Vedic Astrology - The Science of Prediction

In this rapidly changing and highly competitive world, people rarely get the opportunity to take a stock of the different situations happening around them. As a result, they face many untoward incidents that have a drastic impact on their lives. These situations may range in varying fields such as career, academics, health, finance, marital status etc. This is the reason in the last few decades people have started depending upon more on more on astrologers for a wide variety of reasons and also to get solutions for their issues and concerns.

Today, astrologers are seen as kind of doctors but on a spiritual level. They provide spiritual healing and counselling to the people who come to them to seek advice. The next question is how these astrologers can provide such precise and accurate information to people. The answer to that question lies in our ancient past; where our ancestors believed in the ancient science of Jyotisha, or Jyotishya, which means “jyot, light from Isvara, or God”, in ancient Hindu texts. Now, “Vedic Astrology has been defined as the ancient Indian science that explains the positioning and movement of the planets, the Stars, the Sun, and The Moon concerning time and their effect on human lives”.

What is Vedic Astrology?

According to the ancient Hindu texts, the ‘Vedas’, the origin of Vedic Astrology goes back thousands of years back in time; i.e. it is as ancient as the Vedas itself. Furthermore, it has also been believed that the foundation of the notion of ‘bandhu’ of the ‘Vedas’ (scriptures) is the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm. It is also believed that Vedic Astrology in its earlier days was only used to determine important dates for sacrifices and other rituals. Later on, it gradually became more advanced. It was from then movement and positions of stars, planets and other celestial objects began to be studied as also how they had a deep impact on humans. According to Vedic Astrology, 27 constellations are made up of 12 Zodiac signs, 9 Planets and 12 Houses, with each house believed to represent some aspect of human life. Furthermore, these 12 signs are distributed among the 12 houses and 9 planets are placed in various houses. This visual representation of the signs, the planets and the houses is called a ‘Janam-Kundali’, and this ‘Janam-Kundali’ or a horoscope is studied to predict how an individual’s life would progress in due course of time.

Let’s now find out about the different types of Vedic Astrology and how is it different from Western astrology.

Types of Vedic Astrology:

It has been believed that Vedic Astrology has three main branches. These three branches are:

Siddhanta:

This branch deal with astronomy and its application to astronomy.

Samhita:

This branch of Vedic Astrology mainly deals with the prediction of important events in the world. For instance, natural disasters, conflicts between nations, political events, and matters related to finance etc. This particular branch also deals with matters relating to Vastu Shastra, for the construction of new houses, or buying and setting up of shops and industries.

Hora (Predictive Astrology):

This branch deals primarily with the actual predictions according to Vedic Astrology, and has the following different sub-branches:

Jaatak Shastra or Hora Shastra (Natal Astrology or Horoscopy): This is based on the individual ‘Janam-Kundli or horoscope.
Muhurt or Muhurtha (Selection of time): This is considered one of the most important sub-branches of Vedic Astrology. It specifically deals with the selection of the correct time or ‘muhurt’ to get the maximum benefits.
Swar Shastra (Phonetic Astrology): This is based on predictions based on names and sounds.
Prashna (Time-based Astrology): Here predictions are done based on the time when a question is asked by somebody who has come to seek advice.
AnkJyotisha (Numerology): This is referred to that sub-branch of Vedic Astrology where predictions are done based on numbers.
Nadi Astrology (Predictions on an Individual basis): This is also considered one of the most important sub-branches of Vedic Astrology. This refers to an ancient treatise having detailed instructions about a specific individual.
Tajik Shastra (Annual Horoscopy): This branch of astrology is done on predictions based on the annual movement of the Sun.
Jaimini Sutras: This is a non-conventional method based on the timing of events. This was advocated by the renowned astrologer, Acharya Jaimini.
Nastjaatakam (Lost Horoscopy): This refers to the sub-branch that deals with tracing lost horoscopes or the reconstruction of horoscopes of individuals.
Streejaatak (Feminine Astrology): This relates to a special sub-branch of Vedic Astrology that deals only with female nativities. Now let’s see what are the major differences between Vedic Astrology and Western Astrology.

Comparison between Vedic and Western astrology?

