Vedic Astrology - the greatest fraud on the Vedas!

[Guest guest]

The following speech was delivered at Rotary Club, West Delhi, in

September 2006. It will give you all the information as to

how " scientific " and " Vedic " astrology is:

 

Om tat sat brahmarpanamastu!

Om Brahmanandam Parama sukhadam kevalam gyan moortim, dwandvateetam

gagana sadrisham tat-tvam asyadi lakshyam

ekam nityam vimalam achalamsarva dhee sakshi bhootam, bhavateetam

triguna rahitam shree gurum tam namami

" Vedic Astrology " - the greatest fraud on the Vedas!

Dear friends. Good evening to everybody!

 

I feel highly honoured to have been invited by Shri Ajay Bhasin for

sharing my views about astrology and related topics with respected

personalities assembled here. As most of us already know, we call

these predictive gimmicks as " Vedic astrology " these days.

 

 

 

When I was asked by Shri Bhasin about the heading of my talk, I had

thought of making it as " Vedic Astrology – the greatest fraud on the

Vedas " . On second thoughts, fearing that it would be too explosive

a heading, I made it a sugar coated bitter pill by changing it

to " Do we celebrate our festivals on correct days? " .

 

 

 

Well, actually, both i.e., the fraud known as " Vedic astrology "

and " our celebrating all our festivals on wrong days " are inter-

related.

 

Let me start with " Vedic astrology " - as to why I call it a fraud!

 

There is hardly anyone in India, who does not want to know as to

when his " sade–sati " will start or end or as to which Dasha-

antardasha he is running and when that will end etc. etc. even if he

does not know ABC of jyotisha. I have gone through all those pangs

myself and made a thorough study of all the astrological works

besides a lot of astronomical books! I studied Western system of

astrology also and had become a sort of famous astrologer, though my

predictions were as correct as anybody else's i.e. hardly 50%.

However, this is a secret that no " jyotishi " shares with anybody --

that his/her predictions are hardly more correct than fifty per

cent, whatever logic or Ayanamsha he/she may use! When I analyzed

the reasons for such a dismal rate of success, the conclusions were

startling! And I am keeping those very conclusions before you!

 

 

 

Before proceeding further, I must, however, say something about

myself since you are well within your rights to ask me as to

what " qualifications " I have to demolish astrology that is being

practised over the last several centuries, nay even millennia!

 

 

 

My credentials

 

Though I am not laying any claims to being a scholar, however, I

have actually studied all the four Vedas in original " archaic "

Sanskrit with their different " Bhashyas " , besides the various

Brahmanas like Shatapatha, Aitreya, Tatiriya etc. etc. I have

studied, (in original Sanskrit!) about two hundred all the important

Upanishads as well! I have also gone through both the epics viz. the

Valmiki Ramayana and the Mahabharata --- in Sanskrit and from cover

to cover, besides Adhyatma Ramayana, Ramacharitamanasa etc. etc.!

There is hardly any Purana whether the Bhagavata, Shivapurana,

Vishnu, Narada, Devi, Varaha, Matsya and Vishnudharmotara etc. etc.

that I have not gone through in original Sanskrit. I have also

studied exhaustively all the ancient astronomical works like the

Vedanga Jyotisha, Panchasidhantika, Surya Sidhanta, Arya Bhati,

Sidhanta Shiromani etc. etc. To crown it all, I was not a born

renegade against the established traditions. On the other hand, I

was initially " hypnotized " by " Vedic astrology " and " panchangas "

myself and there is hardly any " text-book " of astrology either in

Sanskrit or Urdu or English or Hindi that I have not studied with

due reverence, as if I was studying the Vedas!

 

 

 

Having established my credentials thus, I CAN DECLARE IT WITHOUT ANY

HESITATION AND WITH ALL THE EMPHASIS AT MY COMMAND, THAT THERE IS

ABSOLUTELY NO PREDICTIVE ASTROLOGY IN ANY OF THE VEDAS, UPANISHADAS

OR BRAHMANAS. There are, however, some references to some odd types

of predictions in some of the Puranas and the epics and therefore

calling it as really a post-Vedic astrology is more correct. There

is a rider there also, and that is that according to these

scriptures, Makara Sankranti i.e. Pongal is nothing but a synonym of

Uttarayana (the shortest day of the year) i.e. Winter Solstice and

as everybody knows, it can take place these days only on or around

December 21 every year. Thus the Uttarayana-cum-Makar Sankranti

that we are celebrating now-a-days on January 14 is absolutely wrong

and does not have any authority from any shastra or even modern

astronomy. Similarly, the Vaishakhi that is being celebrated on

April 14 or so also is wrong since Mesha Sankranti is nothing but

Vishuva (Vernal Equinox) or Vasant Sampat and it cannot take place

on any day other than March 21/22, when the day and night are

equal. Actually these Makara etc. sankrantis were known as Tapah

etc. months during the Vedic period as there are no rashis in the

Vedas but just six seasons and Madhu, Madhava etc. twelve months.

