Is Astrology a Science?

Ramkrishna Bhattacharya

Astrologers in India and abroad claim that their ancient discipline of study is to be recognized as a branch of science. The issue was resolved in Europe long ago. As early as the fourteenth century, a clear distinction had been drawn between astronomy and astrology, the first regarded as a science, the second as an art. Previously astrology itself was supposed to be of two kinds:

(a) Natural astrology - the calculation and foretelling of natural phenomena, such as the measurement of time, fixing of Easter, prediction of tides and eclipses, and of meteorological phenomena, and

(b) Judicial astrology - the art of judging the reputed occult and non-physical influence of the stars and planets upon human affairs. (Oxford English Dictionary,  'Astrology') 

Since the end of the sixteenth century, natural astrology became a part of astronomy while astrology meant judicial astronomy alone.

How can astrology be admitted as a branch of science? Science, by definition, is a systematized body of knowledge, based on observation and experiments, which can be verified by further observation and experiments conducted under similar or simulated conditions, and from the results of these some laws can be formulated which may be applied in practice. Astrology fails to satisfy these basic requirements. It is based on an imaginary concepts of the wheel of the zodiac, consisting of twelve constellations, Aries, Taurus, Gemini etc. Astronomy now recognizes nearly ninety constellations.

According to astrology, the orbits of the six planets (the Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn), the Sun, the Moon, and the two imaginary 'planets', Rahu and Ketu, pass through this imaginary arc. All this was based on naked-eye observation and sheer ignorance of the existence of other planets in our own solar system. The very ideas of the 'nine planets' (navagraha-s) has been proved wrong. The Sun is a star, not a planet; the Moon (of the Earth) a mere satellite; and there are other planets like Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Another characteristic of science is that it is ever progressive. New observations and discoveries necessitate modifications of what had so far been known. For example, the geo-centric concept which held sway since times immemorial had to give place to helio-centric one propounded and proved by Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler. Astrology, on the other hand, is a closed system. The invention of the telescope and more sophisticated device of observation revolutionized the whole of old astronomy. Astrology, however, remained unaffected. Some astrologers do claim that they have incorporated the new findings in their own calculations. By saying so they also admit their own texts are hopelessly inadequate and need drastic revision.

Science attempts to find out the casual relationship between two events. The cause is to be an invariable, unconditional and immediate antecedent of the effect that follows. So there has to be different causes for different effects. And the two events— one that precedes and the other that follows— must be inter-related. Astrology, however, believes that there is one and only cause behind such diverse events as childbirth, scoring high marks in examinations, happy marriage, increase in wealth, etc. If one cause, the influence of planets, could account for everything on earth, life would be uncomplicated indeed. 

Prof Ramkrishna Bhattacharya taught English at Unversity of Calcutta, Kolkota and was an Emeritus Fellow of University Grants Commission. He is now Fellow of Pavlov Institute, Kolkota


 

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Subversion at Work: Astrology Discredited in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyākāṇḍa

Ramkrishna Bhattacharya

An advertisement published in the Times of India (Kolkata edition) on December 10, 2014 entered by Nakshatra Diamond Jewellery (certified by Gemological Science International, International Gemological Institute, Independent Gemological Laboratories and others) contained a half-page picture of a bejewelled Bollywood film-star. The advertisement was entitled ‘This Pushya Nakshatra / Buy from the amazing collection at Nakshatra & usher in blessings, luck & success in your life.’

The day the moon enters Puṣya, the eighth of the twenty seven lunar mansions/constellations (nakṣatra). Indian astrologers consider this day to be auspicious, particularly for the coronation of kings (puṣyābhiṣeka). Puṣya in a general sense stands, among other things, for ‘nourishment’. In fact the whole month of Pauṣa in the Hindu calendar is supposed to be lucky or propitious for all activities, such as marriage, house warming (gṛhapraveśa), etc.¹

Painting: Raja Ravi Varma

Puṣya was known in the early Vedic times (Ṛgveda 1.191.12, also Atharva-veda 5.4.4). It was also known as Tiṣya (Ṛgveda 5.54.13, 10.64.8). Pāṇini mentions it along with a synonym, Siddha/Sidhya² in the Aṣṭādhyāyī 3.1.116 (‘púṣ-ya- and sídh-ya- are introduced to denote asterisms (nákṣatre),’ puṣya-siddhau nakṣatre).³ Puṣya literally means ‘increased wealth’ as Sidhya stands for ‘achieves success in this’ (Katre p. 212). A detailed description of the benefits accruing from a bath on the day the moon enters Puṣya is found in the Kālikā-Purāṇa, chapter 86. The king should take the bath, for it would ensure good fortune, welfare and wipe out the possibility of famine and epidemic of death.⁴

Varāhamihira also waxes eloquent on the power of Puṣya:

There are no portents whose evil effects are irremediable by Pushya Snāna and there are no ceremonies calculated to do a king as much good as the ceremony of Pushya Homa [ritual].

