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The hoax called Vedic Rashichakra and Vedic astrology!

Almost everybody is surprised as t o why t here are no Rashis ( ast rological signs)
in t he Vedas. I t is really an int erest ing ( even an int r iguing! ) quest ion as t o why our
Rishis did not act ually discover or invent a Rashichakra - - - eit her sayana or so called
nirayana! This quest ion has vast r amificat ions especially since Vedic ast rology is being
proposed t o be int roduced in I ndian universit ies as a core subj ect and any predict ive
ast rology, whet her Vedic or non- Vedic ( even ant i- Vedic ! ) is meaningless and
useless wit hout Rashis ( ast rological signs) ! We must t herefore analyse t his vexat ious
quest ion t horoughly.
Let us put it t his way. There are innumerable references t o nakshat ras i. e.
const ellat ions ( and not ast erisms) in t he Vedas. We also find t he names of Madhu et c.
mont hs st art ing wit h t he Vernal Equinox ( Vishuvan) in t he Vedas. There are, however,
no Rashis ( signs ) like Mesha, Vrisha et c.- - - whet her sayana or so called nirayana- - - in
t hem. So why did t he Rishis not name t hose mont hs as Mesha et c. rashis
simult aneously as is done t hese days, at least by West ern ast ronomers, who follow a
seasonal year/ calendar, j ust like t he Vedic Rishis did, and name t hose mont hs as Aries,
Taurus et c. ?
Believe me, however, our Rishis were geniuses not t o have invent ed or
discovered a Rashichakra - eit her Sayana or so- called nirayana! And t here is
absolut ely no reason t o be ashamed about t heir being geniuses, what ever our Vedic
Jyot ishis may say ! Let me explain it in a det ailed manner and wit h examples:
First of all, we must put t he records st raight here. No real ast ronomer t he wor ld
over indicat es any names of Rashis like Aries ( Mesha) et c. I f you t ake any ephemeris or
almanac published by any observat ory of t he globe, you will not find t he names of Rashis
t herein. Longit udes of planet s et c. are given in Right Ascension and Declinat ion or in
degrees, minut es and seconds of arc, ranging from zero t o 360 degrees in all t he
ephemeredes of int ernat ional observat ories including t he I ndian Ast ronomical Ephemeris
published by Posit ional Ast ronomy Cent re, Calcut t a. Therefore, it is only ast rologers who
are affixing t he names like Mesha et c. t o t he so- called Rashis. Thus, at least on t his
count , our Vedic Rishis were on an equal- - if not a higher- - pedest al wit h t odays
ast ronomers!
As per Bal Gangadhar Tilaks ORI ON, a solar year is said t o have st art ed in t he
early ( Rig- ) Vedic period fr om Ut t arayanaWint er Solst ice. I t was also t he st art of t he
Vedic mont h Tapah. Now let us suppose t hat t he Vedic Rishis had superimposed any
Rashi on t hat Tapah mont h, t he quest ion arises as t o what t ype of a Rashichakra it could
have been i. e. what could have been t he nomenclat ure of t hose Rashis and what could
be t heir charact erist ics . Let us presume t hem t o be Mesha, Vrishaba et c. as are
prevalent t hese days. But t hen we have t o underst and t he real meaning of t hese Rashis
first . I n fact , t hey are j ust Sanskrit equivalent s of t he Greek names of const ellat ions like
Aries, Taur us et c. Therefore, anot her set of quest ions ar ises as t o whet her t hose Rashis
should have been relat ed t o t he const ellat ions of similar names in any way or not .

Ut t ar ayana v i s- - v i s Mak ar Sank r ant i and t he Pr ecessi on of Equi nox es:
To solve t he myst ery of t he missing Rashis in t he Vedas , we have t o underst and
t he phenomenon of Precession of Equinoxes first . We shall t herefore t ry t o explain it in
as non- t echnical a manner as possible.
We know t hat t he Mot her Eart h has an equat or- - - an imaginary line equidist ant
from it s nor t h and sout h poles t hus dividing t he eart h int o t wo equal hemispheres. We
calculat e t errest rial lat it udes of places Nort h or Sout h from t he same. When we proj ect
t his very equat or t o heavens, it becomes a Great Circle called Celest ial Equat or . I t can
also be said t hus t hat t he Celest ial Equat or is parallel t o t he t errest rial Equat or. I nst ead
of geographical lat it udes, we measure declinat ions of planet s et c. from t hat equat or.
There is also anot her Great Circle known as eclipt ic, t he act ual pat h of revolut ion of t he
eart h and planet s around t he sun. From it are measured t he lat it udes Nort h or Sout h of
planet s. As t he Eart h/ Sun keep on always t ravelling via t he cent re of t he Eclipt ic t hat
is why t he eart hs lat it ude is always zero for all pract ical purposes.
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These t wo circles , t he Celest ial Equat or and Eclipt ic, are neit her concent ric nor
at r ight angles t o one anot her. On t he ot her hand, Eclipt ic is inclined t o t he Equat or at
an angle of about 23. 5. This is known as Obliquit y of t he Eclipt ic. I t is direct ly
responsible for t he declinat ion of planet s since as we know by now, declinat ion is anot her
name of dist ance of planet s or luminar ies et c. nort h or sout h from t he equat or. For t he
eart h/ sun, whose lat it ude is zero, it cannot exceed t he maximum obliquit y of t he Eclipt ic.
For ot her planet s, wit h lat it udes ( dist ance above or below t he eclipt ic) more or less t han
zero, declinat ions can be more t han t he maximum obliquit y of t he eclipt ic.
The Celest ial Equat or cut s t he Eclipt ic at t wo point s and every year t he sun
( act ually t he eart h) j oins t his point on t wo occasions. They are known as Vernal and
Aut umn Equinoxes - - - when t he days and night s are equal t hroughout t he wor ld. The
eart h is not a complet e sphere but a spheroid wit h t he polar axis being short er t han t he
equat orial axis by about 43 kms. ( 27 miles) . Therefore, because of t he gravit at ional
effect s of t he sun and planet s, especially t he Moon, on t he eart h, which keep on pulling
on it s equat orial bulge, eart h has a different equat or every year. Since it is t hat very
equat or t hat becomes celest ial equat or when proj ect ed t o t he heavens, we can say t hat
it is act ually a different Equat or t hat cut s t he eclipt ic at a different point every year.
The movement of t he eclipt ic is very slow about 47 arc- seconds a cent ury. Thus
every year t here is a new Vernal and Aut umnal Equinox. The best way t o underst and
Precession is t o explain it wit h a diagram:



I n t he above diagram, t he circle Eq1 is t he equat or on t he first of January 1,
2003. Let us say it cut t he eclipt ic, when t he sun ( act ually t he eart h) also j oined it , on
t he point V1. The dat e was Mar ch 22, 2003. The sun had t hen a longit ude of zero
degrees, lat it ude of zero degrees and declinat ion as well Right Ascension of zero
degrees. I t was t hus t he Vernal Equinox of 2003. This is also known as t he First point of
Aries. From t his point t he longit udes and Right Ascension of planet s et c. are measured.
At t he end of t he year, however, t he Equat or Eq1 will have undergone a
met amorphosis because of t he gravit at ional effect s and it t hen becomes Eq. 2, t he new
equat or . I t will cut t he eclipt ic at a different point and when t he sun ( act ually t he
Ecliptic



OE



V1 Eq1
Eq 2 V2
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eart h) also j oins t hat point it will be t he Vernal Equinox of 2004, around March 21, 2004,
named V2. We can t hus say t hat Equinox V1 has precessed t o t he posit ion V2 during
one year. This is what is meant by Precession of Equinoxes. I t has t o be not ed here
t hat all t he observat ories t he world over will measure t he longit udes and Right Ascension
of planet s for t he year 2004 from t his new Vernal Equinox i. e. t he First Point of Ar ies.
Similarly, declinat ions Nort h or Sout h for 2004 will be measured from t he new Equat or
i. e. V2.

Pr ecessi on and Sol st i ces: We know t hat t here are t wo more cardinal point s in t he
phenomenon of seasons. They are formed when t he sun ( t he eart h) during it s soj ourn
t hrough t he Eclipt ic reaches a point which is at t he maximum dist ance of nort h from t he
Equat or. The sun has t he maximum declinat ion of Nort h ( whereas t he eart h has t he
maximum declinat ion of Sout h) t hen and it st art s coming down and t urning t o sout h
( and t he eart h t owards Nort h) . That is why it is known as Dakshinayana viz. Summer
Solst ice when t he day is t he longest in nor t hern hemisphere- - - ar ound June 22 t hese
days. Similarly, when t he sun reaches t he point on t he eclipt ic which has t he maximum
sout hern dist ance from t he Equat or ( and t he eart h t he maximum Nort hern Declinat ion) ,
it comes as if t o a halt moment arily and st art s going t o Nort h ( and t he eart h t owards
Sout h) . it is known as Ut t arayana - - - Wint er Solst ice, when t he day is t he short est - - -
December 22 t his year. When we say t he Equinoxes are precessing, it is act ually as if
t he whole Equat or is precessing and t herefore, even t he Wint er and Summer Solst ices
also are precessing. Our Vedic Rishis had made t he mont h of Madhav st art from Vernal
Equinox and t he mont h of Tapah from t he Wint er Solst ice and so on since t hey had
linked t he mont hs t o seasons. We can t hus say t hat t he mont hs Madhu, Madhava et c.
also are precessing since all of t hem are linked t o t he four cardinal point s viz. t he t wo
equinoxes and solst ices.
The rat e of precession in 2000 BC was about 49 . 31, in 1 AD it was about 49 . 84
and present ly it is about 50 . 28 per year. Thus t he point V1 will have precessed t o V2
by about 50. 28 seconds of arc bet ween 2003 and 2004. As we can j udge from t he
diagram, when t he sun ( act ually t he eart h) r eaches V2, it will have t o t ravel a dist ance
of about 50 . 28 less t han if t he VE1 had remained fixed , like a Fixed St ar . The sun
t ravels about one degree ( 3600 seconds of arc) in a day i. e. 24X60 = 1440 minut es. I t
means t he dist ance of t he precession of 50.28 seconds of arc will be covered in a lesser
t ime of about ( 1440/ 3600) X50. 28 = 20. 11 minut es approximat ely t han t he fixed
equinox. That is why we say t hat t he t ropical year dist ance covered by t he sun/ eart h
from one Vernal Equinox t o anot her Vernal Equinox is short er t han t he sidereal year
dist ance covered by t he sun from a Fixed St ar t o t he same st ar again- - - by about 20
minut es. A simple mat hemat ical calculat ion t ells us t hat at t he present rat e of
precession, it will be about 71. 6 years when one degree of precession will be t he
difference whereas in 2000 BC it would have t aken about 72. 89 years for a degree of
precession. We can t hus safely say t hat on an average, during t he last few t housand
years, t he Equinoxes and solst ices et c. precessed at an average rat e of about 1 degree
every 72 years.
Const el l at i ons vi s- - vi s Pr ecessi on:
The precession of equinoxes/ solst ices is always vis- - vis t he const ellat ional belt ,
i. e. against t he background of a part icular const ellat ion at a part icular point of t ime. For
example, when we want t o find out t he posit ion of t he Vernal Equinox or Wint er Solst ice
et c. say at t he t ime of Shat apat ha Brahmana, which was about 3000 BC, we cannot j ust
pin it against a void! We must have some area - some canvas- - - where and against
which we can posit ion/ locat e it ! e. g. , when we want t o find Delhi, we have t o say, I t
is in I ndia, which is a part of Asia ! Similarly, t o find t he posit ion of t he Vernal Equinox
et c. ast ronomers have t aken t he background Const ellat ions as t he canvass. Thus when
Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak said in his Orion t hat in 3000 BC t he Vernal Equinox
was in t he Const ellat ion of Kr it t ikas, he was t alking of t hose very Const ellat ions.
Const el l at i ons as per moder n ast r onomy:
There are act ually about 88 Const ellat ions as per modern ast ronomy out of which
t hirt een ( fourt een including Cet i i. e. Cet us meaning a Whale ) are t he maj or ones of t he
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zodiac i. e. t he const ellat ional belt hovering around t he eclipt ic. These const ellat ions
were given t heir names because of t heir resemblance t o some part icular figure e. g. when
Lokamanya Tilak referred t o ORI ON as t he Hunt er it was only because it had
resembled t hat figure in t he hoary past and does so even t oday t o some ext ent .
Similarly, Aries resembled a ram; Taurus a bull and so on. Though t hese days most of
t hese Bulls and Rams have lost t heir resemblance wit h t heir original nomenclat ures,
however, t hey are st ill known by t hose very names. And t hat is absurd, t o say t he least !
Out of t he 13/ 14 prominent const ellat ions, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,
Libra, Scorpio, Sagit t arius, Capricorn, Aquar ius and Pisces are t he t welve const ellat ions
t hat comprised t he zodiac init ially as per t he Chaldean, lat er Greek and st ill lat er
West ern ast rologers. They called t hem signs . Hindu ast rologers know t hese very
signs by t he names of t welve Rashis viz. Mesha, Vr ishab, Mit hun, Karkat , Simha,
Kanya, Tula, Vrischik, Dhanu, Makar, Kumbha and Mina respect ively in t hat or der. I n
fact , Hindu names of Rashis are j ust t he equivalent s of t heir Chaldean/ Greek names.
There is also a t hirt eent h const ellat ion of t he zodiac by t he name of Ophiuchus and a
fourt eent h by t he name of Cet us, but t hese are neit her recognized by West ern nor by
East ern ast rologers.
We must have some coordinat es t o measure t he dist ances or longit udes of
t hese const ellat ions as well. There are no st art ing or ending demarcat ion lines described
in t he Vedas for t hese const ellat ions. e. g. t hey do not t ell us as t o when Apbharni ends
and Krit t ikas st art or vice- versa. However, I nt ernat ional Ast ronomical Union has given
t he boundaries of t hese const ellat ions in Right Ascension and Declinat ion et c. as per t he
Vernal Equinox of 1930, which are nat urally slight ly different from t he ones given earlier
as per 1875 equinox. These revised boundaries, when t ranslat ed t o t he Vernal Equinox
of 2004 AD, lead t o t heir longit udes as given in t he last but one column of t he below
t able.
I ndian I nst it ut e of Ast rophysics has t his t o say in it s websit e about t he I AU list of
const ellat ions, The definit ive list of 88 const ellat ions was est ablished in 1930, under t he
aut hor it y of t he I nt ernat ional Ast ronomical Union. I t s rect ilinear const ellat ion boundaries
preserve t he t radit ional arrangement s of naked eye st ars. The st andard boundaries
define an unambiguous const ellat ion for each st ar.
Nevert heless, it has t o be admit t ed t hat t he const ellat ions t hat we have t oday,
are neit her logical nor convenient . The largest const ellat ion Hydra covers 1303 square
degrees of t he sky; t he smallest , Cruz, only 68 square degrees. Cent aurus includes 49
st ars above t he fift h magnit ude, while Mensa does not have even one. However, t he
pat t erns are now well est ablished t hat it is unlikely t hat t hey will be alt ered.

A Br i ef Hi st or y of Const el l at i ons
unambi guous const el l at i on f or each st ar .
Constellations of the Ecliptic / Signs of the Zodiac
constellat ion deg Time ( Days) enter ast rological Vernal Eq.
Aries 24.6 25 18 Apr 21 Mar 1865 BC
Taurus 36.8 37 14 May 20 Apr 4539 BC
Orion ( 1) 18-20 Jun
Gemini 27.7 28 21 Jun 21 May
Solst ice 21 Jun
Cancer 20.1 20 20 Jul 22 Jun
Leo 35.7 36 10 Aug 23 Jul
Sextans (2) 3 Sep
Virgo 44.1 45 16 Sep 23 Aug
equinox 22 Sep
Libra 23.1 23 31 Oct 23 Sep
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Scorpio 6.4 6 23 Nov 24 Oct 9876 AD
Ophiuchus 18.9 19 29 Nov 8598 AD
Sagittarius 33.4 34 17 Dec 22 Nov 6271 AD
solst ice 21 Dec
Capricornus 28.1 29 19 Jan 22 Dec 4312 AD
Aquarius 23.8 24 16 Feb 20 Jan 2597 AD
Pisces 37.2 38 12 Mar 19 Feb 68 BC
equinox 20 Mar
Cetus (3) 27 Mar


Tabl e show i ng t he st ar t i ng dat es of Vedi c mont hs v i s- - v i s Sur y a Si dhant a, Lahi r i , Raman,
Cy r i l Fagan, Gr ahal aghav a, Revat i & O. C. Ayanmsha as compar ed t o act ual const el l at i ons
S.
N.
Vedic
month
Season Sankr-
anti
Eng
nam
Vedic/
S.Sidh
Lahiri
date
Raman
date
Fagan
date
Graha
Lagh
Tilak/
Revti
OC-Ay.
Date
Constellational
Longitude Date
1 Madhav Vasant Mesh Arie Mar 21 Apr 14 Apr 12 Apr 15 Apr 15 Apr10 Apr 19 31.0 Apr 21
2 Shukra Grishm Vrish Tau Apr 20 May 15 May 13 May16 May 16 May11 May 20 53.5 May 15
3 Shuchi Grishm Mithu Ge May 21 Jun 15 Jun 14 Jun 16 Jun 16 Jun 11 Jun 21 90.0 Jun 22
4 Nabhah Varsha Karka Can Jun 22 Jul 17 July 15 Jul 18 Jul 17 Jul 12 Jul 22 117.5 July 21
5 Nabhas Varsha Simha Leo July 23 Aug 17 Aug 15 Aug18 Aug18 Aug13 Aug 22 136.5 Aug 10
6 Isha Sharat Kanya Vir Aug 23 Sep 17 Sep 15 Sep 18 Sep18 Sep13 Sep 22 172.0 Sep 15
7 Urja Sharat Tula Libr Sep 23 Oct 17 Oct 16 Oct 18 Oct 18 Oct13 Oct 23 217.5 Oct 30
8 Sahas Hemant Vrisch Sco Oct 24 Nov 16 Nov 15 Nov17 Nov17 Nov12 Nov 22 239.5 Nov 22
9 Ophiuchus (Serpent Bearer) It has not been accounted for in any Rashichakra 248.0 Dec 1
10 Sahasy Hemant Dhanu Sagi Nov 22 Dec 16 Dec15 Dec 17 Dec 17 Dec 12 Dec 21 266.5 Dec 19
11 Tapah Shishir Makar Cap Dec 22 Jan 14 Jan 13 Jan 15 Jan 15 Jan 10 Jan 19 299.0 Jan 20
12 Tapas Shishir Kumb Aqu Jan 20 Feb 13 Feb 11 Feb 14 Feb 14 Feb 9 Feb 18 326.0 Feb 15
13 Madhu Vasant Mina Pis Feb 19 Mar 15 Mar 13 Mar 15 Mar 15 Mar 11 Mar 20 357.5 Mar 18

