Chapter XVI. Muhūrta

Volume V: Part I pp. 537–603

Chapter XVI. Muhūrta

Muhūrta

The word 'muhūrta' occurs twice in the Rg. In the dialogue between the rivers and sage Viśvāmitra that had come to the confluence of the Sutudri (modern Sutlaj) and the Vipaś (modern Beas) occurs the following¹ 'for the sake of my words (of your praise) that will be followed by the offering of soma may you, that follow the established order (of nature), stop from² flowing for a short while'. In another place the Ṛgveda says 'the opulent Indra, employing many tricks, often assumes different forms from off his own body, since he, being invoked by mantras addressed to him and upholder of the cosmic order and drinking soma at (usual and even) unusual times, comes thrice from heaven for a short time.' In both these passages 'muhūrta' means 'a short time, a few moments'. This meaning of muhūrta is found in the Śat Br. I 8. 3. 17 (tan muhūrtam dhārayitvā) and II. 3. 2. 5 (atha prātaḥ anaśītvā muhūrtam sabhāyām-āsītvapi) and in classical Sanskrit works like the Raghuvamsa (V. 58).

There is another meaning of the word 'muhūrta' in Śat. Br. X. 4. 2. 18 and XII 3. 2. 5 where it is said that there are fifteen muhūrtas of the day and fifteen of the night (i.e 30 in ahorātra) and that in a year there are 10800 muhūrtas (30 × 360³). Here the word muhūrta means 15th part of the day (i.e. in a general way about two nāḍikās or ghaṭikās) Rg. X. 189. 3 appears⁴ to contain a somewhat recondite allusion to thirty parts of the day and night 'by the rays of the sun thirty locations of the day (and night) shine forth; a laud is offered to the bird (the sun).' The fifteen names (viz. citra, ketu &c.) of the muhūrtas of the day and 15 muhūrtas of the night occur in Tai Br. III. 10 1. 1–3. The Vedāṅga-Jyotiṣa states that two nāḍikās are equal to a muhūrta (verse 7 of Vedāṅga-Jyotiṣa of Rg.) and that there is a difference of six muhūrtas (i.e. 12 ghaṭikās) between the longest and shortest day⁶ Manu I. 64, Kauṭilya (quoted in note 681) and several purāṇas (quoted in note 682) state that day and night are together equal to thirty muhūrtaṣ Therefore, the second meaning of muhūrta from early Brāhmaṇa times at least was 'a period of two ghaṭikās'. The Kausitaki-upaniṣad speaks of muhūrtas called Yestihas⁷.

It appears that some centuries before the Christian era the 15 muhūrtas of the day had received names different from those in the Tai Br. The Baudhāyana-dharma-sūtra (II. 10. 26), Manu IV. 92 and Yaj. I. 115 prescribe⁸ that a householder should get up from his bed in the Brāhma-muhūrta (the last half watch of the night). The Brāhmamuhūrta is mentioned in Droṇaparva (30.23). In the Raghuvamśa (V. 36) Kalidasa says that Aja was born on the Brahma muhūrta (i. e. Abhijit of which Brahma is the presiding deity) and in the Kumāra-sambhava (VII. 6) he says that the female relatives of Pārvatī decked her in readiness for her marriage on Maitra muhūrta and when the Moon was in Uttarā-Phalguni-nakṣatra. tithi (5th). Besides, in several places auspicious tithis, nakṣatras and muhūrtas are mentioned in general (e. g. Sabhā 2. 15 and 23. 4, Vana 253. 28). The Atharvana Jyotiṣa (1. 6-11) names the 15 muhūrtas of the day as noted below.⁹ The Muhūrtadarśana (or Vidyā-mādhavīya) gives almost the same 15 names (except Gandharva for Viśvāvasu), inserts Śakra before Varuṇa and omits Saumya and states that seven of these are auspicious viz.¹⁰ Abhijit, Vairāja, Śveta, Sāvitra, Maitra, Bala and Vijaya. The Ādiparva (123. 6) states that Yudhiṣṭhira was born when the moon was in the nakṣatra presided over by Indra (i. e Jyeṣṭhā), on the 8th muhūrta called Abhijit, when the sun was on the meridian by day and on a tithi called pūrṇā (here the 5th) In the Udyogaparva it is stated that a purohita was sent as a dūta of the Pāṇḍavas on Puṣya-yoga¹¹ and Jaya muhūrta (here Jaya is probably the same as Vijaya). The Manusmṛti says that naming the child should be done on the 10th or 12th day (from birth) on an auspicious tithi, muhūrta and nakṣatra.¹² It would be proper to assume that the auspicious muhūrtas intended by Manu are the same as the seven mentioned in the Vidyāmādhavīya. The Vāyupurāṇa enumerates the names of the 15 muhūrtas in the day somewhat differently and also of the night.¹³ The Matsyapurāṇa (in chap 22 2) refers to two muhūrtas, Abhijit and Rauhiṇa and mentions eight muhūrtas as auspicious on which to begin the construction of a new house.¹⁴ It also speaks of Kuṭapa as the 8th muhūrta (22 84) and states that Kuṭapa and the following four muhūrtas are the home of svadhā (i. e. śrāddha must be begun on kuṭapa and completed before the 12th muhūrta ends). It would be seen from the above that the names of muhūrtas were given at least twice, first in the Tai. Br and then in the Ātharvaṇa Jyotiṣa and the Purāṇaṣ A further stage was probably reached when their names receded into the background and practically disappeared from such works as those of Varāhamihira and only the names of the deities presid ing over the 30 muhūrtas of day and night remained and the muhūrtas came to be known by the names of the deitieṣ Though Varāhamihira refers to the muhūrtas of day and night in Bṛhat-saṃhitā 42. 12 and 98 3, he does not set out their names in that work, but in his Bṛhad-Yogayātrā he sets out the 30 names of the deities presiding over the muhūrtas of day and night as quoted in the note below.¹⁵ Varāha remarks: what- ever has been stated as proper for being done on certain nakṣatras, may be done on tithis presided over by the deities of those nakṣatras and also on karanas and on muhūrtas; that leads to success as the deity is the same.¹⁶ For example, if a certain thing is recommended for being done on Ārdrā nakṣatra, then it may be done also on the muhūrta of Śiva (i. e. the first muhūrta of the day) as the devatā of both (the nakṣatra Ārdrā and the first muhūrta) is the same (viz Rudra). The Ātharvana Jyotiṣa (2. 1-11) and (3 1-6) dilates upon what should be done on the 15 muhūrtas of the day. Some examples may be cited here: on Raudra may be done whatever is of a terrific nature; on Maitra should be done whatever is affectionate or friendly; on Sārabhata black magic may be resorted to against enemies; Abhijit is proper for all desired objects and gives success in all undertakings; Vijaya leads to victory if one marches on it, one may perform auspicious acts on it and sāntī rites, on Bhaga muhūrta one should choose a brāhmaṇa maiden for marriage and on Bhaga does not turn out unchaste It may be noticed that Patañjali (on Vārtika one on Pāṇini V. 1. 80) refers to the fact of a person being engaged for a month to teach one muhūrta every day.¹⁷

After the vernal equinox, days become gradually longer than the night and after the autumnal equinox nights are gradually longer and longer than the day. As there are only thirty muhūrtas from one sunrise to the next sunrise it is proper to say that a muhūrta is equal to two ghaṭikās (i. e 48 minutes). But it is also said that there are 15 muhūrtas of the day. The longest day in India of the Vedāṅga-jyotiṣa locality was of 36 ghaṭikās and therefore if one insisted on the number 15 each muhūrta on that day would be 2 ⅖ ghaṭikās, while as the shortest day was 24 ghaṭikās in length each muhūrta of that day would be only 1 ⅗ ghaṭikāṣ This difference in length in the case of muhūrtas is noted by the Viṣṇudharmottara (I 73 6-8) and by the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa (I. 2. 21. 122-123). The Viṣṇudharmottara (I. 83 67-73) sets out the names of the deities of the 30 muhūrtaṣ It appears that in ancient times it was understood that the longest day gained and was of 18 muhūrtas, while the short night of that day had only 12 muhūrtas i e. 6 muhūrtas got attached to the day sometimes and 6 muhūrtas got attached to the night sometimes when it was longest. Patañjali¹⁸ in his bhāṣya on Vārtika 2 of Pāṇini II. 1. 29 mentions this This would be a matter of personal observation which need not extend beyond a few years But even here Prof. Neugebauer smells Mesopotamian influence ('Exact sciences in Antiquity' p 178). This is a characteristic example of the jaundiced eyes with which most Western writers look at things Indiaṇ If the writer of the Vedānga Jyotiṣa was a native of the extreme north- west of India or had stayed there for some years he would have easily noticed the difference between the longest and short- est day as about twelve ghaṭikās, particularly as that very verse of the Vedānga-jyotiṣa shows that water clocks were then useḍ Even illiterate people in the villages of Bombay State know that the difference between the longest and shortest day in their villages is about six ghaṭikās (as Bombay is a little over 18 degrees, N Lat). There is nothing to show that the writer of the Vedānga-Jyotiṣa was not a person who was either born in the extreme north-west of India or stayed there The North-west of India was a centre of Sanskrit culture at least six centuries preceding the Christian era and Takṣaśīla (Taxila) was a great University where princes came to learn (vide Rhys Davids in ‘Buddhist India’ p 8). Pāṇini hailed from that part, it appears, and teaches the formation of words like Saindhava, Takṣaśīla and Śālāturiya as meaning a person whose ancestors lived in or who himself stayed in Sindhu or in Takṣaśīla or in Śālatura (Pāṇ IV. 3. 89-90 and 93-94). Later writers call Pāṇini Śālāturiya (vide Bhāmaha VI 62-63). To suppose that a learned Indian who was writing a work on Jyotiṣa had to run all the way from India to Mesopotamia a thousand or more miles for finding out the difference between the longest and shortest day in his own country or for saying that the difference between the longest and shortest day in Mesopotamia being 12 ghaṭikās the same was the difference between them in India or for consulting works written in the Cuneiform characters for that purpose almost borders on the absurd Besides Prof Neugebauer is not quite correct. The latitude of Babylon is 32°. 40´ North and even there the ratio would not be exactly as 3 to 2 Gandhara is 31°. 40´ North Lat; one who is to the north of Gāndhāra may quite naturally say that the ratio is about 3 to 2. Vide C. R. C. Report p. 225. Further in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol 8 (pp. 6–26), Prof. Waerden points out (at p. 18) that even in Babylonia the great omen series started from the primitive ratio 2:1 and that it was only later that the more accurate value 3:2 became knowṇ

It has been shown so far that the word ‘muhūrta’ had two meanings in the ancient Vedic times, viz ‘for a short time’ and ‘a part equal to two ghaṭikās’ As some muhūrtas of the day (of the duration of two ghaṭikās) were declared to be auspicious, gradually a third meaning came to be attached to this word viz. ‘time that is fit for the performance of an auspicious act’¹⁹. It would be shown later on how the medieval Dharmaśāstra works are full of muhūrtas in this sense.

In order to thoroughly understand the requirements about muhūrta in this third sense some knowledge of the planets, the twelve bhāvas (houses or places in a horoscope) and the rāśis would be necessary. Before entering on a discussion of these latter matters reference must be made to the change that came over even the best minds of India from about the 4th century B.C. It has been seen above (p. 527) how the star-gazer and the gaṇaka had come to be condemned and how one who was a professional astrologer (for money) had been looked down upon as an unworthy brāhmaṇa. All the same there was even about 500 or 600 B. C. a small section of people who looked upon the astrologer as all important, particularly to the king. The Gautamadharmaśūtra²⁰ provides ‘the king should choose as his purohita (palace priest) a brāhmaṇa endowed with learning, good family, eloquence, handsomeness, (middle) age (neither too young nor too old), character, and who is righteous in conduct and austere. the king should perform all (religious) acts as directed by the priest; he should respect (i. e. follow and not discard) what those who have devoted

tendencies viz. ( firstly ) daiva is all powerful, ( secondly ) human effort is superior, ( thirdly ) a golden mean between the two. Vide H. of Dh vol III pp 168-169 for discussion and for passages supporting all the three viewṣ The first chapter of Brhad- yogayātrā ( 20 verses ) and also of the Yogayātrā ( 22 verses ) deal with daiva ( Luck, Fate) and puruṣakāra. In spite of this, from the king to the lowliest man, almost everyone was firmly in the grip of astrology and even now astrology has great influence over some highly educated Indianṣ Astrology based on horoscopes and dealing with individuals was called horāśāstra or jātaka. By the time of Varāhamihira even learned men had forgotten the origin of the word horā. The Bṛhajjātaka says ²¹ 'according to some the word horā is obtained from ahorātra by dropping the first and last syllables, that horāśāstra well manifests what the fruition of acts, good or bad, done in previous lives is going to be'. It should be noticed that the Bṛhajjātaka insists on two matters, viz (1) it links up the horoscopic astrology to the doctrines of karma and punarjanma ( re-incarnation to wipe out karma ) and (2) the śāstra holds that the horoscope to be only a map or plan, which indicates future trends in a man's life arising from what he had done in a previous life or in previous liveṣ It does not here say that the planets in a man's horoscope will compel him to do this or that, but it says that the horoscope will only intimate in what directions a man's future might be evolveḍ These principles were repeated even by late medieval writerṣ For example, Raghunandana²² in his Ūdvahatattva (p 125) agrees with the Dīpikā that the planets only convey that sins were committed in former lives, but they do not them- selves produce evil results and quotes the Matsyapurāṇa in support that 'evil actions done in former lives bear fruit in the present life in the form of diseases, distress and the death of those dear to one'. There was probably a third underlying principle viz. the stars are the temples in which the gods reside, as said in the Śak. Br. and Tai. Br.²³ The Babylonians²⁴ and Assyrians based their astrology mainly on three assumptions viz. (1) the stars are temples in which the gods reside, (2) the stars reveal to men the intentions of the gods with regard to the future; (3) human history is predetermined at a heavenly council over which Marduk presideṣ These, except the first, are entirely different from the principles emphasized by Varāhamihira and those who came after him The Babylonians and Greeks had no (generally believed) doctrines of karma and punar-janma. Therefore, they could not make astrology serve indirectly a higher purpose, viz. of inducing people to lead a life of virtue in the present. Instead of the somewhat childish and often immoral legends of ancient times the cult of planetary influence and worship seemed to many minds far more rational and convincing.