Many people still believe that Indian astrology has been greatly influenced by Western astrological principles. Though this has been vigorously denied and examples are cited to prove that ‘Vedic Astrology’ is far more ancient and much advanced than Western astrology. The major difference in ‘Vedic Astrology’ is that it relies on the sidereal zodiac, i.e. using the current position of the constellation as its base on the other hand western astrology primarily relies on the tropical zodiac. This means that as per western astrology, the motion of planets is measured against the position of the Sun during the Spring Equinox. The second most important difference is that ‘Vedic Astrology’ has several elements such as the ‘Zodiac’, the ‘Nakshatras’ etc, which are not included in western astrology. Let us now find out what are the different elements that are incorporated in Vedic Astrology.

Elements of Vedic Astrology:

According to ancient Hindu scripts there are sixteen ‘Vargas’ or divisional charts that are used in ‘Vedic Astrology. Let’s take a look at some of the significant ‘Vargas’:

Zodiac: According to Vedic Astrology the ‘Nirayana’ or sidereal zodiac is a belt of 360 degrees that has been divided into 12 equal parts. Also, each part is called a ‘Rashi’. This element also forms the major differentiator between Vedic Astrology and western astrology.
Nakshatra or Lunar Mansions: According to Vedic Astrology, there are 27 equal divisions of the night sky and each ‘Nakshatra’ is identified by a prominent star.
Dasas or Planetary Periods: According to the Sanskrit language ‘dasa’ refers to the ‘state of being’ and it is also believed that a ‘dasa’ is largely responsible for governing the state of being of an individual. The ‘Dasa’ are primarily indicative of which planet may be active during a period of ‘dasa’. Furthermore, it is also said that the ruling planet at the time of ‘dasa’ eclipses the mental capabilities of a person and thus forces that individual to act according to the nature of the planet.
Navagraha or Heavenly Bodies: As per ‘Vedic Astrology, the nine planets are referred to as ‘Navgraha’ in the solar system. These nine planets are the Sun(‘Surya’), the Moon (‘Chandra’), Mercury (‘Budh’), Venus (‘Shukra’), Mars (‘Mangala’), Jupiter (‘Brihaspati’), Saturn (‘Shani’), Rahu (‘North node of the Moon), and Ketu (‘South node of the Moon). It is also believed that these ‘Navgrahas’ have a major role to play in the decision-making of humans.
Gocharas or Transits: As per Vedic Astrology the ‘Janam-Kundali’ or birth chart of an individual shows the position of the ‘Navgrahas’ in the birth chart. It is also believed that the movement of the ‘grahas’ and its interaction with the ‘grahas’ of the birth chart is called ‘Gochara’ in the Sanskrit language.
Yogas or Planetary Combinations: In Vedic Astrology, a combination of planets placed in specific relationship to each other is called ‘Yogas’. Also, ‘Raja Yogas’ are believed to be givers of fame, status and authority; and are formed with the association of the ‘Lord of Kendras’, or quadrants. It is also believed in Hindu mythology that these ‘Raj Yogas’ are the culmination of blessings given by Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi.
Bhavas or Houses: The ‘Janam –Kundali ‘ or birth chart as per Vedic Astrology, is the visual representation of the complete 360-degree circle of life, that is divided into houses and each house represents a particular aspect of human life. It is also known as the ‘Bhava-Chakra’. Furthermore, each ‘bhava’ is believed to span an arc of 30 degrees with 12 ‘bhavas’ in any birth chart or horoscope.
Dristis or Aspect of the House: According to Hindu astrology, ‘grahas’ can only forward aspects of a house. The farthest one is believed to be the strongest aspect of the house. That is why an aspect of a house is also referred to as ‘Dristi’, which also means sight.

Vedic Astrology as a Science:

According to ancient Hindu scripts, our literature is full of instances where astronomical objects and other celestial bodies have been explained in a mythological context. These celestial bodies refer to constellations, planets, and zodiac signs. According to experts, it was the ideal method to explain the movement and positioning of planets and stars during those times. However, as our current understanding of astrology lies, it relies on two modern principles that are statistics and probability.

Now statistics is believed to be that part of mathematics, that deals with the correlation of two seemingly independent units without knowing the cause of that correlation. For instance, if in a group of say 1000 people, we have the same astrological chart; then it can be said 70-80 per cent of certain astrological rules holds true for all.

Also to further enhance this claim that ‘Vedic Astrology is a science, the Indian government have also decided to introduce Vedic Astrology as a discipline of study in Indian universities. It has also been done in the belief that ‘Vedic Astrology is a discipline that lets us know the various events happening in human life and in the universe on a time scale.