( We have not included Cet us deliberat ely since it is not very prominent yet ! )
Even a cur sory glance at t he above t able shows t hat t he const ellat ions are of
irregular dimensions inst ead of being of say 30 or 40 degrees each. But t hen we must
not forget t hat t hese const ellat ions are line of sight effect s - - - t hey are not of t he
act ual shape of a ram or bull! They are j ust like clouds assuming t he shapes of a bull or
a ram et c. inst ead of act ually becoming a bull or ram et c. ! The only difference is t hat t he
clouds assuming t hose shapes are t ransit ory phenomena whereas t he const ellat ions look
like t hose resemblances for a long t ime. Even if t he const ellat ions had been in act ual
shapes of rams and bulls and crabs and scales et c. , it would have been unwise
for us t o presume t hat t hey would have been of equal size! As we know, a pit cher
( Aquarius) cannot be equal in size ( nor in weight , for t hat mat t er! ) t o a bull ( Taurus) ,
nor can a Crab ( Cancer) be equal t o a Virgin ( Virgo) , least of all can a Scorpion
( Scorpio) be equal t o an Archer ( Sagit t arius) and so on. Similar ly, t o say t hat Scales
( Libra) are equal t o Crocodile/ Goat ( Capricorn) would be silly on our part , and I am
sure t hat is t he last adj ect ive anyone would like t o reserve for himself/ herself! I n fact ,
Mot her Nat ure does not like symmet ry at all since may be t hat is a sign of st agnat ion .
E. g. years whet her t ropical or sidereal or anomalist ic or Eclipse or synodic are never a
whole number of days nay even hours- - - t hey are always in fract ions! Same is
t he case wit h lunar mont hs whet her sidereal or synodic or anomalist ict hey also have a
fract ion of days- - - nay even hours! For t hat mat t er, hardly t wo days in a year have
act ual 24 mean solar hours- - - when t he days and night s are equal- - - since all ot her days
are eit her less or more t han 24 hours! Similarly, no season has complet e 60 or 90 days
some have more and ot hers less. Even t he mean daily mot ion of none of t he planet s,
least of all t he Moon, is a whole number of degrees, nay even seconds of arc! I t is in
fract ions of arc- seconds!
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So nat urally, Nat ure does not believe in making except ions - - - at least in t he case
of making const ellat ions of equal size! Even if she had obliged us by doing so, t hen t he
const ellat ions of t he zodiac would have t o be divided int o at least t went y eight part s as
t hat is t he number of ast erisms/ nakshat ras t hat can be said t o have been recognized
by t he Vedas- - - and t heir act ual longit udes are much different from t he nakshat ras t hat
we are aware of. Similarly, even for ast rological purposes t here are at least t hirt een- - -
inst ead of t welve- - - prominent const ellat ions ( Rashis) since t hey include Ophiuchus
also ( I t has been t ranslat ed as Nagadhari - - - Serpent Bearer- - - in I ndia! Thus t he
zodiac- - - including t he 360 eclipt ic- - - would have t o be divided int o at least t hirt een
equal part s and not t welve! I t is t herefore clear t hat ast rologers have divided t he
zodiac int o t welve ( inst ead of t hirt een, by excluding Ophiuchus) equal divisions for t heir
comput at ional ease j ust as Hindu ast rologers divided it int o 27 ( inst ead of 28, by
excluding Abhij it ) nakshat ra divisions of equal lengt hs! I t makes no difference t o Mot her
Nat ure as t o what nomenclat ure we give t o t hose t welve equal divisions i. e. , Rashis
( Signs) or 27 divisions of nakshat ras- - - whet her t hey are t he same as given t o
const ellat ions or different , because t hose divisions are man- made!

The aver age r at e of Pr ecessi on:
Ast ronomically, Vernal Equinox is act ually t he eart hs node, j ust as we have got
nodes of all t he ot her planet s. We are however more familiar only wit h t he Lunar nodes,
known as Rahu ( Nort h Node) and Ket hu ( Sout h Node) in I ndian ast rology/ ast ronomy.
These nodes have always a ret rograde mot ion and t hat is why we find t hem ent ering a
Rashi which is previous t o t he one from which t hey exit . Same is t he case wit h
Equinoxes et c. They regress int o previous const ellat ions inst ead of advancing int o t he
next one.
Ast ronomical calculat ions t ell us t hat t he Vernal Equinox ( First Point of Ar ies) is
t hese days t aking place about 29. 5 away from t he rim of t he Const ellat ion Aries. As an
alt ernat ive we can say t hat Aries Const ellat ion - - - t he st art ing point - - - is 29. 5 away
from t he Vernal Equinox of t oday- - - it means virt ually t he same t hing. I t ranges from
29. 5 t o 53. 5. We know t hat t he r at e of precession is about 1 per 72 years. Hence it
would have t aken 72X29. 5 = 2124 years for t he Vernal Equinox t o have regressed from
t he Const ellat ion Ar ies t o t he present posit ion. The current year 2003 minus 2124= - 121.
I t means t hat t he VE left t he Const ellat ion Aries in about 122 BC. Since t he rat e of
precession does not remain const ant and since t he Eclipt ic also undergoes some
digression, t he act ual dat e of conj unct ion of Vernal Equinox wit h t he First Point of Ar ies
has been worked out by ast ronomers t o be 68 BC. ( Jean Meeus Morsels of Ast ronomy,
published by Willman- Bell, USA. Page No. 304) I t was t he last year when t he VE was
conj unct Ar ies const ellat ion- - - hence it s name as t he First Point of Aries and it ent ered
Pisces t hen. I t should have been changed ages back, but somehow it has not been!
We know ( from t he above Table) t hat t he const ellat ion Ar ies ranges bet ween
29. 5 and 53. 5. Thus if we want t o find out as t o when t he Vernal Equinox had ent ered
t hat const ellat ion, we can say t hat it was 53. 5X72= 3852 years earlier from t oday i. e.
2003 minus 3852 = - 1849 i. e. 1850 BC. Jean Meeus has given t he act ual dat e of t hat
ent ry as 1865 BC.

When di d t he Vedi c and Ant i - Vedi c zodi acs coi nci de? And w hat i s t he onl y
cor r ect ( OC) Ay anamsha?
We oft en hear Vedic ast rologers t alking about t he t wo zodiacs having
coincided some t ime in t he past . As we have seen in our ot her art icles and as is evident
from t he present discussion, it is clear t hat t here is but one zodiac. What t hese
ast rologers are act ually t rying t o say is t hat t hey want t o find out as t o when t he First
Point of Ar ies was act ually conj unct t he first point of Const ellat ion Aries. I t was t hus
act ually neit her 285 AD ( Lahiri) , nor 390 AD ( Raman) nor 444 Shaka ( Grahalaghava) nor
496 Shaka ( Revat i Paksha/ Tilak Panchang) et c but 68 BC. As t hese Vedic ast rologers
call t he so called nirayana zodiac as t he Vedic zodiac it means all ot her zodiacs are
non- Vedic i. e. ant i- Vedic . They can t hus claim t hat t he t wo zodiacs i. e. Vedic and ant i
Vedic zodiacs coincided in 68 BC .
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Precession since t hen t ill January 1, 2000 AD has been 29 0 13 . 2. As it is t his
very precession of t he First Point of Aries viz. Vernal Equinox fr om t he Aries
Const ellat ion t hat t hese Vedic Ast rologers call Ayanamsha, t hey must adopt t his as t he
only Correct Ayanamsha ( OC) - - - t hough act ually t here is no Ayanamsha what soever!
Surprisingly, a cursory glance at t he t able will also reveal t hat t he seasonal i. e.
Vedic mont hs are behind by almost exact ly one mont h fr om even t he so called sidereal
zodiac mont hs if we t ake t he act ual ast ronomical so called ayanamsha of t he First Point
of Ar ies!

Sol st i ces vi s- - vi s Const el l at i ons:
Since t he Wint er Solst ice is always behind t he VE by 90, we can say t hat it
( WS) was t hen ( in 68 BC) t aking place in 29. 5 minus 90 = - 60. 5 i. e. 299. 5. The
const ellat ion of Sagit t arius ends i. e. st art s in t he reverse order from 300. I t would have
t hus t aken about 36 years prior t o 68 BC for t he WS t o have ent ered t hat const ellat ion.
I t should have remained in Capricorn t ill about 68+ 36= 104 BC. I t ( WS) had act ually left
t hat const ellat ion in 131 BC when it ent ered Sagit t arius. I t will remain t here for about
( 300 minus 267 = 33 X72= ) 2376 years from 131 BC. , t hat is t ill about 2245 AD.
Act ually, it will leave Sagit t arius const ellat ion in 2269 AD, when it will ent er Ophiuchus, a
const ellat ion wit hout any equivalent in ast rology!

For t ui t ous ci r cumst ances of mat chi ng of const el l at i ons w i t h si gns!
Aut umn ( Sept ember) Equinox is always 180 degrees ahead ( or behind! ) of Vernal
Equinox. I n 68 BC it was t herefore in 29. 5+ 180= 209. 5. Libra r anges from 174. 5 t o
218. I t had left t hat Const ellat ion in 730 BC and ent ered Virgo where it will remain t ill
about 2439 AD when it will ent er Leo. Similarly Summer Solst ice was t hen ( in 68 BC)
having a longit ude of ( 29. 5 + 90= ) 119. 5 and was in Cancer and almost on t he verge
of ent ering Gemini, which it did in 11 BC. I t is t hus clear t hat in about first cent ury
BC/ AD, bot h t he solst ices and t he Vernal equinox were fort uit ously in t he const ellat ions
of respect ive signs. That is why Jean Meeus has said on page 303 of his Mat hemat ical
Ast ronomy Morsels , Two t housand years ago t he const ellat ions and signs did mat ch
approximat ely, but in fact exact coincidence can never occur. The reason is obvious.
While by definit ion each sign is 30 degrees long, t he act ual const ellat ions occupy
different lengt hs along t he eclipt ic. Thus it is clear t hat no exact inst ant can be quot ed
when signs and const ellat ions would have coincided .

When w i l l t he Aquar i an Age st ar t ? We hear a lot t hese days about Aquarian Age
being j ust t o st art . What does it act ually mean? We know t he Vernal Equinox is passing
t hrough Pisces const ellat ion from 68 BC. Pisces Const ellat ion ranges from 350. 5 t o
29. 5. I t will remain in t hat const ellat ion for ( 29. 5 minus 350. 5= - 321 which is equal t o
360 minus 321 i. e. 39X72= ) 2808 years from 68 BC or 2741 AD. However, as per
precise ast ronomical calculat ions, t he Vernal Equinox will ent er t he const ellat ion of
Aquarius in 2597 AD. ( Jean Meeus Mat hemat ical Morsels of Ast ronomy page 304) . That
is exact ly when t he Aquarian Age will begin.

Rashi s, Nak shat r as and const el l at i ons:
Subhash Kak, in his art icle Babylonian and I ndian Ast ronomy - - - Early
Connect ions has said on page 5 nakshat ras st and for st ars, ast erisms and segment s of
eclipt ic . Furt her, he has list ed on page 6 of t he same art icle, t went y- eight Vedic
nakshat ras ( including Abhij it ) st art ing from Krit t ika and ending at Apabharni. On t he
same page he says, each nakshat ra corresponding t o 13 1/ 3 . Let us analyse t he
veracit y of all t hese st at ement s in t he light of ot her asseverat ions made by Subhash Kak
himself in t hat very art icle.
According t o him, Krit t ika is t he Pleiades . As we know, Pleiades is act ually a
clust er of t he Greek const ellat ion Taur us known as Vrishab Rashi in I ndia. As we have
seen in t he above Table and also in our art icle on nakshat ras, t his ( Taurus) const ellat ion
it self ranges from 53. 5 t o 91 which means it has a span of 37. 5. I n spit e of t he same,
Pleiades clust er has an apparent dimension of 110 arc- minut es - - less t han 2 degrees!
8
So how can Krit t ika nakshat ra have a span of 13 20 if it is j ust anot her name of
Pleiades! On t he same page he says Alpha Orionis is t he st ar of Ardra nakshat ra but
whet her nir ayana or sayana, t his st ar does not fall in t hat naksht r a at all as we have
seen in our art icle on nakshat ras . He has list ed Alpha and Bet a Geminorum as t he
st ars of t he next nakshat ra viz. Punarvasu but t he dist ance of t hese st ars and Alpha
Orionis is more t han 24 inst ead of 13- 20!
To make t he confusion worst confounded he has himself associat ed j ust one st ar
wit h Jyesht ha but as many as six st ars in Magha! I t is going t o be a really
overpopulat ed affair wit h so many st ars in one nakshat r a of 13- 20 and very sparse
populat ion of anot her nakshat ra which is populat ed by j ust one st ar !
Some import ant st ar s of t he equal division list ed by Subhash Kak are also
unequal ! We give below t he det ails of st ars list ed by him as milepost s of t he
nakshat ra divisions. Surprisingly, very few, if any, of t hese st ars fit int o t he respect ive
nakshat ra division.
I t has also t o be not ed t hat all t he st ar- names given by Subhahs Kak have Greek
alphabet s since t here is no St ar Cat alogue of I ndian origin of yore!
Posit ions of St ars vis- - vis nakshat r a divisions as on July 2, 1985
No Junction Star Star name Star name Star name

Nakshatras with
their longitudes and also
their respective Rashis
Sayana & Lahiri
longitude
Sayana & Lahiri
longitude
Sayana / Lahiri
longitude
Sayana /Lahiri
longitude
1 Krittika (26-40 to 40-00 Eta Tauri 59-56
Mesha 26-40 to Vri 10-00 36-08
Though Subhash Kak has listed the entire cluster of
Pleaides in Krittikas, its dimension is less than tw degrees.
2 Rohini (40-0 to 53-20 Alpha Tau 69-44
Vrisha 10-00 to 23-20 45-56
3 Mrig. (53-20 to 66-40 Lam.Orion 83-39
Vrisha 23-30 to Mith 6-40 59-51
4 Ardra (66-40 to 80-00 Al.Orion 88-42
Mithuna 6-40 to 20-00 (Mrig.) 64-54
The distance between Alpha Orionis and the next star
Alpha Geminorium is 22!
5 Punarvasu (80-0 to 93-20 Al. Gemi 110-11 Be. Gem 113-09
Mithu 20-00 to Kark 3-00 86-23 89-22
6 Pushya(93-20 to106-40 Beta Can 124-12 Ga Cancr 127-29 DelCan128-40 Al Can133-35
Karkat 3-00 to 16-40 100-24 103-41 104-52 109-47
7 Ashle(106-40 to 120-00 Ep.Hydra 132-17 Zeta Hy. 134-39 DeltaHy138-15
Karka 16-40 to Simha 0-0 108-30 110-51 114-27
8 Magha (120-0 to133-20 Ep.Leon140-39 Zeta Leo.147-30 EtaLeo 147-51 Al.Leon149-46
Simha 00-00 to 13-20 Ashl/Karka 116-51 123-43 124-03 125-58
9 P.Phal (133-20 to 146-40 De.Leonis161-15 Theta Leo163-22
Simh13-20 to 26-40 137-28 139-34
10 U.Phal(146-40 to160-0 93Leoni168-55 Be.Leonis171-33
Simha26-40to Kanya10-0 (P.Phal)145-07 147-46
11 Hasta (160-0 to173-20 Ga. Corvi 190-40 Ep.Corvi 191-36 De.Cor 193-23 BeCor197-18
Kanya 10-0 to 23-20 166-52 167-49 169-36 (Chitra) 173-31
12 Chitra (173-20 to186-40 Al.Virgi.203-47
Kanya 23-20 to Tula 6-40 179-59
Ironically, the main pillar of Chitrawallas has regressed to Kanya from Tula!
What a tragedy for them!
13 Swati (186-40 to200-0 Al.Booti204-10
Tula 6-40 to 20-00 (Chitra)180-23
14 Visha(200-0to213-20 Al.Librae 225-01 Beta Lib 229-19 SigmaLi230-37
Tula 20-0 to Vrischik 3-20 201-14 205-31 206-49
15 Anura(213-20 to226-40 De Scorp 242-31 Pi Scorpii 242-53 Beta Sc243-08
Vrischik 3-20 to 16-40 218-43 219-05 219-20
16 Jyeshth(226-40 to240-0 Alp Sco 249-42
Vrisc. 16-40 to Dhanu 0-0 (Anuradha)225-54
17 Mula (240-0 to253-20 Ep. Scorpii 255-16 Nu.Scorpi263-57 La.Scor264-31
Dhanu 00-00 to 13-20 (Vri/Jyesh) 231-29 240-09 240-44
18 P Ash(253-20 to266-40 De.Sagi.274-31 Ep. Sagit 275-01
Dhanu 13-20 to 26-40 (Mula) 250-43 251-13
19 U Ash(266-40 to280-0 Sigma Sa. 282-19 Zeta Sag.i. 283-23
Dhan 26-40 to Makar10-0 (P.Ashada) 258-32 (P.Ashada) 259-36
No star in
U.Ashada
9
AA Abhijit(Vega/Alpha Lyrae) Al. Lyrae 285-15
(P.Ashada) 261-28
Ironically, Subhash Kak says This (Abhijit) name refers to a satisfactory
completion of the system of nakshatras!
20 Shrona(280-0 to 293-20 Al.Aquillae 301-43 Gama Aqu. 300-53 Beta Aqu.302-22
Makar 10-00 to 23-20 (U. Ashada)277-55 (U.Ashada) 277-05 (U.Asha)278-34
No star in
Shrona
21 Shravi(293-20 to 306-40) Be.Delphini 316-17 Alpha Del317-19 Delt Del 318-3 Ga Del.319-18
Makar23-20to Kumb 6-40 (Shrona) 292-29 293-31 294-16 295-31
22 Shatabih(306-40to320-0 Lam.Aqua341-31
Kumba 6-40 to 20-00 317-43
The distance between Beta Delphini and Lambda Aquarii is
more than 25 degrees!
23 Proshtha.(320-0to 333-20 Al.Pegasi 353-25 Beta Pegasi359-18
Kumba 20-0 to Mina 3-20 329-38 (Shatabish) 335-31
24 U.Prosh (333-20to346-40 Gama Pegasi 9-6
Mina 3-20 to 16-40 345-18
Alpha Andromda 014-14
Revati 350-27
25 Revati(346-40to360-00 Eta Piscium 26-46
Mina 16-40 to Mesha 0-0 (Ashvini) 2-58
Kak has also shown Alpha Piscium instead of Zeta Piscium as a star of Revati
but it is not listed in Indian Astro. Ephem.
26 Ashvayujau (0-0 to 13-20 BetaArietis33-54 Alpha Arietis 37-36
Mesha 00-00 to 13-20 10-07 (Bharani) 13-48
27 Bharani (13-20 to26-40 35 Arietis 46-52 41 Arietis 48-08
Mesha 13-20 to 26-40 23-05 24-21
Subhash Kak has also listed 39
Arieitis that is not in IAO

Abhi j i t nak shat r a cannot be w i shed aw ay :
To crown it all, Subhash Kak has clubbed Abhij it wit h Ut t ara Ashadha, t hough he
has said it in t he same comment ary, The st ar ( of Abhij it ) is Vega, t he brilliant Alpha
Lyrae. This is t he st ar t hat does not occur in t he list s which have only 27 nakshat ras in
it . However, t he st ar of Ut t ara Ashadha has been list ed as Alpha Sagit t arii. These t wo
st ars fall in t wo different so called nakshat ra divisions of 13 - 20 each whet her Sayana
or so called nirayana!
I t is also clear t hat j ust t o fit in t he nakshat ras int o only t went y- seven divisions,
he is simply t rying t o wish away t he inconvenient t went y- eight h division, t hough he has
said on page 10 of t he same art icle, Mait rayani and Kat haka Samhit as and At harvaveda
cont ain list s wit h t he 28 nakshat ras . And t hese are cert ainly Vedic t ext s! So we have
in fact t went y- eight Vedic nakshat ras inst ead of t went y- seven, however hard we t ry t o
oblit erat e Abhij it from our memory!
Suryapraj nyapt i t he main ast ronomical work for making Jainese calendars, is
a work of about 3
r d
cent ury BC, and follows t he same syst em of five year yuga as t he
Vedanga Jyot isha. However, t his work also gives 28 nakshat ras none equal wit h t he
ot her and t he nakshat r a- division st art ed wit h Abhij it , unlike Krit t ika as in t he Vedanga
Jyot isha.

