Chapter 26 - On Āṣāḍhī-yoga

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Note: Āṣāḍhī-yoga means the period of a day when the Moon passes through the asterism of Uttarāṣāḍha in the lunar month of Āṣāḍha (June, July).

1. On the day when the Moon passes through the asterism of Uttarāṣāḍha in the lunar month of Āṣāḍha, the Jyotiṣaka shall weigh quantities of all seeds; if on weighing them again on the next day, any seeds should be found to weigh more, these crops will flourish. The weighing should be accompanied with following mantras to be addressed to the weighing-machine.

2. “O Sarasvatī! O Goddess of Truth! You are deserving of praise. You are now going to show that what is real truth. O Truth! You are ever truthful.

3-4. O Truth! By whose might the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars rise in the east and set in the west, you will show now that truth which is in all the Vedas, that truth which is spoken of by those that know Brahman and that truth which is to be found in the three worlds.

5. You are the daughter of Brahmā; You are sung as Āditya; Your Gotra (family) name is Kāśyapī and your simple name is Tulā (weighing-machine).”

6. The Jyotiṣaka shall take two square pieces of white silk, the side being six inches long and attach the four ends of each to the ends of four strings each ten inches long; the length of the string attached to the middle of the beam shall be six inches,

7. He shall put gold weights in the southern (right) scale and the several articles to be weighed in the northern (left) scale; waters to be weighed shall also be put into the northern scale; if well-water should be found to weigh more when weighed the next day, there will be no rain in winter; if rain water should weigh more there will be moderate rain; if tank or lake water should weigh more there will be abundant rain.

8. The condition of elephants shall be determined by (weighing) their tusks; that of cows and horses by their hair; that of princes by gold; that of Brāhmaṇas and others by wax; that of countries, years, months and days shall also be determined by the wax, and of other articles by the articles themselves.

9. Gold is the best material for making the beam of the balance; silver is of middle importance. If these two cannot be had, the beam may be of blackwood; it may also be of that arrow iron which was employed in killing a man. The length of the beam shall be twelve inches.^[1]

10. That article which should be found to weigh less when weighed again will perish; that which weighs more will flourish; that which weighs neither more nor less will neither flourish nor decay. These are the secret laws relating to the balance and these may also be followed on the occasion of the Rohiṇī Yoga day.^[2]

11. In the Svāti, Āṣādhī and Rohiṇī Yogas, if the Moon should be accompanied by malefic planets, there will be misery in the land. If on account of the intervention of the intercalary lunar month, the Yoga day should occur twice, the observation shall be made on both the days and the effect, whether good or bad, will be doubled.

12. If the observations of the three Yogas point to effects of the same character, the prediction may be made without hesitation; but if the effects are different, those of Rohiṇī Yoga should be adopted.

13. If on the Yoga day the wind should blow from the east, south-east, south, etc. there will be growth of crops, fear from destructive fires, slight rain, moderate rain, abundant rain, excessive rain attended by storms, good rain and excellent rain respectively.

14. If there should be rain on the lunar day of the dark half immediately following the Āṣādhī Yoga day when the Moon is in the asterism of Pūrvāṣāḍha, the rainy season will be a prosperous one but not otherwise.

15. If on the full-Moon Āṣādhī Yoga day, the wind should blow from the north-east after sunset, crops will flourish.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

An inch is the space covered over by 8 grains of barley placed side by side or that of 3 grains of barley placed length-wise. It is also the breadth of the human finger.

[2]:

Also on the Svāti Yoga day according to commentator.