Planets, Signs, Year Entry

Younger than him came Shri Mishra Chaturbhuja, who knew dharma. In logic he was like Brihaspati, whom the king of the gods honours. He was the first among the Vedanta (the Upanishad teaching) scholars. He was a sun that opens the lotus of all sciences, Mimamsa (the study of Vedic rites) and the rest. Many kings honoured his feet. He was the crest jewel of the Brahmins.

Younger than him was Damodara. He was very learned in all sciences and arts. He was the best of the skilled. For the good of the learned he made a matchless commentary. It was equal to the work of Pitamaha told by Bhaskara.

Damodara had two sons, Balabhadra and Baliram. By the teacher's grace, Balabhadra sets out something of the Tajika (the Persian-style yearly-chart system).

Earlier writers made digests on the samhitas (world events astrology), the Tajika and so on. But none was made on the year's results. So I set out to make a digest.

The yearly result is made here as the essence of Samarasimha. It is agreed by Hillaja, Khattakhutta, the revered Khindhi and Romaka.

But one may ask: what is the subject of this science? And what is its purpose?

And it is said: 'A listener sets out to hear a work. Its meaning must be known, and its link must be known. So at the start of a book, its link and its purpose must be told.'

And another: 'Take any science at all, or any act. As long as its purpose is not told, who will take it up?'

To this it is said: Yavanacharya made a science in the Persian language. It is one part of jyotisha (astrology). It gives many kinds of results, yearly and others. It is called by the word Tajika. Samarasimha and other Brahmins came after him and had studied grammar. They set that same science in Sanskrit words. That too is called Tajika. That is why they kept the same terms, ikkabala (all planets in strong houses) and the rest, as many as there are.

Here the Tajika topics are set out. They are the nature of planets and signs and the sixteen yogas (planet combination). They are the sahamas (special point for one life topic) and the year's results in all their parts. They are the study of houses, the division of the dasha (planet period), and many questions such as going and coming. These are set out; they are not mere subject matter. The link between these topics and the Tajika book is this: the topics are taught, and the book teaches them.

And the purpose is to tell good and bad results, past, future and present.

And Narada has said: 'The purpose is to show the good and bad of the world.'

Who is fit to study this science? One who wants to know the year's results, questions and the like. And he must be a Brahmin.

And Vasishtha has said: 'So this jyotisha (astrology) science must be studied by Brahmins alone. It is holy and secret. For by knowing it well, one gains wealth, dharma, the highest freedom, and fame.'

But one may object: the Tajika science was made by Yavanacharya. It is made of Persian words like ikkabala (all planets in strong houses). Its teaching is not even allowed. Its study is ruled out all the more.

And it is said in the Smriti (law books): 'One should not speak the Yavana tongue. Not even with one's life in one's throat.'

That [Yavana work] is their root. So even the study of the works of the good Samarasimha and others is not proper. For there is the rule: when the root is impure, all is impure.

To this we answer. Yavanacharya is counted among the eighteen makers of samhitas (world events astrology). So his words are valid.

And Kashyapa has said: 'Surya, Pitamaha, Vyasa, Vasishtha, Atri, Parashara, Kashyapa, Narada, Garga, Marichi, Manu, Angiras...

...Lomasha, Paulisha, Chyavana, Yavana, Guru and Shaunaka. These eighteen are the founders of jyotisha (astrology).'

So too, a jataka (birth chart reading) work by Yavanacharya, set in Sanskrit, is seen. It is called Yavana Jataka. In the same way, it is remembered that he made the Tajika too, handed down in a line from Brahma.

And Romaka has said: 'Brahma told it to the Sun. The Sun told it to the Yavana. And the Yavana spoke it. That Tajika has been made known.'

Other Tajika teachers are named in the Todarananda: 'Khattakhutta, Romaka, Hillaja, the one called Dhishana, and Durmukhacharya. These are the founders of the Tajika.'

Further, a settled view is recalled: 'The results of jyotisha (astrology) are to be told by the ancients.'

So too: 'In the Krita age, the science of Pitamaha. In the Treta, that of Badarayana. In the Dvapara, that of Garga is told. In the Kali age, the Tajika is very true.' So says the Jirna Tajika.

And further: 'The Yavanas are foreigners. Yet this science rests well among them. Even they are honoured like sages. How much more a twice-born daivajna (astrologer)?' So says Garga too.

So there is no dosha (fault) for the twice-born in studying the jyotisha (astrology) works of the Yavanas.

Now, [by that rule] the lotus born from mud would be given up. It would be left out of the worship of God and the like. In the same way, there would be no regard for taking the jewel that sits on a snake's hood.