Al l t he Si dhant as l i st t w ent y- ei ght nak shat r a di vi si ons:
Surya Sidhant a VI I I / 2- 4 list s t went y- eight nakshat ras including Abhij it ; so does
Brahmasphut a Sidhant a, Lallat ant ra and even t he wor ld famous Sidhant a Shir omani of
Bhaskaracharya of 12t h cent ury AD list s t went y- eight nakshat ras as per XVI / 1- 6. Our
neit her- so- good nor- so- old rat her t he worst culprit for spreading t he nirayana
mayhem , viz. Grahalaghava as per XI / 1- 2 also list s t went y- eight nakshat ras!

Al l t he r eal schol ar s al so vouch f or an unequal nak shat r a di vi si on i n t he Vedas:
I n his magnificent wor k on nakshat ras vis- - vis t he Vedas, viz The Orion or
Researches int o t he Ant iquit y of t he Vedas , Lokamanya Tilak has t his t o say on page
26, The Vedic observat ions could not again be such as need any minut e or det ailed
arit hmet ical operat ions. I shall t herefore adopt for t he present t he simplest possible
met hod of calculat ion- - - a met hod which may be easily underst ood and followed by any
one, who can wat ch and observe t he st ars aft er t he manner of t he ancient priest . We
shall assume t hat t he zodiac was divided int o 27 part s, not by compass but by means of
t he leading st ars, which Prof. Max Muller right ly calls t he milest ones of t he heavens. The
Vedic priest , who ascert ained t he mot ion of t he sun by observing wit h his unaided eye
t he nearest visible st ar, cannot be supposed t o have followed a different met hod in
making ot her celest ial observat ions; and if so, we cannot assume t hat he was capable of
10
recognizing and using for t he purposes of observat ion any art ificial divisions of t he
eclipt ic on a mat hemat ical principle, such as t hose which would result from t he division
of 360 of t he zodiac int o 27 equal part s, each part t hus ext ending over 13 20 of t he
eclipt ic. When we t herefore find it st at ed in t he Vedic works t hat t he sun was in t he
Krit t ika, it is more probable t hat t he fixed ast erism, and not t he beginning of t he art ificial
port ion of t he zodiac, was int ended.
Similar ly, t he main pillar of nirayana confusion viz. lat e N. C. Lahir i is very
emphat ic on page Xi of his Foreword t o Popular Hindu Ast ronomy by Kali Nat h Mukherj i
( 1969- Calcut t a) when he says, I n I ndia t he eclipt ic st ars were divided int o 28 divisions
even in t he Vedic t imes. These are known as nakshat ra divisions or lunar mansions. As
t hese clust ers of st ars do not cover equal lengt hs of t he eclipt ic t he original divisions
were nat urally of unequal lengt h. We get a descript ion of t his unequal division in t he
work of Bhaskaracharya, who has st at ed t hat it was int roduced by early sages ( t hose like
Garga) .

Hi st or i cal pr oof s al so l i st t w ent y - ei ght and unequal nak shat r a di vi si ons
Besides, t his is what Alberunis I ndia says on page 89 of part I I , For
Brahmagupt a says in t he Ut t ara- KhandakhadyakaThe measure of some st at ions
exceeds t he measure of t he mean daily mot ion of t he moon by one half. Accordingly
t heir measure is 19 45 52 18 . These are six st at ions, viz. Rohini, Punarvasu,
Ut t araphalguni, Visakha, Ut arshadha, Ut t arabhadrapada. These t oget her occupy t he
space of 118 35 13 48 . Furt her six st at ions are shor t ones, each of t hem occupying
less t han t he mean daily mot ion of t he moon by one half. Accordingly, t heir measure is
6 35 17 26 . These are Bharni, Ardra, Ashlesha, Svat i, Jyesht ha, Sat abhishaj . They
t oget her occupy t he space of 39 31 4 36 . Of t he remaining fift een st at ions, each
occupies as much as t he mean daily mot ion. Accordingly, it occupies t he space of 13
10 34 52 . They t oget her occupy t he space of 197 38 43 . These t hree groups of
st at ions t oget her occupy t he space of 355 45 41 24 , t he remainder of t he complet e
circle is 4 14 18 36 , and t his is t he space of Abhij it , t he falling Eagle . Not
surprisingly, it is t he same durat ion of nakshat ras t hat has been given by N C Lahiri in
his Preface t o Popular Hindu Ast ronomy
I n fact , t his is t hus t he measure t hat had been advocat ed by Garga et c. Rishis in
t he hoary past and it had been reit erat ed by Bhaskaracharya as well. Here is t he
genesis: As per t he Surya Sidhant a et c. t he daily mean mot ion of t he Moon is 13 10
34 52 i. e. 13 10 34 . 8666 which is almost equal t o t he daily mean mot ion of t he
Moon as per modern ast ronomy. Thus our Vedic Rishis were more akin t o modern real
ast ronomers t han t o t odays so called Vedic ast ronomers and like t he real ast ronomers
of t oday, t hey also had t herefore envisaged an unequal division of t he
const ellat ions/ lunar mansions . I t is only our overzealous Vedic ast rologers who want
us t o close our eyes t o t he real fact s and j ust go by t he j ugglery t hey are keeping before
us!

Pur anas al so l i st an unequal di v i si on of 28 nak shat r as:
There are legends galore in t he Puranas t hat t he Moon spent more t ime
wit h Rohini i. e. Alpha Tauri t han wit h ot her wives i.e. const ellat ions. They
complained t o t heir fat her Daksha Praj apat i who t ried t o persuade t he Moon t o spend
equal t ime wit h all his wives. When t he Moon did not pay heed t o t he admonishment s of
his fat her- in- law, t he lat t er cursed him t o wane permanent ly. However, on t he pleadings
of t he ot her wives and t he Moon promising t o spend equal t ime wit h all t he wives , t he
Moon was given a reprieve and t he curse was ameliorat ed t o waxing and waning!
I t means clearly t hat t he earlier const ellat ions nakshat ra/ rashi divisions were
of unequal lengt h as ot herwise t here was absolut ely no reason of t he Moon t arr ying in
one const ellat ion longer t han in ot hers- - - but lat er all of t hem were made of an equal
lengt h!
Vishnudhar mot t arapurana, which was held in great reverence in I ndia as per
Alberuni for deciding pr oper muhurt as et c. for it s act ivit ies, and which is like an agama
i. e. a Veda as per Bhaskaracharya, list s t went y eight nakshat ras ( including Abhij it ) in
11
Part I I I - Adhyaya 68, Shloka 6 and t hen again in Adhyaya 104 Shloka 87 of t he same
Part . There are ot her inst ances fr om ot her Puranas also.
So if someone is t rying t o eliminat e t he Abhij it const ellat ion, he is j ust t rying t o
achieve t he impossible, which wise men never do!

Ev en equal di vi si ons w oul d have gi v en unequal dur at i ons of nak shat r as:
Anyone knowing a bit of real ast ronomy ( as compared t o so called Vedic
ast ronomy, which is in fact pseudo- ast ronomy and t herefore Kaliyugi ast ronomy ! ) will
be surprised on t he eagerness of t hese Vedic ast rologers and Vedic ast ronomers t o
make each nakshat ra division of 13- 20, since even t hen t he Moon would have t o spend
unequal t ime in all t hose equal divisions . We have seen t hat t he average mean mot ion
of Moon is 13. 1763521472222 degrees which means it would cover 13 20 of each of
t he 27 nakshat ras in 24 hrs 17m 9. 357 s if it s True Mot ion also remained t he same. ( I t
is t o be not ed here t hat even on t he basis of daily mean mot ion, no nakshat ra is covered
in exact ly one day of 24hours what a t ragedy for t hese equal divisions nirayana
Vedic scholars ! ) However, as can be seen from any panchanga including t he nirayana
bible viz. Lahiri Panchanga for any year, t his is not t he case. E. g. even t he geocent ric
Ardra nakshat ra on June 2, 2003, ranged from 4- 4 am t o 6- 6 am of June 3 i. e. 26 hrs 2
minut es but t he same nakshat ra prevailed from 14- 29 on January 16 t o 15- 5 of January
17 i. e. 25hrs and 36 minut es only! Similar is t he case wit h all t he ot her nakshat ras!
The reasons is simple. The mean mot ion of any planet is an imaginary one, whereas t he
True mot ion is t he act ual one, which is almost always different from t he Mean Mot ion
and which keeps on changing depending on it s dist ance from t he Eart h/ Sun. For t he
informat ion of t hese Vedic ast ronomers it must be ment ioned here t hat t he True
Mot ion of t he Moon varies from 11 46 t o 15 23! ( Anot her t ragedy for Kaliyugi
ast rologers and ast ronomers, who would like everyt hing t o be equal ! )

I nef f ect i ve St ar s i n spi t e of t he best ef f or t s of Vedi c ast r onomer s and
ast r l oger s ! Because ast ronomically ( whet her Sidhant ic or modern) and even
ast rologically ( whet her sayana or so called nirayana) zodiac is a belt ext ending 9 on
eit her side of t he eclipt ic, we have seen in our separat e art icle on Nakshat ras t hat
more t han fift y per cent of t hese prominent st ars known as milepost s have lat it udes
more t han nine degrees nort h or sout h. Evident ly, all t his exercise of Subhash Kak,
Vamadeva, Parashara & Co. is fut ile since if t hese st ars are beyond t he limit s of zodiac
how can t hey affect t he zodiacal client s !
To sum up, cont rary t o all t he Vedas and sidhant as et c. , even if we t ake only 27
nakshat ra divisions int o account , t hese are not equal t o one anot her nor are t heir st ars
equidist ant eit her in longit ude or lat it ude! Besides, most of t hese st ars are of almost
insignificant magnit udes and at dist ances quit e far away, and wit h lat it udes beyond t he
range of zodiac which means most of t hem could not have been seen by t he naked
eye.

Fal l aci ous t heor i es of some schol ar s: Subhash Kak, on page 10 of his art icle
Babylonian and I ndian Ast ronomy has said , There were t wo kinds of year in use. I n
one, t he year was measured from one wint er solst ice t o anot her; in t he ot her, it was
measured from one vernal equinox t o anot her. Obviously, t hese years were solar and
relat ed t o t he seasons ( t ropical) . However, he st at es furt her on t he same page, The
year was divided int o 12 mont hs which were defined wit h respect t o t he nakshat r as, and
wit h respect t o t he movement s of t he moon.
The Tait t iriya Smhit a ( TS) ( 4. 4. 11) gives a list of solar mont hs: Madhu, Madhava
( Vasant a, Spring) , Shukra, Shuchi ( Grishma, Summer) , Nabha, Nabhasya ( Varsha,
Rains) , I sha and Urj a ( Sharad, aut umn) , Sahas and Sahasya ( Hemant a , Wint er) and
Tapa and Tapasya ( Shishir, Deep Wint er) .
Evident ly, t hese mont hs also ar e seasonal. I n ot her words, Subhash Kak
confirms himself t hat bot h t he solar year and t he solar mont hs in t he Vedas are seasonal
and hence t ropical! Fur t her, on page 15 he has confirmed again t hat as per t he Rigveda
1. 25. 8, At harvaveda 1. 3. 3. 8 and Tait t riya Samhit a 1. 4. 14 t here are references t o
12
int ercalary mont hs, t hat is excess ( 13) lunar mont hs in comparison t o a solar year of 12
mont hs. He says furt her on t he same page t hat t hese int ercalary mont hs were named
as samsarpa and amhaspat i as per Tait t iriya Samhit a 1. 4. 14. Clearly, lunar mont hs are
also relat ed t o t he seasonal i. e. t ropical year and mont hs as per t he Vedas!
Then on page 18 he also confirms t hat as per Kaushit aki Brahman 19. 3, Wint er
Solst ice t ook place in t he new moon of Magha ( mont h) , but as per Shat apat ha Brahmana
2. 1. 2. 3 it t ook place in t he midpoint of Shravisht ha ( Danisht ha) segment whereas t he
Summer Solst ice was at t he beginning of Magha ( nakshat ra) . But as per t he Vedanga
( Yaj ur ) Jyot isha 6- 8, Wint er Solst ice was t aking place in t he beginning ( and not
midpoint ) of Shravisht ha and t he Summer Solst ice was t aking place in t he midpoint of
Ashlesha ( as against t he beginning of Magha at t he t ime of Mait rayani Brahmana
Upanishada) !
I n fact , on page 9 of t he same art icle Subhash Kak has himself given a beaut iful
present at ion of t he different epochs when t he Spring Equinox and Wint er Solst ice fell in
t he midpoint s of different nakshat ras of t he so called equal division, and t hese are:
No Deity


Nakshatras with their longitudes in
different Rashis (as per the so called
sidereal zodiac of Subhash Kak
besides Vedic astrologers)

W.Solsti
(so called
Makar
Sankranti)
Spring Equi
(so called
Mesha
Sankranti)
Vedic
month of
V.Equi or
W.Solsti
Actual
Vedic
lunar
month
Subhash
Kaks Lunar
month
1 Krittika (Mesha 26-40 to Vris10 Agni 2000 BC Madhav Vaishak Jyeshth
2 Rohini (Vrisha 10-0 to 23-20 Prajapati 3000 BC Madhav Vaishak Jyeshth
3 Mrig. (Vrisha 23-20 to Mith 6-40 Soma 4000 BC Madhav Vaishak Jyeshth
4 Ardra (Mithun 6-40 to 20-00 Rudra 5000 BC Madhav Vaishak Ashadh
5 Punarvasu (Mi 20-0 to Kark 3-20 Aditi 6000 BC Madhav Vaishak Ashadh
17 Mula (Dhanu 0-0 to 13-20 Pitarah 2000 AD Tapas Magha Paush
18 Pu Asha (Dhanu13-20 to26-40 Apah 1000 AD Tapas Magha Paush
19 Ut Asha (Dha26-40to Makar10-0 Vishvedev 0 AD Tapas Magha Pau/Ma
20 Shrona (Makar10-0 to 23-20) Vishnnu 1000 BC Tapas Magha Magha
21 Shravishth(Ma23-20 to Kumb6-40 Vasavah 2000 BC Tapas Magha Phalgun
22 Shatabihishak(Kumb 6-40 to 20-0 Indra 3000 BC Tapas Magha Phalgun
23 Proshth.(Kumb 20-0 to Mina 3-20 Aja Ekpad 4000 BC Tapas Magha Phalgun
24 Uttarashad (Mina 3-20 to 16-40 Ahirbudhn 5000 BC 2000 AD Tap /Madh Mag/Vai Chai / Jye
25 Revati (Min16-40 to Mesh 00-00 Pushan 6000 BC 1000 AD Tap/ Madh Mag/Vai Chai / Jye
26 Ashvayujau (Mesha 0-0 to 13-20 Ashvinau 7000 BC 0 AD Tap/ Madh Mag/Vai Vai/Vai
27 Apabharani (Mesha13-20to26-40 Yama 1000 BC Madhav Vaishak Jyeshth
( I have given in bracket s t he names of Rashis and t heir degrees t hat t hese
nakshat ras of equal division are supposed t o cover t hese days. I have also added t he
names of t he Vedic mont hs t hat coincide wit h t he Spring Equinox and/ or Wint er Solst ice.
The last column indicat es t he lunar mont hs t hat would be prevailing as per Subhash Kak
besides Vedic ast rologers as t hese mont hs are being linked t o so called sidereal
zodiac) .

