Principles of Jyotish

Jyotish, or Indian astrology, believes quite strongly on the influence of the celestial bodies on the occurrences on earth, and more so, on the human body in particular. Each and every movement that occurs in the skies has its repercussions on the activities that take place on the earth, and this is what astrology deals with. The basic premise of Jyotish is to first study these changes, and then seek out measures to offset negative changes. This can only be done by a careful study of the chart which shows all the positions of the main celestial bodies during the time when the person was born. Such as birth horoscope chart is known as a kundali.

The importance of kundali in a person’s life cannot be stressed enough. Indian Hindus believe very greatly in the kundali, and it plays a very important role in deciding auspicious times for actions. Marriages, inaugurations, foundations, etc. are all done in accordance with the muhurtha, i.e. auspicious time, as indicated in a person’s kundali.

Though Jyotish cannot change anything that is in the kundali, measures can be taken to plan future events in such a way that there are very few negative repercussions of the activity. The same can be said about diseases.

Diseases and Jyotish

Diseases are caused due to vitiation of the vata, pitta or kapha doshas in the human body. This is according to Ayurvedic beliefs. The human body is governed by these three doshas or humors. The vata is the wind element, pitta is the fire element and kapha is the element that inter-relates the earth and the water elements. In this way, the human body can be said to be governed to a large extent by the nature that surrounds it.

The doshas are quite positional in the body. Vata dosha resides in the lower part of the body, i.e. in the lower limbs and the genitals; pitta resides in the middle part, i.e. the digestive system and the kapha dosha resides in the upper part of the body, which is the chest and the head regions. Each of these regions of the body is also governed by the external factors such as the stars and planets in the sky. Therefore, the kundali chart would also tell how much the body can be affected by the celestial bodies and what measures can be taken in order to offset these problems.

The Nakshatras and the Human Body

Nakshatra is the name given to the zodiac signs that are present even in western astrology. There are twelve of these nakshatras, quite similar to western astrology. Each of the nakshatra is influential on a particular part of the human body. The following chart shows the body parts that are influenced by the twelve nakshatras.

The Jyotish Shastra believes the human body to be a Kalpurusha, i.e. an embodiment of the being governed by time. This Kalpurusha is influenced by the nakshtras. Hence it is very important to know which nakshatra a person is born in. The particular nakshatra in which a person is born is called as a raashi. Raashi is as important to a person’s being as the zodiac sign is in western astrology. It influences various characteristics of the person, and it also influences where the person will be vulnerable and where not. In other words, the nakshatras predetermine what physical condition the person might suffer from in the future.

Apart from the zodiac governing factors that are mentioned in the above table, there are various other nakshatras that live within the body of the person. It is important to know about these resident nakshatras too.

Hence, nakshatras do not just influence the body from outside, they also act from within.

The Planets and the Human Body

Planets in astrology are different than those in astronomy. In astrology, sun and moon are included in the planets and so are rahu and ketu, the head and tail of the demon respectively. All these have far-reaching effects on the human body. The following table shows what the different planets govern in the human body.

Thus it can be seen that the human body is very much governed by several bodies in the sky. A complete study of the human body is possible only when these celestial governing bodies are taken into account.