14/08/2013
Tracing the Roots of Jyotish
The ancient science of astrology can be traced to
the Vedas around 5000 BCE. The Vedas are
among the world’s most ancient and sacred
scriptures. The word Veda means knowledge
coming from the root vid, to know. The Vedas
are books of knowledge said to be the
fundamental doctrine of Hinduism. The Vedas
were received by the great sages through divine
revelation, referred to as sruti and recorded for
the benefit of humanity.
The Vedas are divided into four books: the Rig-
Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda and the
Atharva-Veda. According to Vedic astrologer and
historian David Frawley, one of the first
references to astrology dates back to the Rig
Veda, the oldest of the scriptures. It records a
description of the chakra or wheel of 360
degrees placed in the sky by Rishi Dirghatamas,
pandit to one of the greatest kings of India,
Bharata, the original name of India.
Each Veda consists of four parts: the Mantra-
Samhitas or hymns, the Brahmanas or
explanations of Mantras or rituals, the
Aranyakas or philosophical interpretations of the
rituals, and the Upanishads or the art of Self-
realization. The division of each Veda into four
parts relates to the four stages of human life:
student—first 25 years (brahmacharya),
householder—25 to 50 years (grihastha),
retirement—50 to 75 years (vanprastha), and
ascetic—75 to 100 (sanyasa).
The Upvedas
There is a subsidiary for each book of the Vedas
referred to as the Upvedas: Arthveda is a
subsidiary of the Rigved, and relates to the
science of sociology and economics.
Gandharvaveda is a subsidiary of the Samved,
and relates to the arts and music. Dhanurveda is
a subsidiary of the Yajurved, and relates to
military science, including the martial arts.
Ayurveda is a subsidiary of the Atharvaved, and
relates to medical science.
The Vedangas
The Vedas were divided into the vedangas (ved
—knowledge, angas—limbs). These texts
embodied the ved purush or cosmic individual.
Knowledge of these texts enables us to realize
our divine nature as paramatma, the Supreme
Soul. There are six vedangas or parts of the
Vedas: Jyotish, the study of astronomy and
astrology; Kalpa, the study of sacred rites and
rituals; nirukta, the study of etymology (origin
and meaning of words); shiksha, phonetics;
vyakarana, grammar; and chanda, prosody (the
study of the structure of poetry, including
rhyme, meter, and the patterns of verse forms).
Each of the vedangas is associated with a body
part that comprises the ved purush. Jyotish
represents the eyes of ved purush, and is an
important key to help us realize our true soul
nature. Jyotish is the study of the light of
celestial bodies. It includes astronomy, the
science of the movements of the heavenly
bodies and astrology, the study of the influence
of the planets on our lives. The rishis and priests
of India depended on these sciences, as Vedic
rituals were most effective when performed at
auspicious times, that is, under the influence of
particular constellations. Later, the belief
developed that not only the Vedic rituals but all
aspects of human endeavor, both individual and
communal, were affected by the planetary
bodies. Thus, after extensive research, the
science of astrology was developed. The two
sciences of nakshatra vigyam (or astronomy) and
phalit jyotish (predictive astrology) together
came to be known as jyotish.
