Please note this article is still in a draft form and will continue to undergo changes over time as my own understanding of this subject grows......
A lot of what was put together in this article is really an attempt to piece together varied ideas and facts from various scientific and philosophical books and articles, and evaluating them based on my own understanding of these subjects.
Please note that where ever appropriate, I have indicated quotations from
various authors and my sources for various scientific ideas and facts.
Start of the article............................................................................................... ....
Since the dawn of humanity, man has been fascinated by the sky and beyond. As man’s understanding grew over the ages, numerous theories of the Universe emerged. Some looked towards Religion/God/ mythology for answers while others looked to science for deeper understanding.
This article attempts to find a link between a modern Physicist’s/ Cosmologist’s understanding of the Universe and its origins, with some of our ancient Hindu beliefs and Vedantic understanding of the Universe that can be found in Hindu Religious Texts, Mythology and folklore
I would like to start the discussion from a modern cosmologists viewpoint and then try to piece together some of its similarities with the Vedantic viewpoint, while always trying to verify with current scientific understanding and use that to explore these philosophical view points further.
Before we dive into this subject, It would be prudent to establish the ground rules for the scientific understanding so that we can then proceed with this discussion at a scientific level based on accepted and established facts in physics/cosmology. Anytime I deviate from established fact, I will try to make sure that the reader would become aware of it and take it as a mere statement on my part. It would help if the reader also could subscribe to and agree with the Scientific method of analysis and deduction so that we have a defined basis for this article.
The scientific method of exploration is a process by which in science, a hypothesis is tested with experimental proof, again and again and is only accepted as scientific fact when every experimental result validates the hypothesis. Even one failed experiment is enough to discard the hypothesis. This method of testing of a hypothesis, must pass the scrutiny of numerous others who are either testing the authenticity of current hypothesis itself or using it to test the authenticity of some other hypothesis that may have some bearing on this one.
Essentially, the point is that a scientific method of enquiry is one of the best ways to differentiate fact from fiction or just mere understanding from fact, since this method is designed just for that purpose. As explained above, this method rests on experimentation and proof of repeatability with the expectation of the same results over and over again to continuously refine the theory and make it into an irrefutable “Fact”.
Therefore with this kind of basis, Scientists/Cosmologists have been able to make some startling predictions about the origins of the Universe and have been able to probe deep into its mysteries to provide us a pretty thorough knowledge of the Universe and its beginnings. Their understanding is by no means anywhere near complete. They have merely been able to scratch the surface, but it is enough to get us started on this discussion on what it means as compared to age old philosophical views of the Universe. Before we set the stage for the Philosophical discussion there are a few more scientific facts that I would like to draw your attention to, since they will have a bearing on what we will compare against in Hindu Philosophy and Vedantic understanding of the Universe.
Based on measurements , scientists have been able to come up with a chart of the Temperature readings at various points in the Universe and have used that and the presense of microwave background radiation that is found to pervade all of the Universe, to date the Universe as having begun approximately 13.7 billion years ago with a Big Bang. (This is called the Big Bang Theory of the origin of the Universe). These days the Big Bang theory has emerged as the most accepted scientific theory of the origin of the Universe though there are numerous other Theories of the origin of the Universe, one of which is the Steady state theory that suggests that the Universe has always been there and will always be there. The Big Bang Theory has emerged as the strong contender, with some solid proof to back it up. So we will use this Theory as a basis for our arguments in this article
According to the Big Bang Theory, the Universe began from a singularity ( *) or single point with a Big Bang, and all the countless stars and galaxies emerged from this single point and over time became the unfathomable and Gigantic Universe we all know and love.
(*) The Singularity by itself is something that Scientists like Stephen Hawkins and other stalwarts like him are trying to understand, since it is the single point at which macro scopic scientific theories and equations from Newtonian mechanics* (* physics of large or Macroscopic objects in layman’s terms) , no longer apply, and one needs to start considering the physics of small and microscopic particles called quantum mechanics* (*the science of the microscopic or very tiny particles). The effort is to find the answer to “how everything came out of this single point? “. The point at which everything began , a point before which there was no time, there was no space, there was no “before”. This is a point at which there is no answer to , “where” “how”,” when” , “why” it all began. Before that one could say it is just absolute nothingness from which something as vast and as unfathomable as this Universe came into being.
The above statement is almost an incomprehensible fact that scientists are butting against as they accept the Big Bang theory and as they go backward in time to reconstruct what must have happened 13.7 Billion years ago when according to them it all began with the Big Bang and from a single point or singularity. So it is very interesting that Science as it tries to reconstruct the past comes to a point at which there are either no answers or the answers are starting to get rather smudgy and only lead to more questions for which there are no answers yet.
The answers for this confounding question of how the almost infinite space and time and countless billion of billions stars and galaxies in our Universe were born from a single point, less than the size of a pin head ( a pin head is way too big to describe the singularity) is a question that is being wrestled with by the greatest scientific minds of this century. Arguably they are all using Quantum mechanics ( the physics at the microscopic level) to understand and answer some of the questions that are posed by this enigma.
Quantum mechanics was first introduced to the world of science in 1920s by Schrodinger, and Bohr and other great minds who worked at the microscopic particle level and were trying to explain some of the strange phenomena that they had seen at that level. At that level , Classical physics or the physics we know about regarding large bodies ie :Newtonian mechanics fails. Or in simple terms, Particles do not behave the same way as you would expect them to behave when you compare their behavior with larger objects, whose behavior has been very thoroughly explained since Newton . That is why the subject is called Newtonian Mechanics.
First of all, at this microscopic or quantum level, physicists cannot say whether we were dealing with particles or waves. The particle seems to exhibit both particle and wave properties. A particle cannot be shown to exist with certainty at a point and with a certain speed. The act of measuring it creates a certain uncertainty. The particles seem to exist in sort of a cloud and cannot be pin pointed with certainty.
Because of this wave/particle duality, Schrodinger applied corrections to Newton’s equation and came up with an wave equation that could describe the properties of all matter, and it could be reduced to either a particle or a wave function as needed to describe the characteristics of these particles and generally any matter.
Also that was not the only problem they noticed with Quantum mechanics. So the particle could be a particle or a wave, but also at the particle level, a fundamental observation was that these particles don’t come into existence as we know it unless we actually “measure it” . Or” the act of observation or measurement seems to cause the particle to come into existence”. This is a very difficult point to grasp and can lead to a lot of philosophical questions about reality itself, but let us shelf that for the time being. So, as long as we don’t measure it, a particle only shows “a tendency to exist” in that space, and an atomic event only shows a “tendency to occur” at a particular time till we actually measure it. Sort of like a wave function or cloudiness mentioned above that doesn’t culminate into something till we actually measure it.
Stated another way, The Quantum enigma is that at sub atomic levels one cannot correctly pinpoint both the location and speed of the particle at the same time. The very act of measuring it introduces a certain uncertainty in location or the momentum of the particle.
Numerous studies and experiments have been carried out and it has been proven that at a sub-atomic level, matter does not exist with certainty at a certain place unless you measure it. It merely shows a “tendency to exist” at that place and atomic events do not occur with certainty at certain times and certain places rather they show “a tendency to occur” unless you measure it. ( Capra, 1982, p 80).
In fact there is a famous hypothetical experiment proposed by Schrodinger, who imagined a cat in a box in a quantum world where quantum laws applied . The box was supposed to be booby trapped, meaning if the cat tripped on a certain lever, this action would release cyanide poison and the cat would die. So the hypotheitical experiment showed that if one was to use quantum mechanical principles , then depending on ‘when” we “observed” the cat in the box, the cat would be alive or dead and continue to remain alive or dead with a past history of the cat having not tripped the lever or having tripped the lever. This is a hard experiment to grasp since Schrodinger was trying to apply quantum principles to an object larger than an atom but was trying to really show that at the atomic level “Observation” is the key thing that makes a difference between existence and non existence and between one reality or another and one past history or another. So the essential point that Schrodinger was trying to make was that the very act of “Observation” creates a reality and a past for that reality in the Quantum world. And an observation is what determines existence or non existence of a particle at an atomic level
When this point is taken to a higher level where we are talking about all matter ( since all matter is made up of tiny particles) we start to have questions about what we see around us as “reality”. Since the questions that arise is “Did we cause the reality to occur (with a history behind it) by the act of observation or maybe because we are sentient beings that are capable of observation and understanding did we cause the reality to occur?.
If one agrees that all large objects that we see in reality are made up of small particles, then we now have to question the “reality” itself since it looks like reality comes into existence because of an active act of observation or that reality is essentially an illusion or Maya as has been propounded by Hindu Philosophy for ages.
The next enigma with Quantum mechanics is one of “Non Locality”. Quantum non locality is another paradox that was first described by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen in 1935, which essentially states that measurement on quantum systems which are spatially separated can instantaneously influence one another.
What this means to a lay person is that at the particle level , when one measures something,(that is when this something seems to come into existence after we measure it) and also if this something is part of a system of two particles, this set of two particles( that were born out of one system) seem inseparable and anything done to one influences the other instantaneously, even if we separate the two of them by millions of miles. For example , if we measure the spin of one particle, (that particle comes into existence with a particle spin since we measured it) ,then its twin that is millions of miles away, even though we don’t measure it comes into existence with the opposite spin instantaneously.
That is, there is a principle of holistic interconnectedness operating at the quantum level which contradicts the localistic assumptions of classical, Newtonian physics. Meaning some particle came into existence with certain properties when we measured some other particle from the same system somewhere else.
Quantum non locality does not prove that signals somehow travel faster than the speed of light, and somehow this signal told the other particle to behave that way but rather one has to believe that somehow the phenomena was instantaneously connected regardless of distance.
Basically, It says that even though certain particles are far far apart they tend to influence one another instantaneously.
So at the quantum level, instantaneous actions occur at a distance. Two particles that are part of a single system continue to act in concert with one another no matter how far apart they appear to be separated by space and time, and one came into existence due to our measuring it, the other one came into existence with opposing properties.
Quantum nonlocality as suggested by Bell's theorem is a fact of nature that has now been experimentally verified on many occasions. Alain Aspect's experiments in 1982 at the University of Paris-South proved the existence of quantum nonlocality. These experiments have been refined and repeated many times since.
The implication of this is that, We can no longer consider particles as independently existing entities that can be localized in well-defined regions of space and time. They are interconnected in ways not even conceivable .
Since all large objects are essentially made up these particles then wouldn’t the same thing hold true for them also?
Nature has shown us that our concept of reality, consisting of units that can be considered as separate from each other, is fundamentally wrong and everything is really interconnected and part of a whole.
For this reason, Bell's theorem may be the most profound discovery of science. (Kafatos and Kafatou, 1991, 64-65)
Quantum nonlocality proves that "particles that were once together in an interaction remain in some sense parts of a single system which responds together to further interactions" (Gribbin, 1984).
Since the entire universe originated in a flash of light known as the Big Bang, the existence of quantum nonlocality points toward a profound cosmological holism and suggests that If everything that ever interacted in the Big Bang maintains its connection with everything it interacted with, then every particle in every star and galaxy that we can see "knows" about the existence of every other particle. (Gribbin, 1984).
So we have come to the path of Philosophy that shows the essential interconnectedness of everything that originated at the Big Bang and Singularity and it also tells us that essentially at the smallest level a particle does not come into existence with specific properties until it is measured or observed.
So so far, we have seen that at a particle level, there seems to be a certain interconnectedness with these particles that come from the same system and there seems to be non existence till we observe something as stated earlier.
The above arguments from Science and Physicists are really proving what we always believed in our hindu philosophy regarding the oneness of everyone and everything. All of us emanating from the one universal being, which from a physicists point of view is the singularity or the big bang from which everything came and everything is proven to be one interconnected whole.
The concepts in Quantum Mechanics that tell us that the existence of a particle at a quantum level is dependant on whether it was observed at one point or another raises the baffling question of whether the reality that we see is really only because at some point we observed it and it would not have existed were it not observed. This begs the question of whether our philosophers knew this all along and that is why they called it as “Maya” or illusion?..
As Physicists struggle to answer the questions that were uncovered by their own scientific enquiry into the origins if the Universe ( using an irrefutable scientific method for finding facts), we can look back to Ancient Hindu Philosophers to see how they grappled with some of these questions and other similar ones in the Upanishads. For example we touched on the subject of “Maya” or illusion referred to in Bhagavat Geeta, the Upanishads and folklore, which describe the world as mere illusion and the only truth being that of the soul. We can also go back and explore some of the other interesting concepts regarding the Universe and find parallels in Hindu Philosophy for each of these concepts.
So , If one was to go back and review Hindu Philosophy and Vedantic thinking in our Upanishads, they point to several interesting ideas and thoughts about our Universe. They do not refer to the Universe as being born in a Big Bang from a singularity but do believe it to be egg shaped and lasting forever, but stuck in continuous contracting/expanding cycles of creation and destruction, resulting in several yugas, kalas and manvantaras ( their method of counting time). Please note that a parallel to this is , present day cosmologists also believe that the Universe is ellipsoid in shape and there is a possibility of finding some proof that it will go through countless contraction and expansion cycles. ( this by the way does not contradict anything we said so far regarding the Big Bang theory). For example they believe that the Universe is currently expanding but at some point has to start contracting when it reaches a certain critical mass. Apart from this our Hindu Philospohy talks about ten dimensions of our Universe not unlike the 10 dimension theory that is now being proposed by String theorists ( who are physicists that subscibe to the idea of strings, that will be explained in the following paragraphs. ( Please note that String theory at the present time is only a theory and does not have proof to back it up).