As such, we are celebrating all our fasts, fairs and muhurtas on

wrong days -- thanks to " Vedic astrologers " and their " Vedic

astrology " .

 

 

 

The first and foremost thing I learnt from our shastras is that no

system of predictions has any sanction either from the Vedas or

even Puranas least of all our dharmashastras etc. since all our

shastras admonish us from consulting " nakshatra jeevis " so much so

that the Manusmriti calls these nakshatrasoochis as outcastes and

not fit to sit in any sabha of learned people.

 

Those who can foresee our future do not reveal it to us beforehand:

 

All the Ramayanas, whether Valmiki or Adhyatma or Ramacharitamanasa

etc. etc. say that before deciding about the coronation of Bhagwan

Rama, Dashratha wanted his guru Vasishtha to confirm the suitable

muhurta for that function. It was on the advice of Vasishtha Muni

that Dasharatha decided to anoint Rama as the Yuvraja the very next

day, as it was " Tishya " i.e. Pushya nakshata then. From this

anecdote, it is clear that either Vasishtha Muni did not know as to

what was going to happen to Dasharatha by declaring Bhagwan Rama as

a crown-prince or Vasishtha kept quiet deliberately since he did not

want to interfere in the divine dispensation!

 

 

 

Obviously, being the son of Brahmaji and a highly exalted yogi as

well as a jnyani, Vasishtha-muni could peep into past as well as

future. It means that even if some exalted souls can foresee as to

what is going to happen, they do not reveal our " bhavishya " before

hand, unlike some of the astrologers of today, who masquerade

as " Parasharas " and " Vamadevas " to tell us even our past and future

janmas just by glancing at our birth-charts, even if those charts

are wrong!

 

 

 

The Gita is said to be the gist of all our shastras. When Arjuna

expressed his doubt by saying naitadvidmah katarnno gareeyo, yadva

jayema yadi va no jayeyuh " I do not know what is good for me nor do

I know whether we will win or the Kauravas will win the war " ,

Bhagwan Krishna neither asked him to consult some soothsayer nor did

He tell him to wear some ruby! He just advised Arjuna " hato va

prapsyasi swargam jitva va bokshyase maheem " i.e. " You must fight.

If you get killed in the war, you will go to the heavens and if you

win it you will be the lord of the whole world " .

 

Thus all it boils down to is the fact that those who know (including

Lord Krishna Himself!) as to what is going to happen and when do not

divulge such " secrets " before hand to us.

 

 

 

Remedial measures are a farce:

 

Almost all the jyotishis suggest one or the other remedial measure

to their clients, and mostly these are gems like diamond or ruby or

sapphire etc. etc. What is surprising is that we have become so

obsessed with Jyotish that we forget the entire itihasa of our past!

 

(i) If these gems are that efficacious, why was then Dasharatha

not suggested some " ruby " or " coral " to ward off the evil Dasha that

was going to kill him when Rama would leave for the forests? Well,

because our Rishis did not believe in such gimmicks at all!

 

(ii) Bhagwan Krishna was born in a prison --- I wonder why He

could not use some " sapphire " to be born in a palace!

 

(iii) Vasudeva and Devaki---the parents of Bhagwan Krishna--- were

in chains when He was born! It is said that Lord Krishna was a

complete – 16 kala sampoorna --- divine incarnation of Vishnu and

was thus really Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient! But in

spite of His Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence, Lord Krishna

could not relieve the miseries of his parents, Vasudeva and Devaki,

who had to remain in chains till Krishna killed Kansa!

 

What does it demonstrate? Just the fact that if the Omniscient,

Omnipresent and Omnipotent Krishna could not relieve the miseries of

His own father or mother before the appointed time, how can a ruby

or a sapphire---or some Mangala or Shani yagya--- remove all our

miseries or fulfil all our ambitions? Obviously, we are being taken

for a ride by such Jyotishis!

