"Vedic astrology" - the greatest fraud on the Vedas!

[jyot...@gmail.com]

Respected Sirs,

Jai Shri Krishna,
The following speech was delivered at Rotary Club, West Delhi, in
September 2006. It will give you all the information as to how
"scientific" and "Vedic" astrology is:
Regards,
AKK

Om tat sat brahmarpanamastu!
Om Brahmanandam Parama sukhadam kevalam gyan moortim, dwandvateetam
gagana sadrisham tat-tvam asyadi lakshyam
ekam nityam vimalam achalamsarva dhee sakshi bhootam, bhavateetam
triguna rahitam shree gurum tam namami
"Vedic Astrology" - the greatest fraud on the Vedas!
Dear friends. Good evening to everybody!

I feel highly honoured to have been invited by Shri Ajay Bhasin for
sharing my views about astrology and related topics with respected
personalities assembled here. As most of us already know, we call
these predictive gimmicks as "Vedic astrology" these days.

When I was asked by Shri Bhasin about the heading of my talk, I had
thought of making it as "Vedic Astrology - the greatest fraud on the
Vedas". On second thoughts, fearing that it would be too explosive a
heading, I made it a sugar coated bitter pill by changing it to "Do we
celebrate our festivals on correct days?".

Well, actually, both i.e., the fraud known as "Vedic astrology" and
"our celebrating all our festivals on wrong days" are inter-related.

Let me start with "Vedic astrology" - as to why I call it a fraud!

There is hardly anyone in India, who does not want to know as to when
his "sade-sati" will start or end or as to which Dasha-antardasha he
is running and when that will end etc. etc. even if he does not know
ABC of jyotisha. I have gone through all those pangs myself and made
a thorough study of all the astrological works besides a lot of
astronomical books! I studied Western system of astrology also and
had become a sort of famous astrologer, though my predictions were as
correct as anybody else's i.e. hardly 50%. However, this is a secret
that no "jyotishi" shares with anybody -- that his/her predictions are
hardly more correct than fifty per cent, whatever logic or Ayanamsha
he/she may use! When I analyzed the reasons for such a dismal rate of
success, the conclusions were startling! And I am keeping those very
conclusions before you!

Before proceeding further, I must, however, say something about myself
since you are well within your rights to ask me as to what
"qualifications" I have to demolish astrology that is being practised
over the last several centuries, nay even millennia!

My credentials

Though I am not laying any claims to being a scholar, however, I have
actually studied all the four Vedas in original "archaic" Sanskrit
with their different "Bhashyas", besides the various Brahmanas like
Shatapatha, Aitreya, Tatiriya etc. etc. I have studied, (in original
Sanskrit!) about two hundred all the important Upanishads as well! I
have also gone through both the epics viz. the Valmiki Ramayana and
the Mahabharata --- in Sanskrit and from cover to cover, besides
Adhyatma Ramayana, Ramacharitamanasa etc. etc.! There is hardly any
Purana whether the Bhagavata, Shivapurana, Vishnu, Narada, Devi,
Varaha, Matsya and Vishnudharmotara etc. etc. that I have not gone
through in original Sanskrit. I have also studied exhaustively all the
ancient astronomical works like the Vedanga Jyotisha,
Panchasidhantika, Surya Sidhanta, Arya Bhati, Sidhanta Shiromani etc.
etc. To crown it all, I was not a born renegade against the
established traditions. On the other hand, I was initially
"hypnotized" by "Vedic astrology" and "panchangas" myself and there is
hardly any "text-book" of astrology either in Sanskrit or Urdu or
English or Hindi that I have not studied with due reverence, as if I
was studying the Vedas!