Ut t ar ayana i .e. Wi nt er Sol st i ce ( Mak ar Sank r ant i ! ) i n Mesha Rashi , and
Chai t r a i n Magha! Vi shuvan i .e. Ver nal Equi nox , ( Mesha Sank r ant i ) i n Kar k a
Rashi and Ashadha i n Vai shak ha! Aut umn Equi nox ( Tul a Sank r ant i ) i n Mak ar
Rashi and Dak shi nayana i .e. Summer Sol st i ce ( Kar k a Sank r ant i ) i n Tul a
Rashi - - - madness w i t hout met hod!
Let us see t he implicat ions of all t his scholarly t hesis ! Messrs Subhash Kak,
Vamadeva, Parashara & Co. want us t o believe t hat as per our Vedic Rishis, in 2000 BC
Mesha Sankrant i was t aking place in Krit iika in Mesha Rashi but it was lunar Jyesht ha
inst ead of t he act ual lunar Vaishakha! Prior t o t hat , in 3000 BC t he same Mesha
Sankrant i t ook place in Rohini in Mit huna Rashi but it was st ill t he same lunar Jyesht ha
inst ead of t he real lunar Vaishakha! I n 4000 BC Mesha Sankrant i was in Mr igashara in
Mit huna Rashi and st ill real Vaishakha was falling in Jyesht ha! St ill earlier, in 5000 BC it
was in Ardr a nakshat r a in Mit huna Rashi but t he act ual lunar Vaishakha was t hen in
lunar Ashadha! To crown it all, t hus, according t o Kak himself, in 6000 BC Mesha
Sankrant i t ook place in Punarvasu nakshat ra in Karkat Rashi - - - in ot her words, t he
13
Spring Equinox coincided wit h t he Summer Solst ice t hough in t he meant ime all t hese
mont hs had been act ually known as Madhava as per all t he Vedas since t hey are
seasonal mont hs! And as per all t he shast ras ( besides, of course t he real phenomenon of
seasons! ) t he real lunar mont h was Vaishakha but like Vedic ast rologers Messrs
Subhash Kak & Company would be enj oying t he dog days of Ashadha! ! ! Phew! What
a scholar ly presumpt ion! What is all t he more surpr ising is t hat t hese days, accor ding t o
Subhash Kak himself, Mesha Sankrant i is t aking place in Ut t arashada nakshat ra in
Mina Rashi, but st ill t he Vedic name of t he mont h is Madhav and t herefore Vaishakha!
Similarly, t he Wint er Solst ice i. e. Makar Sankrant i is t aking place t hese days in Dhanu
Rashi, t hough it is st ill named Tapah as per all t he Vedas!
We have also seen t hat t hough in t he Vedic period ( Shat apat ha Brahmana) t he
Vernal Equinox was locat ed against t he background of t he Krit t ikas, t he solar year began
wit h t he mont h of Madhava. I f t he Vedic Rishis had invent ed/ discovered some
nomenclat ure for t his Rashchakra, it would have been Mesha rashi et c. since t he mont hs
were seasonal i. e. t ropical. However, if t hey had also relat ed t hose rashis t o nakshat ras,
it would have been Krit ika, where t he VE was locat ed/ st art ing t hen. I n ot her words,
Mesha Rashi would have st art ed wit h Krit t ika nakshat ra if act ual const ellat ion/ nakshat ras
had t o be t aken int o account . However, Subhash Kak want s us t o believe t hat it was
also t he st art of t he mont h of Vaishakha and t he sun was at t he end of Asvini t hough in
Vrishabha Rashi. His exact words on page 12 are, The choice made in Figure 1, where
Vaishakha begins wit h t he sun in t he ending segment of Asvini and t he moon at t he mid
point of Svat i is t he most likely assignment as it bunches t he Ashadhas and t he
Phalgunis in t he right mont hs, wit h t he Prost hapadas t hree fourt hs correct and Shrona
half- correct . .at worst we get a sequence of rashis which is out of st ep by one. ! I n
fact , Subhash Kak is quit e off t he mark here also because in 6000 BC, his sequence of
rashis is out of st ep by t hree t hen inst ead of one. Thus he is prevaricat ing! Then on
page 13 in his comment ary t o Figure 1, he says, The 27- fold division of t he eclipt ic.
The first rashi is Vr isha wit h t he cor responding mont h of Vaishakha .
As we have seen, Kak has himself confirmed t hat Vedic years are seasonal and
t heir mont hs are named as Madhu, Madhava et c. st art ing wit h Vasant a Sampat or Vernal
Equinox ( Madhav) ! As per t he Vedanga Jyot isha, Lunar New Year st art ed wit h t he New
Moon immediat ely aft er t he Wint er Solst ice and it was known as Magha ( lunar mont h) ,
whereas t he first New Moon aft er t he Summer Solst ice was known as Shravana ( lunar
mont h) ! That it self means t hat in t he lat er years, if at all t he Rashis had been
invent ed by our Vedic Rishis, when t he year st art ed wit h t he VE inst ead of t he Wint er
Solst ice, t he first mont h was no doubt Vaishakha, but t he sun would st ill have been in
Mesha and not Vr isha, t hough it was in Kr it t ika const ellat ion! The same mant ra of Yaj ur
Jyot isha also confirms t hat t he sun was in so called Tula t hough it was in Shravisht ha
i. e. Dhanisht ha! Simiarly, Subhash Kak has also confirmed t hat int ercalary mont hs were
relat ed t o seasonal mont hs as per t he Vedas! How come he has j ust forgot t en all
t hese st at ement s himself and made Vaishakha st art wit h t he sun in Krit it ka and
t herefore Vrishabha! As he has shown it himself, Vernal Equinox was t aking place in
Krit t ika, which means it was Mesha and not Vrisha Sankrant i t hat was t aking place in
Krit t as, if at all our Vedic Rishis had invent ed or discovered ast rological Rashis t hen!

Mak ar a Sank r ant i i n Mesha Rashi !
Now about Wint er Solst ice. As per t he Vedanga Jyot isha, t he lunar New Year
st art ed wit h t he first New Moon aft er Wint er Solst ice. We have j ust seen t hat t he WS
has ent ered Sagit t arius const ellat ion in 131 BC. We can say t hat it had t o cover 28 of
Capricorn Const ellat ion, plus 24 of Aquarius Const ellat ion plus 30 of Pisces
const ellat ion ( Tot al 82) t o have ent ered Sagit t arius const ellat ion since it left Aries
Const ellat ion. Since t he rat e of Precession is about 1 per 72 years, it must have t aken
it 82 X 72 = 5804 years prior t o 131 BC t o have left Aries const ellat ion! I t is t hus
proved mat hemat ically t hat inst ead of t he Vernal Equinox it was t he Wint er solst ice
Ut t arayana- - - t he short est day of t he year- - - - t hat was t aking place in Aries or Mesha
Rashi in 6000 BC. This is what Subhash Kak has himself confirmed as per t he above
Table. I t means aut omat ically t hat Tapah mont h also st art ed in Aries t hen. Now if we
14
suppose t hat Vedic Rishis had superimposed any Rashi on t hat Tapah mont h, t he same
quest ion arises as t o what t ype of a Rashichakra it was i. e. what was t he nomenclat ur e
of t hose Rashis and what were t heir charact erist ics . I f we presume t hem t o be Mesha,
Vrishaba et c. t he same names as are prevalent t hese days- - - t hen anot her set of
quest ions arises as t o whet her t hese were relat ed t o t he const ellat ions of similar names
in any way or not . I f t hey were relat ed t o t he const ellat ions it could be not hing but an
anachronism since Ut t arayana was t hen t aking place in Aries! That means in about
exact ly 6000 BC Makar Sankrant i was t aking place in Mesha Rashi and t hen we would
have t o call Ut t arayana not by t he name of Makar Sankrant i but Mesha Sankrant i! As a
corollary t o t he same assumpt ion, t hough it would have been Vedic Tapah and lunar
Magha t hen as per all t he Vedas and Shast ras, but Messrs Subhash Kak, Vamadeva,
Parashara & Co . would like us t o have enj oyed Chait ra t hen! What an irony!
Similarly, by doing some back calculat ions, we have seen on page 115 of our
Shri Kr ishen Universal Ephemeris & Panchazng for 2001, Ut t arayana was t aking place
in Capricornus const ellat ion from about 2500 BC t o 131 BC! The same Makar
Sankrant i is t aking place t hese days in Sagit t arius Const ellat ion! Thus if in spit e of such
anachronisms t he Vedic Seers had named Ut t arayana as Makar Sankrant i and linked it t o
const ellat ions, t hen we would have t o say t hat in 6000 BC t hough Makar Sankrant i was
linked t o Aries even t hen our Vedic Rishis called it Makar i. e. Capricorn! Lat er on,
t hough, aft er a gap of about 3500 years, it was in Capricorn const ellat ion for 2500
years it was st ill called Makar Sankrant i and nowadays when Makar Sankrant i falls in
Sagit t arius, our Vedic Rishis st ill call it Makar Sankrant i .
Similarly, Summer Solst ice ( Dakshinayana) is said t o have passed from Leo int o
Cancer in 1459 BC ( Mat hemat ical Ast ronomy Morsels, page 304) . From t hat dat e t ill
6000 BC means 3541 years. At t he rat e of one degree per 71. 5 years, it would have
covered 3541/ 71. 5 = 50 ( approximat ely) . This account s for 26 of Leo + ( a part of
44 of Virgo) it would have t o cover. Thus Karka Sankrant i was t aking place in 6000 BC
in Kanya Rashi and in about 7000 BC it would have been t aking place in Tula Rashi! I t
would t hus have creat ed a conundrum of impossible magnit ude from which even our real
Vedic Rishis would not have been able t o ext ricat e us! Consequent ly, what ever j argon
we might have used, we could never have been able t o link Makar Sankrant i t o any
Const ellat ion permanent ly if our Vedic Rishis had linked it t o Ut t arayana.

Rashi s ( Ast r ol ogi cal si gns) not r el at ed t o const el l at i ons!
I f, on t he ot her hand, we pr esume t hat t hough t he Vedic Rishis did
invent / discover a Rashichakra but did not link it t o t he Const ellat ions, t hen t he
quest ion ar ises as t o what was it linked t o. The next best alt ernat ive would have been t o
link it t o seasons. I t means t hey would have named it somet hing like Shishir Rashi
inst ead of Makara Rashi. But t hen t hat also is a fallacy since it would j ust be a synonym
of Tapah and t hat would make hardly any difference. There was no fun or need t o name
it aft er some const ellat ion like Makar Rashi if it was not t o be linked t o t hat const ellat ion
permanent ly. We have t herefore t o delink Makara Rashi from Const ellat ions as well as
seasons. But t hat is exact ly what t he sidereal i. e. nirayana t rap is! As we have seen,
on t he one hand, nirayana can never be linked t o seasons since t o say t hat nirayana
Makara Sankrant i and Ut t arayana t ook place simult aneously in 6000 BC will be t he
great est absurdit y as Lahir i Ayanamsha in 6000 BC was about 86! Thus t hough t he real
Vedic Makar Sankrant i would have t aken place on February 4, 6000 BC ( TDT) but t he
almight y Lahir i Makar Sankrant i would have t aken place on November 10, 5999 BC
( TDT) . These Rashis cannot be linked t o const ellat ions eit her since Const ellat ions are
of unequal divisions of irregular dimensions! I t would t herefore have been t ant amount
t o making a st ill more gibberish mockery of t he Rishis by saying somet hing like: ( We
know t hat ) Makara Sankrant i is neit her linked t o any season nor t o any const ellat ion but
as our Vedic Rishis had j ust gone honkers t hey named it as Makara Sankrant i t hough it
t ook place in Mesha i. e. Aries in 6000 BC, t hen in Pisces and Aquarius t ill about 2500
BC, t hen in Capricorn t ill 131 BC and is t aking place in Sagit t arius at present but st ill we
call it Makar Sankrant i ! !

15
Onl y Rasht r i ya Panchanga and Vedi c Ast r ol oger s can cr eat e such hi l ar i ous
si t uat i ons! I t would have been a hilarious sit uat ion t hat only our Rasht riya Panchanga
and ot her Panchanga copyist s of t hat ilk ( besides, of course Vedic ast rologers ! ) can
creat e! I t has been explained on page 84 of my Shri Krishen Universal Ephemeris &
Panchang for 2001, under t he heading How many t imes does t he sun ent er t he same
Vedic sign? I n ot her words, how many t imes can t here be a solar Sankrant i ( ingress of
t he sun) int o t he same Rashi in one mont h? and I quot e, While t alking of Rasht riya
Panchanga, let us t ake it for t he year 2000- 2001. We find on t he very first page of
Chait ra Vedic Madhav ( Mesha) from March 21 since t he sun had ent ered it on March
20, 2000 at 13hrs. 5mt s. I t means t hat t he det ails being given in t hat page are for t he
mont h t hat is known as Madhav in t he Vedas. As t he word Mesha is in bracket s it also
means t hat it is t he mont h when t he sun is in Mesha as per t he same Vedas ( t hough
act ually t here are no rashis in t he Vedas! ) . Then on Apr il 12 we find Saura Vaishakha
26- 31 which means t hat t he sun has ent ered Mesha t hen! Then on April 13 we find sun
ent ers Mesha at 17- 22! An int erest ing quest ion arises here. I f t he sun is in Vedic
Mesha at t he very st art of t he Shaka new year viz. Chait ra t hen t he Sankrant i of t he
sun int o t he same Vedic sign t hr ice in t he same Shaka mont h is j ust not possible. I t is
clear t hat t he ot her t wo are imaginary Sankrant is t hen. Since t he ot her t wo are not
Vedic, t hey are non- Vedic. I n ot her words, t hey are ant i- Vedic and we are made t o
celebrat e Kumbha Mela on t he same ant i- Vedic Makar Sankrant is!
Besides, as explained on page 108 of my ephemeris for 1999, Vernal Equinox in
6001 BC t ook place on May 10 and in 10001 BC it t ook place on June 10, which is j ust
earlier by t en days when t he Summer Solst ice is t aking place t hese days! A simple
mat hemat ical calculat ion t ells us t hat Wint er Solst ice t ook place earlier by 90 i. e. about
92 days ( or about 273 days lat er) i. e. around February 13 in 6001 BC and about March
13 in 10001/ 10000 BC!

Rasht r i y a Panchanga i n 6300 BC:
Example is bet t er t han precept , is an old axiom! Let us t herefore demonst rat e
t his hilar ious sit uat ion wit h pract ical examples. Let us suppose t hat our Calendar
Makers t o t he Nat ion viz. t he great I ndia Met eorological Depart ment , New Delhi, and
great er st ill The Posit ional Ast ronomy Cent re, Calcut t a, working under t he august
Minist ry of Science ( sic! ) and Technology, Govt . of I ndia, were publishing a Rasht riya
Panchanga in 6300 BC also. Since t he Nat ional Year is supposed t o st art from t he day
of Vernal Equinox, it would have t hen st art ed on May 13, 6304 BC ( TDT) , as t hat was
t he day of Vernal Equinox t hen. They would t hus have print ed on t he first page of t heir
most scient ific dissert at ion viz Rasht riya Panchanga for t hat year Shaka - 6382, Mont h
of Vaishakha : 30 days; Vedic mont h Madhav, ( Mesha) ; Vasant a Rit u: 2
nd
mont h;
Ut t arayana; Ut t ara Gola; sun in Mina, ent ers Mesha at h26- 28 on May 12, 6304 BC;
Ayanamsa on 1
st
Vaishakha + 90 0 0 . ( The Nat ional Year is supposed t o st art from t he
day of Vernal Equinox, which according t o t he same Rasht riya Panchanga is anot her
name of Madhava, and t hat mont h, according t o all t he Vedas and Puranas et c. is a
synonym of Vaishakha. However, as Vedic scholars of ext ra- ordinary calibre , our
Calendar Makers t o t he Nat ion call it Chait ra as t hat is t he name given t o t his solar
mont h on every Vernal Equinox day in t he Rasht riya Panchanga! But may be, out of
sheer indulgence t o t he real Vedic Rishis in 6300 BC, t hey would have named it
Vaishakha, as t hat is t he real definit ion of t he mont h of Madhava) .
Then as usual in t heir infinit e wisdom t hey would have repeat ed ( like t hey are
doing every year t hese days! ) in t heir I ndian Ast ronomical Ephemeris on page 477
, For t he purpose of calculat ion of r asis and nakshat ras, an init ial point which occupies a
fixed posit ion ( sic! ) on t he eclipt ic has been adopt ed as t he origin for t he measurement
of longit udes. The posit ion of t hat init ial point will coincide wit h t he vernal equinoct ial
point of vernal equinox day of 285 A. D. i.e. about 6584 years from t oday. For t he
purpose of assigning a precise posit ion t o t hat ( yet t o be est ablished) init ial point , t he
t ropical longit ude of t hat ( fut ure) fixed init ial point for any day is known as ayanamsha.
The longit ude of a celest ial body measured from t hat would be init ial point is known as
nirayana longit ude . Similar ly, almight y Lahriwalas would have penned t he following
16
glorious legend on page 3 of t heir Vedic ast rology bible viz. Lahir is I ndian
Epehemeris, The ephemeris is based on nir ayana or sidereal syst em of calculat ion. The
basis of t he nirayana zodiac is t he adopt ion of 285 AD or 207 Shaka as t he zero
ayanamsa year. This value is ( t o be) adopt ed by His most exalt ed Highness N. C.
Lahiri in his Ephemeris from ( t he coming) 1948 issue i. e. about 8250 years from t oday.
The Calendar Reform Commit t ee ( t o be) appoint ed by t he Govt . of I ndia in 1952 ( will
t hen) recommend adopt ion of t hat very value of ayanamsa and lat er t he Govt . of I ndia
also ( will) adopt t his syst em of ayanamsa in 1953. I n view of t his, it ( will be called) as
his most exalt ed highness Lahir i ayanamsa. This value of ayanamsa will t hen be used
in almost all t he reformed ( t hus act ually defor med! ) panchangas and ephemeris in I ndia
as well as in t he I ndian Ast ronomical Ephemeris and t he Rasht riya Panchangs of t he
Govt . of I ndia. I t is wort h ment ioning t hat t he dat e of coincidence of t he Sayana and
nirayana zodiacs ( sic! ) on t he Vernal Equinox day of 285 AD based on t he posit ion of
t he st ar Chit ra ( Alpha Virginis) t hat will be det ermined by t he would- be- born His most
exalt ed highness , N. C. Lahiri during his life t ime. The value will be almost t he same as
will be derived from t he dat a ( t hat will be t hen) available fr om t he Ast ronomniches
Rechen I nst it ut of Heidelberg, Germany . Bot h t hese magnificent publicat ions viz.
Lahiri Ephemeris and t he Rasht riya Panchanga would have t hen published a legend, All
t he Vedic rishis are hereby admonished t hat t hey bet t er follow t his Lahir i Rashichakra
right fr om t oday t hat is May 13, 6300 BC as ot herwise t hey will be discarded from all t he
religious funct ions, since it will be declared by all t he Kaliyugi Jyot ishis as Vedic
Ayanamsha and if it is not adopt ed it will affect t he sales of Lahir i as well as ot her
dharmic panchangas as and when t hey are published aft er about eight t housand years!
As t he Rasht riya Panchanga is supposed t o have maint ained a permanent dist ance of
23 - 15- bet ween t he real Vernal Equinox and t heir own imaginary Equinox as on
Marhc 21, 1956, t hen aft er exact ly about 24 days of t hat phenomenon, t he Rasht riya
Panchanga would declare, in 6300 BC Saura Vaishakha - - June 7, 6300 BC . Wit h t he
almight y Lahiri Ayanamsha being exact ly 90 on May 12, 6304 BC, it would have
furt her published under t he same dat e i. e. May 12, 6304 BC, sun ent ers Karkat a Rashi
at hrs 26- 26 . Obviously, t he mont h of solar Shravana would have st art ed immediat ely
( wit h t he mont h of Vaishakha! ) , since it is supposed t o st art from t he moment t he sun
ent ers Karkat a!
Similar ly, on 13- 8- 6304 BC t he magnificent Rasht riya Panchanga would have
print ed on t he t op of t he page, Mont h of Shravana - Vedic mont h Nabhas ( Karkat a) ;
Varsha Rit u 1
st
mont h; Dakshinayana: Ut t ar a Gola. Sun in Mit huna, ent ers Karkat a on
13
t h
at hrs 19- 47. Ayanamsha on 1
st
Ashadha: 89 59 52 . Then on t he same page
under t he same dat e, it would have published, sun ent ers Tula at hrs 19- 50 which
means it would have been t he beginning of t he mont h of Kart ika ( simult aneously wit h
Shrvana! ) .
Then again on 8- 11- 6304 BC it would have pr int ed, Mont h of Kart ika, Vedic
mont h: Urj a ( Tula) ; Sarat Rit u : 2
nd
mont h; Dakshinayana: Dakshina Gola. Sun in
Kanya, ent ers Tula at hrs 24- 34. Ayanamsha on 1
st
Kart ika 8959 41 . Then on t he
same page, under t he same dat e it would have print ed sun ent ers Makara at hrs 24-
37 . I n t heir infinit e wisdom it would have said, Makaradi Snana, Pongal, Makara
Sankrant iet c. et c. . I t would have also been t he st art of t he mont h of Magha
( simult aneously wit h t he mont h of Kart ika! )
Then furt her onwards, for t he same year viz. Shaka - 6382, but for 6303 BC, it
would have said on 7- 2- 6303 BC, Mont h of Magha. Vedic mont h Taps ( Makara) ;
Ut t arayana: Dakshina Gola; Sun in Dhanus, ent ers Makara on 7
t h
at hr s. 20- 33.
Ayanamsha on 1
st
Magha : 89 59 30 . Furt her under t he same dat e viz. 7- 2- 6303 BC.,
it would have said, Ut t arayana . Then in t he same line it would have published sun
ent ers Mesha at hrs 20- 45. Then it would have been Meshadi. Vaishakhi. Chadak Puj a,
Chairoba I t would have also been t he st art of t he mont h of Vaishakha, obviously ( and
simult aneously wit h t he st art of Magha) !
I hope you have realized t he hilar ious ( t ragic! ) sit uat ion our Rasht riya
Panchanga and t heir ilk like Lahiri Ephemeris besides all t he Panchanakars of I ndia,
apart from t he Vedic ast rologers like Vamadeva and Parashara and Vedic
17
ast ronomers like Messrs Subhash Kak and Company would have creat ed t hen! Mesha
Sankrant i and Karkat a Sankrant i falling on t he same day - nay in t he same hour!
Karkat a Sankrant i coinciding wit h Tula Sankrant i! Tula Sankrant i and Makara Sankrant i
being celebrat ed simult aneously and Makara Sanr ant i coinciding exact ly wit h Mesha
Sankant i! I t would have also meant , Madhava t he Vedic Vaishakha coinciding wit h
Shravana; Vedic Nabhas viz Shravana coinciding wit h Kart ika; Vedic Urj a also known as
Kart ika coinciding wit h Magha; Vedic Tapas also known as Magha coinciding wit h
Vaishakha! I t is not only t hese four cardinal mont hs t hat would have got j uxt aposed
wit h one anot her, but in fact all t he mont hs would have been coinciding wit h t he mont hs
t hat were supposed t o fall aft er ninet y days i. e. t hree mont hs! And st ill Messrs Subhas
Kak, Vamadev, Parashar & Co. would like us t o believe t hat at t he most it would be out
of st ep by one . What a sensible st at ement ! Only Vedic ast ronomers are best owed
wit h such ext raordinary insight int o t he real Vedic Rashichakra !

