Friday, March 5.1965 University Daily Kansan
Page 3
Astrology A Part of Indian Life
By Harinar Krishnan
(Editor's Note: Mr. Krishnan is a native of India and is presently a student at KU and a member of the Kansan staff.)
By Harihar Krishnan
Date of Birth Foretells Pattern of Life
Of all the mysteries of the "Mysterious East," the one mystery that perplexes the American mind most is astrology, particularly so when he is told that in a country like India, astrology is an accepted and revered part of life.
If my understanding is correct, astrology is grouped along with sorcery and witchcraft as vices that cannot be practiced in the United States, according to the law. Paradoxically, one of the most widely read columns in any of the American newspapers today is one of those your-horoscope-for-this-week.
What is the Hindu concept of astrology? Does it assume the theory that since everything is preordained in this life, man might as well give up. The answer is no.
**INDIAN philosophy knows no destiny that has the power to do things, not to do things or to undo things. In other words, there is no such thing as, "the moving finger writes," which, "having wrist moves on. All thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it."
At this time it will not be out of place to introduce the word, Fate. Hindu astrology does not accept whatever is preordained as Fate.
A man's destiny is forged by his Karma, the effect of his actions in the past. This is fundamental in Indian thinking. We all know that the bodily and mental make-up of an individual is determined by his environment, subjective and objective, pre-natal and post-natal. But this is only part of the answer to life's mystery. The complete answer is provided in the concept of Karma, that determines which particular set of influences and what particular environment he shall be subjected to.
Whatever be his Karma, the individual will always be a creature bound hand and foot the Indian believes. Essentially the nature of spirit is the same as the nature of a god. This spirit in the illiterate mind gets tangled with ignorance, subjugating completely the other force (the sub-conscious), which Hindu astrology takes into account as the implement necessary to fight what is preordained. Immediately a question raises up. Is life preordained? Yes, it is. The very fact that no two beings are born under the same environmental conditions, is one way of explaining why life is preordained. But this is what the theory of Karma explains. Further explanation in this regard will mean going into an entirely different topic.
AT THE HIGHER levels of intellectual and spiritual developments, the sub-conscious assumes greater strength and can be the counteracting force to lessen the effect of unfavorable conditions in the horoscope. In fact it is this counteracting force that the western philosophy calls free-will. Thus the forces of free-will are always combating the forces of destiny and at any given period of life, our actions will always be a resultant of these two forces.
Now, going back to the common man it can boldly be said that in his case the free-will will not be strong. All his actions in life can be predicted to an amazing degree of accuracy through his horoscope.
Then what about the intellectually advanced? Well, the answer is although there might appear to be variation between the prediction and the actual happening, nevertheless it can be proven that the general pattern as indicated in the horoscope has not changed.
THE CYCLE of happy and unhappy periods of life is a continuous one and no matter what the environmental circumstances happen to be, every human being has to experience this process in his individual life the Indian believes.
Hindu astrology says that in every
individual's life, there occurs the "Sani Dashas" or the three periods of Saturn. This is speaking about the unhappy aspect of life. It is then possible to determine, with the help of horoscope, exactly around what time in an individual's life the three periods of Saturn will intermittently be on the ascendancy.
Generally speaking, the first period of Saturn is around the adolescent age, the second around the middle age and the third and the longest one around the old age. The intensity of Saturn's influence varies with individuals depending on the influence of the planets Guru and Sukran. These two planets are the ones which bring wealth and prosperity to the person and are the forces that counteract the forces of Saturn. It is said that anyone born around the time of the noon hour will rise up in a life as a person of great intellect and wisdom. Those born around the midnight hour will attain great wealth and prosperity.
It is also said by some astrologers that any woman born in the month of September will be gifted with beauty and charm. Great many statistical evidences are available including those that would be termed as fantastic, all supporting the belief that astrology is a very perfect science.
IF THE EXACT time of birth of a baby, correct to the second, can be measured, then it is possible to cast the horoscope of the baby and from this horoscope it will be possible to predict every aspect of the life of the child right from its infancy to the old age.
How can planets influence human actions? Again according to the Indian philosophy, the whole universe is governed by the law of nature and the law of morality. In effect, these are only the two aspects of one reality. Law of morality is the sum-total of the experiences of all the beings. A change in one law is accompanied by a change in the other. So, maybe, the universe is manifesting itself in several million
forms and proceeding in an ordered line of march towards a goal which is the fruition and fulfillment of its nature.
Perhaps all the riddles of life all, was not an absurd could be solved if science were to a dormant part of it
sportingly condescend to the level of philosophy and fuse itself into the latter. And when it does that it might discover that astrology, after all, was not an absurd stuff, but only a dormant part of it.
KU Wins NU Debate Tourney
Robert B. Ward and William H Ward, Wichita freshmen, won the University of Nebraska Debate Tournament at Lincoln, February 27. More than 40 schools from all over the nation were represented at the tourney. The twins defeated the team from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, in the final round by a 3-0 decision.
The two Wards won the round by successfully debating the negative side of the question, Resolved: That the Federal Government should adopt a national program of public work for the unemployed.
Feel like you're an "in-betweener?" A border-liner?
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