History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c99.160

v7.c99.160

Astrology (vide under Ātharvaṇa Jyotiṣa, auspicious days, Babylonians, bhāvas i. e. houses in horoscopes, Greeks, Mahābhārata, planets, predictions, Ptolemy, Rāmāyaṇa, Utpala, Varāhamihira); among Assyrians A was concerned with the interpretation of celestial phenomena 521, 548, Ātharvaṇa Jyotiṣa divided nakṣatras into nine classes (each of three nakṣatras) and sets out what should be undertaken on each of nine classes 532–34, 579; based on Nakṣatras had been well developed in India before Ptolemy 558–61, 579, 597n; belief in A. was common throughout Europe and among Greeks after Alexander 548; believers in A. should now rest content with the simple rules of Gṛhyasūtras and Manu as regards Upanayana and marriage 639; birth of a boy on Jyeṣṭhā or Vicṛt (Mūla) held in Atharvaveda to be evil for the boy or parents 524; criticism of the main doctrines of Indian A. including dṛṣṭi, 635–638; dilemma for those who believe in A. 639; firm hold of A. on Indian mind for two thousand years or more and even in modern times 626-27; general A (not horoscopic) like that in Reports of Babylonian priests prevalent in India, centuries before Christ 570, generally ignored by modern Western philosophers and scientists 630, high claims about importance and utility of A. made by Varāhamihira and others 546-48, horoscopic A is later than natural A. 521, in Varāhamihira is not borrowed from Greeks 585, in ancient times the words 'astronomy' and 'astrology' were synonyms 483, 521, Indians who knew Nakṣatra a. centuries before Christ probably adopted it to rāśis on seeing zodiacal signs in Babylonian monuments about the time that the Greeks derived it 598-600; influence of, in England shown by several English words, 552-53, Kauṭilya knew general A. but not horoscopic 569-70, knowledge of A. found in Vedic works 521-525; long list of Varāhamihira's predecessors in A 591-94 most important matters in Indian A are rāśis, the planets and the twelve *bhāvas* 635 prejudice in ancient India against astrologers and star-gazers 527; Ptolemy's arguments in support of, 553-54, serious consequences of belief that planets caused persons to do certain things, 631, some predictions came true 631-32, spread from Greece to Rome about 2nd century B C 549, two circumstances that tended to weaken the influence of A. in Europe 551; was comparatively more scientific than hepatoscopy 522n, was cultivated by the side of astronomy in European Universities 551, works on Indian A gradually disappeared owing to the excellent works of Varāhamihira 601, works on A recommended that a child born on Āśleṣā or Mūla nakṣatra or on *gaṇḍānta* should be abandoned 632-33, world wars provided a powerful fillip in modern times for spread of A 531