ASTROLOGY AND MODERN SCIENCE
DR. H.S. VISWESWARIAH
DURING THE INDIAN SCIENCE Congress session
held at Goa in 1993, when an award was made to an astrologer, many scientists
raised their eyebrows and some even protested against the award. I was not at
all surprised when eminent men like Professor C.N.R. Rao joined the fray of
dissenters. But no one scientist advanced any validly congent or coherent
reason for his dissent. This only indicated that even men of science could be
as prejudiced as ordinary ignorant men of other disciplines, when it concerned
a matter other than their own narrow field, where sympathy or empathy was
uncalled for. The purpose of this article is not only to broaden the vision of
such men but also to narrow down the vision of others who lay unreasonable
claims to their field of knowledge or activity.
I vividly recall my meeting professor B.V.
Raman, a popular astrologer at his residence in Bangalore 35 years ago, when I
was introduced to him by a common relative. After the usual tete-a-tete, the astrologer presented
me a book entitled “Astrology and Science” which ignited in me a
love for astrological phenomena. Subsequently, I bought and read many classics
on the subject of Astrology. But my suspicion about Astrology being a mode of
predicting events in the life of an individual scientifically either at the
empirical or speculative level with fool proof evidence remained unsatiated for
long because of my scientific background and make-up. However, I believed - a
belief always qualified by a scientific suspicion – that one day I might be
able not only to satisfy my inner urge but also help others with satisfactory
reasons.
To start with, the Greek root of science is scire,
which means to know. Knowing is of two kinds, one is perceptual knowledge
not necessarily conditioned by the senses of man, and another extra-perceptual
knowledge unlimited by human senses. By science we generally understand perceptual
knowledge. Every scientist sets out with a hypothesis and proceeds to experimentation
and verification in a physical laboratory. I cannot deny the validity of this
mode of research for truth because it is an accepted type of search for
knowledge, though of one kind only. What the scientist might not forget is that
there is a higher nature of science and a higher type of search for truth and
knowledge beyond exo-perception leading to esoperception. Knowledge of God,
of religion, of philosophy, of the concepts of soul, immortality and salvation
embodied in works like the Vedas, Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Shaddarshanas
and Bhagavadgita are postulates of hypotheses like those of science
itself but they are embraced by a higher category of scientific truth.
Defending poetic art against its detractors. S.T. Coleridge, as polyglot,
asserted that “Poetry is a severe as science, more difficult because more
subtle and more complex, dependent on more and more fugitive causes.”
Astrology has to be investigated into
with this qualified belief in mind that it is akin to an art like poetry,
rather than akin to an empirical science like physics, and therefore not as
easy to grasp as that. The findings of arts and sciences like Astrology have
to be verified in a mental laboratory rather than in a physical one.
Before I take up a discussion of the
inter-relationship of Astronomy and Astrology. I would like to say that a
belief in Astrology is a part of the belief in the validity of other arts and
sciences, a belief in the affectionate search for truth about God, soul,
immortality, salvation, etc. When a scientist transplants his modus operandi
from a physical plane to a mental plane, from a search for empirical truth
to speculative truth, the results spell not only amazing but also rewarding.
The planets and stars are configurations in
the sky. The movements of these material objects are involuntary. They are
almost life-less or at best reflecting bodies. In this context the first
question that a scientist might ask is: How is a study of them relevant and how
can they influence the human context? I would say that this is an infantile
question. Infants bother their elders with such questions because they do not
understand that their elders did have similar doubts when they were of a tender
age and when they passed through a period of adolescence. This means we assume
that astrologers who write classics were ignoramuses and we are the most
informed. Absence of belief in the wisdom of elders and a belief in the
validity of these arts, is the root cause for such an adolescent attitude. We
must assume that astrologers were aware of such doubters and had foreseen and
foreknown them when they postulated their principles of art. Since no
ready-made reckoners are available to sort out, classify and solve all doubts, each
man has to stand on his own feet. These writers of classics, we have to assume, respect the worth and dignity
of an individual researcher, who has a minimum of a belief, if not of
knowledge, in his searches. S. T. Coleridge supplied a formula:
FAITH = Reason + Love
The will to know is rooted in belief itself
just as the will to doubt is rooted in reason. What a sincere astrologer asks for
is a belief in his art. Believe that the earth and heaven are complementary,
earth symbolising a speculative truth and heaven symbolising an empirical
truth. The configurations in the sky above are intimately related to the human
situation. Inhabitants on earth are symbols of stars and planets. Astrology
discourses not in a literal language but in a slantish, metaphorical language.
