 14. Astrology |
Astrology is the study of man's response to planetary stimuli. The stars and constellations have no conscious benevolence or animosity; they merely send forth positive and negative radiations (energies) of themselves. These do not help or harm humanity, but offer a lawful channel for the outward operation of cause/effect equilibriums that each man has set into motion in the past.
-Yogananda
From astrological references in ancient Hindu and Taoist literature, scholars have been able to ascertain the dates of the authors. The scientific knowledge of the Rishis was very great; in the "Kaushitaki Brahmana" we find precise astrological passages indicating that in 3100 B.C. the Hindus were far advanced in astronomy, which had a practical value in determining the auspicious times for astrological ceremonies. An article by Tara Matain in East-West (magazine) dated February 1934 says of the "jyotish" or body of Vedic astronomical expositions: It contains the scientific lore that kept India at the forefront of all ancient nations and made her the "Mecca" of seekers after knowledge. "Brahma Gupta," one of the "jyotish" words is an astronomical treatise dealing with such matters as the Heliocentric motion of the planetary bodies in our solar system, the obliquity of the ecliptic, the earth's spherical form, the light of the moon, the earth's daily axial revolution, the presence of "fixed stars" in the "Milky Way"; the law of gravitation, and other scientific facts that did not dawn in the western word until the time of Copernicus and Newton.
The so called "Arabic numerals" so invaluable in the development of western mathematics came to Europe in the ninth century via the Arabs from India where that system of notation had been anciently formulated.
For further reading see: Sir P. O. Roy's "History of Hindu Chemistry," B.N. Seal's "Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindu's," B.K. Sarkar's "Hindu Achievements in Exact Medica of the Hindus."
Special relations were believed to exist between particular celestial bodies and their varied motions, configurations with each other, and the processes of generation and decay apparent in the world of fire, air, water and earth. These relations were sometimes regarded as so complex that no human mind could completely grasp them; thus, the astrologer might be readily excused for any errors.* A similar set of special relations was also assumed by those whose physics was more akin to that of the Greek philosopher PLATO. For the PLATONIC astrologer, the element of fire was believed to extend throughout the celestial spheres, and they were more likely than the Aristotelians to believe in the possibility of divine intervention in the natural processes through celestial influences upon the earth, since they believed in the deity's creation of the celestial bodies themselves.
