About Hindu Astrology, Philosophy , Cosmology and Cosmogony
Arise, awake, Seek out
The Great Ones to know Truth ineffable
As dangerous as the Razor’s edge
So is the path difficult to cross
I walk on the Razor’s edge alone
The path is narrow, the way Unknown
Go and seek out the Seers
Whose body is full of Bliss
Who enjoys divine Immortality
Whose body know the warmth
Warmth subtle of the Serpent Power
As it ascends from the Base Chakra
To the highest Crown Chakra !
Thou exist as Prosperity in the wise
As Mental Chaos in the evil doers
As Intelligence in the Seers
As Purity in the Saints
Thou art supreme, O Power Divine !
By Thy Grace supernal
Wealthy men become
With lots of largesse and subordinates
Thou art the conferror of Wealth !
For those who want Self Actualisation
Thou makest them do righteous deeds
Heaven they get due to Thy Grace
Thou art the Mother of both realms !
Diwali is the great Festival of Lights. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful holidays.
Actually Diwali is made up of Five Days. First is the Dhana Trayodashi, the thirteen lunation astrologically, the New Year of Business.
The second day is the Naraka Trayodashi, dedicated to the demon Narakasura, who was vanquished by Lord Vishnu.
The third day is the day of Lakshmi Puja, the Goddess of Prosperity. All shops are closed during this day.
The fourth day is the Bali Worship day, the day when the sacred animals are treated with care and paraded through the streets.
The fifth day is Yama, dedicated to brothers and sisters !
May the Goddess of Prosperity bless you during these auspicious days !
Chakras as dynamoes of Cosmic Energy. They exist in the subtle physical
body. The Serpentine Power lies coiled in the Root Chakra. She rises due to
Meditation,when the body feels the subtle warmth of Meditation
Transcendental.
These Chakras are ( in ascending order)
1. Root Chakra ( Muladhara )
2. Anal Chakra ( Manipura )
3. Solar Plexus Chakra ( Swadhistana )
4. Heart Chakra ( Anahata )
5. Throat Chakra ( Vishuddhi )
6. Eyebrow Chakra ( Ajna )
The Five Great Elements ( Earth, air, water, fire & ether ) & Mind reside
in the Six Chakras.
Earth-Principle resides in the Root Chakra
Water-Principle resides in the Navel Chakra
Fire-Principle resides in the Solar Plexus Chakra
Air-Principle resides in the Heart Chakra
Ether-Principle resides in the Throat Chakra
Mind-Principle resides in the Eye Brow Chakra.
The Microscomic representative of the Macrocosmic Shakti ( Cosmic Power ),
the Kundalini, sportest as the Six principles in the Six Chakras in Her
Cosmic Play. She sports as Universal Power in the Macrocosm; and in the
microcosm as the coiled Serpent Power!
O Infinite Power ! Thou art the Mind-principle in the Eye brow Chakra
In the Throat Chakra , Thou sport as the Ether-principle
In the Heart Chakra, Thou sportest as Air- principle
In the Solar Plexus Chakra, Thou art Fire-principle
In the Navel Chakra , Thou exist as Water-principle
In the Root Chakra, Thou art the Earth _Principle, O Mighty Mother !
And in the Crown Chakra, Thou sportest blissfully with thy beloved Consort !
The meditator feels a subtle warmth in the body during her rise. His voice
becomes propertied as the all the tuned spheres. The personality of the
native becomes very attractive due to the influx of Jupiterian energy.
Wisdom and learning grace the individual. Torrential bliss can be felt, as
She rises furthur. . And when She reaches the Crown Chakra, it is Cosmic
Consciousness for the native !
She is the Relative of the Absolute, the Finite of the Infinite, the Form of
the Formless. She alone determines about the destiny of the individual. She
alone exists as Mind Universal and is all this that is.
Intelligence Thou art
The essence of all sciences
The Goal supreme to be attained
Thou art the Trinity
Wisdom, Wealth & Valour
All four aspects are Thine
Wisdom, Wealth, Virility, Time
Thy true nature is Transcendence
And Thou sportest in the garden
Of the mighty Upanishads !
The cause of Universes and multiverses
Thou art the Trnity in all systems
Id, Ego, Superego
Parent, Adult, Child,
Vata, pitta, Kapha
Sattwa, Rajas, Tamas
Conscient, Subconscient, Superconscient
Even the triune Godhead knows thee not
An infinitesimal manifestation of Thine
Is the Cosmos; Primal Nature Thou art !
