In a yahoo group on astrology, I saw the following message: — In [email protected], “Jyotisa Shisya” <achyutagaddi@> > > wrote:
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Dear Jyotisas,
Nowadays, in the early morning, I go outside and sit on the porch to enjoy the cool morning air. Today I was a little later
than usual and wondering if I had missed the milkman’s knock. A crow came up and perched on the parapet wall near to where I was sitting. Into my mind came the following questions in *se- quence*:
(1) Will the milkman come to deliver the milk? Crows response: three caws
(2) Will I get the expected speedpost today? Crows response: two caws
The crow then flew away.
Actual situation: The milkman came and the speedpost didn’t arrive as of now.
Is it a coincidence that YES has three letters while NO has two letters? Who is more intuitive? The crow or the fellow sitting on the porch?
Jyotish lesson: Make it a habit to observe acutely what is hap- pening around. you and try to decipher the meaning of what you observe relative to the situation. The art of deciphering nimittas or sakuna sastra is an invaluable tool for the jyotisa.
best regards Hari
This story aroused my interest and so I forwarded it to [email protected], with the following note:
— In [email protected], Sreenadh” <sreesog@...> wrote:
Dear All,
I have seen the following message in one of the yahoo groups. It is the description of just an incident but the story seems to hide a lot of meaning - and is really good!! So I am forwarding it to our
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forum for all of us to read. Sreenadh
I got the following replay for the same from Pandit Arjun ji. — In [email protected], “panditarjun2004” <panditarjun2004@...> wrote:
dear sreenadh ji
Even though these shakuna shastras are interesting, i did not read or learn them as i did not find any classics on them. if you could refer any classics mentioning these shakuna shastra or any old books on how to read from animal hints, i would like to learn them also. if predictions can be made on the caws of a crow and barks of a dog and the fall of a lizard, it is really an easy task for an astrologer.
with best wishes arjun
This prompted me to write a detailed replay for the same, as follows-
— In [email protected], Sreenadh” <sreesog@...> wrote:
Dear Arjun ji,
It not due to the reference to sakuna shastras that i presented that mail, but due to the hidden double meaning and anomali. ;) Becoming serious, :) Now coming to the subject of ‘Sakuna’ and ‘Nimitta’ (If you are one a travel the Nimittas that you observe in the start of the journey - with approx 100 m - is termed Sakuna and all omens are generally termed ‘Nimitta’), it i s a subject dealt with in Samhitas. So the available ancient classics that deal with this subject would be samhita texts like - Brihat samhita, Harita samhita, Samasa samhita, Maha yatra etc. Prasna texts like Prasnamaraga, Prasnanushtana padhati etc also refer to various
omens related to Prasna in an elabor ate manner. Texts like Kerala prasna samgraha, Prasna Koutuka gives omens to be observed related to touching of body parts by the qurent. In texts like Siva sworodaya and Agni purana omens judged from breath pattern are mentioned. Even Ayurvedic classic texts like Ashtanga Hridaya also discusses omens that would help the doctor to judge the dis- ease, situation and the possible outcome of the treatment. This system is very old as is evident from the statement of ‘Vishnugupta’ (chanakya) in Chanakya sutra: “Upastita vinasa prakrityakarena karyena drisyate” Meaning, the future possibility of destruction or bad out comes would be indicated by the natural omens. Eg: Be- fore rain we see the clouds - it is an omen Before earth quake the animals react - it is an omen. The classification of omens which depends on various basic principles itself is a big subject to deal with. By the way we value the statement of Vishnugupta (chanakya) because he is the reputed author of a reputed astrological classic called ‘Vishnugupta Hora’. You said: “ if you could refer any clas- sics mentioning these shakuna shastra or any old books on how to read from animal hints, i would like to learn them also”
If we want to be systematic and authentic, to understand the animal behavior, it is better to read modern texts on the subject and depend on direct observation and study of animals and na- ture. :) Mihira in Mahayatra (also known as Brihat yogayatra) asks us to study the animal behavior and nature from direct observa- tion. Yes, I here you ask, where is astrology in it. :) The astrologer is supposed to predict and for that he is collecting all the tools he could, whether that is related to planets and rasi chakra or not. This is specially important in Ashtamangala Prasna etc. For them the concept while considering animal behaviour etc was, “it is important are you able to predict future events accurately and how you do it is not important”! But remember, this concept is JUST PART of the big nimitta system and not a rule that depict the WHOLE nimitta system. I hope the above references will be suf-
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ficient to give you a start on the subject, of omens. “if predictions can be made on the caws of a crow and barks of a dog > and the fall of a lizard, it is really an easy task for an astrologer.” No wrong! Wisely and efficiently using and understanding this system is one of the hardest tasks!
