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Astrology and Divination in the Traditional Indian Society

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Astrology and Divination in the Traditional Indian Society > Research & Reports The Power of the Stars Astrology and Divination in the Traditional Indian Society Love of astrology and divination is not a trait peculiar to Indian culture. What distinguishes Research > India is the large-scale survival of such practices. Sanskrit astrological texts bear testimony South Asia to the profound and illustrious culture of Indian divination traditions in ancient times. Regarded as an obscure subject in the general field of ancient science, astrology is, incorrectly, relegated to the margins, while it should, instead, be considered in relation to other ancient ‘scientific’ disciplines. By Audrius Beinorius applying to this science our contempo- and control as well as to the belief that rary paradigm (to use Kuhn’s conven- divination could be socially beneficial, strology is India’s richest and most ient term)’ as this ‘…seems to foreclose that divination developed as a body of Avital tradition: some 100,000 man- in advance all avenues leading to the social and psychological knowledge. uscripts covering various aspects of medieval mind, to its structural frame- Indian astral sciences (lit. jyotiQaPAstra) work, and to the contents of its own dif- Ancient applied science exist worldwide. Since the end of the ferent paradigm’(Lemay 1987:58). Only In very ancient times, Indian rulers nineteenth century, classical philolo- a hermeneutical approach can lay bare acquired their legitimacy by claiming a gists and historians of Indian religion the key concepts that supported ancient divine connection, for example descent and science, such as H. Kern, A. Weber, science. Such an approach can also from the Sun, Moon, or Jupiter. Hence and H.-G. Thibaut, have made efforts reveal the overall structure of ideas con- the very first task for astrologers in the to preserve and publish long-neglected structed with these concepts, the local past was to establish such divine sanc- Sanskrit astrological texts, emphasiz- modes of cultural transmission of tion for the rulers. The YAjñavalkya ing their autonomous value. Arguably, knowledge, methods of social control, smOti (1:307) holds that the rise and fall only science historians have ever both- and the nature of the cultural norms, of kings depends on the influence of Street astrologer and ered to look at astrological practice, yet that shaped the traditional epistemic planets, therefore a king should rely on palmist at work, even they have limited their interest to field. his astrologers. Most of the royal char- Chennai. Beinorius Audrius by photos Both contemporary mathematics or astron- In the traditional Indian context, ters issued by ancient and medieval omy, and clearly remain a long way astrology formed an indispensable and Indian rulers bear dates with astro- Different knowledge still very strong in its contemporary from putting astrology in its proper intimate part of traditional science and nomical details, which were no doubt structures Indian context. social or intellectual context (Pingree cosmology. It appealed to educated supplied by the court astrologer. It is Generally speaking, rather than tak- In my opinion, unless one examines 1997). The importance of medieval Indians precisely because it was a not by chance that this tradition was ing astrology’s irrationality as given, it the basic Indian astrological treatises astrological texts in understanding the rational system, or could be made to also actively cultivated by the patronage is more fruitful to consider how in their fullest social and intellectual history of culture and ideas is more look like one. With reference to Greek of the powerful Maharajas. grounds for belief in prediction and div- contexts, as far as practically possible, fully appreciated today, mainly due to civilization, G. Sarton once remarked One may wonder why astrology was, ination in the ancient world differed it is impossible to give a reasonable and David Pingree’s historical studies and that Greek astrology was the fruit of and still is, so widely used. Perhaps from our own and the way in which accurate answer to the question what his immense project, Census of the Exact Greek rationalism, and received some because it provides a tangible, visible their different ordering of knowledge traditional Indians think of astrology. Sciences in Sanskrit. kind of justification from the notion template for predicting one’s fate. Tra- might be related to a different social, The vast-scale text-critical and Yet, many questions arise: how can of cosmos, which is so arranged that ditionally it is thought that a person’s cultural, and even political context. As hermeneutical examinations of those we explain astrology’s large-scale sur- no