Most of the Vedic Yantras have Hexagrams or the Six Pointed Star in the middle. This is ithe Tripura Sundari Yantra, which is a Master Plan of Manifestation. The Central Dot is the Bindu, the Absolute Self from which the Universe came into existence !
The Ashwaroodha Yantra normally adorns offices. This S G ( Sacred Geometry ) symbol can attract people and destroy enemies, the Seven Deadly Sins in Man.
The Sudarshana Yantra is great in destroying enemies. The Star of Lakshmi is an octagram, an eight pointed Star, which can bestow the Eightfold Prosperity.
The S G emblems can be seen adorning offices and homes in India. The temples, synagogues, churches and mosques are all built using S G.
The Star of David is also a Hexagram. So is the emblem of Auroville. The upward triangle represent Being, Knowledge, Bliss and the downward triangle Life, Mind & Matter !.
Pentagrams, hexagrams and octagrams are all used in Sacred Geometry. The Golden Ratio, the Divine Proportion or the Sectio Divina or Phi ( 1.618 ) , Pi( 3.14) are all divine numbers used in S G.
In the Sri Yantra, there are three Hexagrams or three triangles bent upward and three triangles bent downward. The Sanskrit Shat Kona is the hexagram or the Six Pointed Star.
The Fibonacci sequence gives the Golden Mean
1,1,2,3,5,8…….
If you add 1 and 1 you get 2 and if you add 2 and 3 you get 5 and so on and if you divide 5/3 or 8/5 you get 1.618 which is Phi or the Golden Mean !
We have said earlier about the Obstacles Removing Deity, Ganesh. He combines both Macrocosm and Microcosm. He is the Lord who can remove all impediments and hence all Hindu poetic verses start with a verse in praise of Him !
Mythologically He is the son of Shiva and Parvathi, the Father and Mother of all that is.
All occult power He bestoweth
All obstacles He removes
He is the Celestial Deity
I bow to that Mighty One !
He is worshipped on the Fourth Lunation, on Ganesh Chathurthi. . People in North India follow Ganapatya or the worship of this Deity. There are five more Tantric schools, Saura ( worship of Sun), Vaishnava ( worship of Vishnu ), Saiva ( worship of Sive ), Shaktheya ( worship of Shakti ) & Kaumara, ( the worship of Subramanya ).
With body huge
Shining like gold
To The Wisest One
My obeisances !
His face like the baby Moon
On antelope’s black skin He sits
Three threads run across His body
To Him my obeisances !
The lord of the Cosmos entire
He can assume any Form
The Form the devotee wishes
To Him my obeisances !
All Knower of verities philosophic
He went around His Father and Mother
He circled Consciousness and Force
To Him my obeisances !
According to Mythology, both He and his brother, Muruga were told to circle the Universe. Muruga set out on His vehicle, the peacock, but Ganesh just circled His mother, Parvathi and father, Shiva ! He did it faster than His brother !
Universe lies inside My Mother
The Universe is Her play and display
Father is Consciousness Cosmic
So I just circled Her ! says He !
There are many who think Tantra is Sacred Sexuality and permits wealth, wine and women !
Madyam mamsam cha meenam cha
Mudra maithunam eva cha
Eka pancha makarasya
Naranam moksha dayaka
These five
Wine, meat, fish, yoga mudra and Sexuality
Are capable of conferring
Eternal Salvation !
In Vino Veritas – there is truth in wine. Alcohol is the stimulator of the Yes Function in man. It makes him one with Truth. In small doses, wine can be beneficial !
Bacchus’ blessings are a treasure
And drinking is the soldier’s pleasure
Rich the treasure
Sweet the pleasure
Sweet is pleasure after pain ! ( John Dryden )
Omar Khayyam also
Divorced barren Reason from the bed
And took the daughter of the wine to spouse !
Mamsa for meat stands for Mam Sah – I am He ! It is Soham reversed. Madya is not physical wine, but the Wine of Bliss stemming from Self Actualisation. Maidhuna symbolises the physical copulation of Purusha and Prakriti, the male and female components of the Ultimate. Meena is fish and represents the feminine channel, Ida and the masculine channel, the Pingala.
Apart from physical meanings, the above verse on Tantra has deep symbolic meaning !
Astronomical Knowledge is known in Sanskrit as Siddhanta. Transcendental Knowledge is Vedanta.
There are 18 astronomical treatises compiled by 18 Seers. Each Siddhanta is named after its author. They deal exhaustively with Astronomy.
