- By Bharat Patni
- In General
Astrology Simplified
Our solar system comprises the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto where with the Sun as the star and the others as planets that revolve around the Sun.
As we know, one planetary year is the time taken to complete one revolution around the Sun, but what is interesting to note, is that Earth has a satellite as moon which is 400 times closer to Earth than the Sun, and also 400 times smaller than the Sun, resulting in the same influence on Earth as that of the Sun. For the study of astrology, we consider the Sun and the Moon, both as planets, while the northern and the southern nodes of Earth are considered as notional planets as Rahu and Ketu. Pluto, Neptune and Uranus are ignored being very far from earth, and thus having negligible effect. Astrology is a study of the planetary transitions of our solar system and their effects on the individuals and the world. This is based on the assumption that all planetary transitions have their effect on all individuals and the world. It is important to note that we need to study and consider the planetary transitions both at the time of the birth and the predicted time period.
Our solar system can be measured in 360 degrees, and to determine the location and position of different planets, the solar system is divided into 12 equal parts of 30 degrees each. These 30 degree divisions are known as signs which can be classified as Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. That means, when we say that an individual has Virgo as his sign, we mean that at the time of his birth, moon was between 150-180 degrees. The names of these signs have been logically derived from the image formed by the stars in those degrees.
As per Vedic astrology, sun and moon are also considered as planets. It deals with the planetary transitions in our solar system. When we say transits, it includes the location, position, speed and direction of the planets. Astrology basically refers to our solar system.
The study of astrology can be divided into three parts, Siddhant, which is the mathematics (the ganit) of the planetary transitions and deals with the study of the speed, direction, orbit and location of the planets; Hora, which deals with with the study of the effects of these planetary transitions on the described parameters on the individuals; and Sanhita, which deals with deals with the global effects of such planetary transitions.
In Vedic astrology, birth sign refers to the position of moon at the time of birth while in Western astrology, position of the sun at the time of birth is considered as the birth sign.
As per the study of astrology, the life of an individual can be predicted on the combination of the birth chart, the current Dasha and the current transits. There are more than 40 dasha systems in Vedic astrology. In my study, I follow the Vinshottari dasha system. In Vinshottari dasha system, it is believed that all the nine planets i.e., sun (6 years), moon (10 years), mangal (7 years), rahu (18 years), guru (16 years), shani (19 years), budh (17 years), ketu (7 years) and skukra (20 years), written and understood in the same sequence have an impact on an individual’s life. The sum total of all the dasha period is 120 years. It is interesting to note that in every dasha, an individual has Antar Dasha of all the planets and every Antar Dasha has Pratyantar Dasha of all the planets.
