What is Vedic Astrology

Great sages of yore have considered Vedas as APAURUSHEYA which means “Not of a Man, Superhuman” which is directly coming from God himself. A man made writings cannot be called as Vedas; it has to directly come from God.

Simple Analogy can be given to understand this point:

Just like whenever we purchase a complicated electronic machine & we are confused about how to operate, then immediately we look into a MANUAL written by the manufacturer TO KNOW how to use the machine. Similarly, when God created this beautiful yet complicated creation, he also gave us The Manual to understand how all of us have to work in harmony with the creation.

Vedas are nothing but a manual for the human society. As per the Etymology, the Sanskrit word Veda is derived from the root word “vid” dhatu which means “TO KNOW”, to know what is Right & Wrong or we can say VEDA means KNOWLEDGE.

The Vedic scriptures are the spiritual literature of the ancient Indian culture, written in the Sanskrit language. They are comprised of a huge collection of books which include material, religious as well as spiritual knowledge.

The sub-vedas are called Vedangas, which literally mean the limbs of the Vedas which are 6 in number. Just like the limbs of the body, Vedangas perform various supportive and augmenting functions in the study, preservation & understanding of the Vedas.

The Six Vedangas are:

1. Shiksha (śikṣā): phonetics (study of sounds and pronunciation associated with each syllable)
2. Kalpa (kalpa): ritual (the ethical, moral and procedural percepts associated with the performance of rituals as a way of life)
3. Vyakarana (vyākaraṇa): grammar (study of word and phrases)
4. Nirukta (nirukta): etymology (meaning of complex words and phrases)
5. Chandas (chandas): meter (study of rhyme and meter)
6. Jyotisha (jyotiṣa): Time measurement, forecasting movement of Sun, Moon and other planetary movements and their influence on the micro-cosmos

Now, we will discuss about what is Jyotisha/Astrology:

Jyotisha is considered as the Eye of the Vedas.

Astrology comes from the latin word “Astrologia”, which means Astro – “star” & logia – "study of", in general we can say, Astrology is the study of the stars and their influence on people's lives.

The Vedic scripture tells that there is strong connection between Macro cosmos (Brahmanda) and Micro cosmos (Pindanda) which most of the people in general are not aware.

Eg: All of us have studied in our schools the influence of Sun in our lives and we can grossly perceive the same and understand that without Sun there is no life, hence Sun is directly influencing all the living entities in its own way and unfortunately, we are not aware of the influence of all the other planets on our life.

Eg: Moon also plays a very important role in ones life..
Bhagavt Gita 15.13 Lord Krishna says:

gām āviśya ca bhūtāni
dhārayāmy aham ojasā
puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ
somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ

WORD FOR WORD:

gām — the planets; āviśya — entering; ca — also; bhūtāni — the living entities; dhārayāmi — sustain; aham — I;ojasā — by My energy; puṣṇāmi — am nourishing; ca — and; auṣadhīḥ — vegetables; sarvāḥ — all; somaḥ — the moon; bhūtvā — becoming; rasa-ātmakaḥ — supplying the juice.

TRANSLATION:

I enter into each planet, and by My energy they stay in orbit. I become the moon and thereby supply the juice of life to all vegetables.

Similarly, all the planets in the Macro-cosmos does influence the Micro-cosmos, the living entities in the creation. For example:

1. Sun influences our Body, father, etc
2. Moon – Mind, mother, medicine
3. Mars – Male organ, siblings, property, land, house
4. Mercury – Intelligence, communication skills
5. Jupiter – wisdom, wealth, liver
6. Venus – wife, comfort, vehicles
7. Saturn – profession, longevity

The Horoscope is nothing but a planetary position at the time of a person's birth which acts like a tool in the hands of an Astrologer who can read the influence of the planets on the person.

Astrology just indicates the person’s nature, interests, level of intelligence, mind set, good time and bad time, etc which can help a person to understand his situation and work accordingly to improve the situation to his best capacity.

Many Rishis such as Vasishta, Bhrgu and Garga were masters of astrology and taught to their disciples in the Guru paramapara (disciplic succession). Before the beginning of the present age, Kali-Yuga which began in 3102 BC, Parashara Rishi milked the essence of the various schools of Vedic astrology present at this time and distilled it into his text known as Brihad Parasara Hora Shastra. Parashara Rishi spoke this text to his disciple Maitreya Rishi and like this the knowledge has been passed through the ages. Hence we can say Parashara is the father of astrology and the basic school of Vedic astrology practiced in India is called the Prasahara school of astrology.

Indian Astrology/Hindu Astrology has strong root on Vedas & the knowledge comes from bona fide authoritative sages who are also called the representatives of God, hence it is called Vedic Astrology.