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Vrddha Garga
Garga, also known as Vṛddha Garga ("Garga the Elder"), was an ancient Indian scholar of jyotisha. Several Sanskrit-language jyotiḥśāstra works - covering topics such as astrology, astronomy, and divination - are attributed to him. These works were written over several centuries, and are obviously not the work of a single author. Modern scholars generally date the oldest of these works - '' Gargiya-jyotisha'' - to the 1st century CE, although the source materials for these works may be much older. Biography Garga is also called Vṛddha-Garga ("Garga the Elder") to distinguish him from his later namesakes. He is among the earliest and the most important authors in the jyotisha tradition. ''Mahabharata'' 9.36.14-17 describes him as a prominent astrologer who lived at Gargasrota on the banks of the Sarasvati River. ''Vishnu Purana'' 2.5.26 states that the mythical serpent Shesha was pleased with Garga and taught him astrology, and thus, Garga became capable of predicting fut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jyotiḥśāstra
A ' is a text from a classical body of literature on the topic of Hindu astrology, known as , dating to the medieval period of Classical Sanskrit literature (roughly the 3rd to 9th centuries CE) Only the most important ones exist in scholarly editions or translations, such as the Yavanajataka (3rd century), Brihat Samhitā (6th century), Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (7th century) or Sārāvalī (8th century), while many remain unedited in Sanskrit or vernacular manuscripts. Such classical texts should be distinguished from modern works. There are a great number of contemporary publications, reflecting the persisting importance of astrology in Hindu culture, and the corresponding economical attractivity of the market in India. Notable modern authors include Sri Yukteswar Giri (1855–1936), Bangalore Venkata Raman (1912–1998), and Sanjay Rath (b. 1963). Classification Pingree classifies as ''jyotihshastra'' (treatises on jyotisha) manuscripts on astronomy, mathematics, ast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahasamnipata Sutra
The ''Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra'' ( Chinese: 大方等大集經, pinyin: ''Dàfāng děng dà jí jīng'', Japanese: ''Daijuku-kyō'' or ''Daishik-kyō'') is an anthology of Mahayana Buddhist sutras. The meaning in English is the ''Sutra of the Great Assembly'' or ''The Great Compilation.'' The sutra was translated into Chinese by Dharmakṣema, beginning in the year 414. The anthology consists of 17 sutras across 60 fascicles, but the only extant copy of the entire collection is found in Chinese, though individual sutras can be found in Sanskrit and Tibetan. Content The Chinese edition of the ''Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra'' ( Taisho Tripitaka # 397) contains the following sutras: # ''The Jewel Necklace Sūtra'' # ''The Dhāraṇiśvararāja Bodhisattva Sūtra'' # ''The Jewel Maiden Sūtra'' # ''The Animiṣa Bodhisattva Sūtra'' # ''The Sāgaramati Bodhisattva Sūtra / Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā'' # ''The Anupalambha Bodhisattva Sūtra'' # ''The Anabhilāpya Bodhisattva Sūtra'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrology And Astronomy
Astrology and astronomy were archaically treated together ( la, astrologia), but gradually distinguished through the Late Middle Ages into the Age of Reason. Developments in 17th century philosophy resulted in astrology and astronomy operating as independent pursuits by the 18th century. Whereas the academic discipline of astronomy studies observable phenomena beyond the Earth's atmosphere, the pseudoscience of astrology uses the apparent positions of celestial objects as the basis for divination. Overview In pre-modern times, most cultures did not make a clear distinction between the two disciplines, putting them both together as one. In ancient Babylonia, famed for its astrology, there were not separate roles for the astronomer as predictor of celestial phenomena, and the astrologer as their interpreter; both functions were performed by the same person. This overlap does not mean that astrology and astronomy were always regarded as one and the same. In ancient Greece, pre-So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narada
Narada ( sa, नारद, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He appears in a number of Hindu texts, notably the Mahabharata, regaling Yudhishthira with the story of Prahalada and the Ramayana as well as tales in the Puranas. A common theme in Vaishnavism is the accompaniment of a number of lesser deities such as Narada to offer aid to Vishnu upon his descent to earth to combat the forces of evil, or enjoy a close view of epochal events. He is also referred to as ''Rishiraja'', meaning the king of all sages. He was gifted with the boon of knowledge regarding the past, present, and the future. Hinduism In Indian texts, Narada travels to distant worlds and realms (Sanskrit: '' lokas''). He is depicted carrying a khartal (musical instrument) and the veena, and is generally regarded as one of the gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithomancy
Ornithomancy (modern term from Greek ''ornis'' "bird" and ''manteia'' "divination"; in Ancient Greek: οἰωνίζομαι "take omens from the flight and cries of birds") is the practice of reading omens from the actions of birds followed in many ancient cultures including the Greeks, and is equivalent to the augury employed by the ancient Romans. Ornithomancy in some form has been found globally among a wide variety of pre-industrial peoples. Mediterranean developments Prophesying by birds appeared among the Hittites in Anatolia, with texts on bird oracles written in Hittite known from the 13th or 14th century, and from whom the Greek practice may derive. It was also familiar to the Etruscans, who may have brought it to Rome. Greek evidence Ornithomancy dates back to early Greek times, appearing on Archaic vases, as well as in Hesiod and Homer: one notable example from the latter occurs in the ''Odyssey'', when an eagle appears three times, flying to the right, with a dead do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrology
