For further information please email me at gargamuni@aol.com or call me at 352-262-9095 or at 386-418-4247

Purchase excellent Astrological Gems

Jyotish, or Vedic astrology is part of the vast body of knowledge known as the Vedas and dates back to the immemorial time of the Vedic age. According to the Vedas themselves, it is the original system of astrology introduced to the world. The Sanskrit word Jyotish can be translated as the “science of light” and is considered the “eye of the Vedas”. Thus from the Vedic age up until now, people have taken guidance from this illuminating eye to get vision and direction in all important aspects of their lives.

Disciplic Succession
The great sage Srila Vyasadeva first put the Vedic literature into written form approximately five thousand years ago. His father Parasara Muni, author of the classical text Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra, is considered to be the senior most authority of Vedic astrology. Prior to that, the Vedas had been passed down via oral reception. This was not because people were intellectually inferior, but because the memories of the people in general were far superior to ours today. The Brahmins or intellectual classes of men were “sruti-dhara”, meaning they remembered and imbibed all knowledge upon hearing it once. Knowing that the times would soon change Vyasadeva was divinely inspired to put the Vedas into written form in order to help preserve them. His father Parasara’s writings, along with other great sages’ like Brighu and Garga, form the foundation that the science of Jyotish is built upon. As stated by the Vedic literature themselves, the Vedas emanated from the Supreme at the time of creation to act like a manual for living in the material universe. The great sages were entrusted with this knowledge, and have carefully passed it down for the benefit of all of its inhabitants.

The Vedas
The Sanskrit word Veda literally means knowledge. All knowledge that exists in the world is originally rooted in the Vedas. A careful study of the contents of the Vedic literature would find a valuable warehouse of all fields of knowledge including social, political, agricultural, physiological, psychological, metaphysical, spiritual, and much more. Actually, the list is ever expansive. That is because all real knowledge is technically Veda, and the Vedic histories indicate knowledge and sciences that both equal and surpass modern technologies, as we know them today. For example the Vedas have texts on rocket science and organ transplants that date back thousands of years ago.

Undoubtedly the Vedas are most known for their wealth of spiritual knowledge. Indeed, its knowledge is meant to culminate and support the most elevated knowledge disseminated therein, or the science of self-realization. Of all the material knowledge found in these ancient texts , Jyotish is revered as the highest. Actually, it is considered spiritual knowledge, because the guidance it gives a living entity is supposed to ultimately point them toward self-realization. Therefore practicing astrologers are supposed to be serious spiritual practitioners as well. Otherwise they miss the whole point and ultimate purpose of Vedic astrology, which is to guide all living entities toward spiritual realization and thus attain ultimate happiness.

The great sages who originally passed down Vedic knowledge including astrology were liberated souls. Such souls are very rare and are meant to guide the overwhelming majority of the universe’s inhabitants, the conditioned souls, throughout their lifetimes. In the restricted stage of existence the living entity is quite molded by his limited atmosphere. One of the greatest encumbrances of the conditioned soul is his forgetfulness of his real nature. Meaning he has an inability and often times little interest to know who he is, how he has got here and where he is going. Whereas a liberated soul is tri-kali-jna, or is able to see past present and future; the conditioned soul has a hard time knowing any of these very accurately. For example if you were to ask the average person what they were doing at the same time last week they may find difficulty answering. It may even take some time for someone to remember what he or she was doing exactly one day ago; what to speak of a month, a year or a decade ago. According to the Vedic literature, this life is not our only one. In the Bhagavad-Gita it clearly states in Chapter 2, Verse 13 “As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” The liberated souls are called nitya-siddha or eternally liberated. They know well how intricate the laws of karma or cause and effect are. Their consciousness is not bewildered by the ever-mutable nature of the material world, including old age, disease, death and rebirth. In fact the only reason they take birth in the material world is to help the conditioned souls make spiritual progress. Jyotish (the science of light) or Vedic astrology is supposed to aid in this process, as it is a study of the karma of the individual and gives advice how one can utilize their free will for their ultimate benefit. The conditioned souls are called nitya-baddha, or eternally conditioned. Eternal is used here in the sense that they have been subject to illusion, or ignorance of their real identity since time immemorial and will continue like that until they are purified through the guidance of the great sages and activities of pure devotional service to God. Vedic astrology is supposed to help one toward that ultimate goal while also assisting with one’s material necessities and reasonable desires on the way. By following the Vedas properly, according to bona fide spiritual personalities, our basic frailties are gradually overcome.

