VEDANGA JYOTISHA

 MUHURTA 4

 

When such sound vibrations are first put into the child's ears, they must be such as to give the child a good chance of calling out the latent energies in him or her so that the course of training may run smoothly and to his best advantage.

The most propitious period for commencing education is the 6th day in the 5th month of the 5th year. The following days constellations are good: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; Aswini, Punarvasu, Aridra, Hasta, Chitta, Swati, Sravana and Revati.

Movable and common signs are good.

Forenoon and noon are preferable. The 8th house should be unoccupied.

Mercury, Venus, Jupiter in the 9th counteracts all evil influences.

Investiture of Sacred Thread (Upanayanam)*. - This is a ceremony in which spiritiual instructions are given by authorised persons to give spiritual eye to the boy by which his internal vision is brought closer to the Universal light or God. This ceremony is peculiar to the Hindus. But as the name indicates, any section of the human society, whether Hindu or not, may take advantage of these valuable precepts and begin to give their children the religious instruction most suitable to their countries, castes and traditions, Upanayanam should be performed in the 5th or the 8th year. If this is not possible, the ceremoney should be gone through before the age of 16 In case of Brahmins and 20 to 24 in regard to other sects of the Hindus.

* Prof. B. Suryanarain Rao's Sukla and Promoduta.

The Sun, the Moon and Jupiter represent symbolically the father, mother and lire-force. Therefore, the three planets should be well disposed to the ascendant at the timeof Upanayanam.

The best season is when the Sun is in his northern course (between Capricorn and Gemini). The lunar months of Magha, Phalguna, Chaitra and Vaisakha are good. The 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th and 13th lunar days in the bright half and the 1st. 2nd and 3rd in the dark half are held to be auspicious. The lunar days to be avoided are 4th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 14th and Full and New Moon days. Some are of opinion that the 13th is good.

Exception: Even the 14th lunar day may be treated as good if the boy is above the prescribed age.

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are propitious. Wednesday must be rejected if Mercury Is combust. Sunday is ordinary while Tuesday should be invariably rejected.

The following constellations are good: Anuradha, Hasta, Chitta, Swati, Sravana, Dhanishta, Satabhisha, Uttara, Uttarashadha, Uttarabhadra, Revati, Rohini, Mrigasira, Aswini, Punarvasu and Pushyami.

Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Libra and Aquarius are good. The other signs should be avoided. According to Vasishta and Garga. the 3rd day in the bright half of the month of Chaitra and Vaisakha and the 7th day in the bright half of the lunar months Magha and Phalguna are highly favourable.

The Moon must not occupy the 6th, 8lth, or 12th house. Malefics should not be posited in quadrants. The ceremony should take place before noon. The 8th house from the Lagna must be unoccupied.

The third house should be fortified by the situation of either malefics or benefics, white the 6th should be devoid of a benefic. Mars and Saturn should be avoided in the 5th.

Let Mars and Saturn be avoided in the 2nd from the election chart; as otherwise they will make the boy's intellect dull. Similarly their situation in the 12th should also be avoided. The Moon should always be avoided in Lagna. But, however, if Cancer is the ascendant and the Moon and Jupiter are in conjunction and malefics are in 3, 6 and 11, the evil attached to the situation of the Moon in Lagna becomes neutralised. The following malefic yogas should also be avoided:

Spoorjitham. - The Sun in kendra causes this yoga and the result is the destruction of the family.

Spuritham. - Mars occupying a kendrs generates this evil yoga and generally proves fatal to the Guru (preceptor) as well as the boy.

Rudhitham. - Saturn occupying a kendra produces this evil combination resulting in incurable diseases.

Rundhram. - Rahu in a kendra gives rise to this malefic yoga. It proves fatal to the mother.

Ugram. - This arises by Ketu's disposition in a kendra. It adversely affects health and education.

Besides the above malefic yogas, the Moon should not be affected by Mercury as it leads to the boy's blindness. The Moon should not be in her own Navamsa, nor in that of the Sun or Mars.

The following are of course very favourable combinations for Upanayanam:

(1) The 6th, 7th or 8th house from the Moon being occupied by a benefic.

