Fundamentals of Astrology

There are different schools of thought regarding the place of origin of astrology. It would perhaps be wrong to think of a particular place or group of people as originators of astrology. Equally wrong would it be to imagine that astrology in its present form and practice was disseminated at a particular period of history. In this short compass it is rather difficult to go into the historical influences at work from time to time in relation to the science of astrology. Suffice it to say that astrology, as stated before, gradually evolved and absorbed in its evolution the thought structure of the culture-area in which it grew. From this standpoint it is futile indeed to think 
of indebtedness of one country to another, particularly in the remote ancient period when astrology was an active participant in the movement of ideas from one place to another. In India, the way in which Naksatravidya, the science of stars, has been thought of even 
in the Vedic literature shows that it was regarded as one of the intellectual attainments. The word Naksatra means star in general as 
well as an asterism in the zodiacal belt. The star groups or Naksatras were referred to as Devagrahas. Parts of the body of the Primordial 
Being, Prajapati, have been extolled in terms of Naksatras (His hand-Hasta, mind-Citra, base-Mula etc.). The Kalapurusa also has been 
imagined in much the same way by the later exponents of Indian astrology. 

Astrology is both Science and Art. Hence only the talented can appreciate and understand it. Rightly Visnugupta declares that nobody other than a sage can master the ocean-like science of astrology. The great Varahamihira declares, "No sin will creep into a place that is sanctified by the presence of a true astrologer. No person who studies and divines the course of destiny will ever be found in hell, but will reside permanently in the world of Brahman. This book brings to the fore not only the rationality of astrology but also the nature and structure of the correct knowledge that our forefathers possessed regarding the predictable influences of planets on human beings, and gives a spiritual bias to astrology. The reader is taken step by step in this work from the rudiments Viz., the distribution of constellations in the Zodiacal belt which is divided into twelve Signs, and the planetary hierarchy, through the method of calculating the ascendant and other houses of a natal chart, assessment of the strengths, influences, aspects, affliction, mutual relations etc., of the planets, to the final stage of reading the brighter and darker sides of the subject`s life, his chances of success and failure, their periods, ingress of the soul into the mortal coil and exit there form as well as its departure to other worlds according to its karma. "In this book an attempt has been made to give a good account of the science of astrology, with a view to making the reader a good and true astrologer. It also shows that astrology does not make man a fatalist, a helpless automation in the hands of a merciless Fate. It should, on the other hand, help him to take to self-exertion and self-help. This hoary lore, according to the author, is to be practiced not for selfish ends, but to guide the needy and the distressed, to remove the cause of their suffering and to turn their attention towards God. (jacket)