The king that desires an increase in power and the king that desires sons will be benefited by Pushya Snāna [bath at the time of Pushya].

Thus have been stated by Bṛhaspati to Indra the rules relating the ceremony of Pushya Snāna – for longevity, increase of progeny/subjects and of fortune. (Bṛhatsaṃhitā 48.84-87. Translation amended)

Pushya is mentioned in several lexicons and other sources (see Böhtlingk-Roth, s.v.). More interesting, however, is the fact that the Rāmāyaṇa Book 2 (Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa, the Book of Ayodhyā), refers to Puṣya, not once or twice, but several times in all in connection with the coronation of Rāma, but with quite an opposite effect.

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Daśaratha convened the chief men of the land from the various cities and provinces from the fourcorners, ‘aryan and barbarian, and others who lived in the forest and mountain regions in which they lived’ (mlecchāś cāryāś ca ye cānye vanaśailāntavāsinaḥ 2.3.9ab). and told them:

‘My body has grown old in the shade of the white parasol. I have lived a life of many, countless, years, and now I crave repose for this aged body of mine…

to invest Rāma, champion of righteousness and bull among men, with the office of prince regent, a union as propitious as the moon’s with the constellation Puṣya. (crit. ed. 2.2.10, p.41)⁵

Then he called Rāma to the assembly and told him:

And since by your virtues you have won the loyalty of these my subjects, you shall become prince regent on the day of Puṣya’s conjunction. (2.3.24, p.51)

The course of events that followed refers to Puṣya again and again:

After the townsmen had gone, the king held further consultation with his counsellors. When he learned what they had determined the lord [Daśaratha] declared with determination: “Tomorrow is Puṣya, so tomorrow my son Rāma, his eyes as coppery as lotuses, shall be consecrated as prince regent.” (2.4.1-2, p.51)

When the assembled chiefs and counsellors were gone Daśarath again called Rāma and told him:

Rāma, I have had dreams lately, inauspicious, ominous dreams. Great meteors and lightning bolts out of a clear sky have been falling nearby with a terrible crash. The astrologers also inform me, Rāma, that my birth star is obstructed by hostile planets, Angāraka, Rāhu and the sun. When such portents as these appear it usually means a king is about to die or meet with some dreadful misfortune. You must therefore have yourself consecrated, Rāghava, before my resolve fails me. For the minds of men are changeable. Today the moon has reached Punarvasu, just to the east of Puṣya; tomorrow, the astrologers predict, its conjunction with Puṣya is certain. On this very Puṣya day you must therefore have yourself consecrated, Rāghava, before my resolve fails me. On this very Puṣya day you must have yourself consecrated – I feel a sense of great urgency. Tomorrow, slayer of enemies, I will consecrate you as prince regent. (2.4.12-22, p.55)

Some may very well think of this passage as an act of subversion. The royal astrologers could foretell about Daśaratha’s death but could not foresee that Rama was not destined to be made the prince regent. The counsellors of Daśaratha too proved to be no better, although they were sages of repute. They too did not foresee that all attempts to consecrate Rāma would prove to be futile: Daśaratha was not destined to see his eldest son enthroned.

Let us look at the following passages that go on hammering on the auspiciousness of Pusya, credulously repeated by other characters of the epic:

At that moment Kauśalyā stood with her eyes closed, while Sumitrā, Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa were seated behind her. From the moment she received word that her son was to be consecrated as prince regent on Pushya day, she had been controlling her breathing and meditating on the Primal Being, Janārdana. (2.4.30-33, p.57)

Now, Kaikeyī’s family servant, who had lived with her from the time of her birth, had happened to ascend to the rooftop terrace that shone like the moon. From the terrace Mantharā could see all Ayodhyā – the king’s way newly sprinkled, the lotuses and water lilies strewn about, the costly ornamental pennants and banners, the sprinkling of sandalwood water and the crowds of freshly bathed people. Seeing a nursemaid standing nearby, Mantharā asked:

“Why is Rāma’s mother so delighted and giving away money

to people, when she has always been so miserly? Tell me,

why are the people displaying such boundless delight? Has

something happened to delight the lord of earth? What is he

planning to do?”

