Karmic Astrology—a Study
by Sunita Anant Chavan | 2017 | 68,707 words
This page relates ‘Study of motions of Sun and Moon’ of the study on Karmic Astrology and its presentation in Vedic and the later Sanskrit literature. Astrology (in Sanskrit: Jyotish-shastra) is based upon perceptive natural phenomenon of cosmic light forms while the Concept of Karman basically means “action according to Vedic injunction” such as the performance of meritorious sacrificial work.
Part 2.2.3 - Study of motions of Sun and Moon
[Full title: Classification of Jyotiḥśāstra (1): Gaṇita of the Veda and the Vedāṅga Period (2): Study of motions of Sun and Moon]
The Kālajñana or the Knowledge of Time in the Veda and the Vedāṅgā period was chiefly dependent on the motion and positions of the Sun and the Moon, their positions in the various quarters of the sky and with each other with reference to the Nakṣatras. These were essential for the purpose of calendars related to sacrificial activities[1] especially for the Darśapūraṅamāseṣṭi to be performed on the parvasandhis (joints) of the New Moon and the Full Moon. The mean longitude of the Sun and the Moon were studied to calculate these parvasandhis. Study of Planetary phenomenon other than Sun and Moon is absent up to and in Vedaṅga Jyotiṣa,[2] the oldest extant text on Gaṇita.
The positions of Sun and Moon were marked with reference to the Nakṣatras which in relation with the Gaṇita branch of Jyotiḥśāstra appear as twenty seven equal divisions of the ecliptic or as measurement of arcs on the ecliptic of 13020’ each[3] beginning with the Vernal Equinox.
Footnotes and references:
[2]: