Philosophy, Parampara & Purpose of Jyotiṣa

Opening Prayers & Mantras

Deity for Learning Astrology

The class opens with "Om Sri Maha Ganeshaya Namah", three times. The deity for learning astrology is Ganesha (Ganapati). He is the god who gives astrological knowledge.

The published class notes write the mantra as Om Sri Mahaganapataye Namah.

Parampara Mantra

Om Hare Rama Krishna

Every parampara has its own mantra. This six-letter mantra is the one of the parampara to which PVNR belongs — the tradition of Pandit Sanjay Rath, tracing back to Sri Achyutananda of Orissa. He says it was taught by Janaka Maharaja, father of Sita, and that it is the moola mantra from which the sixteen-name "Hare Rama Hare Rama…" mantra came.

The plain meaning is a call: O Hari (Vishnu), O Rama, O Krishna.

Hidden meaning: the mantra names the three references of every horoscope.

• Hari → Lagna — yourself
• Rama → Surya (Sun) — according to Parasara, Rama represents the Sun; that is why he was born in Surya vamsha
• Krishna → Chandra (Moon)

So "Hare Rama Krishna" tells you to analyze every horoscope from Lagna, Sun and Moon.

Practice: on getting up in the morning — every day if possible, at least on the day of class — recite it 108 times; if that is not possible, 11 times. This gets the most out of what is taught in this parampara.

On adding Om: if a mantra starts with Om, mistakes in reciting it or in the procedure bring no bad result. That matters for some serious tantric mantras, which can give bad results when read wrongly. This one is a sattvic mantra and is safe either way, but putting Om in front of any mantra is a good idea.

Mantra for Jyotisha Knowledge

Om Shleem Dhleem Jyotir-Brahmaya Namah

Jyotir-Brahma is Brahma in the form of jyoti (light). The knowledge of Jyotisha comes from Jyotir-Brahma. This mantra makes the derivation of knowledge from the universal light faster.

Mantra to Remove Confusion

From the published class notes; this part is not on the recording.

Om Shreem Dhleem Medha-Dakshinamurtaye Namah

• It removes confusion from the mind of the astrologer.
• Recite these mantras 108 times, or 11 if 108 is not possible. Om may be put in front as a safeguard against mistakes.

Pronouncing the Visarga

• The visarga at the end of namaḥ is not a consonant. It is not "ha" and not "h". The correct sound is just letting the air go.
• A common South Indian mistake is to say rāmaha, harihi, guruhu — one symbol pronounced three ways. Sanskrit is systematic: every symbol has one sound.
• It matters because the exact number of letters in a mantra decides its result — "namaha" adds a letter.
• If you are used to "namaha", continue the way you are used to.

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The Parampara (Lineage)

PVNR's teachers:

1. His father — he learnt astrology from him when young. First guru.
2. Dr. B.V. Raman — through his books. Second guru.
3. Pandit Sanjay Rath, from Puri in Orissa. Third guru.

Sanjay Rath belongs to a traditional lineage of Jyotisha students who trace themselves back to Sri Achyutananda, a great scholar from Orissa and one of the associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who spread Krishna bhakti in Bengal and Orissa.

The text behind the whole course is Brihat Parasara Hora Shastram (BPHS): Brihat = great, Parasara = of Parasara, Hora Shastra = the knowledge of astrology.

"Whatever I am going to teach you in the next few months or years is going to be from that book. That is like the Bible of astrology."

The word Hora: a student asks what it means. There is no definitive answer, but it is supposed to come from ahorātra — ahas (day) + rātra (night). Take the middle syllables and you get horā. It is the knowledge of time, of how time works. It stands for the whole astrological knowledge.

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How to Approach the Study

• The class starts from scratch and goes slowly. Astrology has so many parameters that people without strong basics get confused after reaching a certain height. The foundation must be solid for the building to be tall.
• People ask, "Am I wasting my time learning astrology?" Some spend decades and feel they know nothing.
• Astrology is not a subject like maths or physics. It is a divine subject, and it is not learnt in one life. If you learnt it in earlier births it comes easily; if this is the first time, it is hard — but it will be easier in the next life.
• Some need only a spark to bring the knowledge back. He has seen people become excellent in six months or a year because they carried it from a past life.
• Whether one can be an astrologer is shown in the horoscope. Even if it is not there in yours, do not be discouraged: you may be building the foundation for another life.

"Knowledge, especially in a spiritual subject, will never go away."

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Philosophy: Microcosm and Macrocosm

Dvaita and Advaita Are Both Right

Some say God is within you (advaita, "not two"). Others say God exists out there (dvaita). PVNR will not call Shankaracharya or Ramanujacharya wrong. Both are right, and one picture holds both.

Narayana and Vasudeva

According to the shastras the whole universe is made of Narayana. Only one-eighth of it — the form of Narayana called Vasudeva — can be perceived by us. The other seven-eighths we cannot perceive; maharshis and devas may.

• You will not find Shiva by climbing the Himalayas. That does not mean there is no Shiva, no Vaikuntha, no Vishnu. The Puranas describe them in a simplified form the mind can picture; they live in a world of many more dimensions than our four.
• In the material plane Jupiter is a ball of gas going around the Sun. In the fuller universe he is a person, and he teaches the gods. What the Puranas say exists; we cannot perceive it.

The Other Half of the Truth

"Each human being is a microcosm of the entire universe. So whatever exists in this whole universe, it exists in a microcosmic form within us."

• It is like a fractal: Earth around the Sun, the Sun around Vishnu Nabhi, that around another — a pattern repeating without end inward and outward.
• Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Ganesha, the gods, the demons, Brihaspati and Shukracharya exist outside, and are also represented within you. In that sense God is within you; and He exists outside too.
• The stories of the Puranas are unfolding within us.

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Jupiter (Brihaspati) and Venus (Shukracharya)

Jupiter — Teacher of the Gods

• Macrocosm: a celestial being who guides the gods and works for their upliftment and victory.
• The gods within us: the good qualities in a person.
• Microcosm: the discretion, discrimination, judgment — the intelligence that builds those good qualities and works for their victory. The spark that says "this is wrong" even when we want to do it.
• So in astrology: Jupiter shows intelligence and judgment.
• Brihaspati is sattvic.

Venus — Teacher of the Demons

• The demons within us: negative qualities and temptations.
• Macrocosm: Shukracharya is rajasic, not sattvic. Shukra-niti is not as strict as Brihaspati-niti; he makes compromises, because that is what teaching demons takes — tell them to sacrifice and be nice and they will not listen. He makes a Bali Chakravarti out of a demon: one who at least gives much in dana instead of destroying the world. They do not become gods, but the damage they do is kept small.
• A student suggests the inner counterpart is conscience. No — conscience discourages bad things. Shukracharya keeps them within limits.
• Microcosm: the spirit of enjoyment. Wanting films, music, luxuries is not godly, but it turns the bad qualities to something tolerable. "Instead of murdering somebody, if you watch a movie where there is a lot of violence, that is probably better."
• So in astrology: Venus rules enjoyment, luxuries, passions and entertainment.

Deriving the Significations

Each planet is a character in the Puranas. Understand what that character does there, find what stands for it inside a person, and every basic of astrology can be derived instead of memorized. Only two examples are worked in this class.

"All the concepts of astrology map to Purana. There is a lot of astrological knowledge in Purana."

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Other Astrologies and the Yugas

A student points out that Western astrology has no Puranas.

• Its concepts are still very close to ours. Western, Chinese, Tibetan and Arabic astrology each resemble one subset of Indian astrology. India is the superset: take a subset, twist it a little, and you get one of the others.
• His view: thousands of years ago there was probably one astrology. At the end of Dvapara Yuga learned people migrated, contact stopped, and one branch grew in each region, while India kept the whole teaching of the maharshis. He says plainly this is the view he holds, and that he thinks the accepted theory of civilization entering India from outside is likely wrong.
• Yugas: Kali Yuga began about 5,000 years ago, when Sri Krishna left this world; the Mahabharata war was close to the end of Dvapara. Kali Yuga lasts 432,000 years. Dvapara is twice that, Treta three times, Krita (Satya) four times — in order of occurrence 4 : 3 : 2 : 1. At the end of Kali there is a pralaya, which is not the end.
• On the lack of archaeological proof: only a tiny part of the land is inhabited even today, so a few random digs ten thousand years on could easily miss us. He calls archaeology and palaeontology speculative. For astrology, the Hindu reckoning is followed.

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Purpose of Astrology

A student's closing question: why predict at all?

1. To know what is likely. Nobody is a perfect astrologer. Sometimes you can say 99%, sometimes — with contradictory influences — only 60 or 70%. "Astrology is a probabilistic understanding of what is likely to happen." It does not imply fatalism.
2. To prepare. In a good time, be ready to take a few risks. In a bad time, be extra careful. If you know a problem will last a year, you are ready for it.
3. To understand yourself. Astrology reveals hidden traits in a person's personality. A man in trouble with his wife who learns from the chart that the fault is his own will handle the problem more realistically.
4. Remedial measures — which Western astrology does not have. The chart shows which deity to worship, which mantra, even how many letters and words it should have. Bad karma from past lives is paid off through suffering, sacrifice and giving.

On gemstones: "It's like taking a loan to pay off another loan." They help in the short run and push the problem a few years ahead or into another life. They do not solve it. Prayer does.

The class is held on Thursday, a good day to learn astrology: it is ruled by Jupiter, who rules astrology.

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