Rasht r i y a Panchanga i n 6685 AD:
The above was t he posit ion of t he Rashichakra wit h an almight y Lahir i
Ayanamsha of + 90. Now let us have a look at t he posit ion when t he same ayanamsha
will be - 90 i. e. in 6685 AD- - - less t han five t housand years from t oday. For our Vedic
ast rologers and Vedic ast ronomers I t will be exact ly t he reverse of t he above. I nst ead
of Lahir i Karkat coinciding wit h Vedic Mesha, as in 6303 BC, it will be Lahiri Makar t hat
will coincide wit h t he Vedic Mesha on 20- 3- 6685 AD and inst ead of Lahiri Tula coinciding
wit h t he Vedic Karkat as in 6303 BC, it will be Lahiri Mesha t hat will coincide wit h it
on18- 6- 6685. Then again inst ead of Lahiri Makar coinciding wit h t he Vedic Tula as in
6303 BC, it will be Lahir i Karkat t hat will coincide wit h it on18- 9- 6685 and last of all,
inst ead of Lahir i Mesha coinciding wit h t he Vedic Makar as in 6303 BC, it will be Lahir i
Tula t hat will coincide wit h it on 20- 12- 6685. Consequent ly, inst ead of Lahir i Shravana,
it will be Lahiri Magha t hat will coincide wit h Vaishakha! I nst ead of Lahir i Kart ika Lahir i
Vaishakha will coincide wit h Vedic Shravana! I n place of Lahir i Magha, Lahir i Shravana
will coincide wit h Vedic Kart ika! And finally, not Lahiri Vaishakha but Lahiri Karit ka will
coincide wit h t he Vedic Magha!

Fi x ed Ayanamsha of 23 15 0 as on Mar ch 21, 1956!
Then we must also bear in mind t hat our Calendar Makers t o t he nat ion i. e.
I ndia Met eorological Depart ment and Posit ional Ast ronomy Cent re, have a fixed
Ayanamsha as indicat ed above! And do you know t he pur pose of t he same? Let us hear
t heir most scient ific explanat ion of t he same ( page 477 of I ndian Ast r onomical
Ephemeris) , The solar mont hs recommended for t he r eligious calendar such as Saur a
Vaishakha, Saura Jyaisht ha, et c. by t he Calendar Reform Commit t ee in 1955 have been
reckoned from t he moment s when t he apparent longit ude of t he Sun equals 23 15, 53
15 and so on. The calculat ion for t his purpose has t hus been done not wit h a variable
ayanamsa as in t he case of rasis and nakshat ras but wit h a fixed ayanamsa of 23 15.
These mont hs are shown for purpose of illust rat ion only, but are not used in pract ice for
act ual luni- solar adj ust ment . I f we int erpret t hese guidelines in t he light of t he
posit ion of Rasht riya Panchanga in 6300 BC and 6685 AD, we will have t o st art every
solar mont h t hree t imes every year - - - once when t he r eal Vedic ingress t akes place;
t hen when t he Lahiri ingress t akes place and t hen in bet ween t he t wo when t he fixed
Ayanamsha ingress t akes place which must be aft er about 24 days of t he r eal Vedic
ingress!

Out of st ep by si x - - - - a compl et e Shi r shasana ! : Subhash Kak had said, At
worst we get a sequence of rashis which is out of st ep by one . But we have seen t hat if
in 6300 BC Lahir i Mesha Sankrant i coincided wit h t he real Vedic Karkat a Sankrant i , but
in 6685 AD Lahir i Tula Sankrant i will coincide wit h t he same Vedic Karkat a Sankrant i .
I n 6300 BC it was behind by t hr ee st eps and in 6685 AD it will be ahead by t hree
st eps . That means Lahir i Sankr ant is virt ually t urning on t heir head! These sankrant is
will be out of st ep by six from t heir own ghost s since six is t he number of rashis
18
bet ween Mesha and Tula Sankant i! I n ot her words, it will be a complet e Shirshasana -
- - headlong post ure- - - from t he post ion t hat had obt ained in 6300 BC!
I wonder why t hese eminent Vedic ast ronomers do not even do t heir spade
work properly!

Real Vedi c Ri shi s w er e r eal geni uses:
Thus whichever way we look at it , it is best t o let t he Rashis remain conspicuous
by t heir absence in t he Vedas as ot herwise it will land us in such t roubles from which
even our real Vamadeva and Parashara Rishis will not be able t o pull us out since t hey
never t alked about any Rashis . That is why I had summarized t he sit uat ion on page
111 of my Shri Kr ishen Universal Ephemeris & Panchang for 2001 in t he following
words:
Our Vedic Rishis had a lot of common sense and love for Nat ure. They did not
qualify t he mont h of Vernal Equinox by January or Mesha but Madhav. I t was immat erial
for t hem as t o when it t ook place - whet her in March or June ( supposing t hat somehow
t hese names did exist t hen! ) They would call it Madhav because of it s honey like
qualit ies. They were equally least bot hered about whet her it was t he same Vernal
Equinox t hat was t aking place year aft er year or whet her it was a new ( precesed) one - - -
t hey could not care less since all t heir r it uals were circumambulat ing around t he seasons
and lunar phases! Thus when Maharshi Valmiki or Goswami Tulsidas say it was Chait ra
and Madhumas at Ramas birt h, as it had not hing t o do wit h t he zodiac, it was t he real
Madhu and t he mont h of Chait ra relat ed t o seasons, which can happen only if t he
nakshat ra ( equal) division of 13 20 is linked t o seasons and t hus t o Sayana Rashis!
I t boils down t o t he fact t hat Const ellat ions are const ellat ions and Rashis ar e
rashis - - - t he lat t er, whet her sayana or so called nirayana, cannot be j uxt aposed wit h
t he former. I t is t his very const ellat ional belt of irregular dimensions comprising t hirt een
( and not t welve) prominent Const ellat ions t hat is known as zodiac - - - which is neit her
nirayana nor Sayana- - - neit her sidereal ( sic! ) nor t ropical .

Rashi number s i n t he Vedas: Subhash Kak, on page 14 of t he same art icle, has
also gone t o t he lengt h of proving t hat t he names of Rashis are direct ly relat ed t o t he
numbers of mont hs in t he Vedas by making fant ast ic st at ement s like t he nint h mont h
relat es t o Archer i. e. Sagit arius and so on! Though we have already seen t hat t here is
no ghost of Rashis in t he Vedas, even presuming t hat some Vedic ast ronomers have
proved ast rological signs t herein, it is surpr ising as t o how t hey can be relat ed t o t he
numbers of mont hs. E. g. Kak has himself said on page 13 , Figure 1: The fir st Rashi
is Vr isha wit h t he corr esponding mont h of Vaishakha which means t hen t hat t he 9
t h

Rashi should have been Capricor n and not Sagit t arius. Furt her he has shown t hat in
about 3000 BC, VE t ook place in Krit ikas and t herefore Taurus. The nint h mont h t hen
would have been t he Goat ( Capricorn) and not t he Archer ( Sagit t arius) . By t he same
logic in 6000 BC, as per Subhash Kak himself, since in 6000 BC Vernal Equinox was
falling in Punarvasu, it means t hat Rashichakra would have t o be count ed fr om Karka
Rashi and t he nint h Rashi would have been t hen Mina and not t he so called Archer as
Kak would like us t o believe! I t is sad t hat a scholar like Subhash Kak should have
missed such cont radist inct ive quagmires.

Vedi c ast r ol ogy and Vedi c ast r ol oger s : Subhash Kak has said on page 318 of
his work Ast ronomy Across Cult ures published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, London,
Alt hough it is cert ain t hat t he planet s were st udied by t he Rigvedic people, we do not
find a single place in t he t ext s where t he names are list ed t oget her . Obviously, t he first
part of t his st at ement is a surmise whereas t he second part is a St at ement of fact s . I
would go t o t he lengt h of st at ing furt her t hat let alone at one place, t here is no ment ion
of Budha ( Mercury) , Mangal ( Mars) , Shani ( Sat urn) at all, even if we somehow believe
t hat by Vena planet Shukra ( Venus) is meant in t he Vedas! ( We are here overlooking t he
fact t hat Venus is not a Sanskrit name and Vena is a king as per t he Puranas who lived
t he life of a debauchee and had t o meet wit h a premat ure deat h due t o t he curse of
Brahmins who lat er churned his body t o bring fort h a pious king named Prit hu! ) .
19
Everybody knows t hat Vedic Rishis were not shy of declar ing in unambiguous
t erms what t hey perceived and if at all t hey had desired t o describe planet s t hey would
cert ainly have done so as t hey had done about t he sun, moon and Swarbhanu lunar
nodes. Even Brihaspat i ( Jupit er) is not referred t o as a planet in any of t he Vedas but
only as t he precept or of gods.

Longi t udes of nak shat r as i n t he Vedi c t i mes: Ait reya Brahmana, I , 1. 2. 1 says t hat
Krit t ikas ar e t he Mukham i. e. , face ( or t he mout h ) of nakshat ras. Suppose our
Vedic Rishis want ed t o measure t he posit ion of t his nakshat ra. The quest ion arises as
t o wherefrom was t his face or mout h t o be measured! Subhash Kak also says by
Krit ikas t he Vedas meant Pleiades. There is no problem if it was t o be measured from
t he Vernal Equinox as is being done t hese days. As per t he FK5 cat alogue of St ars, t he
act ual longit ude of Alcyone would t hen have been 350 34 32 i. e. less by about 9. 5
degrees/ days from t he dat e of Vernal Equinox as on January 1, 3000 BC. The longit ude
of Alcyone t hese days is about 60 - 2. We can see from t he above const ellat ional Table
t hat t he suns soj ourn in Taur us const ellat ion st art s earlier by about seven degrees/ days
of it s conj unct ion wit h Alcyone t hese days. There being not hing t o t he cont rary on
record, we can safely presume t hat t he dist ance bet ween t he st art ing of Taurus
const ellat ion and t he Alcyone St ar was t he same even in 3000 BC. i. e. it was about
seven degrees. But t hen since t he Pleiades clust er does not st ret ch over more t han t wo
degrees, it means Krit t ikas would have included some ot her prominent clust er also
because Shat apat ha Brahmana 2/ 1/ 2/ 2 is very clear t hat Though ot her nakshat ras have
j ust one, t wo or t hree or four nakshat ras but t hese Krit ikas have many . We also see
Krit t ikas being list ed as t he first nakshat ra r ight from t he t ime of t he Yaj urveda t hrough
Shat apat ha Brahmana t o Vedanga Jyot isha t o Vishnu Purana- - - which means t hat r ight
from at least 3000 BC t o about 500 BC t he Vernal Equinox was falling in t his nakshat ra
as ot herwise it would not have got such a place of pride. For about 2500 years t he
precession would have been 2500/ 71. 5= 35 degrees whereas t he t ot al sweep of t he
ent ire Taurus const ellat ion is about 37. 5 degrees as per I AU. Surprisingly, we do not
see any reference t o t he VE falling eit her in Rohini or Bharani in t he Vedas, Brahmanas
or even t he Puranas t hough t hese nakshat ras also have been list ed in t he Vedas as well
as t he Puranas. Besides, sidhant as refer t o Paushanant am t o Bhaganam i. e. Ashvini - -
- t he First Point of Aries. We know t hat t hat t here are no first or second or even t hird
magnit ude St ars in eit her t he modern Krit t ikas i. e. Pleaides nor in Bharani gr oup, nor
in Ashvini nakshat ra, for t hat mat t er. But since all t he Vedas eulogize Krit t ikas, t he only
reason is t hat it must have included what is now known as Rohini in t he equal division
because t hat is t he only group which cont ains several Bright St ars. I f we confine
ourselves t o Pleaides only, t he VE could not be around Krit t ika nakhat ra t hen for
more t han 71. 5X13. 3333= 953. 3333 i. e. at t he most for about a t housand years. The
longit ude of Krit t ika nakshat ra even in t he earlier unequal division of Garga et c. is equal
t o t he daily mean mot ion of 13 10 35 but t hat of Rohini nakshat r a is one and a half
t imes t o t hat i. e. 19 15 52 . Toget her t hese t wo nakshat ras t hus account for 32 26
27 . We give below t he longit udes of all t he pr ominent st ars of Rohini as on January 1,
3000 B. C and 1300 BC t oget her wit h t heir magnit udes et c.
No. 3000 BC 1300 BC Mag dist an
Alcyone Et a Taur i Krit t ika 139 350 - 35 14 - 15 2. 86 541
Aldebaran Alpha Tauri Rohini 168 0 - 37 23 - 59 0. 85 68
BetaOrionis Rigel 194 7 - 35 31 - 0 0. 14 900
GamaOrionis Bellat rix 201 11 - 40 35 - 10 1. 64 360
Brahmahrid AlphaAurigae Capella 193 12 - 47 36 - 6 0. 08 42
EpsilonOrionis Anilam 210 14 - 7 36 - 49 1. 71 1600


Thus t he suns soj ourn in Krit t ikas, if t heir st ar t ing point coincided wit h t he st art ing point
of Taurus const ellat ion, would have st art ed earlier by about seven days if t he Vernal
Equinox was t o be t aken t o t he st art ing point . . I n ot her words, t he Equinoct ial point
would have st art ed being in t he const ellat ion of Taurus by about 3000 BC minus ( 17X72
20
= ) 1224 years which would be about 4200 BC. Subhash Kak says t hat VE was in Rohini
in 3000 BC, presumably on t he basis of a so called equal division of nakshat ras.
However, he has cont radict ed himself on page 18 by saying t hat t he epoch where it is
st at ed t hat Krit t ika never swerve from t he east correspond t o 2950 BC. Let us see
whet her it is ast ronomically feasible. The longit ude of Aldebaran ( Alpha Taur i) as on Jan
1, 3000 B. C was 0 33 36 . Obviously t he VE was almost conj unct t hat st ar. Now we
cannot have a cake and eat it as well - - eit her t he VE is in Krit t ikas t hen or it was in
Rohini. The problem arises only when we opt for a so called equal division as ot herwise
Rohini is act ually in Taurus const ellat ion!
Krit ika ( Pleiades) nakshat ra does not have any st ar of such an ext raordinar y
magnit ude from which it could be measured! Even Subhash Kak has not list ed any
prominent st ar in t his nakshat ra t hough he has list ed st ars in Rohini, Ardra et c.
However, let us suppose t hat even our Vedic Rishis measured it from Alcyone, which is
t he bright est st ar of Pleiades since it s visual magnit ude is 2. 86 whereas all ot her st ars
have a visual magnit ude of more t han 3. 5. As we know t he more t he magnit ude of a
St ar, t he more difficult it is t o visualize it wit h t he naked eye. So if t he Vedic Rishis had
st art ed t he nakshat ra charka from some visible milepost inst ead of t he Vernal Equinox,
it would have been obviously Alcyone. Thus it would have been t he zero point t hen. I f
so, t hen Krit t ikas st art ed in Mesha and not Vrisha! Even if for t he sake of argument we
agree t hat t he sun was in Vr isha at t he t ime of VE, we cannot forget t hat in equal
division of nakshat ras, Krit t ikas st art in Mesha and not Vrisha! So even t hen t he
Rashichakra would have st art ed from Mesha, t hough from t he fag end!