The Sarāvali of Kalyāṇa-varman follows this and adds²⁵ that what is known among the people as Jātaka is called horā in this śāstra or the word (horā) may indeed be taken to be a synonym for 'consideration of what the destiny would be'. The word 'horā' has two other meanings in Sanskrit astrology viz. lagna (that sign which is rising on the eastern horizon at a particular moment) and half a rāśi (Brhājātaka I 9). Extravagant claims were made for the importance and utility of astrology and astrologers The Sarāvali declares ²⁶ there is no one else except astrology that would serve as a helper of men in acquiring wealth, as a boat in the sea of calamities and as a councillor when one starts on a journey or invasioṇ Varāhamihira boasts ²⁷ 'Even those who have resorted to a forest (i. e. who have become forest hermits), who are free from worldly attachments and are without property, ask questions of one who knows the movements of heavenly luminarieṣ As the night without a lamp or the sky without the sun, so a king without an astrologer (with him) wanders about (or wavers) as a blind man on a roaḍ If there be no astronomer and astrologer, auspicious times, tithis, naksatras, seasons and the ayanas (northward and southward passages of the sun),-these would all become confused What a single astrologer knowing the country and time can effect, that even a thousand elephants or four thousand horsemen cannot accomplish.'

The Rajamārtanḍa provides²⁸ 'the purohita (family or palace priest), an astronomer, a councillor and an astrologer as the fourth - these must always be supported by the king even with great trouble, as in the case of women'

It has, however, to be noted that Varāhamihira himself frequently gives up the principle that the horoscope is only a map showing tendencies and talks the language of certainty and of the planets causing this or that state of thingṣ To mention one or two examples In Brhaj-jataka²⁹ he says 'the sages declare that a person is born from a paramour for certain (and not from his reputed father) if in his horoscope Jupiter has no drsti (aspect) either on the lagna or on the moon or on the sun and moon that are in conjunction (in his horoscope) or when the moon is in conjunction with the sun and with a malefic planet (Mars or Saturn)'. In VI, 11 Br J. says³⁰ 'the moon in conjun- ction with a malefic planet in the 1st, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th or 12th house ( in a horoscope ) causes death ( of the new-born child ) if it is not also in conjunction with powerful Venus, or Mercury or Jupiter or if it is not in aspect with one of those powerful three. Again in Brhaj-jātaka XIV 1 it is saiḍ If the sun is in conjunction with another planet, he produces the following results, viz with the moon a man who makes (lethal) machines or works in stones; with Mars a man addicted to evil ways; with Mercury a man who is skilful, intelligent, famous and happy. with Jupiter, a cruel man or one intent on carrying out the objects of others; with Venus a man who makes money by going on the stage (or in a ring for boxing &c.) or by the use of arms, with Saturn a man clever in metals or different kinds of (merchandise or) vessels The Sārāvalī very frequently says that such and such a position produces ( janayatl, utpādayati ) or causes (karoti or kuryāt &c.) certain resultṣ Vide chap. 33 48–61.

Before proceeding further I must point out that India was not singular in its firm belief in Astrology The case was the same throughout Europe and among the Greeks after Alexander the Great. It has been already seen (p. 521) how Babylonian astrologers made reports to the king about the position of the Sun, the Moon and the planets and what they portended for the country, the king and the people Vide for example, Nos 9, 15, 16, 21, 32, 33, 52, 53, 63, 66, 67, 72, 74, 76, 86, 151, 164 from ‘The Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon’ by R Campbell Thompson (vol I and II, Luzac and Co. London, 1900). But horoscopic astrology was developed by them later In the Old Testament Isaiah (759–710 B. C ) 47 1 and 5 apostrophize Babylon as the daughter of the Chaldeans and in verse 13 we read ‘let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee’. In Daniel 4.7 it is said that on Nebuchadnezzar’s order ‘came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayerṣ’ Vide also Daniel 1 20 and 2.2 and 27. The Chaldeans held that the five planets specially controlled men’s destinies and five Babylonian deities were identified with them As Bouché-Leclercq observes (in ‘L’ Astrologie Grecque’ p 572) ‘Chaldean astrology had lived on a fund of naive ideas, it began at a time when the heavens were deemed to be nothing but a cover of the earth, when all the stars were ranged at small distances on the vault and the planets were supposed to move in the midst of stars like shepherds inspecting their flockṣ Greek science having ext- ended the world, the influence of stars moved back at enormous distances was not a postulate of common sense’ (vide note 748 above). Herodotus³² (II 82) refers to a peculiar practice of the Egyptians to regard each month and day as sacred to some deity, and says how from the day of a man’s birth they determined his fortune, character and the manner of his death. But this has no reference to horoscopic Astrology. The Egyptians knew nothing about the Zodiac before the Alexandrian age. There is no trace of astrology in early Greek astronomical writers and it appears that the Greeks got it from Babylon³³ after Alexander conquered Babylon, when teachers of astrology began to arrive in Greece. The Hellenistic mind was soon completely captivated by astro- logy. Before the advent of astrology the Greeks tried to peep into the future by oracles, interpretation of dreams and inspec- tion of the entrails and livers of sacrificed animals, from the flight and cries of birds and from prodigies and unusual occurrences such as eclipses, comets and meteorṣ Berossus³⁴, a priest of the god Bel at Babylon, dedicated to his patron Antiochus I Soter (280-261 B. C.) an elaborate work on Baby- lonian and Chaldean history and it was he who was instrumental in spreading Babylonian astrology in Greece by first introducing it in his school at Cos, an island not far from the south-western corner of Asia Minor. From Greece astrology spread to Rome about the 2nd century B. C. The signs of the Zodiac became house-hold words in Greece and Rome. Stoics like Posidonius helped it by defending it. Cato in ³⁵ his work on agriculture warns a farmer against consulting a Chaldean and in 139 B. C. an Edict was passed for expelling Chaldeans from Italy. Diodorus ³⁶ Siculus (a contemporary of Augustus of Rome) describes the theory and method of the Chaldeans in casting horoscopeṣ Horace ³⁷ (died in 8 B. O) in his ode to Maecenas refers to the influence of the signs Libra, Scorpion and Capricornus and of the protective power of Jove and about bale- ful Saturn in his horoscope. Strabo, ³⁸ who died in 24 A D., averred (XVI 1.6) that some Chaldeans were skilled in astro- nomy and the casting of horoscopeṣ Petronius (1st century A. D ) describes in his novel Satyricon a dinner in forty pages in which a tray displayed the signs of the zodiac under each of which was placed appropriate food ( vide Will Durant in “Caesar and Christ" page 298, (New York 1944). Juvenal, ³⁹ who flourished about the close of the 1st century A D, strongly inveighs against ladies who have great confidence in Chaldean astrology. It should not, however, be supposed that no dissenting voice was raised against astrology in Rome and medieval Europe. Cicero did not believe in astrology ⁴⁰ as he said that the planets were too far away (Bouché Leclercq's work p 572). St. Augustine (354-430 A. D.) in his work ‘City of God’ calls astrology a delusion ⁴¹ There were some points of difference between Baby- lonian astrology and Greek astrology, viz Babylonian astrology originally at least was interested in the State and the royal family, while Greek astrology was interested only in the indi- vidual and Babylonian astrology was a priestly business while in Greece the astrologers were laymeṇ Astrology became a study of international importance in Europe and was cultivated in the Universities as a subject of real value throughout Europe by the side of astronomy. Its great vogue among even well educated people was due to its apparent scientific structure with its houses, planets, twelve signs and so forth Allen (in ‘Star-crossed Renaissance’ Preface p. VIII) says that everybody in the Renaissance period in the West believed to, some extent in astrology. In ‘Stars above us’ by Prof. E. Zinner, Tycho Brahe is quoted as saying that he prepared every year an astrological forecast for his king (p. 76). Even Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler practised astrology themselves or countenanced its practice. Bacon was prepared to say that there was no fatal necessity in the stars, but they rather incline than compel Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos reigned supreme for about 1400 years and is even now a work of great authority for those who believe in astrology. It may interest the reader to know that the great German poet, dramatist and philosopher, Goethe⁴² (1749-1832), begins his Memoirs by mentioning the aspects of planets at his birth.

Two circumstances tended to weaken the influence of astro- logy in Europe, viz. the giving up of the geocentric theory in favour of the heliocentric theory and the vast additions to astronomical knowledge made during the last two centurieṣ But it should not be supposed that astrology has become defunct in the West or U. S. A. The immense strain and distress caused by the two world wars provided a powerful fillip for the spread and influence of astrology. Even in papers the circulation of which runs into millions there is a regular astrological feature every day or every week, which tells people what the stars portend for twelve groups of the world's population in the week or on the day mentioneḍ⁴³ What benefit the people derive from these prognostications it is difficult to understanḍ Often the prognostications are extremely vague and not of greater extant than three or four short cryptic sentenceṣ There must be millions of people in each of the twelve groups (such as those born from 23rd September to October 23rd, those born from 24th October to 22nd November and so on). It is said that in U.S.A. alone there are about 25000 registered astrologerṣ

Those interested in astrology in general and Greek astrology in particular and those who desire to know how astrology is regarded by many modern scientific minds may read 'L' Astro- logie Grecque' by A. Bouché-Leclercq' (1899, a masterly work in French on Greek Astrology) pp 570-593 (for arguments against astrology), 'The Royal Art of Astrology' by Robert Eisler (London, 1946), which contains a reasoned and sustained refutation, and Mr. J. C. Gregory's Article on 'Ancient Astrology' in Nature, vol 153 pp. 512-515 (a brief, but instructive and detached survey of astrology from Chaldean times to this day). The number of books in favour of astro- logy or expounding it is large and I do not propose to mention theṃ One book arrested my attention, viz. Louis de Wohl's 'Secret service of the sky'. On p 31 he propounds a doctrine very similar to what Varaha-mihira laid down as the scope of horāśāstra viz. that Astrology has nothing whatsoever to do with mere predictions, that it only indicates tendencies and that human will is free. He began well, but he did not observe his own preceptṣ On p. 235 he predicts 'I do not believe that Mahatma Gandhi will survive the first half of 1939'. This prediction turned out to be untrue and it is well-known that Mahatma Gandhi was killed on the 30th of January 1948.

The English language itself bears witness to the great influence of astrology in England, e. g. such words and expressions as 'ill-starred expedition', 'disastrous consequences', 'tempera- ments being either jovial, mercurial, or saturnine, 'moon-⁴⁴ struck (mad) lover'. The word influence ( from fluo to flow ) itself is due to astrological beliefs and words like 'aspect', 'conjunction', 'ascendant', 'retrograde' are all due to the language of astrology.

In support of Astrology Ptolemy (in Tetrabiblos, 1.2) puts forward certain argumentṣ The Sun not only affects every- thing on the earth by the change of season, but by its daily revolutions furnishes heat, moisture, dryness and cold in regular order. The Moon, the nearest heavenly body to the earth, causes the seas to change their tides with its own rising and setting times, and plants and animals wholly or partly wax and wane with the mooṇ The planets often signify hot, windy and snowy conditions of the air and affect mundane thingṣ The changes of seasons and winds are understood even by very ignorant men and by some dumb animalṣ Sailors know the special signs of storms and winds that arise periodically by reason of the aspects of the sun, moon and planetṣ But because sometimes sailors err, no one says that there is no science of navigatioṇ Therefore, a sufficiently observant man wise enough to know accurately the movements of the sun, moon and planets can predict whether the weather will be warmer or ⁴⁶ wetter. Why can he not, with respect to an individual, perceive the general quality of his temperament from the surroundings at the time of his birth, as for example that he would be such and such in body and mind? Ptolemy then condemns impostors who do not study the science but deceive common and trusting people and fill their pocketṣ He further points out that the nativity alone is not the sole basis of judging a person's future, that the country of birth, the race to which he belongs, the customs of the people among whom he is born, the way in which he is reared, the age in which he lives have also to be considered, all will contribute materially to the proper prediction, other things being equal. In IV.10 he points out that if one looks only at the horoscope without paying attention to nationality, manners and customs and the like he may call an Ethiopian fair⁴⁸ of complexion and having straight hair and a German a dark- skinned person and endowed with woolly hair or not knowing the peculiar customs say that an Italian whose horoscope is being examined may marry his sister (as ancient Egyptians did) or that his mother (as only Persians did) Vide Tetrábiblos IV. 10 p. 439 (Loeb. cl Library). In I. 3 Ptolemy argues that astrology is not only possible but is beneficial, because fore-warned is fore-armeḍ It is a very far cry to argue from the undoubted influence of the Sun and the Moon on mundane matters, such as heat and cold, rains, storms and droughts that the particular positions and aspects of the Sun, Moon and planets at the time of birth or conception (as some hold) are throughout an individual's life (it may be for a day or a hundred years) the dominating factor (if not the sole factor as many astrologers say) governing his conduct, character, family affairs and destiny. The reasoning of Ptolemy, though rather vague and not at all cogent or convincing He distinguishes between universal or general astrology (treated of in Books I-II) which relates to whole countries, races, cities and large bodies of men and particular or genethlialogical astrology treated of in books III-IV. Indian works also require the astrologer to consider the customs of the country and of the people. The Rājamārtaṇḍa⁴⁶ says 'First the usages of people must be considered; whatever is firmly established in the several countries, that alone must be followed; the learned give up what is hateful to the people; therefore an astrologer should proceed along the people's way. A learned man should never go against the inclinations of the family (to which the person belongs) and of the country'; and then he gives examples of the astrological requirements as regards planets in the case of marriages in several countrieṣ The general astrology about calamities or occurrences that affect all people spoken of by Ptolemy would fall under Śakhā or saṃhitā in the narrower sense (vide notes 688 and 690) Some important and interesting conclusions of Ptolemy may be noted here.

