History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.615

v6.c82.615

Then there is the question of friendships and enmities among planets. There is no rhyme nor reason in this respect. Why Venus, a beneficent planet in theory, should be the enemy of the Sun, when Jupiter another beneficent planet is a friend, is something which it is difficult to understand or explain. Besides, these relationships are not reciprocal. The Moon has no enemy, but from the point of view of Venus, the Moon is the enemy of Venus. Mercury (mythologically the son of the Moon) is said to be a friend of the Moon, but from the point of view of Mercury the Moon is its enemy. There is a further strange matter to be noticed. As men fight among themselves, it has been supposed that the planets (excepting the Sun and the Moon) fight among themselves⁹⁸² (vide note 872 above). Besides there are thousands of minor planets between Mars and Jupiter and ancient and medieval horoscopes took no account of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto among the planets nor of the numerous satellites of Jupiter.