Bursting with delight and out of sheer gladness the nursemaid told the hunchback Mantharā about the greater majesty in store for Rāghava:

“Tomorrow on Puṣya day King Daśaratha is going to consecrate Rāma Rāghava as prince regent, the blameless prince who has mastered his anger.” (2.7.5-8ab, p.71)

Mantharā then proceeded to visit Kaikeyī. She found her quite happy with the news of Rāma’s coronation. The queen even presented her with a lovely piece of jewellery.

But Mantharā was beside herself with rage and sorrow. She threw the jewellery away and said spitefully: 

“You foolish woman, how can you be delighted at such a moment? Are you not aware that you stand in the midst of a sea of grief? It is Kauśalyā who is fortunate; it is her son the eminent brahmans will consecrate as the powerful prince regent tomorrow, on Puṣya day. Once Kauśalyā secures this great object of joy, she will cheerfully eliminate her enemies. (2.8.1-3, p.75)

In the mean time, the work of consecration has begun.

The ministers, the leaders of the army and the leading merchants joyfully convened for Rāghava’s consecration. When the bright sun had risen and Pushya day had come, the chief Brahmans made the preparations for Rāma’s consecration. (2.13.1-3, p.107)

When Rāma went back to meet his spouse, his demeneour betrayed his misgivings:

Sītā started up and began to tremble as she looked at her husband consumed with grief, his senses numb with anxious care. When she saw how his face was drained of color, how he sweated and chafed, she was consumed with sorrow. “What is the meaning of this, my lord?” she asked. Today was surely the day for which the learned brahmans had forecast the conjunction of Puṣya, the majestic constellation ruled by Bṛhaspati. Why are you so sad, Rāghava? The hundred-ribbed parasol with its hue of white-capped water is not throwing its shade upon your handsome face. (2.23.5-8, p.161)

Thus, contrary to all expectations, instead of being crowned as the sovereign of Kośala, Rāma was forced to go to exile for fourteen years. The prediction of the astrologers and the endeavours of his father’s counsellors came to naught. So much for the alleged beneficial effect of Puṣya.⁶ The astrologers and cunsellors did not warn Daśaratha of the consequences if he tried to empower Rāma as the King of Kośala.

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Why should the author of this Book, or more specifically, of this section (added, according to Brockington p.329, at the second stage of redaction), repeatedly disparage the royal astrologers and counsellors by pointing out, not once or twice, but several times, the alleged beneficial effect of a day (when the moon enters Puṣya) and the opposite result that followed? The Rāmāyaṇa itself is in all respects a pro-Establishment work, basically male-dominated and conservative in approach concerning all social and political questions. The debunking of astrologers stands out as a significant piece of dissidence not expected in a Brahmanical work. In the Indian tradition the Rāmāyaṇa is not considered to be a secular epic (mahākāvya). On the other hand, it is the first work composed by the ‘first poet’ (ādikavi). Vālmīki was so regarded even in the first century ce, as evidenced in Life of the Buddha (Buddhacarita) by the Buddhist poet, Aśvaghoṣa. He writes: ‘And Vālmīki was the first to create the verse’ (vālmīkirādau ca sasarja padyaṃ, 1.43). The discrediting of astrology, or at least of royal astrologers, is an unexpected radical trait in the received text of the Rāmāyaṇa in all its recensions and versions. It is strange that neither P.L. Vaidya, the editor of the Ayodhyākāṇḍa in the crit. ed., nor any scholar, Indian or foreign, writing on the Rāmāyaṇa pays the least attention to the irony inherent in the repeated reference to Puṣya and the failure of the astrologers in determining the fate awaiting Rāma. Vaidya commenting on 2.4.19-20, writes:

The reason for immediate coronation of Rāma as indicated here is that stars do not seem to be favourable to Daśaratha, and even suggest calamities like death or change of mind. The good and auspicious idea in the mind of Daśaratha, therefore, requires to be put into action immediately (p.695).

This is to miss the mark. Vaidya does not say a word about astrology and its failure. He is concerned solely with the ethical questions arising out of the situation. Nor does Sheldon Pollock, in his otherwise admirable translation, spend a single word to point out the irony of the circumstances. 
 

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All this automatically raises the obvious question: how could such an anti-Establishment view find place and continue to hold it in a ‘sacred text’ like the Rāmāyaṇa?