Physics and metaphysics are inextricably and unnoticeably blended so as to be
beyond the direct reach of the sense-perception of men.
Astronomy and Astrology have a common factor,
a Greek root, namely astron, which means a star. Nomos is another
Gk root meaning a law, the Gk root Logos as every one knows means to
discourse. Astronomy is connected with the physical movement of planets and
stars where as Astrology is connected with the discourse of stars, as the word
suggests. Here we are concerned with the twenty seven stars which are called
fixed stars. The planets have a regular involuntary movement. The 27 stars
form twelve members of the zodiacal belt. The planets are regular visitors to
these configurations of stars. The Sun is a fixed planet though he gives us an
illusion of movement. In Astrology when the solar orbit is distinctly kept in
view we call it Savya chakra, when we keep the lunar orbit in view, it
is called Apasavya chakra.
The relevance of a study of these two disciplines
becomes clear to us if we postulate that humans are stars on earth, some humans
are symbolical of planets on earth. Humans not only move physically but also
discourse metaphysically. There seems to exist a parallelism between stars and
planets above and humans on earth. In India as in other countries, women are
generally named after stars with occasional exceptions. The spiritual aspect
of humans is emphasised when Coleridge said all humans are intelligences.
Astronomy is esoteric whereas Astrology is esoteric. How poor Astronomy might
have been if it did not lead to Astrology? In Sanskrit, Astrology and Astronomy
are together considered as a branch of Vedas, terming them as a Vedanga,
a point that we ought not to lose sight of.
Lay astrologers seem to be concerned more
with the mechanics of Astrology than with its metaphysics. The philosophy of
Astrology is the same as the one embodied in various other arts and sciences,
namely free will versus determinism. Mere drawing of charts without a statement
of its philosophy might be misleading to a scientist, who has his own doubts
about the applicability of it to the human context. When the free will of man
is emphasised. Astrology postulates a philosophy of Absolutism on monism. When
emphasis is laid on the planets and stars as determinants of the human context,
it leads to determinism. A scientist is worried about, such a situation
because events in the career of a man are foretold without the willing
participation of man. He asks what is the place of man in Astrology? How do
the predictions happen without a postulation of the cause-effect theory? He
rightly asks, Astrologers themselves are to be blamed when they do not satisfy
an intelligent scientist, when they get on successfully with ordinary men.
A sincere scientist thinks that every
physical event on earth is a result of a cause-effect theory. No event can take
place without a cause. When the eye of a scientist is opened to facts, he might
not shy away from the predictions of Astrology, but might accept them. However,
it must be stated in defense of Astrology, that it is difficult to satisfy
every scientist unless he believed in Astrology. While no one can gainsay the
validity of the physical theory of cause-effect, limitations arise on account
of the nature and character of events in a man’s life, events and incidents
that are beyond the ken of understanding of senses. An astrologer cannot swear
sense-perception as sacro-sanct, because his science is concerned with
spiritual matter. Belief in God as omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient does
not lend itself to sense perception of verification. This should not make a
scientist discredit arts and sciences that speak about God. If a scientist believed
in the postulates of God, one day he might be able to find proof of it in his
own mind. The truth of Astrology is related to revelation, sruti as it
is called, not smriti or empirical truth. As I have hinted earlier even
sciences and arts based upon empirical studies have a sruti dimension or
revelation. If some are atheists though rationalists, it is because they have
no belief as the guiding-light of life.
The theory of Karma or causation is one of
the most misunderstood theories in India and elsewhere too. The word Karma is
interpreted to mean something hereditary belonging to past life of man. No
scientist can believe in such a theory. What relevance has past to the
present? anyone in search of truth would ask? Karma should therefore mean
something connected with things here and now in the life of man. Karma simply
means acts of commission and omission of man made in the course of his life
here from birth to death. This interpretation of Karma is credible and
satisfying especially to the empirical, bent of mind of man. In western
philosophy of sciences and arts, it is called Causation.
