(Extracted from my LinkedIn posts.)
Rama's Mandir Making News for a Different Reason - Horoscopes Too
With mixed feelings one noted reports of expectant parents trying for C-Sec deliveries to coincide with the Pran Pratishtha muhurat. It is quaint that educated Indians, even today, believe at least a bit in Astrology. But one also worries... the pressure we mount on the healthcare/ obstetrics eco-system trying to influence events, when there seems no logical reason to.
Triggering Issues - Our Zeal to Avoid Them
We may in fact create issues for ourselves by being overzealous to ensure there aren't any! The mother of Satyavathi (Sage Richika's wife) wished to ensure her own child was not deprived by her daughter's husband of potential greatness.
Wish to cover here 1) Ancient Indian Astronomy 2) Rama's Horoscope 3) Chasing Perfect Horoscopes
Ancient Indian Astronomy
Astronomy & Astrology have been key disciplines over millennia in India. In fact, Calculus, that India hypothesized, was perhaps refined & brought to shape by the mathematicians of Kerala in the 14th/ 15th Cent AD. They may have also leveraged some aspects already known to more ancient Indian astronomers and mathematicians.
The Bane & Pain of Plagiary
The immediate benefit the Mallu Mavens saw with Calculus. Ability to predict with better accuracy, the position of the planets. Missionaries would have taken these works to Europe. The rest is History, and sadly (as in many other science, medicine and technology related fields), may even be plain plagiary.
Bharat - Where Science & Social Customs Blended
Astronomy & Astrology were inter-twined in ancient India. So was the case with scientific thought & social/ religious rites. Unlike elsewhere, scientists/ thinkers in Bharat weren't persecuted. On the contrary, their concepts & findings, if logical were woven into religious/ cultural traditions.
Examples Prove the Rule
Two lovely examples
1) the concept of Rahu & Kethu
2) the practice of the groom explaining the stars Vashishta/ Arundhati (Mizar & Alcor) to his bride during wedding rites.
The Bride & Groom as Binary Star Systems
Millenia ago, existence of Binary Star Systems (BSSs) which modern science discovered of late, was common knowledge in Bharat! Even among the relatively rare BSSs, Vasishta and Arundhati are unique. In the typical BSS there is a dominant star & a satellite star that revolves around it. But Vasistha & Arundhati take turns to revolve around each other! What a way to start a new life as a couple! Imagine the science that aided discovery of this star system & the wisdom that dovetailed it with marriage rituals!
Astronomical Constructs
There could be many folks, who may assume that Rahu & Kethu represent all the blind beliefs that is Bharat. But what if I inform you that Rahu & Kethu are beautiful mathematical constructs to predict eclipses. Rahu & Kethu are the points (nodes) at which the (apparent) path of the sun around the earth intersects the path of the moon around the earth.
News Reports In Jan 2024
Ancient Indians also knew that eclipses happen only when the sun and the moon were at one or the other nodes simultaneously. Either both at one node together or each one in one of the nodes. At the same time. It isn't normal for the Sun & the Moon to simultaneously be at these points and thus eclipses can't be a daily affair.
(to be contd)
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