Astrological Self Instructor 1893

o T·HE

ASTROLOGICAL SELF INSTRUCroR.

IlY

B. SURYANARAIN ROW, B. A. AUTHOR OF

A Short Compendium of Astrology, . MANUAL OF CHESS,

,·:..J'llb.lIe,e Sketeb of'tbe Queen-Emprc!i8 Vletc...ia.

Geographical Primer, The Astrological

Prj mer,

etc. etc. ele. SECOND EDITION IMPROVED,

All ,';ghts re8el'Ved.

DELLARY; PRINTED AT TUR: NEIJTRAL PRESS ,

1893.

Price

P~l'

r.opy R. , 1-4-fl,

['opt :111(\ "l

1 l\ ...

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. Ten y.a~s ago, I p ..blished a .mall pamphlet on the subject of Astrology in English and Kana•••e. It was my maiden attempt and the venture proved successful beyond my oxpectation.. The prtlllont great demand for it shows that I was not mistaken in my labonrs. V..rion. oircnm.tances prevented me from publisbing this book ""rlier and. my humble labours, snch ..s they are, I hope, weill prepare the way for those, who did not take themselves to the sublime !ltndy of Astrology, simply for want of elementary books on tbe suhject. I cannot close these lin •• without expres.ing my obligatien to my fneRd V. Subbaraya MadHsr, English Head Clerk, Collector's Offioe, Banary, ror tho help he gave me both in the preparation of the book, and in the revision of press proofs. B. SURYANARAIN ROW, B. A.

March 1892, } Bellltry, India.

..

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The sale of a 1,000 copies of my Astr%g;fI.Ll :Self Instruc/or within 4 or :; months after its publication is .. certain proof that there i ... very great demand for e...y and elementary treatises by competent men on th" an ab.orbing subject. I I ..toly published another book called the A.trological Primer and it has been equally acceptable to the discerning public. The patronage of the educated gentlemen and the most flattering lIlm&l.'ka regarding my Il'ltrological publications have encouraged, me to devote more of my time to the explanation of ita teohnical principles, andl have, "" .. preliminary slep, added in this edition iIIustr..tive horoscopes of living lind. de ..d persons. Thii!, the reader will see, i ... very greo.tinpl'Ovement in the right direction. As the editor of tho "Argus,"Madras,for nearly four ye..rs I had ample opport1,1nities of weighing the editorial opinions of the Indian Newspapers,and thus I feel no necessity to submit a scientific book for N ow.paper reviews. In mllny their opinion. """ utterly valneless and greatly prejudiced. Th" public are the best critics and to them I willingly aubmit the following pages for acceptance .

0.....

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B. SURYANARAIN ROW, B. A. Aprig,1893, } Bella.ry, 10 di •.

DEDICATION. To, B. JAGANATHA ROW, MYSORE SEllVICE.

As a token of the long and pleasant hpurs spent from childhood io ...n its ph....,. of development in yonI.' company and the .incere interest evinced by you in my progress, this book is lovingly dedicated to you by your affectionate brother, The Author.

AUTHORITIES. The following authors ..nd books h ..ve been consulted in the preparation ofthis work. Vasist.., N anda, S ..kthi, P .. r ........, Vy..., Vi.hnugllpta, nevala, M"ya, Yavan .., Jaimini, Manith", Satyach.. ry.., Jiv .....rma, :Mandavy.., Bharadwaja, Gargi,Sanko.rachary". Vidyo.,..,nyo., Bhattot· pal.., V.....h..mi/Jir""ho.ryll, KaJamrnt/L, Sa,varthacllinta· m":,,i, M..n..... gari. Moohurthamarthanda, MQOhurthaga.napatby, lIoohurthdarpan.. , Gopalaratnak",ra, Sar.au.!;" Na~shatrachudam ..ni, Jainandram"I.., Ooduda.sapradipio k .., J"ta.k ..lankara, Jat..kakalanidhi, Yogavali, Ke."lam. and other ancient ...nscrit hooks. In the Introduction I have consulted the works of Roscoe, Kirchoff, Stewart, Johnson, Tyndal, Spencer, Bain, Huxley" Proctor, Herscbell, Lardner, Maxwell

Lockeya.r lind other eminent scientists.

J

CONTENTS.

...

Introduction ...

P ....a ••• ...1-70

CHAPTE&-,l. Y.a•• of the Hindu cycle Hindu months "nd Ayanas ... , Hilldu seasons or Ruth". Hindu constellations ... Identification mark. for constellations Zodia.cal signs ... N..meB of the planets .. . Gqod and evil planets .. . Symbols "sed for planets anil zodiacal signs Movable and fixed signs CtimmOR, IDMouline; cruel, 'feminine, mild, nocturnai, diurnal, Sirshodaya, Pr11sf;Odaya, 00bhayooaya sign. •.. Signs representing the various. organs Planeta1'y ""poets . Friendship etc, among the planets •.• Temporary fciandship .. . PI..neta1'y N"turas .. . Fi01'y, Earthy. Heavenly, Watery "nd Airy pI". ••. nets. ... Planetary colors .... Planetary dir""tions and represen.tations ... Quadrants, Trien.. ... Oopachayams or improving honse" '" Pauapamms and Aupoklimams Planetary exaltations:.. Do. Debilitations. Moolathrikonams .. , Do-

71 71 72 72

..

73 T4

...

74 74 '15

75 76 76 76 77 78 79

...

... ... ..

80 80 80 80 81 81 81 81

81

CONTENTS.

11

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, Periods of planetary revolutions Retrograde and acceU.rated motiQlls. Combust planets PI .....tary characteristics Hora Period. of the ZodiaOl.1 signs .. Origen of the week-days Dro.kkanam, Navamsa.m and Dwadasamsam

82

...

82 8:1

sa

...

Thrimsamsam ..

84

85 85 86

87 87

...

9

Significations of the difforent signs ... Shaetillms". '" Planetary Vergas Signification of the Houses .. _ CHAPTElt-Il.

...

89 89 90

... ...... ... ....-. . .. ... . .. ... ... ...

Planetary states. ... Planetary ocoupations .. , .. Planetary Periods or DasOJl .;. Planetary Sub-Periods. Table of Planetary Sub-Periods CHAPTER-III. How to !illd the birth sign ... D.ath in Early life or B"larista Counteracting infiuences for early death Short li£e , Middle me '" Long life. UIIlimited periods of life CHAPTER-IV.

91

93 93

'

97 98

...

100

.,'

103

107 108 ]09

...... ... ... ..... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Misfortunes

...

•••

...

... ...

, ..

...

CHAPTER-V. l'Janets in different houses

IlO

...

112

113 .

120

· CONTENTS.

111

The Sun in the 12 houses The M'oon do. Mars do. Mercury do' Jupiter do. Venus do. Saturn do. Dragon' 8 H elld do. Do. Tail do.

120

122 123 124

125 127

128 129 130

CHAPTER-VI.

...

Combinatiolls for Sovereiguty.

131

CHAPTER-VII. {Significations of the Sign•. First house Second house ... Third house Fourth house ... Fifth house Sixth hOUJ!8 Seventh house ... Eigth house Ninth house Tenth honse Eleventh house Twelfth house ...

135 137 141

...

142 146

...

......

148 150

155 156 158

... CHAPTER-VIlI.