Aristotle, as far as I know was the first to
postulate the theory of Causation. In his “Metaphysics” he said that an
efficient cause is necessary in addition to a material cause for any event to
take place. A chair cannot move from a drawing room to a dining room without
the operation of the theory. The mover is called agent of action, the efficient
cause. The thing move is called the material cause. This theory of Karma is
further advanced and complemented in Sloka 47 of Geetha (Since there is
a confusion about the dates of the production of Bhagavadgita, I have
apparently given precedence to Aristotle. But it might be that Geetha was
written earlier than the appearance of Aristotle), where it is said “I am the
cause of the fruit of action” (Maa kanna phala hetu. Chap. 2). I
interpret “I am” here as the individual finite soul of man. In individual
affairs, both at the empirical as well as spiritual levels, it is necessary to
assume oneself as the agent of one’s own rise or fall. It means that a
scientist is a scientist because of his antecedent acts of commission and
omission. He might have been an artist, a sculptor, a mason but he is a
scientist. Many can neither perceiver or understand that their present position
in office or society, is a cumulative result of their will and choices made
mostly unconsciously. How many are prepared to own responsibility for what they
are and for what they are not. Things outside the realm of the senses become
meaningful and significant if one firmly believed in the theory of Causation,
even in the absence of a visible proof, in extra-sensory powers and happenings.
The concept of time, the concept of
space-duration, in spiritual matters is not different from the explanation
offered to it by scientists. A scientist offers an explanation of time based
upon a study of matter. But he does not perceive that to the conventional
dimensions of extension, duration and gravity, a new dimension of spirit is
added. This is in addition to the dimension of volume. A spirit is implicit in
a body of matter. When a Spiritual dimension is added, the concept of
three-dimensional space-duration volume, becomes modified, a fact unperceived
by scientists, because unseen by senses. Just as earth has gravity, spirit has
intelligence that pulls one upwards to God, to heaven. This spiritual
dimension can modify, counteract all the other powers mentioned above. The
spirit of man longs for freedom, freedom from the conditions of time or space.
A palpable evidence of this spiritual gravity is seen in space-probes of
scientists.
A scientist feels unconvinced not only
against a specific prediction but also against the time scheduling of it. When
an astrologer says that such and such a thing might happen to him in his
fifteenth year, he rightly asks why should it not happen earlier or later. Time
is thus one of the determinants of an event in space.
I draw strength from S.T. Coleridge who had
made a discovery earlier. He distinguished between voluntary time and
involuntary time. The Involuntary movements of earth cause day, week, month,
year and so on. Earth as we know is an unconscious agent. It is only matter,
like the other material planets and stars we see in the sky. As soon as man
becomes conscious of it, the very involuntary time becomes transformed into
voluntary time. It is for this reason we say my time and your time are
different, which means a lot in spiritual language. Time, therefore is a
function of human intelligence, not an impersonal factor as was made out by
Einstein in his theory of Relativity. This gave room for human will and the
operation of human choice. Time is a symbol of human spirit. In Astrology Yoga
and Karana, generally omitted by lay astrologers but mentioned in Panchangams
have a durational counterpart, the operation of which is entirely in the
hands of man as an agent of action. An efficient cause takes into consideration
the factor of time as a subjective property, not as an objective one. Even in Thithi,
Vara and Maasa personal choice means a lot.
Astrology, like astronomy, gives equal
importance to both Solar and Lunar configurations. Sometimes astronomers
assiduously confine themselves to Lunar objects because of practical
difficulty of seeing objects, during daylight. The planetary movements during
daytime in brilliant daylight are unnoticed. From the View-point of Astrology,
from a philosophical viewpoint, what is implicit is made explicit. The Sun is
the chief source of light and heat. His absence during night is the chief
source of cold and absence of warmth. He is the only fixed star, who is self-luminous. Hence man has regarded
Sun as symbol of God. Sun-worship has been prevalent throughout the world. Man
is the finite symbol of the infinite Sun, because of his self-luminous
intelligence. The lunar configuration of planets and stars is a duplicate of
the Solar configuration, during daytime. The Moon reflects Sunlight, hence she
is considered by astrologers as His consort. The Moon is a symbol of
unconsciousness. Sun is the symbol of consciousness. Man is the symbol of the
Sun and woman is the symbol of the Moon. Man is asleep during night, awakened
during day, which is symbolical of the human situation.
