Vedic Astrology's Origin and Its Vedic Connections Part II
The first pair of Angas, "Siksha" and "Chanda", teach us how to speak the Veda. The second pair, "Nirukta" and "Nyakarana", teach us how to understand the meaning of the Veda. While the third pair, "Kalpana" and "Jyotisa", teach how to use the Veda. Each vedanga is related to a bodily limb. Jyotish is given the epithet "Veda-Chakshus", the eye of the Veda, because it allows us to see through opaque time and to understand how the gunas(Qualities or modes of material nature) are working.
In the Vedas great stress was made on performing sacrifices and other observances at the Correct Time or (Muhurat) in order that such sacrifices and observances bear fruit; this is one area of jurisdiction of the vedanga jyotisa.
As mentioned the purpose of jyotisa, (astrology), is to show us how to use the Vedic knowledge. Let us look at some practical examples of how this could be done. The famous Bhagavad-gita verse ( 2.14) states:
Maatra-Sparshas Tu Kaunteya
Sitosna-Sukha-Duhkha-Dah
Agamapayino Nityas
tams titikshasva Bharata
"O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."
The concept seems easy to understand when nothing is troubling us. Problems arise, however, when a person is beset by some obstacle or crisis. Then it is a different story because there is a tendency for us to lose our philosophical objectivity. This is where jyotisa (literally "light from God"; jyoti - light, Eesa - God) can help by returning us to a proper philosophical perspective of things. Jyotisa can do this because it deals with time cycles and the science of time in general. Jyotisa can thus inform us when a particular effect will begin to manifest, how long it will last, and when it will depart. This allows one to act wisely, to tolerate the situation without being disturbed.
Without the positive reinforcement from Jyotish experts (Which generally lacks due to vested Interests) one may react in ignorance. Being caught in the temporary grip of a negative situation one may become depressed, desperate or in some other way mentally disturbed. In such a disturbed state of mind one may act in a negative or destructive way which compounds the negative situation one is in. Eventually the negative situation passes as they always do, but then one has to be responsible for one’s foolish behavior while in a disturbed mental state.
It is sure that if one considers one’s own life he/she will recognize situations where it would have helped greatly to know that there was going to be light at the end of the tunnel, even if one couldn't see it before. Perhaps he/she would have acted differently, not out of hopelessness or desperation but out of wisdom and tolerance for one’s present situation.
The Vedas are the storehouse of knowledge, both material and spiritual. But such knowledge aims at perfection of Self-Realisation. In other words, the Vedas are the guides for the civilised man in every respect. Since human life is the opportunity to get free from all material miseries, it is properly guided by the knowledge of the Vedas, in the matters of both material needs and spiritual salvation. The specific intelligent class of men who were devoted particularly to the knowledge of the Vedas were called the vipras, or the graduates of the Vedic knowledge.
Om Tat Sat