They are
Surya Siddhanta
Pitamaha Siddhanta
Vyasa Siddhanta
Vasishta Siddhanta
Atri Siddanta
Parasara Siddhanta
Kashyapa Siddhanta
Narada Siddhanta
Garga Siddhanta
Marichi Siddhanta
Manu Siddhanta
Angira Siddhanta
Lomasa Siddhanta
Paulasa Siddhanta
Yvana Siddhanta
Chyavana Siddhanta
Bhrigu Siddhanta
These are the main astronomical treatises. There are others like Arya Siddhanta by Aryabhata II, Brahma Sphuta Siddanta by Brahmagupta and Maha Bhaskareeya by Bhaskara.
When we look up at the heavens on a clear night, we find a multitude of celestial bodies, illuminating the sky with their radiance. It looks like a large hollow hemisphere, with the observer at the center. The planets and the luminaries seem to be scattered thorough the heavens at large distances.
This picture of the observer, the sky as a large crystalline hemisphere , is a very convenient model for the study of the Heavens.
This hemispherical model of the heavens is called Khagola, the Celestial Sphere. Another geocentric model, the Khagola is an imaginary sphere of large radius.
Astronomy, Maths and Astrology ( Siddhanta, Samhita and Hora ) are considered to be Apaurusheya, divine in origin. They were revealed to the Rishies in higher states of Consciousness and hence are revealed sciences. Descendit e Caelo, they cometh from Heaven !
Their date of compilation is believed to be 12th century BCE
Rotation, Revolution & Diurnal Motion
The earth rotates about its own axis, from west to east in the course of a day. Due to this rotation, the observer is carried eastward. But the observer is unaware of his motion in space. To the observer, the Celestial Sphere with all the heavenly bodies, is seen as rotating from east to west. This apparent westward motion of the heavenly objects is known as the diurnal motion.
We have said that Vishu 8 or the Sun’s entry into the eighth degree of sidereal Aries, is the time for the farmers to sow.
Vishu or the solar ingress into Aries, is celebrated all over Kerala. This is the dawn of a new Agricultural Year, as it marks the end of the hot seasons of Kumbha ( Aquarius ) and Meena ( Pisces ). Temperature touching 43 degrees is disconcerting. Vishu is the heralder of the two monsoons, the South West and the North East.
The Vedic Calender is astro-meteorological and the farmers know when to sow and when to reap. So the best time to sow is in Medam or Mesha or Aries. Anything planted after this date will fructify, as the Edava Pathi or the South West Moon takes over in June and the Thula Varsham or the North East Monsoon takes over in Oct-Nov.
In traditional farming, plants and trees need watering on alternative days. Now both monsoons ensure that plants and trees will be watered by Nature !. Hence the green landscape engineering done by Nature makes Kerala beauteous !
When the Sun reaches its maximum declination at 23 degrees 27 mins South, at the Tropic of Capricorn, ( the end of Dakshinayana ), the Indian Ocean becomes hot & the northern places of the Indian subcontinent become cool. Then we find the phenomenon of cool winds condensing to form clouds, picking up moisture laden winds from the Bay of Bengal, sweeping down on the Himalayas and the Indo Gangetic plains and pouring over peninsular India. Kerala also gets these rains and hence the South West Monsoon which ends in September is replaced by the North East Monsoon and this rainy season or watering by Nature continues till Dhanus, the 15th of December ! Hence the tourists find Kerala enchanting, because of the green landscape architecture effectuated by Mother Nature !
India is an agrarian economy, dependent heavily on the monsoons. In 1895, the rains never came and India experienced drought and famine. The monsoons can also be destructive. Trees are uprooted, cables smashed, houses destroyed as a result of poor infrastructure. In 2008, our paddy fields were flooded due to heavy rains and the nearby inhabitants had to be evacuated. Despite its potential for destruction, monsoons are generally welcomed, as it liberate the natives from the blistering heat of Kumbha (Aquarius ) and Meena ( Pisces ).
Vishu marks the beginning of Vasanta Rithu, the first of the six seasons.
Farmers in Kerala say that
the seeds sown on Aswathi Jnattuvela ( the Sun’s transit of the first 13 degrees of Aries )
and mango seeds sown on Bharani Jnattuvela ( the Suns’s transit of the constellation of Bharani )
will fructify.
The best time for planting cocounut trees is on Patham Udayam, the Tenth Rising of the Sun, when Sun enters the tenth degree of Aries.
So Vishu is an agricultural festival, based on the Wisdom of the Heavens and not a religious festival !
The Jnattuvelas are the contribution of Kerala Astrology. Another contribution of K A is Gulika, the son of Saturn and Trisphuta, the Triune Longitude. Kerala Horary Astrology is supposed to be the best.
More info about Kerala at Kerala Heritages.
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