Hindu astrology
[5][6] However, this is a point of intense debate, and other scholars believe that Jyotisha developed independently, although it may have interacted with Greek astrology.
[8][9][10][11][12] Jyotisha, states Monier-Williams, is rooted in the word Jyotish, which means light, such as that of the sun or the moon or a heavenly body.
The term Jyotisha includes the study of astronomy, astrology, and the science of timekeeping using the movements of astronomical bodies.
[16] Early jyotiṣa is concerned with the preparation of a calendar to determine dates for sacrificial rituals,[17] with nothing written regarding planets.
[25][26][27][28][15] The main texts upon which classical Indian astrology is based are early medieval compilations, notably the Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, and Sārāvalī by Kalyāṇavarma.
The Navagraha, planetary deities, are considered subordinate to Ishvara (the Hindu concept of a supreme being) in the administration of justice.
[31] There is no mechanism proposed by astrologers through which the positions and motions of stars and planets could affect people and events on Earth.
In spite of its status as a pseudoscience, in certain religious, political, and legal contexts, astrology retains a position among the sciences in modern India.
[32] India's University Grants Commission and Ministry of Human Resource Development decided to introduce "Jyotir Vigyan" (i.e. jyotir vijñāna) or "Vedic astrology" as a discipline of study in Indian universities, stating that "vedic astrology is not only one of the main subjects of our traditional and classical knowledge but this is the discipline, which lets us know the events happening in human life and in universe on time scale"[33] in spite of the complete lack of evidence that astrology actually does allow for such accurate predictions.
[34] The decision was backed by a 2001 judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, and some Indian universities offer advanced degrees in astrology.
[37] A petition sent to the Supreme Court of India stated that the introduction of astrology to university curricula is "a giant leap backwards, undermining whatever scientific credibility the country has achieved so far".
The Jyotisha text Brahma-siddhanta, probably composed in the 5th century CE, discusses how to use the movement of planets, sun and moon to keep time and calendar.
[52] The text is notable for presenting very large integers, such as the lifetime of the current universe being 4.32 billion years.
[55] Technical horoscopes and astrology ideas in India came from Greece and developed in the early centuries of the 1st millennium CE.
[58] The Rigvedic version of Jyotisha may be a later insertion into the Veda, states David Pingree, possibly between 513 and 326 BCE, when the Indus Valley was occupied by the Achaemenid from Mesopotamia.
[59] The mathematics and devices for timekeeping mentioned in these ancient Sanskrit texts, proposes Pingree, such as the water clock, may also have arrived in India from Mesopotamia.
However, Yukio Ohashi considers this proposal as incorrect,[26] suggesting instead that the Vedic timekeeping efforts, for forecasting appropriate time for rituals, must have begun much earlier and the influence may have flowed from India to Mesopotamia.
[63][64] Further, adds Plofker, and other scholars, that the discussion of timekeeping concepts is found in the Sanskrit verses of the Shatapatha Brahmana, a 2nd millennium BCE text.
[66][67] Plofker suggests that the arrival of Greek astrology ideas in India may have led to a roundabout integration of Mesopotamian and Indian Jyotisha-based systems.
[68] The Jyotisha texts present mathematical formulae to predict the length of daytime, sunrise and moon cycles.
While synchronically, the two systems are identical, Jyotiṣa primarily uses the sidereal zodiac (in which stars are considered to be the fixed background against which the motion of the planets is measured), whereas most Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac (the motion of the planets is measured against the position of the Sun on the spring equinox).
As a result, the placement of planets in the Jyotiṣa system is roughly aligned with the constellations, while tropical astrology is based on the solstices and equinoxes.
The nakshatras or lunar mansions are 27 equal divisions of the night sky used in Hindu astrology, each identified by its prominent star(s).
Further proportional sub-divisions can be made, but error margins based on accuracy of the birth time grow exponentially.
[80] Of these indicators, known as Karakas, Parashara considers Atmakaraka most important, signifying broad contours of a person's life.
Classically known in Indian and Western astrology as the "head and tail of the dragon", these planets are represented as a serpent-bodied demon beheaded by the Sudarshan Chakra of Vishnu after attempting to swallow the sun.
Dhana Yogas are also formed due to the auspicious placement of the Dārāpada (from dara, 'spouse' and pada, 'foot'—one of the four divisions—3 degrees and 20 minutes—of a Nakshatra in the 7th house), when reckoned from the Ārūḍha Lagna (AL).
Sanyāsa Yogas are formed due to the placement of four or more grahas, excluding the Sun, in a Keṅdra Bhāva from the Lagna.
The Hindu Jātaka or Janam Kundali or birth chart, is the bhāva chakra (Sanskrit: 'division' 'wheel'), the complete 360° circle of life, divided into houses, and represents a way of enacting[clarification needed] the influences in the wheel.
