BCE or 3700

BCE?

What are those records which show predictive gimmicks vis-a-vis

Mesha, Vrisha etc. rashis and Mangal, Shani etc. planets as back as

6500 BCE in India?

3. You have said, " One of the earliest authors of Vedic astrology,

copies of whose work are still to be found, is Pita Maha who wrote a

treatise on astrology called Pita Maha Siddhant(a). "

Pitamaha Sidhanta is one of the five siadhantas of Pancha-sidhantika

of Varahamihira, and it appears to be a much later work after the

Vedanga Jyotisha (1400 BCE). Then again, it does not talk of Mesha,

Vrisha etc. Rashis even by misake nor does it refer to Mangal, Shani

etc. planets but just tells us as to how to calculate mean tithi and

naksahtra etc. As such, how do you say that it is a work of 3000 BCE

and that also a work of phalita jyotisha?

4. You have said further, " Five hundred years later, another author-

astrologer named Vashishtth(a) wrote several books on astrology,

astronomy and philosophy. His most important work, and one which was

used as an authority by all subsequent writers on the subject, is

Vashishtth(a) Siddhant(a), but he wrote may other equally erudite and

authoritative texts such as the Panch Siddhant(a) Kosh(a), Soory(a)

Siddhant(a), Nityanand(a), Brhat Jatak(a), Aryabhat, Mansagari,

Ranveer, and the Laghu Parashar. "

Who is this Vasishtha, who is supposed to have written Phalita

jyotisha books? If he lived around 2500 BCE (five hundred years

after Pitamaha, according to you), how could he have written Pancha

Sidhantika and then Brihat Jataka and also Aryabhati etc. etc. since

they are all much later works by Varahamihira and Aryabhata who were

around 6th century AD?

Then again, Vasishtha Sidhanta also does not talk of Mesha,Vrisha

etc. rashis nor about Mangal, Shani etc. planets even by mistake---

leave alone any phalita jyotisha pranks! Obviously, you are just

taking everybody for a ride with your such statements!

5. You have also said, " In a book called You and Your Hand by the

late Count Louis Hamon, known better as Cheiro, this statement is

found: " People who in their ignorance disdain the wisdom of ancient

races forget that the great past of India contained secrets of life

and philosophy that following civilizations could not controvert, but

were forced to accept. For instance, it has been demonstrated that

the ancient Hindus understood the precession of the equinoxes and

made the calculation that it [a complete cycle] took place once in

every 25,870 years. "

It is immaterial and irrelevant as to who has said what about Indian

astrology unless and until those statements are corroborated by facts

and proofs. Has Cheiro named any ancient indigenous astronomical

work which has referred to precession? No. Precession was actually

discussed in detail by Greek astronomer Hipparchus in second century

BCE while preparing his Star catalogues whereas we hear about it for

the first time in Indian astronomy through Munjala's Laghumanasa

around 10th century AD. Alberuni also was very furious that Indian

astronomers were ignorant about precession till the time of Munjala!

 

6. You have said, " They, (astronomers) with their modern knowledge

and up-to-date instruments, are still quarrelling among themselves as

to whether the precession, the most important feature in astronomy,

takes place every 25,870 years or every 24,500 years. "

No! You are wrong. It is not modern astronomers who are still

quarelling among themselves regarding the rate of precession, but it

is " Vedic astrologers " who are fighting among themselves like

Kilkeeny cats regarding the myriad ayanamshas like the Surya Sidhanta

ayanamsha, Munjala ayanamsha, Graha Laghava ayanamsha, besides

Lahiri, Ramana, Chandra Hari, Yukteshwar, Fagan and Tilaka etc. etc.

ayanamshas, to name just a few of them.

 

In view of the above comments, will you now kindly put your records

straight so as not to mislead the readers any further about the

antiquity of Bharatiya Jyotisha, which is not Bharatiya actually at

all but on the other hand, is compelling us to celebrate all our

festivals and muhurtas on wrong days.

Dhanyavad.

A K Kaul

hinducivilization , " Jai Maharaj "

<jyotish2000@> wrote:

>

> Jyotish is very much Bharatiya.

>

> A Brief History of Astrology

>

> http://www.flex.com/~jai/articles/history1.html

>

> Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi

> http://www.mantra.com/jyotish

> Om Shanti

>

 

--- End forwarded message ---