'"

Miscellaneous Combination•. najju, Musala, NaIll., and Audh; yoga. Sun"phll, Anapha, Dhurdhum and Kemadrama yoga.... Varmma.t.lliyog:rt,.

160 161

163 16·1165

iv

CONTENTS.

Gada, Sakata, Vihaga, Hal .., Srnnll"tak.., Yo.op"', Ishu, But}'i, Dand.., Now, Koot.. yoga.... Chat,,,,, Dha""B, Ardachundra, Vallaki, Dam;ni, Pasa, Kedar .., Shul .., Yuga, Go\ak.. yogas

168 169

CHAPTER-IX. Lunar Effect....

170

CHAl'TER-X. Planetary Inftuences in the sign. . .. CHAPTER-XI.

175

... ...

Results of Planetary Aspects ...

179

CHAPTER-XU. Effects of Ex..lt..tion....

182

CHAPTER-XIII. Female Horoscopes ....

184

CHAPTER-XIV.

188 CHAPTER-XV. }Jost Horoscopes

'"

,

..

~

192

CHAPTER-XVI. Planetary Period. Appendix

195 '"

201

INTRODUCTION, •

I believe I am the first writer in India on the subjeet of Astrology in English. The very ....pid sale of my little pamphlet ou Astrology entitled" A Short Compendium of Astrology in English and Callaress" (2000 copies) published in 1882, and the subsequent great demand £"', more copies encouraged' me to issue an improved and . much enlarged edition. The exhaustive treatise promised by me to the. public wi!! he published later on. When completed it will he "good reference book both for students and adepts in this branch of know led!,,,,, and will als.o contain a largo number of illustrations and examples with a fine colored Zodiacal map of the heavenly planets. My book and the series of astrological lectures I delivered in my tonrs, I am sure, have created a good deal of interest in the minds of the educated public in India, and I am greatly encouraged in this view by the kind suggestions of several able men who have written to me on the subject, desiring me to treat Astrology morc SciCllti ti!lcally and meet such of those objections against its belief as could Le done with my limited knowledge and timo at command. Astrology has been much neglected and hastily judged, and it is a great pity that it has not been pr0pcrly and thoroughly· investigated. ~fy present attempt has been to produce a cheap and useful book, written in an easy and untcchnical style and to introduce the boginner to the higher hranches of tho Astrologicnl sciences withont many of tho::;c dimcultie~} which gen('rflily

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INTIWDt:CTIOS.

be8et works of this kind. Books treating on scientific and technical subjects should be as simple as po.oiLle if they are to be really useful to the general public. 'Vithiu the narrow compa.ss of this small primer it ,,,ill not be possible to attempt to reconcile satisfactorily th(· formula" of Astrology with the principles of the physical sciences. Bul anything said on this su bjeel will not be out of place in" work of this kind. Astrology like medici no is a practical science, and therefore requires to be handled as such. Even the different religious systems which have not been scientifically expla.ined or which cannot be so dealt with have lost much of their hold upon the enquiring mind.. It is as it ought to be,and we might reasonably e"peet healthy result. from such a state of things. Human intellect is stimulate';, enlarged, and developed, and sooner or later we must be prepared to meet witb I,hose religious, social and intellectual changes which aro tho indispensible forerunners of such critical times. The science of Astrology was assiduously cultivated by the best intellects the world had ever seen, and when so many geniuses, no mean ones judging them from their other works, believed in it, it would certainly be absurd to bring home to them the serious charges of ignorance and imposture. Vasista, Narada, Parasara, Vyasa, Jaimini, Manu, Varaha Mihiracharya, Sankaraeharya, Ramanujacharyl', Madhavacharya, Vidyaranya, Ohanikya, Budd.., Yavanacharya, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenese, Cicero, Oresar, Ptolomy, Copernicus, Kepler, Tycho Braho, Bacon, Newton, Confucius and other eminent men believed in Astrology and most of these have also written works on that subject. This is a matter which merits our careful attention. Most of these iIlllstrious men lived a saintly life and are honored for their intelledual greatnes,. 'l'he~'

INTllOIlDC1'lON.

:~

never stood in nee(\"1:Jr the fl'llits of their imposture and consequently we find no selfish or mean motive to actuate them to write upon "subject which thoy believed to be false. No man can he said to be competent to pronounce an opinion upon any subject unless and until he has devoted sometime to its study a.nd investigation.' The opinions of many of the educated youths of the present day aro to be held without any value until we know tbey have seriously thought over the matter. It has beco.me a. sort of fashion to laugh at things wllich they cannot understand or to which they are not willing to devote moch time. We need not blindly share in the helief ancients had far ""iences of this kind, but what justification clIn ,.a plead for rejecting them without "fair trial on our part to test their truth. If" ju.t v••-diet is to be returned, the large mas. Ol confusing evidence brought to be..r upon this point should be patiently sifted and carefnlly compared. Rec€'ut scientific researches have shown tkat .many of our much abused customs and manners ware the result ofa long and careful study of sanitary or hygenic principlas, and not tl10 arbitrary dicta of ignorant and self designing priests. I shan «mch on these facts elaborately in my comprehensive treatise on Astrology,. and show therein that what we can "superstitious and meaningless ceremoB nies and observances" were not mere convention:£lities, the result of soci.l or priestly tyranny, but rules founded upon human experience and scientific knowledge. There fire many questions which aD. astrol0'ger is expected to answer but which he does not or cannot answer. .Because a phenomenon cannot be intelligently explained with re~ ference t.o known scientific principlel!!}would it be £airon onr part to reject it altogether. It might take generation. or centuries before Vi'S get n. satisfactory solntion for it.

4

I~TRODl'C1'IOX.

Our ignorance of tho causes working to produce a. plumomenon, does not destroy the phenomenon itself; and in these caso. our duty is simple and plain. The first and tho most fOl'lnidable question with 'which an aSh-oIoger is gonerally assailed at the very threshold of his investigation is "how do the planets above influence the terrestrial phenomena below?" and if thoy do His it possible for man to find out their exact influences? H I am constrained to admit that this questiou involves a good deal of discussion before an ath~mpt can be nwde to answer it. In searchingafter scientific truths we need fear no discouragemont. N eithor' one man nor one age can perfect n. science. I t is always progressillg and such changes H8 lead to it:..: progl'OSB Inust be noted down and their causes searched aftpr. Therefore any attempt, howev~r humhlo it might bo, made to further its interests 01' explain its phenomena ,yill not he lost labour. The obstacles may be very great indeed, but they ne_ed not discom·age the sincere student of scienc,-",. The question above referred to llas three aspects in ,yhich it can be vim''tI3d)vlZ (1) planetary influences on.the physical constitution of maD, (2) planetary influences on his intellectual peculiarities} and \,3} planetary illfiuences on his RIJCCeSS or failure in life. These may be divided into £ul'ther sub-divisions} but it is not desirable to go deep into those unnecessary details in a primer of this kind. 'V cdas have been declared to be the oldest books now extant, and almost all the V cdic passages are capable of being intprpreted to explain tlte physical phenomena of the world. After explaining the physical phenomena, Vedas go a step further and deal wit,h anobler phenomenon the intellect of man, and its aims and objects with relation to its Creator. It is not advisable to plnnge deep into the metaphysical side of this question and thereforo avoiding all reference

INTHOnl::f.'TlON.