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Different cultures have employed forms of astrology since at least the 2nd millennium BCE, these practices having originated in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Most, if not all, cultures have attached importance to what they observed in the sky, and some—such as the Hindus, Chinese, and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from where it spread to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Islamic world, and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horoscope
A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an astrological chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, astrological aspects and sensitive angles at the time of an event, such as the moment of a person's birth. The word horoscope is derived from the Greek words ''ōra'' and ''scopos'' meaning "time" and "observer" (''horoskopos'', pl. ''horoskopoi'', or "marker(s) of the hour"). It is used as a method of divination regarding events relating to the point in time it represents, and it forms the basis of the horoscopic traditions of astrology. Horoscope columns are often featured in print and online newspapers. In common usage, horoscope often refers to an astrologer's interpretation, usually based on a system of solar Sun sign astrology; based strictly on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babylonian Astrology
Babylonian astrology was the first known organized system of astrology, arising in the second millennium BC. In Babylon as well as in Assyria as a direct offshoot of Babylonian culture, astrology takes its place as one of the two chief means at the disposal of the priests (who were called ''bare'' or "inspectors") for ascertaining the will and intention of the gods, the other being through the inspection of the livers of sacrificial animals (see omen). Early origins There is speculation that astrology of some form appeared in the Sumerian period in the 3rd millennium BC, but the isolated references to ancient celestial omens dated to this period are not considered sufficient evidence to demonstrate an integrated theory of astrology. The history of scholarly celestial divination is therefore generally reported to begin with late Old Babylonian texts ( 1800 BC), continuing through the Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian periods ( 1200 BC). By the 16th century BC, the exten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Pingree
David Edwin Pingree (January 2, 1933, New Haven, Connecticut – November 11, 2005, Providence, Rhode Island) was an American historian of mathematics in the ancient world. He was a University Professor and Professor of History of Mathematics and Classics at Brown University. Life Pingree graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in 1950. He studied at Harvard University, where he earned his doctorate in 1960 with a dissertation on the supposed transmission of Hellenistic astrology to India. His dissertation was supervised by Daniel Henry Holmes Ingalls, Sr. and Otto Eduard Neugebauer. After completing his PhD, Pingree remained at Harvard three more years as a member of its Society of Fellows before moving to the University of Chicago to accept the position of Research Associate at the Oriental Institute. He joined the History of Mathematics Department at Brown University in 1971, eventually holding the chair until his death. As successor to Otto Neugeba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakshatra
Nakshatra ( sa, नक्षत्रम्, translit=Nakṣatram) is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Indian Astronomy. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective sectors. The starting point for the nakshatras according to Vedas is "Krittika" (it has been argued because the Pleiades may have started the year at the time the Vedas were compiled, presumably at the vernal equinox), but, in more recent compilations, the start of the nakshatras list is the point on the ecliptic directly opposite to the star Spica called ''Chitrā'' in Sanskrit, which would be Ashwinī, a part of the modern constellation Aries, and these compilations therefore may have been compiled during the centuries when the sun was passing through the area of the constellation Aries at the time of the vernal equinox. This version may have been called ''Meshādi'' or the " start ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anushasana Parva
Anushasana Parva ( sa, अनुशासन पर्व, IAST: Anuśāsanaparva) or the "Book of Instructions", is the thirteenth of eighteen books of the Indian Epic Mahabharata. It traditionally has 2 parts and 168 chapters.Ganguli, K.M. (1883-1896)Anusasana Parva in ''The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa'' (12 Volumes). CalcuttaDutt, M.N. (1903) ''The Mahabharata (Volume 13): Anushasana Parva''. Calcutta: Elysium Press The critical edition has 2 parts and 154 chapters. Sometimes this parva is referred to as the "Book of Precepts". ''Anushasana Parva'' continues the theme of ''Shanti Parva'', a discussion of duties of a ruler, the rule of law, instructions on dharma for those close to the leader. The dialogue is between Yudhishthira, Bhishma and other sages. The book debates the duties, behaviors and habits of individuals, with chapters dedicated to men and to women. Various types of marriages are mentioned and their merits compared. The parva also recites many symbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
