By MR DUA
BY now, all kinds of expletives, profane exclamations have been heaped
on those who advocate the study of astrology
at university levels. Astrology has been debunked as garbage, pure and
simple, witchcraft, downright sorcery.
Not only that. Those who plead for a systematic, balanced even scientific
investigations of astrology are being branded
as fundamentalists. While any academic or researcher would urge an unbiased
exploration or analyses before rejecting a
discipline of study, unfortunately astrology has not been given out that
kind of rational treatment. A pity.
As is well established, the science and art of astrology has existed in
India for over 5000 years. It can be never be
denied that Jyotir Vigyan, the Vedic tradition of astrology, has had a
rich significance in India’s ancient culture.
Moreover, astrology has had a deep influence on the vast majority of people
in India. Though a few may deny it,
astrology is intimately woven into “the intellectual history of India and
it is this representative philosophy, which
forms the ‘philosophy of thought’ in this country”. The philosophy of Vedanta
has been handed down and is
inseparable from the soil of the subcontinent.
PERSONALITY
Vedic astrology is indeed an integral part of this culture. Parashara Muni,
the father of Vedic astrology, who is
reported to have lived around 1500 BC, was one of the first astrologers
to have actually cast natal charts for
individuals. Most people are familiar with only a tiny portion of astrology,
namely, the 12 signs of zodiac, that relate
to personality, and the use of astrology for divination. The ancient astrological
work of Parashara Muni was “the
Brihat Parashara Hora Satra”.
Another reputed ancient astrologer, Ranavira, “specialised in relationship
compatibility, female horoscopy, and other
psychological aspects of astrology”. Astrological calculations of stellar
influences upon a living being are not
superstitions, but are factual, as confirmed in Srimad Bhagvatam. Every
living being is controlled by the laws of
nature every minute. As stated in the Bhagwad Gita , every action of the
body produces another reaction, which is
binding upon us, the law of nature is so subtle that every part of our
body is influenced by the respective stars. A
man’s destiny is, therefore, believed to be ascertainable by the birth
time constellation of stars, and a competent
astrologer can make a factual horoscope. It is said to be a great science
with ancient history.
But, there are diverse and diametrically opposed views on the relevance,
validity and justification of teaching
astrology at the university levels. However, the fact is that the majority
of Indians, particularly most Hindus, have a
strong faith in astrological predictions. For, it is widely trusted that
astrology enables us to know fairly accurately the
events happening in human life and in the universe on a time scale. Moreover,
one gets to become familiar with time,
its nature and features and its effects on human life and other events
which, in the process, help us to make optimal
utilisation of time.
There are people who question all these contentions. They ask: can astrology
forecast earthquakes, famines, floods and
numerous other natural and man-made disasters? Can astrology foretell stock
market fluctuations, poll outcomes,
accidents, air crashes, train or traffic mishap deaths? Perhaps, not!
However, is not the use of astrology in our daily lives very real? Are
not Hindu marriages, and all auspicious
occasions, often settled after conjunctions of numerous planets and by
calculation of (Hindu) mathematics? Don’t you
remember even personalities such as Indira Gandhi taking political decisions
after consulting astrologers? Yet, we
under-rate their existence. It’s indeed ironical that most Hindus practise
rituals laid down by Vedic astrology but look
down upon them. Perhaps this happens only among Hindus.
STATUS
Influenced by all this, the University Grants Commission decided in February
that the Vedic astrology be granted the
status of a regular university discipline.
This was besides the fact that several Indian universities and noted private
institutions, such as the Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, the Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanaskrit Vidyapeeth and Bharatiya
Jyotish Anusandhan Parishad, were
already teaching, researching and promoting astrology in some form or the
other.
With a view to chalking out a systematic plan of introducing astrology
at degree level, UGC appointed a
nine-member committee of university academics already teaching astrology
and noted astrology practitioners under the
chairmanship of Dr Shukdev Chaturvedi, head of the Jyotir Department of
the Lal Bahadur Shastriya Sanskrit
Vidyapeeth. Dr Chaturvedi has said that astrology is a “subject of eminence
importance since the present state of
astrology consists of 21 Shastras, but none of them is truly taught in
our universities since no specialised course of
astrology is available ... Jyotish Shastra was the oldest science in the
world”.
The UGC believes that by initiating teaching and research in astrology,
universities will not only impart knowledge
in this rather virgin area, but will also add new dimensions for research
in the fields of Hindu mathematics, Vastu
shastra, meteorological studies, agriculture science, space science and
all other allied subjects. Probably it’s due to
these facts that 35 Indian universities have applied to the UGC seeking
permission to start Vedic astrology courses at
under-graduate and post-graduate levels. Later, M Phil and doctorate programmes
could be initiated in this discipline.
The UGC chairman, Hari Gautam, said recently that “by starting a certified
discipline in astrology, we intend to
infuse professionalism into the subject which hitherto was confined to
a few (unqualified) individuals”.
Moreover, most national newspapers already patronise unqualified, sub-standard
astrologers and publish their daily
and weekly predictions. For qualified and trained astrology practitioners,
there are job opportunities in India and
abroad. Let us not forget that astrology has proved to be a veritable foreign
exchange earner also.
STREAMS
Speaking strictly from academic angle, during the last over 50 years, umpteen
new educational streams in the areas of
arts, pure sciences, humanities, medicine, engineering and agricultural
sciences have been started by universities.
Most of these new disciplines have made excellent contributions in the
creation of new jobs and opened up innovative
fields of research and training.
Many of these were not in existence at the time of Independence. Besides,
several academic disciplines (information
technology, mass media studies, para-psychology) have been well received
in the USA, the UK and other countries of
the west. Vedic astrology is a completely new area just as Sanskrit was.
Max Mueller made Sanskrit an international
subject of study. Are we waiting for another Max Mueller to do the same
for astrology?
It will, therefore, be prudent on the part of senior scientists, teachers
and scholars to give astrology a chance to prove
its worth, relevance and utility before rejecting it outright. If a subject
does not stand the test of academic excellence,
research or training, it can always be discontinued. Rejecting a proposal
out of hand without a proper trial is not being
fair. As someone has rightly quoted Mark Twain to refurbish the point,
“knowledge advances not by repeating known
facts, but by refuting false dogmas”. Though our scientists keep parroting
Newton’s researches in physics, he is
believed to have been a practising astrologer. Let us unfold its mysteries
in right earnest. Otherwise, throw it out of
window for all time to come.
The author is a former professor of journalism at the Indian Institute
of Mass Communication, New Delhi.
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