5

to it, I shall confillo myself. as closely as poss;!,]e to the explanation of the physical phenomena. HefeD'ence. to the great physical agents} viz, light, heat, electricity, lLa gnetism, gravitation, cohesion, adhe~ion and ehernical combination arB largely found in the Vedic paSSfk.g-es and these are fully explained in a treatise caned the ct Soudamiui Kala;" a part of w hieh is in tho possession of R. friend of mine. These subjects have been most eh.borately treated

in ouranci.ut books,but unhappily in" symbolic langu"g", which i:;;; notgeneraUy understood by the ordinary Pundits, and much less by the student. who commences his Vedio ~tndies. 1 shan briefly explain some of the rflasons which go to show that the physical constitutllfll or nUlll is uuder the direct influence of the planets. In approachiugRcient.ific subjectf'),- we must be as little prejudiced as possiblo and follow the rea'\oniug ca.refully. 'l'his ilS a sublime suhjectanll roquires fL ycry calm and patient study. By a close ohservation of our surroundings, we shall be able to draw S{)IDe inferences which have a grea.t scientific 'reightJ and the value of which depends considerahly upon the mode of our observation. All tho planets .hine hy horrowed light,} and hence ill theil' influences upon mankind they considerbly differ a. they take away something from the Snn~s rays and add something of their own ill the process of reflection. Further on it will be Shm'i'll, that influences from different planets are required to develope the different senSt~S of the man. Quotations hom the Vedas or Soudaminikala are qnite out of placo here, and those who are desirous to know more about these subjects are quite welcome to open correspondence with me. Herre I may take this opportunity of assuring my readers, and others, that on topics connected with this branch of,knowledge I shaH ftJways be willing to (~xplain ohjf'ction"l as far as

(j

lSTW)PC~

''1'IO;\' ,

I am able to do so .•J !IHt. as the time of one rotation of the Earth on its own axis COllst1tutes a day, so also the time

of one revolution rouud the Sun make." year. The duration of such years depend ou the system of calculation, but this will not be relevant to our point. rl~he Earth turns as well as the grea, luminary the SUD, and this double ruta.tion gives riae to aU the complicated phenomena we observe around '''. In the body of the Sun itself we Bee at intervals, vast dark spots, somB of them many times larger than the Earth we inhabit, appearing in several places, sometimes moving regularly a(~ro.".Is the San's disk, sometimes disappeal'ing rapidly in the spots they werefirst noticed,BOIDi'!time!-l receding from the body of the Sun to tremendous distances, and then again. fallin.g apparently with great velocity upon tho Sun's ..urIace. The... appearancf:'S and disappearances of 1,he Suu-spots are not withont their value iu science and the reader will do well to bear these facts in mind. Stich phenomena are eommGn. not only to the great luminary, but they may also be noticed in tho bodies of the other planets, These dark spots appear a.nd disappear, on some occa8iO-lls at ,'egularinterval., and on others apparently obeying no fixed laws. 'rho Sun is the chief BOllowe from which we get all Our light and heat, and the tert'estrial phenomena is considerably affected by the distribution of these tWI) agencies. (rho great natural forces of cohesion, adhesion, gt·a.vitatiOIli and chemical affinity have an universal. application'T and since these forces are constant and invm·iable,. it iq not reasonable to expect them to -work continuously and yet produce no results on the Earthly phenomena. If these

forces are universal,their infinenc.f.>s must also be nniversal, and wIlen we once grant the proposition t.hat they areunivf'rsn..l, the minutest atom in ml111fl' OhO}Fl thl"l:n, rtR the

iNTHOIJt!(''l'IUX.

7

largest compound brought into i. not n fixed body, around which the planets, including the garth, revolve but that it has a motion of its own through space. Even in the Suo· spots, the sorfac.. aro not uniform ally dock. 'i'hore a,'O degrees of darkness a.nd these are believed to he gigantic cavities, corresponding to different depths ill the body of the Sun. The coarse mottling of the H'un's surface duo to irregularities there, indicate lower levds wher~ the spots arc dark, and it i. natural to .uppose that in these parts, light is lo.t by absorption through the over-lying atmosphere. During total eclipses of the SUl! by the shadow of the Moon we see around the margin of tho disk variously colored prominences, and from these rea flames or fantnstical shapos, may be seen darting forth to the extent of 100 odoO thousand miles or oven to greater distances. These flames generally consist of the gas hydrogen and it is a significant fact, that this gas which forms so la.rge a portion of the wa.ter of the Eart.h, should also play tmeh an important part in the constitution of the Sun. 'rhe Sun is worD than 02 millions of miles fro111 t.he Earth) and at this tremendons

10

INTnODUUl'ION.

di.tanc e the effect. of tho Sun'. ray. are.o powerful, that all the te.,.oo(rial phenom ena are attribu ted to their infiuence. Spectr um analy.i . has shown the .xi.ten e. of a large numbe r of elements in the Suu, viz, hydroge1l, iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese, calcium, barium, lithium, Bodiam, nickel, copper, alumin ium etc. This list does not exhaus t the metallic and non-metallic elemen t. found therein , and when we refer to the composition of th" plant. and animals on the surf"" . of the Earth, wo see We hav" many of them, which at presen t seem to be indispen sibla to their growth and producti(>n. The elements are, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, iron, silica, manganese, magnesium, oolcium, sodium, and potassium. But we cannot say definitely that this list is exhaus tive, for if it were so, . the chemi. t can produc e all the plants withou t the help of Nature. We have not yet succeeded in 'discovering and analys ing "II the forees that aro at work in the produc tion of plants, and this circum stance mnst impress upon our minds tho necessity of develo ping these science•. morc and more to meet all our objections. From the surface of the Sun enormouS qu",ntitios of light and hoat aro continn ally being radiate d in all directions. The Earth we inhabi t. on ""coun t of its insigni ficant sizo and tremen dous distance from the Sun, can only receive but an extrem ely .mall quanti ty of the total amoun t which i. thus shed by the great lumina ry. Calculations have shown that the Earth receiv. s less than the two thousa nd millionth part of the tetal quanti ty of the Sun'. light and heat. All our natura l phenomona, which are entirel y depend ent npon solnr heat and light sre tbrefor e effected by this extrem ely minute fractio n of the Sun'••tor.s of energy . When the buge globe we inh.bit , with its inaccessible sDow-ciad

INTROm;C"rioN.

