NOTABLE HOROSCOPE

CHIEF EDITOR'S COLUMN BODY PIERCING AND TATTOOING THE VEDIC WAY

Bangalore Niranjan Babu

Ear Piercing

Ear piercing (also known as Karnavedha) is normally done within fifteen days of the child's birth and before the child completes its first year. It is said that a baby girl who has her ear pierced has a regular menstrual cycle and assists in minimizing hysterical attacks and similar nervine ailments. The piercing activates certain acupressure points in the ears and is also said to improve the blood circulation and strengthen immunity. It is said that the ear contains more than two hundred pressure points that influence different areas of the body and the psyche.

We see that traditionally women in India wear different rings and jewelry in various parts of the ear. This creates pressure that can act as therapy and provide relief from various ailments that include allergies, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, depression, headaches, hunger, hypertension, pain, panic attacks and weight problems.

Nose Piercing

Similarly nose piercing is also prevalent since ages from pre Ramayana and Mahabharata periods. Ayurvedic texts like Sushruta Samhita suggest nose piercing minimizes the monthly menstrual pain and also takes care of nasal infections. The ancient masters knew that networks of nerves ran through the body connecting various body areas. Many a time, simple caressing of nerve networks can positively affect the body systems.

The nasal nerves are associated with the female reproductive organs. The reason that piercing is done on this nostril is to assist easier childbirth and lessen pain during monthly periods. Both ear and nose piercing are said to aid woman's fertility. Today, decoration of the ear and nose (without piercing) have become mere beauty accessories with social celebrities sporting jewelry in their ears and noses. Generally, a woman had her nose pierced before her wedding.

Toe Rings

This scribe feels it is appropriate to say something about the toe rings that the Indian woman wears once married. The toe rings are said to press certain sensitive points of the toe that aid in keeping the reproductive system of the woman healthy. The Science of Ayurveda tells us that the nerve on the second finger of the foot relates to a woman's uterus. A slight constant pressure on this nerve is known to regulate the monthly menstrual cycle ensuring a healthy uterus. When worn on the third finger of the foot, especially by young unmarried women, it is said to give relief from the monthly menstrual period pain.

The acupressure points on the foot connecting to the woman's reproductive system get activated constantly and assist in eliminating or minimizing labor pain and in healthy delivery of the child.

Tattooing too was prevalent in ancient India, China, Egypt, Philippines, Europe, Persia, Indonesia, Japan and the Middle East. Certain cultures tattooed their youngsters when they attained puberty. Men and women both had their different body parts tattooed. The Western world too had their share of tattoos. Tattooing was much among the upper classes in Europe and particularly in Britain. It is said that Sir Winston Churchill's mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, had a tattoo of a snake around her wrist, which she covered when the need arose with a specially crafted diamond bracelet. Carrying on the family tradition, Winston Churchill too is said to have had an anchor tattooed on his forearm.

Today, for the younger generation (of India and other parts of the world that include USA and Europe) having tattoos on their body parts has become a fashion statement. They have different tattoos on different parts of the body, some being traditional tattoos and some being just cosmetic. Professional artists with refined equipment and colored pigments have begun to find a boom in their business. This is now a craze. Do we stop our youngsters from tattooing, or do we give them advice on where to (and not to) tattoo and what symbols are appropriate to their birth constellations based on knowledge gathered from ancient texts? If your child is (or you are) insistent to having a tattoo "to go with the times" the table below will be helpful. Astro appropriate colors are recommended.

Tattoos

NOTABLE HOROSCOPE LORD SRI RAMA - AN EXTRAORDINARY HOROSCOPE

Dr. Bangalore Sureshwara

Dr. Bangalore Sureshwara has been actively involved in the study of the application of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and Vedic Astrology in modern life. Dr. Sureshwara studied Vedic Astrology under his illustrious father Dr. B.V. Raman. He was the principal speaker on Vedic Astrology at The Second Parliament of the World's Religions held in Chicago in 1993. Dr. Sureshwara successfully predicted the victories in the USA Presidential Elections of President Bush (2000 and 2004) and President Obama (2008 and 2012). Dr. Sureshwara has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Mysore University (India) and a Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Notre Dame (USA).

Overview of Lord Rama Horoscope

Sage Valmiki, the immortal poet has indicated in Canto XVIII of Bala Kanda the birth details of Sri Rama, the eternal incarnation of God on earth.

