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Jyotish Star of the Month |
By Christina Collins |
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This year, 2015, a few select Americans received the Padma awards, the highest civilian awards granted by the government of India. Padma awards are given for outstanding contributions to the country and go to a broad range of individuals including artists, doctors, athletes, scientists, educators, social, political and religious leaders. The great majority of award recipients are from India, but foreigners may be included if their work has had a strong impact in India itself. Among the Americans, Dr. David Frawley received the prestigious Padma Bhushan award, one of the higher Padma awards, for his work promoting Vedic knowledge. Bill and Melinda Gates also received a Padma Bhushan for their charitable work in India. The Padma awards were announced on Republic Day, January 26, 2015 and given at a special ceremony at the presidential palace (Rashtrapati Bhavan) on March 30. The awards were conferred directly by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Vice-President and Home Minister attended and were part of the event. Vamadeva receiving the Padma Bhushan medal Vamadeva receiving the scroll citation. Christina Collins: Congratulations Vamadeva on receiving this monumental and historic award from the Republic of India for your vast body of work and accomplishments and your over forty books of Vedic knowledge. I understand from Chakrapani Ullal that you may be the first American Vedic teacher to receive the Padma Bhushan award? Vamadeva Shastri: Thanks for you kind words! The award was a big surprise for me and a great honor, as I was not aware my name was on the list. We only found out through the newspapers that I might receive it. Over the decades a few Americans have received the Padma awards in various fields, academia, politics and philanthropy. The award was stated for my contributions to Vedic knowledge in the fields of Yoga, Ayurveda, Jyotish, Vedic studies and ancient history, which is a little different. I think it marks India�s recognition of the contributions of western teachers in such fields as Yoga, Ayurveda and Jyotish. The resurgence of these Vedic teachings in India reflects their growing popularity and adaptation in the West. Christina: Could you please elaborate more on the actual meanings of the name of the award? Vamadeva: Padma means a lotus and Bhushan means an ornament. Padma Bhushan is said to be given for �distinguished service of a high order� relative to the country. Christina: It is also my understanding that this is viewed in India as a matter of great prestige? Vamadeva: Padma awards are the main national awards granted from the government of India, so they are generally regarded as more important than other awards. They are actively sought after by thousands of people who have their names submitted for their various achievements. The awards usually grant an enduring national recognition in India for those who receive them. So it is a life-time honor to receive one. Christina: Such an incredible recognition of your many achievements! Thank you for your lifetime body of work which established Vedic knowledge in the West and around the world! Further your accomplishment lends more and more credibility to Vedic studies in the West. What in your natal chart, do you think contributed to this high honor coming at this particular time? The current dasa, transits, Varshaphal, purva punya plays a part I think, with your 5th house lord in play at this time. Would you mind sharing your natal chart with our readers, and your thoughts on your chart? (I use 360 Vimshottari as you recommended to me about 20 years ago and have you in SA/RA.ME/VE at the time of the announcement at the end of January 2015.) Vamadeva: The award perhaps strangely occurred during a Saturn-Rahu period, which are known to be challenging, particularly for the health. However, in my case Saturn, which is fifth lord, is also the Yoga karaka for the Libra ascendant, located in the twelfth house of foreign countries in a friendly sign. Saturn in its own sign of Capricorn in the ninth house of the Navamsha gives educational gains. Saturn is also located in the ninth house from the Moon in the birth chart, which reinforces these influences. Rahu meanwhile is located in Pisces, a sign of Jupiter, in the birth chart, in the sixth, an upachaya house in which malefics like Rahu usually do well. Rahu is also giving the gains of its lord Jupiter located in the fifth house in Aquarius. All these factors contributed to the award. The award teaches us that we should not just fear Saturn-Rahu periods but look to their broader potentials. Christina: Absolutely, Rahu often gets an unnecessary �bad� reputation yet, as in your case I have seen it bring extreme honors, abundance and wealth, usually when Rahu time period is in play. It looks like your annual Varshaphal chart is also a contributing factor to such a dramatic citation at this time! Vamadeva: The Varshaphal or annual chart often provides a more specific timing of factors shown to be possible in the birth chart. Besides its value as a chart in its own right, the transits that occur in the Varshaphal relative to the natal chart are very important as well. Note that in my annual chart exalted Saturn as Yoga Karaka and Dasha Lord is located on the exact degree of my natal ascendant in Libra. Exalted Jupiter meanwhile is in the tenth house of the birth chart, not far from the cusp of the tenth house. As the annual chart itself has an Aries ascendant, that same Saturn in the annual chart is exalted on the cusp of the seventh house in Libra, as the tenth lord and with directional strength. Jupiter is exalted in the fourth house in Cancer aspecting the tenth house, as the benefic ninth lord. Rahu is strong in the sixth house, an upachaya house. Moon and Venus are well placed in the fifth house, which relates to writing and educational matters also. So the positions in the annual chart and their transits relative to the natal chart provide perhaps the clearest indications of such an award. Christina: Yes, and also since you are running the dasa of Saturn, who is the lord of your natal Moon, and who was receiving the aspect of exalted Jupiter (forming a transiting Hamsa Yoga to your Moon). Just brilliant destiny! Vamadeva, one of our new staff contributors and interviewers also has some questions for you. Simon Chokoisky: Vamadeva, you have done more than anyone I know to debunk the Aryan Invasion theory proposed by Western scholars in the late 19th early 20th centuries. Do you think this is one of the reasons you received the 2015 Padma Bhushan? And, would you talk more about where this theory is now -- is it still accepted by mainstream historians and archeologists? Vamadeva: My work on ancient India was one of the factors mentioned relative to the award. The Archaeological Survey of India and the Geological Survey of India have rejected the Aryan invasion/migration theory based upon the evidence they have of ancient ruins and ancient rivers. But western academics are slow to bring in these changes as it undermines many of their pet theories. They have however reduced the invasion theory to a small scale migration, as so far no evidence of any invasion can be proved. This March in Delhi I gave the yearly foundation lecture for the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), which is the main government body handling these issues. We have posted that lecture on our website. It sums up the situation today. It is time to revise the textbooks in light of new evidence. Simon: Excellent! {Readers can visit http://ichr.ac.in/Foundationday_text.pdf to read the lecture.