11

mountains, impassable oceans, mighty rivers, grand forests, and terrible .e"" of sand has been called into exi.tenea, MId i. maintained in all it. various ph"" •• by this infinite.imally small qu..ntity of the Sun's energy, what should be the fraction ofthe Slln'.light and heat, that would be required to call into e:x.istance,any mineral, vegetable orlln;oo ..1body. As the 00.... which makes .. mlln ;. to the m"". that forms onr globe so should be the proportion of the Snn'slight ..nd heat to caU the individual body into form to the total quantity of hi. energy .."c,,"...ry to maintain the globe ..t the incredible distance of more than 92 million. of mile•. 'Thi. quantity we have alreai'y represented by less than the two thousand millionth part of the total quantity of the Sun's light and h.at. Can we concieve what fr .."tion of the Earth a man is, and if we can, then, that fraction ofthe lesa than the two thousand millionth part of the Sun's energy will be quite enongh to bring an individual into existence, and destroy him agaiu. I .hall here work a few figur ... which show the extreme difficulty of conceiving this minute ..tom of the Sun's force, which i. required to build up and destroy an individual. The Earth sweeps round the Snn on an orbit more than 180,000,000 ruiles in diameter and the sta... remain all but unchanged in their apparent position. 'I'he Sun'. diameter i. 850,000 miles. Ii tho Earth is represented in mass as1, the Sun'. mass i. 318,000 times larger than the E ..rth. The volume of the Sllll i. 1,260,000 times larger than that of the Earth. At equal distances, the Sun exerts 315,000 times as much force on any body as the Earth. So that if the mass of the Earth were as great as the Snn'B his dimensions remaining w.whutged an object which now weighs one lb. would weigh more than 32,480Ibs. A man now of average weight would be cru8h~d down by a weight of more than 20,000 tOll•.

]2 A body if raised but one inch and than let rall would strike the ground with a velocity throe times as g"eat as that of the swiftest express train.

Let us take an example by whieh we may try to have an idea. of the iucoucivable fraction of the Sun's stores of energy required to influence an individual and bring him

into .xistenoo. Fixing the population of the world roughly at 2,000 millions, and supposing for one instance that the Earth contains no more mineral, vegetable or animal matter, but is solely composed of hum~n beings, then, we see that the solar energy requ.ired fOl" one man will be two thon~ ... IId millionth part of the minute fraction of the Sun'spower that the Earth gets from hin:. 01' " ' - - " - - ] " ' - I h 4,O()O,OOO,OOU,OOO,OOO,OOO, part of the Sun's power radiated into space. We know there are animal species, each division of which conta.ins millions and billions of individual.. 'l'ake the number of anima}. of all descriptions and say we have 1,000,000,000, 000. 'l'h'lll the Sun's influence required for each individual of this class will he less th,,,, the billiontb part of tho fraction of the Sun's power which the globe gets as it. share among the planets, which, sit we have already seen, is less than the two thousand millionth part of the whole power radillted into space. Therefore each animal will 1 Imve to get less thau 2 J 000, 000, ()ii'ooooooO 000 000 th , part of the whole. In this Msa as in the preceding wo have to imagine for a moment that tho E~arth contains no other than animal matter alone. }oran must of course be excluded from the animal specios. 'I'aka the birds of the Earth and try to find out their number. We are of course attempting to perform impossible things. Granting thoir Dumber, for the sake of simple calculation to be more than I

:;

DiT ROnl:CT fOX.

1,000,000 tim~s the number of animal •• and supposing for a single moment that the Earth's masiiJ iii! com~ posed of bird matter alone, each individual bird gets one millionth into one billionth p ..rt of the fraction of tho Sun'. ,ays ~iz. less than two thousand millionth part or

1 . th fraction of 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 the 801ar power. Go a step further and find out the number of animalcu]re in the world. It seems to be more easy for man to attempt to count the grains of •• nd in the sea than to attempt to number the animalculm, when we remember, that .. drop of blood of the musk deer beld by the point of" fine needle contains millions of corpusles or living organisms. Now re.ader if you can find out tho number of plants on the aurface of the Eal,th, and the numbsl' of fl'uits they heal". Then ."ch of tho fmit. will h"V6 that fraction of the solar heat which is represented by their tot!l.l number multiplied by two thousand millions the fraction of the solar ellergy. the Earth gets to produce its tcnoBtrial phenomena. In this ."se also we have to suppose that the Earth i. solely composed of the vegetable matter But jf we take the number of molecules, forming our earthy compounds mineral, veget!l.ble and animal, and try to find out wbat fraction of the Bolal' energy is wanted for each object, we have no mathematics which enables us to compre... hend their value. It would, I am afraid be more easy for us to fly to the solar regions and compell the great luminary itself to give us some figures, consistent with l1is incoudevable colossal magnitude a,nd power than to attempt to figure to ourselves these fractions of fractions, until we are lost in the .wondrous regions of numbers. Our imagination recoil. in attempting this impossible task and reason goes mad to solve an insolvable problam,

IN'l'RODlJC'l'ION.

Irno.gine now what will be the proportion of the rn""" of an individual, to the mass of the globe, and see if it is possible to find out the fruction of ~he Sun'. influence till" i. ne.d.d to cal! it into existence "nd destroy it "gain for redistribution in natura. Gravita.tion i. not confined to tho Earth, but is exerted in various degrees by every mass of matter in the U niTe:rse~ When two bodies attract each other the greater the ",att"" the greater i. the intensity of the attr&ctive force. The Sun is a gigantic ma"" of m ..tt.r and at.tracts "II bodi.s which move round it. Astronomers have discovered more than 180 planet., which thus revolve round the Sun but hy far tho greater number are small and insignificant. 8 of them are large planets of which our Earth is one, and as our obsArvations are m"de to soo th" planetary influences upon the terrestrial !,hanomena, we are principa.lly ooncerned with tha rem .. ining saven which the ancients had already marked by significant names. All these planets are reta.ined in their orbit. by th'air gravitation towards the Sun which as already explained forms the great centre of the planetary system. Every thing upon the Earth's surface is subiACted to terrestrial gravity bnt th .. oth.". components of the Universe also exercise their attraction upon us. The origen, development and decay of compounds must therefore be determined by the balance of an the.e forces or attractions. The· rotation of th. Earth com biued with the attract.ion of t.h. """"0 by the Siln and MOOD, give. ris. to tidal ....'1••• I have tried to show- ..bove that all the phenomena. of life i. chiefly due to the Sun and my statements have been those t.h"t are of univers"l &Cooptance, because they have aU ~on taken, from scientilic works. Without the SUD thl'fefore, there could neither be rain nor springs1lor rivers nOl' oceans. RaiDS are depen ..

IN'rsoD'tlc1'ION.

15

dent for distribution upon corrents in the atm()~phE're and these are due to disturbances of eqnilibJ'lum bl"Ought by means of solar heat. If there had heen no Sun there COllld h .."e been no wind.. The Sun has beon shown to be the real agent in the formation of ocean currsnts. So far a. we know of vegetable or animal life, we see it. manif""tation entirely due to solar heat and "light. In fsct the great changes "xperienced at different periods of the world'. history wl,ethAr natural, political; soc",1 religious or intellectual are antirely due to our varying relations with the glorious body with which everyone of us is fa.miliar, but a,bout whose tremendous influence on th" globe the greater we try to know the greater remains for us to know. It require. therefore DO high stretch of imagination to conceil'" that our phy.ical coustitution i. under the direct influence of the SUD. When tha globe we inhabit is under the dire';t inl!uence of the Sun, and here we bave to remember that only a very minute fraction of the Sun'. light and h"at h ... been shown to have worked all the terrestrial phenomena, bow can we ....y that the individua.! hody, he it min~ral, vegetable or animal is not nnder the direct iI,flllence of the all powerful rays of tho .amo great luminary. When tbe globe itself i. formed into its present shap" by an infinitismally small quantity of the Sun'. power, it does not require .. very high order of intellect to comprehend that the individual bodies ooruposing the glohe must "Iso Itave been brought into existence by the smallest ooneeivable power from the ...me wonderful body ...lIed the Snn. It seems almost incredibl" that persons living on the Earth, should ever be able to learn anything ..bont the chemical constitution of the Sun, which by th" roughest calculation i. more than 92 millions 9£ miles remond from us; but such has been

