Astrology of King Yudhisthira, Recorded in Mahabharata

Describing the astrological conditions of the birth of King Yudhisthira, the Mahabharata says, starting from 114.4:

muhUtrte ‘bhijite ‘zthame
divaa madhya-gate sUrye
tithau puNye ‘bhipUjite

The first line means Yuddhisthira was born, “at the moment of abhijit / eighth.”

Abhijit is never considered the 8th nakshatra (it is counted as the 22nd or sometimes the 20th to the best of my knowledge) so “eighth” must refer to another subject – probably the lunar phase. So I believe we are being told that Yudhisthira was born when the Moon was in the 8th phase (a half moon, very auspicious) in the stellar section ascribed to the constellation of Lyra/ Vega (Abhijit).

The next line says “brightness/daytime, to the middle portion went the Sun.”

Now, this may mean that the daytime sun got to mid-day, highnoon. OR it may mean that the 8th lunar phase was in the “bright” half – the waxing half,and the sun was at noon. I favor the later because the former is a redundant phrasing – and good authors avoid immediate redundancy.

The third line clarifies that the previous descriptions have pertained to the “tithi” – the lunar phase. And that overall this tithi was most auspcious and respectable.

From this seed “Half waxing moon, in Abhijit, at noon.” The following elaboration can be extrapolated:

• Yudhisthira was born in the month of Kartik, for the bright half-moon of Kartika falls in Abhijit. (this could be confirmed to be sure)
  
• He was born at a simultaneous Moonrise and Noon – for the waxing halfmoon is always 90 degrees progressed from the Sun.
  • Thus he was born with the Sun in the 10th house
  • Moon in the first

There is no information given regarding rashis. Without knowing the ayanamsha current for the year, it is not possible to calculate the rashis. We can estimate that the birth was approximately 5,000 years ago. Which, I believe means that the ayanamsha would have been around negative 30 degrees. Which would mean that the rising Moon would have been near the end of Scorpio / beginning of Sagittarius, and the Sun near the end of Leo/ beginning of Virgo. However, information about natal rashis simply is not recorded in this ancient Vedic astrological description – so we can only extrapolate the information.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

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Upcoming Month for Self-Realization

The next time you see the full moon, about 7 days from now which is October 22 or 23 depending on what side of the date line you’re on, it is a great big round, beautiful silver marker in the sky telling you that a very important month is about to begin. From the next day through till the next full moon a month later, it is a month called “Kartik” (named for the lunar mansion of the Moon’s exaltation, Krittika).

It is about a month later than normal this year, because the lunar calendar had a “leap month.”

There is a section in the Padma Purana (an ancient Sanskrit scripture) called “Glories of Kartika.” Similar reference to the spiritual power of this month are found in Vishnu Purana, Bhavishya Purana and other puranas as well. These described that the god who maintains and sustains all things in the material world wakes from his four month “nap” on the 11th lunar day of this month. The month is therefore extremely auspicious. It is also recorded in Bhagavat Purana that Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead performed the famouse Damodara Lila during this month.

So, any vow you take up during this effect will have thousands of times the effect of a vow taken up during any other month. In particular the eleventh and twelfth lunar days are very powerful, as is the final week of the month.

As for vows here are some suggestions:

• Diet – Vegeterian
• Diet – if already Vegetarian take an additional step, like no dairy or no sweets or no cooked food, etc.
• Hearing – read spiritual books, or attend the recitals of spiritual books or lectures on spiritual topics
• Chanting – chant more repetitions of you mantra and improve your focus on it. In particular chant the kartika/damodar mantra: hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare. hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare.
• Chanting – sing as a “bhajan” the damodar-ashthakam from Padma Purana.

If you are on the Asian side of the date line, here are the important dates:

• October 24 – Kartik Month Starts
• November 2 – 11th Lunar Day (Ekadashi), Vishnu wakes
• November 17th – 11th Lunar Day (in the waning moon phase), begins the most auspicious final five days of the month.
• November 21st – Last day of the Month.

If you are in Europe or America shift all the dates one day earlier. The exact timing is not as important as the devotion you put into observing some special spiritual effort during this month.

Image via Wikipedia

After this month is complete I will return in some capacity to doing active readings, etc. with renewed spiritual strength.

See you then!

- Vic DiCara

(Vraja Kishor das)

www.vicdicara.com