Man, the Maker of his Own Destiny

2...MAN, THE MAKER OF HIS DESTINY

(a)..There was a very powerful dynasty in Southern India. They made it a rule to take the horoscope of all the prominent men living from time to time, calculated from the time of their birth. In this way they got a record of leading facts predicted, and compared them afterwards with events as they happened. This was done for a thousand years, until they found certain agreements; these were generalised and recorded and made into a huge book. The dynasty died out, but the family of astrologers lived and had the book in their possession. It seems possible that this is how astrology came into existence. Excessive attention to the minutiae of astrology is one of the superstitions which has hurt the Hindus very much.

I think the Greeks first took astrology to India and took from the Hindus the science of astronomy and carried it back with them from Europe. Because in India you will find old altars made according to a certain geometrical plan, and certain things had to be done when the stars were in certain positions, therefore I think the Greeks gave the Hindus astrology, and the Hindus gave them astronomy. This part of the lecture makes it clear that Astrology was never a part of Vedas. Let us understand, what are Vedas?

Swamiji in one of his lectures say- "But by the Vedas no books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times." _{(The complete Works.." vol- 1, 'Paper on Hinduism')}

As Vedas do not owe their origin to any time, Astrology might have been added later to form a Vedanga, a limb of the Vedas, so that the subject receives the respect of others; but the subject is not a part of the Vedas, because the realm of Astrology lies within the limits of this universe, while Vedas are the spiritual laws which cross the realm of this universe. That seems to be the most probable reason why Swamiji openly ridiculed the use of Astrology. Swamiji's every lecture aims at SELF-REALISATION.

Like any other knowledge of this universe, Astrology may be given a respectful place. It may be said to be a divine science in the way that it utilises the spiritual progress of an astrologer to predict events intuitionally, but the knowledge of the subject, in itself, does not help in any spiritual progress.

The way astrology is being used, too cheaply, today, it seems certain that, it has become more of a superstition than of a science.