1(;

l)/T llO!)[JCTIO)/.

the pow", of the intellsct of man that the most wonderfully difficult laws ofthe Universe have been brought within its knowledge ..nd ela.borately treated ..fter a senes of indisputable observations. 'rhoas who have known Bome tlling of gases and their tremendous powers under certain given pbysical conditions will readily agree with me, whan I s"y that owing their origen to the r ..yo l.f the Sun, th.y hava not b.en idling their time in the Universe, but that thsy ha .. e been doing it most j"oomprehensively. ~'here ..ra gase. " single breath of which will kill .. man instantaneonsly, and there .."" others, which when brought into contact with each other in the small.st quantities im ..ginabl.. blow up not only ordin .... y .tructures but break the most hardy rocks in twa;n. "With so many forc". at consta.nt work, we a.re not in iii. position to assert dogmatically, that we remain unaffected by them, and that their power!i have been lost upon us. The Sun's rays acting upon the watery surfaces convert water into vapour, vapour rises into the atmosphere and is there condensed by means of co:d blasts of wind. ann falls dow'l as dew and rain. rain supports vegetation and vegetation sustains. man. ],{an is the creature of circumstances and wherever be i. placed, he re..dily "dapts himself to his sunoundings. It is plain therefore that he is influenced by them. A motu exposoa to the morning rays of the Sun gets .000. bilious. We ses here that there is some mysterious power in the morning ra.ys which act on tJle bilial'Y ducts in man. A perBon exposed to the midday rays not only finds th ..t he ha. lost water by weans of free perspira.tion but alia feel. very thirsty. We feel exhilirated on fine mornings and dejected on gloomy ones. One exposed to th" evening ray. of tho Sun grow. healt!,y iustead of bilious. Tho fays therefore undergo a rcmar~

Il' ball of the second electricity, we at once ob~erve a marked change ;n their behaviour. Instead of flying away from each other t.hey attract one another, and remain in contact, until we seperate (,hem with a little force. Here we observe certain laws, Electricity generated by the contact of silver with sulpharic aCId differs from electricity derived from zinc and sulphuric acid. The first kind of electricity i. caned Positive or North, and tho second is called Negative or South electricity. Electricities of the same kind repel each other while eJectricities of the opposite kind attract each other. In tho Universe there is no object which is not pervaded by this gr.at Physical agent called electridty and in all objects whether animated or not we see positive and negativo electricities combining together, only with this difference that the quantities of the"e two kinds of electricities are not equal and constant. There is also another fact in this connection which is worthy of notice and that is that in na~ hue under certain pliysical conditions which have not heen clearly understood hy scientist., these tWI) kinds of electricities sudden! f change their sides and exhibit altogether different phenomena. For the sake of convenience, we must call these objects positively ornegatively electrified bodies as positivo 0-:- negative electricity pl'O~

IXTROr,FCTlOX.

37

ponder.tes in them. I have already stated that our nervous curronts do nothing more than carry these electrical currents} they are identified with them and thus become the most importlint factors in the constitution. of man. For man could do or say nothing without bringing into phly those electri~ cal cnrrents. It remains for me to show how these affect our prospects in life, and make us Buccessful or UDsuccess.. flll men. Our constitution is the result of our birth, breeding, eli mate and food, and these must affect the nervous system for good or bad. Apart from the strength of tho seed that is sown in the soil, whose nature must also considerably affect its growth, other circumstances like ploughing, watering, ma.nuring, exposure to heat and light must also be taken ioto consideration in the dl.-'tel"mination of its produce. In tha sa.me m:'mner the nQrvous energy of the fathe,' and mother, the climate of the place the effects of food, clothing and varions other causes detormine the predominance of the positive or negative elec.. tricities in. the consti totion of th .. child born. Somo places ha.ve peculiar powers of storing la.rge qnantities of posItive Or negative electricities and this is most remarkably seen in the virtues of certain plants, which on particular days, acquire this power cf storing electrical Cllrrents to a.. very large extent. It i. easy for us to call things absurd, which WB cannot understand or explain, but it is not so easy to devote our time and energy to it. studyand explanation. It i. very commonly believed by almost all the nations of the world~ both in ancient and modern times, that certain herbs when picked up on particular days, have great medioinal virtufts or some magical efficacy. The last word means not bing more than that the vi,·tuo of the plant picked up under certain condilions perform. wonders

38

I Yl'110 flVCTION.

which could not have been achieved without it. help. Amoug the llindu'3 the new lfoondaysfalling on Sundays, are considered to he specially f"vourable for picking ul' of 80l1,;e herbs which have great medicinal properties and which are also credited with the powCO's of subjugatrllg the wills of those with who:m we come in business contact or RajavHsy.un. It is possible, thAt slllce plants have special powers of storing up of electric..l energy under certaiIl eonditions, we may by obeying the laws of Nature, add .. large quantity of nervous energy, hy keeping the pla.nt with us and this increase in electricity must produce the result anticipatedJ viz, the subjugation of the minds of thoBe with whom we come in conta.ct. ·Mesmerism gives us a striking proof of such electrical energy. Here the process is simple and easily understood. Say a man is positively electrified, with an energy which is repre.ented hy". He goes to a business man, whose electrical ellergy ia.. 2.u and who therefore does riot much care for one who has only menergy in him. '1'h8 latter to be successful in his competition must increase his virtue, and this can only be done by the ooncentration and development of ~he will £01'0.,01' by such al'tificialaids which would induce into him a larger quantity of electricity than he possessed before. Now by b,·inging in .. plant with a certain amount of .Iectrical'power he gets wore than 2.. energy, and therefore can compete with or subjugate a man, who becomes his inferior in electrical strength. Mesmerism is based on this principle. The conta~t of such people with others of an inferior power, is always injurious to them" as by the nature of electrical currents, they are always induced froUl tile gr.':ter hody to the smaller as water always flows 110m a hjghcr level to the lower ir:respec~ive of its surface.· Positive electri.. city has great virtue than the n.gative amI our 1

rSTRQDUCTlOS.