The above paragraph warrants an explaination of String Theory or alteast some basic concepts of String Theory.
(ie: this theory states that everything in this Universe is made out of multi dimensional strings (ie 10 dimensions) and the M-theory, a follow on theory that suggests that there may actually be a 11th dimension.
Just for clarity, so we understand what strings are : scientists have proven that every atom is made up of Electrons and Protons and Neutrons in the nucleus, and each of these subatomic particles are made up of Quarks. So far, all this is fact and proven time and again. Now the String theory states that each quark is really made of multi dimensional strings, ( the dimensions are based on curvature, rotation differences in the String etc). Now the part about sub atomic particles being made of quarks is a proven fact. The part about quarks being made of strings is only a hypothesis, with equations to prove that these must be string like things, but no proof since no one has ever proved the existence of strings. The recent inauguration of the CERN experiment may actually prove the existence of Strings but that is still to be seen. So in the case of String Theory, it is still undergoing the scientific method of proof by experimentation and repeatability, and is not an established fact, but Quarks are an established fact. But, if for the sake of argument one was to accept the String Theory as fact, then one starts to see one more parallels with Hindu Philosophy, the parallel of existence of multiple dimensions.
If at some point when it is proven, we accept String theory then it would mean the presence of all pervading strings everywhere in the Universe that allow us to determine the size, shape, properties of material things. Not unlike something God like that pervades all things big and small, living and non living in the Universe. The concept of an Omni presence of God. So if one was to accept the Big Bang theory and the origin of the Universe from the single point or singularity and the accept the existence of Strings, now we are talking about
A single point being the source of all things that now exist in the Universe including sentient beings such as ourselves. One could also very well say that singularity from which all matter and non matter, time and space and stars and galaxies and our solar system began is the crux of everything. It is the seed that then gave rise to all that we know off in this Universe.
So if that was the case and there was this cosmic seed that gave rise to everything, whatever was in the cosmic seed must therefore be present in everything. Or there is scope for Omni presense of something throughout the Universe, not unlike our understanding of God.
But it helps us now to take a leap of faith and say, even science seems to be saying that we are all born from a cosmic seed that pervades all animate and inanimate objects alike in the Universe. One needs to understand the strings further to figure out why some things are animate ( with consciousness) vs others are inanimate ( without consciousness) but it still seems to be saying, we are all in one and one in all. Meaning Strings are the omnipresent thing in anything and everything in the Universe.
Now the above statement is not too different then the same statement made by Lord Krishna in the Baghavat Gita. “ I am in all and all are in me, I am omnipresent, omniscient and all pervading”. So can we assume that in using the scientific method to find out the origins of the universe one inadvertantly stumbled onto an omnipresent, omniscient and all pervading thing or things that makeup the whole universe that is essentially interconnected, and we also have proof to show that the whole thing could be a Maya or illusion.
So if one was to make a sweeping generalization…………..
Can we say we are starting to realize the one thing we all want to realize, the existence of God in one glorious scientific proof ? Not exactly but we are getting very very close.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Soundarya Lahiri : A Kaleidoscope of colors
Soundarya Lahiri : A kaleidoscope of colors
In this article, we present The exquisite beauty of Indian Silk Sarees, the traditional drapery for Indian women. The Saree, with its grace, glamour and beauty is very aptly described in Ancient Indian literature in glowing terms for example, in "Silappadhikaram" , the Tamil epic from Sangam Literature and "Kadambari " by Banabhatta.
The word Saree evolved from the Prakrit word Sattika as mentioned in the earliest Buddhist Jain literature.
The history of Indian clothing trace the Saree even further back to the Indus valley civilization, which flourished in 2800- 1800 BC. The earliest known depiction of the Saree in the Indian subcontinent is the statue of an Indus valley priest wearing a drape, sort of like a saree.
The most common style is for the Saree to be wrapped around the waist with a loose end of the drape worn over the shoulder. A saree can be draped in several different styles.
Traditionally Sarees are woven with one plain end that is concealed inside the wrap , two long decorative borders running the length of the saree, and a one to three foot section at the other end that continues and elaborates on the length wise decoration. This end is called the pallu
In the past sarees were woven in either silk or cotton. The rich could afford finely woven silk sarees that according to folklore could be passed through a finger ring. The poor wore coarsely woven cotton saris. All sarees were handwoven and represented considerable investment in time and money.
Some poets like Sri Sri wrote satires on Rich Indian women wearing Sarees that blew beautifully in the breeze while traditional weavers with hardly a cloth on their back, eked out a living from worn out cottages where they spun the wheels of their loom. With the advent of machine made textiles this poetic description has moved very close to present day reality of these weavers.
Silk has always been a highly revered fabric in India and is considered very auspicious and celemonial wear at all religious rituals and weddings. So a silk saree is something an Indian women is proud to possess. It combines the glamour and shine associated with silk and this combined with the traditional styles and decorations from each region of India, results in a kaleidoscope of color, style and galmour
Tonight we let our "Telugu Vanithas" take you through a tour of traditional silk saris from all over India with beautiful narration in Telugu by Smt Ramani Vishnubhotla.
-----------------------------------------------End of Introduction-------------------------------------
India is a land of rich and varied culture and tradition.
The Kaleidoscope of colors, glamour and style that we wish to depict in our presentation of Soundarya Lahiri focuses on the Exquisite colors and textures of Silk Sarees worn by Indian women from all over India. These are worn for all religious and ceremonial occasions.
Kashmir Silk Sarees:
Starting with the Jewel in India’s crown, the Kashmir Valley boosts of the beautiful
Kashmir silk sarees. These are famous for two reasons. First the perfection of hand embroidery work and secondly for the traditional Kashmiri patterns of Embroidery.
These sarees are worn as party wear or for weddings and usually retail at anywhere between $150 and $900 only.
Benaras Silk Sarees:
Benaras is one of the leading silk saree production centers in India. Benaras silk sarees are known for their heavy gold and silver brocade in the sarees. The gold and silver wires are made hair thin by heating the metal and letting it pass through minute holes. These wires of gold and silk are then used with Silk Yarn for weaving.
The tradition of making benarasi sarees is very ancient. Even today one will find thousands of weavers making silk sarees in the sacred city. The training usually begins at a very early age. It is believed that the Benarasi saree gained prominence during the Mughal rule. Persian motifs were fudged with Indian designs on silk to create distinct flowery patterns. Created in eye catching shades and patterns these Sarees usually fall into 4 categories, pure silk ( katan), Organza ( kora) with Zari and silk, georgette and and Shatir. This is weaved on a power loom and it takes three people 15 days to make one benaras silk sari.
Balucheri Sarees :
Silk Weaving of Balucher continues to be an important landmark of Bengal’s handloom tradition.
These Sarees from west Bengal involve a special balucher technique weaving brocades with untwisted silk thread. The pallu of these sarees have pattern that resemble miniature paintings. The intricately carved terracotta temples of Bishnupur provide ample inspiration to the weavers to reproduce whole epics on the pallu of the Sari.
The base colors range from sober beige to resplendent hues and reds with contrast borders on fine mulberry silk.,
Tussar Silk Sarees:
Tussar silks from Bihar are valued for its purity and texture. Available in natural shades of gold, dark, honey, tawny, beige, cream, Tussar sarees are considered very auspicious. Tussar silk is obtained from a special variety of cocoons raised from Arjun and Sal trees.
The sarees come in many colors and are decorated with a variety of natural motifs.
Orissa Silk sarees:
Orissa Sarees have a close relation with the Jagannath culture. Originally , the four basic colors which are found in Jagannath, black, White, red and yellow were extensively used in Oriya Sarees. Even motifs such as a temple border, lotus, conch and wheel signify affinity with the reigning deity.
Chanderi Sarees of Madhya Pradesh:
In the heart of India beyond the forests and Valleys are the famous weavers of the town of Chanderi in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. Once Chanderi cottons were comparable to Dacca Muslin. When the British introduced mill made fabrics to compete with Indian Handlooms, the weavers of Chanderi created the present form of Chanderi saris. They used Silk wrap with fine cotton without compromising on the intricate gold borders and the jewel like buttis. The weave continued to remain as delicate and exquisite as ever. Color was introduced into Chanderi weaving 50 years ago. Till then these were only white saris which were washed in saffron to get the characteristic golden hue and fragrance. Flowers were also used for dyeing these saris into soft pastel shades. Now the sarees are available in a huge range of colors.
Gadwal Sarees from Andhra Pradesh
Gadwal is one of the centers where typical, traditional Andhra saris are made, that are unusually different. The Sari body is cotton while the richly brocaded borders and pallu are in silk. The cotton and silk fabrics are woven separately and then attached together. Rich traditional and elaborate designs adorn the pallu and the border. The mango motif is usually used in the designs. Yellow, parrot- green, pink and beige are the colours used most often.
Venkatagiri Sarees from Andhra Pradesh:
Venkatagiri saris are woven with locally made jalas and are among the best examples of the jacquard weave with graceful strains of gold all over.. The Weaving is with fine threads and the body of the Saree is in sheer cotton ornamented with gold motifs, dots, coins, leaves, parrots,or simple geometric designs. The borders usually have pure silver zari and brocade designs and the sarees are available in pleasant colors.
Pocchampalli Sarees from Andhrapradesh
The Pochampalli textiles are made using the tie and dye technique of yarn. Different coloured yarns are woven into geometrical designs. Dress materials, sarees and home-furnishings are also made in these designs. Pochampalli sarees and dress materials are available in both cotton and silk.
Kanchi Pattu Sarees:
Kanchipuram is a famous weaving center in Tamil nadu. The Salgars ( the weavers, named after Salika , Sanskrit word for weaver) claim descent from Sage Markhanda, who is said to be the weaver of gods. The tradition of Kanchipuram sarees arose from the temple traditions of the Kamakshi temple where the women folk wore only silk saris for festivals and weddings.
Two weavers work on 3 shuttles to make the saree. The Pallu is done separately and the saree is almost always woven with contrast borders.These sarees are regarded as one of the finest Silk Sarees there is. Heavy silk background is dotted with embroidery made of real gold and silver to give it a very rich look. Some of the sarees worn at weddings have real gold woven all over the entire saree. Typical modtifs used for the Saree are the sun, moon, chariots, swans, peacocks, parrots mangoes etc.
These Sarees are usually made in brilliant colors like red, saffron, orange, emerald green maroon, peackock blue with contrasting borders and have been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Maintenance of kanjivarams or Kanchi Pattus require careful folding and wrapping after use. Machine wash is not recommended. If maintained properly, kanjeevarams can last a hundred years
Last but not the least………………..
Ahimsa Silk: Silk Saree without killing a single silkworm
We have seen many protests worldwide against the use of leather products. However, surprisingly, there hasn’t been much resistance against the use of silk garments, especially considering the fact that thousands of silkworms are killed in order to make a small piece of fabric. Kusuma Rajaiah, of Hyderabad, has come up with an initiative to produce silk without killing silk worms. Not many of us may know this, but the silk Industry produces silk by dropping the cocoons of the silk worm in boiling water when they are ten days old before they metamorphose into moths. This is preferred since if they waited for the cocoon to open naturally the continuity of the fibre is lost. But for one man this has been a crusade. He purchases cocoons from mulberry farms in Chittoor district and rears them in large baskets. He lets the moths emerge out of the pierced cocoon after 10 days and the pierced cocoons are spun into yarn. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi he calls the silk Ahimsa. This silk may lack the luster of regular silk but is wrinkle free and has a better fall according to him.
.
In this article, we present The exquisite beauty of Indian Silk Sarees, the traditional drapery for Indian women. The Saree, with its grace, glamour and beauty is very aptly described in Ancient Indian literature in glowing terms for example, in "Silappadhikaram" , the Tamil epic from Sangam Literature and "Kadambari " by Banabhatta.
The word Saree evolved from the Prakrit word Sattika as mentioned in the earliest Buddhist Jain literature.
The history of Indian clothing trace the Saree even further back to the Indus valley civilization, which flourished in 2800- 1800 BC. The earliest known depiction of the Saree in the Indian subcontinent is the statue of an Indus valley priest wearing a drape, sort of like a saree.
The most common style is for the Saree to be wrapped around the waist with a loose end of the drape worn over the shoulder. A saree can be draped in several different styles.
Traditionally Sarees are woven with one plain end that is concealed inside the wrap , two long decorative borders running the length of the saree, and a one to three foot section at the other end that continues and elaborates on the length wise decoration. This end is called the pallu
In the past sarees were woven in either silk or cotton. The rich could afford finely woven silk sarees that according to folklore could be passed through a finger ring. The poor wore coarsely woven cotton saris. All sarees were handwoven and represented considerable investment in time and money.
Some poets like Sri Sri wrote satires on Rich Indian women wearing Sarees that blew beautifully in the breeze while traditional weavers with hardly a cloth on their back, eked out a living from worn out cottages where they spun the wheels of their loom. With the advent of machine made textiles this poetic description has moved very close to present day reality of these weavers.