Ptolemy speaks of beneficent and malefic planets (I, 5), of masculine and feminine planets (I, 6), of diurnal and nocturnal (in Sanskrit dinabala and niśābala) planets (I, 7), (I, 12) masculine and feminine rāśis (signs), the aspects of the signs (I, 13) viz. opposition (180 degrees), trine (120°), quartile (90°) and sextile (60°), of the houses (svagṛhas in Sanskrit) of the planetṣ In Book II he divides the inhabited world into quarters equal in number to the triangular formations of the signs of the zodiac and after a disquisition which would be regarded by modern men as casuistical and practically unintelligible, Ptolemy sets forth a list of over seventy countries (then known), assigning to each sign some countrieṣ For example, to Aries he assigns Britain, Gaul, Germania, Bastarnia, Syria, Palestine, Judæa and one more; to Capricorn he assigns India, Ariana, Gedrosia, Thrace, Macedonia, Illyria. The whole of America, almost the whole of Africa (except the northern part), Indonesia and Australia and the other neighbouring lands are not considered by Ptolemy at all, because these were unknown theṇ He remarks at the end of II, 3 that as to metropolitan cities they should be treated like individuals and their nativity is to be cast by taking the time of the foundation⁸²⁶ of the city. instead of the times of birth, but where the exact time of foun- dation is not known then the nativity of the founder or of the king is to be takeṇ

A few important points of agreement and disagreement between Sanskrit astrological works and Ptolemy will be set out later oṇ

The literature on muhūrta (auspicious time for undertaking anything) is extensive. Almost all works on Kāla mentioned above such as Hemādri on Kāla, the Kāla-mādhava, Kalatattva- vivecana, Nirnayasindhu are in a way works on muhūrta, since they discuss the proper times for performing the saṁskāras and religious riteṣ Among the works the names of which begin with the word muhūrta are : Muhūrtakalpadruma (published by Nirn Press, Bombay) composed by Vitthala Dikṣita in 1628 A.D.; Muhūrta-gaṇapati composed in 1685 A.D. by Gaṇapati Raval, son of Hariśankar; Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi composed at Benares in śake 1522 (1601 A. D.) by Rāma, son of Ananta, with a com- mentary called Piyūṣa-dhārā composed in śake 1525 (1604 A.D.) by Govinda, son of Nīlakaṇṭha elder brother of Rāma (published in 1945 by the Nīrṇ press); Muhūrtatattva by Gaṇeśa, son of Keśava (ms in Bhau Daji collection of Bombay Asiatic Society); Muhūrtadarśana (also called Vidyāmādhavīya) by Vidyā- mādhava with a commentary called Muhūrta-dīpikā (about 1363 A.D.) by his son Viṣṇu, edited by Dr. Shamsastri (published by Mysore University, 1923-1926, in three parts); Muhūrta-dīpaka by Nāgadeva (a short work in 9 folios, mṣ in Bhau Daji collection); the Muhūrta-mārtanda, composed in śaka 1493, Māgha (1572 A. D.), by Nārāyaṇa, son of Ananta, of Tāpara village to the north of the temple of Śiva which is to the north of Devagiri, with his own commentary called Mārtandavallabhā (published by Nirṇ. Press, 1925); Muhūrtamālā by Raghunātha (mṣ in Bhau Daji collection); Muhūrta-muktāvalī (incomplete mṣ with only 45 verses in the same collection). Out of these, three works alone are now available in print viz. Muhūrta-darśana, Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi and Muhūrta-mārtanda. The rest are msṣ (in Bombay Asiatic Society's Library). In this section on muhūrtas reliance has been placed mainly on the three printed works along with the Jyotisaratnamālā of Śrīpati (about 1039 A. D.), the Rājamārtanda of Bhoja (ms in B. O. R. I., Poona) and the other works on Kāla. Among the works described as especially dealing with muhūrtas, the most elaborate are the Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi (containing about 480 verses with a very exhaustive commentary) and the Muhūrtadarśana (with about 600 verses) and also a very elaborate commentary. It would not be possible to deal with all matters contained in these workṣ The Muhūrtamārtanda (containing 161 verses) follows a middle course. 'According to it the subjects dealt with in it are briefly as follows:—what positions and aspects of the planets, what yogas, what tithis, nakṣatras, months and conditions of the family and of the mind should be avoided in the case of śubha (auspicious) actions; the proper times for saṁskāras, such as garbhādhāna, puṁsavana, jātakarma, piercing the infant's ear, caula, upanayana, the end of the period of Vedic study; topics connected with marriage (this takes up 55 verses i. e. a little over one-third of the entire work); times for kindling sacred domestic fire (gṛhyāgni); times for construction of a house and for first entrance into it; the proper times for starting on a journey or marching against an enemy king; auspicious and inauspicious śakunas (omens or prognostications); times for king's coronation, for wearing of rich clothes and ornaments and for agricultural operations, for sale and purchase of animals (such as cattle, horses), for bath with sesame and myrobalan, for finding lost articles, for constructing wells and tankṣ times when Vedic study should be stopped (anadhyāya) for long or temporarily; the results of a lizard or chameleon falling on one's body; what planet is inauspicious or auspicious in which sign from the sign of one's birth; the puṇyakāla of Saṅkrāntiṣ It may be mentioned that many of the provisions about auspicious aspects of planets, about upanayana and marriage, construction of and first entrance into a house, śakunas about the fall of lizards and chameleons were observed in the author's boyhood and are still observed by many, though there is gradually an increasing looseness of observance in these matterṣ

It should be noted that even as to śakunas Varāha-mihira puts forward the principle that it is the fruition of actions, good or evil, done in previous lives by men, that is manifested by śakunas for those who start on a journey or invasioṇ⁵²

How people had become almost crazy with the idea of finding out a muhūrta for everything from shaving, wearing a new garment to such solemn matters as marriage is well illustrated by the provision of a muhūrta for a theft in the Muhūrta-muktāvalī, viz the act of thieving succeeds when done on the nakṣatras Āśleṣā, Mṛgaśiras, Bharaṇī, Svāti, Dhaniṣṭhā, Citrā and Anurādhā, on a Saturday or a Tuesday and on a riktā tithi (4th, 9th and 14th).⁵³

Before entering on a discussion about individual acts or rites, it is necessary, in order that the reader may understand the prescriptions about muhūrtas, to explain some simple details of Jātaka. To discuss in detail all the details of Jātaka works is much beyond the scope of this work and would necessitate the writing of a volume by itself. A middle course has to be followeḍ Besides nakṣatras, their lords and their classifications, one has to bear in mind the rāśis, the planets and the bhāvas (houses or places) in a horoscope. For these reliance will be mainly placed on the Bṛhatsaṁhitā and Bṛhaj-jātaka of Varāhamihira, the Sarāvalī, Jyotisaratnamālā of Śrīpati, the Rājamārtaṇḍa, Jātakalankāra of Gaṇeśa (composed in śaka 1535, 1613-4 A. D.). The 27 or 28 nakṣatras and their presiding deities have already been enumerated above (pp. 499-504 and note 731). It has to be remembered that the devatā of a nakṣatra is often employed to indicate the nakṣatra or the tithi itself also. Here the classifica- tion of nakṣatras will be first discusseḍ From a passage of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad quoted above (in note 754), it is clear that the nakṣatras had very early (i. e. about 1000 B. C. at least) been classified as puṇya (auspicious) and pāpa (inauspicious) and into male and female. The Vedāṅgajyotiṣa (Yājuṣa) gives a classification of nakṣatras into ugra and krūra.⁵⁴ The nakṣatras are further classified in the Bṛhat-saṃhitā (chap. 97. 6–11) into dhruva (or sthira = fixed), tīkṣṇa (or dāruṇa), ugra (or krūra), kṣipra (or laghu), mṛdu (or maitra), mṛdutīkṣṇa (or sādhāraṇa or miśra), cara (or cala).⁵⁵

The Br. S. (97. 6–11) states that on Dhruva nakṣatras the coronation of a king, śānti (propitiatory rite for avert-ing evil or calamity), planting of trees, foundation of a city, charitable acts, sowing seeds, and other permanent acts should be done; on tīkṣṇa nakṣatras succeed attempts to harm, the acquisition of mantra (mystic verse or formula), raising ghosts, arrest (of a person), beating, separating (two friends or) relation-ships; ugra nakṣatras are to be used for success in extermination, destruction of another's property, cheating, arrest, poisoning, incendiarism, striking with a weapon, killing; kṣipra (or laghu) nakṣatras are declared as leading to success in sales, in making love, in the acquisition of knowledge, decoration, arts, crafts (such as carpentry), medicines, journeys; the mṛdu nakṣatras are beneficial in securing friends, sexual affairs, clothes, orna-ments, auspicious ceremonies (marriage, upanayana &c.) and singing; the mṛdu-tīkṣṇa (or sādhāraṇa) nakṣatras produce mixed results (on which mild or fierce acts may be done); the cara nakṣatras are beneficial in doing fleeting actions The Muhūrta-mārtaṇḍa provides that wise men engage in actions similar to the names of the groups of nakṣatras for attaining succesṣ It should be noticed that some works like the Jyotiṣa-ratnamālā (III. 9) and the Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi (II. 2–8) hold that Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday are respectively dhruva, cara, ugra, miśra, laghu, mṛdu, and tīkṣṇa and that actions that are appropriate for nakṣatras of those groups are appropriately performed on the respective week dayṣ⁵⁶

The Bṛhat-jātaka devotes fourteen verses for the characteristics of persons born on the 27 nakṣatras from Aśvinī. Two verses are translated for sample:⁵⁷ a person born on Aśvinis is fond of ornaments, is handsome, has a prepossessing appearance, is clever ( in all things ) and intelligent; one born on Bharaṇīs is of firm resolve, truthful, free from disease, clever and free from worry; one born on Kṛttikās is a heavy eater, fond of other's wives, impatient, famous; one born on Rohiṇī is truthful, pure, of agreeable speech, of resolute intellect and is handsome. The Rājamārtaṇḍa in verses 16-40 sets out the synonyms of 27 nakṣatras which include the names of the lords of the nakṣatras and synonyms of the lords of nakṣatraṣ The Jyotiṣaratnamālā, Bhujabala and M. C. 2. 22-23 divide 28 nakṣatras ( including Abhijit ) into four groups⁵⁸ of seven each, called 'andhākṣa' ( blind ), 'mandākṣa' ( of dim sight ), 'madhyākṣa' ( of medium sight ) and 'svākṣa' ( of good sight ) and state that property stolen on 'andhākṣa' nakṣatras may be recovered quickly, stolen on 'mandākṣa' nakṣatras after effort, stolen on 'madhyākṣa' ( there is no recovery but ) the owner may hear that it has been taken to a distant place by the thief ; stolen on 'svākṣa' or 'sulocana' the owner would not recover it nor even hear about its whereaboutṣ The Bṛhat-saṃhitā ( chap. 14 ) has already been referred to ( on p. 530 ) in connection with the provinces of India governed by nine groups of nakṣatras ( three nakṣatras in each group ) and chapter 15 of the same ( 1-27 ) sets out what substances are governed by the 27 nakṣatras from Kṛttikā to Bharaṇī⁵⁹. One verse is translated as a specimen : under Kṛttikās are white flowers, those who have consecrated the Vedic fires, those who know Vedic mantras, sūtras and bhāṣyas ( commentaries ), officers over mines ( or stores ), barbers, brāhmaṇas, purohitas, astrologers, potterṣ

The Bṛhat-saṃhitā ( 104.1-5 ) declares what nakṣatras ( out of 27 ) form part of Time looked upon as a puruṣa (Person). This is an extension of a very old conceptioṇ The Tai Br. says: ‘Prajāpati has Hasta-nakṣatra as his hand, Citrā as his head, Nistyā (i e Svātī) as his heart, the two stars of Viśākha as the thighs, Anurādhās as his stability (or support) This is indeed Prajāpati in the form of groups of nakṣatras’ ⁶⁰.