3::1

popularity and success depend upon our store of these respective electricities. OUl' success in lifo "may he de... fined to be tho readiness with which a proposal is reoeived by tho party to whom it is addressed. If the proposal is uot received favourably by the party to whom it is addressed, tho person making the proposal m •• ts with what we call a failure. How does this take place 1 If .. po.itively eleotrified person goes to another similarly electrified, he is repulsed in hi. attempt even when backed by tho strongost let.ter of illtil'oduction. Hut if on t.he other hand he goes to one who is negatively electrified,. he meets w,th a rendy consent, even should he chance to be a perfect stranger. Those in whose horoscopes thf'l SUD is power.. fully situated command wore respect and possess a greater indescribable pel'sone.l chatOm which recmnmeuds them to success, than those in whose horoscopeg the great lu~ minary is badly situated. I" .he body of the WOI·k I have cleady explained what is meant by the Suu's exaltation, and his debilitation. We have often seen that mon with superior intrinsic merits) find no favour in certain locali~ ties while others get on well thore. Tile astrologer on consultation predicts that they would find success only in a certain direction and that only with a certa.in class of people. As in medicine so also in astrology a knowledge of the local circumstances become!:4 indispensible for a.. correct estimate of the planetary influences and their results. I can quote loto ot .xa.mpl"s from our daily life, which go to prove beyond doubt my statement regarding tho eleotrioal theory above adduced. 'rake tho favourites of officers. 'l'lle1'o is an irre.istabl. attraction by which the >favourite' is attached to the officer, and as long a.':i the attracting force acts powerfully, the officer acts like a tool in the hands of his .ubordinate. L"dio8 have their own

40

ISTRODUCrIO~.

fil,vourites. ". SJm8 caSes

present such stra.nge ioconsis..

teney that We cannot really explain the action by the light of aoy science we k'lOW of. A Ill."dsome, intelligent, well matched woman takes afancy to an ugly guom or cook boy, who would be shunned for his deformities by an or~ dinary prostitute. Here WI:" have apparently no cause to explain this infamous conduct. A gentleman) courted for

his fine ligure and handsome featares by the best of tho ladies, takes aJancy to an ugly pariah gi .. l to whom he seems to be drawn by an irresistable internal force, which sets at nought aU rules of uecorum, or public reput.ation. ffhe elopements we 110rvous currents have already been shown to be under tIle inlluence of the planetary rays and these produce dev'"olopmcnt or depression according to certain given I1hysical conditions, Thus a. particular ncrve} whose growth at the cost of other nerves, helped us to pursue mathematics successfully may alter a time be depressed by the action of the solar rays by refraction and another nerve might now be developed, which changes onI" inclina.tion or taste and makes us pursu.e Iatric instead of mathematics. A lUan born with a great store of nervous energy, which win be the caso, if the Sun is favoUl'ably placed in his horoscope, will get on in spite of all the difficulties tbat surround his position,while a person placed in the most favourable circumstanceFl,willlose his all if he doe~ not possess nervous energy in the shape of a strong will or mind, which will be the case when the Sun is not favourably situated ill his horoscope. All the inlluences above explained rome directly from the Sun and we are entirely subjected to them. In fact we could not have taken our present existence, if it had not been for his universal influence. Now the question ill whether the r1Dcicnts who have hequeathed this brightest gem among the sciences w hi ell ha,·a been called into exi.tence (haiatoJlect of man had studied the physical sciences with aU their complicated rules and thus obtained" deep knowledge of their phenomena or whether they were bleg,ed with that"divine sight" w,ill, which they were able to gee (he past, present and future. \Va ..re not concerned with the religious side of this question and therefore avoiding all reference to it we l'ILv~ictions.

• 52

l's'fltODllcnON.

These nrc not qualifications which we generally oome . Across among the ordinary elMS of astrologers and uulesi3 we insist on the possession of these by them, we shall not have a good set, who would bring credit to themselre. or to the science in which they profess to be adepts. 'fhe Ilelp of experienced philologists i. IT.uch needed to wped out the rubbish from the genuine RBtrologicai formulas; and!L thorough reform should be introduced if any improvement is to be effeoted. Without entering into the grand project of establishing an institution where Mtralogy might be pursued as" SClenee, \vith such instrurrents as the nature of the subject admit. of, the Hindu gentlemen would be conferring a great boon on themselves as well a. on the .cienee of a.trology, if they only, as II prelimenary step, begin to discourage the prevalent practice of oonsulting every quack who appears before them and whose knowledge of the sciecce has not been properly tested and proved. In my E'xperience I hnve corne across !L set of cheat. who posse•• It peculia. kind of knowledge by which they readily predict most faithfully the PHst events of onr life, but f',il mo.t miserably in their prediction" of the future events. To a scientifio mind this kind of prediction presents" most difficult. problem to solve. When the past can be faithflllly pourtrayed, why not the future? is " question tha, has been often raised in my mind. So far as my meagre knowledge goes I seo no ground for making such one-sided predictions and especi.l1y with such surprising facility. On enquiry and q"eotioning 1 find out that it was not by astrology that they were ..ble to make such predictiou., but nnder til" guise of astrology they put forth some kind of knowledge whioh at present i. utterly unknown to me. It may be tllOUght reading, but 1f so, how have these qlHlC~{S mas ..

I](TnODeC'I'lON.

[;3

tered it when highly cultivated minds find" difficulty ill explaining that phenomenon. These men cheat the poor and the rich classes alike and even cn'l~e round tile mtelligeBt section of our community. All f'Ortfol of names ,Ut' bestowed upon this kind of prediction but until I see more of it I cannot pretend to pronounce any (Ipill.ion upon its merits. Hven granting sUl'h powers of past predicti.)u exist, t,he uses of astrology nrc not answered .and what we have already enjoyed, becomes perfcct.ly m~c1e",s t'l know again. Such men should be studiously avoided. Others there are who are honored for the .Ilke of the distinction their ancestors had attained,butsuch days are gone and it i. by merit and not by birth that" man will have to be judged in these d"ys. If there are sentimental people who pity the fallen gre~tne!-!B) they may help them for their 1 i iable condltion but cannot honor them f01' their present stupidity. There are others still who from an in~ timate knowledge of the local circumshlllces make correct guesses and induce people to honor them as astrologel'd. I need hardly tbey do not deserve our help Th,·y touch upon a tender cord of the ignorant masscsJviz,belief and realize la:rge Bums. T-his is as it ought not to ue. It; is very easy to ask a lot of questions, but not certainly so easy to ,answer them in the light of known scientific principles: Those who consult their horoscopes forget that astrologers have tho same set of digestive apparatus, with .. hich they themselves have been provided, and while they give them all the mental worry imaginahle, thes. gentl.men never consider it their duty to plly them for the BalM so that the bodily apparatus might be kept in a working .tate. Such kind of treatment even from the highly educated classes is condemnable on two points, (1) h.canso it considerably lowers the efficiency of .. olro-

."y

IXTRODt:("]'jOX.

10gy as a paying ort, and (2) because 'it makes the astro-

loge'"s careless and indifferent 'in t.heir calculations and predictions since they see no sufficient remuneration for serious mental work. \\Thile the admission of quacks must be discour"g"ed the ability of the adepts should not be allowed to go unremunerated. There is another important point on which I should like t, say" few word. before I conclude my Iotroduction. Many have asked me and it struck me too, that Heven granting that a~trology is a true science, and can be satisfactorily proved as such, win the mankiud he in any way henefitted hy its cultivation and consultation." Here there is l"OotH for much discus~ sion on both sides l and Dnmberle::;s argnments might be addured in BnppO'" of them. I shall howeyer state briefly a few of the arguments leaving the readers to draw their own inferences. ..Astrolog-J has been considered .to be a practical science and Uk .... medicine requires to be proved by experiment. It is no use to get a prescription from it doctor however clever be may be hut it will be of the greatest use for him 10 get such medicine as would bvlve him immediate relief. Similarly there is no use of consulting astrologers when tllclr predictions are not fulfilled. Medicine has been cultivated as a. science from time imm&morial, but t.he results are far from being satidactory. 'rhe percentage of cures is not encouraging, a.nd in spite of the enormous sums spent

upon medical expcriments;in princely salaries to its adepts and in keeping splendid estahlishments fOl" its cultivation such simple and all prevalent diseases as fever, dysentry" small-pox, cholera,consumption and leprosy have not been explaineil "nd successfully t.reated. It is all very well to say tbat the average length of man'. life is now greater than what it was before, that wonderful cures have been