(2) The Sun or Venus in the 12th, Mercury in the 2nd and Jupiter in a trine or a quadrant.

(3) Venus in Lagna. Mercury in the 10th, the Sun tn the 11th and the Moon in a benefic navamsa.

(4) When the Lagna is Pisces occupied by Jupiter or Venus with the Sun In the 11th and Mercury in the 10th or 12th house.

(6) Gemini rising with Mars in Aries. Venus in Taurus and the Moon in Cancer.

CHAPTER XI
Marriage

Marriage is a most complicated structure made up as it is of a whole series of subjective and objective facts of a very heterogeneous nature. Since we are concerned with the psycho-astrological aspect of marriage we shall exclude the objective factors of legal and social nature although these factors have a pronounced influence on the psychological relationship of the married pair.

Marriage is not an institution for simple brute sense gratification. The idea that it is a civil contract terminable at will smacks of meanness in conception of the grand liabilities and assets between the parties to be engaged in sacred wedlock. One of the great American judges said "the contract of marriage is something more than a civil agreement between the parties, the extent of which only affects themselves. It is the basis of the family, and its dissolution as well as its formation is a matter of public policy in which the body or community is deeply interested and it is to be governed by other considerations than those which obtain with regard to any other civil contract that the ground which shall invalidate the contract must be something more than a mere representation as to collateral matters that no ground will annul a marriage which does not go to the very essence of the contract".

Marriage, both in the social and economic sense, is a sexual relationship entered into with the intention of making it permanent. In India, marriage was and is regarded as a religious sacrament and marriage comprehends the equality of the partner in respect of Dharma (right conduct), Artha (financial position), Kama (sex relation) and Moksha (final salvation). The universality of marriage constitutes one of the most striking differences between the Hindus and the other races* When the question of marriage is considered, various factors demand our attention, important ones being physical fitness, mental qualities, heredity, sexual compatibility and social and economic status.

In the modern world so much is made of the sex element in marriage that the other equally important factors, social and psychological, are practically ignored. The Hindu Sastras, having in view the climatic and ethnological conditions of India, have fixed the maximum and minimum age limits for marriage. Marriages between parties belonging to the same Gotra are not favoured perhaps because of the dysgenic influence on the offspring. Inter-racial, intercommunal and inter-religious marriages are not looked upon favourably because in such matches there are cultural differences.

After a careful consideration of all these factors, the Hindus had devised an astrological means of judging marriage compatibility whereby the relations between the couple may stand the strain of maladjustments. Pseudosexologists and sociologists are not wanting in India who are ever ready to point out their finger of contempt at the sound and sensible institution of marriage developed by the Hindus after centuries of experience and experiments. We are not concerned with such socialistic theories advocating companionate marriage and encouraging unbridled licence in love affairs. They may be all right in countries like Russia and America - the melting pots of different races. But they cannot hold water in a country like India whose civilisation, culture and social laws are peculiar to her geographical and historical positions.

The Hindus have solved this complex problem of marriage selection by recourse to astrological considerations, If investigations into the various kutas are undertaken before the marriage is contracted, there will perhaps be fewer tragedies than at present and less marital infidelity. Modern science has devised no means to find out the compatibility between the marrying couple. Sexologists suggest that the bride and bridegroom should subject themselves to a thorough medical examination. Although this sounds reasonable, it makes an important omission in that mere physical fitness does not ensure complete marital happiness. Happiness largely rests upon so many other factors that the aid of astrology should be sought for by every sensible individual.

In selecting horoscopes for marriage purposes, three factors have to be carefully considered. They are: -

(a) The longevity of the bride and the bridegroom.

(b) The larger strength of the 7th and 8th houses.

(c) Agreeability in regard to the Kutas or pooruththam.

When there is no longevity in the case of bride, the horoscope must be rejected even though the 7th house may be strong or the requsite number of units are available. Likewise when the 7th house is weak and is considerably blemished, the horoscope to be matched should have antidotes or counteracting influences.

The kutas or the units of agreement should be considered only when there is general sympathy between the horoscopes of the parties to be brought together. The existing practice almost all over India and particularly in the South is highly defective and dangerous as horoscopes are rejected simply because they do not conform to certain kutas, while the most important factors such as longevity, widowhood, etc., are completely ignored.

