Implications of True Zodiac in Karma Vidya K. Chandra Hari
1. Karma Vidya in Modern Times – An Introduction In recent times there have been a proliferation of predictive astrological books dealing with well-known and little known predictive techniques under the guise of astrological research. How much significant are these works is a moot question the answer of which can only be realized by the blessings of Sārada. Traditions and conventions tend to exercise great control over human faculties of reasoning and also many become victims of their own ambitions and obsessive thinking. It is therefore meaningless to criticize any work or author – astrology is the science of enlightenment, Jyotisāstra – and as disciples of Sadāsiva it is the responsibility of all connoisseurs of this great science to diligently observe and understand the subtleties and the truth underlying the Jyotisha. We should not limit ourselves to a few books or a few wrongly cast horoscopes alone, study must involve multifarious intellectual efforts to critically examine the so-called research outputs and commentaries on ancient works in the light of appropriate data and this involves a devoted occupation and an unbiased mind. Knowingly or unknowingly if we become enslaved to narrow considerations of money or fame or other such mental handicaps, our efforts are bound to falter from the path of truth. The present work is an attempt to share some thoughts with people who are interested in a graceful conflict of thought with thought about certain fundamental aspects of astrology. Astrology in the language of modern science attempts to delineate the biological evolution of life as a function of Time. The ‘Time’ that we mention here is not the mysterious or elusive philosophical time but it is the time that is computable, recognizable over a wheel of Time (Kālachakra) in terms of visible planetary longitudes or apparent positions. It is very important to understand that in astrology, we are not dealing with the actual spatial positions of the planets or stars - we consider the planetary rhythms in terms of their apparent positions over an imaginary celestial sphere and accordingly we have got all “our planets (Grahas including Rāhu & Śikhi) and nakshatras” at the same radial distance from us. In astrology, we deal with the Sun, Moon and other grahas in the same way was Rāhu & Sikhi i.e., geometrically and this is well evident from the fact that the distances of planets from the earth has no application in astrology. We have Mars near to us than Jupiter or Saturn and Moon is near to us than Sun (which is away from all stars and the distance is expressed in terms of “light minutes”) but the different distances of these planets are of no relevance in astrology. In the same way, we refer to stars as divisions of a great circle of the celestial sphere that is traced by the apparent geometrical longitudes of Sun and other Grahas. Even though it is well known, for clarification sake, I would like to add that the Sanskrit term “Graha” is not an equivalent of the English word “Planet” or vice versa when we consider the application of the term in astrology. ‘Graha’ of astrology means the apparent geometrical longitudes that serve as indicators of time or time as niyati or the visible apparent positions of light that gives us a feel of time or the apparent geometrical longitudes that renders a computable experience of time. There is absolutely no scope for