About Astrology*
THE subject of this book is one which stands nowadays put away under a sort of
intellectual ban, placed on it some centuries ago by the scientific and
rationalistic European mind and not yet lifted. Mr. N. P. Subramania Iyer has
under- taken an astrological series which will deal with the various parts of
astrology, and the present volume contains the text and translation of the Kalaprakasika,
a treatise on the selection of the right times by astrological rule for
undertaking any and every action of human life. The book is well printed and
got up, the translation admirably done in a style free enough to avoid all
awkwardness, - the author has a thorough control of the English tongue and an
excellent style of his own, - but perfectly faithful to the matter of the text.
But the most interesting part of the work for the ordinary reader is the
introduction, in which he gives amidst other matter the psychological
explanation of the influence of the planets and states for what they stand in
relation to the Indian Vedantic philosophy of existence. I have not seen
elsewhere any exposition of the subject equally original and illuminative. Page-283 It does not indeed give ordinarily the why, but only the how of the causes and
effects it professes to establish, but so it is with all other sciences; they
do not give the reason of things, but only their processes. Yet astrology is
supposed at some indefinite time in the march of human mind to have been
exploded, - along with such things as witch-craft and demonology, not to speak
of the existence of spirits and the immortality of the soul, - and
there is a sort of idea that it has been disproved and therefore put aside as a
superstition which no reasonable man can even look at except with a lofty
disdain, much less stoop to investigate with an open mind its truth or falsity.
Still the anathema of Science has not been able to destroy it; in Europe it has
revived, even though its practice as a profession is punishable by the law, and
in India it has always survived. It is not indeed the habit of educated
Indians to profess explicitly their belief in it, they fight shy of that as a
rule, but it is largely consulted by numbers of them, as also by many
Europeans. This is an anomalous position which ought to be corrected. Either
astrology is a true science and should be investigated, proved, improved where
defective and generally rehabilitated in opinion, or else it is a
pseudo-science and should be investigated and disproved so as to cut the ground
away finally from all secret belief or open credulity. Page-284
system of ignorance, humbug and quackery. Supposing that view had prevailed, -
it could not, merely because men are too vitally interested in healing their
ailments and preserving their bodies and know no other way of doing it, - that
would not have done. away with the truth underlying the science. Page-285 having no influence or determining effect upon each other, then such a result
could not be; but that is not the case. According to the materialistic view of
the universe which claims to be the sole rationalistic view, mind is itself an
effect of matter and all its states and movements are determined by matter.
There is nothing then impossible, planetary influence being once admitted, in
the action of material bodies producing psychical conditions on the earth and
thereby determining our psychical states and movements. In a more truly
rationalistic view mind and matter are always influencing and determining each
other; here too, given a universal mind and matter so acting upon individual
matter and mind, the movements of the planetary system may be one or even the
first nodus of their activities, and the assertions of astrology become at
least primarily credible. Page-286 discovered? That is the question which astrology raises, and it is evidently a
perfectly legitimate and rational question: nor can we on a priori
grounds condemn and put away an affirmative answer, which is based upon past
experience systematised into rules and theories, as a superstition or a childish
folly. Granted that in things here there is a chain of cause and effect - or at
least, if causality is disputed, of antecedent condition leading up to
subsequent condition - and that if and so far as we know that chain, scientific
prediction becomes in that proportion possible, - two propositions which, unless
we deny determination altogether, it would be difficult to dispute, - there is
no inherent improbability in the clue to happenings human and other on the
planets being found in the motions of those planets. Astronomy is in a sense the
primary physical science, for the first facts which give all the others their
field are astronomical facts; it may well be that in the psycho-physical field
the same rule holds and that there the first facts may be astrological. Page-287 thought-reading and not astrology; he simply echoed the hopes or thoughts in my mind and his predictions did not come within one hundred miles of the truth. Other practitioners I have found to belong, a few plainly to the class of mere flattering charlatans, but most to the inefficient who read by rule of thumb and have made no profound study of their science. On the other hand, with capable astrologers the results have been often of such a remarkable accuracy as to put quite aside any possibility of chance hit, mere coincidence, intelligent prevision or any of the current explanations. I may instance the father of a friend of mine, a deep student of the science but not a professional, who predicted accurately the exact year, month, day, hour and even minute of his own death. In my own case accuracy was hampered by the inability to fix the precise moment of my birth; still some of the results were extraordinary. Two may be mentioned, from one and the same astrologer, which related to my public career. One, given when I had not yet plunged into the political vortex and my then obscure personality was quite unknown to the astrologer, predicted as an inevitable certitude of the future a political struggle with powerful non-Indian adversaries during which for a time even my life would fall under the shadow of danger. The other, given at the time of my first prosecution in the Bande Mataram case, predicted three successive criminal trials in each of which the prosecution would fail. I may instance also two predictions by the book in which Slokas from Sanskrit astrological writings indicating the result of certain conjunctions or planetary positions were shown to be applicable to my horoscope. One foretold specific chronic illnesses for the body of which there was no sign at the time, but long afterwards they put in their unexpected appearance and persisted. Another indicated very precisely that one of my future activities would be to found a new spiritual philosophy and its discipline; at that time I had no knowledge of philosophy or Yoga and no turn or, inclination in my mind which could make the realisation of this prediction at all probable. These are only the most precise examples out of a number. Supposing all well-authenticated evidence of the kind to be collected, I am convinced there would be an overwhelmingly strong prima facie case and even a body of sufficiently Page-288
strong empirical proof to establish at least a nucleus of truth in astrology. Page-289 |