} Also, if astrology was part of Vedic life and culture, how was it different from what we practice today? Was it mostly nakshatra-based, with rashi-based astrology coming later? Did they focus more on mundane astrology, like predicting earthquakes, blights and droughts? Vamadeva: The Vedas speak of various divisions of the sky. The Rigveda mentions a twelvefold division already among others. It seems that astrology was a more variable system in Vedic times and became standardized over the centuries into a few key subsets. Yet this initial variability is mirrored in the use of divisional charts and the complexity of Vedic astrology overall. The 360 number is common in Vedic texts, and with reference to the heavens, showing an awareness of the zodiac. Rigveda states that Vishnu has 4x90 or 360 names, suggesting a divine quality for every degree of the zodiac. One text speaks of Nakshatras divided into Upanakshatras and a 720 division of the sky. The person�s Janma nakshatra is key to Vedic rituals. The earliest charts we know of are in the Ramayana for Lord Rama, which is said to be the most ancient of the poetic works in Sanskrit. We find references in the Puranas to the vernal equinox at the end of Aries so the rashi system seems to have been known by then, by 1500 BCE, but may be even earlier. I have discussed all these topics in my books and articles. Simon: You have studied so many Vedic topics- Ayurveda, Jyotisha, Sanskrit, and Tantra, to name a few- which is your true love? Vamadeva: You cannot separate these teachings and each is mirrored in the others. Rigveda is the most interesting relative to the power of its mantras, profound but very difficult. Upanishads have the greatest power of higher insight. Without some knowledge of Vedic Sanskrit and some practice of the Vedic Yoga, the keys to these teachings and their connections can be hard to discern. Simon: Vamadeva, based on your studies of the Vedas, how old is the Vedic culture? Does it mention astrology? If so, can this be used to date the Vedic period? Vamadeva: The Vedas speak of the origins of Vedic culture on the Sarasvati-Drishadvati rivers located west of the Yamuna. The Archaeological Survey of India has dated early beginnings of agriculture in this region to before 7000 BCE, as old as anywhere else in India. According to the Geological Survey of India, the Sarasvati was in decline by 3000 BCE and dried up by 1900 BCE. The Rigveda speaks of the Sarasvati as a mighty ocean going stream, which was true before 3000 BCE.
Astrological numbers are hidden in the Vedic hymns as the Vedic meters range from 24 � 48 syllables, with 36 as the mean. The jagati meter of four verses of 12 syllables each is said to relate to the Sun and to measure the vibratory rate of the space. Christina: Vamadeva, would you please tell us a bit about your newest book that is about to be released? Vamadeva: Shiva, the Lord of Yoga, is my most recent book that is just coming out now. It has a forward by Lokesh Chandra, the current head of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), and an introduction by the great teacher Sri Sadguru Sivananda Murty, our own guruji who just took his Mahasamadhi. I recently gave a copy the book to the Prime Minister, when we were visiting him in his office in Delhi. He was kind enough to have a picture taken with me and the book. He is a devotee of Lord Shiva as well. The book explores the universality of Shiva through the world of nature and his connection with special yoga practices, particularly mantra, pranayama and meditation, but Jyotish has a place as well. Shiva is the main deity who is honored in India as Yogeshvara or the Lord of Yoga, which the book highlights. His grace alone can confer siddhi or mastery in any Yoga practice. Christina: I assume it can be preordered on your website? Vamadeva: Yes. http://vedanet.com which has links to ordering the book and a longer description of it. Christina: We would love it if you would share some of your experiences teaching, along with your beloved wife Yogini Shambavi in India. You have ongoing courses every year. Vamadeva: Later this year we are involved with International conferences in India with the India Foundation, Sanchi University, and the Chinmaya Mission. We also do our own private programs and retreats. Next year in March 2016 we have a special program in a beautiful retreat center above Rishikesh on the Ganga for Shiva Ratri, the main night of the year for worshipping Shiva. Shambhavi and I will be teaching and sharing special practices and rituals for that event as part of a week long program. In June, 2015 I was invited as one of the main speakers for the International Conference of Yoga and Holistic Health organized by the AYUSH ministry to mark International Yoga Day. So our trips to India are several times a year. In April 2016, I will be the Keynote speaker at the NAMA (National Ayurvedic Medical Association) conference in Rhode Island. Christina: Whew, what a full schedule. Thank you dear Vamadeva for taking time to talk with us today. On behalf of Vedic practioners around the world we congratulate and applaud you for both your accomplishments and for the Vedic knowledge that you have truly brought to the world through your work and your books. You truly embody Jyotish and are a bona fide light bearer. It is an honor to know you, and to call you friend. Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley) Biography
Simon Chokoisky's Biography:
Simon has written for Namarupa, and is a regular contributor to Ayurveda Today, and Yoga Magazine. Along with his full-time duties at the Ayurvedic Institute, Simon also travels widely giving seminars. Contact Information: He may be reached at [email protected] or 602-574-0248 |
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| Jyotish Star Copyright 2015 C. C. Collins - All Rights Reserved |