 

iv) Then not in the distant past, Smti Indira Gandhi would run after

astrologers for knowing her future. She wore a rare and original

ekamukhi rudraksha, which only either the Maharaja of Nepal had or

she was wearing! It is said that some top-notch jyotishis had

suggested that rudraksha to her! Ironically, both the King of Nepal

as well Mrs. Indira Gandhi were assassinated " by the people "

they " had trusted " ----ekamukhi rudraksha not withstanding!

What does it prove? That we should not be hoodwinked by soothsayers!

 

v) Then again a well known Tantrik of yore---highly respected by the

then PM--- is out on bail, not by dint of his " Tantra-Kriya " but

because of some legal loopholes in FERA!

Similarly, Dhirendra Brahmachari, another high profile " Tantrik " ,

met with an accident in the plane he was flying himself! If he

could not see his own death looming large how could he forewarn

others!

 

 

What does that prove? Obviously, it warns us against relying on any

soothsayers, especially if they call themselves " Vedic Jyotishis "

since they are taking us for a ride literally.

 

Kalasarpa Dosha -- a non-existent fear psychosis:

 

These days we hear a lot about Kalasarpa Dosha! It is said to be

present in any horoscope if all the planets are between Rahu and

Ketu! My God! What a humbug! Rahu and Ketu are actually nodes of

the Moon! That means they are just mathematical points without any

dimensions ---therefore without any physical existence whatsoever!

So according to " Vedic astrologers " even such " non-existent "

phenomena can make our lives miserable for which we must do some

upay! Do you need any other proofs for the jugglery that these

cheats are indulging in?

 

THE ONLY EFFECTIVE REMEDY, or UPAY, THEREFORE, IS THAT WE MUST

REMEMBER HIM, THE ALMIGHTY, EVERY MOMENT OF OUR LIVES AND LEAVE

EVERY THING TO HIS DIVINE WILL!.

 

 

 

Fake Brighu Samhitas and Parasharis:

 

We find a Brighu Samhita or a nadi Jyotishi or Aruna Samhita etc. in

every Muhalla these days! However, there is no mention in any of

the Puranas or shastras that any Rishi like Vasishtha or Garga or

Brighu etc. have ever written any books on predictive astrology.

The Vishnu Purana by Parashara is full of astronomical references --

-and that also sayana i.e. the seasonal year when Mesha sankranti is

another name of Spring Equinox and so on, but we do not find any

mention of any Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra there! Obviously, it

is the worst concoction that can ever be had, and may be that is why

such a Parashari is the bible of " Vedic astrologers "

 

 

India has gone downhill because of astrology and astrologers:

 

In India, we have started going downhill ever since our rulers

started running after Jyotishis. In ancient days, during the time

of the Mahabharata, it was a dharma yudha that we had to fight

against our own Duryodhanas but ever since the advent of astrology

almost simultaneously with the invasion of Alexander the Great, and

then the " Yavana Jatakam " of Sphujidwaja and the Surya Sidhanta of

Maya the Yavana (mlechha!), we had to fight outsiders! The more

the foreigners invaded us the more our rulers, instead of making a

united effort against the invaders, started consulting soothsayers

whom they called Rajajyotishis!

 

 

 

Varahamihira the worst culprit:

 

The maximum credit for creating such a fear psychosis of omens and

ghosts and ghouls and storms and even clouds goes to Varahamihira

of 5th century AD through his Brihat Samita and Brihat Jatakam and

Panchasidhantika! Before venturing into the battlefield, our

monarchs would ask their soothsayers to prepare " narpati jaya

charya " and consult Brihat Samhita etc. to see whether

the " ketuchara " was favourable at that time or not! No wonder with

such a preliminary and hopeless knowledge of astronomical facts, we

were being pushed back into dark ages by Varahamihira and his

followers!

 

 

 

Our historical records are witness to the fact that we were

vanquished in every battle, whether it was with Alexander the Great

or Muhamud of Gazni or Chengiz Khan or Nadir Shah or the Moguls or

finally the East India Company, thanks to the dependence of our

monarchs on soothsayers (Rajajyotishis, huh!) instead of the

principles of war strategy and statecraft as adumbrated by the

Vedas, the Manu and even Chanakya, who chided kings for consulting

soothsayers!