And Ganesha Daivajna has said: 'This third science arose from the Turushkas (Turks), who hate Brahmins. Even so, it is fit to be studied even by good twice-born men. For the good and bad results it tells are true. Is there a doubt about a lotus because it grows in mud? Is there a fault in a jewel born on a snake's hood?'

But Hillaja has said this. The Sun himself became a Yavana through a curse from the mouths of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra. And the Sun made the Yavana science. So, like the Surya Siddhanta, it is right for the twice-born to study it too.

'The sharp-rayed Sun became a foreigner by a curse from the mouths of Keshava and Vishnu. All [this science] was received from him in the city of Romaka. So it should be studied by the twice-born.'

'In the city' means in the town of Romaka.

That same subject was studied by some wise man, such as Samarasimha. His work was firmly grounded in jyotisha (astrology). It was set in Sanskrit words, with clear terms and rules. When such a work is read, know that there is no fault at all.

The saying 'One should not speak the Yavana tongue' is about Yavana poetry, its ornaments of speech and the like. This is the settled view.

But one may ask: works like the Surya Siddhanta serve the rites of the Vedas and the Smriti (law books). How does this Tajika science serve those rites?

We answer: 'In the eighth year one should give the sacred thread to a Brahmin [boy]. In the sixth, one who wants plenty of food.'

Also: 'A girl of eight years is Gauri. One of nine years is Rohini. Giving a Gauri [in marriage], one gains the world of Brahma. Giving a Rohini, the world of Savitri.'

By these and other sayings, many times for the sacred thread and marriage are given. They are known quickly from the Tajika science alone.

Further. Even at the stated time, the sacred thread and marriage do not, as a rule, take place without Jupiter's purity. In the same way, they do not take place when arishta (harm in the year) arises in that year, counted from the birth time. For the bad result is the same.

But one may object: the Tajika science is there to make good and bad results known. The year's entry told in the Tajika depends on the birth time. If that is granted, people's good and bad results will be known from the jataka (birth chart reading) itself. What use is this Tajika science? To this we answer:

Knowing good and bad from the jataka (birth chart reading) needs much labour and much time.

For this, take the exact positions of the planets at birth. Work out the drishti (a planet's look), the shadbala (six-fold strength), and the ishta (good strength) and kashta (bad strength). Work out the ayus (lifespan) years of all the planets. Then settle the dasha (planet period) and the antardasha (sub-period). Only then can the good and bad results told in the jataka (birth chart reading) be stated.

Even there, finding the multipliers for the ishta (good strength) and kashta (bad strength) needs arithmetic with fractions. The dasha (planet period) entry needs the years of the Kali age gone by at birth, and such maths. Only those who know the siddhanta (planet-maths text) know this. Not just anyone.

Also, even when the dashas (planet period) are found with such great labour, their results cannot be told apart. How so? Varaha says, 'Whatever span of life a planet makes, that itself...' and so on. So the planets' life years are many: ten, fifteen, twenty and so on. So the good or bad dasha result of each planet cannot be of one kind through all that time.

In the antardasha (sub-period) too, five or six years come to each one. Even there, the antardasha result is not of one kind. In the vidasha (still smaller period) and upadasha (smaller period) too, some run few years and some many.

Even there, a result of one kind cannot be told. So even with great labour, the jataka (birth chart reading) result gives results only for broad spans of time.

But in the Tajika, the dashas (planet period) of all the planets come within the year. The antardasha (sub-period) comes down to a few days and so on. There the result of the month's entry is finer still. So knowing good and bad results from the Tajika science alone is most pleasing.

And Samarasimha has said: 'Mostly, people's minds do not grasp jataka (birth chart reading) results meant for a long time. So here the year's result told in the jataka is made known.'

But one may ask: the divine, in the form of past deeds, is bound to come. So why make the effort of studying the year's results?

As Shaunaka says: 'Whatever one is to receive, its ordering cannot be changed. Not even the minister of the king of the gods can do it, though he knows destiny directly.'

Likewise, if the divine is strong, human effort is useless. To this they reply: if the divine alone gives the fruit, no one would strive by farming and such means. And the rules and bans taught in the Shruti (the Vedas) and Smriti (law books) would be useless.

Keshavarka says this: 'If the past alone gives the fruit, then why the great effort in farming and other means? And why do the Shruti (the Vedas) and the Smriti (law books) forbid people things, in acts made of bans and rules?'

Moreover, even the divine earned in another birth does not come about without human effort. So effort is the main thing.

So says Vasantaraja: 'Those who know the past call deeds done in a former birth the divine. When it is gained by effort, it gives the wished-for fruit. Never alone.'

Now, if effort alone is held to be the main thing... 'Suppose there were a cure for things bound to happen. Then Nala, Rama and Yudhishthira would not have been troubled by sorrows.