When t o cel ebr at e Sank r ant i s?
Coming back t o t he Rashichakra - - West ern ast rologers have de- linked t he
Rashis from t heir namesake const ellat ions and mercifully declared t hem openly t o be
t ropical and relat ed t o seasons. On t he ot her hand, Vedic ast rologers are deceiving t he
ent ire Vedic Hindu communit y by insist ing t hat Rashis were invent ed/ discovered by
Vedic Rishis and t hese are linked t o const ellat ions/ nakshat ras!
Supposing for t he sake of argument t hat t here is any Capricorn i. e. Makar a
Rashi in t he Vedas, it has t o be t he const ellat ion Capricornus. But t hen it has not hing t o
do wit h t he Rashi of t hat name whet her sayana or nirayana. As explained in t he above
t able, t his const ellat ion act ually ranges from 300 t o 326. 5 as compared t o t odays
Vernal Equinox and t hus t hese days t he soj ourn of t he sun st art s in it from January 21
inst ead of December 21 ( Sayana) or Januar y 14 ( Lahir i) ! We have seen t hat Wint er
Solst ice act ually regressed from Capricornus int o Sagit t arius in 131 BC. We have also
seen as t o how it is impossible t o link t he act ual const ellat ions eit her t o sayana or t o
nirayana Rashis or Nakshat ra- chakras. That is why our Vedic Rishis never t ried t o do t he
impossible of linking eit her t he Vishuva or t he seasons like Vasant a et c. or t he mont hs
like Madhu, Madhava et c. t o t hem, because t hey knew t hat it was an impossible t ask!
All t hey would say was, We should get consecrat ed at t he t ime of Krit ikas because t hey
are t he most visible and/ or t he first of t he nakshat ras i. e. because t he Vishuva i. e.
t he Vernal Equinox was falling in t hat nakshat ra t hen.
This is exact ly t he reasons for my saying t hat unfort unat ely, t hese days we are
celebrat ing our fest ivals neit her as per t he const ellat ion belt nor as per t he real Vedanga
Jyot ish! E. g. if we want t o correlat e our Makar Sankrant i t hese days t o t he const ellat ion
of t hat name, t hen we have t o celebrat e it neit her on December 21, 2002 ( Ut t arayana)
nor on January 14, 2003 ( Lahiri) but on January 21 since it is on t hat dat e when t he sun
will ent er t hat const ellat ion act ually! That is why I have been crying hoarse t hat our
Jyot ishis have denuded us of any sense of real ast ronomy whet her Vedic or modern
and in t he name of Vedic ast rology our present Varahamihiras , Vamadevas and
Parasharas are cocking a snook on t he real Vedic Vamadevas and Parasharas! You can
rest assured t hat t hey are doing it at t heir own peril now since t he fact s are being
brought t o t he not ice of a common man and t he day is not far off when t hey will be
caught red- handed while cheat ing on t he real Vedic Rishis.

Pur anas/ Si dhant as and t he Rashi s:
21
You may ask me as t o why I keep on repeat ing t hen t hat Makar Sankrant i is
anot her name of Ut t arayana! I t is a very valid quest ion but if you read my art icles in my
ephemerides et c. carefully, I have not said anywhere t hat it is my opinion! I have
quot ed t he Surya Sidhant a and ot her sidhant as besides t he Vishnu Pur ana, Shrmiad
Bhagavat a et c. script ures as saying t hat Makar Sankrant i and Ut t arayana st art
simult aneously or Makar Sankr ant i is anot her name of Ut t arayana ! I have also
indicat ed it several t imes t hat our Puranas have j uxt aposed Mesha et c. Rashis wit h
Madhava et c. names of Vedic mont hs and t hus blurred t he dist inct ion complet ely - - -
which means t hat our sidhant as and Puranas went by only a seasonal Rashichakra - - -
wit hout bot hering t o link t hose Rashis wit h t he const ellat ions of similar names! But right
now we are concerned here wit h t he Vedas and t he Rashis and not Puranas and t he
Rashis since Puranas are definit ely of a lat er dat e.

I nt er cal at i on ( Adhi k a/ Kshyaya- masa) can be r el at ed onl y t o seasonal and t hus
t r opi cal mont hs: We have seen t hat Ut t arayana t ook place on February 7, 6303 BC
and Lahiri Makar Sankrant i was earlier by about t hree mont hs i. e. on November 8, 6304
BC. Thus if lunar mont hs were t o be pegged t o Lahir i Rashis it would have been a lunar
Magha and New Year on November 30, 5999 BC ( TDT) t hough it would have been t he
Vedic mont h of Urj a t hen! The act ual Magha and Lunar New Year as per t he Vedanga
Jyot isha would have st art ed on February 18, 6000 BC since t hat would have been t he
day of t he first New Moon aft er Ut t arayana in t he mont h of Tapah. Similarly, any
adhika/ kshyaya- masa could be r elat ed only t o t he real Ut t arayana et c. and not t o
Lahiri or Ramana or Kharegat et c. dozens of ( t he unbor n! ) art ificial Ut t arayanas!

Vedi c sol ar mont hs vi s- - vi s l unar mont hs: Subhas Kak has list ed on page 11 of his
art icle Babylonian and I ndian ast ronomy 12 lunar mont hs and given t heir pr esiding
deit ies but t hen he has st art ed Vaishakha fr om Bharani nakshat ra on page 12 saying
t hat first Rashi is Vrishabha cor r esponding t o Vaishakha! I have given an avalanche of
proofs in my earlier ephemerides, especially t he 1999 one quot ing all t he Vedas,
Upanishads, Puranas, I t ihasas, Smrit is and sidhant as t hat Sayana Mesha is t he first solar
mont h and t he lunar mont hs are relat ed t o t hese very sayana i. e. seasonal mont hs.
Since Subhash Kak has himself given t he names of Vedic mont hs as Madhu, Madhav et c.
and t r ied t o quot e Vishnupurana for Vrisha and not t he Mesha Rashi as t he first mont h
of Vaishakha, let us quot e what we had said on pages 87 and 88 of our ephemeris for
1999,
This is what Maharshi Prashara has t o say in Shr i Vishnupurana 2
nd
Amsha
Eight h Adhyaya ( verses 27 t o 89) |li ii
i ni i - i li| i -r-nii ili l- -l| l,||z/||
-i -i-ii - iln ii-| nn -i -| ii in l,||zs||
l n i i- i nni in| nln-| iln lni rii nn --||zs||
nni il i iln ,n sl l-||sa||
nn l-i-in i i-i-inn| ili - i n liii-||s||
i ,iili ii-r nliii| iii,-iiii-ri n ln l,||
- rn -ni iili ---ii||s||
i--ii ii - ln| nii n n -l-||sr||
n--i|i i il--~i n nsln| -ii-r n -iii l--||sc||
riln nil n -l-||s/||
-irl l-- i|ii - ni nln| i|i i lli i i- ni -i li nln||z||
-ii- i -in iln li| riii i i - --ni iii l,||s||
i ii| i i- iii ili||||
ili-ii lni |ir -i--ni l||nii liii iii|i -iii|ini||r||
li |ir-- nii n in || -i - i|i i lli -i nlnl i||c||
lii - l|ni l-n||/||
i -r n rin --n-||cr||
,n rn i liii -i ||r-n nn ili ilinln i-||cc||
i,ni - li n liin || ni-inn iii -ilil n nn||c/||
22
-il-in iii liii- n || -iii- - --i li ||cs||
li-rn lin-rii n -i|| nil i r ,i ;-lii|n ||cs||
-i i, i-i ,i -ii i i n ||~n i ,s ilnn||/a||
-i n-i ll~ni|| l i- nl--lii|n ||/||
--n i-i l,n| l-|| ;,--nn|-n nii-||
- -i ii s n lnn||/z||
n-i -i i nilln ln|| |li n- n nil ni--n||/s||
lii i-i - in nii|| i, ni - nii lnnn||
- iii n ii -i lil--in||/||
ni n~-ri i i ln lnl-ir||i- r n n ni --n-||/r||
i- l-iiiin i ii-i -ni ii|||liiiii n i si - ln--i- ||/c||
liiiii i - i n n|- | ni li|i-l-iilil l-in-||//||
n li ii s i i lii|n|ni iil il ni--li||/s||
ri ln -i- n-i i-||-ii-n li n-i sliin ||/s||
n-n-i -i-iii i ili--i -in||
ii i-i ;i-nii -r r-illn lii nn||s|| l,n| , a s
The whole second Chapt er of Second Amsha of Shri Vishu Purana is in fact like a
comment ary on t he Mant ras of t he Vedas, Upanishads and Brahmana quot ed above. I t
is also a complet e ' lesson' on t he phenomenon of seasons. I n t he simplest of t erms and
plain poet ic language and met ers it says, ' The sun ent ers Makara on t he day of
Ut t arayana which is t he short est day in t he year and it goes on increasing during t he
suns t ransit of Kumbha and Mina. Days and night s are equal on Vishuva day when t he
sun ent ers Mesha Rashi. Aft er t hat t he durat ion of t he days get s longer t han t hat of t he
night s and it becomes longest on t he day of Dakshinayana when t he sun ent ers Karkat a
Rashi. Vishuv- - - Equinoxes- - - - occur in t he midst of t he Sharad and Vasant Rit us and
t he days and night s are t hen equal on t he Mesha and Tula Sankrant i days of t hirt y ghat is
each. Any charit ies given during t he Ayana and Vishuva Sankrant is viz on t he days of
t ransit of t he sun int o Makara, Mesha, Karkat a and Tula yield t housand- fold result s.
Dakshinayana t akes place when t he sun is in Karkat a and Ut t arayana when t he sun is in
Makara. A five year yuga st art s aft er t he Ut t arayana in t he following manner:
Samvat sarah, Parivat sarah, I dvat sarah, Anuvat sarah and Vat sarah. The Ut t arayana
mont hs of Makara t o Mit huna ( viz. Makara, Kumbha, Mina, Mesha, Vrisha and Mit huna)
are also known respect ively as Tapah, Tapasya, Madhu, Madhava, Shukra and Shuchih
whereas t he Dakshinayana mont hs of Karkat a t o Dhanu ( viz Karkat a, Simha, Kanya,
Tula, Vrischik and Dhanu) are also known as Nabah, Nabhasya, I sha, Urj a, Saha and
Sahasya respect ively' .
"I n verses 43 t o 45, we find ment ion of t he sun passing t hrough t welve Rashis in
a day of sixt y ghat is. I t is clear ly an explanat ion of t he signs r ising on t he east ern
horizon as t hese verses ment ion clearly t hat t he sun t akes unequal t ime t o cover t hese
Rashis of equal lengt h i. e. 30 each. There is absolut ely no doubt t hat even t hese are
Tropical and not any Lahiri or Ramana Lagnas!
Obviously, t here could hardly be a worse rebuke t o and a bet t er rebut t al of t he
presumpt ions of t hese predict ive ast rologers ( act ually fr auds) t hat Parashara Rishi was
following and advocat ing some Lahiri Rashichakra ( One of t he t ranslat ors of t he so called
Brihat Parashara has had t he hardihood of making such foolish st at ement s as ' Lahir i
Ayanamsha is t he first best ! ' ) .
Verses 77 t o 81 link Krit t ika Nakshat ra t o Mesha Rashi and Vernal Equinox and
Vishakha Nakshat ra and Tula Rashi t o Aut umn Equinox. I t means t hat t he Nakshat ra
division also was Sayana and st rat ed wit h t he Krit t ika nakshat ra and Tropical sign Ar ies
( Mesha) I n t hose days
REAL VEDI C SEERS WERE CELEBERATI NG ALL THE FESTI VAL I NCLUDI NG
MAHASHI VARATRI AND NAVARATRAS AS PER TROPI CAL SOLAR AND SOLI - LUNAR
MONTHS AND NOT AS PER SOME LAHI RI OR RAMANA SOLAR OR LUNAR MONTHS:
Vishnu Purana says furt her in Elevent h Adhyaya of Second Amsha ( verses 3 t o 19) :
iini n-ii --i il-nii| iini-i|rln-n- n-||s||
n ln i -i-i lr| - - iii n -iiliili||||
23
-i r iii l-ii|| rln s| i i ||r||
-ii l-n il n lii - ||c||
l-isl-nii i iiisi -i|| riri i- - n ln ||/||
ii l-i in ri r r i|| ili-nii i -iiin||s||
;i li in i-niilni|| -ii i-n li ln ||s||
l-in inii-nii|| -ii iiii iiii ii nii||a||
ii lini nin-isi i|| iiisi ini| -i i||||
lii,i ini nii||li| li iln ln ||z||
iini-n -ri--niii|||l -nii ln-ini|isliili||s||
~nin-niiii - i--nii|| l-l-ii ll-iii||||
ii-i - n n ii-- || i iiiii liliili||r||
--i -l -isi lni-i-i||rinisi ~nl ini-isi n-||c||
-ii-i -n n - ii-||ni i i~n lln ||/||
lini -ii i -ln|| lil--nii ii nini -ri-||s||
-ini - -n n ni||ln- rlii- lrni||s||l,n| i a
I n t he very first verse i. e. t he t hird verse of t he Adhyaya quot ed above it has
been said Dhat a, Krat u, Pulast ya, Vasuki, Rat habrid, Gramani and Tumburut hese
seven officer- bearers reside always in t he chariot of he Sun during t he mont h of Madhu
ALSO KNOWN AS CHAI TRA . Then in verse No. 8, similar ly, names of office- bearers
presiding over t he mont h of Shukra have been given but here also it s synonym ASHADA
has been list ed simult aneously. I n fact in all t he above verses we find t hat ABSOLUTELY
NO DI STI NCTI ON HAS BEEN MADE BETWEEN THE VEDI C NAMES OF SOLAR MONTHS
LI KE MADHU, MADHAVA ETC. AND THEI R LUNAR NAMES LI KE CHAI TRA, VAI SHAKHA
ETC .
Let us give a running t ranslat ion of verses 77 t o 81 of t he Tent h Adhyaya and
also see t heir implicat ions wit h respect t o t he names of Lunar Mont hs as per t he verses
of Elevent h Adhyaya. I t is When t he sun is in t he first part of Krit t ika t hen ( on t he full
Moon day) t he moon is definit ely in t he last part of Vishakha and when t he Sun is in t he
t hird quart er of Vishakha t he Moon ( on t he full Moon day) has t o be definit ely in t he first
part of Krit t ika. These are t he days of Equinoxes wit hout any doubt .
We have already seen t hat as per verse 67 of Chapt er 10, I t is Vishuva ( Equinox)
when t he sun is in Mesha or Tula and t he days and night s are equal t hen t hroughout t he
globe . These t wo mont hs aft er t he equinoct ial mont h have been named as Madhava
and Urj a in verse number 81, leaving no body in doubt t hat t hese are t he Vedic mont hs
and t herefore seasonal and t herefore t ropical inst ead of t he so called Lahiri or Ramana.
Then in Adhyaya 11, verse 3, Madhu has been named as Chait ra. I n ot her words, lunar
Chait ra st art s immediat ely aft er Solar Mina Sankrant i and t herefore wit h t he Spring
Equinox i. e. t he mont h of Mahdava, when t he sun is in Mesha, it is Vaishakha and so on
as per Vishnupurana. I t is, t herefore, surprising as t o how Subhash Kak has clubbed
Vrishabha Sun wit h lunar Vaishakha on t he shoulers of Vishnu Purana, when in an
unequivocal manner, Chait ra has been linked t o t he mont h of Mahdu and t he sun in
Mina, and Vaishakha t o sun in Mesha, as seen above.

CLEARLY, EVEN THE LUNAR MONTHS HAVE BEEN PEGGED TO SAYANA VEDI C
MONTHS I N THE PURANAS.
Now let us see what ot her Puranas have t o say. We shall first of all t ake t he
Shrimad Bhagavat a of Maharshi Vyasa and see as t o how we are being compelled by
t hese so called Vedic ast rologers and Vedic ast ronomers t o celebrat e Janmasht ami on
some imaginary Lahir i Shravana Krisha Asht ami ( Fift h Skanda, adhyaya 21 and 22) :
-nniini-nni-ln-n in lii| n-ii-i--iii i n
liiiinnili-ini-iilinlnliiiriiiri-i-iii ii-lin-ii
-ili iliriiiili |ir--iiil li-i||s||
24
i -ininn niriiili -iil iln i iiili ilii ln niri
in rln -il -i- i il-i ili ||||
i lili nn niriiiili lili iln||r|| iliii-ril in
in i||r|| --i l iii|
i iniili iiiiiii iii --n i--i |- -lil, ll--i
~lilil llni--ii ,iiii li i- nilni iiii-nnii
liln||s|| n-nl-r i-i lni ii-iiiiii -lii-ininlni
,i nisi -linsln||||
i i i--i i ii niiliini ii- inni ,ii-iii- ili
ni -ii -i i, li - ln ii,- liln ini i-- i i|n
~nl-ln -i||r|| --i ,iliii|
Surya Bhagvan t he Sun godenergises t he whole world by it s slow or quick
movement s vis- a- vis Ut t arayana, Dakshinayana and Vishuvas. The days are t he
short est on Makara Sankrant i- cum- Ut t arayana, equal wit h night s on Mesha Sankrant i-
cum- Vishuva, longest on Karkat a Sankrant i- cum- Dakshinayana and again equal wit h
night s on Tula Sankrant i- cum- Vishuva. The self same Parmat ma in t he form of sun
divides I t self int o t welve part s known as Rashis ( which are) equal t o six seasons of
Vasant a et c. of t wo mont hs each. During t he soj ourn of one mont h, t he sun covers t wo
and a quart er nakshat ras. Each Rit u comprises t wo mont hs which are one sixt h of a
Samvat sara .
It has said further in Book 12 Chapter 11---verses 34 to 46:
-i risiii rln li-i|| i s| -n -- -ii- ||s||
iini n-i| rni| i-| ---n-lln -i-i --|||sr||
l-i ii -ii r -nii rr| il- il-i --|||sc||
;i li ini i-niilni| -ii iii i ii-i --|||s/||
l-in ii iiii in| -ii iiii i-i --|||ss||
ii ii in ii l-nii| ini| nin-ln ni -i --|||ss||
ni i,i l-inii| l in n-ii --|||a||
iii -ni ~n -niii|| lns-riii ri -i --|||||
in -isl-l-i i -| i- ll-i -i --|||z||
--i ~| n - lni-i-i| ri nisi inl ini- ;i-ii||s||
lini -ii i -ln| lil-i -iin +-i --|||||
ni inni liiil-- lin| --ni i ii r-ri l l||r||
I n t hese verses t he names of deit ies presiding over various Vedic mont hs like Madhu,
Madhava et c. t oget her wit h ot her at t endant paraphernalia have been list ed in t he same
manner as in t he Vishnuprana. What is not ewort hy here is t hat in t he 42nd verse t he
mont h aft er Saha is Pushya inst ead of Sahasya which has been referred t o in verse No.
41. I t is a clear indicat ion t hat for Maharshi Vyasa also t here was no difference bet ween
Mina, Mesha and Madhu, Madhava or Chait ra and Vaishakha respect ively. THUS SHRI
KRI SHNA WAS BORN I N A LUNAR SHRAVANA LI NKED TO THE VEDI C I . E. TROPI CAL
SHUCHI i. e. . KARKA SANKRANTI AND NOT SOME I MAGI NARY LAHI RI OR RAMANA
SHRVANA KRI SHNA ASHTAMI . WHEN THESE VEDI C ASTROLOGERS PREPARE LORD
KRI SHNAS NATAL CHART ALSO ON THE BASI S OF LAHI R/ RAMANA SHRAVANA KRI SHNA
ASHTAMI S AND DELI NEATE THE RESULTS CORRECTLY , THEY ARE ONLY MAKI NG A
LAUGHI NG STOCK OF THEMSELVES ESPECI ALLY SI NCE THEY ARE CLAI MI NG THAT THE
BI RTH PARTI CULARS HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM THESE VERY PURANAS ETC. Similar ly,
when Vedic ast ronomers like Subhash Kak int erpret t hese Puranas also in an at rocious
manner and claim wit h pride, At worst , we get a sequence of Rashis which is out of st ep
by one ( page 12 of Babylonian and I ndian Ast ronomy) one has t o t ake t heir st at ement s
not wit h a pinch but at least a kilogram of salt !

