Mundane non-modern Indian astrology?

1
Good morning,

In my certainly rudimentary overview to date, non-modern Indian astrology appears heavily centred on genethliacal but also containing a body of knowledge concerning electional and horary astrology.

Mundane astrology seems rather thinly represented. Might a reader kindly indicate mundane astrology source books in non-modern Indian astrology? Have the key works perhaps not yet been translated from Sanskrit into a modern Western language?

Best regards,

lihin
Non esse nihil non est.

2
To the best of my knowledge, there are no texts on mundane astrology in the classical texts.

While Abu Ma'shar seems to have drawn on Sanskrit astronomy in some of his early formulations of Western mundane or political astrology, I have never heard of any early Sanskrit works on mundane or political matters that could be considered astrological. Pingree's Jyotihsastra, which is a summary of his Catalogue of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit, doesn't even list it as a topic.

3
Kenneth Johnson wrote:
To the best of my knowledge, there are no texts on mundane astrology in the classical texts.
One traditional text that does definitely touch on mundane astrology is The Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira.

Varahamihira mentions topics such as eclipses, comets, earthquakes, weather, and delineates the planets, nodes, eclipses and comets in terms of mundane effects through the nakshatras. Fixed stars such as Canopus and Ursa Major are also discussed.

Just as Ptolemy and other hellenistic astrologers assign countries to respective zodiac signs The Brihat Samhita assigns Indian Kingdoms to the specific nakshatras. The emphasis seems to be much more on the nakshatras than rashis which indicates a lot of the material Varahamihira is drawing upon is quite ancient.

I have read that B.V. Raman utilised this text for his book on astrological weather forecasting and earthquakes.

Mark
As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity William Lilly

4
Okay, true enough. The Brhat Samhita is usually classified as a nimitta text, which means that it is about "omens." Another nimitta text which deals with comets, eclipses, and the naksatra rulership of different regions of India is the Sardulakarnavadana from the early years CE. I suspect that the little there is of political astrology in classical Sanskrit is to be found under the heading of nimitta.

Wilhelm Wulff on Brihat Samhita

5
Good morning,

The 20th century German astrologer Herr Wilhelm Wulff (see parallel thread) was familiar with Varaha Mihira's Brihat Samhita and published an article on in in a German astrological journal in 1927: Aus der Brihat Samhita, Astrologische Bl?tter 9.Jhg.1927-28 / Heft 6, 1927, Linser-Verlag Berlin.

Has someone here read the book in the original Sanskrit and / or a translation? What translation, if any, is recommendable? Does the book contain mundane astrological information that significantly complements the work of Abu Ma'shar?

Best regards,

lihin
Non esse nihil non est.

6
There seem to be several translations of the Brihat Samhita listed on Amazon. The one I have, which is a bilingual version with the original Sanskrit, doesn't seem to be available anymore and I don't know what the other ones are like.

Abu Ma'shar was borrowing his cycles of history from astronomical rather than astrological literature, and seems to have been quite familiar with the Surya Siddhanta, or at least with its ideas. It would not be surprising if he had some knowledge of Varaha Mihira, as he grew up in Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan), along the Silk Road and very close to India. He was at least familiar with the Hindu navamshas, which he included among the Time Lords in his book on Solar Returns.

7
Lithin wrote:
Has someone here read the book in the original Sanskrit and / or a translation? What translation, if any, is recommendable?
I have a copy of the 19th century translation by N. Chidambaram Iyer (1884) which I managed to find a free download of somewhere (I cant recall the link). If you register with this site you can download it for free from here:

http://www.ancientindianastrology.com/c ... 2&cid=1433

I seem to recall Martin stating this translation by Ramakrishna Bhat is good

http://www.astroamerica.com/text/brihatsamhita.html
Does the book contain mundane astrological information that significantly complements the work of Abu Ma'shar?
I suspect not in the way you mean. You will not find any detailed astrological techniques here. If your looking for that you will be deeply disappointed with this work. As Kenneth states its mostly about omens and the style is reminiscent of Babylonian astrological omens.

Book 1 is the main book of mundane astrological interest. I personally find it very interesting for the information it provides on the unique Indian view on comets as that is a subject I am researching and planning to write about. However, its quite a mixed work and you find information on omens derived from wildlife, gems, and other social information that will seem quite bizarre to modern eyes.

Mark
Last edited by Mark on Wed Nov 07, 2012 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity William Lilly

Iyer's introduction to Brihat Samhita

8
Good morning,

Thank you, Sir, for the useful links.

On pages vi to viii of his Introduction to the Brihat Samhita, the translator, Pandit Chidambaram Iyer, commented about when Hindus knew about procession of the fixed stars relative to the solstices and equinoxes or of the precession of these relative to those. As usual in such books, calculations of the translator's preferred precession arc are stated.

As long as there is some reliance on coherence and on the verifiability of methods, there is in my humble opinion no rational reason not to investigate others kinds of prediction than astrology, if one so desires.

Best regards,

lihin
Non esse nihil non est.

9
Kenneth Johnson wrote:
The Brhat Samhita is usually classified as a nimitta text, which means that it is about "omens." Another nimitta text which deals with comets, eclipses, and the naksatra rulership of different regions of India is the Sardulakarnavadana from the early years CE. I suspect that the little there is of political astrology in classical Sanskrit is to be found under the heading of nimitta.
Thanks for that. From my current understanding Jytosha is different from western astrology in not considering mundane astrology a separate specific branch on its own. The focus on omen reading reminds me a lot of pre-horoscopic Mesopotamian astrology.

As I understand it the six angas (organs) of Jyotisa are:

1. Jataka : Natal horoscopy
2. Gola : Astronomy
3. Nimitta : Omens
4. Prasna : Horary
5. Muhurtha: Electional astrology
6. Ganita : Mathematics
Another nimitta text which deals with comets, eclipses, and the naksatra rulership of different regions of India is the Sardulakarnavadana from the early years CE.
Interesting. I see that is a Buddhist text. Thanks for that. I will follow that up as part of my mundane research.

Another text I have read about that intrigues me is the Adbhuta-s?gara of Ball?la-sena (11-12th Cent A.D.), which draws on much older sources. I dont think there is an English translation from Sanskrit available.

Mark
As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity William Lilly

Impressive book

10
Good evening,

The Brihat Samhita is impressive, particularly the quality of astronomical knowledge of its author Varaha Mihira as well as his rational, systematic approach.

Here is a quotation from the section on the Moon concerning the lunar nodes that in much Indian astrology apparently receive quasi-planetary status whilst the nodes of the other planets are it seems neglected for symbolic astrological purposes:
Image
Best regards,

lihin
Non esse nihil non est.

11
Interesting. I see that is a Buddhist text. Thanks for that. I will follow that up as part of my mundane research.
Hi Mark, the Sardulakarnavadana has never been translated in full. I translated about five chapters, including the one on eclipses and the one on geographical regions. If you message or e-mail me, I can send them to you.

12
Kenneth Johnson wrote:
Hi Mark, the Sardulakarnavadana has never been translated in full. I translated about five chapters, including the one on eclipses and the one on geographical regions. If you message or e-mail me, I can send them to you.
Thanks Kenneth. Most generous of you. :'

I have sent you a PM.

Mark
As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity William Lilly