 

 

BJP the latest example:

 

The fate of the BJP has not been any better than that of our earlier

monarchs by depending more on their " Vedic Jyotishis " who were

responsible for getting " Vedic Jyotisha (sic!) " prescribed in Indian

Universities! It is that very move that boomeranged on the party

and even the " Minister of astrology " did not win his own

parliamentary seat from Allahabad, let alone being the Union

Minister again. Do you need any other proofs of the fact that

these " Vedic Jyotishis " will make you lose your seat of power well

before the appointed day just by making you advance your elections?

 

 

 

If we continue to follow the trend of our " monarchs " of having

blind faith in our soothsayers, then sooner than later we will

become Babylon of yesteryears, which is known as Iraq today!

 

 

 

Kashmiri Pandits were the worst affected by their blind faith in

Jyotishis:

 

Another reason for my revolt against the so called " Vedic

astrology " is that as a Kashmiri Pandit, I have more to blame

panchanga makers and soothsayers and their predictive gimmicks than

anything or anybody else since they never forewarned us about any

calamities that were going to befall us! On the other hand, just to

prove their astrological gimmicks, they just made ---and are still

making --- us celebrate all our festivals, including Mahashivaratri,

Vasanti Navratras, Ramanavami, Janmashtami and Sharadiya navratras

etc. on wrong days. It is these very jyotishis, whom we had treated

as our friends, philosophers and guides, who are responsible for our

downfall as Kahsmiri Pandits, since they proved neither our friends,

nor philosophers least of all our guides! These Panchanga

makers/jyotishis were the first to flee from Kashmir in 1990---

like the king Hari Singh at the time of Pakistani raid in 1948---

since they had already made their alternate homes in safer places

like Jammu and Delhi. Those Jyotishis just proved to be Shylocks,

who were only interested in their Pound of flesh by way of Dakshinas

for janmapatris and matching of horoscopes -- all cheating and

nothing else!

 

 

 

These soothsayers have such a hypnotic grip on us that initially

even I was brain washed to believe that the Vedas had nothing else

to do excepting teaching us predictive astrology! I was so

convinced that it appeared that even the principle of Secondary

Progressions must have been exported from India to Western countries

as the principle of " A day equals a year " was mentioned in our

Vedas! But thank God, I woke up to the situation and could see

through their tricks.

 

There are no Mesha, Vrisha etc. Rashis in the Vedas:

 

Leave alone predictive gimmicks, actually there are neither rashis

like Mesha, Vrisha etc. nor planets like Mangal, Shani etc. in the

Vedas, Upanishads, Brahmanas etc. Similarly, the Vedanga Jyotisha,

the first indigenous astronomical work of 14th century BCE, just

tells us only as to how to calculate tithi, nakshatra and Uttarayana-

cum-Tapah-cum Magha etc. months. It does not list any Mesha etc.

rashis nor any planets like Mangal, Budha etc. Same is the case

with Yajur Jyotisha of about 11th century BCE and later Atharva

Jyotisha of about 5th century BCE. As such, it is really a fraud on

the Vedas being played by some charlatans to call any predictive

gimmicks as Vedic astrology and hail themselves as " Vedic

Jyotishis " . It is a crime under " The Consumer Protection Act " as it

is a misrepresentation of facts to a client and is thus a deficiency

in service.

 

 

 

Our predictions in the past also could never have been correct:

 

It is said that over the past about 2000 years, our ancestors like

Varahamihira or his son Prithuyashas etc., could make marvellously

correct predictions. THAT IS NOTHING BUT HOGWASH! Let us see how:

prior to the advent of scientific astronomy into India, i.e. about a

couple of centuries back, panchangas were based on astronomical

works like the Surya Sidhanta or Aryabhati or Sidhanta Shirmoani

etc. etc. I have prepared a software called " Mahesh " . It

calculates, apart from the actual tithi, nakshatra, yoga, karna

etc., the mean longitudes of all the planets from 10000 BCE to 12030

AD i.e. for more than 22,000 years as per the Surya Sidhanta,

Aryabhati or Sidhanta Shiromani etc. besides comparing them with the

longitudes as per modern astronomy. Anybody can download it freely

from my discussion forum

 

HinduCalendar

 

Unfortunately for these jyotishis, we find that the very fundamental

arguments of these sidahntas like the Surya Sidhanta, the Aryabhati,

the Sidhanta Shiromani etc. etc. are absolutely wrong! .

