The Vedic Astrology Evolution
Vedic Astrology is an ancient Indian science which explains planetary motions and positions with
respect to time and their effect on humans and other entities on earth. Vedic Astrology can be
traced back to a 1000 years .
The Sanskrit word to Vedic Astrology is Jyotisa, loosely translating to light/heavenly body and the
modality seems to have first appeared in the Rigveda, an ancient Indian text. In its earliest days,
Vedic Astrology was used to determine important dates for sacrifices and rituals.
Overtime it became increasingly personalized, people started studying its planetary movements in
an effort to understand their own destiny.
The Vedas say that a person’s karma is directly related to the position of the planets and stars.
Dubbed as the science of fates , astrology is used to understand all aspects of life including the
future success of a particular endeavour like marriage, moving into a new home or a business
venture. In the past it was also used as a way of predicting outcomes in war.
The daily horoscopes section found in newspapers and online has nothing to do with Vedic
Astrology. Not only do those sections adhere to western astrological interpretations, which are
different from the Vedic system, they also pay attention to only a small aspect of its practice,
thereby creating general and vague predictions.
The primary difference between Vedic and Western astrologers comes down to how they view
constellations.
Looking up at the Sun and the planets with respect to the positions of constellations. The elliptical
path of the planets as they pass in front of the constellations is called Zodiac.
As the Earth’s axis spins on its axis, it creates a wobble like movement. This movement is also known
as Precession.
The wobble shifts the Earth’s elliptical plane by 1 degree every 72 years. This shift becomes
significant enough over 2000 years, making the planetary motions misalign with the stars.
Vedic Astrology takes the updated elliptical path into consideration while using constellations,
making its predictions precise and accurate.
As described in the Vedas, everything is under control of time.
Individuals are put through circumstances, events and scenarios in this life, before they eventually
die and move to their next life.
Their accumulated conditions are their Karma.
Old books talking about this subject in a manner such as that life is played put on a field of time, and
planets are like referees maintaining order.
The difference between destiny and free will is often debated about. Destiny is often referred to as
the circumstances we encounter in life, and free will is how we react to it by action and thought.
How we react creates further Karma and destiny is determined by our free will.
The Vedas recognize four stages of human life.
Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.
Dharma is referred to as the mode of conduct for one’s spiritual growth. It gives meaning and
purpose to one’s life and causes a sense of faith in an individual.
Kama translates literally as desire and refers to the need for sensory and emotional happiness. All
beings are in the pursuit of joy, and they shall pursue joy without harming themselves or others.
Artha translates as goal is more related to acquisition of wealth and security.
The final goal is Moksha, and it means liberation.
It relates to people’s spiritual freedom in the midst of their cycle of birth and death.
Vedic Astrology is the map of our Karma. It allows us to precisely understand our own nature and
destiny, in order to navigate our lives. The end goal of the spiritual journey is to attain Moksha. By
studying this subject we can see how energies affect us and our surroundings. We can study
horoscopes and better comprehend how to react to these energies by chanting and rituals, and
ultimately live the life we want to.