Silk has always been a highly revered fabric in India and is considered very auspicious and celemonial wear at all religious rituals and weddings. So a silk saree is something an Indian women is proud to possess. It combines the glamour and shine associated with silk and this combined with the traditional styles and decorations from each region of India, results in a kaleidoscope of color, style and galmour
Tonight we let our "Telugu Vanithas" take you through a tour of traditional silk saris from all over India with beautiful narration in Telugu by Smt Ramani Vishnubhotla.
-----------------------------------------------End of Introduction-------------------------------------
India is a land of rich and varied culture and tradition.
The Kaleidoscope of colors, glamour and style that we wish to depict in our presentation of Soundarya Lahiri focuses on the Exquisite colors and textures of Silk Sarees worn by Indian women from all over India. These are worn for all religious and ceremonial occasions.
Kashmir Silk Sarees:
Starting with the Jewel in India’s crown, the Kashmir Valley boosts of the beautiful
Kashmir silk sarees. These are famous for two reasons. First the perfection of hand embroidery work and secondly for the traditional Kashmiri patterns of Embroidery.
These sarees are worn as party wear or for weddings and usually retail at anywhere between $150 and $900 only.
Benaras Silk Sarees:
Benaras is one of the leading silk saree production centers in India. Benaras silk sarees are known for their heavy gold and silver brocade in the sarees. The gold and silver wires are made hair thin by heating the metal and letting it pass through minute holes. These wires of gold and silk are then used with Silk Yarn for weaving.
The tradition of making benarasi sarees is very ancient. Even today one will find thousands of weavers making silk sarees in the sacred city. The training usually begins at a very early age. It is believed that the Benarasi saree gained prominence during the Mughal rule. Persian motifs were fudged with Indian designs on silk to create distinct flowery patterns. Created in eye catching shades and patterns these Sarees usually fall into 4 categories, pure silk ( katan), Organza ( kora) with Zari and silk, georgette and and Shatir. This is weaved on a power loom and it takes three people 15 days to make one benaras silk sari.
Balucheri Sarees :
Silk Weaving of Balucher continues to be an important landmark of Bengal’s handloom tradition.
These Sarees from west Bengal involve a special balucher technique weaving brocades with untwisted silk thread. The pallu of these sarees have pattern that resemble miniature paintings. The intricately carved terracotta temples of Bishnupur provide ample inspiration to the weavers to reproduce whole epics on the pallu of the Sari.
The base colors range from sober beige to resplendent hues and reds with contrast borders on fine mulberry silk.,
Tussar Silk Sarees:
Tussar silks from Bihar are valued for its purity and texture. Available in natural shades of gold, dark, honey, tawny, beige, cream, Tussar sarees are considered very auspicious. Tussar silk is obtained from a special variety of cocoons raised from Arjun and Sal trees.
The sarees come in many colors and are decorated with a variety of natural motifs.
Orissa Silk sarees:
Orissa Sarees have a close relation with the Jagannath culture. Originally , the four basic colors which are found in Jagannath, black, White, red and yellow were extensively used in Oriya Sarees. Even motifs such as a temple border, lotus, conch and wheel signify affinity with the reigning deity.
Chanderi Sarees of Madhya Pradesh:
In the heart of India beyond the forests and Valleys are the famous weavers of the town of Chanderi in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. Once Chanderi cottons were comparable to Dacca Muslin. When the British introduced mill made fabrics to compete with Indian Handlooms, the weavers of Chanderi created the present form of Chanderi saris. They used Silk wrap with fine cotton without compromising on the intricate gold borders and the jewel like buttis. The weave continued to remain as delicate and exquisite as ever. Color was introduced into Chanderi weaving 50 years ago. Till then these were only white saris which were washed in saffron to get the characteristic golden hue and fragrance. Flowers were also used for dyeing these saris into soft pastel shades. Now the sarees are available in a huge range of colors.
Gadwal Sarees from Andhra Pradesh
Gadwal is one of the centers where typical, traditional Andhra saris are made, that are unusually different. The Sari body is cotton while the richly brocaded borders and pallu are in silk. The cotton and silk fabrics are woven separately and then attached together. Rich traditional and elaborate designs adorn the pallu and the border. The mango motif is usually used in the designs. Yellow, parrot- green, pink and beige are the colours used most often.
Venkatagiri Sarees from Andhra Pradesh:
Venkatagiri saris are woven with locally made jalas and are among the best examples of the jacquard weave with graceful strains of gold all over.. The Weaving is with fine threads and the body of the Saree is in sheer cotton ornamented with gold motifs, dots, coins, leaves, parrots,or simple geometric designs. The borders usually have pure silver zari and brocade designs and the sarees are available in pleasant colors.
Pocchampalli Sarees from Andhrapradesh
The Pochampalli textiles are made using the tie and dye technique of yarn. Different coloured yarns are woven into geometrical designs. Dress materials, sarees and home-furnishings are also made in these designs. Pochampalli sarees and dress materials are available in both cotton and silk.
Kanchi Pattu Sarees:
Kanchipuram is a famous weaving center in Tamil nadu. The Salgars ( the weavers, named after Salika , Sanskrit word for weaver) claim descent from Sage Markhanda, who is said to be the weaver of gods. The tradition of Kanchipuram sarees arose from the temple traditions of the Kamakshi temple where the women folk wore only silk saris for festivals and weddings.
Two weavers work on 3 shuttles to make the saree. The Pallu is done separately and the saree is almost always woven with contrast borders.These sarees are regarded as one of the finest Silk Sarees there is. Heavy silk background is dotted with embroidery made of real gold and silver to give it a very rich look. Some of the sarees worn at weddings have real gold woven all over the entire saree. Typical modtifs used for the Saree are the sun, moon, chariots, swans, peacocks, parrots mangoes etc.
These Sarees are usually made in brilliant colors like red, saffron, orange, emerald green maroon, peackock blue with contrasting borders and have been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Maintenance of kanjivarams or Kanchi Pattus require careful folding and wrapping after use. Machine wash is not recommended. If maintained properly, kanjeevarams can last a hundred years
Last but not the least………………..
Ahimsa Silk: Silk Saree without killing a single silkworm
We have seen many protests worldwide against the use of leather products. However, surprisingly, there hasn’t been much resistance against the use of silk garments, especially considering the fact that thousands of silkworms are killed in order to make a small piece of fabric. Kusuma Rajaiah, of Hyderabad, has come up with an initiative to produce silk without killing silk worms. Not many of us may know this, but the silk Industry produces silk by dropping the cocoons of the silk worm in boiling water when they are ten days old before they metamorphose into moths. This is preferred since if they waited for the cocoon to open naturally the continuity of the fibre is lost. But for one man this has been a crusade. He purchases cocoons from mulberry farms in Chittoor district and rears them in large baskets. He lets the moths emerge out of the pierced cocoon after 10 days and the pierced cocoons are spun into yarn. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi he calls the silk Ahimsa. This silk may lack the luster of regular silk but is wrinkle free and has a better fall according to him.
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Friday, August 22, 2008
The Story of Ganga
The following is the story of Ganga written as an introduction to a dance drama for the Telugu Cultural Association of Austin. This introduction was accompanied by a slide show before the actual dance drama commenced.
The Story of Ganga : Ganga Avarohanam : Dance drama for the TCA Diwali function in 2007.
Tonight we are proud to present ‘Ganga’ a legendary tale about a mighty river that is considered one of the most sacred rivers by Hindus all over.
Beginning high in the snowy Himalayas, Ganga rises in the Gangotri glacier at Goumukh in the state of Uttaranchal in India. Couched in the magnificent Garhwal hills, Gangotri is at an altitude of 3048 meters above sea level and is very near the Indo-Tibetan border.
Here the river is known as Bhagirathi after King -Bhagirath.
Rising in the icy caves of Gangotri glacier, the gushing , tossing and gurgling Bhagirathi starts its long journey downwards where it joins river 'Alaknanda' and becomes Ganga.It flows 2150Km across a vast plain to the Bay of Bengal. The fertile Ganges plain is one of the most densely populated regions in the world
There are many legends associated with river Ganga and its heavenly origins.
This descent of Ganga from its heavenly abode, is a beautiful educational tale that illustrates the glory of this great river and the greatness of the people who were able to bring it forth and harness its purfying properties for the benefit of mankind.
The honor of performing this formidable task falls upon a descendant of king Sagara , named Bhagiratha.
King Sagara was a mighty monarch of Suryavamsam, and wanted to declare his supremacy by performing the Aswamedha Yagna or Horse Sacrifice. This was an accepted practice of ancient Hindu kings, who, in order to declare themselves emperors, released a horse into neighbouring kingdoms, and proclaimed suzereignity over the lands where the horse wandered freely
As the Aswamedha progressed, Indra the heavenly monarch started to feel threatened and quietly stole the horse and tied it close to the hermitage/ashram of Sage Kapila.
Sagara’s 60,000 sons were sent out in search of the horse and found it in Sage Kapila’s Ashram, When they saw this, they set about freeing the horse and destroying everything in sight.
The Sage, who was performing austerities at that time, was rudely awakened from his meditation. In his anger, he reduced the 60,000 princes to ashes.
King Sagara later begged for forgiveness from the sage, but couldn;t do anything about his loss.He found out that the only way he could provide salvation or liberation for his sons souls was to pray to Brahma and through him persuade Ganga to descend to earth and wash away their impurities, so that their souls may ascend to heaven.
King Sagara and his succeeding generations tried in vain to accomplish this daunting task but failed.
It was only the seventh descendant of Sagara, a just and noble king named Bhagiratha who could manage enough austerities to make Brahma appear before him.
Happy with Bhagiratha's conduct, Brahma asked Bhagiratha to pray to Ganga and request her to flow to the earth from her current abode in heaven. Ganga agreed, but also warned the prince that if she flowed directly to the terrestrial world, the earth, it would be helpless against her overwhelming current, and all life would be washed away in its flood. She asked him to find a suitable holding place for her. The only recourse left to Bhagiratha was to pray to Lord Shiva, whose matted hair held sufficient power to withstand the onslaught of Ganga's forceful fall. Bhagiratha continued his austerities, this time focussed on pleasing lord Shiva, which he eventually did.
‘Ganga’ is visualized in Indian thought as a virtuous, but mischievous and restless maiden, just as many young lasses are. She allowed herself to follow Brahma's dictate to descend to earth, but couldn't playfully resist the unwarranted and undeserved feeling that she could sweep away even the mighty Shiva in her forceful current. Shiva, gauging her thoughts, decided to teach her a lesson. Spreading open his serpentine coils of hair, he covered the entire sky, and collected all the waves of Ganga in his outspread locks.
Then with a mighty swoop, he captured Ganga in the infinite swirls and whirls of his hair. Ganga still flowed with tremendous force, but could not escape, and remained imprisoned and confined inside Shiva's hair.
Bhagiratha, perplexed at the happenings, appealed to Shiva to release Ganga, so that she could wash away the sins of his ancestors, symbolized in their mortal remains. Shiva relented, and in any case Ganga had learnt her lesson. Thus Ganga again followed Bhagiratha, who showed her the way. But there were still more adventures to come.
Just near their ultimate destination lay the hermitage of another accomplished sage, known as Jahnu. Ganga, ever the playful maiden, hurried over to what she perceived was a new and curious place. And lo and behold, barely had she entered upon the precincts of the ashram (hermitage), that it became flooded, and all sacrificial fires were extinguished. The ritual utensils and tools were washed away, and the inhabitants of the sanctuary became frightened and anxious. The leader of the ashram, sage Jahnu, became livid at Ganga's intrusion. He then chanted a mantra, and took a sip of the water flowing all around his hermitage. With the power of his mantra, he swallowed away Ganga with all her waters. All traces of Ganga were gone.
Bhagiratha was in a fix. No sooner had he overcome one hurdle, than another was created, mostly due to the impulsiveness and restlessness of Ganga. He hurried over to Jahnu, and explained to him the magnitude and significance of the task he was out to accomplish. Jahnu gave him a sympathetic hearing and appreciated his hard work in bringing Ganga to the earthly realm. Consoling Bhagiratha, he said: " For you, I will release Ganga immediately," and saying this,he let Ganga flow out of his ear. The waters of Ganga flew out like a fountain. Hence Ganga came to be known as Jahnvi, the daughter of sage Jahnu. She is still known by that name in that part of the world.
Thankfully, the rest of the way was without any further adventures, and Bhagiratha successfully showed Ganga the way to the ashes of his ancestors. As soon as Ganga touched the ashes, the ancestors arose, glowing forth in their astral bodies, and ascended towards heaven. Carrying away their mortal remains, Ganga merged into the ocean, which hitherto had been dry.
From that day onwards, the ocean came to be known as 'Sagara,' in honor of the king who started it all in the first place. The place where Ganga merged in the ocean, came to be known as Ganga-Sagar.
This legend makes amply clear that Ganga's purity and auspiciousness springs in no small measure from her proximity to various important divinities and holy sages. Falling onto Shiva's head, where she meanders through his tangled locks, the mighty Ganga appears in this world after having been made more sacred by her direct contact with Shiva, and also the accomplished ascetic Jahnu. The river then spreads the divine potency of these hallowed personalities into the world, when she flows into the terrestrial realm.
Tonight, we will witness this impressive descent of the mighty river from its heavenly abode to the land of mere mortals in our presentation of “Ganga”.
The Story of Ganga : Ganga Avarohanam : Dance drama for the TCA Diwali function in 2007.
