Part 4.4 - Correlation of Jyotiṣa and Karma in the Vedāṅga Period

i. Auspicious Times and Actions

In this period actions were performed on auspicious times derived from the positions of Sun and Moon in various Nakṣatras. Auspicious Nakṣatras and Seasons were important in the Sūtras which followed the Brāhmaṇas for sacrifices and other ritual works. Tithis were rarely mentioned, Rāśis and Weekdays find no mention in the Sūtras and Smṛtis.

The Sūtras deal with appropriate periods for setting up of the sacred fires^[1] derived from Seasons and also from Moon in conjunction with specific Nakṣatras. The precise time for offering Agnihotra,^[2] the position of the New and Full Moon for Darśapūrṇamāseṣṭhi,^[3] the seasonal sacrifices connected with the Seasons in the year,^[4] continue in this period. The Agniṣṭoma^[5] concerned with specific times of the day and the Pravargya rite,^[6] a Sun spell also continue in the Sūtras, as also the Aśvamedha^[7] performed for a specific period.

Nakṣatras were generally in use for all sorts of purposes Agricultural activities were suggested on various Nakṣatras.^[8] Āpastamba-dharma-sūtra^[9] connects Puṣya Nakṣatra with prosperity. Ātharvaṇa-Jyotiṣa mentions acts to be or not to be done on nine groups of Nakṣatras.^[10] Nakṣatra scheme is also present in Vaikhānasasmārtasūtra. Nakṣatras and their deities were specifically important^[11] and Moon in certain Nakṣatra was connected with actions.^[12] The Gṛhya and Dharmasūtras mention auspicious times for domestic rites. Nakṣatras were related to Saṃskāras.^[13] New and Full Moon offerings find mention.^[14] Occasional offerings to Nakṣatras also occur in the literature of this period.235

ii. Divinations and Countermeasures

Omens provided with Śāntis (ritual countermeasures) occur commonly in the Sūtra literature. Birds as owl^[15] and pigeon^[16] as birds of omen continue in this period. Birds apart form visitors to the dwellings of gods also fly to the world of the pitṛs is recorded.^[17] Countermeasures were employed for ant heaps^[18] and for diseases, for dreams and for utpātas as well.^[19]

Planets gave the foreknowledge of rainfall and the sprouting of seeds,^[20] Rāhu and Ketu were portendous with a tendency for destruction.^[21] Astral omens concerned with rainfall and diseases were persued and the characteristies of individual by Moon posited in Nakṣatras for a probable future were studied.^[22] The position of planets was established in relation with the Nakṣatras at the time of the Mahābhārata war. Planets were revered in this period they being first mentioned in the Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra.^[23]

iii. Rebirth and Karmavipāka

Apart from the performance of ritual actions on auspicious on part of the correlation times, flourished the concept of daiva explained in the philosophical literature of this period. The idea of rebirth as a consequence of the past actions put forth by the Upaniṣads develops in this period as to the reading and rectifying of the future from the manifested birth of the individual with the aid of the correlation

Daiva is the manifested actions of previous birth.^[24] The development of this concept is also evident in the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata.^[25] That it fructifies with the agency of time (Kāla) and that the creatures go through the cycle of existence in accordance with their Karma as a part of the law of nature is also expressed.^[26] Karma as born of the guṇas of Prakṛti and that the Varṇas are created on the basis of the guṇas (inherent qualities) and Karmas (actions/deeds) is also an expression.^[27] Amongst the Jyotiṣa texts of this period, the Ātharvaṇa Jyotiṣa express the acts to be done on Nakṣatras and the characteristic of the individual born on specific nakṣatras. Also the Jātaka texts existing in their earliest form in this period are concerned with the past actions of man.

iv. Actions and Gati

The subject of the motion of the Jīva after death connected to the actions in present life is traced by the Upaniṣads and accordingly is pursued by the Smṛti literature. Nirukta states on the gati of Jīva^[28] Manusmṛti accords hell as a punishment for sinners and the later rebirth accordingly.^[29] The Gītā^[30] follows the Upaniṣads on the topic of paths, related to the Śukla and the Kṛṣṇagati, the Mahābhārata and the Yājñavalkya Smṛti refers to them.^[31] Vision of this motion by means of motion of the cosmic light bodies constitute the correlation.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra v.3.2-20

[2]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra vi.1.2.

[3]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra i-iii.

[4]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra viii; vi. 4.7-9.

[5]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra xiv. 8-12.

[6]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra iv. 6,7.,xi 2.5.

[7]:

Āpastamba-śrauta-sūtra xx.;

[8]:

Jyeṣṭhā (Pāraskarasūtra 2.16), Also Āśvalāyana-gṛhya-sūtra 3.5; Āśvalāyana-gṛhya-sūtra -2.1.1.

[9]:

II. 8.18-20.

[10]:

Dikshit includes Ātharvaṇa-Jyotiṣa in this period. It has week days but no zodiac signs, also carries the roots of the further developed Jātaka branch. Bhāratīya Jyotiṣaśāstra p. 99.

[11]:

[...] Jyotiṣa Vedāṅga of Ṛgveda verse 28.

[12]:

Yājñavalkya-smṛti I. 180.

[13]:

Āśvalāyana-gṛhya-sūtra I. 17.1, 4.1.; Manusmṛti II. 30, 36; Yājñavalkya-smṛti I.14.

[14]:

Āśvalāyana-gṛhya-sūtra i.10.5., Āpastamba-gṛhya-sūtra vii.17.

[15]:

Hiraṇyakeśi-gṛhya-sūtra i.17.3

[16]:

Āśvalāyana-gṛhya-sūtra III. 7.7.

[17]:

Baudhāyana-dharma-sūtra ii. 8.14.9,10.

[18]:

Śāṅkhāyana-gṛhya-sūtra V.11.10.

[19]:

Śāṅkhāyana-gṛhya-sūtra V. 6; Kātyayana-śrauta-sūtra 25.11.20.

[20]:

Arthaśāstra II. 24.

[21]:

[...] Karṇaparva 87.92.

[22]:

Śārdulakarṇāvadana 61,62.

[23]:

Yājñavalkya-smṛti I. 306. Baudhāyana-dharma-sūtra ii. 5.9.9.

[24]:

Yājñavalkya-smṛti I. 349.

[25]:

Rāmāyaṇa 2.19.16,19,20,22., Mahābhārata 13.6.47. 135

[26]:

Mahābhārata 12.217.32,33,45,53., Gītā 18.61.

[27]:

Gītā 3.5, 4.13, 18.41.

[28]:

Bhāratīya Jyotiṣaśāstra, p. 34.

[29]:

Manusmṛti XII. 54-69.

[30]:

Gītā VIII. 26.

[31]:

Śāntiparva 26. 8-10; Yājñavalkya-smṛti III.197.