25
Vi shnudhar mot ar apur ana has cor r el at ed cat egor i cal l y t he sol ar Vedi c i .e.
seasonal mont hs t o t he l unar mont hs and Mesha et c. Rashi s:
Alberunis I ndia says t hat in his t ime t he Vishnudhar mot arapurana was held in t he
highest est eem for deciding fest ivals et c. Even t he original i. e. t he Adi-
Shankaracharya ( 8
t h
Cent ury AD) has quot ed several verses from t he same Purana while
writ ing a comment ary on Vishnusahsranama Shloka 14 and ot her works. This Purana
has list ed in part I I I , Adhyaya 9 all t he t welve Vedic solar mont hs viz Madhu et c. and
correlat ed t hem wit h t he lunar mont hs in t he following manner: Madhu Chait ra;
Madhava Vaishakha; Shukrah Jyesht ha; Shuchih Ashadha; Nabhah Shravana;
Nabhasya Prausht hapada; I sha Ashvyuj a; Urj a Kart ika; Sahah Margasheersha;
Sahasyah Paushah; Maghah Tapah; Phalgunah Tapasya. I n t he next verse of t he
same chapt er, it says, I t is Vishuva when t he sun is in Tula and Mesha. From t he end of
Dhanu ( i. e. from t he st art of Makara) t o t he end of Mit huna ( i. e. t he beginning of
Karkat a) it is Dakshinayana . . and so on.

Rashi s i n t he Ramayana ar e an i nt er pol at i on of a much l at er dat e: There is a lot
of confusion about t he birt h dat e/ t ime of Bhagwan Rama since He is said t o have been
born in Navmi t it hi coincident wit h Punarvasu nakshat ra wit h t he Moon and Jupit er in
Karkat a . That can definit ely happen but t he problem arises when we posit t he sun in
Aries ( Mesha) simult aneously. Let us analyze t his sit uat ion t hor oughly.
As per t he Valmiki Ramayana, Balakanda, Cant o 18, verses 7 t o 10, Sri Rama
was born aft er six seasons had elapsed since t he yagnya was over. I t was t he mont h of
Chait ra, Shukla Paksha Navmi t it hi, and Punarvasu Nakshat ra wit h five planet s eit her
exalt ed or in t heir own Rashis. He was born in Karkat a Lagna wit h t he Moon and Jupit er
t herein . Maharshi Valmiki has not said it anywhere t hat t he sun was in Mesha! As we
have seen already, Chait ra is also anot her name of t he Vedic mont h Madhu, t he first
mont h of Vasant a Rit u.
Goswami Tulsidas also says t he same t hing in Balakanda 191 Navmi t it hi
madhumas puneet a, shukal paksha abhij it har i preet a - - - I t was Madhumasa and Navmi
t it hi of Shuklapaksha, in Abhij it Muhurt a . He has not said anywhere t hat t he sun was in
Mesha.
I t is only in t he Adhyat ma Ramayana 1/ 3/ 14- 15 t hat we read Mesham Poohsani
samprapt e, pushpavrisht irpapat a hai i. e when t he sun was in Mesha. . However, in
t he 14
t h
verse of t he same chapt er it says,
madhumase sit e paksha navmyam karkat e shubhe, punarvasu riksha sahit e uchhast he
grahpanchake i. e. it was shukla paksha ( bright lunar half) of t he mont h of Madhu,
Karkat a lagna, navmi t it hi, Moon in punarvasu nakshat ra, and five planet s eit her exalt ed
or in t heir own rashis .
I t is act ually an ast ronomical impossibilit y t hat has been creat ed by Adhyat ma
Ramayana. I f t he mont h is Madhu t he sun cannot be in Mesha since it is t he st art of
Madhava! However, if we go by t he st at ement s of Vedic ast rologers and presume t he
Rashis t o be so called nirayana, t he confusion becomes worst confounded! According t o
Dr. B. V Ramas Not able Horoscopes Ayanamsha at t he t ime of Shri Krishnas birt h as
on July 19, 3228 BC, was + 50 40. I t means t hat t he so called nirayana sankrant is
were earlier by about 51 days t han t heir sayana count erpart s. Obviously, at t he t ime of
Shri Ramas birt h it would have been at least + 60 i. e. at t he st art of t he mont h of Vedic
Madhu, t he sun would have j ust ent ered so called nirayana Makara!
There are now t wo opt ions: we eit her presume t he ent ire Adhyat ma Ramayana t o
be a concoct ion of t he worst order or presume t he ast rological rashis as a lat er
int erpolat ion! Personally, I feel t hat it is bet t er t o choose t he lesser of t wo evils since I
find Adhyat ma Ramayana full of Vedant ic t rut hs t hat cannot be easily found in a work of
absolut e fict ion! The Rama- Git a in Adhyat ma Ramayana is t he best example of
expounding t he Vedant a philosophy. Therefore, such ast rological verses are plain
int erpolat ions included by some early Vedic ast rologers j ust as t here are int erpolat ions
in t he Surya Sidhant a about t he verses of Ayanamsha!
Similar ly, as yet no ast rologer has found t he solut ion t o t he riddle as t o how it
could be Navmi t it hi, wit h t he moon in Cancer and Punarvasu nakshat ra if t he sun was in
26
Mesha! For navmi t it hi t he moon has t o be ahead by at least 96 from t he sun. I f t he
sun is really in Mesha, t he moon will be in Karkat a, no doubt , but as Punarvasu
nakshat ra ends j ust at 3 20 of Cancer, it cannot be possible because if t he sun is even
in zero degrees of Mesha, t he moon will have t o be in at least sixt h degree of Karkat a for
navmi t it hi t o st art ! On t he ot her hand, if we t ake t he sun in Mina such a problem get s
aut omat ically resolved since wit h t he moon in Karkat a, say at t wo degrees, t he sun
would have been earlier by 96 i. e. in 26
t h
degree of Mina.
Was Shr i Rama bor n w i t h t he sun i n Kar k at a or t he sun i n Mesha?
The Valmiki Ramayana it self has creat ed a lot of confusion furt her in verses 15
and 16 of t he same cant o ( 18) when it st at es, Bharat a was born in Pushya nakshat r a
and Mina lagna whereas t he t win sons of Sumit ra were born in Ashlesha nakshat r a when
t he sun was in Kuleera i. e. Cancer ( Karkat a) Rashi . I f Shr i Rama was born wit h t he sun
in Mina ( Madhu) or Mesha ( exalt ed) Lakshmana and Shat t rugana, who were younger
t han Rama by j ust a day- or- t wo could not have been born wit h t he sun in Karkat a. The
planet ary posit ion, except for t he Moon and lagna would virt ually have remained t he
same more or less as t hat of Shri Rama. E. g. t he Moon is t he only planet t hat could
have changed signs but as Bharat a was born in Pushya and Lakshmana and Shat rugna in
Ashlesha, even t hat fast erst moving planet was in t he same sign as t hat of Shri Rama
viz. Cancer i. e. Karkat a because in equal division of naksht ras , Simha r ashi st art s wit h
t he end of Ashlesha ( and st art of Magha) nakshat ra! I rnoically, if t he sun ( besides t he
Moon) also was in Cancer t hen it could not have been Shukla Paksha Navmi t it hi for Shri
Rama but Krishna Paksha Trayodashi or Chat r udashi whereas Lakshmana and Shat rugna
must have been born in Krishna Chat urdashi/ Amavasya! Besides, t he mont h of Madhu
and t he Sun in Cancer are j ust not compat ible at all!

Do pl anet s r ul e t he di vi ne i ncar nat i ons or i s i t t he ot her w ay r ound?
As a mat t er of fact , t his ast rological speculat ion about t he number of exalt ed
plant es in Shri Ramas horoscope is meaningless since our shast ras are st rict ly against
ast roloat ory. No scr ipt ure has advised us t o consult an ast rologer for finding out as t o
how we would fare in our lives. Besides, it may suit t he evil designs of Vedic
ast rologers t o subj ugat e even t he divine incarnat ions t o planet ary suzeraint y, but it is
against t he very grain and et hos of t he real Vedic cult ure t o believe in such nonsense. So
if t here are any indicat ions t hat planet s lorded over t he Omnipot ent Lord also eit her in
t he Ramayana or any Purana et c. , t hey are cert ainly int erpolat ions of lat er years.
Thus whichever way we look at it , it is safe t o presume such ast rological
miracles as int erpolat ions of a much lat er dat e t han having been insert ed by Maharshi
Valmiki himself!
Therefore, t he Ramanavmi t hat we are celebrat ing t hese days in t he mont h of
Madhava is absolut ely wrong since inst ead of Madhu, it is celebrat ed in Madhava, bot h
solar and lunar and t hat is against t he let t er and spir it of t hat very Ramayana by which
we swear! E. g. we will be asked t o celebrat e it on 18
t h
of April in 2005, when t he mont h
of Madhu will have ended on 21st of March and even t hat of Madhav will end j ust aft er
t wo days of t hat Ramanavmi!

Non ex i st ence of Rashi s i n t he Mahabhar at a has a l ot of si gni f i cance: The
Mahabharat a claims, and r ight ly so, t hat what is cont ained in t hat monument al wor k
may be found in ot her script ures also but what is not t here is impossible t o be found
anywhere else! And we must rake our brains as t o why t here ar e no Rashis in t he
Mahabharat a when t here are references t o t it his and nakshat ras et c. t imes wit hout
number! Obviously, t here were no Rashis prevailing in I ndia at t he t ime of t he
Mahabharat a!

Bhi shma di ed i n Magha i mmedi at el y af t er Ut t ar ay ana! As per t he same
Mahabharat a, Shant i Parva 47/ 3, Anushasana Parva 167/ 5- 6 and 27- 28; Bhishma
Pit amaha was wait ing for Ut t arayana and not Makara Sankrant i! He is very emphat ic
when he says, I t is now Magha and t he sun has already t urned t owards nort h . I t could
not have been a Lahiri Magha ( even Subhash Kak Magha! ) since in about 2000 BC t he
27
real Ut t arayana wouild have t aken place in Lahir i Phalguna if not earlier! I t is only t he
Vedanga Jyot isha Magha for which Bhishma was wait ing. Obviously, t he Bhishma
Asht ami we are celebrat ing is wrong. E. g. in 2005, we will be asked t o celebrat e t his
fest ival on 16
t h
of February when act ually Ut t arayana will t ake place on December 21,
2004 and t he first Shukla Asht ami aft er t hat will be on January 17, 2005.
This is t he t ype of respect we are showing for our depart ed souls - - - celebrat ing
even t heir shradhas on wrong days, t hanks t o t hese Kaliyugi Panchanga pandit s!

Sushr ut a Samhi t a of 7
t h
cent ur y BC al so r el at es l unar mont hs t o seasons:
Sushrut a, t he famous ancient sur gen, according t o t he art icle Hist ory of Plast ic Surgey
in I ndia by t he Associat ion of Plast ic Surgeons of I ndia, flourished ar ound 6
t h/ 7t h
cent ury
BC. As per foot not e on page 50 of Orion by B. G. Tilak, Suhsrut a has said in Adhyaya 6
of his Sut rast hana , There are t welve mont hs st art ing wit h Magha and each season
comprising t wo mont hs st art ing wit h Shishira . . Thus Tapah- cum- Magha was t he first
mont h of t he year aft er Ut t arayana, on t he Vedanga Jyot isha pat t ern in sixt h cent ury B C
also. Even Sushrut a has not referred t o any Rashis, which means t hey were conspicuous
by t heir absence even in his t ime!

Mahashi var at r i and Magha: Obviously, t he wor ld famous Mahashivarat ri will be t he
first Krishna Trayodashi/ Chat urdashi aft er t hat Magha Shukla Paksha which follows
Ut t arayana immediat ely. By t he same logic, Ut arayana in 2004 t akes place on
December 21 and t he Shukla Paksha aft er t hat st art s on January 11, 2005 and Krishna
Paksha aft er t hat st art s on Januar y 26, 2005. Nat urally, Magha ( Phalguna in Nort hern
I ndia) Krishna Trayodashi at Nishit ha ( midnight ) will fall on February 6, 2005 and
Chat urdashi on February 7, 2005 but our Kaliyugi Panchangamakers advise us t o
celebrat e it on 7
t h
/ 8
t h
of March, 2005!

Real Vedi c schol ar s ( i nst ead of t oday s pseudo schol ar s ) have r el at ed
i nt er cal ar y ( l unar ) mont hs t o seasonal sol ar mont hs: B. G. Tilak in his Orion has
made it clear t hat references t o any int ercalary mont hs in t he Vedas are on t he basis of
a seasonal year and not some so called Lahir i or Ramana nirayana zodiac.
Same is t he case wit h a Hindi t ranslat ion of t he Rigveda, published by L B Shast r i
Sanskrit Universit y, New Delhi. The Hindi t ranslat ion as well as a Sanskrit comment ary
have been writ t en by Shivnat h Ahit agni and Pt . Shankar Dut t Shast ri. I t was published
init ially in 1904 i. e. exact ly a cent ury back.
There is a mant ra 1/ 25/ 8 which reads as
Veda maso drit vrat o dwadshapraj avat ah, veda ya upaj ayat e
I t has been t ranslat ed as Varuna knows t he t welve ( solar) mont hs and t he ( int ercalary)
t hirt eent h mont h also . The comment at ors have made it clear ( exact ly a cent ury back)
t hat t he t hir t eent h mont h is t o be calculat ed as against a seasonal ( t ropica) year and not
t he so called nirayana year!

Pt . Sudhak ar Dw i vedi has decr i ed so cal l ed si dear eal zodi ac mor e t han one and
a quar t er cent ur y back : A biography of t he famous Hindi poet , Bharat endu
Harishchandra, by Babu Shivnandan Sahay has been published by Hindi Samit i,
Lucknow. Pt . Sudhakar Dwivedi is well known as a Sanskrit comment at or of
Panchasidhant ika and Surya Sidhant a et c. He has prepared a horoscope of t he said poet
in t he same book. I n his preface t o t hat horoscope he has said on page 4, There is no
doubt t hat planet s were calculat ed on t ropical basis in I ndia during t he last several
cent uries and hor oscopes also were prepared accordingly. I t has been j ust out of sheer
let hargy on t he part of our j yot ishis t hat t hey st opped observing t he act ual longit udes
of t he sun, moon et c. t hrough gnomon et c. and r esort ed t o some myt h called
ayanamsha wit h t he result t hat t he so called nirayana rashichakra was invent ed . He
had wr it t en t his in 1883 AD, i. e. about 120 ear s back!

Mi si nt er pr et at i on of Vedi c Mant r as: Some Vedic ast rologers say t hat t here are
references t o Shani ( Sat urn) in t he Vedas as t here are Mant ras like Shan- nodevir-
28
abhisht ay, Apo Bhavant u peet aye; Shamyorabhi sravant u- nah ( Shukla Yaj urveda
36/ 12) becaue t he word Shan is t here. Not hing could be furt her from t he t rut h since
t he plain and simple meaning of t his Mant ra is Let t he gods best ow desired blissful
obj ect s on us; Let t he wat ers flowing in all dir ect ions shower sham peace on us .
I n t he same vein, Sukt a I , 154 of t he Rigveda is int erpret ed by some ast rologers
t o mean t hat t his mant ra has reference t o fixed signs ( Rashis) Taurus, Leo and
Aquarius ! What a fant ast ic st at ement !
The first Mant ra of t his Sukt a r efers t o Vishnus t hree st rides in which He
measured t he ent ire universe. The second Mant ra says, Vishnu, residing in mount ain
t ops, like a Mrigon Bhimah. i. e. like a t errible Mr igah . This word ( Mrigah ) has
been defined by Sir Monier Williams in his Sanskrit English Dict ionar y page 828 as, a
forest animal or a wild beast , game of any kind, ( esp) a deer, fawn, gazelle, ant elope,
st ag, musk- deer, R. V. , &c. &c . Thus accor ding t o him it means anyt hing but a lion!
Even in our day t o day conversat ions, Mriga in Sanskrit or Hindi is known as a deer .
Kalidasas Abhigyan Shakunt alam has a legend at t ached t o it , as king Dushyant a was
hunt ing a lovely Mr iga ( deer) of t he Kanva Ashrama when he met Shakunt ala! Pandit
Shankar Dut t Shast ri and Shivnat h Ahit agni also have t ranslat ed it as a t errible animal
t hey have not referred t o it as a lion. However, Sayana Acharya has t ranslat ed t his
Mant ra as a . like a t errible lion residing in forest s . I t must be not ed here t hat it is a
similie wit h t he lion r at her t han a reference t o Vishnu t he lion himself! We must also
know t hat lions do not live in mount ains but in forest s, since t hey cannot t olerat e cold
weat her on t he mount ains, especially of nort hern clime!
The t hird Mant ra says, Let t his prayer/ praise reach t he highly ext olled Vrishna
who resides on t he mount ains . This word Vrishna has been t ranslat ed by Sir William
Monier on page 1012 as drawn by st allions ( as a chariot ) RV. ; being among
st allions; possessing or br inging great wealt h RV . Shankar Dut t Shast ri and Shivnat h
Ahit agni have t ranslat ed it as nar- pashu i. e. half man and half animal like a
Narasimha . Sayanacharya has t ranslat ed it as one who rains best ows- - t he desired
result s somet hing akin t o Moniers connot at ion as possessing or bringing great
wealt h . This word does not have any connot at ion of a bull . Maybe Vrishna is being
confused wit h Vrisha or Vrishabha - - - a Bull . Even if it is agreed t hat Vishnu has
been compared wit h Vrishna which means t he bull, it is also a moot point as t o
whet her bulls really r eside on mount ains rat her t han plains unless we are t alking
especially of Nandi t he vehicle of Lord Shiva!
The fift h Mant ra says, May I at t ain t hat abode of Vishnu where t he god- loving
men enj oy, since He ( Vishnu) alone is t he real bandhu . This word bandhu means,
according t o Monier Williams, ( page 721) relat ion i. e. relat ive, kindred, kinship ( RV. ) .
I n ot her words, it means anyt hing but a friend . Shankar Dut t Shast ri and Shivnat h
Ahit agni have t ranslat ed it as bandhav a close relat ive. Sayanacharya has t ranslat ed
it as bandhubhut o hit akaro which means a well wisher like a very close relat ive . I n
our day t o day prayers we repeat very oft en, Tvam eva mat a cha pit a t vam eva, t vam
eva bandhuh cha sakha t vam eva O Almight y, You ar e my mot her, my fat her, my
bandhu i. e. kindred and my sakha i. e. a friend. I n ot her words, Sanskrit language
different iat es bet ween a sakha a friend and a bandhu i. e. ( close) kin . You can say
a bandhu is a bandhu and a sakha is a sakha- - - a fr iend is a fr iend; a kindred is a
kindred
Aurobindo, one of t he great est yogis of modern t imes, is said t o have t ranslat ed
t hese t hree words Mr igah , Vrishnah and Bandhuh as LI ON, BULL and FRI END
respect ively. Obviously, he must have given a running t ranslat ion inst ead of a word for
word one, which t he rashi- linkers are t rying t o do! Aurbodindo could never have even
imagined, in spit e of his being a Yogi, t hat aft er his deat h his int erpret at ion would be
linked t o a non- exist ent , so called fixed Rashichakra by his disciples.
Presuming for a moment t hat by Bandhu a friend is meant , but what does t hat
have t o do wit h t he ast rological sign Aquar ius t hat is supposed t o mean a pit cher ? One
can underst and t he connect ion bet ween t he lion and Simha rashi, or bet ween t he Bull
and Vr isha rashi but what on eart h has a fr iend t o do wit h a pit cher i. e. Kumbha
Rashi. I t is wort hwhile t o indicat e here t hat a pit cher is a pit cher and a fr iend is a
29
friend ! Surprisingly, t hese t hree are supposed t o refer t o fixed signs but ir onically
neit her t he lion nor t he bull and least of all t he friend are fixed . So t hey do not
have any common charact erist ics wit h t he fixed rashis which t hey are supposed t o
represent in t he Vedas. Then even Aurobindo himself has not st at ed anywhere t hat t he
bull and t he lion and t he bandhu were t he t hree measuring milepost s for Vishnu!
On t her ot her hand all t he t ranslat ors and int erpret ers are unanimous t hat t hese are t he
likenesses of Vishnu a lion, a bull and a bandhu ! So why misint erpret t hem t o suit
some ones fancy? That is not service but disservice t o t he Hindu communit y as a whole,
which has already been bogged down by so many misint erpret at ions about t he so called
Rashichakra!
Tapasya and Rashi chak r a!
To say t hat some seer has visualized t his int erpret at ion of some ast rological
signs ( Rashis) dur ing medit at ion is t o give licence t o every one t o claim having visualized
his or her wishful t hinking in medit at ion! I n fact , charlat ans claim t hat t hey have
int uit ion! I may equally claim t hat during medit at ion I visualized t hat some people were
t rying t o play pranks wit h us by claiming t o have visualized a link bet ween t he
ast rological rashis and Vedic Mant ras!
Medit at ion is a dangerous t ool. There is a j oke in Kashmiri. A t hug went t o t he
son of a deceased rich man and claimed t hat his fat her had visit ed him ( t he t hug) in t he
dreams and asked him t o claim some munificence from his son. The son infor med him
t hat his fat her had visit ed him ( t he son) also in t he dream and war ned him t hat so- and-
so would claim t o have visit ed him in a dream and st ake a claim t o some munificence!
The t hug ret ort ed, Your fat her is a liar- - - he t old me somet hing in my dreams and has
t old you exact ly an opposit e t hing in your dreams . So t hese medit at ions are like
dreams - - - even hallucinat ions and may inform someone exact ly of t he opposit e
meaning t o t he realit y! Bet t er beware!