Astrology might
hold good in the case of animals also
were it not for the fact that man is active both in body and mind. Animals have
no will, choice in any action, nor do they have intelligence to modify, and
will an act. Hence there is room for the theory of Karma so far as man is
concerned. Lay astrologers do not perceive these factors or account for them
convincingly, with their clients, when they read or cast a horoscope. The
science of Astrology ought not to be discredited if an astrologer goes wrong
just as we do not discredit science when a scientist goes wrong in his
researches. How much time and labour is
spent by a scientist in one single discovery? If they spend a fraction of that
time in the pursuit of Astrology, they might attain great results. The fact
that Adi Shankara, Madhwacharya and Ramanuja wrote commentaries on the same Geetha
pinpoints the fact that even great men did not see eye to eye in certain
matters, though it is to their credit.
Indirectly, Astrology throws a challenge to
the inquisitiveness of an intelligent human being, when human intelligence is
regarded as the soul of man (Coleridge). It is easy to shy away from it, or
side-step the issues raised by it because it is fashionable to do so or owing
to absence of faith in it. By believing and accepting the challenge, man can
not only convince himself but also reap the fruits Astrology offers to man.
Philosophically there cannot be any difference
from one knowledge to another, whether we take the physical school of thought
or spiritual school of thought. However, apparently they seem to differ. The
physical and biological schools seem to exalt matter over mind, and the
spiritual schools seem to exalt mind over matter. On a reconsideration one is
led to an understanding of subject-object relationship. In fact, the physical
and biological scientists prosper or are seen to prosper by an elimination of
ego or the subjective bias. All arts are ego-centric in the sense that
there is scope for individuality, a will, a choice, etc. The difference is that
scientists are not aware of their philosophical status; they are blissfully
unconscious of it. However. I am not questioning the usefulness of either
physical or biological sciences; far from it. I cannot do so because all
sciences aim at conquest of Nature, and all arts hold a mirror to Nature by
modifying it and all arts and sciences are meant for the
physical and spiritual improvement of man.
Scientists can outgrow the limitation of
their sciences by a transplantation of their belief in senses to a higher
plane of a sense of reality. When they do so the very foundations of the
philosophy of sciences seem to change for the better. All physical phenomena
are exoteric but there is an esoteric dimension to each one of them. If a
physicist believed that his pet atomic theory has an esoteric human counterpart
to it - as Democritus did believe – he might be amply rewarded. If he believed
that his Bio-technology has an esoteric dimension, he might be enlightened. If
he believed that this Theory of Relativity – for which he has
deified Einstein – has an esoteric counterpart, undreamt of by his forbear
Einstein, he might get disturbed completely. As far back as 1809, S.T.
Coleridge, defending his philosophy of art over the philosophy of some other
writers, said “Our senses in no way acquaint with us things as they are and in
themselves”, a principle of his philosophy with which
every astrologer might agree. There are more things in earth and heaven than
are dreamt of in scientific circles, as we presently know them. A
scientist-engineer who offers to plan for others, for his region and nation,
can he not plan for himself, order his own mundane and spiritual matters?
Astrology leads one to the concept of futurology with a difference, for and by
the individual and of the individual.
Plato, one of the teachers of Aristotle,
postulated in his now popular “Dialogues” the concept of pre-existence. He referred to an archetypal and
primordial ideal. Many the world over have searched and researched into the
validity of this doctrine but it has eluded them all. Astrology offers a
palpable proof for this intriguing Platonic ideal. Plato was having in his
mind the starry designs etched in the sky for ever, the zodiacal belt as we
call them, which are supposed to represent an ideal for ever, an ideal mirroring
the human social and individual matrix. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,
Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces are not flesh and
blood figures but sheer outlines with which an artist might draw these forms.
However, an astrologer believes them to be true representations of some
qualities associated with these forms. Man partakes of these geometrical
figures, in qualities if not in forms. The two charts that an astrologer draws
are symbolical with a technical difference. We use the nomenclature of “Raasi” and
“Amsha” kundali for the two charts in the South of India, which does not differ
from the Northern charts in essence but in name. In fact, the same ideal is
held valid in all astrological efforts the world over. Astronomical facts like
conjunctions, oppositions, cusp, ascendant and aspect, etc. have symbolical
significance whether they occur during day or night. Such a reading enables an
astrologer to link terrestrial and extraterrestrial parallel phenomena. These
dual readings are implicit if not explicit in Astrology. Some of our, names and
surnames suggest our spiritual qualities, names which we use unconsciously. The
surname or name of Simha, Sinha or Simply Singh, widely used all over our dear
motherland, is a symbol of the fifth member of the Zodiac. There are a host of
other names like Sukanya (Virgo), Basava (Taurus), Meena (Fish). Surya Rao,
Ravi Shankar, Gangadhar (Pitcher), Chandrasekhar etc. All these have spiritual
significance. Man is the subject. All these zodiacal members are symbols of
material objects. In Astrology the net result depended upon the subject-object
reciprocal relationship. We get what we gave. What is an ideal and what is a
reality is correlative to the knowledge of an individual, to the stage of his
life.