Tonight we are proud to present ‘Ganga’ a legendary tale about a mighty river that is considered one of the most sacred rivers by Hindus all over.
Beginning high in the snowy Himalayas, Ganga rises in the Gangotri glacier at Goumukh in the state of Uttaranchal in India. Couched in the magnificent Garhwal hills, Gangotri is at an altitude of 3048 meters above sea level and is very near the Indo-Tibetan border.
Here the river is known as Bhagirathi after King -Bhagirath.
Rising in the icy caves of Gangotri glacier, the gushing , tossing and gurgling Bhagirathi starts its long journey downwards where it joins river 'Alaknanda' and becomes Ganga.It flows 2150Km across a vast plain to the Bay of Bengal. The fertile Ganges plain is one of the most densely populated regions in the world
There are many legends associated with river Ganga and its heavenly origins.
This descent of Ganga from its heavenly abode, is a beautiful educational tale that illustrates the glory of this great river and the greatness of the people who were able to bring it forth and harness its purfying properties for the benefit of mankind.
The honor of performing this formidable task falls upon a descendant of king Sagara , named Bhagiratha.
King Sagara was a mighty monarch of Suryavamsam, and wanted to declare his supremacy by performing the Aswamedha Yagna or Horse Sacrifice. This was an accepted practice of ancient Hindu kings, who, in order to declare themselves emperors, released a horse into neighbouring kingdoms, and proclaimed suzereignity over the lands where the horse wandered freely
As the Aswamedha progressed, Indra the heavenly monarch started to feel threatened and quietly stole the horse and tied it close to the hermitage/ashram of Sage Kapila.
Sagara’s 60,000 sons were sent out in search of the horse and found it in Sage Kapila’s Ashram, When they saw this, they set about freeing the horse and destroying everything in sight.
The Sage, who was performing austerities at that time, was rudely awakened from his meditation. In his anger, he reduced the 60,000 princes to ashes.
King Sagara later begged for forgiveness from the sage, but couldn;t do anything about his loss.He found out that the only way he could provide salvation or liberation for his sons souls was to pray to Brahma and through him persuade Ganga to descend to earth and wash away their impurities, so that their souls may ascend to heaven.
King Sagara and his succeeding generations tried in vain to accomplish this daunting task but failed.
It was only the seventh descendant of Sagara, a just and noble king named Bhagiratha who could manage enough austerities to make Brahma appear before him.
Happy with Bhagiratha's conduct, Brahma asked Bhagiratha to pray to Ganga and request her to flow to the earth from her current abode in heaven. Ganga agreed, but also warned the prince that if she flowed directly to the terrestrial world, the earth, it would be helpless against her overwhelming current, and all life would be washed away in its flood. She asked him to find a suitable holding place for her. The only recourse left to Bhagiratha was to pray to Lord Shiva, whose matted hair held sufficient power to withstand the onslaught of Ganga's forceful fall. Bhagiratha continued his austerities, this time focussed on pleasing lord Shiva, which he eventually did.
‘Ganga’ is visualized in Indian thought as a virtuous, but mischievous and restless maiden, just as many young lasses are. She allowed herself to follow Brahma's dictate to descend to earth, but couldn't playfully resist the unwarranted and undeserved feeling that she could sweep away even the mighty Shiva in her forceful current. Shiva, gauging her thoughts, decided to teach her a lesson. Spreading open his serpentine coils of hair, he covered the entire sky, and collected all the waves of Ganga in his outspread locks.
Then with a mighty swoop, he captured Ganga in the infinite swirls and whirls of his hair. Ganga still flowed with tremendous force, but could not escape, and remained imprisoned and confined inside Shiva's hair.
Bhagiratha, perplexed at the happenings, appealed to Shiva to release Ganga, so that she could wash away the sins of his ancestors, symbolized in their mortal remains. Shiva relented, and in any case Ganga had learnt her lesson. Thus Ganga again followed Bhagiratha, who showed her the way. But there were still more adventures to come.
Just near their ultimate destination lay the hermitage of another accomplished sage, known as Jahnu. Ganga, ever the playful maiden, hurried over to what she perceived was a new and curious place. And lo and behold, barely had she entered upon the precincts of the ashram (hermitage), that it became flooded, and all sacrificial fires were extinguished. The ritual utensils and tools were washed away, and the inhabitants of the sanctuary became frightened and anxious. The leader of the ashram, sage Jahnu, became livid at Ganga's intrusion. He then chanted a mantra, and took a sip of the water flowing all around his hermitage. With the power of his mantra, he swallowed away Ganga with all her waters. All traces of Ganga were gone.
Bhagiratha was in a fix. No sooner had he overcome one hurdle, than another was created, mostly due to the impulsiveness and restlessness of Ganga. He hurried over to Jahnu, and explained to him the magnitude and significance of the task he was out to accomplish. Jahnu gave him a sympathetic hearing and appreciated his hard work in bringing Ganga to the earthly realm. Consoling Bhagiratha, he said: " For you, I will release Ganga immediately," and saying this,he let Ganga flow out of his ear. The waters of Ganga flew out like a fountain. Hence Ganga came to be known as Jahnvi, the daughter of sage Jahnu. She is still known by that name in that part of the world.
Thankfully, the rest of the way was without any further adventures, and Bhagiratha successfully showed Ganga the way to the ashes of his ancestors. As soon as Ganga touched the ashes, the ancestors arose, glowing forth in their astral bodies, and ascended towards heaven. Carrying away their mortal remains, Ganga merged into the ocean, which hitherto had been dry.
From that day onwards, the ocean came to be known as 'Sagara,' in honor of the king who started it all in the first place. The place where Ganga merged in the ocean, came to be known as Ganga-Sagar.
This legend makes amply clear that Ganga's purity and auspiciousness springs in no small measure from her proximity to various important divinities and holy sages. Falling onto Shiva's head, where she meanders through his tangled locks, the mighty Ganga appears in this world after having been made more sacred by her direct contact with Shiva, and also the accomplished ascetic Jahnu. The river then spreads the divine potency of these hallowed personalities into the world, when she flows into the terrestrial realm.
Tonight, we will witness this impressive descent of the mighty river from its heavenly abode to the land of mere mortals in our presentation of “Ganga”.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Electional Astrology or Muhurta basics
Electional Astrology (Muhurtham)
The branch of Astrology that deals with Electing a suitable time for commencement of any activity is called Electional Astrology. A lot of research has been done on this subject. The following is a very early and perhaps very feeble attempt to put all the factors considered in Electing a Muhurtam in one place for quick reference. Most of this information is taken from B.V.Raman’s book on Muhurta.
Disclaimer: In many cases for simplicity, things have been stated as being good or bad. Please do not take this at face value and please do adequate research before accepting this one way or another.
For commencement of any activity, it is very important to fix a proper Muhurtham (auspicious time, because one finds that certain activities when started at an auspicious time are prone to be more successful than those started at other times). This is a debateable point and this article is not being written to convince anyone of the authenticity or merit of Electional Astrology, but is really meant to be a quick reference for those who are interested in practicing it in a small scale at home.
In fixing the Muhurtham, effect of different planetary positions and stars( or Nakshatras) on the suitability and unsuitability of the time for commencing different activities is studied and the time best suited is elected for commencing an activity. The five main factors that are taken into consideration for fixing the Muhurtham are Thithi (Lunar day), Vaaram(Day of the week), Nakshatram (Constellation), Yoga (Luni-solar day) and Karana(half a lunar day).
Tithi
Each Thithi or Lunar day is in reality equal to 0.9483 of a day.So a Lunar month will be equal to 29.53 days. Usually in a panchanga or calendar, the ending of the Thithi is given, and this means that the moon is away from the Sun in multiples of 12 degrees. So when the Moon is away from the sun by exactly 12 degrees the padyami day ends, similarly by end of Pournami (opposition point), the Moon is away from the sun by 180 degrees, and by Amavasya’s end, the moon is 0 degrees away from the Sun or in Conjunction with the Sun.
In simple terms, A Thithi is a 30th part of a lunar month. Thithis are 15 in number, beginning with the first day after full moon( Pounami) and first day after new moon( Amavasya). This means that we use the same names for Thithis after Pournami ( full moon) and also after Amavasya ( or New moon).The lunar 15-day period is called a "Paksham" or part. So, a lunar month has two pakshams, "Suklapaksham", which is the waxing phase or bright half of the Moon as it goes towards Pournima and "Krishnapaksham", which is the waning phase or the dark half of the Moon going towards Amavasya. The names of the Thithis are given in the table below and a gross judgement has been made on these days being good and bad. This should be investigated thoroughly for acceptance.
LUNAR DAY Good/Bad
1 prathipada/padyami Good
2 vidiya Good
3 thadiya Good
4 chavithi/chathurthi Bad
5 panchami Good
6 shashti Good
7 sapthami Good
8 ashtami Bad
9 navami Good
10 dasami Good
11 kadasi Good
12 dwadasi Bad *
13 thrayodasi Good
14 chathurdasi Bad
15 Pournami/Amavasya Good
*Depending upon other factors, this can be sometimes considered for aupicious activites.
The bad days listed above are not suitable for auspicious activites both during the Shukla paksha and Krishna paksha.
During Shuklapaksha all the days sited as good in the above table can be treated as such. During Krishna paksha, usually padyami, vidiya, tadhiya and panchami are considered as good. This can be understood by thinking about the Moon’s waxing and waning cycles and then one decides how good the rest of the days are based on the brightness of the moon. Keeping in mind that the Moon’s Brightness increases as we reach Pournami and then starts to decrease during the Krishna Paksha. So as an example, a Dhasami during Krishna Paksha is not so good as a Dhasami during Shukla Paksha.
Vaaram
Vaaram denotes the day of the week. A planet rules each day. Rahu and Ketu are not associated with any Vaaram.
VAARAM PLANET GOOD/BAD Color Gemstone
1 Adi (Sunday) Sun Good Red/Maroon Ruby/Garnet
2Soma (Mon) Moon Good Off White Pearl
3Mangal( Tues) Mars Bad Coral (Orange) Coral
4Budha (Wed) Mercury Neutral Green Emerald
5Guru (Thur) Jupiter Good Yellow yellow Sapphire/Topaz
6Sukra (Friday) Venus Good White Diamond
7Sani (Saturday) Saturn Bad Dark Blue Blue Sapphire
Nakshatram
There are twenty-seven stars, all of which have been listed in the previous Article. These are listed here again, for quick easy reference. The order of the Nakshatras is : Aswini, Bharini, Kritika Rohini etc, . Please read the table one column at a time for the correct order.This has been written in this way to be able to show the rulars for each group of Nakshatras
Nakshatra ( and #) Nakshatra (and #) Nakshatra (and #) Rular
Aswini (1) Makha (10) Moola (19) Ketu
Bharani (2) Poorvaphalguni (11) (Pubba)Poorvashada (20)Venus
Krittika (3) Uttaraphalguni (12) Uttarashada (21) Sun
Rohini (4) Hasta (13) Sravanam (22) Moon
Mrigasira (5) Chitta ( chitra) (14) Dhanista (23) Mars
Arudra (6) Swati (15) Shatabisham (24) Rahu
Punarvasu (7) Vishaka (16) Poorvabadra (25) Jupiter
Pushyami (8) Anuradha (17) Uttarabadra (26) Saturn
Aslesha (9) Jyesta (18) Revati (27) Mercury
Note: Between Sravanam (22) and Dhanista (23), there is another Nakshatram that sometimes appears in Calendars. This is called Abhijit and is supposed to be very auspicious. This is generally not counted in any of our calculations.
To determine if the nakshatram at the time of the event is good for you or not, find out what Nakshatram is operating that day. This you will find in an Indian Calendar or with a Panchang.Start counting from your Janma Nakshatram, in multiples of 9, until you reach the particular Nakshatram for that day. Then refer to the table below, labeled Star and their Associations for general indications on the particular Nakshatram on yourself. Remember that the Calendar or Panchang lists the ending time of the Nakshatram and if it is an Indian Calendar, all these times are in Indian Standard Time, so they need to be converted to your local time.
Stars and their Associations:
1 Very Good : Janma Tara. (Soul Mates for compatibility studies in synastry or marriage partners)
2 Good : Dhana Tara. Sampat tara. Wealth.
3 Bad: Vipat Tara. Obstacles
4 Good: Kshema tara, for prosperity, Mother. Real Estate.etc
5 Bad : Enemy or pratyak tara, obstacles
6 Good: Refers to Health, debts etc,also called sadana tara, realisation of ambition.
7 Very bad : Naidana Tara. Dangers
8 Good : Mitra (Friend)
9 Very Good: Parama Mitra. (Best Friend)
Yoga*:
For the purpose of Electional Astrology and Understanding of the Panchanga, A Yoga is supposed to be the period of time during which the joint motion of the Moon and the Sun amounts to 13 degrees and 20 minutes. There are a total of 27 yogas. Again the calendar and Panchanga give the ending time of a yoga. Yogas are supposed to be able to strengthen our bodies , free them of diseases and help us enjoy health and life.
In order to understand the concept of joint motion of the Sun and Moon, a good way to look at it would be to remember that the Moon would take approximately one lunar day to complete moving through the 4 padas of a Nakshatra, which is equivalent to 13 degrees and 20 minutes. The Sun on the other hand moves about 1 degree in a solar day, since it will have to traverse a 30 degree sign in 30 days. So roughly speaking you will have one yoga a day.