Ast r ol ogi cal Ages :
When t hese ast rologers say t hat t hey are wait ing wit h a bait ed breat h for t he
Aquarian Age, what t hey mean is t hat t he Vernal Equinox will regress int o t hat
Const ellat ion and not t he Rashi of t hat name! I t is act ually an ast ronomical
phenomenon. I t will t ake place exact ly in t he year 2597 AD. Similar ly, when it is said
t hat t he First Point of Ar ies regressed int o Pisces, t hey mean t he Const ellat ion Pisces
and not t he Rashi of a similar name whet her sayana or so called nirayana! West ern
ast rologers have delinked t he Rashis from t heir namesake const ellat ions and mercifully
declared t hem openly t o be t ropical and relat ed t o seasons. On t he ot her hand, Vedic
ast rologers are clinging t o non exist ing myt hs.
Besides, ast ronomically, it is not only t he Vernal Equinox t hat has t o be
explained/ evaluat ed/ co- relat ed t hen while precessing from one const ellat ion t o t he
ot her but even t he Aut umn Equinox as well as bot h t he Solst ices. We cannot overlook
t he fact t hat t here was a t ime in hoary past when Wint er Solst ice was supposed t o be
t he beginning of t he new solar year in I ndia as per t he Vedanga Jyot isha and even as per
Sushrut a Samhit a, as seen already. Equally import ant is t he fact t hat Aut umn Equinox is
t he Spring Equinox and Summer Solst ice t he Wint er Solst ice of Sout hern regions.
The only t hing we have t o remember is t hat in such cases t he act ual divisions of
const ellat ions, and not t he art ificial nakshat ras or Rashichakras, are t aken int o accout by
ast ronomers. I nst ead of concent rat ing j ust on t he VE, on t he ot her hand, ast r onomers
t ry t o int egrat e such precessional regressions of t he four cardinal point s over t he last
several millennia wit h t he evolut ionary cycle.

The zodi ac and t he si gns:
Li nk s bet w een t he names of const el l at i ons and ast r ol ogi cal si gns:
Here also an int erest ing quest ion arises as t o why did ast rologers best ow such
names of equal divisions t o unequal const ellat ions!
I n t his regard we quot e t he act ual words verbat im from pages 192- 194 of t he
Report of t he Calendar Reform Commit t ee, under t he heading The zodiac and t he signs
30
The early ast ronomers must have found t hat t he suns pat h in t he heavens was
almost fixed, while t hat of t he moon, and of t he planet s, which acquired for ast rological
reasons great import ance from about 1200 BC, st rayed some degrees t o t he nort h and
sout h of t he eclipt ic.
I n case of t he moon t he deviat ion from t he eclipt ic was found t o be not much
great er t han 5 degrees, but some of t he planet s st rayed much more; in t he case of
Venus, her perpendicular dist ance from t he eclipt ic rises as high as 8 degrees. So a belt
was imagined st raying about 9 nort h and 9 sout h of t he eclipt ic, in which t he planet s
would always remain in course of t heir movement . This belt came t o be known as t he
Zodiac.
The complet e cycle of t his belt was divided int o 12 equal sect ors each of 30 and
each sect or called a Sign. The signs st art ed wit h one of t he point s of int ersect ion of t he
eclipt ic and t he equat or, and t he first sign was called Aries aft er t he const ellat ion of
st ars wit hin it . The names of t he succeeding signs are given in Table No. 8 on t he next
page, in which:
The first column gives t he beginning and ending of t he signs, t he vernal
equinoct ial point being t aken as t he origin.
The second column gives t he int ernat ional names which are in Lat in wit h t he
symbols used t o denot e t he signs.
The t hird column gives t heir English equivalent s.
The fourt h column gives t he Greek names. They are synonymous wit h t he
int ernat ional names.
The fift h column gives a set of alt ernat ive names for t he signs given by
Varahamihir a.
The sixt h column gives t he I ndian names.
The sevent h column gives t he Babylonian names.
Table 8 --- Zodiacal Signs
Different names of zodiacal signs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Signs
from t o
Lat in
name
English
equival.
Greek
name
Varaha-
Mihira
I ndian
name
Babylonian
names&meaning
0 - 30 Aries Ram Krios Kriya Mesha Ku / I ku ( Ram)
30 - 60 Taurus Bull Tauros Taburi Vrishabha Te- t e ( Bull)
60 - 90 Gemini Twins Didumoi Jit uma Mit huna Masmasu( Twins)
90 - 120 Cancer Crab Karsinos Kulira Karkat a Nangar u ( Crab)
120- 150 Leo Lion Leon Leya Simha Aru ( Lion)
150- 180 Virgo Virgin Part henos Pat hona Kanya Ki ( Virgin)
180- 210 Libra Balance Zugos Juka Tula Nur u ( Scales)
210- 240 Scorpio Scorpion Scorpios Karupa Vrischika Akrabu( Scorpion
240- 270 Sagit t arius Archer Tozeut es Tauksika Dhanuh Pa ( Archer)
270- 300 Capricorn Goat Ligoxeros Akokara Makara Sahu ( Goat )
300- 330 Aquarius Water Bearer Gdroxoos Hrdroga Kumbha Gu (Water carrier)
330- 360 Pisces Fish I cht hues Ant yabhya Mina Zib ( Fish)
I t can be easily inferred from t he ( above) Table t hat t he names are of Babylonian
origin, but t heir exact significance is not always known. .
I t is seen t hat Varahamihiras alt ernat ive names given in column ( 5) are simply
t he Greek names corrupt ed in course of t ransmission and as adopt ed for Sanskrit ; wit h
t he except ion of t he name for Scorpion, which is given as Kaurpa. This has phonet ic
analogy wit h t he corresponding Babylonian sign names Akrabu for Scorpion. The purely
Sanskrit names given in column ( 6) are all t ranslat ions of Greek names wit h t he
except ions of:
( 3) Twin which become Mit huna or Amorous Couple.
( 9) t he Archer, which becomes t he Bow,
( 10) t he Goat , which becomes t he Crocodile
( 11) Wat er bearer, which becomes t he Wat erpot .
Some of t hem appear t o have been t ranslat ions of Babylonian names.
31
The Babylonian names, as int erpret ed by F. K. Ginzel ( in his bookpublished in
1906- - Handbuch der Mat hemat ischen und Technischen Chronologie, Bd. I . Leipzig) are
given in t he sevent h column, wit h t heir meanings.
I t is t hus seen t hat t he names of t he zodiacal signs are originally of Babylonian
origin. They were t aken over almost wit hout change by t he Greeks, and subsequent ly
by t he Romans, and t he Hindus, from Graeco- Chaldean ast rology. .
These signs were t aken up by almost all nat ions in t he cent uries before t he
Christ ian er a on account of t he significance at t ached t o t hem by ast rologers. I n Greece,
t hey were first supposed t o have been int roduced by t he early Greek ast ronomer
Cleost rat os, an ast ronomer who observed about 532 BC in t he island of Tenedos off t he
Hellespont who int roduced t he designat ion Zodiac t o describe t he belt of st ars about t he
eclipt ic. The t welve Zodiacal Signs are not known in older r it ualist ic I ndian lit erat ure
like t he Brahmanas. They appear t o have come t o I ndia in t he wake of t he Macedonian
Greeks or of nat ions like t he Sakas who were int ermediaries for t ransmission of Greek
cult ure t o I ndia. .
The hesit at ion of medieval ast ronomers in accept ing precession can be easily
underst ood. Most of t hem earned t heir livelihood by pract ising t he Ast rological Cult
which was r eared on t he basis t hat t he signs of t he zodiac are fixed, and coincident wit h
cert ain st ar- groups; but t his assumpt ion crumbles t o t he ground if precession is
accept ed. But as hist orical records now show, t hough ast ronomers had clearly
recognised t hat t he init ial point should be t he point of int ersect ion of t he equat or and t he
eclipt ic, t here was no unanimit y even amongst ancient ast ronomers of different ages
regarding t he locat ionof t his point in t he heavens because it was not occupied by any
prominent st ar at any epoch and t he ancient s were unaware of t he import ance of it s
mot ion

Rashi chak r a w as i mpor t ed i nt o I ndi a f r om Baby l on v i a t he Gr eek s:
We have seen t hat t he so called Mesha et c. Rashichakra cannot be linked t o any so
called sidereal i. e. const ellat ional zodiac. So t he only alt ernat ive left for t he Vedic Rishis
was t o have invent ed or discovered a Rashichakra linked t o t he seasonal mont hs! Let
us t ry t o underst and as t o how sheepish our Vedic Rishis would have looked t oday if t hey
had really done so! We know t hat t he first mont h of t he Vasant a Season is known as
Madhu and t he mont h of Vernal Equinox as Madhav as per t he Vedas. Let us suppose
t hat t hese mont hs were also named Mina and Mesha by our Vedic Rishis! But t hen Mina
means a Fish and Mesha a Ram in Sanskr it and t he quest ion ar ises as t o why t hey
would have named t he mont hs like t hat ? Even our ext raordinarily int elligent Vedic
ast ronomers cannot discern any resemblance bet ween t he Spring season and Fishes
or Rams ! ! Similar ly, according t o our Vedic ast ronomers like Subhas Kak t hey had
named Shukra as Vrisha ( a Bull! ) and Shuchi as Mit huna i. e. an amorous couple ! We
know t hat t hese t wo mont hs are of Grishma i. e Summer - - - hardly having any
resemblance t o eit her a Bull or an amorous couple . By t he same logic why should
t hey have named Summer Solst ice - - - Nabhah - - as Karkat a since it does not at all look
like a Crab nor does t he mont h of Nabhasya ( rains) resemble at all a Simha - a
Lion! . Simlarly, t he mont h of I sha of Sharad Rit u has no resemblance t o a Kanya a
Virgin . The second mont h of Shar ad Rit u viz. Urj a- - - t he Aut umn Equinox- - - is t he only
mont h rat her t he only day when it can be said t o resemble a Tula - Scales since t he
day and night are equal t hen t hroughout t he globe! The mont h of Sahas of Hemant Rit u
has not hing t o do wit h Vrishchika A Scorpion unless it is t o get a st ing in our
hands by t rying t o erect a Rashichakra! The mont h of Sahasya is supposed t o have been
named Dhanu a bow or an Archer! The most ironic part of it is t hat t he mont hs of
Tapa and Tapasya t he lat t er also being t he Wint er Solst ice are supposed t o resemble
Makar and Kumbha a goat when act ually Makar means a Crocodile and Kumbha a
Pit cher! Unfort unat ely for t hese Vedic ast ronomers our Vedic Rishis did not invent any
such Racshichakra wit h such fant ast ic names, and t hat is what is bot hering t hem and
t hat is why t hey are hell- bent t o prove t hat t hey did do so - - which act ually proves t he
ignorance of t hese Vedic ast ronomers and of course, Kaliyugi Jyot ishis who call
t hemselves Vedic Jyot ishis.
32
We have t hus proved conclusively t hat t he Vedic Rishis did not eit her invent or
discover a Rashichakra named Mesha et c. Rashis because t hey were not t hat
illit erat e t o have done so and make a fool of t hemselves. I t is only our modern Vedic
ast ronomers besides Vedic ast rologers who are ascr ibing a Rashichakra t o our Vedic
Rishis! I t eludes ones imaginat ion as t o why t hey are hell- bent t o make a laughing
st ock of our Vedic Rishis by way of ascr ibing t o t he Rishis an invent ion which t hey
never did j ust t o belit t le t he claim t hat t he Rashichakra wit h t he nomenclat ure of Mesha
( Ram) et c. rashis was invent ed by Babylonians! I f we are t he real followers of our Vedic
Rishis, even if t hey had invent ed such a Rashichakra, we should have t ried t o
undermine t hat invent ion since it brings hardly any credit t o anyone t o ascribe a
discovery t o our exalt ed Rishis which would have made a mess of everyt hing!

Vedi c ast r ol oger s/ ast r onomer s i n a Cat ch- 22 si t uat i on: The real t ragedy wit h
Kaliyugi Jyot ishis is t hat t hey were already making a fool of t he general public by
making correct predict ions in t he name of Hindu ast rology . However, under t he
guidance of some avaricious overseas Vamadevas out of sheer greed t o mint more
and more money t hey t ried t o ride t he t iger of Vedic ast rology wit h t he pious hope t hat
t hey would be able t o somehow befool t he common man. They succeeded t o a great
ext ent but unfort unat ely for t hem, t hey have been caught on t he wr ong foot ult imat ely.
Out of sheer fr ust rat ion t hey are now t rying t o rope in some real scholars also t o prove
t hat not only t he so called nir ayna Rashichakr a ( t hat is t he act ual meaning of sidereal
zodiac according t o t hese Kaliyugi Jyot ishis) but even predict ive ast rology and even t he
Chaldean names of Mesha, Vrishabha et c. did exist in t he Vedas! Fie on such
Vamadevas , Parasharas and Varahamihir as who are a slur on t he name of all t hose
whose namesakes t hey are t rying t o be. Also fie on t hose scholars who, Just out of
fear of losing t heir cr umbs which t hese Vamadevas t hrow on t hem, t ry t o wag t heir
t ails like st reet - dogs by changing t heir st ances j ust at t he drop of hat !

Vedi c ast r ol ogy - - - t he gr eat est hoax bei ng pl ay ed on an unsuspect i ng
gul l i bl e Hi ndu maj or i t y : We have seen t hat t here are not - - - in fact t here cannot be -
- - any Rashis ast rological signs - - - in t he Vedas. There are no planet s like Mercury,
Mars and Sat urn much less Uranus, Nept une and Plut o in t he Vedas. Obviously,
predict ive ast rology, whet her Vedic or ant i- Vedic - - is based on t hese very
cornerst ones viz. rashis and planet s! And bot h are absent in t he Vedas! So long live
Vedic ast rology sans t he Rashis and planet s!

Vedi c ast r ol ogy has no l egs t o st and upon:
Now t hat we have seen t hat t her e are no Rashis not even Sayana, not t o
speak of so called Nirayana - - - in t he Vedas, obviously Vedic Ast rology has no legs t o
st and upon as no Vedic Ast rologer has as yet claimed t o be able t o make successful
predict ions wit hout resort ing t o t he Rashis in t he birt h chart or any ot her chart for t hat
mat t er! Therefore, if any Vedic scholar prophesises t he exist ence of not only Rashis
and t hat also Nirayana besides Ast rology ( Jyot ish) in t he Vedas, he is eit her not a
Vedic scholar at all or he is j ust kowt owing t he line of swarming Vedic Ast rologers out
of ult erior mot ives. Fie on such scholars and t heir scholarship!

Rashi s have t o be Sayana: I f at all we have t o live wit h Mesha, Vrishabha et c. Rashis,
we must choose t he lesser of t wo evils, viz. a Sayana Rashi- chakra and de- link it
complet ely from t he const ellat ional belt as is done by West ern ast rologers . I t is bet t er
t o admit t hat it is a Chaldean discovery/ invent ion and we are using it only because
everybody else is using it , inst ead of ascribing it t o our Vedic Rishis. I f at all we have t o
link t he so called nakshat ra division of 27 nakshat ras, it is bet t er t o link it t o t hese very
seasonal rashis as was done in t he t ime of Alberuni ( Please see page 99 of my Shr i
Krishen Universal Ephemeris for 2001) . For t hat mat t er, even Vishnudharmot ara has
done t he same t hing, i. e. linked t he nakshat ras t o Sayana Rashis which have been made
inseparable from Ayanas and Vishuvas et c. Acharya Abhinavgupt a has linked t he Rashis
33
t o seasons and cardinal point s and his comment at or Jayarat ha has explicit ly explained
t he same t hing vide his comment ary on Tant raloka - -

Om Tat Sat Brahmarpanam Ast u