[INDOLOGY] 'Vedic' astrology (was: bhakti)

Tue Nov 15 17:16:32 UTC 2016

Hi Patrick,

One group that always emphasizes "Vedic" in their representations of Indian
traditions are the followers of Maharishi (Transcendental Meditation,
Maharishi Ayurved, etc.), and I believe that this group may have been very
influential in the use of the term among practitioners in the West. See
http://www.maharishijyotishprogram.eu/ for their astrology programme.
I am not sure how far back in time their astrology programme goes. I don't
know of anyone having specifically analysed their use of "Vedic". Papers on
Maharishi Ayurved can be found in *Modern and Global Ayurveda* (SUNY
Press), edited by Fred Smith and myself.
Best wishes,
Dagmar

On 14 November 2016 at 21:06, patrick mccartney <psdmccartney at gmail.com>
wrote:

> parts  1 and 2 of the english version are available below
>
> <http://goog_671250440>
> https://archive.org/details/BharatiyaJyotishSastra1
>
> https://archive.org/details/BharatiyaJyotishSastra2
>
> All the best,
>
> Patrick McCartney, PhD
> Fellow
> School of Culture, History & Language
> College of the Asia-Pacific
> The Australian National University
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> On Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 2:16 PM, Harry Spier <hspier.muktabodha at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear list members,
>>
>> For a detailed history of Indian Astronomy/Astrology from the Vedic
>> period  to the modern period see:
>> Bharatiya Jyotish Sastra by S. B. Dikshit.
>>
>> There is an english translation of this by R.V. Vaidya
>> published by the India Meteorological Department.
>>
>> Harry Spier
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 8:28 AM, Bill Mak <bill.m.mak at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> Without examining the actual content of “Vedic astrology", I believe
>>> this discussion may become completely misguided. If one talks about the
>>> lunar astrology “hinted at” in the *Vedāṅgajyotiṣa, *indeed Vedic
>>> astrology seems the correct term. From the extant materials, this form of
>>> Vedic astrology based on 27/28 nakṣatra-s was practiced by the Buddhists
>>> and Jains. By the time of Varāhamihira, only remnants survived as collected
>>> in the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*.
>>>
>>> As far as I can tell, what is referred to “Vedic astrology” refers
>>> actually to Greco-Indian horoscopy. Not only does it have little in common
>>> with the older “Vedic astrology”, the way it was conceptualized was
>>> completely different - it is based on solar motion, using zodiac, planets
>>> and planetary relation, concepts which are absent and foreign in the Vedic
>>> corpus. Unless one stretches the definition of Vedic to cover everything
>>> under the Indian civilization, “Vedic astrology” as such is a pure
>>> misnomer. No scholars on *jyotiṣa* would commit such travesty, from
>>> Kane, PV Sarma to Pingree.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Bill Mak
>>>
>>> --
>>> Bill M. Mak, PhD
>>>
>>> Visiting research scholar
>>> Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW)
>>> New York University
>>> 15 East 84th Street
>>> New York, NY 10028
>>> US
>>>
>>> Associate Professor
>>> Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University
>>> Yoshidahonmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan 606-8501
>>> 〒606-8501 京都市左京区吉田本町
>>> 京都大学人文科学研究所
>>>
>>> email: mak at zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp
>>> Tel:+81-75-753-6961
>>> Fax:+81-75-753-6903
>>>
>>> copies of my publications may be found at:
>>> http://www.billmak.com
>>>
>>> On Nov 13, 2016, at 2:11 PM, Robert Zydenbos <zydenbos at uni-muenchen.de>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> patrick mccartney wrote:
>>>
>>> I guess the question for me specifically regarding Vedic astrology is
>>> exactly the point Valerie and Luis raise. It could be called by the
>>> astrologers 'Indian Astrology', and perhaps it is a better representation,
>>> however they have settled on the use of Vedic to qualify their predictive
>>> system. Although, it's possible that someone out there might think that
>>> 'South Asian astrology' is a better term because all this knowledge
>>> developed prior to the birth of the Indian nation.
>>>
>>>
>>> If we ask such questions, there is the real danger that we enter the
>>> field of endless 'politically correct' quarrels. (E.g., is it not Western
>>> hybris to use the word 'Indian' for ancient Bhāratīya knowledge systems?
>>> etc. etc.)
>>>
>>> As for 'Vedic' astrology vis-à-vis other systems of astrology: there are
>>> also plenty of Jaina astrological practitioners (one of them has / had a
>>> regular program on a commercial South Indian TV station), there is a long
>>> and serious tradition of writing on astrological subjects by Jaina authors,
>>> and systemically I do not see any major differences with 'Vedic' astrology.
>>>
>>> The only significant difference I have come across concerns methods of
>>> prāyaścitta. I once heard a Jaina astrologer in Karnataka advise a person
>>> to pray to 'Infant Jesus' to counteract a certain planet's influence. The
>>> next person happened to have the same difficult, and she said "he should
>>> pray to Infant Jesus, but since you re a Jaina, you should do japa of this
>>> mantra to Munisuvratasvāmi". Brahmins, so she said, would have to do a pūjā
>>> to Viṣṇu.
>>>
>>> Intrigued by these bits of advice, I asked the astrologer more about how
>>> this works. She said that ultimately the worship of all those beings
>>> (Infant Jesus, Munisuvrata, Viṣṇu) produced the same effect, but only if
>>> the worshipper had real faith in what s/he was doing. Hence the object of
>>> worship needed to be chosen accordingly.
>>>
>>> Such experiences only strengthen my belief that there is nothing 'Vedic'
>>> at all about 'Vedic astrology' except the conventional religious window
>>> dressing by certain brahmin astrologers.
>>>
>>> RZ
>>>
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>>
>>
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