Fundamentally, a major difference between the conditioned soul and the liberated soul, is the conditioned soul is bound by four basic human frailties whereas the liberated soul is not. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the most prolific commentator on Vedic literature of the twentieth century, spoke about these four defects during a lecture in London in 1969, which can be in found in the introduction to his commentary on the Sri Isopanisad. The first frailty of the conditioned soul is the tendency to commit errors and miscalculate. No matter how intelligent or capable a person is in their chosen field, time after time history has shown us that they have a predisposition to err. Thus the old adage “to err is human” is a universally accepted truth. For example, many great and competent personalities of the world have made mistakes that have ultimately cost them their lives. People like Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Gandhi, John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, John Lennon, etc. were all assassinated in part because they were not prudent enough to avoid danger. In reference to this fact Srila Prabhupada said “… in our country Mahatma Gandhi was considered to be a very great personality, but he committed many mistakes. Even at the last stage of his life, his assistant warned, ‘Mahatma Gandhi, don’t go to the New Delhi meeting. I have some friends, and I have heard there is danger.’ But he did not hear. He persisted in going and was killed.” Similarly John F. Kennedy chose to ride in the motorcade in Dallas although he knew it would make him vulnerable to his enemies. Of course life and death are ultimately in God’s hands, but the point is here is that because of our limited resources we have the tendency to commit errors. A careful study of the day-to-day lives of people in general would find they are fraught with poor decisions. One need not look any further than the high divorce rate to understand this as a fact.

The second frailty is literally to be subject to illusion, or to accept something as truth that is factually not truth. In the Vedas this is called Maya, or that which is not. Under the influence of Maya the conditioned soul becomes covered in ignorance with so many misconceptions. The number one misconception is the notion that “I am this body”. We think we are our bodies and thus we identify ourselves with everything connected to our bodies. Therefore we go around thinking I am an American or I am an Iraqi. I am black or I am white. I am male or I am female. I am rich or I am poor etc.… The fact is that all these designations are simply connected to the temporary material body and have nothing to do with our eternal nature and true identity. We are not our bodies, yet we foolishly move about in this world thinking that we are and everything connected to the body is ours. This is called illusion.

The third frailty of the conditioned soul is called the cheating propensity. In general, everyone has the tendency to cheat others. Due to this tendency in the world there are so many tricks and scams that we have to be constantly vigilant of. Not only in business, but even if you ask directions in the street it is quite common that someone will try to give you instructions when they don’t really know the way themselves. This is because people have the tendency to pose themselves as authorities when they actually are not. Today many scientists and philosophers write so-called authoritative textbooks based partly on speculation. While it may be well and good to present interesting theories to others for their consideration; such theories and speculation are too often presented as fact, thus misleading the ordinary people. For example so-called scientists do the same thing when they present the idea of evolution as a fact instead of a theory; thus deceiving or cheating the people in general. They should present their theories as just that, theories, instead of indoctrinating people to the extent that their theories have become given facts. Such misinformation does a great disservice to society and that is the cheating propensity.

Finally, the fourth frailty is the fact that we have imperfect senses. The power of our sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell extend to only a very small part of the spectrum of reality. Yet with these faculties, many people think they know much more than they really do. They are just like a frog that has only seen his well his whole life but tries to imagine how big the Atlantic Ocean is. What is really the power of our senses in terms of gathering knowledge? When a boy is very small he might think that a man is inside a television, or the Sun or Moon is no bigger than a half a dollar. It is only by hearing from others that we understand we are sometimes subject to optical illusions. When we rely on our imperfect senses our knowledge can only go so far. There are many things that take place right under our noses that our senses generally do not register. I remember my father blowing a new dog whistle he had just purchased when I was a child, which had no sound to my ears but influenced my dog to enthusiastically run home. My inability to hear the high pitch of the whistle did not mean the sound did not exist. It definitely existed, as do still higher pitched sounds that even dogs cannot hear. Unfortunately people today have an attitude that they don’t believe something unless they see it. Srila Prabhupada often said that people demand that God be shown to them but do they have the eyes to see God? A person cannot even see their hand in front of their face in a dark room. So what factually is the power of our seeing? Just as our senses are imperfect so are our knowledge gathering instruments that are built with our imperfect senses like telescopes and microscopes etc. Yet when scientists use these instruments they think themselves very knowledgeable. But their limited knowledge factually only scratches the surface of reality.

The key ingredient toward receiving any knowledge, including of course Vedic astrology is humility. We have to be well aware of these natural human defects and thus have the right attitude in receiving knowledge from higher authorities. Srila Prabhupada gives the example that the best way to find out who your father is is to simply ask your mother. In today’s society, there are unfortunately a number of parents who cannot be trusted. But assuming you have an honest mother, this would be the best method. The Vedas are considered to be one of the mothers of the universe. According to the Vedas themselves the first living being in the universe was Lord Brahma, who received the Vedas from within his heart. He in turn instructed all this knowledge, including astrology, to the great sage Narada and other disciples and sons; likewise they imparted it to their disciples and in this way the knowledge has come descended to human society.