 

That naturally means that any panchanga based on them would also be

wrong, with the result that any horoscope prepared on the basis of

those panchangas could never be correct. Thus it is impossible for

any astrological predictions to have been correct in the past! As

such, it is all like the famous couplet of Ghalib " yoon to hai

hamko janat ki haqeeqat maloom lekin; dil ke bahlane ko Ghalib yeh

khayal achha hai "

 

 

 

Astrology cannot be a science

 

Predictive astrology is supposed to be a " science " ! What a

preposterous statement! When the data on which predictions were

based or are based these days are not correct, how can the results

be correct and how can we call it a science at all?

 

 

 

Stars do not affect us:

 

It is said that stars affect us! It appears either these

astrologers have gone honkers themselves or they suppose that the

whole world has really gone mad! Let us see how:

I am a puny human being on this small planet called earth. The sun

is hundreds of thousands of times larger than the earth! And there

are other stars of our nakshatra/rashichakra that are supposed to

affect me individually as per the Dasha-Bhukti that is running in my

horoscope! However, this fantastic statement has no leg to stand

upon since the nearest star of that Rashichakra is Shravana! And do

you know its distance from me? It is seventeen light years! And it

is several times larger than our sun! In other words, if that star

wants i.e. Shravana wants to " affect " me individually, it will take

it at least seventeen years to do so even if that " effect " travels

at the speed of light! And by then, my Rahu or Shani or whatever

Dasha it may be must have been over! Then how can such a star which

is trillions of times larger than me send its rays in a concentrated

form just to haunt me at a particular point of time! Can you

imagine what type of laughing stocks we are making of ourselves by

believing in such hocus pocus!

Similarly, the next nearest star of our Rashichakra is Swati ! It

is away by 26 light years from me

 

and is again several times larger than our sun!!

 

It thus defies imagination as to how we can call astrology a science

or how it can be said that the " Stars affect us " .

 

 

 

Patri Melapak (Horoscope Matching) is not warranted by shastras nor

astrology books:

 

Now coming to the fad called Patri Melapak i.e. horoscope

matching! This fad is the rage of the day! You will be surprised to

know that none of our shastras, whether the Manusmriti or the

Ramayana or the Mahabharata, leave alone the Vedas, have anything to

do with Patri Melapak even by mistake! We do not find any instances

that any Vedic Rishi was addicted to such a fad, since may be then

most of them would still have been looking for a " suitable Patri "

for melapak! Not to speak of Dharma shastras, there is no mention of

this type of a malady in any of the astrology books like the so

called Parashari, or Mansagari or Phala Deepika or Jataka Parijata

or any other work! It appears to be a creation of the jyotishis of

over the last one hundred years or so. Aleberuni, who visited India

in 1030 AD and recorded quite faithfully all his experiences about

Jyotisha and other things in India also has not mentioned anything

of any " Melapak " in his work!

 

 

 

" All India Calendar Reform Committee " :

 

Summing up, as we have just seen, not only are we subjected to non-

existent fear psychosis like Kalasarpa Dosha and Patri Melapak etc.

but we are compelled to celebrate all our festivals on worng

days. There are quite a few people who agree with my point of

view that these days we are celebrating Pitra Amavasya on the day of

Dipavali and marriages during Pitra-Paksha! Similarly, we never

celebrate Makar Sankranti on correct days i.e. December 21/22 but we

celebrate it on January 14. We also celebrate Vaishakhi on April 14

instead of the day of Spring Equinox i.e., March 21 or so. This has

been all because of the so called " Vedic astrology "

 

To put our festivals back on the right track, I made quite a few

representations to the Hon'ble President of India, the Prime

Minister of India, various ministries besides the Positional

Astronomy Centre at Calcutta, who publish our Rashtriya Panchanga.

I also made similar representations to all the reverred

Shankaracharyas of all the six peethas, besides other saints and

Mahatmas, but sorry to say, there has been absolutely no response

from any quarter!

 

We have now formed an " All India Calendar Reform Committee " and are

enrolling members for the same. Those interested can log on to

HinduCalendar for entering into

discussions regarding the same. You can also get a list of correct

dates of festivals for 2006 and 2007 from that forum. As an

alternative, you can get in touch with me whenever you want to for

any further clarifications.

 

Thank you very much for listening to this " exhortation "

against " Vedic astrology " and the efforts I am making to streamline

our calendars. Om tat sat

brahmarpanam astu

 

Avtar Krishen Kaul