According to Sage Valmiki, Sri Rama was born on the ninth lunar day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, when the star Punarvasu was in the ascendant. The five planets (Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn)

were in their respective exaltation positions. The Sun in the 10th degree of Aries, the Moon in the 3rd degree of Taurus, Mars in the 28th degree of Capricorn, Jupiter in the 5th degree of Cancer, Venus in the 27th degree of Pisces, Saturn in the 20th degree of Libra. Jupiter and Moon in conjunction in Cancer. The three padams (quarters) of Punarvasu is located in Gemini, and the fourth padam is located in Cancer. As Jupiter is exalted in Cancer and is in conjunction with Moon, it must be the fourth padam of Punarvasu at the birth of Sri Rama. The ascendant is Cancer.

Although Sage Valmiki gave us the birth details, as related to the planetary positions, the actual year of birth is not furnished in Srimad Valmiki-Ramayana or other Vedic Scriptures or Theological texts. The birth date of Lord Sri Krishna is given as July 19, 3228 BC by Dr B.V. Raman in Notable Horoscopes. As a starting point, one can say that Sri Rama was born much earlier than 3228 BC. A search back beyond 3228 BC, can be made to determine for dates that have the planetary positions such as Sun in Aries, Moon and Jupiter in Cancer, Mars in Capricorn, Venus in Pisces and Saturn in Libra. The idea is to get the exact year of such planetary positions as the starting point for determining the birth year of Lord Sri Rama. However, it does not mean we will be able to establish the actual date of birth of Sri Rama. Our attempt is to merely identify, if possible, the earliest occurrence of the year in which the planetary positions are virtually identical to those indicated in Sri Rama’s horoscope. The remarkable planetary positions shown in Sri Rama’s horoscope can only occur once in many-many thousand years.

Many distinguished scholars of Hindu Theology and scriptures have in the past attempted to arrive at the year of birth of Lord Sri Rama, based on astrologicalastronomical, theological, historical, archaeological and other information and evidence. Among the methods used to decipher the time of birth, the archaeological and theological methods can provide clues for arriving at approximate dates, the planetary calculations can provide relatively more accurate information. While there has not been a consensus among the various scholars on the specific year (or decade or century) of birth of Sri Rama, the continuing dialog, discussion and debate has clearly established beyond a shadow of doubt that the principal incarnation of God on earth in the history of mankind is that of Lord Sri Rama. The reverse or back mathematical calculations were done starting from

Reverse Calculations

COVER STORY HOW TO JUDGE A HOROSCOPE? PART II

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 12 HOUSES

Suprajarama Raman

In part one that was published in December 2019 in The Astrological eMagazine, you learnt about the zodiac. Each zodiac or sign shows the characteristic feature of the environment that influences a person. In this article, I will share about the houses and their significance in Vedic Astrology.

The houses represent the sky at the time of birth. This is also known as the ecliptic, or the path on the planets in the sky. At the time of the birth, the eastern direction indicates the first house or the ascendant. Essentially, the ascendant is the rising zodiac at the time of the birth. There are 12 houses that follow in a circular manner around us. The sky that’s directly above us is the 10th house, that in the west direction is the 7th house or the descendant and that which is directly below us, the 4th house.

Each house represents the areas of life in an individual. In Sanskrit, the houses are referred to as

Bhavas.

Bhava has many meanings. In Natyashastra, Bhava is understood as “the mood” or “the mental state”. However, if one reads the classical literature more closely, the word Bhava comes from Bhavyati meaning “to cause or to pervade”. In Vedic Puranas, Bhava is the name of the various devas the great and mighty Rudra. Vastu Shastra also mentions Bhava as one of the various styles of temple construction. A quadrilateral style of construction comes under the Bhava category. In the Vedic system of enquiry, there is an essence called of Bhavatattva which principally is one of the stages to attain perfection.

Essentially Bhava can be understood as the dimension of an individual that manifests over a period of time. In our Vedic style, we have classified all aspects into twelve dimensions of life and accordingly have twelve houses or Bhavas. Each house is of 30 degrees in length.

Note, In Vedic Astrology, we follow the equal house system. Here all the 12 Bhavas are of equally measure or division. The zodiac is 360 degrees and hence each of the 12 houses measure 30 degrees. Of course, the length of the houses can change but these occur only in higher latitudes, more towards the pole and this change is negligible.

Varahamihira beautifully describes the houses in the following verse –

The twelve houses from Lagna are as follows:

1. Tanu – Body 2. Kutumba – Family 3. Sahotha – Brother 4. Bandhu – Relation 5. Putra – Children 6. Ari – Enemy 7. Patni – Wife 8. Marana – Death 9. Shuba – Happiness 10. Aspada – State 11. Aaya – Gain 12. Ripha – Loss

He further goes on to tell that these twelve houses are classified into two types – Upachaya and Apachaya. Upachaya means growing or accumulations. Apachaya means breaking down or depletion. The Upachaya houses are third, sixth, tenth and eleventh. The rest are Apachaya houses.