Having established my credentials thus, I CAN DECLARE IT WITHOUT ANY
HESITATION AND WITH ALL THE EMPHASIS AT MY COMMAND, THAT THERE IS
ABSOLUTELY NO PREDICTIVE ASTROLOGY IN ANY OF THE VEDAS, UPANISHADAS OR
BRAHMANAS. There are, however, some references to some odd types of
predictions in some of the Puranas and the epics and therefore calling
it as really a post-Vedic astrology is more correct. There is a rider
there also, and that is that according to these scriptures, Makara
Sankranti i.e. Pongal is nothing but a synonym of Uttarayana (the
shortest day of the year) i.e. Winter Solstice and as everybody knows,
it can take place these days only on or around December 21 every
year. Thus the Uttarayana-cum-Makar Sankranti that we are celebrating
now-a-days on January 14 is absolutely wrong and does not have any
authority from any shastra or even modern astronomy. Similarly, the
Vaishakhi that is being celebrated on April 14 or so also is wrong
since Mesha Sankranti is nothing but Vishuva (Vernal Equinox) or
Vasant Sampat and it cannot take place on any day other than March
21/22, when the day and night are equal. Actually these Makara etc.
sankrantis were known as Tapah etc. months during the Vedic period as
there are no rashis in the Vedas but just six seasons and Madhu,
Madhava etc. twelve months. As such, we are celebrating all our
fasts, fairs and muhurtas on wrong days -- thanks to "Vedic
astrologers" and their "Vedic astrology".

The first and foremost thing I learnt from our shastras is that no
system of predictions has any sanction either from the Vedas or even
Puranas least of all our dharmashastras etc. since all our shastras
admonish us from consulting "nakshatra jeevis" so much so that the
Manusmriti calls these nakshatrasoochis as outcastes and not fit to
sit in any sabha of learned people.

Those who can foresee our future do not reveal it to us beforehand:

All the Ramayanas, whether Valmiki or Adhyatma or Ramacharitamanasa
etc. etc. say that before deciding about the coronation of Bhagwan
Rama, Dashratha wanted his guru Vasishtha to confirm the suitable
muhurta for that function. It was on the advice of Vasishtha Muni
that Dasharatha decided to anoint Rama as the Yuvraja the very next
day, as it was "Tishya" i.e. Pushya nakshata then. From this
anecdote, it is clear that either Vasishtha Muni did not know as to
what was going to happen to Dasharatha by declaring Bhagwan Rama as a
crown-prince or Vasishtha kept quiet deliberately since he did not
want to interfere in the divine dispensation!

Obviously, being the son of Brahmaji and a highly exalted yogi as well
as a jnyani, Vasishtha-muni could peep into past as well as future.
It means that even if some exalted souls can foresee as to what is
going to happen, they do not reveal our "bhavishya" before hand,
unlike some of the astrologers of today, who masquerade as
"Parasharas" and "Vamadevas" to tell us even our past and future
janmas just by glancing at our birth-charts, even if those charts are
wrong!

The Gita is said to be the gist of all our shastras. When Arjuna
expressed his doubt by saying naitadvidmah katarnno gareeyo, yadva
jayema yadi va no jayeyuh "I do not know what is good for me nor do I
know whether we will win or the Kauravas will win the war", Bhagwan
Krishna neither asked him to consult some soothsayer nor did He tell
him to wear some ruby! He just advised Arjuna "hato va prapsyasi
swargam jitva va bokshyase maheem" i.e. "You must fight. If you get
killed in the war, you will go to the heavens and if you win it you
will be the lord of the whole world".

Thus all it boils down to is the fact that those who know (including
Lord Krishna Himself!) as to what is going to happen and when do not
divulge such "secrets" before hand to us.

Remedial measures are a farce:

Almost all the jyotishis suggest one or the other remedial measure to
their clients, and mostly these are gems like diamond or ruby or
sapphire etc. etc. What is surprising is that we have become so
obsessed with Jyotish that we forget the entire itihasa of our past!

(i) If these gems are that efficacious, why was then Dasharatha
not suggested some "ruby" or "coral" to ward off the evil Dasha that
was going to kill him when Rama would leave for the forests? Well,
because our Rishis did not believe in such gimmicks at all!

(ii) Bhagwan Krishna was born in a prison --- I wonder why He could
not use some "sapphire" to be born in a palace!

(iii) Vasudeva and Devaki---the parents of Bhagwan Krishna--- were in
chains when He was born! It is said that Lord Krishna was a complete -
16 kala sampoorna --- divine incarnation of Vishnu and was thus
really Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient! But in spite of His
Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence, Lord Krishna could not
relieve the miseries of his parents, Vasudeva and Devaki, who had to
remain in chains till Krishna killed Kansa!