From the above it would be noticed that a nakṣatra astrology apart from the rāśi astrology had been thoroughly developed in India while Ptolemy is hardly concerned with the nakṣatras, but concentrates only on rāśiṣ

The twelve rāśis are to be found in the Zodiacal belt (or circle), each extends over 2½ nakṣatras i e Meṣa extends over Aśvinī, Bharaṇī and ¼ of Kṛttikā, Vṛṣabha extends over ¾ of Kṛttikā, whole of Rohiṇī and half of Mṛgaśīrṣa and so oṇ These twelve rāśis from Meṣa are identified respectively with the following limbs of the Kālpuruṣa ⁶¹ viz. the head (Meṣa), mouth (Vṛṣabha), chest, heart, stomach, waist, the abdomen (between the navel and the private parts), the private parts, the pair of thighs, the pair of knees, the two shanks, the two feet. Varāha adds that the words rāśi, kṣetra, gṛha, ṛkṣa, bha and bhāvana are used as synonyms in Jātaka The purpose of the astrological works is that if a malefic planet occupies in a person’s horoscope a certain rāśi, he is adversely affected in that limb of his body to which the rāśi corresponds among the limbs of Kāla, but if a beneficent planet occupies at birth a rāśi, then the person prospers as to the corresponding limb This is succinctly put by the Sārāvali (III, 5-6) The twelve rāśis with their English and Latin equivalents and their synonyms are set out below :

| English | Latin | Sanskrit | Synonyms | |---|---|---|---| | Ram | Aries | Mesa | Aja, chāga, kriya | | Bull | Taurus | Vrsabha | Uksan, vrsa, go, gopati, tūvun (or Tavuru) | | Twins | Gemini | Mithuna | Yugma, nryuga, jituma, jutuma or jitma. | | Crab | Cancer | Karka | Karkin, karkata, kuli:a | | Lion | Leo | Simha | Hari, Mrgendra, leya | | Virgin | Virgo | Kanyā | Angana, yuvati, pramada, kumāri, Pāthona (Pāthena?) | | Balance, Scales | Libra | Tula | Tauli, dhata, vanij, tulādhara, jūka | | Scorpion | Scorpio | Vrśćika | Ali, kita, kaun pya or kaurpi | | Archer | Sagittarius | Dhanus | Cāpa, kārmuka, dhanvin, hayānga, Taukśka (or Taukśa) | | Goat | Capricornus | Makara | Mrgāsya, mrga, Ākokei a | | Water-carrier | Aquarius | Kumbha | Ghata, kumbhadhara, hrdroga | | Fishes | Pisces | Mina | Matsya, jhasa, animisa, Iṭṭha (or Celtha?) |

The words in this list that are put in italics are mentioned in a separate verse by Varāha (Brhaj-jātaka I 8)⁶² It should be noted that the list of synonyms is not exhaustive; other words with the same meaning are often employeḍ For example, for Siṁha, Mṛgarāja may be used or for Mina the word pṛthuroman may be useḍ The words in italics are deemed by Weber and many others as borrowings from or Sanskrit adapta- tions of Greek wordṣ It may be admitted that most of them bear a striking resemblance to Greek names of rāśis. Pāṭhona should be Pāthena to correspond with the Greek worḍ There is no reason why kulīra should be regarded as a Greek worḍ Kern (preface to Br S. p. 29) thinks that it is a pure Sanskrit worḍ There is no Greek word corresponding to Kulīra in Ptolemy. The word Karka or Karkin appears to mean 'white' and occurs as early as in Atharvavedaveda 1V 38. 6-7. All that the Bṛhaj-jātaka (I 8) means is that there are other words like kriya used for the twelve rāśis in other workṣ Varāhamihira frequently refers to the views of the Yavanas and sometimes differs from theṃ It has been shown by me in my paper on ‘Yavaneśvara and Utpala’ (in J of Bombay Asiatic Society, vol. 30, pp. 1–8) that there is a Sanskrit work on astrology called Yavana-jātaka of about 4000 verses composed by a king of the Yavanas called Sphujidhvaja and another Vṛddhayavanajātaka also in several thousand verses by Minarāja who styles himself the overlord of Yavanaṣ I cannot agree with Prof. Sen-Gupta (‘Ancient Indian Chronology’ p. 99) that words like Mesa and Vṛṣabha in verses like Rg L 51.1 (abhī tyaṁ mesam) refer to rāśis, when he himself had to concede that he could not find the other ten in the Rg. The appearance of the rāśis is briefly described by the Bṛhatjātaka⁶⁴ I. 5 and explained by Utpala as follows: (The sign Miņa i e Pisces) appears as two fishes (each facing the tail of the other), Kumbha appears as a man carrying an empty jar placed on his shoulder, the sign of Gemini is represented as a man carrying a mace and a woman holding a lute, the sign of Sagittarius is a man with a bow whose legs are like those of a horse, the sign Capricorn is a crocodile with the face of a deer, sign of Libra is a person holding scales, the sign Virgo is represented by a maiden in a boat with an ear of corn in one hand and fire in the other; the remaining signs are similar (in form) to the objects indicated by their names and all signs reside in places appropriate to their names For more detailed descriptions, vide the twelve verses quoted from Yavanēśvara by Utpala which I have quoted and translated in my paper in the Journal of the Bombay Asiatic Society vol. 30 parts 1 and 2 pp 1-7 and which are found in the Yavanna-jātaka of Sphuūdhvaja (a palmleaf ms of which exists in the Nepal Durbar Library) and in the Vṛddhayavanajātaka of Minarāja Those verses also name the special objects and places governed by the different rāśis Several verses of Kāśyapa are quoted by Utpala on Br. S 40 that deal with the materials or things that are under the influence of the several rāśis For example, Mesa is the lord of garments, woollens, cloth made of the hair of a young goat, of Masūra pulse, wheat, resin, barley, gold and plants that grow on dry land⁶⁵ The Vāmanapurāṇa⁶⁶ (chap 5 45-60) describes the appearance of the rāśis and the places and objects they reside in or dominate and the verses closely resemble the wording employed in the two Yavanajātakaś of Sphuūdhvaja and Minarāja Some verses are quoted below by way of illustration From Varāha's description it appears that Mesa, Vṛṣabha, Karkaṭa, Simha, Vṛscika, Makara and Mina are figures of animals (either four-footed or insects) and the remaining five resemble human beings with special characteristics in each case. These rāsī names have more or less the same meanings in Babylonia, ⁶⁷ in Europe including Greece and in India. But it should not be supposed that everywhere the several groups of stars were imagined to be identical with the figures of the same animals or of human beingṣ In China for instance, the twelve rāsīs are rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, hen, dog and pig (Encyclopaedia Americana, vol. 29 under the word 'zodiac' and New Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopaedia vol. 36 under 'Zodiac' ⁶⁸. It is further stated that these are still found in some parts of Asia, in Japan and also among the remains of the Aztec race in America. There are many who deny that except for a few signs (like the Scorpion) there is hardly any very striking similarity between the twelve groups of constellations called Aries &c. and the natural appearance of the objects denoted by the twelve names ⁶⁹. The origin of the names assigned to Zodiacal signs is unknowṇ The zodiacal signs named Mesa, Vrsabha &c. are purely imaginary, are mere subjective configurations of stars which appear to be in one plane and which appear to certain persons to possess somehow the outline of a scorpion or a lion which are, as modern astronomy tells us, situated at enormous distances (light years as they are called) from each other. The same constellation is often given different names; e. g. the constellation called Great Bear was called by Thales 'the wain' (waggon drawn by horses). The twelve Zodiacal signs are clearly absent from the sacred astronomy of Egypt ⁷⁰ and the Egyptians knew nothing of the Zodiac before the Alexandrian age and very few Zodiacs are older than the Roman times Since Assyriologists began to reveal the astronomical knowledge in the valley of the Euphrates, the Babylonian origin of the Zodiac has been taken for granted by almost all scholars⁷¹ The dissenting voice is that of E J. Webb in ‘Names of stars’⁷² who very strenuously argues against the Babylonian origin of the Zodiacal signs and holds that the Zodiac as we know it is a Greek invention and that Cleostratus who according to Pliny was concerned in forming it lived about 520 B. C. In spite of the vehemence of Webb's arguments, in my humble opinion, he is far from convincing and for the present at least the Babylonian origin of the Zodiacal signs has to be accepted The passage of Pliny on which Webb relies is differently understood by Prof. J K. Fortheringhaṃ⁷³ The latest work of Sarton on ‘History of Science’ (1953) holds that the Zodiac had been distinguished by Babylonian astronomers a thousand years before Cleostratus and all that Cleostratus probably did was to divide those constellations into twelve equal lengths of the ecliptic i. e. the twelve signs of the Zodiac A somewhat amusing argument has been advanced by Hickey⁷⁴ that the fact that there are in the sky no animals (figures) suggestive of Egypt or India such as the hippopotamus and the elephant seems to rule out that system originated in a certain country that may be the home of dozens of wild and tame animals? Are all the principal animals of Mesopotamia or of Greece included in the seven animals that figure as signs, if one of the above two was the origin of the present Zodiacal signs? All the seven animals in the Zodiac are found in abundance in India even now, while some of them may not be found in the present day Greece or Baby- lonia. At present I am only concerned to say that out of the three ancient lands, viz Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, Mesopotamia has the greatest claims to be regarded as the source of the Zodiacal signṣ The case of India will be dealt with a little later on The astrological rāśis are ⁷⁵ variously classified as male and female, cara ( movable ) and sthira ( fixed or lasting ) and

| Rāśi | Lord of | Male or Female | Cara or Sthira | dinabala or niśābala | saumya or krūra | pṛṣṭhodaya or śīrṣodaya | |---------|---------|----------------|----------------|----------------------|-----------------|-------------------------| | Mesa | east | male | cara | ṇ | krūra | p. | | Vṛṣabha | south | female | sthira | n | saumya | p. | | Mithuna | west | male | dvisvabhāva | ṇ | krūra | ś. | | Karka | north | female | cara | ṇ | saumya | p. | | Simha | east | male | sthira | ḍ | krūra | ś. | | Kanyā | south | female | dvisvabhāva | ḍ | Saumya | ś. | | Tulā | west | male | cara | ḍ | krūra | ś. | | Vṛścika | north | female | sthira | ḍ | saumya | ś. | | Dhanus | east | male | dvisvabhāva | n | krūra | p. | | Makara | south | female | cara | ṇ | saumya | p. | | Kumbha | west | male | sthira | ḍ | krūra | ś. | | Mina | north | female | dvisvabhāva | ḍ | saumya | both p. and ṣ | dviṣvabhāva ( of both characters ), as saumya ( mild ) and krūra ( fierce or malignant ), as dīnabala ( powerful by day ), niśābala ( powerful by night ), as pṛṣṭhodaya ( rising from the hind part ), śīrṣodaya ( rising by their head first ) or ubhayodaya, and as lords of the four main directions ( east &c. ) The above table will show at a glance these classifications, in which ṇ stands for niśābala, ḍ for dīnabala, p. for pṛṣṭhodaya and ś. for śīrṣodaya.

The Bṛhajjātaka compresses these details in I, 10–11 and Utpala explains the purpose of some of these technical termṣ Yātrā ( invasion ) undertaken on śīrṣodaya rāśis yields the desired result but if undertaken on pṛṣṭhodaya rāśis there is failure and one's army is routeḍ Those born on krūra signs are of cruel nature and those born on saumya signs are mild by nature, while those born on male signs are energetic and those born on female signs are milḍ Those born on cara signs are unsteady by nature, those born on sthira signs are of a fixed nature and those born on dviṣvabhāva signs are of mixed character. The knowledge of the signs as lords of quarters is useful in finding out the direction where a person who stole something on a particular sign could be found or the stolen article could be founḍ Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos I. 11 speaks of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius as solid signs ( sthira ) and Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces as bi-corporeal ( dvideha or dviṣvabhāva ), and in I. 12 there is agreement with Bṛhajjātaka as to the masculine and feminine signs but there is disagreement as to diurnal ( dīnabala ) and nocturnal signs ( niśābala ), since Ptolemy holds that Aries and other signs are alternately diurnal or nocturnal, while Varāha holds Aries and the next three and also Sagittarius as nocturnal and the rest diurnal. It does not appear that the Bṛhajjātaka knows of the commanding and obeying signs ( Tetrabiblos I. 14 ) and of signs which behold each other or of disjunct signs ( Tetrabiblos I. 15 and 16 ) The Br. J. ( I. 20 ) and Laghujātaka I. 6 assign the following colours to the twelve rāśis from Meṣa onwards viz. red, white, green ( like a parrot’s body ), dark-red ( pink ), whitish like smoke, speckled, dark, golden, yellowish, variegated, deep brown ( like ichneumon ), white. There is hardly anything corresponding to this in the Tetrabibloṣ The rāśis are also divided into four classes viz. anthropomorphic ( Mithuna, Kanyā, Tulā, Dhanus forepart, Kumbha ), quadruped ( Meṣa, Vṛṣa, Simha, Dhanus latter portion, Makara forepart ), aquatic ( Karkaṭa, Mīna, Makara latter part), insect (Scorpion). Vide Tetrábiblos IV. 4 pp. 389 and 391 for slightly varying enumeration

Br J. (chap 17. 1–12) sets out the characteristics of persons born when the Moon was in Mesa and the following rāśis and remarks at the end (in verse 13) that the results described will come out fully if the moon, the rāśi it occupies and the lord of that rāśi are powerful. In Br. J. 1 19 it is said that two-footed rāśis (mithuna, kanyā, tulā, kumbha and forepart of dhanus) are powerful by day if they be in kendra; four-footed rāśis (mesa, vṛṣa, simha, makara forepart and dhanus latter part) are power- ful at night in kendra position and the rest i. e. watery signs and insect signs (kulira, vṛścika, mīna and latter part of makara) are powerful at twilight, when in kendra positioṇ Br J 18. 20 provides that similar results (as in chap 17) follow if a person is born when the lagna at his birth is mesa or any one of the other rāśiṣ

Planets, their relations to the rāśis and their conjoint influence will now be briefly indicateḍ We saw above (pp. 493–495) that in the Vedic Samhitās and Brāhmaṇas express references to planets other than Jupiter are almost absent, that in some Vedic verses five planets and Venus (as Vena) appear to be referred to. Svarbhānu, the son of an asura, is said to have struck the sun with darkness (i e. caused an eclipse) in Ṛg V. 40. 5, 6, 8, 9. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad the soul that has acquired true knowledge is said to shake off the body after casting off all evil like a horse (that casts off dust by) shaking his hair (mane and tail) or like the moon becoming free from the mouth of Rāhu. ⁸⁴⁷ The Maitrāyaṇī Upaniṣad mentions Śani, Rāhu (ascending node) and Ketu (descending node) ⁸⁴⁸ But hardly anything is said about the astrological significance of planets in the ancient Vedic Literature. In the Mahābhārata there are plenty of references to the evil influence of planets, but that is restricted to nakṣatraṣ Both Rāhu and Ketu are said in Karṇaparva to rise in the sky for (i. e. portending) the destruc- tion of the world ⁸⁴⁹ Kauṭilya offers the curious information that a foreknowledge of rainfall can be had from the position, the motion and the garbhādhāna of Jupiter, from the rising, setting and motion of Venus and from the natural and unnatural aspects of the sun and that from the sun the sprouting of the seed ( can be predicted ), from Jupiter the formation of abundant sheaves of corn when the seeds are sown and from the ( movements ) of Venus rainfall ( can be predicted )⁷⁹. It will be seen from the above that general or universal ( not individual or horoscopic ) astrology like the reports made by royal priests in Mesopotamia was prevalent in India many centuries before Christ. The BṛhajJātaka ( II 2-3 ) enumerates the nine planets, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Rāhu and Ketu and furnishes some synonyms of all these.

