• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY or GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. THE BRHAT-SANHITA, OB, COMPLETE SYSTEM OF NATURAL ASTROLOGY OF YARAHA-MIHIRA .y TRANSLATED FROM SANSKRIT INTO ENGLISH. BY Dr. U . KERN. « (c " I V .R 'i^ V A . Digitized by G o o g le 1 Sir- THE BKHAT-SAHHITi: / • O»* COMPLETE SYSTEM OF NATURAL ASTROLOGY OF YA'RJiTTA.V 1HTRA, TRANSLATED FROM SANSKRIT INTO ENGLISH. B r Db. H. KEEN. I C h a p t e r L Introduction. 1. Victory to the Allsoul, the source of life, the inseparable ornament of heaven, the Sun, who is adorned with a crown o f a thousand beams like unto liquid gold I 2. After studying the subject matter which former Seers1 have revealed with infallible truth, I purpose to treat of the same in an easy style, and in verses neither too few nor too m any. 3. Should any one think that an ancient work, as being made by Seers, is good, and that a book by a human author is not, (then I would fain ask) what difference it makes in the statement, however different the wording may be, if the thing told remain the same?* The Holy W rit,is hers exoepted. 1 The commentator, Utpala, takes ITgq q fil as «the first tear, vis. Brahma,* bat W p T O X » 001 being identical with 1|T4j|P| W U points to a plurality of infallible authors, although it is true that Brahma, the Creator, is, o f coarse, the very Erst astronomer In the Hinds system. The word T O R does not necessarily mean * first’— C £ v. 5 . • T o understand Vartha'a meaning, one most bear in mind that the Rshis, Mania, in a technical sense, are soperfanman beings. They are so more men than, i g . angels, devils, Vidytdharas, Bikshasas, eta, are. In enumerations o f the various beings, they are riaeead apart frees men, drone, demons, e ta , #.g . Sanradargana fiangraha, p . 98, L 9 0 1 and D m , bowrnw. fat oftea eao- founded, because both are manifestations o f light, as stars, the son, planets, lightning, the hearth-fire, eta, or rather the spirits,.the • ' • I Digitized *by 4. Whether the words run thus: “ The week day presided orer by Man is not auspicious,” as we read in the work issued by Brahma; or thus: 11 Tuesday is an unlucky day;” what (real) difference is there in the two works, one of which is made by a man, the other by a heavenly being P 5. Haring taken notice of the numerous works that hare •come from Brahma, eto., in succession, I now undertake this composition. My aim is to giro an epitome of those works. 6. Once this world was darkness (chaos). On its waten was a gulden egg of light, one half of which was heaven, the other earth. In it Brahma was bom, the maker of all things, he whose eyes are the Sun and Moon. 7. Kapfla dedans Matter, Kapftda Substance, eto., to be the cause of the unirene; some proclaim that Time, others that Spontaneousness, others again that Action is the cause.1 spiritual powers o f those manifestations. It would be difficult to decide whether A g o! Is a deas,'or a fiiiU, kmvi; Indeed, he Is now the one, then the ether. A coriooe passage Is found la Mahtbhtrata (ed. ..Bombay), xU. 2 1 0 ,2 1 , where GArgya (another form o f G aiga), the cele­ brated mythical astronomer. Is mentioned! H e *, ia inanlltmrtttm, tba mytbologiod phnae lor j y otUktqigmH. C h ty i h la w lf U cfamfy » meteoric phottomcno. > aee, 0 4 . llah tbh . riL 190, M i _ _ 1 t e n : p i t w ti e i f t w n n d P n n i geit ■fTTsSw *r4v i Tide Is pretty dear, at least to all who hare no precoacelred notions, and hare taken the pains of spelling the alphabet of mythology before they rentuod Into Its higher regions. It would seem that gmrgm origi­ nally denoted «thunder, lightning,9 as a derleadee from gmrj. It Is the masculine form o f W T * . When real men, as Ptpfail, are called Balds by posterity, it Is hmmia caned/ and this ia natural enough, because fs U , auiui, l w ^ bare, besides tbeir technical meaning, the mars general one o f «seer,9 «a wise man,9 «poet,9 notions which are esaafinrty used ns synonyms In 8anskrit and other languages. * Although tha star categories (pmUrikm) of Substance, Quality, 8 8* But enough of this ; for to decade all incidental ques­ tion* would require too. much time. Here I have only to determine what the divisions are of the Jyotijiç&stra, or Science of the Stars. 