What does it demonstrate? Just the fact that if the Omniscient,
Omnipresent and Omnipotent Krishna could not relieve the miseries of
His own father or mother before the appointed time, how can a ruby or
a sapphire---or some Mangala or Shani yagya--- remove all our miseries
or fulfil all our ambitions? Obviously, we are being taken for a ride
by such Jyotishis!

iv) Then not in the distant past, Smti Indira Gandhi would run after
astrologers for knowing her future. She wore a rare and original
ekamukhi rudraksha, which only either the Maharaja of Nepal had or she
was wearing! It is said that some top-notch jyotishis had suggested
that rudraksha to her! Ironically, both the King of Nepal as well
Mrs. Indira Gandhi were assassinated "by the people" they "had
trusted"----ekamukhi rudraksha not withstanding!
What does it prove? That we should not be hoodwinked by soothsayers!

v) Then again a well known Tantrik of yore---highly respected by the
then PM--- is out on bail, not by dint of his "Tantra-Kriya" but
because of some legal loopholes in FERA!
Similarly, Dhirendra Brahmachari, another high profile "Tantrik", met
with an accident in the plane he was flying himself! If he could not
see his own death looming large how could he forewarn others!

What does that prove? Obviously, it warns us against relying on any
soothsayers, especially if they call themselves "Vedic Jyotishis"
since they are taking us for a ride literally.

Kalasarpa Dosha -- a non-existent fear psychosis:

These days we hear a lot about Kalasarpa Dosha! It is said to be
present in any horoscope if all the planets are between Rahu and
Ketu! My God! What a humbug! Rahu and Ketu are actually nodes of
the Moon! That means they are just mathematical points without any
dimensions ---therefore without any physical existence whatsoever! So
according to "Vedic astrologers" even such "non-existent" phenomena
can make our lives miserable for which we must do some upay! Do you
need any other proofs for the jugglery that these cheats are indulging
in?

THE ONLY EFFECTIVE REMEDY, or UPAY, THEREFORE, IS THAT WE MUST
REMEMBER HIM, THE ALMIGHTY, EVERY MOMENT OF OUR LIVES AND LEAVE EVERY
THING TO HIS DIVINE WILL!.

Fake Brighu Samhitas and Parasharis:

We find a Brighu Samhita or a nadi Jyotishi or Aruna Samhita etc. in
every Muhalla these days! However, there is no mention in any of the
Puranas or shastras that any Rishi like Vasishtha or Garga or Brighu
etc. have ever written any books on predictive astrology. The Vishnu
Purana by Parashara is full of astronomical references ---and that
also sayana i.e. the seasonal year when Mesha sankranti is another
name of Spring Equinox and so on, but we do not find any mention of
any Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra there! Obviously, it is the worst
concoction that can ever be had, and may be that is why such a
Parashari is the bible of "Vedic astrologers"

India has gone downhill because of astrology and astrologers:

In India, we have started going downhill ever since our rulers
started running after Jyotishis. In ancient days, during the time of
the Mahabharata, it was a dharma yudha that we had to fight against
our own Duryodhanas but ever since the advent of astrology almost
simultaneously with the invasion of Alexander the Great, and then the
"Yavana Jatakam" of Sphujidwaja and the Surya Sidhanta of Maya the
Yavana (mlechha!), we had to fight outsiders! The more the
foreigners invaded us the more our rulers, instead of making a united
effort against the invaders, started consulting soothsayers whom they
called Rajajyotishis!

Varahamihira the worst culprit:

The maximum credit for creating such a fear psychosis of omens and
ghosts and ghouls and storms and even clouds goes to Varahamihira of
5th century AD through his Brihat Samita and Brihat Jatakam and
Panchasidhantika! Before venturing into the battlefield, our monarchs
would ask their soothsayers to prepare "narpati jaya charya" and
consult Brihat Samhita etc. to see whether the "ketuchara" was
favourable at that time or not! No wonder with such a preliminary and
hopeless knowledge of astronomical facts, we were being pushed back
into dark ages by Varahamihira and his followers!

Our historical records are witness to the fact that we were
vanquished in every battle, whether it was with Alexander the Great or
Muhamud of Gazni or Chengiz Khan or Nadir Shah or the Moguls or
finally the East India Company, thanks to the dependence of our
monarchs on soothsayers (Rajajyotishis, huh!) instead of the
principles of war strategy and statecraft as adumbrated by the Vedas,
the Manu and even Chanakya, who chided kings for consulting
soothsayers!