Therefore it is very essential to examine to start with, the general strength of the chart; and when good longevity is indicated in both horoscopes and they are free from the afflictions in regard to the 7th and 8th houses, further agreement should be judged. When Mars and; Venus are in the 7th, the boy or girl concerned will have strong sex-instincts and such an individual should be mated to one who has similar instincts and not a person having Mercury or Jupiter in the 7th, as this makes one under-sexed. When sexual incompatibility sets in marriage, life proves charmless and friction arises between the couple. Therefore it is the duty of the parents to consult learned astrologers and not to entrust the work of comparing horoscopes to all persons who have no practical experience. History is replete with ill-matched marriages and the most miserable lives the couples had to live.

Socrates philosopher as he was reputed to be, was united in marriage to Xantippe who, if rightly reported, perpetually ridiculed his philosophical teachings and mercilessy nagged him in his home. Once when he had invited a distinguished friend to dinner, she spitefully emptied the contents of a vessel upon his head. Plato sympathisingly asked him why he bore such indignities Meekly replied the old philosopher: "She teaches me patience and charity, and shows to me that if I can bear with her. I can bear all else in the world". Alcibiades, noted for brilliancy of intellect and a most graceful carriage of personality, was strangely unfortunate in his marital relations. Too proud to directly desert his wife he at one time contemplated and even attempted suicide as a release from his bonds.

Pericles, ruling Athens for 50 years, finding it brick and leaving it marble, was not only orator and statesman, but in other ways the most discrete and majestic character of that remote period. His relations with Aspasia caused bitterest criticism. His wife. being a fault finding social drag, failing to stand by him supporting him in his great work for the upholding of Athens, he deliberately parted with her. bestowing upon her half of his estates.

Plato, warned by Socrates, his teacher, though noble, wealthy, scholastic and exceedingly popular in the higher walks of Grecian society never married, though a great admirer and lover of women.

Cicero, the Roman orator and early pleader in the forum, studied at the feet of Zeno and Demetrius and married the heiress Terentia.

It is needless to produce the full story of his unsatisfactory married life. Milton, holding in English literature one of the highest places as poet and patriot, wrote three pamphlets upon divorce and lived not merely unhappily but at times miserably with his wife, Mary Powell.

Thomas Carlyle's married life was rough, as a tempestuous sea and accordingly far from being happy. Dickens, as writer, author and world painter of human emotions, stood for a time in Great Britain unrivalled and yet his matrimonial home life was a most painful failure.

We can multiply the instances any number. In the modern times, America counts such social shipwrecks by thousands upon thousands both in the lower and the higher planes of marital life. In India also the number is on the increase. All these tell their own sad stories of connubial dissatisfaction arid family wretchedness. Readers must note that in the example's given above, the married lives were not shattered by the death of wife, or husband but they proved tragic because of the dislike between husband and wife.

Having read the above paragraphs, the reader may be tempted to put the question "Is marriage - true harmonial marriage - possible at the present state of the world's civilisation?" The quick answer is in the affirmative.

A careful consideration of the important astrological works reveals, the following information: -

(1) If Kuja is in the 7th house unaspected or not joined by benefics, there will be frequent quarrels in the married life often leading to misunderstandings and separation.

(2) When Saturn is in the 8th house, and particularly in a square to Mars. the married life will be crossed by discord, lack of mutual understanding and want of real attachment.

(3) When Leo is Lagna and the 7th lord Saturn is in the 2nd, the husband will be subservient to the wife carrying out all her orders.

(4) Saturn in the 7th house is also indicative of unhappiness in marriage unless Saturn happens to be either lord of Lagna or lord of the 7th.

(5) According to *Prasna Marga. the famous Kerala work on Astrology, if the Sun and Venus occupy the 5th, 7th, or 9th house then the native will lack marital happiness.

* See English translation of Prasiia Marga by Or. B. V. Raman.

(6) A strong malefic in the 4th, particularly Mars, is not conducive to conjugal happiness.

