The snapshot of the sky, and the movement of the planets is what our birth chart is all about. The planets contain secrets that can only be unveiled by Vedic Astrologer. But what is Vedic Astrology? Everyone has heard of astrology. In western astrology, it is all about the sun signs. Vedic Astrology is completely different.
Here in this article, we discuss what is Vedic Astrology and how Vedic Astrology differs from Western Astrology.
Vedic Vs. Western Astrology
You might know what Vedas are; they are the oldest scriptures known to exist and dates at least 5000 years back. These Vedas have a vast ocean of knowledge of both the material and spiritual kinds. It is the knowledge given by Shri Krishna to the Rishis, the sages of Vedic culture.
That Vedic literature talks a lot about astrology and the knowledge of it has been passed on from generation to generation since time immemorial. Vedic Astrology existed way before the other astrology around the world, and rather, it was the Vedic Astrology that spread to cultures like Persian, Greek, Chinese, and Babylonian.
To understand the difference between western astrology and Vedic astrology, we must analyze it three folds:
First, Vedic Astrology is technically termed a “sidereal system”; western philosophy, on the other hand, is termed as “tropical”.
In the sky, there are constellations of the Zodiac signs such as Aquarius, Virgo, and so on. The actual stellar constellations are what Vedic Astrology is based on, but Western Astrology follows a fabricated zodiac that slowly moves backward in space as a function of time. (Tropic in Latin is translated as “to turn”.)
For instance, at the beginning of the Western imaginary zodiac (as of October 1993), the first point of Aries is at 6.25 degrees of the constellation Pisces and known as “the Age of Pisces”. This point moves in a backward motion at a rate of 1 degree per 72 years when it enters the constellation of Aquarius, and this will be “the Age of Aquarius”, which is quite famous age in astrology. But when moving at a motion of 72 years per degree of 6.25 degrees, it will take 450 years before the Age of Aquarius kicks in. But the western new age community has already declared today’s era as the Age of Aquarius, which any Vedic Astrologer would not.
Second, Vedic astrology is being practiced since time immemorial and has been ongoing as an unbroken chain of tradition passed on to generations. But Western Astrology is shady, in that, it had disappeared during the Dark Ages (500-1000AD) and only revived during the Renaissance era, and then again, fall out to the Age of Reason. It again disappeared until the late 19th century. Today’s western astrology is only 150 years old at most. The knowledge would, therefore, be less trustworthy in comparison to really old Vedic astrology.
Third, Vedic Astrology comes from Vedic thoughts and philosophy since it is rooted in the Vedas. What it means is that the rules pertain to the Vedic philosophy and the astrologers must be accustomed to living the life of a Vedic Brahmana.
Western Philosophy is volatile, in the sense that, anything goes with Western astrology. There is no real philosophical school that holds western astrology. This philosophical school coupled with a spiritual lifestyle is crucial to guide others properly by developing the divine vision and ability.
Now since we have clarified the differences, we must look into Vedic astrology. Before that, you know that the birth map or the horoscope is a symbolic representation of Earth, planets, and stars at the time of one’s birth. It’s in the mysticism by which God communicated the will and destiny of the person.
Fate, Free Will, and Vedic Astrology
It’s said that “Vedic Astrology of life is an interplay of both fate and free will-fate being the reaction to our previous exercise of free will.” What it means is that a person has his own free will, that he can choose between any two options given the circumstances, but we must accept the reaction of the choice. That reaction may be right away, or it could be delayed for thousands of a lifetime. That is how it is.
Acharya Chanakya says, “Just as a calf can find its mother in a herd of 10,000 cows, in the same way, your [re]actions will find you.” Thus, karma prevails, and with karmic reaction, a new environment is presented with more choices upon which one can exercise free will.
To clarify it, let’s consider someone who is born to a poor family because of the bad karma from the previous life. He will be raised in a ghetto where crime and poverty hit hard. Say, to continue living, he can either blame society for his poverty and start robbing people or try, to be honest, and achieve something in an honest way. If he chooses the first option, he will be caught someday and even jailed. Still, in jail, he has the option to repent for his wrongdoings by becoming a model prisoner and increasing the chance of returning back to the real world, or be a hardened criminal and give up freedom.
Each choice has a reaction, and thus, this is how fate interplays with free will.
Also, Read – Differences Between Vedic Astrology and Western Astrology