The Vedas state that there are three kinds of evidence for gathering knowledge. They are called pratyaksa, anumana, and shabda. Pratyaksa refers to direct evidence as obtained by our imperfect senses. As it is based upon one of the four human defects, it cannot be relied upon for anything beyond our immediate sphere of existence. And even within that sphere it is subject to so many mistakes. Like the prior example of a child thinking the Sun is no bigger than a half of dollar. It may appear as only a relatively small disc in the sky, but we are well aware, when we become educated, that it is much bigger than the earth and many other planets. The point is that pratyaksa is not a very reliable way to gather knowledge.

Anumana, or inductive knowledge, is a little more advanced; but can be greatly misused as well. Inductive knowledge takes whatever knowledge a person has, and speculates or hypothesizes what they don’t know based on suggestion. Often scientists and philosophers utilize the cheating propensity via bluff and word jugglery making people believe they are authorities on matters they actually know little or nothing about. They do this by dazzling people with the knowledge they do have, which is generally beyond the understanding of the common people, and conjecturing knowledge that they actually do not have; fooling people in the process.

Knowledge received from authoritative sources is called Shabda-pramana or Sruti. Sruti refers to knowledge, which has to be received through aural reception. The Vedic literatures state that in order to receive knowledge beyond the purview of the limited senses, we have to hear from authorities. If we want to know what is going to be broadcast on the television we have to check with the official program guide. Then we will know. Vedic Astrology falls under the category of shabda as it was originally transmitted to Brahma, the engineer of the universe from the Supreme. Brahma in turn imparted the knowledge to Narada, who imparted it to his disciples. In this way the knowledge came down to Parasara and Garga and has been disseminated to human society ever since. Human beings are far more flawed than the great sages and thus it is more rare to find one proficient in real astrology today. One has to become qualified through study, prayer and spiritual practice. Through such disciplined coupled with the right attitude one can get the blessings and empowerment of the higher authorities. Through such blessings one acquires the proper shakti, or the power of intuition. This combined with years of study and book knowledge can make one a qualified astrologer for this age. The era we inhabitants of the earth currently live in is called the age of Kali-yuga or the iron age when quarrel and hypocrisy run rampant and the better qualities of the human being gradually diminish. According to the Srimad-Bhagavatam 5000 years have passed since the dawn of the current age and there are approximately 427,000 years of this age remaining. Fortunately we are currently about 500 years into the “golden period” of kali-yuga, which lasts 10,000 years. It is during this time that spiritual advancement is more possible for the living being through the process of harer-nama sankirtana, or chanting the glories of the name of the Lord. During this golden period astrology in also more possible to benefit from than other other times in the age of Kali. If a candidate is serious in the above disciplines, then he can become deputized to become an acting astrologer in this age for the benefit of humanity. Although we can not expect to have the same qualities and powers of the sages of past ages we can help to lead and counsel humanity toward peace, happiness, and spiritual progress if we become qualified by seriously follow their example.

At this point one may ask how does Vedic Astrology differ from the Western astrology that most people are familiar with. Obviously it is important to be aware that both schools of astrology differ greatly from the “Daily Horoscope” column of your local newspaper. Such so-called readings give information that is far too vague and generalized to be taken seriously or accurately apply to anyone’s horoscope other than the possibility of luck and chance. Eliminating professed astrology used as “entertainment purposes”, it is valuable to see the similarities as well as the differences between Vedic and Western astrology, which many of us growing up in the west are familiar with.

It is significant that both systems have related interpretations of planetary positions in one’s chart. This will be more elaborately explained in an upcoming chapter dedicated exclusively to the similarities and differences between the two schools of thought. Suffice it to say in some ways western astrology could be interpreted as non-different from Veda. In other ways, however, Western astrology differs greatly from Vedic astrology, perhaps the most notable being the very calculation of the chart itself! This most significant discrepancy between the two schools is due to the phenomena known as the ayanamsa, which can be translated as the “proceeding portion”. This is actually a drifting occurrence called the precession of the equinoxes. The Western zodiac is relative to the earth’s tropics, and thus changes about one degree every 72 years. Approximately 2000 years ago the two zodiacs were the same, but since then they have drifted apart. Therefore your chart according to the Western calculation is almost 24 degrees different from the original Vedic version. This would serve to change your sign for a particular planet about 80 percent of the time. According to astronomical calculation the Western chart is only a symbolic representation of the planets in the heavens because of the fact that it is computed relative to the earth’s tropics. One of the reason astronomers have discounted astrology is because of this detail. The Vedic calculation, however, uses the actual coordinates.

