Indian
astrology primarily takes into account nine celestial entities that are in
motion in regular orbits against the background of fixed stars lining the zodiac;
these entities may be visible from Earth or can be notional in nature. These
nine entities are together called the Navagrahas or the nine Grahas. Five of
these nine grahas are planets as defined by the modern science of Astronomy
namely the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury. The rest of the
four astronomical entities which complete the list of nine Navagrahas, are the
star Sun, the Earth’s Moon and the two points of intersection of the Moon’s
precessionary path with the ecliptic. These two intersection points are named
Rahu and Ketu. In the absence of the appropriate understanding of the term Graha, some scholars tend to equate a
planet to a graha. In fact the English word Planet is erroneously taken to mean
Graha in Hindi or Sanskrit. The two words are not synonymous.
The meaning
of the word planet has been given in the Oxford dictionary as: A celestial body moving in an elliptical
orbit around a star. When this refers to our own solar system it refers to
the celestial body orbiting the Sun. Thus as per this definition the celestial
bodies such as the Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune and Pluto are planets. The astronomical definition of planets as given
by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in August 2006 states the
following three conditions for a celestial body to qualify as a planet:
1. The
celestial body should be in an orbit around the Sun;
2. The
celestial body should have sufficient mass, for its self-gravity to overcome
rigid body forces, so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly
spherical) shape;
3. The
celestial body has cleared its neighborhood around its orbit.
As
per the IAU definition only eight celestial bodies are qualified to be called
planets viz. Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus and Earth.
The celestial body named Pluto did not pass the test of prerequisites and was
therefore dropped from the list of planets
Western
astrologers whose astrological systems are based purely on the astronomical
considerations became obliged to include the planets Neptune and Uranus in
their astrological matrix, even though these two planets were not a part of the
classical western astrological premise. Some Indian astrologers too, have copied
their western counterparts and followed suit, however the majority of Indian
astrologers still do not consider Neptune and Uranus in their astrological
matrix and rightly so, as shall be explained here-in-after:-
The western
astrologers have been influenced by the understanding, that modern science is
bringing to light, aspects of the universe hitherto unknown by humanity, which
in turn is a fallout of the belief that the present generation is better
informed and therefore wiser than our ancestors. Even a surface level research
and investigation into the Rig- Veda, the Surya Sidhanta and other ancient Indian
scientific literature will totally demolish this belief. That the trans-Saturnian planets existed was
known to Indian astronomers becomes evident from the references in some of the Indian
epics, one of which is the Mahabharata. The complex and intricate mathematical
calculations as well as the accuracy of the astronomical observations made and
reported more than 5000 years ago, without the aid of sophisticated telescopes
and computers, have been given with almost negligible variances in the observed
data contained in the ancient Indian texts.
Indian
astrology does not look upon the astronomical phenomena as the cause for the
effects on life, as it happens on Earth, which is the understanding within
western astrology. Instead, selected
astronomical phenomena (grahas) are taken by the Indian astrological system,
only to be indicative and not causative, for all the mundane and individual
experiences on Earth.
Indian
astronomers selected the Navagrahas (as already defined) as those dynamic
entities whose apparent geocentric movement around the Earth, on the zodiac,
against the fixed stars lining the zodiac, provided the necessary and
sufficient clues, to correlate with the occurrence of events on Earth. Thus
there was never a need to include any more grahas, within the existing
Navagrahas which is why the trans-Saturnian planets Neptune, Uranus or even
Pluto have been left out from the list of the grahas in classical Indian
astrology.
In 1596 the German astronomer Johannes Kepler published his book Mysterium Cosmographicum (Cosmic Mystery) in which he explained the Cosmological principles based on the five Pythagorean regular 3-dimensional polyhedra. He claimed that these five regular 3-dimensional polyhedra (platonic solids) were elementary to the structure of the universe and in that way they reflected the Divine plan through geometry. He established that each of the possible five platonic solids could be uniquely inscribed and circumscribed by spherical orbits nesting these solids and that each of them can be encased in a sphere within one another to produce six layers corresponding to the orbits of the six planets viz. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. He also determined the correct order for the placement of the spheres concentrically at intervals corresponding to the relative sizes of each planet’s orbital path. The order found by Kepler in the ascending order from Mercury to Saturn was given as: Octahedron, Icosahedron, Dodecahedron, Tetrahedron and the Cube and was based on the principles of the heliocentric model.