This means that if the sum of the longitude of the sun and the moon is 281 degrees, we are in Siddha yoga ( add 13 degrees and 20 minutes for each yoga from Vishkambha to get 280 degrees).
*Please note that there are other Yogas in Astrology which should not be confused with this description of Yoga. The above description only pertains to Electional Astrology( Muhurtam) and Panchanga.
The following is the list of yogas
#Name of Yoga # Name of Yoga
1 Vishkambha (bad or inauspicious) 15 Vajra (bad or inauspicious)
2 Priti 16 Siddhi
3 Ayushman 17 Vyatipata (bad or inauspicious)
4 Saubhagya 18 Variyan
5 Sobhana 19 Parigha (bad or inauspicious)
6 Atiganda (bad or inauspicious) 20 Siva
7 Sukarman 21 Siddha
8 Dhriti 22 Sadhya
9 Soola (bad or inauspicious) 23 Subha
10 Ganda (bad or inauspicious) 24 Sukla
11 Vriddhi 25 Brahma
12 Dhruva 26 Indra
13 Vyaghata (bad or inauspicious) 27Vaidhriti (bad or inauspicious)
14 Harshana
Karana:
A Karana is defined as half a lunar day. Again this would be a motion of about 6 degrees total between the Sun and the Moon. There are 11 Karanas listed in the table below. So there will be two Karanas in a Lunar day.
The first Seven Karanas occur 8 times during a lunar month but commencing with the 2nd half of the first Lunar day ( this comes after Amavasya)
The last 4 are said to be permanent Karanas and occur in order starting at the 2nd half of the 29th Lunar day.
So the last four Karanas will come just before and during Amavasya. After which the new Lunar month starts and we will go thru the Karanas Bava thru Vishti 8 times, and just before Amavasya and during Amavasya we will have the last four karanas.
# Karana # Karana
1 Bava 7 Vishti Unfavourable
2 Balava 8 Sakuna UnfavourablePermanent
3 Kaulava 9 Chatuspada Unfavourable Permanent
4 Taitula 10 Naga Unfavourable Permanent
5 Girija 11 Kimstunda Unfavourable Permanent
6 Vanija
Yoga:
It is supposed to be the period of time during which the joint motion of the Moon and the Sun amounts to 13 degrees and 20 minutes. There are 27 yogas. Again the calendar and Panchaga gives the ending time of a yoga. Yogas are supposed to be able to strengthen our bodies , free them of diseases and help us enjoy health and life.
The branch of Astrology that deals with Electing a suitable time for commencement of any activity is called Electional Astrology. A lot of research has been done on this subject. The following is a very early and perhaps very feeble attempt to put all the factors considered in Electing a Muhurtam in one place for quick reference. Most of this information is taken from B.V.Raman’s book on Muhurta.
Disclaimer: In many cases for simplicity, things have been stated as being good or bad. Please do not take this at face value and please do adequate research before accepting this one way or another.
For commencement of any activity, it is very important to fix a proper Muhurtham (auspicious time, because one finds that certain activities when started at an auspicious time are prone to be more successful than those started at other times). This is a debateable point and this article is not being written to convince anyone of the authenticity or merit of Electional Astrology, but is really meant to be a quick reference for those who are interested in practicing it in a small scale at home.
In fixing the Muhurtham, effect of different planetary positions and stars( or Nakshatras) on the suitability and unsuitability of the time for commencing different activities is studied and the time best suited is elected for commencing an activity. The five main factors that are taken into consideration for fixing the Muhurtham are Thithi (Lunar day), Vaaram(Day of the week), Nakshatram (Constellation), Yoga (Luni-solar day) and Karana(half a lunar day).
Tithi
Each Thithi or Lunar day is in reality equal to 0.9483 of a day.So a Lunar month will be equal to 29.53 days. Usually in a panchanga or calendar, the ending of the Thithi is given, and this means that the moon is away from the Sun in multiples of 12 degrees. So when the Moon is away from the sun by exactly 12 degrees the padyami day ends, similarly by end of Pournami (opposition point), the Moon is away from the sun by 180 degrees, and by Amavasya’s end, the moon is 0 degrees away from the Sun or in Conjunction with the Sun.
In simple terms, A Thithi is a 30th part of a lunar month. Thithis are 15 in number, beginning with the first day after full moon( Pounami) and first day after new moon( Amavasya). This means that we use the same names for Thithis after Pournami ( full moon) and also after Amavasya ( or New moon).The lunar 15-day period is called a "Paksham" or part. So, a lunar month has two pakshams, "Suklapaksham", which is the waxing phase or bright half of the Moon as it goes towards Pournima and "Krishnapaksham", which is the waning phase or the dark half of the Moon going towards Amavasya. The names of the Thithis are given in the table below and a gross judgement has been made on these days being good and bad. This should be investigated thoroughly for acceptance.
LUNAR DAY Good/Bad
1 prathipada/padyami Good
2 vidiya Good
3 thadiya Good
4 chavithi/chathurthi Bad
5 panchami Good
6 shashti Good
7 sapthami Good
8 ashtami Bad
9 navami Good
10 dasami Good
11 kadasi Good
12 dwadasi Bad *
13 thrayodasi Good
14 chathurdasi Bad
15 Pournami/Amavasya Good
*Depending upon other factors, this can be sometimes considered for aupicious activites.
The bad days listed above are not suitable for auspicious activites both during the Shukla paksha and Krishna paksha.
During Shuklapaksha all the days sited as good in the above table can be treated as such. During Krishna paksha, usually padyami, vidiya, tadhiya and panchami are considered as good. This can be understood by thinking about the Moon’s waxing and waning cycles and then one decides how good the rest of the days are based on the brightness of the moon. Keeping in mind that the Moon’s Brightness increases as we reach Pournami and then starts to decrease during the Krishna Paksha. So as an example, a Dhasami during Krishna Paksha is not so good as a Dhasami during Shukla Paksha.
Vaaram
Vaaram denotes the day of the week. A planet rules each day. Rahu and Ketu are not associated with any Vaaram.
VAARAM PLANET GOOD/BAD Color Gemstone
1 Adi (Sunday) Sun Good Red/Maroon Ruby/Garnet
2Soma (Mon) Moon Good Off White Pearl
3Mangal( Tues) Mars Bad Coral (Orange) Coral
4Budha (Wed) Mercury Neutral Green Emerald
5Guru (Thur) Jupiter Good Yellow yellow Sapphire/Topaz
6Sukra (Friday) Venus Good White Diamond
7Sani (Saturday) Saturn Bad Dark Blue Blue Sapphire
Nakshatram
There are twenty-seven stars, all of which have been listed in the previous Article. These are listed here again, for quick easy reference. The order of the Nakshatras is : Aswini, Bharini, Kritika Rohini etc, . Please read the table one column at a time for the correct order.This has been written in this way to be able to show the rulars for each group of Nakshatras
Nakshatra ( and #) Nakshatra (and #) Nakshatra (and #) Rular
Aswini (1) Makha (10) Moola (19) Ketu
Bharani (2) Poorvaphalguni (11) (Pubba)Poorvashada (20)Venus
Krittika (3) Uttaraphalguni (12) Uttarashada (21) Sun
Rohini (4) Hasta (13) Sravanam (22) Moon
Mrigasira (5) Chitta ( chitra) (14) Dhanista (23) Mars
Arudra (6) Swati (15) Shatabisham (24) Rahu
Punarvasu (7) Vishaka (16) Poorvabadra (25) Jupiter
Pushyami (8) Anuradha (17) Uttarabadra (26) Saturn
Aslesha (9) Jyesta (18) Revati (27) Mercury
Note: Between Sravanam (22) and Dhanista (23), there is another Nakshatram that sometimes appears in Calendars. This is called Abhijit and is supposed to be very auspicious. This is generally not counted in any of our calculations.
To determine if the nakshatram at the time of the event is good for you or not, find out what Nakshatram is operating that day. This you will find in an Indian Calendar or with a Panchang.Start counting from your Janma Nakshatram, in multiples of 9, until you reach the particular Nakshatram for that day. Then refer to the table below, labeled Star and their Associations for general indications on the particular Nakshatram on yourself. Remember that the Calendar or Panchang lists the ending time of the Nakshatram and if it is an Indian Calendar, all these times are in Indian Standard Time, so they need to be converted to your local time.
Stars and their Associations:
1 Very Good : Janma Tara. (Soul Mates for compatibility studies in synastry or marriage partners)
2 Good : Dhana Tara. Sampat tara. Wealth.
3 Bad: Vipat Tara. Obstacles
4 Good: Kshema tara, for prosperity, Mother. Real Estate.etc
5 Bad : Enemy or pratyak tara, obstacles
6 Good: Refers to Health, debts etc,also called sadana tara, realisation of ambition.
7 Very bad : Naidana Tara. Dangers
8 Good : Mitra (Friend)
9 Very Good: Parama Mitra. (Best Friend)
Yoga*:
For the purpose of Electional Astrology and Understanding of the Panchanga, A Yoga is supposed to be the period of time during which the joint motion of the Moon and the Sun amounts to 13 degrees and 20 minutes. There are a total of 27 yogas. Again the calendar and Panchanga give the ending time of a yoga. Yogas are supposed to be able to strengthen our bodies , free them of diseases and help us enjoy health and life.
In order to understand the concept of joint motion of the Sun and Moon, a good way to look at it would be to remember that the Moon would take approximately one lunar day to complete moving through the 4 padas of a Nakshatra, which is equivalent to 13 degrees and 20 minutes. The Sun on the other hand moves about 1 degree in a solar day, since it will have to traverse a 30 degree sign in 30 days. So roughly speaking you will have one yoga a day.
This means that if the sum of the longitude of the sun and the moon is 281 degrees, we are in Siddha yoga ( add 13 degrees and 20 minutes for each yoga from Vishkambha to get 280 degrees).
*Please note that there are other Yogas in Astrology which should not be confused with this description of Yoga. The above description only pertains to Electional Astrology( Muhurtam) and Panchanga.
The following is the list of yogas
#Name of Yoga # Name of Yoga
1 Vishkambha (bad or inauspicious) 15 Vajra (bad or inauspicious)
2 Priti 16 Siddhi
3 Ayushman 17 Vyatipata (bad or inauspicious)
4 Saubhagya 18 Variyan
5 Sobhana 19 Parigha (bad or inauspicious)
6 Atiganda (bad or inauspicious) 20 Siva
7 Sukarman 21 Siddha
8 Dhriti 22 Sadhya
9 Soola (bad or inauspicious) 23 Subha
10 Ganda (bad or inauspicious) 24 Sukla
11 Vriddhi 25 Brahma
12 Dhruva 26 Indra
13 Vyaghata (bad or inauspicious) 27Vaidhriti (bad or inauspicious)
14 Harshana
Karana:
A Karana is defined as half a lunar day. Again this would be a motion of about 6 degrees total between the Sun and the Moon. There are 11 Karanas listed in the table below. So there will be two Karanas in a Lunar day.
The first Seven Karanas occur 8 times during a lunar month but commencing with the 2nd half of the first Lunar day ( this comes after Amavasya)
The last 4 are said to be permanent Karanas and occur in order starting at the 2nd half of the 29th Lunar day.
So the last four Karanas will come just before and during Amavasya. After which the new Lunar month starts and we will go thru the Karanas Bava thru Vishti 8 times, and just before Amavasya and during Amavasya we will have the last four karanas.
# Karana # Karana
1 Bava 7 Vishti Unfavourable
2 Balava 8 Sakuna UnfavourablePermanent
3 Kaulava 9 Chatuspada Unfavourable Permanent
4 Taitula 10 Naga Unfavourable Permanent
5 Girija 11 Kimstunda Unfavourable Permanent
6 Vanija
Yoga:
It is supposed to be the period of time during which the joint motion of the Moon and the Sun amounts to 13 degrees and 20 minutes. There are 27 yogas. Again the calendar and Panchaga gives the ending time of a yoga. Yogas are supposed to be able to strengthen our bodies , free them of diseases and help us enjoy health and life.
Chitralekha
There are several stories related to the name Chitralekha:
Here is one of then :
Usha Parinayam:
Chitralekha is a character in the story "Usha Parinayam" ( or marriage of Usha) . This is the story of Usha, a daitya princess, daughter of king Banasura ( the king of Asuras, Banasura is the son of King Bali and the grandson of Prahlada) and how she got married to Anniruddha the grandson of Krishna.
Banasura was a great Siva devotee and obtained a boon from Siva that he would be invinsible and Lord Siva would gaurd his city. Banasura became arrongant after he received his boon and tried to fight with Siva himself. Siva tells him that he would face defeat and humiliation when the flagstaff on his chariot falls and it would happen at the hands of someone who is interested in his daughter.
So Banasura keeps his daughter captive in his palace and does not allow anyone to see her. Once
Usha sees a handsome man in her dreams and decides that she would like to marry him. But no one is sure if he is real or imaginary. So she describes him to her friend Chitralekha, who paints pictures of several men, and finally finds out who Usha's dream man was . It is none other than Anniruddha, the grandson of Krishna and son of Pradhumna.
Usha implores Chitralekha to bring Anniruddha to her, so she Chitralekha uses her magical powers to abduct Prince Anniruddha in his sleep and bring him to Usha's palace.