9. The Jyotihçâstra, treating of several subjects» is con­ tained in three branches. A oomplete oourse of it is termed by the Seers Sonhitâ. In one branch are to be found the motions of the heavenly bodies, as determined by calculation i this is called Tantra, or doctrinal part. The seoond branch is Horosoopy, or the casting of the horosoope. Something different is the third branch.1 10. The retrograde and post-retrograde motion,8 the heli­ acal setting and rising, etc., of the five planets, are expounded by me in my work on mathematical astronomy. I have also copiously treated the nativity, which is contained in the "Horosoopy,” and along with it the prognostications fbr marching mid weddings. 11. W hilst omitting questions, answers, tales, which axe o f little use, the origin o f the planets, and other futile things, I shall set forth what is essential and real in all points. Action, Generality, Speciality, Inherence, are tbs foundation o f Kapidris System (tee Vaiç. S û t 1 ,4 ), they are nowhere laid, at least to my knowledge, to be the erase o f the universe. It appears that tbs state­ ment o f oar author is not accurate. Those who represent Tim e' to be the first erase are, as Utpala rightly observes, the mytbologists (y s s r i pUrfr). He quotes a well-known verse from the Mahfibh. s m n ipifli ip if* am : i w f t i is tfas cause, according to the LankSyatSkasi Action, in a collective sense, according to the lflm ldsahas, or followers o f tbs F t r v s d fin t is t Their tenet is shortly expressed in those weeds: From this, however, it does not necessarily follow that the world, too, is an effect o f Action. 1 8es Pre£ to the text, p. 23. • On mmmkrm see Indischo Studies, x . p, 9 0 £ scf. , Digitized byy Go o g le 4 C h a p t e r II. A$trologer>$ Vade-mecum. W e shall now proceed to give an exposition of the astrolo­ g e r's vade-mecum. An astrologer ought to be of good family, friendly in his appearance, and fashionable in his dress; Tensions, and not malignant. He must have well-proportioned,1 oompact and foil limbs, no bodily defect, and bo a fine man, with nioe hands, feet, nails, eyes, chin, teeth, ears, brows, and head, and with a deep and dear voioe; for generally one's good and bad moral qualities are in unison with one's personal appearance. Now, good qualities in a man are, that he is pure, clever, free, eloquent, ready-witted, able to discern time and plaoe,’ good in the highest sense of the word; not timid in society, unsurpassed by his fellow students, skilful, not addicted to bad passions, well versed in the arts of expiation, of procuring prosperity, of incantation, and of anointing;* further, that he is regular in worshipping the gods, in his observances and fasts; that he is able to raise the prestige o f scienoe by the wonderful perfection of his branch of study, and to sdve satisfactorily any question, except in oases wherein supernatural agenoies baffle human calculation; finally, that be knows both text and meaning of the works on Mathe­ matical astronomy, Natural astrology, and Horosoopy. 1 The edited text has g i n which is wrong; read 1 Utpala explains as though it applied only to astro- • logy, hot it is non likely that the word must be taken in its non general sense. 1 Since the translation gives an inadequate idea o f the terms used in the original, the comment on it is copied hers in full s S r s ; i H a f ir s : i i «ra fa T f PlirtPiftM m iuifliqiyinnili « A m to Mathematical astronomy, he most know the divisions of heaven and of time, in ages, yearn, half-years, seasons, months, half-month*, days, watches, hours ( * o f a day), half- hours, minutes, respirations, moments, subdivisions o f a mo­ ment, eta,1 as taught in these five Siddhintas: the Paulina, 1 Com“ - • i U n i M W I »Jp ( U . k m a hair nycthemoroa) I * T A Vf*wi ^jU nT O *: I WW jnuiPi4«ifi3aft • 1 i irara i *l^-nfswnnVs\qui4t} tar j | 3 ^ * * w y i t o : « t i t I t o w m : WWT i * * TOT WTfTOT 1 «n tT O ^ qyfr I A n ejM l frupift ! According to this system them is no connection between tbs division o f time nnd that o f the circles o f heaven. The system la which both divisions are made to correspond with e n d other may be held to be a fruit o f the introduction o f Greek science.

Load more

  328

Copy Link