In 1596 the German astronomer Johannes Kepler published his book Mysterium Cosmographicum (Cosmic Mystery) in which he explained the Cosmological principles based on the five Pythagorean regular 3-dimensional polyhedra. He claimed that these five regular 3-dimensional polyhedra (platonic solids) were elementary to the structure of the universe and in that way they reflected the Divine plan through geometry. He established that each of the possible five platonic solids could be uniquely inscribed and circumscribed by spherical orbits nesting these solids and that each of them can be encased in a sphere within one another to produce six layers corresponding to the orbits of the six planets viz. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. He also determined the correct order for the placement of the spheres concentrically at intervals corresponding to the relative sizes of each planet’s orbital path. The order found by Kepler in the ascending order from Mercury to Saturn was given as: Octahedron, Icosahedron, Dodecahedron, Tetrahedron and the Cube and was based on the principles of the heliocentric model.
Polyhedron
|
Number of Vertices - V
|
Number of Edges – E
|
Number of Faces –F
|
Number of edges in each Face
|
Number of edges meeting at each Vertex
|
Octahedron
|
6
|
12
|
8
|
3
|
4
|
Icosahedron
|
12
|
30
|
20
|
3
|
5
|
Dodecahedron
|
20
|
30
|
12
|
5
|
|
Tetrahedron
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
Cube
|
8
|
12
|
6
|
4
|
3
|
Note: Polyhedrons follow the equation
V – E + F = 2
Kepler
published a revised edition of Mysterium
Cosmographicum in 1621 where he fine tuned the Platonic polyhedral-spherical cosmology and accounted for the
orbital eccentricities. As a corollary to the findings of Kepler, it followed
that since there can only be five platonic solids which can be related to the
five intervening gaps between planetary orbits leading to the placement of six
planets around the Sun; it also followed that there cannot be any more planets
within the solar system which can cause any consequential influence on matters
of Earth. The discoveries of Neptune, Uranus and Pluto dealt a death blow to
Kepler’s philosophy of cosmic harmony and it was shelved; however the fact
remains, that science could not determine the role and contribution of planets
to life on Earth since there was no scientific method to ascertain the
metaphysical importance / unimportance of different planets of the solar system
There is a
missing link between the Platonic polyhedral-spherical cosmological model of
Kepler and the metaphysical relevance of planets in the solar system, which had
been known to ancient Indian astrologers that would certainly come to light in
future, when Kepler and other Pythagoreans, shall be proven right. Nevertheless,
Kepler’s Platonic solids hypothesis supports the Indian astrological premise
that only five planets of the solar system namely Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus
and Mercury are relevant for metaphysically correlating life on Earth, which
gets reflected even in the building blocks of Earth through the five possible Platonic
solids. This in turn confirms the universality of the hitherto unknown
metaphysical principle of divine creation and therefore rules out any role for
the trans-Saturnian planets Neptune, Uranus and Pluto.
Similar to
Kepler’s finding through the Platonic-solids model, the ancient Indian
astronomical text the ‘Surya Sidhant’ has enunciated the concept of angular
diameters of planets by which a regular pattern of planetary diameters can be
calculated for their imaginary location on the Moon’s orbit. In simpler terms,
if the Moon’s orbit is considered to be a thread or a string on which all the
planets are strung as beads, much like the beads in a garland, then the
proportionate diameters of each planet as if it is located on the Moon’s orbit,
can be calculated. The pattern that shall emerge shall have the on-Moon’s-orbit
planetary diameters in the range of 30 to 60 units in steps of 7.5 units in the
order of Mars, Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus; wherein Mars’ “on-Moon’s-orbit” diameter has been
calculated to be of 30 units, that of Saturn to be 37.5 units, that of Mercury to
be 45 units, that of Jupiter to be 52.5 units and that of Venus to be 60 units.
This principle has been highlighted in the 13th sloka of the seventh
chapter’s of the Surya Sidhant which reads as follows when translated; “ The
diameters of Mars, Saturn, Mercury and Jupiter, upon the Moon’s orbit, are
declared to be 30, increased successively by half of half, with that of Venus
being 60”. Half of half of 30 is 7.5 thus the series of on-Moon’s-orbit
diameters of all planets in the given order is at the intervals of 7.5
beginning with 30 units and ending with 60 units. Noted astronomer-researcher
Richard Thompson has actually worked out and reported his findings on this
subject in his article published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration in
1997. He has established that the positions as per the principles enunciated in
Surya Sidhant were quite a valid approximation of reality based on modern
astronomical data. On the same lines the on-Moon-orbit position has been worked
out for Neptune and Uranus and it is found that the on-moon orbit diameters of the
two trans-Saturnian planets were an aberration to the Surya Sidhant rule with
Uranus and Neptune ‘on-moon-diameter’ falling within the 30 to 60 units range
but not in accordance to the Surya Sidhant pattern (steps of 7.5 units). The
pattern enunciated by Surya Sidhant has not been explained in terms of the
underlying connection or reasoning; and even though mathematically valid, is
shrouded in mystery. Nevertheless for the purpose of the present context, it
establishes a supportive premise for not including Neptune and Uranus in the graha
matrix for Indian astrology.
