Human Destiny is mysterious. Everyone suffers from
certain miseries, sometimes in life. A very rich man enjoying all the luxuries
of life may be unhappy due to marital-discord, lack of progeny or any other
personal matter. On the other hand a middle class man blessed with all the
domestic happiness may feel strangulated in material affairs. There are a very
few who are fully satisfied or blessed in every aspect.
And why is it so that for some, to achieve certain
things in life they have to involve, as compared to others, very less efforts
where as for some, to achieve certain things they have to really work very
hard. There is definitely some kind of invisible cosmic force that helps and
obstructs us in various ways in our day to day lives.
Jyotish counterparts
Among the various ancient
sacred texts available to mankind from thousands of years “THE VEDAS” are
considered to be the oldest and the greatest wealth of information about this
cosmic force that controls all living creatures on this Earth. “Vedas” are
ancient Indian repositories of knowledge and the inheritance of Great Indian
Sages and culture. There are four Vedas namely, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Atharva
Veda and Sam Veda and of these the former three contain about 250 shlokas or
treatise on the great Indian Divine Science dealing with the influences of
planets and stars on Human affairs. The VEDAS are considered to be the words of
GOD. The ancient Hindu “Rishis”, a Sanskrit word meaning “Seers” or high
priests of the Vedic knowledge understood the connection between the celestial
bodies of our solar system and the human body. The motion of the planets and
their positions in relation to each other, acts upon us throughout our
lifetime, just as the lunar phases push and pull the oceans and the seas.
This system has been made by
the ALMIGHTY to control us, just like parents try to keep a control on their
kids by punishing and/or rewarding them according to their deeds. In the same
way we are also punished or rewarded by these planets according to the Karmas
we perform. KARMA is the action of the past and partly action of the present
taken by one’s free will. GOD has given us power of reasoning and wisdom of
understanding and to judge the nature of our Karma. Whatever we commit is
completely based on our discretion. We all reap the good and the bad effects of
the karmas that are performed by us here on Earth (Bhu Loka) & since the
entire creation as we know is bound singly by the law of karma and nothing can,
has and ever will supersede this most powerful law made by God.
Sri Vishnu, being the preserver
of all the life on earth, has himself incarnated as 9 grahas (Planets) also
known as Nava Grahas, each graham having different energies and effects acting
upon different aspects of our lives , solely to bring forward the karmas of
man, good or bad in the form of joys and sorrows. Every action performed by
each one of us, is recorded instantly and sent into a supreme database, which
knows exactly when the fruits of the particular karma must be reaped. The
Sacred Vedas also teach us a system to mathematically calculate the movements
and combinations of these planets from the date of birth, to know the future
ups and downs in a person’s life, which is called Vedic Astrology.
The karmic life of an
individual starts as soon as he/she takes birth, and destiny or fate or
sometimes referred to as karmic life map starts playing its role. All the
milestones like good times & bad times, luxury phases and poverty, moments
of happiness and despair, supreme strength and weaknesses, periods of
power/respect as well as humiliation, focused mind and anxiety, perfect health
and diseases, experience of love as well as failure in relationships, etc.
during one's lifetime are concluded as karmic life map. This life map is the
result of the karmas performed by that soul in its previous birth.
Whatever Karma’s we had
performed in our previous birth Results in the family or health and other
circumstances we are born with, in this world. Like we say when a child is born
in a wealthy family, he’s born with a silver spoon. But with the karmas of our
present life we further improve or worsen this karmic life map of ours. Like if
we do good karmas we would get a good life partner, good business partners,
servants, employer, staff and later on good children etc. And we become
wealthier and happier in our lives but the opposite happens if we perform
negative Karmas. This proves why a person born in a poor family becomes rich,
successful and happier in his later life and why a person born in a wealthy
family becomes poor, sick and gets a life full of miseries and ill fate.
The divine science that VEDAS
teach us to foresee our Karmic life map also teaches us certain remedial
measures to combat the negative factors of this karmic life map. This divine
science, called Vedic Astrology and also more popularly known as Jyotisa is
held in highest esteem amongst the cultural treasures of India and is also
regarded as the eyes of the VEDA. Jyotisa is a science with sound rules and
parameters based on perfect logic, uses mathematics and astronomy to accurately
pinpoint the exact location of the heavenly bodies to be considered at the
times of birth. This system was first taught by Lord Shiva to Brahma, the
creator who then taught this to 18 other Rishis (celestial Sages) and ever
since then, this knowledge has flowed down from generation to generation.
Permutations, combinations,
different sets of calculations and planetary relationships formed with each
other also known as Yogas are the core elements of Vedic Astrology which are
different for each person born on Earth, just like thumb fingerprints which are
not even the same for twins.
Today some other forms of
astrology are also practised around the world namely-
Western Astrology, Chinese
Astrology, Herbrew Astrology, Tajik Astrology and Indian Astrology. Among all
these the Indian Astrology is the current version of the ancient Vedic
Astrology. This Indian Astrology has influences of the Western and Muslim
(Tajik) astrology on it. It has grown in the past 15 years with the
availability of Texts in various languages and the use of computers to do the
complex mathematical calculations. Indian astrology is a summation of Vedic
Astrology in addition to global inputs that have come due to interactions of
various cultures.
According to the Vedas the
several ways to improve our planetary karmic life map include meditation
(chanting of Vedic mantras), Yoga (physical postures), Ayurvedic aushadha
(natural medication), Colour Therapy, Donation, yagyas (form of Vedic planetary
prayers) and Ratnas (wearing of Vedic Planetray Gemstones and talismans). In
addition, one should regularly pray to the Almighty. He should be content,
humane, helping the poor and needy, kind, generous and benevolent. Avoidance of
anger, pride, greed, cheating, envy and deep involvement in sensual pleasures
further act as adjuvant. These ways have been tried and tested for thousands of
years and found to be very effective.
In Vedic Astrology the nine
planets that control our lives are SUN, MOON, MARS, MERCURY, JUPITER, VENUS AND
SATURN (known as the visible planets) along with two lunar nodes, RAHU
(ascending lunar node) and KETU (descending lunar node). These nodes are the
two intersecting points of the solar and the lunar planes as seen from the
Earth.
Ratnas or Gems, nature’s
colorful gift, absorb the cosmic rays and energies of planets and produce their
eternal effect on us. This cosmic effect of Gems has been referred to in the
Vedas. From the Vedic era therapeutic application of gems has also been
understood. Indian Sages used them in four forms namely churna (powder), Brahma
(Calcined), Rasayana (Chemical), Dharna (wearing on body). Here we are only
discussing their usage in the modern context and mainly concerned with Dharna
of gem stone to ward off or mitigate negative influence of destiny and to
potentiate benefic influences of the planets. Associated with the SUN is the
RUBY, with the MOON is the PEARL, with MARS is the RED CORAL, with MERCURY the
EMERALD, with JUPITER the YELLOW SAPPHIRE, with VENUS is the DIAMOND, with
SATURN the BLUE SAPPHIRE, with RAHU the HESSONITE GARNET and with KETU is the
CHRYSOBERYL CATS EYE. Associated with the nine planets are also the days of the
week, different parts of the human body and different metals.
A learned Vedic Astrologer can
make an accurate horoscope of an individual by his/her date of birth, time
& location of birth and can easily identify the benefic planets in an
individual’s life which are falling in the weak houses. If the Vedic Gems of
those benefic weak planets are worn with their proper rituals and timings they
can potentiate those planets and can benefit the life of that individual in a
great way.