(7) If in the Ashtakavarga of Venus, the 7th house from Venus contains a large number of bindus (positive units) and the wife is born in any of the asterisms of the Sun, then his wife will be as dear to him as life.

(8) When the longitude of the 7th house falls in a malefic Navamsa, frequent quarrels and misunderstandings will ensue.

(9) If the lords of the 7th and 1st are friends then the native will be loved by his wife. Otherwise there will be no harmony.

The above combinations do not speak of either the death of wife or more than one marriage. They simply state that the dispositions of planets in a certain manner in the (male's or female's) horoscope, render the marital life unhappy.

(10) Make the necessary reductions in the Ashtakavarga* of Venus. Mark those signs that contain bindus or dots. Then take that sign which contains more dots and get the bride from the direction indicated by that sign. The marriage is said to bring real happiness.

* Ashtakavarga System of Prediction by Dr. B. V. Raman.

We should like to make a few observations based on our studies and experience.

Today in the Western countries, one in every three marriages is said to end in divorce. Love, affection and loyalty appear to be inconsistent or out of date with a gadget-geared, money-mad and permissive society. During our last visit to U.S., Mrs. X who drove us from Washington to New York narrated her tale, which is briefly as follows: - A lawyer by profession, Mrs. X, 28, had married another lawyer, after "knowing him well" and had a son from him. Two years of their married life crossed by frequent quarrels, "temperamental clashes", etc., resulted in divorce proceedings. The possession of the child was given by the court to the father. The mother Mrs. X revolted and she became miserable. She was seeking astrological advice whether she could marry another attorney who was in similar predicament having divorced his first wife.

This case is typical of many American marriages. Mrs X had met an Indian lady and had been astonished to learn that in India most marriages "were arranged" by the parents and that the very idea of divorce was stilt repugnant to the average Indian lady. And she was also told that astrology played a vital role in the selection of parents; all of which astonished her so much that she began to study astrology and "felt convinced" that Indian Society had certain in-built safety valves which made marriages stable; and that despite the free mixing of sexes and the permissive nature of man-woman relations in the West, astrology could be of immense value in the selection of brides and bridegrooms, so that the incidence of divorce could be reduced to some extent.

Thanks to the intellectual slavery of the Indians some of the "progressives" are now clamouring for the introduction of sex-education in schools and colleges in India" Mindly aping the Westerners and unmindful of the jeopardising of the moral basis and sancitity of man and woman relations.

Paradoxically it is now being felt in many Western countries that the so cailed sex education instead of being "enlightening" by way of imparting "scientific truths" and "natural biological functions" is completely deviod of moral guidance and has resulted in an improper sensationalistic approach on the part of young students, because sex is viewed from the Freudian point of view as mere biological function and not from the Jungian point of view, as a vital force capable of being directed through creative channels.

Today the tragedy of India appears to be that Indian people are to be considered as guinea pigs for experimenting with theories, once fashionable in the west, and now being increasingly rejected as adversely influencing the stability of marriage and family fife.

Recently an enterprising Indian scholar had a German professor of Sociology as his guest: The German professor remarked that he found the institution of marriage much more of a success in India and that he could feel the presence of deeper harmony in domestic relations In India than in any other civilised region if had so far visited"

The Indian professor's reply was that this stabilrty and harmony were probably due to the system of martrimonial matching of horoscopes, invariably resorted to by parents prior to the settling of marriages. The Indian scholar started collecting case histories of married couples and he managed to get 603 cases for study. The age group selected was 30 to 40. All the people concerned were born between 1931-40 and married between 1955-60. The economic background was mostly rural and agricultural though 22% of the case histories concerned people who derived their livelihood from commercial and industrial occupations. In most cases the informants were males. It was found that divorces and separations were 6% and deaths of husbands or wives 10%. The scholar's findings were that 47% was positive, 42% neutral and 11% negative. By positive he means very successful marriages. By neutral he means a fair degree of harmony in domestic lives. And by negative he means disharmonious family lives. His conclusion is that these figures prove the efficacy of astrology in marital settlements.