part is independent of the other karma has caused him to be born at a T.S. Barton has rightly pointed out, treatises that I propose, are significant vival and even its persistent prolifera- parts and the whole. time when the horoscope would lead to ‘Ancient astrology offers a contrasting for the study of ancient Indian culture tion? What was its role in traditional The same can be said about the his fortunate or unfortunate condition. case to our organization of knowledge, and also for understanding contempo- society and within ancient bodies of Indian cultural context. Acceptance of Hindus believe that heavenly bodies – illustrating the artificial, historically rary religious practices and beliefs. < knowledge? Why did and does astrolo- astrology as a learned and scientific the planets (graha), constellations (rAPi), specific nature of boundaries between gy appeal to educated Indians? This study was a common attitude, if not and asterisms (nakQatra) – have a divine knowledge and pseudo-knowledge, References paper briefly discusses these questions, the norm, hence the greatest Indian influence on the earth and on individ- intellectual discipline and technical - Barton, Tamsyn S., Power and Knowledge. emphasizing some methodological and astronomers (Varahamihira, Brah- ual people. These planetary effects are craft, science, and mysticism’ (Barton Astrology, Physiognomis, and Medicine hermeneutical considerations. magupta) were also astrologers. Both commonly considered as the fruits of 1994:30). It seems that if and where under the Roman Empire, Ann Arbor: The For a long period the notion of ‘pseu- origin and subject matter of astrology karma. historical astrology is human-centred, University of Michigan Press (1994). do-sciences’ has hindered historical and were considered to be divine and In the words of Judy F. Pugh, ‘These this will not pertain to astronomical or - Lemay, Richard, ‘The True Place of Astrol- contextual investigation into phenom- astrology fascinated many of the great- celestial forces begin to influence the mathematical science, but rather to psy- ogy in Medieval Science and Philosophy: ena like astrology and other forms of est minds because it provided a total person from the time of conception and chology and social science. Nonethe- Towards a Definition’, in: Curry, Patrick divination. According to Richard vision of reality, uniting the macro- birth. Hindu astrology offers schema- less, it must be stressed that much in (ed.), Astrology, Science and Society. His- Lemay, we cannot ‘understand cosm with the human microcosm. It tizations of the influence of planets on India that currently goes under the torical Essays, Woodbridge: The Boydell medieval attitudes toward astrology by was due to the interest in prediction the developing embryo and stresses the name of Indian astrological scholarship Press (1987). importance of birth time as the key in fact merely serves as a vehicle for the - Pingree, David, From Astral Omens to point through which karma is made vis- propagation of nationalist ideas on the Astrology, From Babylon to BGkAner, Rome: ible and hence future actions and cir- one hand or of escapist and utopian Istituto Italiano per L’Africa e L’Oriente cumstances are made known’ (Pugh notions on the other. The revival of so (1997). 1986:135). In that sense, astrology as an called ‘traditional Indian medicine’ is a - Prakash, Gyan, Another Reason. Science applied science reflects popular under- case in point. and the Imagination of Modern India, standing of the manifestations of fate As Gyan Prakash has shown, in late- Princeton: Princeton University Press in the experiences of everyday life, and nineteenth-century British India, the (1999). justifies itself as inspiring a healthy reli- Hindu intelligentsia began to canonize - Pugh, Judy F., ‘Astrology and Fate: the gious and social attitude. Karma teach- a body of contemporary scientific Hindu and Muslim Experience’, in: Keyes, ings serve as a means of legitimizing knowledge, in particular ancient Indi- Charles F. and E. Valentine Daniel (eds), the application of astrology in religious an texts and traditions (Prakash Karma: An Anthropological Inquiry, Berke- and social practices. 1999:88). The definition of classical ley: University of California Press (1986). Like most ancient Indian disciplines, texts as scientific was crucial in this astrology is traditionally believed to con- process because this gave justification Acknowledgements sist of eternally valid knowledge with to their status as the embodiment of I would like to express my sincere grati- eternally fixed contents and unchang- eternal and universal laws. The West- tude to the Jan Gonda Foundation for ing rules. Astrologers were always refer- ern-educated intelligentsia felt impelled awarding me with a research and travel Pandit Dr Ashish ring to ancient divine
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