INTI(QJ)(CTlON.

effected which the ancients had never drenrpt of and tlmt general health has been improved to a cunsiderable degree. It m"y be so. But that is not much forth. amount spent npoIJ the !1cience and its suppor-tel's. Still it is a sdence and every m"dical man whf:'ther he cures or kills, is en'" tiLled to have his bill paid in preference to all other claimants on the property of the deceased. In my Imrnhle expel'ience and observation nearly half the numbers that present themselves In the hospit'lls go back without being relieved .and if morc cures are effected t,han this low preceD~ tage I have named, it is by t.he gener;d prescript.i(Jll of aqua p1.tra a,lid the help of mother ~V([tIwe and noL by the skill of the medical profession. I do not mean to say that medicine is useless or cannot be improved as a science, but what I do mean to say i8 that it has been praised to the skies as a. science beyond its desert. While every noble attempt

has been made to rah:m medicine to t,he level of a science, nothing worthy of record has been done to te:::;t astrology RS a science. The ancients studied tLcse two together and tbey thought that the alleDould not be satisfactorily understood without the aid of the other. It i. surprising that astt-ology much as it is degraded, has stood its ground against so many hostile attacks to root it out altogetber} and in spite of the quacks into whose hands it has unfortunately fu.llen, its predictions have nut heen such as to create a genuine dislike in the minds of thoso that have really taken pains to master its details. There is a duty on every educated gentleman, to do something for this fal .. len science, or to keep it in reserve until it has been given a fairer trial. 'Llo know the future has ?een the greatest ambition of man, and how can we say that such a priceless knowledge will be not worth our while to acquire. The most common-place argument senselessly adduced

IXTRODUCTlON.

by the so called educated soei.! reformers i. "that we are bettor off as wo are, ..nd .. certain knowledge of the futuro willdamp the spiritsofthos. who consult their horoscopes" This i. simply sleeping ove,· our knowledge. There are many diseases which are declared to be incura.ble, and which when they attack .. person, do not kill him at once. A kllowledge of the coming evil, will not kill such people before they die. We all know fo,' certain, that we wili, we must di•. W. also know that wo maybe snatched away any moment from the midst of our da.ngel's or our enjoyments~ But how many of us die belOt·o legitimate death comes to us. In cases of incurable diseases, the patIents know th"t they are subjected to forms of diseases, before which the medical men simply blink, but they do not die becaus.. they are subject to them. When an incurable disease sets in, will tho doctor pollute his lips by making a false statement that the patient is not soffering f"om it and that h. willI; •• for one hundred years. If not what difference could it make with the patient betweon the statement of an astrologer who says that the planetary period is bad and therefore he must sHifel' from it, and that of the doctor,who says that tho patient must shift for himself as best as he could,Rince medical science has not explained even the nu... tU1'6 of snch a disease. Sudden da,ngersJit IS trUf", kill Burnt:) persons, but let them only smoothly be informed of the fact beforehand, the son"ow distributes itself and makes its keenness as little felt as possible. "South Sea Bubbles" often burst, but th(-) shareholders do not die at once. History has taught us that hum~n nature is very pliable and accommodates itself to t,he exigencies of every case. Do we not know that OUl' chtldren will die as well as Our wives; but this knowledge, than which nothing can be more certain, would not kill everybody that knows it.

(8)

lXTRODtiCTION.

57

What does 1111 astrologer Bay about tho lIGro,cope. He simply interprets the language of the planets by tho symbols used and predicts the events that happen to us in future. He foretelis our ceath, our sickness, out' failure !lnd our s~cce.'3s, or that of those who are dear and noar to us. \Vhat is there here t,hat is not known to Ui) and for ,,,hieh we are not prepared. 'Vill insurance companiei teach us anything more than therw facts? Every. sensible man must be prepared to meet those calamities which bo sees around him. He kno\ys that he may have to share the sarno domestic miser, as hi. neighbour and he calmly waits for4he events to come in their tm'n. It is not in the power of ~an >strolog'er to bring any fresh stores of kouble ou the man who consults llim. He is something like a paper mall, who gives the evil ne'iYS beforehand, so that peol)le might be prepared for the \Yorst. ((Prepare for the worst and hope for the best" is a s~ying which our social reformers would do well to remember. If" man thinks that death and misfortune do not, dara not invade his homestead, if he believes he is above mankind in the onjoyment of hi. pleasures, if he i8 not bold enough to meet the stern realities of his life let no such coward ever consult his horoscope. Astrology is not in~ tended for ,voak or cowardly men. If a man, suffering from some dise, dies at the sight of the surgical instru ments, surely they were not intended for such a man, and Us doctor ca.nnot be arraigned before the court £01' committing or abe~ting murder. But the ordinary run of man.. kind lS proof against such information aud they coolly bear even death sentences. Men with halters round their necks a~d death fio~ting before their lustreles. oyes hayo ,hown utter contempt for death a,nil if the preiliccions q

!"i'l'lloOUCTlo:;',

of'anaBtMlogo'; !I.~e xOOr~ n"tKlJ16 than the death sentenoes'nootber '00 imagined than described !m!l.WhlLt l> Jll'eciotts,thlng 'i! won!d he to know the resnlta beforehand.. Wouliiit not prove a grand acquisition to onr ,.t,,~. of knOWledge to ,know whence w. have como,

in ..

59 what wa wil! b. '!-,'l~.!"Wh~f,w~wi~lg,o:

Can~q?h ..

;~;;~:,b;h~~~!:~:;~~:~~.;~?;~~~r:~;~;;~~j,j:~~;~:~

help ..nd the atudy of wWcli. "dd.nocomfort to onr ma.teri..1 ~;njoy;j,a~t.'ll~t\h~ int~ll~d,t~~1 ~rJ"t they give U8 comp~.t\.~te~,£~~"~.~~~.·I~¥9ur~",'best6W upon. them before.,vre.~i.~, '1Pa.~)l~~l";t~~~.w~~~~q. us uo

practical

The .'ntel~ectu.1 pl~,,~';\,? m~~.sf~?l?~~ ,: •. ~h,a,. I\"'~~~e,st.!r~ ~an Im~~lne ~nd a~ ,l~, ,Jl:~~~r~ \h~~~~l, ~~~~~e~~~., :wO~f;~¥i In .. mllhon differa'lf~,..y~f?~ thm'~i"fe9"1~1Is~~!Ft~J~ 1"

worthy of pursUIt l;l~ ~be.. f'r'ieat~t las ~~lJ.~.t~em~.an~.l\t of mankind. Eve!1 brallch 'If knowledge 'lias" its,olvn "dvan~"g~B and ~i~ad~..~t"g~;' ~he ,l':il~~f '~It.rri;~' many It kills some1,f hor~em"l,l~~lf!f've. a&"lIt1 to' Ql.ir limbs it breaks them too ..t times; i the gun protectaU!i from dangers it ll:iII~il6m~ bi p~oduqing~cciden~s,ifw~$lt!.l gives us comforts ltc':;ries: its' own ~nl:leti'fj!t;'' knowled~e of the ERrth's movement on its axis and to have availed himself of the science of his time in calculating the precession of the equinoxes and the length of the orbital tillH'S of planebL ......... ,.Thf'y alone amoJlg nations have paid honors to grammarians, holding them divine sonls and crowning them Y!'"ith mythical glol'ies. Pan;n; in the fourth century It C. actually composed four thomm,nd SUtl'8S or sections, in eight hooki belongs prob~bly to the sovonth centnry B. C. and qt10tes ohler writings on the same subject. In whatsoever concerns the study of words and forms of thought, the H indus have a1 ways been at. home, anticipating the Grf'eks aua nccowplishing mOl'e nt the outset or their career than the Semitic race diJin two thousand years." ,\Ve hn:v!' to

'I

I

(9)

J~TllOVUCT10N.