Astrologers sometimes do not explain certain
things which are implicit in life, in the social and individual context. For
example Rajiv Gandhi was born in very affluent circumstances, not only wealthy
but also influential. He became popular overnight, could become Prime Minister
with little self-effort. In his case, while drawing the charts, astrologers
naturally inflate matter over mind. I am not sure if he has as much spiritual
qualification as the material qualification, which was implicit because of his
surroundings. This is not possible in all cases. Sometimes spiritual qualifications
seem to undermine material qualifications in a number of cases. Most of the
Astrologers predict only mundane future altogether omitting the spiritual
future, without accounting for the spiritual status. Further, just because
some predictions prove true, it should not be understood that all is well with
the charts. It does not also suggest that it is true in all cases. Astrology is
an individual-oriented science. No generalisations are possible. What is true
for one man, is not true for another man even if the Mechanics of Astrology
point to a concurrence of results. This is because there is the individual with
his will, choice, effort etc with his own aims and purposes in life, which
cannot be carved out to him in advance by any power on earth or heaven.
Astrologers ought to explore the possibilities for individual efforts in
classics properly and explain them to at least knowledgeable men or women,
obliquely if not squarely.
Most of the astrologers underplay the part
of Saturn or Sani in astrological predictions just as they underplay the part
of individual effort. I must supply a sutra here with the usual
qualifications for understanding of all sutras. It is that all failures
of humans are due to the counter-efforts of Satan in life. Just as the chief
friend of man is Jupiter, the chief foe of man is Satan. Love of God, love of
Guru, are the real anti-dotes to the efforts of Satan. It is for this reason
that Coleridge asked his countrymen to pray to God always. A man might find it
difficult to identify lions in sheepskin, or sheep in lion’s clothes. Man is
born into a social context over which he had little or no choice. This is the
original sin, if you can call it so. But all is not lost because of the unconquerable will, as Milton put it, though he put it in the
mouth of the wrong Satan. Man has to love his surroundings and accept the
challenge thrown to him by a quirk of Nature. The parents, brothers, sisters,
uncles and aunts are all, symbols of one of the stars or planets, from whom man
either consciously or unconsciously derives advantages if he is basically good,
disadvantages, if he is evil. The dialectic of self-determination versus
determinism is thus solved. As an agent of acts of commission and omission,
man himself is responsible either for his rise or for his fall. No one can
blame the parents or brothers or teachers, his caste, colour or nation. Believe
that God is impartial, and that He can do little to you unless you either consciously
or unconsciously will it. Astrologers who have little knowledge of the science
of Astrology, make life deterministic by their confused explanations and understanding.
Being a science, Astrology can offer valid framework of reasons and values
not only foe the success of an individual but also for the failures of another
individual. It has been a fashion with astrologers to give examples only of
successfuls.
The proverbial saying that we do not throw
away the baby with bathwater holds eminently acceptable in the case of
Astrology. A child affected with bronchitis or leprosy needs the loving
parental care of a good physician. Legends and accretions around knowledge’s
like Astrology do grow on account of over-zealous but little informed astrologers,
which produce a sort of distemper in sensible men. If scientists seem
incarcerated in the shackles of senses, artists are seen imprisoned in the
fetters of prejudices that either favour or disfavour the science of Astrology.
Intelligence and discrimination of a sincere scientist might enable him to
separate the grain from the chaff, the accretion from reality, the legend from
truth. Therefore outright dismissal of arts and sciences like Astrology is
unprofitable, nay detrimental not only to our national cultural interest but
also to the self-interest of an enlightened being. Rationalism untempered with
love – love of one’s own rich heritage – leads to
spiritual death just as blind and dogmatic love untempered with the saving
grace of reason, leads to self-decay. Belief degenerates into dogma, when it
is not redeemed by reflection. I believe that man can save himself from the
extremes of dogma and reflection by moderation. Astrology might therefore be
read profitably by any, reflecting but loving hearted scientist or artist.