Anniruddha and Usha fall for each other, and spend many happy hours together, when Banasura discovers that a young prince is with Usha. He sends gaurds to capture him, but the prince defeats his assailants. But ultimately Banasure captures Anniruddha with his magical and Asura powers makes him his prisoner
Narada informs Krishna in Dwaraka of these developments. Krishna, Pradyumna and Balarama set forth to Sonitapura ( in modern Assam) to rescue Anniruddha and a huge war ensues. Banasura is a formidable enemy, and is also aided by Siva who protectsthe city as a boon to Banasura. but after severe fighting on both sides, the flag staff on Banasura's chariot falls just as Siva predicted foretelling the defeat and humiliation of Banasura.
Krishna cuts off Banasura's limbs ( he has a thousand limbs) and keeps only four of them intact. Krishna does not kill Banasura since he had promised Prahlada that he would always protect his descendants.
Finally Banasura defeated and humiliated , gives his Daughter Usha in marriage to Anniruddha.
Anniruddha takes Usha back to Dwaraka with him.
They have a son by name Vajra.
.
FYI : Aniruddha (Sanskrit:अनिरुद्ध) means uncontrolled or "without obstacles".
Here is one of then :
Usha Parinayam:
Chitralekha is a character in the story "Usha Parinayam" ( or marriage of Usha) . This is the story of Usha, a daitya princess, daughter of king Banasura ( the king of Asuras, Banasura is the son of King Bali and the grandson of Prahlada) and how she got married to Anniruddha the grandson of Krishna.
Banasura was a great Siva devotee and obtained a boon from Siva that he would be invinsible and Lord Siva would gaurd his city. Banasura became arrongant after he received his boon and tried to fight with Siva himself. Siva tells him that he would face defeat and humiliation when the flagstaff on his chariot falls and it would happen at the hands of someone who is interested in his daughter.
So Banasura keeps his daughter captive in his palace and does not allow anyone to see her. Once
Usha sees a handsome man in her dreams and decides that she would like to marry him. But no one is sure if he is real or imaginary. So she describes him to her friend Chitralekha, who paints pictures of several men, and finally finds out who Usha's dream man was . It is none other than Anniruddha, the grandson of Krishna and son of Pradhumna.
Usha implores Chitralekha to bring Anniruddha to her, so she Chitralekha uses her magical powers to abduct Prince Anniruddha in his sleep and bring him to Usha's palace.
Anniruddha and Usha fall for each other, and spend many happy hours together, when Banasura discovers that a young prince is with Usha. He sends gaurds to capture him, but the prince defeats his assailants. But ultimately Banasure captures Anniruddha with his magical and Asura powers makes him his prisoner
Narada informs Krishna in Dwaraka of these developments. Krishna, Pradyumna and Balarama set forth to Sonitapura ( in modern Assam) to rescue Anniruddha and a huge war ensues. Banasura is a formidable enemy, and is also aided by Siva who protectsthe city as a boon to Banasura. but after severe fighting on both sides, the flag staff on Banasura's chariot falls just as Siva predicted foretelling the defeat and humiliation of Banasura.
Krishna cuts off Banasura's limbs ( he has a thousand limbs) and keeps only four of them intact. Krishna does not kill Banasura since he had promised Prahlada that he would always protect his descendants.
Finally Banasura defeated and humiliated , gives his Daughter Usha in marriage to Anniruddha.
Anniruddha takes Usha back to Dwaraka with him.
They have a son by name Vajra.
.
FYI : Aniruddha (Sanskrit:अनिरुद्ध) means uncontrolled or "without obstacles".
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Interesting story of the origin of Tillotama
The following Narratation by Narada involves the story of Tilottama and how she came into being.
This interesting story is actually one of the side stories from the Mahabharata and is retold by Narada to the Pandavas around the time that they are given half of the kingdom and asked to go settle down in their new capital Khadavaprastha.
During the time that Khandavaprastha was being established, the Pandavas had a lot of visitors to help them, including Krishna and Viswakarma. Sometime after this, the Divine Sage Narada also visits them.
The Sage Narada spends some time with Yudishtra, instructing him on the art of administration and kingship. This is the time that Narada is also introduced to Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas.
When Narada sees Draupadi, he is reminded of the story of Tillotama and how her beauty caused two very loving brothers to fight and kill each other.
He proceeds to narrate this story to the Pandavas and Draupadi so that they could learn from it..
Narada says "It is a well known fact that even the closest friends or relatives can become bitter enemies if they desire the same woman.
In ancient times, there were two Asura brothers named Sundha and Upasundha, who were inseparable. Their brotherly devotion was extraordinary. They defeated the Devas and sent them into hiding. They desired immortality and performed a penance with this motive, directed towards Lord Brahma . When the Lord appeared before them, they wanted the boon of immortality. However, that boon could not be granted, so the Lord asked them instead to choose their mode of death. Since the brothers were so sure of their devotion to each other, they sought the boon that the only way death could approach them was if they killed each other. When Indra came to know of this fact, he knew that he had an opening. He commissioned his divine architect Vishwakarma to create the most beautiful woman in the world. According to Brahma's advice, Vishwakarma collected a crore (10 million) gems, and taking a small part (equal to that of one sesame seed) from each of these flawless gems, he created the beautiful Tilottama (Sanskrit Thila=Sesame), and sent her to seduce the Asura brothers. When Sundha and Upasundha beheld this woman, their desire knew no bounds and each of them wanted her for himself. A quarrel immediately arose. The brothers fought and ended up killing each other. Let their story be a warning to you."
and thus ended the narration of the story of Tilottama by Narada to Yudhishtra in the Mahabharat
This interesting story is actually one of the side stories from the Mahabharata and is retold by Narada to the Pandavas around the time that they are given half of the kingdom and asked to go settle down in their new capital Khadavaprastha.
During the time that Khandavaprastha was being established, the Pandavas had a lot of visitors to help them, including Krishna and Viswakarma. Sometime after this, the Divine Sage Narada also visits them.
The Sage Narada spends some time with Yudishtra, instructing him on the art of administration and kingship. This is the time that Narada is also introduced to Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas.
When Narada sees Draupadi, he is reminded of the story of Tillotama and how her beauty caused two very loving brothers to fight and kill each other.
He proceeds to narrate this story to the Pandavas and Draupadi so that they could learn from it..
Narada says "It is a well known fact that even the closest friends or relatives can become bitter enemies if they desire the same woman.
In ancient times, there were two Asura brothers named Sundha and Upasundha, who were inseparable. Their brotherly devotion was extraordinary. They defeated the Devas and sent them into hiding. They desired immortality and performed a penance with this motive, directed towards Lord Brahma . When the Lord appeared before them, they wanted the boon of immortality. However, that boon could not be granted, so the Lord asked them instead to choose their mode of death. Since the brothers were so sure of their devotion to each other, they sought the boon that the only way death could approach them was if they killed each other. When Indra came to know of this fact, he knew that he had an opening. He commissioned his divine architect Vishwakarma to create the most beautiful woman in the world. According to Brahma's advice, Vishwakarma collected a crore (10 million) gems, and taking a small part (equal to that of one sesame seed) from each of these flawless gems, he created the beautiful Tilottama (Sanskrit Thila=Sesame), and sent her to seduce the Asura brothers. When Sundha and Upasundha beheld this woman, their desire knew no bounds and each of them wanted her for himself. A quarrel immediately arose. The brothers fought and ended up killing each other. Let their story be a warning to you."
and thus ended the narration of the story of Tilottama by Narada to Yudhishtra in the Mahabharat
From Panchatantra.......
We wanted to re write one of the stories from Panchatantra and have it enacted by kids for the 2008 Ugadi function in Austin.
The following is a writeup for the "United we Stand" Pigeon Story from Mitra laabam from the Panchatantra : this was accompanied by a slide show and was a precurser to the actual ballet that was enacted by kids at the Telugu Cultural Association of Austin in Apr 2008
Writeup :
The original Sanskrit text of "Panchatantra" was written by Pandit Vishnu Sharma around 200 BC, and contained a collection of popular tales. Each of these stories has a moral that continues to be relevant to this
day.
The following story is taken from the second “Tantra” called “Mitrasamprapti of the Panchatantra and sheds light on the importance of friendship and Unity.
‘United we stand”
Here is a story extolling the virtues of a wise Pigeon King named Chitragreeva , who saves his subjects from a hunter by proposing that they tackle the problem unitedly.
‘Chitragreeva” ( name of the pigeon king) and his group of pigeons/doves were flying together in search of grain.
They had traveled long and hard looking for some grain, and finally one of pigeons spots a lot of grain scattered underneath a banyan tree.
“Chitragreeva” tries to caution his team of pigeons from flying down to the grain because it just didn’t seem right and could be trap.
But is team was tired and hungry, so they just flew down to eat the grain.
As “Chitragreeva’ suspected, it was no ordinary reason that there was so much grain scattered in plain sight, a hunter had set a trap for the birds.
As soon as the hunter sees all the doves he throws a net on them and is about to pick them all up,
The birds struggle only to get more entangled in the net. “Chitragreeva” asks his team to remain calm and do exactly as he says.
,He thinks fast and decides that the best way is for them to play dead. He whispers to his team to play dead, as the hunter comes to pick each bird from the net.
The hunter is surprised and puzzled when each time he tries to pick a bird from the net it looks dead.
He starts to wonder if the grain was poisoned. As he is thinking about it, “Chitragreeva’ asks his team to all flap their wings at once and fly away with the net. They do as they are told and their combined flying force making it easy for all of them to fly away with the net
The hunter chases after them shocked, and surprised at their cleverness and deception. but he is unable to catch them.
They fly away to a far of place where a Chitragreeva’s friend “Hiranyaka” the mouse lives.
When the Hiranyaka hears the loud noise of their approach, he goes into hiding. The dove king Chitragreeva gently calls out to him and then the mouse Hiranyaka realizes that it is friend Chitrsgreeva , he comes out.
Chitragreeva explains that he and his subjects had been caught in a trap and they need Hiranyaka’s help to gnaw at the net with his teeth and set them free.
Hiranyaka agrees and proceeds to free Chitragreeva the dove king first.
The Nobel king Chitragreeva insists that he Hiranyaka , the mouse, free his subjects first and himself last. The Hiranyaka understands and applauds the king's feelings and complies with his wishes. He begins to cut the net and one by one all the doves are freed, including his friend Chitragreeva, the dove/pigeon king.
All the doves are very happy to be free and thank Hiranyaka the Mouse and their king “Chitragreeva”, who tells them that it is always important to listen to words of wisdom and act with caution.
He also asks them to always remain united.
Because being United, they will always be able to fight their way out of adverse situations.
The following is a writeup for the "United we Stand" Pigeon Story from Mitra laabam from the Panchatantra : this was accompanied by a slide show and was a precurser to the actual ballet that was enacted by kids at the Telugu Cultural Association of Austin in Apr 2008
Writeup :
The original Sanskrit text of "Panchatantra" was written by Pandit Vishnu Sharma around 200 BC, and contained a collection of popular tales. Each of these stories has a moral that continues to be relevant to this
day.
The following story is taken from the second “Tantra” called “Mitrasamprapti of the Panchatantra and sheds light on the importance of friendship and Unity.
‘United we stand”
Here is a story extolling the virtues of a wise Pigeon King named Chitragreeva , who saves his subjects from a hunter by proposing that they tackle the problem unitedly.
‘Chitragreeva” ( name of the pigeon king) and his group of pigeons/doves were flying together in search of grain.
They had traveled long and hard looking for some grain, and finally one of pigeons spots a lot of grain scattered underneath a banyan tree.
“Chitragreeva” tries to caution his team of pigeons from flying down to the grain because it just didn’t seem right and could be trap.
But is team was tired and hungry, so they just flew down to eat the grain.
As “Chitragreeva’ suspected, it was no ordinary reason that there was so much grain scattered in plain sight, a hunter had set a trap for the birds.
As soon as the hunter sees all the doves he throws a net on them and is about to pick them all up,
The birds struggle only to get more entangled in the net. “Chitragreeva” asks his team to remain calm and do exactly as he says.
,He thinks fast and decides that the best way is for them to play dead. He whispers to his team to play dead, as the hunter comes to pick each bird from the net.
The hunter is surprised and puzzled when each time he tries to pick a bird from the net it looks dead.
He starts to wonder if the grain was poisoned. As he is thinking about it, “Chitragreeva’ asks his team to all flap their wings at once and fly away with the net. They do as they are told and their combined flying force making it easy for all of them to fly away with the net
The hunter chases after them shocked, and surprised at their cleverness and deception. but he is unable to catch them.
They fly away to a far of place where a Chitragreeva’s friend “Hiranyaka” the mouse lives.
When the Hiranyaka hears the loud noise of their approach, he goes into hiding. The dove king Chitragreeva gently calls out to him and then the mouse Hiranyaka realizes that it is friend Chitrsgreeva , he comes out.
Chitragreeva explains that he and his subjects had been caught in a trap and they need Hiranyaka’s help to gnaw at the net with his teeth and set them free.
Hiranyaka agrees and proceeds to free Chitragreeva the dove king first.
The Nobel king Chitragreeva insists that he Hiranyaka , the mouse, free his subjects first and himself last. The Hiranyaka understands and applauds the king's feelings and complies with his wishes. He begins to cut the net and one by one all the doves are freed, including his friend Chitragreeva, the dove/pigeon king.
