[INDOLOGY] Indian criticisms of astrology?

[Anand Venkatkrishnan]

Dear Martin,

The satirical *Kaliviḍambana* by Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita in the seventeenth
century famously contains a critique of astrologers (*jyautiṣka*), if not
of astrology *per se*, in vv. 14-22. E.g., v. 16:

āyuḥpraśne dīrgham āyur vācyaṃ mauhūrtikair janaiḥ |
jīvanto bahu manyante mṛtāḥ prakṣyanti kaṃ punaḥ ||

"If asked how long one will live,
An astrologer should predict a long life.
Those who survive will think greatly of him;
The dead can't question anybody."

It's possible to read verse 22 as Nīlakaṇṭha lumping together astrologers
with "fortune-tellers, dream interpreters, and divine oracles" as equally
bogus charlatans competing with each other.

Regards,
Anand

2017-02-03 17:17 GMT+00:00 Walter Slaje via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info>:

> Dear Martin,
>
>
> consequential criticism of astrologers can be found in the context of a
> general criticism directed against the power of fate (*daiva*) and the
> believers in fate in the *Mokṣopāya*, chapters II.4-9.
>
> There, I am aware of two direct references to astrologers (see below), but
> implicit criticism of daiva and °jñas is also palpable in the
> *Mahābhārata*, see my paper “*Nāsti daive prabhutvam.* Traces of
> demythologisation in Indian Epic thought.” *Journal of Indian Philosophy*
> 26 (1998): 27-50.
>
>
> Here are the passages from the Mokṣopāya:
>
>
> kālavidbhir vinirṇītā yasyāsti cirajīvitā |
>
> sa cej jīvati saṃchinnaśirās tad daivam uttamam || (*Mokṣopāya* II.8.17)
>
> kālavidbhiḥ [=] daivajñaiḥ (*Mokṣopāya-Ṭīkā* II.8.17)
>
>
>
> kālavidbhir vinirṇītaṃ pāṇḍityaṃ yasya rāghava |
>
> anadhyāpita evāsau tajjñaś ced daivam uttamam || (*Mokṣopāya* II.8.18) ||
>
> tajjñaḥ [=] paṇḍitaḥ (*Mokṣopāya-Ṭīkā* II.8.18)
>
>
>
> 8.17 Wenn derjenige, dem die Astrologen eine lange Lebensdauer
> vorherbestimmt [haben], mit ge­spaltenem Haupt [weiter]­lebt, dann [steht]
> das Schicksal über [allem].
>
> 8.18 Wenn derjenige, dem die Astrologen Gelehrsamkeit vorherbestimmt
> [haben], Rāghava, ein kenntnisreicher [Mensch wird], ganz ohne studiert zu
> haben, dann [steht] das Schicksal über [allem].
>
>
>
> Text:
>
> Anonymus Casmiriensi)s: *Mokṣopāya*). Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe. I-II.
> *Das Erste und Zweite Buch. Vairāgyaprakaraṇa. Mumukṣuvyavahāraprakaraṇa.
> Kritische Edition* von Susanne Krause-Stinner. Wiesbaden 2011.
>
>
>
> German Translation:
>
> Anonymus Casmiriensis: *Mokṣopāya*. Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe. I-II.
> *Der Weg zur Befreiung. Das Erste und Zweite Buch. Das Buch über die
> Leidenschaftslosigkeit. Das Buch über das Verhalten der Befreiungssucher.
> Übersetzung* von Roland Steiner. Wiesbaden 2014.
>
>
> Regards, Walter
> ​
>
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-- 
Anand Venkatkrishnan
Junior Research Fellow
Balliol College, Oxford
Ph.D. South Asian Religions
Columbia University (2015)


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