Observations of planets by the Babylonians go back to 2nd millennium B C. Venus was the first to be studieḍ Tables about Venus based on observations are found from 1921-1901⁸⁰ B C. Jupiter and Mars were also observeḍ Jupiter was held to be normally favourable when he shone brightly or followed the moon, while Mars was the planet of ill-luck, but, if Mars shone weakly or disappeared, its evil influence disappeareḍ Saturn as its name indicates ( 'firm standing one' ) was regarded mostly a planet of good luck. Various favourable prognostications were made about a child, according as the planets like the Moon, Venus or Jupiter were rising or unfavourable prognostications were made if Mars was rising or if Jupiter or Venus were setting⁸¹. Each planet received a variety of names in the astronomical texts of Babylonia. The teaching that every planet has its exaltation i. e. the strongest pitch of its might and influence when in a particular sign goes back to ancient Babylonia.⁸² The arrangements of the order of planets differed at different timeṣ Planet comes from a Greek word meaning 'a wanderer' and the word was applied to the planets because as compared with the stars they appeared to wander in different ways and at different times ⁸³ In modern times there are three more planets, viz. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto discovered respectively in 1781, 1846 and 1930 A. D. ⁸⁴ Bouché Leclercq mentions that modern astrologers asserted that Chaldeans saw Uranus and Neptune and three other planets (Juno, Vulcan and Pluto), when they had good eyes (p 573 note 2 of ‘L’ Astrologie Grecque). The Br. J. (II. 2–3), Sārāvalī (IV. 10–11) and Rājamārtaṇḍa (verses 8–15) set out the various names for the sun, the moon and the other seven planets They are specified in the note⁸⁵ below and the names underlined are deemed by Western writers to have been derived from Greek; but it should be noted that no Greek name for the moon occurs in these or other works and I am not convinced that Jīva is a Greek word or adaptation of a Greek worḍ The word Jīva occurs in the Ṛgveda itself in many places (as in Ṛg. I 164 30, X 18 37 ) and means 'living being, an individual' and in Chāndogya Upaniṣad VI. 3 2 it means 'individual soul'. When Bṛhaspati came to be regarded as the most prominent of planets and was said to preside over knowledge and happiness (as in Br. J. II 1 ‘Jīvo jñāna-sukham’) he came to be regarded as the very life of beings and was called Jīva. The Sārāvalī (X. 116) says that Bṛhaspati is the life of men (Bṛhaspatir-nṛṇām jīvaḥ). In Bhujabala it is said ‘what will all the planets do to him in whose horoscope Jupiter is in kendra positioṇ A herd of wild elephants is killed by a single lioṇ’⁸⁶ The Br. J. and Sārāvalī provide that further synonyms may be derived from popular usage.

In the following some characteristics of the planets (based on Br. J. II 5–7) are brought together, viz. the colour ruled by each, the lords of each, the direction, element, Veda and class (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya &c ) dominated by each and whether they are beneficent or malefic. | planet | colour dominated by | by whom ruled | direction | element ruled by | Veda | class | beneficent or malefic | | :------ | :------------------ | :------------ | :-------- | :--------------- | :-------- | :-------- | :----------------------------------------- | | Sun | red | Fire | East | | | kṣatriya | malefic | | Moon | white | Water | N. W. | | | Vaiśya | waning Moon ⁸⁷ malefic | | Mars | very red | Kārtikeya | South | Fire | Sāmaveda | kṣatriya | malefic | | Mercury | green | Viṣṇu | North | Earth | Atharva | Śūdra | malefic when in conjunction with malefic planets | | Jupiter | yellow | Indra | N. E. | Ākāśa (ether) | Ṛgveda | Brāhmaṇa | beneficent | | Venus | variegated | Indrāṇī | S. E. | Water | Yajurveda | Brāhmaṇa | beneficent | | Saturn | dark | Prajāpati | West | Air | | Cāṇḍāla | malefic | | Rahu | | | S. W. | | | | | In the Yogayātrā VI 1 a distinction is made between the gods that rule the eight directions and the planets that rule theṃ Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Yakṣa (Kubera) and Śiva are the lords of the eight directions from East to North-East, while the same directions are governed by planets as in the above table.

The purpose for these classifications is explained as followṣ As regards colours ruled by planets, they are useful in indicat- ing the colour of the thing lost by or stolen from a man and the colour of the flowers with which the planets are to be worshipped, the lords of the planets are to be worshipped along with the planets in `qrahapūjā`; the direction in which a king should march on an invasion is indicated by planets that rule the directions; according as beneficent or malefic planets are power- ful in the horoscope, the character of the person concerned is indicated as good or baḍ The Br. J. II 7 further provides that the Moon, the Sun and Jupiter are lords of `sattva-guṇa`, Mercury and Venus of `rajo-guṇa`, Mars and Saturn of `tamo-guṇa`. Utpala points out that Varāha differs from Yavanēśvara, who regards the Sun, Mars and Jupiter as Sāttvika, the Moon and Venus as full of `rajoguṇa`, Saturn as having `tamoguṇa` and Mercury taking on the character of the planet with which it is in conjunctioṇ^858a Rāhu is the ascending node or the point where the orbit of the moon intersects the ecliptic in passing northwardṣ Br. J. (II 8–11) and Laghujātaka II 13–19 describe the form and appearance of the planets from the Sun to Saturn, giving full rein to association of ideas, imagination and to personification of theṃ For illustration, I translate one verse (10) 'Jupiter⁸⁵⁹ has a large body, his hair and eyes are brownish in colour, he has eminent intellect and has a phlegmatic constitution; Venus is given to pleasures, has handsome body and pretty eyes, has wind and phlegm in his constitution and black but curling hair on his head'. Another table based on Br. J. II, 11, 12, 14 and Sārāvali IV 15–16 about the parts of the human body. governed by the planets, ⁹⁰ about their habitat ( sthāna ), about the kinds of cloth they govern, about the metals, precious stones and the flavours they rule is given below.

| Planet | bodily part | habitat | cloth | metals & jewels | rasa (flavour) | | :------ | :---------- | :---------- | :------------------- | :-------------- | :----------------------------- | | Sun | bones | temple | coarse | copper | pungent | | Moon | blood | watery place | cloth fresh from loom | jewels | salt | | Mars | marrow | fire-place | burnt in a part | gold | bitter | | Mercury | skin | play-ground | wet | bronze | mixed (all six together) | | Jupiter | fat | treasury | neither new nor much worn | silver | sweet | | Venus | semen | bedroom | strong | pearl | sour | | Saturn | muscles | dust-hole | tattered | iron | astringent |

It was said that if Jupiter was in his own house ( i. e. Dhanus or Mīna ), then Jupiter also ruled over golḍ ⁹¹ The object of assigning these was practical, viz the astrologer could judge of the place of birth if the planet was powerful or of the place of the thief or, if a question were put about the food which one invited to a dinner may be served with, the powerful planet would suggest the kind of fooḍ

The Br. J. ( II. 5 ) states that the Sun, Mars and Jupiter are masculine, the Moon and Venus feminine, while Mercury and Saturn are neuter or common ( napuṁsaka ). Here Tetrabiblos differs ( I. 6 ), as it regards Saturn as masculine. Acc. to Br. J. II 21 the Moon, Mars and Saturn are nocturnal ( powerful at night ), the Sun, Jupiter and Venus are diurnal ( powerful by day ) and Mercury is common ( both diurnal and nocturnal ). The Tetrabiblos differs ( I. 7 ) by making Venus nocturnal and Saturn diurnal Certain rāśis are declared to be the houses (svagrha) of planets and certain other rāśis as their ucca (exaltation) and certain parts or degrees of the ucca are declared to be paramocca; the 7th rāśi from the ucca is said to be nīca i.e. depressed and certain parts (or degrees) of the latter are said to be paramanīca. The Sun and the Moon have each only one rāśi as svagrha, while the other five planets have two each. The following diagram will indicate all this at a glance

| Planet | Svagrha | sign of Exaltation | sign of Depression | | :-------- | :------------------ | :----------------- | :----------------- | | Sun | Simha | Mesa | Tula | | | | 10 | 10 | | Moon | Karkata | Vrsabha | Vṛścika | | | | 3 | 3 | | Mars | Mesa and Vṛścika | Makara | Karkata | | | | 28 | 28 | | Mercury | Mithuna and Kanyā | Kanyā | Mina | | | | 15 | 15 | | Jupiter | Dhanus and Mīna | Karkata | Makara | | | | 5 | 5 | | Venus | Vṛṣabha and Tulā | Mīna | Kanyā | | | | 27 | 27 | | Saturn | Makara and Kumbha | Tulā | Mesa | | | | 20 | 20 |

The figures under signs of exaltation and depression are the amsas (degrees) respectively of paramocca and paramanīca. The explanation offered by Yavanajātaka of Sphujidhvaja and the Vṛddhayavanajātaka of Mīnarāja is that the sign of Leo was assigned to the Sun as his house because it is the most powerful sign and Cancer (a watery sign) was assigned to the Moon, and the Sun and the Moon each gave one sign out of the remaining to the other five planets viz Kanyā, Tulā, Vṛścika, Dhanus and Makara were given by the Sun to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (arranged according to distance) and the Moon gave to the same five planets one each of the rāśis of Mithuna, Vṛṣabha, Meṣa, Mīna and Kumbha (vide my paper on 'Yavaneśvara and Utpala' in J. B. B. R. A. S. vol. 30 on p. 5 for the verses of Minaraja and p 7 for translation) Tetrabiblos I 17 practically gives a similar explanation about houses (svagrhas) and I 19 agrees with Br. J I 13 about the exaltation and depression signṣ Ptolemy does not give the degrees (of paramocca and paramanica ⁹²).

That raśi that is occupied by its own lord or has an aspect (drsti) of its lord or is occupied by Mercury or Jupiter or has an aspect with them is powerful ⁹³ if it be not occupied by any one or more of the remaining planets or has no aspect with any one of the rest There is a further provision that Scorpion if it is in the 7th house is powerful, the human signs (Mithuna, Kanyā, Tulā, the forepart of Dhamus and Kumbha) are powerful in the lagna, the watery signs (Karkata, Mina, latter half of Makara) are powerful if they occupy the 4th house and the quadruped's (Mesa, Vrsa, Simha, latter half of Dhanus, and the forepart of Makara) are powerful in the 10th house (Br. J. I. 17.)

The natural powerfulness of planets is in the following order: Saturn, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, the Sun, each succeeding one is more powerful than each preceding one; if the power of any two or more is equal in other respects, then one has to take into consideration this natural powerfulness for determining which is more powerful ⁹⁴

The astrological houses in a horoscope are twelve and each is expressed by various synonyms, many of which indicate what particular matters are to be judged from the state of that house. They are enumerated in Br. J. I. 15–19, Laghujātaka I 15–19, Sārāvali III 26–33 1st house—horā, tanu, kalpa, śakti, mūrti, lagna, deha, anga, udaya, vapus, ādya, vilagna. 2nd " —dhana, sva, kuṭumba, artha, kośa 3rd " —sahottha, vikrama, pauruṣa, sahaja, duścikya. 4th " —bandhu, gṛha, suhṛt, pātāla, hībuka, veśma, sukha, caturasra, ambu, japa, ambā, yāna, vāhana 5th " —suta, dhī, putra, pratibhā, vidyā, vāk-sthāna, trikona 6th " —ari, ripu, kṣata, vraṇa 7th " —jāyā, jāmitra, dyūna, dyūta, patnī, strī, cittottha, astabhāvana, kāma, smara, madana 8th " —maraṇa, randhra, mṛtyu, vināśa, caturasra, chidra, vivara, laya, yāmya 9th " —śubha, guru, dharma, puṇya, tritrikona, trikona, tapas 10th " —āspada, māna, karma, mesūraṇa, ājñā, kha, gagana, tāta, vyāpāra. 11th " —āya, bhāva, lābha, āgama, prāpti. 12th " —vyaya, riphpha (or ṛṣpha), antya, antima.

It should be noted that the appellations given to these bhāvas are of two classes, (1) those which are used as mere designations, without indicating the special function of the house, such as horā, duścikya, mesūraṇa, riphpha, caturasra, the second class of these appellations conveys the special functions of the houses, such as tanu (body), sva (wealth) or kuṭumba (family), sahaja (brothers)

There are certain appellations that apply to a number of houseṣ The 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses are all called kaṇṭaka, kendra, catustaya, the houses beyond the kendra are called paṇaphara (2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th), the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th houses are called Apoklima, 6th, 8th and 12th houses are called trika, the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th houses are called upacaya and the rest are called apacaya. Garga held that the 3rd, 6th, 10th and 11th are called upacaya only if there is no aspect of them with malefic planets or with the enemy of the lord of theṃ Trikona is claimed to be a Greek worḍ

From the several names of the bhāvas, it appears that the following were to be predicted from the several bhāvas; from first bhāva, health and the growth of the body, from 2nd the wealth of one's family; from 3rd brothers (and sisters) and valour; from 4th relatives friends, happiness, house and mother, from 5th sons, intellect, learning; from 6th enemies and wounds; from 7th wife, love affairs, marriage; from 8th death, one's foibles and sins; from 9th dharma, elders (including parents), austerities; from 10th actions and dignities or position and father; from 11th acquisition of good qualities and of wealth; from 12th expenditure, debts