Neptune was
discovered by Johann Galle in 1848 which is approximately 169 years from now
(May 2017). Similarly Uranus was discovered by William Hershel in 1761 nearly
256 years from now. While it takes 164.8 earth years for Neptune to complete
one orbit around the Sun, the planet Uranus takes 84 earth years for the same.
Neptune is not visible to the naked eye from the Earth and is visible only
through a telescope. It is the only planet in the solar system that was
invented by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation. Uranus
on the other hand is faintly visible to the naked eye from Earth but was the
first planet to be discovered by using the telescope.
Till date
Neptune has just completed one orbit around the Sun, since its discovery
whereas Uranus has completed three such rounds. These two planets may be
important from the point of Astronomy but more needs to be known about their astrologically
admissible effects on life on Earth, for them to be of any relevance to
astrology. For a celestial entity to be relevant to astrology, that celestial
entity has to be assigned certain characteristics or indications pertinent,
applicable and related to processes on Earth both at the mundane level and at the
individual being level. Moreover the new celestial entity has to be assigned
appropriate space within the existing astrological matrix which shall be
consistent and compatible with the rest of the factors making up the matrix,
which also includes the parallel task of withdrawing some of the space and
indications already assigned to some other grahas of the existing matrix.
The task of
redefining the graha-matrix, as stated in the foregoing, is an enormously
cumbersome one which cannot be carried out arbitrarily based on guesses but the
task has to be based on empirical determination carried out through a fairly
large number of repetitive observations and collation of the observed data. In
the case of Neptune the cycle of repetitions is fairly long, transgressing even
three productive durations of human life whereas in the case of Uranus too, the
cycle is long enough to cover almost two productive durations of human life. Suffice
it to say that it is an uphill, if not an impossible task. Even if only 10
cycles have to be taken into account for observations for empirical
determination, a time span of almost 1648 years are required for Neptune and
almost 840 years for Uranus, which shall entail the engagement of atleast
thirty generations of dedicated astronomers for Neptune and approximately
sixteen generations of dedicated astronomers for Uranus; notwithstanding that
just 10 cycles are too less a number for deriving statistically reliable or dependable
conclusions. Another important and critical prerequisite is that of the authenticity
and monitoring of the process of such an empirical study. In my humble opinion
the possibility of Neptune becoming a credible player in the practice of
astrology is still some 5000 years away and some 2500 years away for the planet
Uranus. For the present therefore, it is better that Neptune and Uranus are
excluded from the matrix of astrological practice while the two planets can be
kept on the watch-list of observations of astrological researchers. Indian
astrologers need not bother about the trans-Saturnian planets at all.
Pragmatism,
introduced by Aristotle and emphasized by Kant, demands that any process being
developed for the determination of Reality
should be guided by the considerations of Usefulness, Workability and Problem-solving-ability.
The pragmatic view considers only that information as Knowledge that can be
useful to some End. Whether an idea is true or gets at Reality is not
considered to be of that much importance. Any proposition must therefore be
guided by reason, experience and the test of observation. The pragmatist view
also needs to be further fine-tuned by the ‘Principle
of factor sparsity’ also called the ‘Law
of vital few’ which comes into play for empirical determinations. The law
of vital few states that there exists, a set of very few critical factors that
largely determine the outcome of the process being studied. This law helps in
economizing time, effort and resources without compromising on the efficiency,
effectiveness and accuracy of any process or its outcomes. Integrating the
pragmatist view with the law of vital few, the following considerations need to
be adhered-to, for defining a set of critical factors while devising an
effective and efficient process:
1. 1. The
set of factors is exhaustive in terms of covering the greatest range of
possibilities within the domain being studied;
2. 2. The
set of factors provides statistically accurate projections of the outcomes for
any changes in the values of such identified variable factors;
3. 3. The
set of factors do not compromise the usefulness of the process and its
outcomes;
4. 4. The
set of factors meets the requirement of sufficiency for making the process
effective in problem-solving;
5. 5. The
set of factors promotes the ease of handling and the workability of the
process;
6. 6. The
set of factors has passed the tests of applicability and reliability through
repetitive observations.
The Navagraha
model of Indian astrology has been in existence and has been extensively applied
and used for many thousands of years by now. It satisfies all the six
prerequisites of appropriateness, accuracy, efficiency, effectiveness,
workability and problem-solving-ability. It has also withstood the tests of
repeated applications and observations with respect both to the reliability of
the process as well as to its outcomes. In fact, by this logic too, there is no
case, need, scope or reason for considering the inclusion of the
trans-Saturnian planets Neptune, Uranus or Pluto into the matrix of critical
factors within the existing Classical Model of Indian astrology.
