PLANETS AND TRAVEL ABROAD

ABROAD: INTRODUCTION

That astrology has come of age in India in the nineties in a new way is a statement that must be made now. Known as jyotisha, it is that sacred knowledge which had remained in the 'ashrams' of the great rishis of ancient times who gave predictions to kings. We see instances of Narada, Garga and many other rishis in the Puranas, the Mahabharata and other religious literature telling kings what would happen in the future. There is no mention of a householder astrologer in any of those great works, as far as my knowledge goes. All those prophets, seer-astrologers, were rishis, yogis, tapasvis whose spiritual life was excellent. Each one of them fell into some trap or the other in their spiritual life, recovered and reached greater heights. They were unattached to their own families, to any clan, caste, community, or to kings and their kingdoms. Their objectivity was stainless. They combined the spiritual strength of their 'tapasya' and the scientifc knowledge of astrology in its entirety. Astrology was the priceless possession of seers not of householders. It is possible that even in that era fraudulent astrologers existed and were condemned. The sacredness of jyotisha, as one of the Vedangas was never questioned and doubted. The seer astrologer was held in high regard. He never charged any fee, for he needed nothing. The gifts and donations given by kings were to Brahmins and the general public, never to 'rishis'.

The lesson is obvious. If astrology is done, as it is now being practised, by householders who are ordinary men without a disciplined spiritual life, all that is bound to happen is corruption of uncontrollable proportions. I have said many times that in this purely mercenary era, it would be difficult to bring astrology back into the rishi mould. The best that could be done then is to raise the academic standard through sound research and make it a dependable, predictive science. It is necessary because astrology has now come to stay as the best counselling science but it is in the clutches of mercenaries. That is the condition in India and in the USA where astrology is done for purely monetary motive. Astrology was never meant to be a money earning profession but is a spiritual pursuit which helped the seer-astrologer develop his spiritual life. In turn the seer-astrologer guided people who sought his advice and guidance