The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
: बृहत् पराशर होरा शास्त्र;
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: ';
abbreviated
An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...
to BPHS) is the most comprehensive extant
Śāstra on
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
natal astrology, in particular the
Horā branch (predictive astrology, e.g.
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 ast ...
s). Though ascribed to
Maharṣi Parāśara, the origin and date of the original composition is unknown. The most popular version of the BPHS consists of 97 chapters, a 1984 translation by R. Santhanam.
Nomenclature
'bṛhat parāśara horā śāstra' (बृहत् पराशर होरा शास्त्र) can be loosely translated to examples such as 'the great book on
horoscopy by Parashara' or 'Great Parashara's manual on
Horoscopic astrology':
*
'bṛhat' (बृहत्) means 'great, large, wide, vast, abundant, compact, solid, massy, strong, mighty' or 'full-grown, old' or 'extended or bright (as a luminous body)' or 'clear, loud (said of sounds)'.
*
'parāśara'
(पराशर) is the name of a
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
Maharishi
Maharishi (, ) is a Sanskrit word used for members of the highest order of ancient Indian sages, popularly known in India as "seers", i.e., those who engage in research to understand and experience nature, divinity, and the divine context of exis ...
('great
Rishi
In Indian religions, a ''rishi'' ( ) is an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mention in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "gre ...
')
*
'horā' (होरा) means '
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 ast ...
or
horoscopy'; also means "hour" or "time", from Greek(''ώρα'').
*
'
śāstra
''Śāstra'' ( ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The word is ge ...
'
(शास्त्र) means 'compendium', 'book', 'manual', 'rule', 'instruction', 'science', and 'advice'.
Summary
The
Jyotiṣa - Vedic Astrology - is one of the
Vedāṅga or six disciplines linked with the
Vedas
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
to support
Vedic rituals. The three branches of Jyotiṣa are:
*
Horā: Predictive astrology (e.g.
Natal (genethliac) astrology,
horoscopic astrology, personal horoscopes, etc.)
* ''Siddhānta'': Mathematical
astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
(e.g. planetary distances, movements, sizes, strengths, etc.)
*
Saṃhita: Mundane astrology (e.g. collective culture, community, and society)
The ''Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra'' is concerned with the predictive branch of
Horā, used, for example, to determine the appropriate and most auspicious times for various events and ceremonies (i.e. depending on the anticipated planetary and star movements and positions).
[Flood, Gavin. Yano, Michio. 2003. ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism.'' Malden: Blackwell.]
Origin and authenticity
J. Gonda states that at 'some time after 600
Common Era">C.E.">Common_Era.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Common Era">C.E.was written the ''purva-khanda'' of what was to become known as the ''Brhatparasarahora'' [''Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra''], ascribed to Parashara... [it] is deeply indebted to the [Brhajjataka of Varāhamihira, Varahamihira]; it has also borrowed two verses from Yavanajataka, Sphujidhvaja... and its existence is presupposed by the author of the ''uttara-khanda'', which was commented on by
Govindasvamin in ca. 850
.E. Therefore, the ''purva-khanda'' must have been written between ca. 600 and 750... but before 800'.
Additionally
Bhaṭṭotpala (circa 900
C.E.) was a
Vedic astrologer that 'in his commentaries he wrote that though he had heard of
he''Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra'', he had never seen it. Thus we know it was lost for at least nine hundred years, until new manuscripts emerged from the early 20th century (see below).
As such, there are doubts in regards to the authenticity of various manuscripts of the ''Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra'' (BPHS) that emerged centuries later. One concern raised is the apparent admission by Sitram Jha in his 1944 publication of the BPHS that he changed and removed elements of the manuscript.
Another concern raised by Vedic Astrologers such as Shyamasundara Dasa 'that casts doubt on the veracity of the modern BPHS is the complete lack of any ancient commentary on the text. The oldest commentary known to me is that of Devacandra Jha's Hindi commentary from the first half of the 20th century, that is, less than 100 years old'.
Editions and translations
According to R. Santhanam and J. Gonda, the following are the modern translations (and manuscripts) of the ''Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra'' (BPHS):
Notes and references
References
*
David Pingree
David Edwin Pingree (January 2, 1933 – November 11, 2005) 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 gra ...
, ' in J. Gonda (Ed.) ''A History of Indian Literature'', Vol VI Fasc 4 (1981)
External links
*Original text
बृहत्पाराशरहोराशास्त्र* Translations online
* Translation and elaboration Onlin
''Brihat Parashara Hora Sastra'' By Maharishi Parashara* Translation and commentar
''Brihat Parashara Hora Sastra''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra
Hindu astrological texts
Sanskrit texts
8th-century Indian books