All the doves are very happy to be free and thank Hiranyaka the Mouse and their king “Chitragreeva”, who tells them that it is always important to listen to words of wisdom and act with caution.
He also asks them to always remain united.
Because being United, they will always be able to fight their way out of adverse situations.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Mahabharata : The beginning
BHAGAVAN VYASA, the celebrated compiler of the Vedas, was the son of the great sage Parasara. It was he who gave to the world the divine epic of the Mahabharata.
Having conceived the Mahabharata he thought of the means of giving the sacred story to the world. He meditated on Brahma, the Creator, who manifested himself before him
Vyasa then asks Brahma for help to find someone who could pen the Mahabarata for him. Brahma asks him to meditate on Lord Ganapati.
Lord Ganapati agrees to write the Mahabharat as Vyasa dictates, provided his pen would never stop ie: There was no pause in the narration
Vyasa agrees but with a counter proposition. As long as Lord Ganapati understood the meaning of the slokas before he wrote them down, Vyasa would keep up his end of the bargain, and so the Mahabharata got to be written, on the banks for River Saraswati, with Vyasa composing the poems and Lord Ganapati writing it down but only after understanding them, thereby giving ample time for Vyasa to compose some more.
A side tale to this, is River Saraswati flows very rapidly at the place where Vyasa chose to sit with Lord Ganapati to write the Mahabharata, high up in the Himalayas, close to Badrinath. Its flow here was often disturbing to both of them. They asked her to flow more slowly, but she being young and restless did not listen. It is said that Vyasa was enraged one day when she was making too much noise and caused her to disappear into the underground.
To this day at the Vyasa cave close to Bhadrinath, we see Saraswati gushing out of cave ( very noisily and then just as quickly disappearing into the underground, as a result.
So coming back to the beautiful story of Mahabharat,.Here is the cronological order in which it came to be passed on to all of us.
It was conceived by Vyasa , written by Lord Ganapati and first narrated by Vyasa to his son Suka maha rishi. Suka maharishi is supposed to have revealed this to Gandharvas, Raskshasas and Yakshas. Narada revealed it to the Devas. And then, Vaisampayana a great disciple of Vyasa spread this to the rest of humanity. He did this first at the Snake Sacrifice held by King Janamejaya. Suta maharishi learnt of it at the snake sacrifice and then on his way to Naimisha aranya he narrated it to other assembled rishis. Thus it was spread it to the rest of the world.
The interesting piece here is that, it is the first flashback story ever written as well, since, it starts with the Snake Sacrifice or Sarpa Yagam conducted by King Janamejaya ( a descendent of the Pandavas).
King Janamejaya is the son of Parikshit ( the grandson of Arjuna thru Abhimanyu). After the war, and after the Pandavas left their Kingdom and after the death of Sri Krishna, Parikshit is appointed king. He was a fair and just ruler, but one day, during a hunting trip he gets further away from his companions. Searching high and low for them and feeling very Thirsty he stumbles on to an Ashram of a Rishi. The Rishi is in meditation and does not answer any of his queries as he is in deep samadhi. Tired, hungry and Thirsty, king Parikshit is enraged, and he finds a dead snake nearby and rolls it around the rishi’s neck. The Rishi wakes up just as enraged, and curses Parikshit telling him that he will die in 7 days thru a snake bite . And true to the rishi’s words in 7 days the King is killed by a snake prince named “Takshak”, who is hidden inside a lemon.
On hearing the curse and being very afraid for his life, king Parikshit is supposed to have hid inside a a fort and locked himself up in a seven storey building but in vain since, the snake got to him via a lemon and killed him.
During those 7 days, Parikshit is said to have became extremely spiritual and he heard the Bhagavatam for the first time, extolling Lord Krishna., This is the first time that Bhagavatam as we know it was narrated to humanity .
But after Parikshit’s death, his son Janamejaya wanted to avenge his father’s untimely demise and therefore conducts what is called a “Sarpa Yagam” or Snake Sacrifice in which all snakes big and small were to be killed.
The goal was to find Takshak the snake that actually killed Parikshit but Takshak had sought help from Indira, the ruler of heaven.
Janamejaya was informed of this by a person named Astika ( who was born of a brahmin and a Naga women). Janamejaya was so pleased to learn of Takshak’s whereabouts from Astika, that he promised Astika a boon, anything he wanted. Astika said that he would ask for the boon but at a later time when he really needed it.
So Janamejaya is able to with the help of Mantras find Takshak and is ready to burn him in the sacrificial fire when, Astika came forward to stop him. He asks for his boon at this opportune time The boon is for Janamejaya to set Takshak , the prince of naga’s free and maintain a friendly relationship with the Naga’s from here on out.
Even though Janamejaya pleads with Astika, he does not budge from his request.
So ultimately Janamejaya has to give in and free Takshak ( Kal Yuga was by the way ushered in by Takshak) when he killed Parikshit.
So Janamejaya even though he is still tormented,since his sacrifice was incomplete asks Vyasa’s help to understand his ancesters better. Vyasa asked Vaisampayana ( his favourite disciple) to narrate the details of the Mahabharata and the story of the Pandavas to Janamejaya. And So it happened that the Mahabharata was narrated for the first time to King Janamejaya and the Brahmins who were present at the Snake sacrifice or “Sarpa Yagam”.
This was heard by Suta maharishi who then on his way back from the snake sacrifice narrated it again this time to assembled rishis in Naimisha aranya.
Having conceived the Mahabharata he thought of the means of giving the sacred story to the world. He meditated on Brahma, the Creator, who manifested himself before him
Vyasa then asks Brahma for help to find someone who could pen the Mahabarata for him. Brahma asks him to meditate on Lord Ganapati.
Lord Ganapati agrees to write the Mahabharat as Vyasa dictates, provided his pen would never stop ie: There was no pause in the narration
Vyasa agrees but with a counter proposition. As long as Lord Ganapati understood the meaning of the slokas before he wrote them down, Vyasa would keep up his end of the bargain, and so the Mahabharata got to be written, on the banks for River Saraswati, with Vyasa composing the poems and Lord Ganapati writing it down but only after understanding them, thereby giving ample time for Vyasa to compose some more.
A side tale to this, is River Saraswati flows very rapidly at the place where Vyasa chose to sit with Lord Ganapati to write the Mahabharata, high up in the Himalayas, close to Badrinath. Its flow here was often disturbing to both of them. They asked her to flow more slowly, but she being young and restless did not listen. It is said that Vyasa was enraged one day when she was making too much noise and caused her to disappear into the underground.
To this day at the Vyasa cave close to Bhadrinath, we see Saraswati gushing out of cave ( very noisily and then just as quickly disappearing into the underground, as a result.
So coming back to the beautiful story of Mahabharat,.Here is the cronological order in which it came to be passed on to all of us.
It was conceived by Vyasa , written by Lord Ganapati and first narrated by Vyasa to his son Suka maha rishi. Suka maharishi is supposed to have revealed this to Gandharvas, Raskshasas and Yakshas. Narada revealed it to the Devas. And then, Vaisampayana a great disciple of Vyasa spread this to the rest of humanity. He did this first at the Snake Sacrifice held by King Janamejaya. Suta maharishi learnt of it at the snake sacrifice and then on his way to Naimisha aranya he narrated it to other assembled rishis. Thus it was spread it to the rest of the world.
The interesting piece here is that, it is the first flashback story ever written as well, since, it starts with the Snake Sacrifice or Sarpa Yagam conducted by King Janamejaya ( a descendent of the Pandavas).
King Janamejaya is the son of Parikshit ( the grandson of Arjuna thru Abhimanyu). After the war, and after the Pandavas left their Kingdom and after the death of Sri Krishna, Parikshit is appointed king. He was a fair and just ruler, but one day, during a hunting trip he gets further away from his companions. Searching high and low for them and feeling very Thirsty he stumbles on to an Ashram of a Rishi. The Rishi is in meditation and does not answer any of his queries as he is in deep samadhi. Tired, hungry and Thirsty, king Parikshit is enraged, and he finds a dead snake nearby and rolls it around the rishi’s neck. The Rishi wakes up just as enraged, and curses Parikshit telling him that he will die in 7 days thru a snake bite . And true to the rishi’s words in 7 days the King is killed by a snake prince named “Takshak”, who is hidden inside a lemon.
On hearing the curse and being very afraid for his life, king Parikshit is supposed to have hid inside a a fort and locked himself up in a seven storey building but in vain since, the snake got to him via a lemon and killed him.
During those 7 days, Parikshit is said to have became extremely spiritual and he heard the Bhagavatam for the first time, extolling Lord Krishna., This is the first time that Bhagavatam as we know it was narrated to humanity .
But after Parikshit’s death, his son Janamejaya wanted to avenge his father’s untimely demise and therefore conducts what is called a “Sarpa Yagam” or Snake Sacrifice in which all snakes big and small were to be killed.
The goal was to find Takshak the snake that actually killed Parikshit but Takshak had sought help from Indira, the ruler of heaven.
Janamejaya was informed of this by a person named Astika ( who was born of a brahmin and a Naga women). Janamejaya was so pleased to learn of Takshak’s whereabouts from Astika, that he promised Astika a boon, anything he wanted. Astika said that he would ask for the boon but at a later time when he really needed it.
So Janamejaya is able to with the help of Mantras find Takshak and is ready to burn him in the sacrificial fire when, Astika came forward to stop him. He asks for his boon at this opportune time The boon is for Janamejaya to set Takshak , the prince of naga’s free and maintain a friendly relationship with the Naga’s from here on out.
Even though Janamejaya pleads with Astika, he does not budge from his request.
So ultimately Janamejaya has to give in and free Takshak ( Kal Yuga was by the way ushered in by Takshak) when he killed Parikshit.
So Janamejaya even though he is still tormented,since his sacrifice was incomplete asks Vyasa’s help to understand his ancesters better. Vyasa asked Vaisampayana ( his favourite disciple) to narrate the details of the Mahabharata and the story of the Pandavas to Janamejaya. And So it happened that the Mahabharata was narrated for the first time to King Janamejaya and the Brahmins who were present at the Snake sacrifice or “Sarpa Yagam”.
This was heard by Suta maharishi who then on his way back from the snake sacrifice narrated it again this time to assembled rishis in Naimisha aranya.
Fundamental concepts in Vedic Astrology
Astrology is a very fascinating subject, that immediately gets the attention of the masses. This has been very much a part of our lives as we grew up in India. But for the longest time, it remained a mystery to me, occasionally I would get a glimpse into it, when an astrologer was consulted for a wedding or something of that nature but by and large it was there but no one ventured to try and explain it in any detail.
The subject remained a dorment interest in my mind until I started reading a book "Modern Hindu astrology for a Western astrologer" by James Braha. This was one of the most useful books I have read on the subject. Extremely lucid and easy to understand.
But For a longest time, I wished I had something ( a book or an article) even more simpler, that presented some basic concepts in Astrology.Something that one would need even before one started studying the subject in earnest. I searched and searched but could never find one. Most documents I found were either obscure or written in a language few would understand.
Therefore here is an attempt to put some of these concepts in simple terms for laymen to understand and appreciate. Astrology is a vast subject, so we will be only able to cover some of the basic concepts here.
Astrology, to a lot of people is mumbo jumbo. I thought so too until I began to understand how mathematical it was, and how easily one could correlate incidents in life to a particular period or sub-period running at that time.
This has been proven time and again, with various people/horoscopes. One can also find a lot of correlation with subjects such as astronomy and cosmology as well and therefore this subject is well suited for Scientific minds and can become very interesting.
Astrology in the east developed into a predictive science, and its roots date back to almost 5000 years. The father of Modern Indian or Eastern Astrology is supposed to be Sage Parasara ( the father of Ved Vyasa from Mahabharat fame).His book Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra is the basis for most of the later astrological texts that are in use now.
The Astrology in the west is also old ( dates back to Babylonean times) but is used mostly for Personality analysis, and some limited predictions.
Eastern and Western astrology also differ fundamentally in that one is based on a Sidereal Zodiac ( Eastern) while the other is based on a Tropical (western) Zodiac.
Before we delve too deeply into these different zodiacs, let me first talk about the basis for Astrology. I will focus on Eastern Astrology or Jyotish Shastra for the sake of this description. In Eastern astrology or Jyotish Shastra ( from now I will refer to this as Jyotish), the following
Planets, satellites, nodal points and stars are used ( They will be referred to as Planets from now on). They are: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.
Sun and Moon need no explaination. They are usually called the Lights, and are the central focus of any Horoscope. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are self explainatory, they are Planets in our Solar System. Some of you may notice that we did not talk about Uranus, Neptune and Pluto ( since Astrology is a very old subject, when it was first developed, only first few planets had been discovered). Uranus was discovered in 1789, Neptune in 1800s and Pluto was around 1920.
Rahu and Ketu are nodal points that are supposed to be the points of intersection of the Moon’s Orbit around the earth to the Ecliptic. (The Ecliptic is the path traced by the sun in the sky as seen from the earth).. They , Rahu and Ketu are also placed in a horoscope and are points of great strength or Energy.
An understanding of the Zodiac is the next most important thing for understanding astrology.