Thibaut (in Grundriss p 68) following Jacobi boldly asserts that the doctrine of the twelve astrological houses which is a chief point in the Indian system found developed in Varāhamihira does not occur among Western authorities earlier than Firmicus Maternus (middle of 4th century A. D ) and that Greek astrology entered into India only between Firmicus and Varāhamihira One is regretfully constrained to say that this is a case of one blind man following another In the first place the conception of houses (bhāvas) is not totally absent even in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, as can be seen in II 8 p 191, III 10 pp 273-275 (Loeb Classical Library), where houses I, VII, IX, X and XI are referred to, though Ptolemy does not pay much attention to the system of bhāvas Probably this escaped the attention of both Jacobi and Thibaut In the second place, the system of bhāvas does not occur for the first time in Varāhamihira to a host of Indian writers before him as will be shown below in whose works the system appears in a fully developed form It is not possible to believe that all this vast literature was developed in a hundred years or so after Firmicuṣ Besides, authors like Garga, Parāśara, who are placed between the Vedāngajyotiṣa and the siddhāntas (about 800 B C to 250 A D ) knew this system and Garga is assigned to 50 B. C. by Kern (Preface to Br S p 50) Thibaut, a great scholar, proposing to write an encyclopaedic work on Jyotisa is content to rely on Jacobi and have cared to see for himself even Ptolemy and examine works like the Atharvana Jyotisa, the VaikhānasaSūtra, Visnudharmottara which teach astrology based on nakṣatraṣ This, to say the least, is most surprising Prof Zinner (in ‘Stars above us’) p 67 says that the twelve houses denote life, business, brothers, father, sons, health, wife, death, religion, gain, good deeds, gaol. In the 3rd place Thibaut takes no account of Sanskrit works written by Yavana's settled in India, to whom Varāha frequently refers, from whom he sometimes differs on vital points of doctrine and from whom Utpala quotes hundreds of verses, which are found in the ancient Yavanajātaka of Sphujidhvaja. Further, it has been shown above (pp. 533-54) that extant references to astrology based on nakṣatras actually exhibit the names of at least five bhāvas centuries before Firmicuṣ It is quite possible to argue that Firmicus borrowed his astrology from the predecessors of Varāha, who were Greeks and wrote in Sanskrit, or that even Ptolemy did so as he knows of the bhāvas, but furnishes only a dilettante treatment. It may be further noted that no adaptations of Greek words for all the bhāvas from the first to the twelfth are to be found in Sanskrit workṣ Such words occur only for some viz. 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th and 12th bhāvas and for groups of a few bhāvas (such as kendra, pana- phara and āpoclima). Besides, the peculiar points to be deduced from the several bhāvas as stated in Br. J do not all agree with what Firmicus sayṣ Varāha designates the 2nd bhāva as kutumba and sva (family, wealth) while Firmicus calls it 'lucrum' (how one shall earn one's living), the 11th bhāva is called āya (income) and bhāva by Varāha while Firmicus calls it the house of good deeds; in Firmicus the 4th bhāva is that of father or parents, while Varāha calls it ‘bandhu’ (relatives) and gṛha in Br. J. and ‘suhṛt’ (friends) in Laghujātaka and some later Indian writers say that 4th and 10th bhāvas are respectively of the mother and father. In Firmicus the 6th and 12th bhāvas are respectively wealth and jail, while Varāha holds them to be ‘enmity’ and ‘expenditure’.

Certain technical words have yet to be explaineḍ One meaning of horā is half a rāśi. In the case of the rāśis of odd numbers (viz. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) the lord of the first half is the sun and that of the 2nd half is the moon, while in the case of rāśis of even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) the lord of the 1st half is the moon and of the 2nd half the sun (Br. J. I. 11). The purpose of this is that those born on sun’s horā are energetic (assertive) by nature and those born on moon’s horā are mild by nature. Br. J. (I. 12) mentions the view of some⁹⁵ (of Yavanesvara, according to Utpala ) that the lord of the first horā is the same as the lord of the rāśi and the lord of the second horā is the lord of the 11th house in the horoscope The result of this view would be that all planets can be lords of horās and not the sun and the moon alone as Varāha, Satya and others say Each rāśi ( of 30 degrees ) is divided into three parts, each of 10 degrees, called dreskāna or drekkāna or drkāna or drgāna ( in Br. J. III. 5, probably for the sake of the metre ) The lords of the three parts of each rāśi are respectively the lord of the rāśi itself ( of the first part ), the lord of the 5th rāśi ( of the 2nd part ) and the lord of the 9th rāśi ( of the 3rd part ). For example, in the case of Vrsabha ( of which the lord is Venus ), the lords of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd parts are respectively Venus, Mercury ( lord of 5th from Vrsabha ) and Saturn ( lord of 9th from Vrsabha ). And so on for the other rāśis

A few words must be said about dreskāna Weber and others think that it represents the Greek word ‘decanoi’ The ‘dekans’ were a legacy from ancient Egypt, which⁹⁶ had originally no zodiacal signṣ Bouché-Leclerq has discussed⁹⁷ the question of decans at great length in his ‘L’ Astrologie Grecque’ pp 215–240 The decanal system can be traced as far back as the third dynasty of Egypt ( about 2800 B. C. ) and may be older still. Originally, the decans were conspicuous stars or groups of stars rising at particular hours of the night during 36 successive periods of ten days each that constituted the year in Egypt The series began with Sirius and they were distributed in a wide equatorial belt The ancient Egyptians had a fixed idea that each division of time, large or small, must have its protective tutelary deity. Therefore, the decans were originally the divinities ( or genii ) that presided over the 36 decades of the Egyptian year. Each period of ten days was marked by the rising of the next decan on the eastern horizon at sunset. Bouché Leclercq points out that in the Egyptian language a specific name ( like the Greek word ‘decanos’ ) is not met with and that the decans are designated by a number of synonymṣ When the Zodiacal signs were introduced in Egypt by the Greeks, the tutelary spirits slipped into or got intertwined with the signs of the Zodiac (each sign of 30 degrees being divided into decans of 10 degrees) and played an important part in astrology. The original division referred to the equator, while the later distribution of 36 decans among the twelve signs refers to the ⁹⁸ ecliptic. Bouché Leclercq avers (p 53) that it has been proved beyond doubt that the Egyptian Zodiacs (they had four, viz. 2 at Denderah, one at Esneh and one at Akhnum) are all of the Roman epoch and are imitations of the Greek Zodiac.

The Bṛhajyātaka has a special chapter 27 (in 36 verses) called dreṣkāṇādhyāya in which the 36 presiding deities of dreṣkānas are describeḍ This chapter appears to conserve the ancient Egyptian conception of the decans as guardian ⁹⁹ divinitieṣ The language must be regarded as rather metaphorical or symbolic. It is parts of the Zodiac that are being describeḍ Nearly two-thirds of 36 are male and the rest are female. Some composite figures of males and females and quadrupeds or birds or serpents occur. In verses 2, 19 and 21 (of chap 27) Varāha expressly says that he only sets out what the Yavanas have saiḍ Here I translate two verses (2 and 21) ‘the Yavanās have declared the form of the middle dreṣkāṇa of Mesa sign (Aries) viz. she is a female clad in red garments, intent on ornaments and food, has the mouth of a horse and has a jar-like (i e. rotund) form, she is oppressed by thirst and is standing on one leg’; ‘the Yavanās have declared the appearance of the last dreṣkāṇa of Tula (Scales) as a male having the form of a monkey, decked with ornaments, frightening deer in a forest, wearing golden armour and quiver, and holding fruits and flesh (in his hands)’. There is nothing in the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy corresponding to this and Varāha probably refers to a Sanskrit work by a Yavana writer much earlier than even Ptolemy and Maniliuṣ Manilius, author of ‘Astronomica’, a didactic poem on astrology, referred to the decans but he wrote about 9 A. D. and it appears that decans had gone out of vogue in Greece by the time of Ptolemy. Bouché-Leclercq notes (p. 219) that the system of decans is a characteristic of Manilius and that after him one does not hear it spoken of any longer. On p 219 of his work Bouché-Leclercq furnishes a figure of the Decans of Manilius, which is entirely different from the descriptions of decans given by Br J. Manilius divides each sign into three parts, each of which represents no deity but the signs themselveṣ For example, Aries is divided into three parts and those three are the same as Aries, Taurus and Gemini. The Sarāvalī¹⁰⁰ in chap. 49 devotes thirty-six verses to the description of 36 dreṣkāṇas, but the description differs from that of the Br J. as the note below will show. The Sarāvalī had probably before it a Sanskrit yavana work different from the one relied upon by Br. J.

Some other technical words may be mentioned and defined here. The six items, viz the rāśi of a planet, the horā, dreṣkāṇa, navāṁśa, dvādaśāṁśa and trisāṁśa of the rāśi are each called the varga or Ṣaḍ-varga of that planet (Br. J. I. 9) The first navāṁśa of Mesa, Karkī, Tulā and Makara (that are cara signs)¹⁰⁰ is called Vargottama, so also the 5th navāmśa of Vrsabha, Simha, Vṛścita and Kumbha (that are sthira), and the 9th navāṁśa of Mithuna, Kanyā, Dhanus, Mīna (that are dviśvabhāva) are called Vargottama (Br. J. I. 14) and they yield beneficent resultṣ¹⁰¹ The vargottama-navāṁśas of all rāśis bear the same names as the rāśis themselveṣ The Yoga called Sunaphā occurs when some planet other than the sun occupies the 2nd house from that occupied by the Moon; the Yoga Anaphā occurs when some planet other than the sun occupies the 12th house from that occupied by the Moon and Durudharā occurs when planets occupy the 2nd and 12th houses from that occupied by the Mooṇ The Yoga called Kema-druma occurs when the above three don't occur and the Moon is not in kendra position or if kendra is not occupied by any of the planets (except the Sun) Br J 13. 4 notices that varieties of Anaphā and Sunaphā are 31 each and the varieties of Durudharā are 180. The Br J. does not devote more than 6 verses to all these four yogas but the Vṛddha-Yavanajāṭaka of Mīnārāja has 30 verses on Anaphā, 30 verses on Sunaphā, 172 verses on Durudharā. The rāśi which is 2nd from the rāśi occupied by the Sun in a horoscope is called ‘Veśi’ (Br. J. I. 20). All the above five words are said to be Greek. The word ‘liptā’ meaning ‘60th part of a degree’ is also said to be Greek. The word ‘harija’ occurring in Br. J. V. 17 means ‘horizon’ and Kern says it is adapted from Greek (Preface to Br. S p. 29)¹⁰¹ The Greek word is horos (boundary) All the words used by Varāha and supposed to be Greek by Weber, Kern and others may be brought together in one place here (37 in all), Kriya, Tāvuri, Jituma, Kulira, Leya, Pāthena, Jūka, Kaurpya, Tauksike, Akokera, Hrdioga, Ittha (?), Heli, Āra, Himna, Jīva, Aśphujit, Kona; horā, dreskāna, kendra, trikona, panaphara, āpoklima, mesurāna, duścikya, hibuka, jāmītra, dyūna, riḥpha, anaphā, sunaphā, durudharā, kemadruma, veśī, liptā, harija. I dispute the derivation of kuliśa and trikona from Greek and Kern agrees that they are pure Sanskrit wordṣ I also doubt whether Jīva is an adaptation of Zeuṣ agrees with Sanskrit Dyaus and not with Jīva and Zeus is an Indo-European word meaning 'Heaven' or 'sky'. The different forms of the word dreskāna or 'dyūtam for not be separately counted The word horā is used in early Indian astrology in three different senses, none of which agrees with the sense of hour. It is possible that even in Greek it is a word borrowed from Egypt or Babylonia, since in the definite sense of an hour, it is much later and it is doubtful whether Hipparchus (140 B. C ) uses it in that sense. If we exclude these four words only 33 words may at the most be argued to have been adapted from Greek. Some of these words such as the 12 names of rāśis and six of the planets, some names of the bhāvas like hubuka, jāmitra, dyūna and kendra have several synonyms (sometimes by the dozen) in Sanskrit employed in Br. J. and so no emphasis should be laid on theṃ They were mentioned by Br J. because they had been employed by ancient Greek authors who wrote in Sanskrit and so Br. J. took cognisance of them for the sake of completeness of treatment Even kendra meaning 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses or bhāvas has two Sanskrit synonyms 'kantaka' and 'catuṣṭaya', besides the fact that its meaning is different in San skrit astrology from the meaning of the Greek word (kentr on, spike) Therefore, barely ten Greek words like Anaphā, Sunaphā remain which have a very minor role to play in Indian astrology and it is a far cry to argue or assert from the occurrence of these few words that the whole Indian astrology as developed in Varāha mihira was borrowed from Greek works It is extremely doubtful whether any Indians except a few sages or gymnosophists ever went to Greece or lived long in Greece or settled there and returned to India to spread Greek words and astrological know ledge in India; but we have ample evidence that Greeks settled in India, composed inscriptions in Sanskrit and wrote extensive works on astrology in Sanskrit. Vide ‘L’ Astrologie Grecque’ by Bouché-Grecque p. XIX for the Greek, Latin, French names and astrological symbols of the signs of the zodiac and planets and G. R. Kaye in Memoir No. 18 of the Archaeo logical Survey of India pp 39-40 (for the Greek twelve names of Zodiacal signs and nine other Greek words occurring in Br J ) and p. 100 for Greek ‘bhāvas’ and symbols for signs and planetṣ

A good deal is said in Br. J. II. 15-17, Laghujātaka II. 10-12, Sārāvalī IV 28-31, Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi ( VL 27-28 ) and other works about the planets being friends, enemies or indifferent H. D. 74 among themselveṣ Friends and enemies are of two kinds, natural and incidental (temporary) The following table will show natural friends and enemies among planets

| Planet | Friend | Enemy | Indifferent (udāsīna or madhya or sama ) | | :------- | :-------------- | :------------- | :---------------------------------- | | Sun | Moon, Mars, Jupiter | Venus, Saturn | Mercury | | Moon | Sun, Mercury | none | Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn | | Mars | Sun, Moon, Jupiter | Mercury | Venus, Saturn | | Mercury | Sun, Venus | Moon | Mars, Jupiter, Saturn | | Jupiter | Sun, Moon, Mars | Mercury, Venus | Saturn | | Venus | Mercury, Saturn | Sun, Moon | Mars, Jupiter | | Saturn | Mercury, Venus | Sun, Moon, Mars | Jupiter |

It may be noticed that there is no reciprocity for these relationships For example, the Moon has Mercury as one of its friends, while Mercury has the Moon as its enemy; the Moon has no enemy but Venus has the Moon as its enemy. According to the Yavanas no planet is sama (neither friend nor foe) but that planets are either friends or enemies ¹⁰²

