Creation, elements & käraka
Bhagavat Gita (7-2)
jnänam te aham sa-vijnänam
idam vaksyämy asesataù
yaj jnätvä neha bhüyo nyaj
jnätavyam avasisyate.
Prabhupada’s translation: I shall now declare unto you in
full this knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous. This being known,
nothing further shall remain for you to know.
Jyotisa Commentary
The entire knowledge of creation of this manifested universe, both
phenomenal (physical creation) and the spirit being which was handed
down by Krsna to Arjuna as this is the transcendental knowledge
forming the basis of Jyotisa. Both jnänam (knowledge of the gross
material creation and dissolution process) and vijnänam (knowledge
of the superior creation and existance of the spirit being) are
being described, and these are different. This is the vedänta
knowing which nothing more shall remain to be known or hidden.
Jyotisa in its highest level is the vedänta where the astrologer has
risen to the level of a Trikälajnäni.
Bhagavat Gita (7-4)
bhümir äpo'nalo väyuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankära itiyam me
bhinnä prakrtir asöadhä.
Prabhupada’s translation: Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind,
intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My
separated material energies.
Jyotisa Commentary
The five states of physical existence of all creation are symbolized
by
1
Earth called bhümi or prthvi tatva, solid state: Mercury,
2
Water called äpa or jala tatva, liquid state: Venus,
3
Fire called anala or agni tatva, energy state: Mars,
4
Air called väyu tatva, gaseous state: Saturn and,
5
Ether called kham or äkäsa tatva, vacuum: Jupiter
At the gross level these are the panca bhüta and at the subtle level
they are known as the panca tatva. Thus, every physical creation
shall have these five elements in varying proportions that shall
define its physical constitution.
The mana is the ‘mind’ of the universe as well as the individual and
indicates the class, group or family identifying the created being
or object and is represented in astrology by the Moon. Any created
material object belongs to a class of objects created with a certain
shape (definable for solids with a predominant prthvi tatva), having
a certain constitution (based on the proportion of the constituent
tatva). These define the class or family to which it belongs.
Buddhi refers to the intelligence or body of knowledge related to
the object. This defines its purpose of creation and existance and
the effects of the various laws of nature on it called its Dharma.
The laws of nature that the created body must obey are seen from the
ascendant called Lagna and this is the seat of the dharma trikona
which includes the fifth & ninth houses. Lagna represents prajäpati,
the creator.
Ahankära refers to its independent identity and is the false ego
(not Freud’s ego). This is false because the identity is not
permanent and it is an ego as it helps to identify the object and
differentiate it from the other bodies/creatures of its class or
family. This is represented by the Sun in astrology.
Example 1: Arabian sea
Let us consider the Arabian sea as an example. This has a
predominance of liquid in its body as compared to other states of
solids and gases. Thus the body has a predominance of jala tatva.
The water is in constant motion due to various currents created by
the rotation of the earth. This movement is due to energy in the
water showing that it possesses agni tatva. It is contained by a
basin which is the crust of the earth and this is the dharma
(buddhi) associated with it as one of the laws of nature that a
liquid does not have any particular shape and takes the shape of the
container. The water in the sea displaces a certain volume of air or
vacuum and this volume indicates the presence of äkäsa tatva that
keeps the waters together within the containing crust of the earth.
There are so many similar large water bodies that separate
continents and they are all known as ‘sea’. This is the family or
class of created bodies to which it belongs and is the mana.
However, we are aware that this particular body that touches the
west coast of India is different from the water body in the east
coast of India and other parts of the world and have named it the
“Arabian Sea”. This particular name “Arabian” is its ahamkära that
helps to identify it in particular and differentiates it from other
seas.
These are the eight primary variables that go into the creation of
all bodies, both animate and inanimate. It is evident that we do not
need any more variables than the lagna and seven planets from Sun to
Saturn to define the physical (material creation). These planets are
the seven Chara käraka that are used in mundane astrology and all
such horoscopy of material bodies that cannot procreate.
Bhagavat Gita (7-5)
apareyam itas tv anyäm
prakrtim viddhi me paräm
jiva-bhütäm mahäbäho
yayedam dhäryate jagat.
Prabhupada’s translation: Besides these, O mighty-armed
Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises
the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this
material, inferior nature.
Jyotisa Commentary
Besides the material creation, living beings are also created in
this universe, which are of a superior energy. These beings are
different from the material beings in that they have the “jiva” or
“jivätma” which is very much like the paramätma, yet is different
from the latter. This jivätma causes the living beings to exercise a
higher level of intelligence, some amount of ‘free-will’ (very much
bounded - based on the upachayas) and get involved in the process of
karma, sin and rebirth. The definitions of karma and sin vary from
one class of living beings to another (mana variance) and also
varies within the class (ahamkära) based on the level of buddhi
(intelligence). For example, sin is not incurred if a lion kills a
cow for food, but a lot of sin is incurred if a human being kills a
cow. Here the definition of sin based on dharma (natural laws
governing) has been in variance due to the class of being
differentiated as per the mana. Again, among human beings, the all
knowing self-realised priest or brahmana incurs higher sin by
killing a cow than a vaisya whole knowledge is inferior. Here the
definition of sin is more relaxed based on the level of knowledge (buddhi).
Since the primary differential between the quality of the sin is the
mana, and since the Moon represents the mana, it is but natural to
consider the nodes of the Moon as karmic control planets. Rahu
indicates the sins on account of past karma and those done with full
knowledge of consequences while Ketu, in the negative, represents
the mistakes made. In the positive Rahu represents punishment and
redemption while Ketu represents suffering and emancipation. As a
group they are one, and represent the opposite points of bhoga &
moksa.
The eight-variable scheme of the previous sloka needs to be modified
to the ten-variable scheme that includes the lunar nodes Rahu
(ascending node) and Ketu (descending node) in addition to the lagna
and seven planets from the Sun to Saturn. Further, since every
living being that has been created has not got moksa, it is evident
that in any spiritual scheme that must represent the individual
jivätma and its interaction with the other ätma, room would have to
be made for Rahu (but must exclude Ketu). These seven planets from
the Sun to Saturn, and Rahu are the eight Chara käraka that are used
in horoscopy (jataka) and all such charts of living bodies that can
procreate.
Bhagavat Gita (7-6)
etad-yonini bhütäni
sarvänity upadhäraya
aham krtsnasya jagataù
prabhavaù pralayas tathä.
Prabhupada’s translation: All created beings have their
source in these two natures. Of all that is material and all that is
spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin
and the dissolution.
Jyotisa Commentary
All created bodies fall into these two categories of animate
(living) and inanimate (non-living). One of the methods of
differentiation is in their nature of procreation (this will also
form the basis of differentiation of the two schemes of chara käraka).
Further, the inanimate bodies do not have a jivätma and are not
considered spirit beings or spiritual in that sense.
Conclusion
It is evident from the Bhagavat Gita that there are separate schemes
for the living and non-living world and that these schemes differ on
the number of chara karaka due to the concept of sin associated with
a certain amount of limited free-will and the presence of the
jivätma (individual soul of the living being). The visible
differentiation is their ability to procreate which is represented
by the siva linga (phallic symbol of siva as Pasupati or the lord of
all living beings).
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