Another difference is that according to Vedic authority, the outer planets, namely Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are not considered sufficiently influential in human affairs. Therefore they were not utilized in Vedic astrology. It is highly questionable how Western astrologers can attribute certain qualities for these planets in different signs, considering these planets were recently “discovered” in modern times, and as they are slow moving have only passed through a few signs since they have been observed.

The next dissimilarity between the two schools is the utilization of the 27 nakshatras or lunar mansions, sometimes mentioned as stars, in Jyotish that are considered very important in the interpretation of charts. Western astrology does not use these.

Still another difference is the significance put on the Sun and the Moon in the two systems. While in Western astrology the Sun is considered generally the most important in reading a chart, in Vedic astrology, the Moon and rising signs are generally given more significance. This is because, in Vedic astrology, the Sun is considered to represent the external or physical body, while the Moon represents the mind, and the process of thinking, feeling, and willing. In addition, the rising sign has much more to do with the personality and general direction of life. Vedic astrology naturally emphasizes these more, as they are much closer to the soul or the real person, who is ultimately transcendental to the natal chart.

Perhaps the most glaring contrast in terms of forecasting upcoming events is that Jyotish uses systems of planetary periods, of which the vimshotarri dasha system is the most utilized. It has been shown to be significantly accurate in predicting events in a persons life, and combined with the consideration of gocharas or transits, gives the Vedic astrologer a very powerful forecasting method. This predictive tool covers the entire duration of a person’s life in accordance with their birth chart and is calculated from the native’s Moon position at birth. Many Western astrologers from around the world are now recognizing the precision of the Vedic dasha system.

Whether a person is aware of it or not, stellar influences have a very compelling effect on our lives. If we learn to utilize the guidance Jyotish can give, we will improve the quality of our existence and gain a much deeper understanding of our life’s circumstances. Vedic astrology covers the gambit of life’s experiences and is there to assist us in acting according to our strengths and weaknesses. For example, when a person has their natal chart interpreted by a proficient Vedic astrologer, they become better acquainted with their overall karma and understand what energies they can expect to deal with at different times in their lives. A good astrologer will give us valuable suggestions how to attend to them. By posturing a prashna, or an important question, to a trained Vedic astrologer, we can be helped to make more confident decisions involving the otherwise unknown future. When planning to start an important commitment or endeavor like a business, building a home or entering into marriage, we can get a muhurtha from a Vedic astrologer where we can elect a “birth time” for the event to help ensure success and mitigate negative influences as much as possible. If we are interested in starting or improving a significant relationship with someone, we can have a compatibility study done according to Vedic astrology to see how practically workable and fulfilling it can be. Without a doubt, Jyotish covers all spheres and activities in life, some of which we just touched upon briefly. Queries like “In which direction should I encourage my child?” “What career move should I make?” “When should I sign that important contract?” and “How can I improve my marriage?” can be focused on insightfully by a sober study of the planets.

According to the Vedas, two things are working simultaneously involving our future; namely destiny and free will. Just as we are now reaping the results of our past activities according to the law of karma, so we will similarly reap in the future according to how we react to what is occurring in the present. Actually Vedic astrology encourages a proactive and progressive approach to life according to our nature and proclivities. We are all predestined to a certain amount of external happiness and distress in life; that is difficult to avoid. But how we react to and utilize what the possibilities of fate puts before us determines our real success and happiness in life. So free will is of paramount importance. It’s not what we have to work with that matters most, but how we choose to work with it! If we inteligently utilize whatever opulence and good qualities we have due to past pious work, we create auspiciousness in our lives. If, however, we misuse our blessings and privileges to exploit others then we create bad karma for the future. Similarly if we respond to our bad karma with patience and humility, then the results of our impious deeds become gradually neutralized and prospects for a better future open up for us. If, on the other hand, we react to such trials with resentment and retaliation, not seeing the opportunity to learn the valuable lessons before us, we only serve to further our entanglement in the web of anguish. Vedic astrology is essentially a study of our karma. It teaches us how to adjust our attitude and take responsibility for our own lives and actions. It shows us where we are and why we got there and shines the light of knowledge so we can take informed steps into the future. Ultimately it points us toward realization of our self and is suppose to inspire us toward freedom from karma and love of God ensuring real happiness now and into the future.

Contact Information:

Gargamuni Das
PO Box 436
Alachua, FL 32616
352-262-9095 or at 386-418-4247
gargamuni@aol.com

Our own Vegetarian, Vegan, Alternative & Spiritual Sales Shop
Amazon Herb