I have heard a story related to observation of a nimtta by an Ayurvedic doctor. He visited one of the patients with his sishya and having digestion problems. He observed the smell and pres- ence of Jackfruit near to the bed of the patient, a nd from that omen observed that eating of too much jackfruit was the cause of indi- gestion. Another day the in the absence of the guru the sishya had to visit a patient with the same problem. He was unable to locate the problem by diagnosis, so he looked around for omens, and found some grass near to the bed of patient. So he immediately asked “Did you ate grass yesterday?”. Same is story of and the study of the system of “Omen observation”. It is in a better dam- aged state similar to the jataka stream of astrology at present. :)
We could find knowledge related to Nature, climate, body la n- guage, breath pattern, astrological knowledge of zodiac and plan- ets, animal behavior, biology, psychology, hundreds of beliefs, many superstitions all getting used WITH THE AIM OF PRE- DICTING THE FUTURE in this branch astrology. It is the an- cient mother of several streams of knowledge. :) We should have to look at the subject of omens in a new light. May the grace of nature be with us, with that grace let us be with it, to understand the world around us in a better way, so that everything will reflect in us, and give us clues about the future possibilities which helps us in prediction.
PS:
* The astrologer is like a mirror who reflects t he nature and the qurent himself.
* He is a person who see - which others can not see (Even in day to day life)
* He is a person who hear - which others can not hear (Even in day to day life)
Meaning he observes with attention and understands much more from what others too see and hear. He is the wise man who is there to say what he saw and heard to others, but in a differnt mould, so that it would be beneficial to them.
Sreenadh
To this mail, I got an interesting response, as follows from Souvik datta ji:
— In [email protected], Sauvik Datta” <sdutta@...> wrote:
Sreenadhji,
This reminds me of the string theory on quanum physics... Sreenadhji, do you exist in parallel universes? :)
Thanks Souvik
My response was as follows-
— In [email protected], Sreenadh” <sreesog@...> wrote:
Dear Sauvik ji,
lol...In a parallel universe called Kerala (with an indecipher- able and cumbersome language ‘Malalayalam’), where an astrolo- ger started speaking english recently only... :)) But the wonder is that, these people of the south India, have started copying old San- skrit texts into their regional scripts, before hundreds of years, and those texts become extinct in North India but still many references and slokas are still available in these regional scripts! They felt it
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difficult to write Sanskrit and have created 2 scripts - popularly known as ‘Grandha lipi’ or ‘Grandha script’. Grandha lipi means a script that was created to write Sanskrit in a script that resembles regional scripts (with less alphabets)of Kerala and Tamilnadu. These scripts are -
1) Tamil Grandha lipi (Now only available in preserved texts in manuscript libraries) [Tamil is the language of the state ‘Tamilnadu’]
2) Malayalam Grandha lipi (This later become the slandered script of Malayalam) [Malayalam is the language of the state ‘Kerala’] Malayalam Grandha lipi become Malayalam and many be because of that many ancient Sanskrit slokas and sloka refer- ences are available in in this language and texts. The astrological knowledge in this language is already explored although the fruits are not yet completely presented to the world. But the Tamil Grandha lipi is an unexplored treasure!! Many spend years to trans- late Sanskrit texts to Tamil Grandha lipi and as you may know Tamil is an older and anceient language than Malayalam. Now nobody reads and uses ‘Tamil Grandha lipi’, but the manuscripts libraries (all over India) have thousands of ‘Grandha lipi’ texts preserved with them!! Who knows, we many find many, ‘thought to be lost texts’ in this collection. It is another treas ure for we chil- dren to play with - caused by language development and its his- tory. I think, even though I am able to notice this regarding Malayalam and Tamil, there is a possibility that this is the same situation with all the other regional scripts as well. Somebody should conduct a search for ‘Sanskrit astrological classics in regional scripts’. Then from Southern states and from states like Kashmir, Orisa etc new knowledge and lost texts may sprung and rise to their feet, becoming visible to all. :)
Love, Sreenadh
I think, all these shows how even stories becomes Nimittas for good knowledge sharing.