The interrelations between the planetary and stellar positions and the sentiments of men and women are very intimate. Apart from the other astrological considerations, mutual dispositions of Mars and Venus are to be carefully considered. It cannot be a coincidence that divorce, separation and crimes of passion increase whenever there is a conjunction of Venus and Mars in the heavens, especially when the constellations involved are those of malefic planets. The Venus-Mars configuartion could of course be one of the contributing factors. Children born when there is a Venus-Mars conjunction should be brought up in a disciplined manner and should be made to avoid dissipating habits of immediate pleasure. The adverse effects of the conjunction could be made to express through constructive channels if Jupiter aspects the combination or is or is in a quadrant therefrom,

Venusis indeed associated with many fascinating aspects of life. He rules the wife, conveyance, sex harmony and union, art, attachment, family happiness, marriage in general, vitality, fertility, physical beauty and frtendliness.

Mars abounds in energy, aggressiveness, fortitude, driving force and in association with Venus, a tendency to excess of sensual gratification.

It is therefore necessary that in the horoscopes of the couple. Mars-Venus conjunction or opposition should have a benefic steadying effect of a favourable disposition of Jupiter; or in the alternative the conjunction or opposition takes place in the constellations of Jupiter, Mercury or even Venus; Jupiter and Mercury being more preferable.

Venus-Mars disposition is an important factor for physical attraction. But in the absence of Jupiter's or even Saturn's benign influence, real compatibility may be lacking. Venus-Mars conjunction makes one fond of pleasure, demonstrative and adds zest to one's sensual life. When Venus and Mars are involved in adverse aspects, difficulty through excesses and trouble through marriage follow as a matter of consequence. Venus in a good sign or constellation can temper the roughness of Mars, but if Rahu is also involved, it makes one lascivious, lowed and wicked. Whether in the horoscope of a boy or a girl, Ketu-Venus-Mars association (or even mutual aspect) is not desirable unless the constellation involved belongs to Jupiter or Mercury or even benefic Moon, though the last circumstance might render the native's thinking highly sensual. Ketu-Venus-Mars (or Saturn) denotes danger of scandal in marriage. But if the 10th or house of Karma is well disposed, the affliction becomes somewhat tempered.

Let us take the example of a person having Venus-Mars conjunction in Taurus, the Lagna being Scorpio. Venus, Kalatrakaraka in the 7th, is not generally favoured by ancient writers on the theory of karakobhavanasaya as the indications of the 7th house are said to be inhibited. Experience has however revealed that this textual dictum is not quite valid. In fact Venus in the 7th is one of the finest combinations for a fairly happy marriage, denoting affection and attachment between the couple. When in the case under reference, Venus is in Krittika ruled by the Sun and Mars in Mrigasira, the 7th house gains considerable strength and the married life will be happy though crossed by frequent emotional clashes. If such a native is married to one who has Taurus rising with Venus and Mars in Scorpio, each will constantly try to appease the dictates of others' emotions and overindulge in sensual pleasures to the detriment of their health. Venus in Taurus is good, but in a fiery constellation (Krittika) it gives rise to stubborness. In Rohini, on the other hand, the finer qualities of Venus find expression. It is always better to look for trinal or quadrangular dispositions of Mars and Venus from the Lagna or the Moon, no matter even if they conjoin provided, they are in different constellations. A similar disposition in the partner's horoscope is desirable though not essential.

Just for illustration we give below a chart which is typical of a broken marriage. The native being a Hindu there was no legal divorce.

Lord of the 7th Mars is in the 11th in combination with Rahu both in the constellations of Venus and aspected by Saturn posited in the constellation of Ardra Venus. Kalatrakaraka in his turn, is much afflicted by association with Ketu, situated in the constellation of Rahu and aspected by Mars. Both the lord of the 7th and Venus have been much afflicted. The native married the daughter of a highly placed and respected officer. Before marriage, the girl's father had been advised to reject the boy as the girl's married life would not only suffer from untold misery, as the native could become a debauchee but she could be even rejected, the marriage took place. And to the amazement of the wife, she found that her husband was leading a profligate life and never loved her. All her attempts to wean him away from his evil ways failed, and from sheer disgust, the lady returned to her parent's house. The sensual life led by the native resulted in his contacting dreadful venereal complaints.

MATERIAL FOR BA PART 3 PAPER 5