65

remember that this pl'ais" of the Hindu intellectual great. ness a.nd invention comes from a. gentlernan, who at best ha..q

takenonly ... uperficial view of the whole range of Hindu koowledgc,and which was transmitted to him by many per· verted chanuels. Race prejudices haye a good denl to do with the formation of onr judgments, and when a great E-wrppean scholar writes so much about the uncient Hindus with such imperfect means of getting at truth at his command, and making allowance for the tremendous periods of time we have to pass over to gather our knowledge, we may once for all advise our .ocial tall·talk reformers. to think twice, nay ten times, before they open th.ir lips to censure our native sciences. Sciences are not ma.de of common nonsensical talk, and he who thrusts his head into tho jaws of a scientific contest must be prepared· to be crushed by its terrible teeth. We cannot consistently now say, that a nat,on so great, and well advanced in the dif· ferent branches of knowledge, as the Hind". could be guilty of propogating '" set of lies, which they knew to be such, among numberless generations and its greatest men seriously taking all the trouble to write more than three hundred tholllsand stan,,'" in support of that science. I have already grown lengtllY but the vastness of tho subject, coupled with the numerous side issues which had to be sottled beforehand compelled me to occupy more space than at first ~ I was willing to spare. I shall recapitulate here, for the benefit of the reader, the principal facts, already mentioned, 80 that he might at a gll>uce see whether astrology bas .. scientific b.. to calculate. '1'he Earth moves round th" Sun, as well as the Sun on his own axis. All the planets revolve round the Sun. The Earth receives an illfinitismally small quantity 01 the Sun's stores of energy. "nd this has beeu shown to be

,i.

66

INTROllUCTION.

sufficient to account for all the terrestrial phenomena. Light brings electricity and magnelism. Gravitation i. universal .. s "Iso the forces of cohesion, adhesion and ohemical attraction. The Earth has been formed ioto its present shape by the action of the Sun'. light and heat and these two great physical agents influence everything on the Earth'. surface. The oceans are nudgr their influence a8 well as the atmosphere and marine currents. Metallic and nOli-metallic element. are common to the whole solar system. All these have their relative influences working in .. thon...nd wonderful ways. Man is the rcsuU of previous force. working "nder difinite laws with such looal modifioations as are found to be neoessary in each individual caso. His physical constitutiQn.i. nnder the direct influenoe of the Sun, because the seed that prod need him, the bed in which he w"", nonrished, the food with which he is fed, the clothing he wears, the water he drinks and the air he breathes, are the r ••ult of the Snn's rays working in N "ture in their own inscrutable ways. His brain cells and hi. nervous system are greatly deoted by the time, place, seed, food, climate and other conditions of hill life and hi. intellect i. entirely dependent npon the quantity and quality of the brain cells derivod from thos" sonrces. Vision would be worse than usele•• if there had been no light, and so "Iso hiB ether senscs, each of which ha. been made to work nnder the direct infInenoe of a particular planet. All the planets shine by 'borrowed light' from the Sun, and While retaining something of their power, they add something of their own and thus influence mankind in varioll!l wOoys. A. the rain drops are affectod by the nature of the!lOil they £all11pon and are influenoed by its p1'Opertiea, so also the planets, though shining by

I

J

INTILOIlUCliliOilf •

67

borrowed light shed influences pecnlisr to their OW". The Moon exercises great influence over us and affects consi .. derably our minds. Lunatios, idiots and madmen exhibit marked changes on full Moon and new Moon days. Sick people always pass restles. nights h.fore new MOOll day. and if they are seriously ill, every one despairs of their life uutil they pa•• the Dew Moon days. The world'. greatest men believed in astrology, and could not have done so, had they not been practically convinced of the truth of the astrological formnlas. No motives could he traced to them for pa ••ing a set of lies on conotle•• gene:rations to come. Electrioity has boon declared to be the great physical agent, w hieh pervades through the whole Universe and is the caus. of the production of the strangest phenomena. Tko intellect of man is nothing bnt a result of the nervous currenb, which pa•• through the human frame, and which wheu largely concentrated form what i. called the mind or will power. Will may be a separate 'sometbing' 'state' or • power' which might have been placed by some supernatural Power in the human framo. But whatever it might be, it cannot remain for any length of time unaffected by its surroundings; and the food and climate are important factors in the determination of our mind or will force. Will i. there· fore nnder the direct influence of the Sun'. light and heat and might have been called into existence by their com bined chemical action. The greater the influenoe of the SUD, the greater is the nervoWl energy or will-force in man. The Sun is the great fountain head from which we get all our electricity and magnetism. When he influences us powerfully we become powerfnl, when his influence i. weak we become worthl ••• and insignificant men. Electricity is divided into two kinds, positive and

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INTRO fJUC'I'ION.

negative. Similar electricitieH repel Bacb other while opposite electricities attract each other. '1'he prepomlerance of these electricities in objects in Nature depend upon a thousand circumstances which cannot be detailed here. In Nature rivers, mountains, lakes, elevated grounds, fur~ ests, plants, villages. towns, cities and even individual houses have the power of .storing' large quantities of positivo Or negative electricities clue to causes working previ~ onsly there under certain conditions. They have also been shown to possess the power of changing their sides, posi= tive becoming negative oI"'t'irem'l.-'el"sa. Our tastes,our success our failure and our energy depend on these electrical curB rents. Almost iucancievable fractins of the Snn's light and he"at have been shown to be sufficient to produce the greatest perceptible changes in Nature. 'rbe minuteness of the atoms of matter has been given)and these inconcievable forms ofliving beings, c"nnot have been produced by any other power8 we know of than that gli'nerated by the solar energy. \Va have also seen what minute fraction of the solar force i. enough to keep the Earth as it is, with all its flora and its fanna and DOW we have to concieve, an inconcievable fraction of this inf1nitismany small fra.ction of the solar power I,hat i. needed to bring an invC'8 1 rear iu each house and complct,cs tlle cirrle in 12 yCftl'~. T und Kt move 18 mOllth. in each 1I0DSO, .nd complet. the circle in 18 yral's tnkillg' a. contrary rnution to that of !.l,0 other pl.nets. While all plnn,.t. move from A to Ts, and Gi and Cr rolld so on, the,. two shadow), plml('t~ n)(lYE' from A to V, nnd As. and Cs. nne so 0(1 • .M moveS 30 mouths in each sign and completes the Zo¥

n

die}:] circle in 30 years, nnd C ha1;"s c{Jut.1nuous and invariahle motion, while oilier plal1Ph> viz K, B, G, S nnd M are subject t