The Shrinking of the Solar System and Vedic Astrology By E. K. Dhilip Kumar, Author of DIPA Astro Diary Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Sacrificer           E. K. Dhilip Kumar
Sacrifice code       wfor0342
Sacrifice date       August 29, 2006

The Shrinking of the Solar System and Vedic Astrology

By E. K. Dhilip Kumar
Author of DIPA Astro Diary
Tuesday, August 29, 2006, 13:09

Pluto is out. Most people I meet these days are asking
me this 1-dollar question, "Now what does this mean to
you and astrology". First of all, who said we included
Pluto? We never gave a place in your horoscope for
even Uranus and Neptune, leave alone the tiny Pluto
which is smaller than the Moon. Thousands of years
ago, unknown to most of the gold medalist MBAs and
MBBSs, in the land of Astrology, the Indian
Astronomers were far ahead of the best Astronomers of
today. The ancient seers had listed 1000s of comets in
Brihat Samhita along with their names, when comets
were a puzzle to western Astronomers even 400 years
ago and they just saw the "light at the tail" of the
comets. The formula by Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) is
a duplicate of what our Astrologers knew 5000 years
ago or perhaps much before. Due to the absence of
proper documentation, the credit went to others who
came in late but had the advantage of the print media
and European domination. In the Rig Veda there are
statements such as "Oh Sun, you are the centre of our
worlds, you are fixed and unmoving". Sun refers to our
Soul, the unchanging factor in our life.

A child once asked me "Uncle, are you telling the Sun
is a planet?" I replied, "We never call them planets
my dear child, we call them "Grahas". So the Moon is
also a Grah and neither a planet nor a satellite,
according to Ancient Astrology. Rahu and Ketu are also
called Grahas, though they are only shadows in the
solar system, which eclipse the Moon and Sun. So there
is no confusion. Vedic Astrology just believes in the
seven grahas (loosely referred to as Planets) and the
two shadows called Rahu and Ketu.

Grahaparam Kotayahah Mukhya Saptah meaning "We
acknowledge the existence of crores of heavenly bodies
but consider only seven" is linked to Karm and
Astrology. How can we know which are the seven
important grahas? If you don't known them, don't
worry. You already know them as the seven days of the
week - SUNday, MOONday, TUESday, WEDNESday, THURSday,
FRIday and SATURday.

RAHU and KETU are shadows so they decided to keep them
in the shadows with no corresponding weekdays. In
Vedic Astrology, RAHU co-rules Saturdays, while KETU
co-rules Tuesdays.

Sun (Sunday) is the brightest and most important and
therefore listed first in all panchangs even from Lord
Raam's time. That is the 1st day of the week (though a
holiday). Next grah in the panchang is the Moon
(Monday), as it is the second most prominent luminary
in the sky. Saturday is linked to Saturn, the farthest
grah in Astrology and hence the last weekday.

My question is simple. Why are the weekdays named
after such grahas? What is the origin of weekdays? Do
they not correspond to grahas? If yes, whenever more
planets are discovered do we increase the number of
weekdays in a week? There are 12 months in a year
because there are 12 Janm Rashi as per Vedic
Astrology. They discovered the 13th sign 'Ophiuchus'
but did they make it 13 months a year?

Ancient astrology called an Hour as Hora. Please note
the close resemblance. A day is divided into 60 Ghatis
and each Ghati is sub divided into 60 Vighatis.
Currently, our clocks have a 60 minutes and 60 seconds
division. One Vighati is 24 seconds, so the ancient
astrologers used the 24-hour clock. What I am trying
to tell is that timings and dates are all based on
astrological findings of ancient India (the oldest
civilization).

The planets in your horoscope are not the cause of
your destiny as much as the needles of a clock are not
responsible for time. Suppose a new watch company
decides to increase the number of needles in the
clock, what effect will it have on time? If you break
your watch, even then time does not change or cease to
exist. If you change the time by simply turning the
needles, does time change?

The seven grahas along with two shadow grahas are used
to measure your Karmic balance brought forward into
your current life. Let Pluto get out or Mickey Mouse
come in - there is no effect on Vedic Astrology
because there are only nine grahas in your horoscope
and Vedic Astrology will remain unchanged forever.

- E. K. Dhilip Kumar

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

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