BJP the latest example:

The fate of the BJP has not been any better than that of our earlier
monarchs by depending more on their "Vedic Jyotishis" who were
responsible for getting "Vedic Jyotisha (sic!)" prescribed in Indian
Universities! It is that very move that boomeranged on the party and
even the "Minister of astrology" did not win his own parliamentary
seat from Allahabad, let alone being the Union Minister again. Do you
need any other proofs of the fact that these "Vedic Jyotishis" will
make you lose your seat of power well before the appointed day just by
making you advance your elections?

If we continue to follow the trend of our "monarchs" of having blind
faith in our soothsayers, then sooner than later we will become
Babylon of yesteryears, which is known as Iraq today!

Kashmiri Pandits were the worst affected by their blind faith in
Jyotishis:

Another reason for my revolt against the so called "Vedic astrology"
is that as a Kashmiri Pandit, I have more to blame panchanga makers
and soothsayers and their predictive gimmicks than anything or anybody
else since they never forewarned us about any calamities that were
going to befall us! On the other hand, just to prove their
astrological gimmicks, they just made ---and are still making --- us
celebrate all our festivals, including Mahashivaratri, Vasanti
Navratras, Ramanavami, Janmashtami and Sharadiya navratras etc. on
wrong days. It is these very jyotishis, whom we had treated as our
friends, philosophers and guides, who are responsible for our downfall
as Kahsmiri Pandits, since they proved neither our friends, nor
philosophers least of all our guides! These Panchanga makers/
jyotishis were the first to flee from Kashmir in 1990--- like the
king Hari Singh at the time of Pakistani raid in 1948--- since they
had already made their alternate homes in safer places like Jammu and
Delhi. Those Jyotishis just proved to be Shylocks, who were only
interested in their Pound of flesh by way of Dakshinas for janmapatris
and matching of horoscopes -- all cheating and nothing else!

These soothsayers have such a hypnotic grip on us that initially even
I was brain washed to believe that the Vedas had nothing else to do
excepting teaching us predictive astrology! I was so convinced that
it appeared that even the principle of Secondary Progressions must
have been exported from India to Western countries as the principle of
"A day equals a year" was mentioned in our Vedas! But thank God, I
woke up to the situation and could see through their tricks.

There are no Mesha, Vrisha etc. Rashis in the Vedas:

Leave alone predictive gimmicks, actually there are neither rashis
like Mesha, Vrisha etc. nor planets like Mangal, Shani etc. in the
Vedas, Upanishads, Brahmanas etc. Similarly, the Vedanga Jyotisha, the
first indigenous astronomical work of 14th century BCE, just tells us
only as to how to calculate tithi, nakshatra and Uttarayana-cum-Tapah-
cum Magha etc. months. It does not list any Mesha etc. rashis nor any
planets like Mangal, Budha etc. Same is the case with Yajur Jyotisha
of about 11th century BCE and later Atharva Jyotisha of about 5th
century BCE. As such, it is really a fraud on the Vedas being played
by some charlatans to call any predictive gimmicks as Vedic astrology
and hail themselves as "Vedic Jyotishis". It is a crime under "The
Consumer Protection Act" as it is a misrepresentation of facts to a
client and is thus a deficiency in service.

Our predictions in the past also could never have been correct:

It is said that over the past about 2000 years, our ancestors like
Varahamihira or his son Prithuyashas etc., could make marvellously
correct predictions. THAT IS NOTHING BUT HOGWASH! Let us see how:
prior to the advent of scientific astronomy into India, i.e. about a
couple of centuries back, panchangas were based on astronomical works
like the Surya Sidhanta or Aryabhati or Sidhanta Shirmoani etc. etc.
I have prepared a software called "Mahesh". It calculates, apart from
the actual tithi, nakshatra, yoga, karna etc., the mean longitudes of
all the planets from 10000 BCE to 12030 AD i.e. for more than 22,000
years as per the Surya Sidhanta, Aryabhati or Sidhanta Shiromani etc.
besides comparing them with the longitudes as per modern astronomy.
Anybody can download it freely from my discussion forum

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HinduCalendar

Unfortunately for these jyotishis, we find that the very fundamental
arguments of these sidahntas like the Surya Sidhanta, the Aryabhati,
the Sidhanta Shiromani etc. etc. are absolutely wrong! .