The Zodiac is an imaginary BELT ( the kind we wear around our waist) of star clusters ( or constellations) in the sky. This imaginary Belt of about 16 degrees width is spherical, and is encircling the earth. The Ecliptic described earlier as the path of the Sun as seen from the earth is also part of this Zodiac belt .All planets,Sun, Rahu Ketu and Moon lie within this Zodiacal belt as seen from the earth. Please note that you will never see them anywhere else in the sky.
For the sake of astrological analysis, this belt or 360 degree circle is used. To make things easier,it is divided into 30 degree parts ( so we will have 12 of them in a 360 degree circle) and each part is characterised or identified by a group of star clusters ( or constellations) that are most noticeable within that 30 degrees. So Aries, Tauras,Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricon,Aquarius, Pisces are all Constellations or star clusters used to identify the 30 degree parts of the belt. Please note that this is the order of the constellations along the 360 degree belt..
Now a Astrological Horoscope is nothing but a drawing of this belt and the Planets are then placed in this belt based on their respective motion. ( remember the Planets are moving and will be in different parts of the sky at different times but please note that they will always be within this belt we are describing).
A little explaination of Astronomy is required here inorder to comprehend this. As you know,From our Earth, we should be able to see the Planets ( Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). From the Moon’s position, we can calculate the position of Rahu and Ketu. Which are imaginary intersection points as mentioned earlier.The ancient scientists in their study of the stars discovered that all of these Planets and the Sun and the Moon move within the Zodiac belt ( even Rahu and Ketu). Like I said earlier, they (the planets)will always be within this belt and we can identify where they are, by recognizing the constellation or star cluster they are close too ( meaning Aries, Taurus etc).
Now within any given day, all these constellations will rise in the sky. Six constellations rise in the morning and the remaining six will rise as the evening progresses. That means within 24 hours of a day, each constellation or Zodiac sign ( Aries to Pisces) will have risen in the eastern sky). This is an important point to grasp. Again please note that along with the zodiac signs the Planets are also somewhere in the sky, within a particular sign of the zodiac belt. So if we drew the Zodiac belt on a piece of paper, we could now place the planets somewhere on that belt. This is what is done in a horoscope.
In South india this is drawn like a belt, and divided into 12 houses each of 30 degrees and then the planets are placed in them.The constellation that is seen rising in the eastern sky at the time of birth is called the Ascendant or Lagna. Now this becomes the Horoscope that the Jyotishi ( or astrologer).analyses. He has a Rasi Chakra and a Navamsa chakra for starters and then we are lost in his Mumbo Jumbo.This will be described later so don’t worry too much about Rasi and Navamsa just yet.
Now earlier, I had referred to the Sidereal and Tropical Zodiacs. The same Zodiacal belt is used in both Eastern and Western horoscopes. Scientists have noticed that due to the tilt of the earth, every year the starting point of Aries has moved by 50.2 seconds ( celestial longitude) westward. That means that the earth never returns back to the same position every year after completing its revolution around the sun. It will only return to the same position in 26000 years. So in the meantime, we have to apply a correction. We ( meaning Indian Astrologers use the current postion of Aries ( this is the Sidereal Zodiac), the western astrologers use the old position of Aries ( Tropical Zodiac). The two Zodiacs used to be the same in 285AD, but after that because of what I described above ( called precission of equinoxes), we now have to, subtract some degrees from their (Western Zodiac)positions to get our positions, and this amount that we substract is called Ayanamsa. So if they( Western astrologers) say that the Sun is in Aries ( in say 20 degrees Aries) for us it is really means it is in 27 degrees Pisces. ( we subtracted the Ayanamsa from their position). Most Indians use the Lahiri Ayanamsa of 23 degrees and 48 minutes.
With this background and a sample Horoscope we can now proceed with analysis. This is where Astrology becomes more empherical and abstract. Each of the Planets is given some attributes or qualities that signify something in a Human Being’s life like his Personality, Looks, Character, etc.
The Zodiac Belt which is the background of the Horoscope, when divided into 12 , 30 degree parts , represents 12 houses in which the planets reside and each of these houses again signifies an aspect of a person’s life like his Personality, Family, Siblings, Mother, Children, Health, Spouse, Longevity,Spirituality, Career, Income and Loss. These things are put together for a person based on the time and place of birth. After the Horoscope has been cast, then using what we call Dasha Analysis, predictions can be made on possible events in the person’s life.
The above details were intended as an introduction for those of you who are interested in pursuing this subject of Astrology. To begin making use of this vast subject, some things have to become part of your vocabulary and some of the attributes must almost become second nature to your understanding of either a Planet or a Zodiac sign in which the Planet is located. The Houses or the 30 degree divisions of the 360 degree belt also have associated with them some properties that will have to become part and parcel of your analysis. These fundamentals are a necessary step in understanding Astrology, otherwise it will remain an enigma.
Alot of good text books are available that can now take you deeper into the subject.But my Suggestion is that, this subject be approached scientifically rather than fatalistically .
By Scientifically I mean: approaching it from a Astronomy point of view ( meaning understanding Planets in the solar system, their movement within the night sky and then using the statistics compiled by generations of Astrologers to now add attributes and qualities to Planets, Houses and Zodiac signs. My belief is that with this kind of approach, a level of objectivity can be maintained and our Analysis will be able to sustain and overcome any scrutiny by disbelievers or sceptics.
Given the time, I would like to follow this up with articles on the details necessary for good predictions, but in the meantime, I believe that sufficient background information is now available to you, to continue on your quest, while you wait for the next article on this subject.
The subject remained a dorment interest in my mind until I started reading a book "Modern Hindu astrology for a Western astrologer" by James Braha. This was one of the most useful books I have read on the subject. Extremely lucid and easy to understand.
But For a longest time, I wished I had something ( a book or an article) even more simpler, that presented some basic concepts in Astrology.Something that one would need even before one started studying the subject in earnest. I searched and searched but could never find one. Most documents I found were either obscure or written in a language few would understand.
Therefore here is an attempt to put some of these concepts in simple terms for laymen to understand and appreciate. Astrology is a vast subject, so we will be only able to cover some of the basic concepts here.
Astrology, to a lot of people is mumbo jumbo. I thought so too until I began to understand how mathematical it was, and how easily one could correlate incidents in life to a particular period or sub-period running at that time.
This has been proven time and again, with various people/horoscopes. One can also find a lot of correlation with subjects such as astronomy and cosmology as well and therefore this subject is well suited for Scientific minds and can become very interesting.
Astrology in the east developed into a predictive science, and its roots date back to almost 5000 years. The father of Modern Indian or Eastern Astrology is supposed to be Sage Parasara ( the father of Ved Vyasa from Mahabharat fame).His book Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra is the basis for most of the later astrological texts that are in use now.
The Astrology in the west is also old ( dates back to Babylonean times) but is used mostly for Personality analysis, and some limited predictions.
Eastern and Western astrology also differ fundamentally in that one is based on a Sidereal Zodiac ( Eastern) while the other is based on a Tropical (western) Zodiac.
Before we delve too deeply into these different zodiacs, let me first talk about the basis for Astrology. I will focus on Eastern Astrology or Jyotish Shastra for the sake of this description. In Eastern astrology or Jyotish Shastra ( from now I will refer to this as Jyotish), the following
Planets, satellites, nodal points and stars are used ( They will be referred to as Planets from now on). They are: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.
Sun and Moon need no explaination. They are usually called the Lights, and are the central focus of any Horoscope. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are self explainatory, they are Planets in our Solar System. Some of you may notice that we did not talk about Uranus, Neptune and Pluto ( since Astrology is a very old subject, when it was first developed, only first few planets had been discovered). Uranus was discovered in 1789, Neptune in 1800s and Pluto was around 1920.
Rahu and Ketu are nodal points that are supposed to be the points of intersection of the Moon’s Orbit around the earth to the Ecliptic. (The Ecliptic is the path traced by the sun in the sky as seen from the earth).. They , Rahu and Ketu are also placed in a horoscope and are points of great strength or Energy.
An understanding of the Zodiac is the next most important thing for understanding astrology.
The Zodiac is an imaginary BELT ( the kind we wear around our waist) of star clusters ( or constellations) in the sky. This imaginary Belt of about 16 degrees width is spherical, and is encircling the earth. The Ecliptic described earlier as the path of the Sun as seen from the earth is also part of this Zodiac belt .All planets,Sun, Rahu Ketu and Moon lie within this Zodiacal belt as seen from the earth. Please note that you will never see them anywhere else in the sky.
For the sake of astrological analysis, this belt or 360 degree circle is used. To make things easier,it is divided into 30 degree parts ( so we will have 12 of them in a 360 degree circle) and each part is characterised or identified by a group of star clusters ( or constellations) that are most noticeable within that 30 degrees. So Aries, Tauras,Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricon,Aquarius, Pisces are all Constellations or star clusters used to identify the 30 degree parts of the belt. Please note that this is the order of the constellations along the 360 degree belt..
Now a Astrological Horoscope is nothing but a drawing of this belt and the Planets are then placed in this belt based on their respective motion. ( remember the Planets are moving and will be in different parts of the sky at different times but please note that they will always be within this belt we are describing).
A little explaination of Astronomy is required here inorder to comprehend this. As you know,From our Earth, we should be able to see the Planets ( Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). From the Moon’s position, we can calculate the position of Rahu and Ketu. Which are imaginary intersection points as mentioned earlier.The ancient scientists in their study of the stars discovered that all of these Planets and the Sun and the Moon move within the Zodiac belt ( even Rahu and Ketu). Like I said earlier, they (the planets)will always be within this belt and we can identify where they are, by recognizing the constellation or star cluster they are close too ( meaning Aries, Taurus etc).
Now within any given day, all these constellations will rise in the sky. Six constellations rise in the morning and the remaining six will rise as the evening progresses. That means within 24 hours of a day, each constellation or Zodiac sign ( Aries to Pisces) will have risen in the eastern sky). This is an important point to grasp. Again please note that along with the zodiac signs the Planets are also somewhere in the sky, within a particular sign of the zodiac belt. So if we drew the Zodiac belt on a piece of paper, we could now place the planets somewhere on that belt. This is what is done in a horoscope.
In South india this is drawn like a belt, and divided into 12 houses each of 30 degrees and then the planets are placed in them.The constellation that is seen rising in the eastern sky at the time of birth is called the Ascendant or Lagna. Now this becomes the Horoscope that the Jyotishi ( or astrologer).analyses. He has a Rasi Chakra and a Navamsa chakra for starters and then we are lost in his Mumbo Jumbo.This will be described later so don’t worry too much about Rasi and Navamsa just yet.
Now earlier, I had referred to the Sidereal and Tropical Zodiacs. The same Zodiacal belt is used in both Eastern and Western horoscopes. Scientists have noticed that due to the tilt of the earth, every year the starting point of Aries has moved by 50.2 seconds ( celestial longitude) westward. That means that the earth never returns back to the same position every year after completing its revolution around the sun. It will only return to the same position in 26000 years. So in the meantime, we have to apply a correction. We ( meaning Indian Astrologers use the current postion of Aries ( this is the Sidereal Zodiac), the western astrologers use the old position of Aries ( Tropical Zodiac). The two Zodiacs used to be the same in 285AD, but after that because of what I described above ( called precission of equinoxes), we now have to, subtract some degrees from their (Western Zodiac)positions to get our positions, and this amount that we substract is called Ayanamsa. So if they( Western astrologers) say that the Sun is in Aries ( in say 20 degrees Aries) for us it is really means it is in 27 degrees Pisces. ( we subtracted the Ayanamsa from their position). Most Indians use the Lahiri Ayanamsa of 23 degrees and 48 minutes.
With this background and a sample Horoscope we can now proceed with analysis. This is where Astrology becomes more empherical and abstract. Each of the Planets is given some attributes or qualities that signify something in a Human Being’s life like his Personality, Looks, Character, etc.
The Zodiac Belt which is the background of the Horoscope, when divided into 12 , 30 degree parts , represents 12 houses in which the planets reside and each of these houses again signifies an aspect of a person’s life like his Personality, Family, Siblings, Mother, Children, Health, Spouse, Longevity,Spirituality, Career, Income and Loss. These things are put together for a person based on the time and place of birth. After the Horoscope has been cast, then using what we call Dasha Analysis, predictions can be made on possible events in the person’s life.
The above details were intended as an introduction for those of you who are interested in pursuing this subject of Astrology. To begin making use of this vast subject, some things have to become part of your vocabulary and some of the attributes must almost become second nature to your understanding of either a Planet or a Zodiac sign in which the Planet is located. The Houses or the 30 degree divisions of the 360 degree belt also have associated with them some properties that will have to become part and parcel of your analysis. These fundamentals are a necessary step in understanding Astrology, otherwise it will remain an enigma.
Alot of good text books are available that can now take you deeper into the subject.But my Suggestion is that, this subject be approached scientifically rather than fatalistically .
By Scientifically I mean: approaching it from a Astronomy point of view ( meaning understanding Planets in the solar system, their movement within the night sky and then using the statistics compiled by generations of Astrologers to now add attributes and qualities to Planets, Houses and Zodiac signs. My belief is that with this kind of approach, a level of objectivity can be maintained and our Analysis will be able to sustain and overcome any scrutiny by disbelievers or sceptics.
Given the time, I would like to follow this up with articles on the details necessary for good predictions, but in the meantime, I believe that sufficient background information is now available to you, to continue on your quest, while you wait for the next article on this subject.
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