As regards temporary friendships and enmities the following rules apply; when planets are in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th or 12th places from each other they become friends for the occasion (such as marriage, invasion or journey &c ), otherwise they become enemies when in the same rāśi or in 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th from each other There are differences of opinion here but they are passed over. The bala (strength) of planets is of four kinds (arises in four ways) viz. place, direction, activity ( ceṣṭā), time. A planet is powerful in its position when it is in its own house or in exaltation (ucca) or in its friend's house or in its trikoṇa or navāmśa. This is sthānabala. Mercury and Jupiter are powerful in the east (i. e. when they are in the lagna ), the Sun and Mars in the south (i. e. in the 10th house), Saturn in the West (i. e. 7th house), the Moon and Venus are powerful in the north (i. e. 4th house ). This is digbala. The Sun and Moon are powerful in the northern ayana ⁸⁷² (i. e. in the six rāśis from Capricorn); the remaining planets are powerful when they are retrograde or in conjunction with the Moon or when there is a fight (between planets other than the Sun and the Moon), the one to the north being more powerful. Garga quoted in the Adbhutasāgara says that graṇayuddha (fight of planets) occurs when one planet occults the other, or when it slightly covers, or when the light of one throws into the background the light of another or when one planet is to the left of the other slightly. This is ceṣṭābala. The Moon, Mars and Saturn are powerful at night, Mercury is powerful both by day and night, and others are powerful by day ; kṛūra and saumya planets are respectively powerful in the dark half and bright half of the month, a planet is powerful in the year of which he is the lord, or on his own week-day or horā or in the month of which he is the lord This is kālabala.¹⁰³ Yavane-śvara says ‘for ten days from the 1st tithi of the bright half the Moon is of middling power but in the next period of ten days (from sukla 11th to krsna ) 5th Moon’s power is highest and in the last ten days (from krsna 6th to amāvāsyā) the Moon has slight power, but if Moon has an aspect with saumya planets (Jupiter &c. ) he is always powerful

A planet is said by Sārāvali to have nine vicïssitudes,¹⁰⁴ dipta (blazing, when it is in exaltation), swastha (at ease when it is in its svagrha), mudita (glad, when it is in a friend’s svagrha ), śānta (quiet, when it is in an auspicious targa ), nakta (capable, when it is shining brightly), nipīduta (oppressed, when it is overwhelmed by another planet), bhita (frightened, when it is in depression), vikala (impaired when its light is lost is Sun’s light ), khala (evil, when it is in the midst of evil company ), The Sārāvali (V. 5-13) describes at length the results of a planet being in these nine conditionṣ

How even mythological accounts are pressed into service by astrological works may be well illustrated by two verses from the Yogayātrā of Varāhamihira: ‘The Sun was born in Anga (Bengal), the Moon among Yavanas, Mars in Avanti (Upayini), Mercury in Magadha, Jupiter in Sindhu, Venus in Bhojakata, Saturn in Surāstra (Kāthiawar), Ketu among Mlecchas and Rāhu in Kalinga; if these planets are affected, they cause distress to the countries in which they were born · hence a king should invade the respective countries when any one or more of the planets are affecteḍ¹⁰⁵ A very important doctrine of Indian astrology is that of drsti (lit. glance, i e aspect ) The Br. J. II. 13, Laghuyātaka II. 8, Sarāvali IV. 32-33, Muhūrtadarśana I. 27 lay down the following ruleṣ All planets ¹⁰⁶ have a full aspect ( pūrṇadṛṣṭi ) on the 7th house from the one which each occupieṣ Besides, Saturn has full aspect on the 3rd and 10th rāśi from the one which it occupies and on the planet which is 3rd or 10th from its own positioṇ Similarly, Jupiter has full aspect on the 5th and 9th rāśi from the one it occupies and also on the planet that is 5th or 9th from itself; Mars has full dṛṣṭi on the 4th and 8th rāśis and the planet in the same. So the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus have full dṛṣṭi only on the 7th rāśi from the one each of them occupies and on the planet that is 7th from theṃ Besides, all planets have 1/4th dṛṣṭi on the 3rd and 10th, half dṛṣṭi on 5th and 9th, ¾ dṛṣṭi on 4th and 9th. There is no aspect of any planet on any rāśi or sthāna except the seven expressly mentioned (viz. 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th ) and in the case of partial dṛṣṭis the fruit also is partial (i.e. ¼, ½ or ¾ ). The Tetrabiblos (I. 13 and 20) treats of four aspects viz. opposition (7th house of Varāha ), trine (5th and 9th houses ), quartile (4th and 10th ), sextile (difference of 60 degrees and two signs ) and does not distinguish between fractions of dṛṣṭis as Varāha doeṣ So in the matter of aspects also there is substantial difference between Ptolemy and Varāha-mihira.

Another important doctrine is that of gocara It means ¹⁰⁹ the consideration about the auspicious or inauspicious positions of planets at any particular period in question in places either declared auspicious or inauspicious judging from the rāśi of birth. The Muhūrta-cintāmani in five verses (of chap 4) deals with this subject I shall illustrate the application of the word by some examples If the Sun is in the 6th place from the rāśi of birth he is auspicious but if at the same time the 12th place from the rāśi of birth is occupied by other planets ( except Saturn ), then, though auspicious by himself, he becomes inauspicious This result does not arise in case one planet is the father or son of the other ( as Saturn is the son of the Sun and Mercury is the son of the Moon). Similarly, if Mercury is in 2nd place from rāśi of birth or in the 4th or 6th or 8th or 10th or 11th and other planets ( except the Moon who is the father of Mercury ) are respectively in the 5th, 3rd, 9th, 1st, 8th or 12th, Mercury, though originally auspicious, becomes inauspicious for the time being Kāraka is another word to be explained It is rather compli- cated Br. J. XXII and Saravali¹⁰⁹ VI. and VII deal with it. As many planets as occupy their own grha or ucca or Mūlatri- kona and also are in the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th places ( in the horoscope ) they become Kārakas of each other, while the planet that is in the 10th place ( in horoscope ) is specially kāraka. Suppose the lagna is Karka and the moon occupies it ( it is moon's svagrha ) and Mars, Saturn, the Sun and Jupiter are in their uccas ( i e in Makara, Tula, Mesa and Karkata respec- tively ), they are all kārakas of each other Many more rules are given in this matter in Br. J XXII and Saravali VI. The Saravali gives ( VII 7-13 ) another meaning Each planet is specially concerned with, rules over or produces several matters or persons &c I shall quote two verses The Moon is the lord of poets, flowers, edibles, precious stones, silver, conch, salt, waters, clothes, ornaments, women, ghee, sesame, oils and sleep Jupiter is the lord of auspicious things, dharma, rites for prosperity, greatness, education, orders, cities and nations, vehicles, seats, beds, gold, corn, dwelling house and sonṣ

Then there is the doctrine of dasās and antardasās of the seven planets In the Vimśottari system man's maximum life is supposed to be 120 years and in Astottari it is supposed to be 108 and those are distributed among the planets in varying numbers of years and it is said that daśās have further divisions of antardaśāṣ This doctrine is elaborated in the 8th chapter of the BṛhajJātaka and Utpala quotes numerous verses from Yavaneśvara on thiṣ The theory of Astakavarga is set out by Varāha in chapter 9 of the BṛhajJātaka viz that the seven planets and lagna are eight entities and they produce their fullest or auspicious results only when they are in particular houses and at particular periods of a man's life. All this has to be passed over for reasons of space.

In the Bṛhatsamhitā, the Bṛhaj-jātaka, and the two works on Yatrā, Varāhamihira mentions a host of his predecessors in astrology. In my paper on 'Varāhamihira and Utpala' (JBBRĀS, N S. vol 24–25, 1948–49, pp. 1–31) I brought together the names of all the predecessors of Varāhamihira and gave extensive references to them in his workṣ That paper may not be available to all readers of this volume of the History of dharmaśāstra and therefore I propose to give a brief abstract of it here for ready reference. Purely astronomical writers or works have been generally not included in the following list: Atri (who acc. to Br. S. 45. 1 wrote a work on utpātas for which Garga gave him instruction, or who was the disciple of Garga); Bādarāyaṇa¹¹⁰ (named in Br. S 39. 1) from whom about one hundred verses are quoted by Utpala in his several commentaries, in one of which on Br J. VI 2 the view of Yavanendra on the premature death of a child is cited; Bhāguri (Br S 85. 1 mentions him as an ancient author on śakunas), Bharadvāja (mentioned in Br. S 85. 2 as an author on whose treatise king Dravyavardhana of Ujjayinī based his own work on śakunas); Bhṛgu (Br S 85 43); Cyavana (Br. Y. 29. 3), Devala (mentioned in Br. S. 7 15 for the four motions of Mercury such as straight, retrograde and on Yogayātrā IX. 12); Devasvāmin (mentioned in Br. J. VII, 7); Dravyavardhana (mentioned as king of Ujjayinī and as an author on śakunas); Garga¹¹¹ (over three hundred verses of Garga are quoted by Utpala in his commentary on Br. S alone, a work called Mayūracitraka is ascribed to him by Utpala on Br. S 33. 3 and on Br. S I. 5 Utpala quotes three verses of Garga about VedāngaJyotiṣa, about his deriving astronomy from it and about other sageṣ obtaining it from him), Vrddhagarga¹¹² (twenty-five verses of his are quoted by Utpala on Br. S I 11, in one of which the rāśis are expressly referred to); Gārgi (usually styled ‘bhagavan’ by Utpala who quotes about 60 verses of his on Br J. alone); Gautama (in Br. Y 29 3), Jīvaśarman (named in Br J VII 9, XI 1 and Utpala on XIII 3 quotes him for the words Sunaphā, Anaphā, Durudhara and Kemadruma), Kaśyapa (in Br. Y. XIX. 1); Kāśyapa¹¹³ (Utpala quotes about 260 Anustubh verses from him in his commentary on Br S., some of which show his acquaintance with all the rāśis); Māṇḍavya (named in Br. S. 103. 3 and quoted by Utpala several times on Br J. VI 6, XI 3 and 5, XIII. 2 and XV. 4); Manittha (mentioned in Br J. VII 1 along with Māya, Yavana, and Parāśara on āyurdaya, and in Br. J. XI. 9, while Utpala quotes 13 Āryās and 2 Anustubh verses of his on Br. ¹¹⁴ J. alone). Maya (mentioned several times in Br. S 24. 2, 55. 29, 56 8, in Br J. VII. 1 with Yavana, Manittha and Parāśara on the topic of length of life, on Br. J. VII. 13 an āyū verse of Maya is quoted by Utpala and to Maya king of dānavas the science of Jyotiṣa was imparted by the Sun, as stated in the last chapter of the extant Sūryasiddhānta and in a verse quoted by Utpala on Br. S 2.14); Nārada (mentioned in Br S, 11.5 as holding the view that Ketu was one though assuming various forms, Br. S. 24 2 mentions that Nārada learnt from Bṛhaspati on Meru the results of the conjunctions of the Moon with Rohini on which he composed a work on which Br. S. draws); Parāśara (a Parāśaratantra is named in Br. S. VII. 8 on Budhacāra, Br. S. XI. mentions Parāśara's treatment of Ketucāra along with that of Garga and of Asita–Devala, Br S XVII. 3 mentions Parāśara’s disquisition on four kinds of grahayuddha, Br. S. XXI 2 mentions him on prognostications about rainfall along with the works of Garga, Kāśyapa and Vajra, Br. J. VII. 1 refers to the work of Parāśara on length of life along with those of Maya, Yavana, Maṇittha from whom Utpala on Br J VII. 9 quotes a verse in which Parāśara is named, Br. J. XII. 2 mentions Parāśara as having spoken of two Yogas called Śrak and Sarpa), Pauliśa (vide pp. 515–517 above ), almost all quotations in Utpala are on purely astronomical matters, except that on Br J. II. 20 Utpala quotes half an āryā of astrological character; Pitāmaha (reputed author of one of the five siddhāntas, from Br. S. I. 4 it appears that Pitāmaha regarded Tuesday as inauspicious); Ratnā- valī (mentioned in Bṛhadyoga-yātrā II 1), Rṣiputra (Br. S. 48. 85 names him and then Br. S quotes 15 verses from him, Utpala quotes about 20 Anustubha verses from him on different verses of Br. S and a long prose passage on Br S 85. 15 and several Anustubh verses on Yogayātrā 1 15, one peculiarity being that he quotes the views of over a dozen authors such as Garga, Gautama, Devala, Parāśara, Bṛhaspati), Satya (very frequently named in Br J. such as on VII 3, 9–11, 13, XII. 2, XX 10, and in Bṛhadyogayātrā XI 34, about 60 āryās being quoted by Utpala on Br J. alone, in Br. J. VII. 11 Varāha refers to him as ‘ Bhadatta ’ according to Utpala, which may be really ‘ Bhadanta '), Sārasvata (named in Br. S. 53. 99 as a writer on ‘ dakārgala ’, over 20 Anustubh verses being quoted by Utpala ), Siddhasena (Br. J VII. 7 names him along with Devasvāmin and Viṣṇugupta on the length of life ); Usanas ( named by Varāha in Yogayātrā V. 3 for the view that no march should be made on Svātī or Maghā ); Vajra (named by Br. S 21.2 along with Garga, Parāśara and Kāśyapa about prognostications of rainfall and on Ketucāra in Br. S. XI 1 with Garga, Parāśara and Asita–Devala), Vasiṣṭha mentioned in Br. S. 51 8, in Bṛhad–Yogayātrā II. 3, VIII 6 where his view is opposed to that of Satya, IX. 2 (about Horā and Drekkāṇa), XI 9 (which mentions that Vasiṣṭha and Maṇittha held the same view ), Viṣṇugupta (mentioned in Br. J. VII. 7 as holding the same view as Devasvāmin and Siddhasena