That naturally means that any panchanga based on them would also be
wrong, with the result that any horoscope prepared on the basis of
those panchangas could never be correct. Thus it is impossible for any
astrological predictions to have been correct in the past! As such,
it is all like the famous couplet of Ghalib "yoon to hai hamko janat
ki haqeeqat maloom lekin; dil ke bahlane ko Ghalib yeh khayal achha
hai"

Astrology cannot be a science

Predictive astrology is supposed to be a "science"! What a
preposterous statement! When the data on which predictions were based
or are based these days are not correct, how can the results be
correct and how can we call it a science at all?

Stars do not affect us:

It is said that stars affect us! It appears either these astrologers
have gone honkers themselves or they suppose that the whole world has
really gone mad! Let us see how:
I am a puny human being on this small planet called earth. The sun is
hundreds of thousands of times larger than the earth! And there are
other stars of our nakshatra/rashichakra that are supposed to affect
me individually as per the Dasha-Bhukti that is running in my
horoscope! However, this fantastic statement has no leg to stand upon
since the nearest star of that Rashichakra is Shravana! And do you
know its distance from me? It is seventeen light years! And it is
several times larger than our sun! In other words, if that star wants
i.e. Shravana wants to "affect" me individually, it will take it at
least seventeen years to do so even if that "effect" travels at the
speed of light! And by then, my Rahu or Shani or whatever Dasha it
may be must have been over! Then how can such a star which is
trillions of times larger than me send its rays in a concentrated form
just to haunt me at a particular point of time! Can you imagine what
type of laughing stocks we are making of ourselves by believing in
such hocus pocus!
Similarly, the next nearest star of our Rashichakra is Swati ! It is
away by 26 light years from me

and is again several times larger than our sun!!

It thus defies imagination as to how we can call astrology a science
or how it can be said that the "Stars affect us".

Patri Melapak (Horoscope Matching) is not warranted by shastras nor
astrology books:

Now coming to the fad called Patri Melapak i.e. horoscope matching!
This fad is the rage of the day! You will be surprised to know that
none of our shastras, whether the Manusmriti or the Ramayana or the
Mahabharata, leave alone the Vedas, have anything to do with Patri
Melapak even by mistake! We do not find any instances that any Vedic
Rishi was addicted to such a fad, since may be then most of them would
still have been looking for a "suitable Patri" for melapak! Not to
speak of Dharma shastras, there is no mention of this type of a malady
in any of the astrology books like the so called Parashari, or
Mansagari or Phala Deepika or Jataka Parijata or any other work! It
appears to be a creation of the jyotishis of over the last one
hundred years or so. Aleberuni, who visited India in 1030 AD and
recorded quite faithfully all his experiences about Jyotisha and other
things in India also has not mentioned anything of any "Melapak" in
his work!

"All India Calendar Reform Committee":

Summing up, as we have just seen, not only are we subjected to non-
existent fear psychosis like Kalasarpa Dosha and Patri Melapak etc.
but we are compelled to celebrate all our festivals on worng
days. There are quite a few people who agree with my point of
view that these days we are celebrating Pitra Amavasya on the day of
Dipavali and marriages during Pitra-Paksha! Similarly, we never
celebrate Makar Sankranti on correct days i.e. December 21/22 but we
celebrate it on January 14. We also celebrate Vaishakhi on April 14
instead of the day of Spring Equinox i.e., March 21 or so. This has
been all because of the so called "Vedic astrology"

To put our festivals back on the right track, I made quite a few
representations to the Hon'ble President of India, the Prime Minister
of India, various ministries besides the Positional Astronomy Centre
at Calcutta, who publish our Rashtriya Panchanga. I also made similar
representations to all the reverred Shankaracharyas of all the six
peethas, besides other saints and Mahatmas, but sorry to say, there
has been absolutely no response from any quarter!

We have now formed an "All India Calendar Reform Committee" and are
enrolling members for the same. Those interested can log on to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HinduCalendar for entering into
discussions regarding the same. You can also get a list of correct
dates of festivals for 2006 and 2007 from that forum. As an
alternative, you can get in touch with me whenever you want to for any
further clarifications.

Thank you very much for listening to this "exhortation" against "Vedic
astrology" and the efforts I am making to streamline our
calendars. Om tat sat brahmarpanam
astu

Avtar Krishen Kaul

President

All India Calendar Reform Committee

H. No. 5, MIG, 00-A,

Sector-2, Avantika, Rohini, Delhi-110085.

Email:jyot...@sify.com; a_kr...@yahoo.com; Tel. 011-27516483