H, D, 73 about the length of life to be judged from a horoscope, in Br. J XXI 3 where Visnugupta is opposed to the views of Yavanas that the Kumbhadvadāśīmśa in the Lagna is inauspicious, and Utpala quotes two āryās from him, mentioned in Bṛhad-yoga-yātrā 22.4, whether identical with Cāṇakya discussed in the paper on ‘ Varāhamihira and Utpala’ p 19), Yavana (generally mentioned by Varāha in the plural as in Br. J VII 1, VIII 9, XI 1, XXI 3, XXVII 19 and 21, Laghujātaka IX. 6 about Vasi, Utpala on VIII 9 refers to Purāṇayavana-mata and Sārāvalī 21. 11 mentions pūrva-yavanendras, vide paper on ‘Varāhamihira and Utpala’ pp. 19–21 and on ‘ Yāvaneśvara and Utpala’ JBAS, vol for 1957, pp. 1–5 )

The vast literature presupposed by these numerous authors cannot be compressed as said above within the brief space of a hundred years or so but requires the lapse of several centurieṣ From Garga, who is assigned to 50 B C. by Kern to Varāha- mihira there is a period of about five centuries which might be held to suffice for the production of this vast astrological literature Garga himself knew the rāśi system, the system of the exaltation of planets and of dṛṣṭis as the quotation in note 879 will show. Ptolemy came at least two hundred years after Garga and Firmicus four hundred years after hiṃ Therefore there is nothing to prove that the rāśi system in India was borrowed from Greek authors The Greeks themselves got their inspiration for horoscopic astrology from Babylon after the invasion of Alexander in 4th century B.C and particularly after Borossus

It would be necessary to say something about the signs of the Zodiac. The word Zodiac is derived from a Greek word ‘Zodion’ meaning ‘little animals’ and means literally a ‘circle of animals’. In Herodotus I. 70 it is used in the sense of ‘figure painted or carved’. It was then applied to one of the figures imagined as formed by certain star-groups in the belt of the heavenṣ The Zodiac is a belt in the sky about 16 degrees broad, divided in two by the ecliptic, in which the Sun, Moon and planets move. The expression ‘signs of the Zodiac’ may be used in two senses, ¹¹⁵ viz. (1) the 12 groups of constellations which are found sown in the vicinity of the ecliptic (the path of the Sun) irregular in position, unequal in extent and in brightness, (2) the twelve equal artificial divisions of the belt each extending to 30 degrees of longitude It is generally held that the first meaning alone can be the earlier of the¹¹⁶ two. Meissner points out that the most ancient Babylonian observation text belonging to the 37th year of Nebuchadnezzar (567 B. C.) knows only the figures or pictures of the constellations, while the twelve equal divisions occur first of all in a text of the reign of Darius II (about 418 B C.). Nothing definite is known about the first formation of these picture-signs nor is it known who gave these fanciful names to stars There is hardly any doubt that the picture names were due to popular fancy and not to men of science. The names were probably given at different timeṣ Meissner states that the picture signs are already mentioned in part in a Hittite text of the 13th century B C and are also to be found on boundary stones of the same perioḍ

Schiaparelli in 'Astronomy in the old Testament' (p. 85) observes that in Babylonia upright stones were placed in fields as boundary marks (Kuhurr u in Babylonian) or rather as titles of property by way of public notice, of which thirty have been so far discovered on which figures are drawn and on which inscriptions are found containing most terrible curses on those who would remove the stoneṣ On p 86 he gives the drawing on a Babylonian monument of the 12th century B. C. in which the Moon, the Sun and Venus occupy the central position and round about them there is a crowd of figures, of which one can easily recognize the scorpion, the goat with a fish's tail (Capricornus) and the Archer.¹¹⁷ Hooke remarks that several constellations are assigned to Ea in the astrological texts, the two most frequently mentioned being Pisces and Aquarius and that Ea’s symbol as represented on boundary stones was either Ram's head or goat-¹¹⁸ fish. It is stated by Frankfort ¹¹⁹ that of Zodiacal signs in their Babylonian forms only two, Cancer and Sagittarius, do not occur on the seals of the first dynasty of Babylonia

It is possible to argue that in two verses of the Ṛgveda (I 24.8 and I. 164. 11 ) there is a reference to the Zodiacal belt ‘King Varuna made a wide path in order that the Sun may follow it ’; ‘the wheel of ṛta has twelve spokes and it again and again revolves round the sky, but it is not worn out’ ¹²⁰

The above references to Babylonian boundary stones and monuments are enough to show that in Babylonia some four or five signs of the Zodiac had been distinguished before 1000 B. C But the complete list of picture sings of the Zodiac was known in Babylonia at least from about 6th century B. C. as Meissner (referred to above) sayṣ¹²¹ Sarton cautiously suggests tho probability of Babylonian influence on other Oriental peoples (Iranian, Indian and Chinese ) but he gives up the discussion of this question as a debatable¹²² one. Authorities are agreed that the oldest horoscopes are found in Mesopotamia and not in Greece nor in Egypt. Sarton states that the first known horo- scope is a cuneiform tablet in the Bodleian referring to the date 29th April 410 B C., and that the second is another tablet in the pierpont Morgan Library referring to April 263 B C. (in JAOS. vol 75, No. 3 p. 172). F. O. Cramer in 'Astrology in Roman Law and Politics' (Philadelphia, 1954 ) agrees with this and gives references to horoscopes of 258 B. C, 235 B C and 142 B. C. (pp. 5-8 ). Prof. Neugebauer on the other hand remarks¹²³ that only seven horoscopes are found preserved from Mesopotamia, all written in Seleucid period, the earliest being of 263 B. C. C. V. Maclean refers to a horoscope of 28th February 142 B C. Sarton says that the very word 'horoscopos' was coined very late in Greece, that it is used by Manilius (first century A. D ) and Clement of Alexandria (150-220 A. D. ) and that its use cannot be found earlier.¹²⁴ The earliest Greek horoscope from Egypt concerns the year 4 B C. and Prof Neugebauer says that he knows about 60 horoscopes from 4 B. C. to 500 A. D. The earliest Demotic and Greek horoscopes were written about the beginning of the Christian era and the earliest Demotic horo scope refers to 13 A D.¹²⁵ Prof. Neugebauer holds that the rising times of zodiacal signs mentioned in Brhajjātaka (I. 19 ) are precisely the same as the rising times of zodiacal signs in the Babylonian system ( called A ) Vide Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 7 NJ, 3 pp 100-102

It has been seen above that not only was general astrology developed in early Vedic times, but individual astrology based on nakṣatras had begun to be studied even as early as the Atharvaveda,¹²⁶ that beginnings of a regular terminology resembling the later bhāva nomenclature had been made and prognostications had been based on the nakṣatra of birth and on the nakṣatras at certain distances from the nakṣatra of birth. Here we have the germs of the basic assumptions of early and medieval astrology, viz. that a person's future is determined at the time of the birth and that his destiny can be inferred from his horoscope. It will be shown immediately that India was in contact with Mesopotamia and the countries of the Near East from very ancient timeṣ This contact became very close after Alexander's invasion of India about 325 B C. and in the 3rd century B. C. It appears to me probable that Indians who had already the nakṣatra astrology saw the signs of the Zodiac on Babylonian monuments and boundary stones and adapted them to their own astrological purposes just about the time when the Greeks derived their inspiration for individual astrology from Babylonianṣ

In ‘Gayā and Buddha Gayā’ (Calcutta, 1934) Dr. B. M. Barua draws attention (pp 90-92 and 121 of vol. II) to the fact that one can detect on the railing pillars at Buddha Gayā some of the motifs representing the rāśis or signs of the Zodiac (vide figures 43 a to j, which resemble the signs from Vṛṣa to Tulā, Dhanus and Makara). These figures were drawn in the 1st century B. C and would go at least some way towards negativing the view of Weber and others that the rāśi system was borrowed by Indians from such Greek writers as Firmicus and Paulus in the 4th century A. D. These Buddha Gayā figures closely resemble the figures drawn on monuments and boundary stones in Babylonia (vide figures opposite) All the railing pillars are not preserveḍ

A few words may be said about the intercourse between Babylon and India. A. H. Sayce says¹²⁷ that as far back as the 3rd millennium B C there was cultural and possibly racial continuity between Babylon and the Punjab and the intercourse was by land and that so far there is no evidence that it was by sea. Peacocks, rice and Indian sandalwood were known in Palestine under then Tamil names in the Hebrew chronicles of Genesis and Kingṣ¹²⁸ The Bogozkeui Inscription of about 1400 B. C. recording treaties between the king of Hittites and the king of Mitanni shows the dynasty of the latter people had the Vedic gods Indra, Varuna Mitra and Nāsatya in their pantheoṇ¹²⁹ The archives of Bogozkeui contained an elaborate treatise on four tablets on the training of horses by a certain Kikkuli of the land of Mitanni in which are found certain technical terms akin to Sanskrit; and the personal names of the kings and nobles from Mitanni, Nuzi and Syrian documents betray an Indo-European ¹³⁰ origiṇ The Baveru-jātaka refers to the trade by sea between Babylon and India.¹³¹ Greek ambassadors such as Megasthenes from Seleucus to Candragupta Maurya, Daimachus to Bindusāra (son of Candragupta) had been sent to India and it is not too much to hold that there was reciprocity from the Indian side and Indians had gone as envoys to the Seleucid and Ptolemaic courts many years before Aśoka sent his missionarieṣ¹³² Aśoka's edict No. 13 refers to five kings of the Near East to whom Buddhist missionaries had been sent, viz. to Antiyoga (Antiochus of Syria), Turamaya (Ptolemy II of Egypt), Antikina (Antigonus of Macedonia), Maga (Magas of Cyrene) and Alikasundara ¹³³ (of Epirus). The Gospel of Matthew (chap. 2. 1-2) states that at the birth of Christ in Bethlehem wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying that they had seen in the east the star of the newly born child and had come to worship hiṃ The life of Apollonius of Tyana written by Philostratus ¹³⁴ (in the first quarter of the 3rd century A. D.) states that it was usual in India to show great hospitality to Babylonians and that the Indian king, Iarchuṣ presented to Apollonius seven rings named after the seven planets of which he was to wear one on each week day.

The theory that is sought to be propounded here is that the sight of the signs of the Zodiac on such patent objects as monuments and boundary stones in the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C excited the curiosity of Indians visiting Babylonia, that on knowing their significance they brought the knowledge back to their country and fitted it on to the nakṣatra astrology that already existed in India and developed the rāśi astrology in their own way. Varāhu mihira expressly says about dreskāņas that he describes them in accordance with the views of Yavanaṣ If the whole Indian astrology had been derived from the Yavanas there was nothing to prevent him from saying so. The verse 'Mlecchā hi yavanās &c' (in note 743 above) implies that the Yavana astrological tradition and Indian one were not the same and that the Yavanas had composed Sanskrit works on astrology (as the author's two papers show). Varāha expressly differs from the Yavanas on several substantial pointṣ¹³⁵ About 200 B. C, the vernal equinox was at the beginning of the divisional sign Aries, which very closely coincided with the picture sign Aries The Indian astronomers, when they began to make use of the signs Mesa and others, switched over from the reckoning with the Kṛttikās as the beginning of the series of nakṣatras on to the reckoning from the nakṣatra Aśvinī, and counted Aśvinī as the first nakṣatra, though the vernal equinoctial point has now receded owing to precession to the Uttarabhādrapadā nakṣatra group. It is difficult to trace and describe the early efforts of Indian astrologers in the centuries preceding the Christian era on the system of rāśis, since the excellent work of Varāha, the Bṛhajjātaka, eclipsed all its predecessors and led to their gradual disappearance just as the two works of Ptolemy, Syntaxis ( or Almagest ) and Tetrabiblos, led to the gradual loss and disappearance of Greek works on astronomy and astrology composed before Ptolemy. Though all scholars maintain that Greek horoscopic astrology was influenced by Babylonian astronomy and astrology, the connecting links have snapped and become obliterateḍ¹³⁶ It is likely that, as both India and Greece were influenced by the Babylonian system of signs and astrology, both show some common characteristicṣ But it is too wide of the mark to assert that Indian astrology as developed in Varāhamihira was bor rowed from Firmicus and Paulus Alexandrinuṣ Prof. Neugebauer, while asserting that the Sūrya-siddhānta is based on Greek eccentric and epicyclic devices, holds that they were modified by the Indians and that what he means is not that there was copying, but an intelligent modification of the initial impetus (vide ‘Archives Internationales D’ Histoire des Sciences’ for April-June 1955 ( at p. 171 and note 22) It has been shown above in note 869 that the Br J differs from Firmicus as to dreskānas and about bhāvas (places in the horoscope) My hypothesis is that Indian astrology about rāśis and bhāvas was developed before even Ptolemy I have pointed out the differences between Ptolemy and Varāha in many placeṣ ⁹⁰³ Horoscopes are cast not only for individuals, but also for companies, ships, animals, ^903a foundations of buildings, cities and countrieṣ If a person comes to an astrologer for consultation on any matter, the astrologer notes the sign rising at the time the question is asked, calculates the positions of the planets also for that day and time and then makes his prognostications ⁹⁰⁴ For casting the horoscope of an individual one must know the year, month, day, hour or ghaṭṭī of birth and the place of birth. Almanacs are prepared on the basis of the latitudes and longitudes of cities like Bombay or Poona or Calcutta and they furnish tables by following which one can find the sign rising at the time of the birth of a person But the almanacs being based on the latitudes and longitudes of certain towns and cities, if a person uses an almanac prepared in Poona for casting the horoscope of a person born in Barar or Central India there is likely to be some inaccuracy in arriving at the proper lagna. Horoscopes are framed either in square figures or in circular figures and even as to square horoscopes, there is some variance in the practice of placing the lagna (the sign rising on the horizon at the time of birth). Supposing the lagna is Simha, the square horoscope as usually drawn in Mahārāṣṭra would be as follows where the figures 6, 2 and 4 would represent the 2nd, 10th and 12th bhāvas (places), while a horoscope cast on the modern European method would be like the one next to it with the same lagna and employs symbols for the signs as for Aries and for planets such as for Marṣ

Diagram 1 (South): 6 7 8 9 10 5 Lagna 11 4 3 2 1 12 SOUTH

Diagram 2 (North): EAST 3 4 5 Lagna 6 7 2 8 1 12 11 10 9 WEST NORTH