The only tentative answer I can offer is that, even among the redactors of the Ayodhyākāṇḍa of the Rāmāyaṇa there must have been one who had some grudge against astrology, perhaps because he himself had been a victim of deception of false prophecy. Or he might have a freethinker (rarely met with, but not altogether non-existent in any phase of Indian history), not believing in astrological predictions. There is no gainsaying that the irony of the situation is enhanced by the welfare expected of Puṣya and the disaster that fell on Rāma’s life. There is an oral tradition which says that the adherents of the Nyāya philosophy used to scoff at the astrologers by saying, ‘Astrology is (rendered) fruitless by the banishment of Rāma from his kingdom’ (viphalaṃ jyotiṣaṃ śāstraṃ rāme rājyavivāsite).⁷ This was in response to a maxim vaunted by the astrologers, ‘Astrology is productive (lit. fruitful) where the sun and the moon are (its) witnesses’ (saphalaṃ jyotiṣaṃ śāstram candrārkau yatra sākṣiṇau).

The redactor of this section of the Rāmāyaṇa Book 2 must have been an ancestor of the Naiyāyikas who ridiculed astrology by citing the case of Rāma’s banishment.

Appendix A

Sanskrit passages from the Rāmāyaṇa (critical edition)

taṃ candram iva puṣyeṇa yuktaṃ dharmabhṛtāṃ varam |
yauvarājyena yoktāsmi prītaḥ puruṣapuṃgavam || (crit. ed. 2.2.10)

tvayā yataḥ prajāś cemāḥ svaguṇair anurañjitāḥ |
tasmāt tvaṃ puṣyayogena yauvarājyam avāpnuhi || (2.3.24)

gateṣv atha nṛpo bhūyaḥ paureṣu saha mantribhiḥ |
mantrayitvā tataś cakre niścayajñaḥ sa niścayam ||
śva eva puṣyo bhavitā śvo 'bhiṣecyeta me sutaḥ |
rāmo rājīvatāmrākṣo yauvarājya iti prabhuḥ || (2.4.1-2)

rāma vṛddho 'smi dīrghāyur bhuktā bhogā mayepsitāḥ |
annavadbhiḥ kratuśatais tatheṣṭaṃ bhūridakṣiṇaiḥ ||
jātam iṣṭam apatyaṃ me tvam adyānupamaṃ bhuvi |
dattam iṣṭam adhītaṃ ca mayā puruṣasattama ||
anubhūtāni ceṣṭāni mayā vīra sukhāni ca |
devarṣi pitṛviprāṇām anṛṇo 'smi tathātmanaḥ ||
na kiṃ cin mama kartavyaṃ tavānyatrābhiṣecanāt |
ato yat tvām ahaṃ brūyāṃ tan me tvaṃ kartum arhasi ||
adya prakṛtayaḥ sarvās tvām icchanti narādhipam |
atas tvāṃ yuvarājānam abhiṣekṣyāmi putraka ||
api cādyāśubhān rāma svapnān paśyāmi dāruṇān |
sanirghātā maholkāś ca patantīha mahāsvanāḥ ||
avaṣṭabdhaṃ ca me rāma nakṣatraṃ dāruṇair grahaiḥ |
āvedayanti daivajñāḥ sūryāṅgārakarāhubhiḥ ||
prāyeṇa hi nimittānām īdṛśānāṃ samudbhave |
rājā vā mṛtyum āpnoti ghorāṃ vāpadam ṛcchati ||
tad yāvad eva me ceto na vimuhyati rāghava |
tāvad evābhiṣiñcasva calā hi prāṇināṃ matiḥ ||
adya candro 'bhyupagataḥ puṣyāt pūrvaṃ punar vasum |
śvaḥ puṣya yogaṃ niyataṃ vakṣyante daivacintakāḥ ||
tatra puṣye 'bhiṣiñcasva manas tvarayatīva mām |
śvas tvāham abhiṣekṣyāmi yauvarājye paraṃtapa || (2.4.12-22)

tatra tāṃ pravaṇām eva mātaraṃ kṣaumavāsinīm |
vāgyatāṃ devatāgāre dadarśa yācatīṃ śriyam ||
prāg eva cāgatā tatra sumitrā lakṣmaṇas tathā |
sītā cānāyitā śrutvā priyaṃ rāmābhiṣecanam ||
tasmin kāle hi kausalyā tasthāv āmīlitekṣaṇā |
sumitrayānvāsyamānā sītayā lakṣmaṇena ca ||
śrutvā puṣyeṇa putrasya yauvarājyābhiṣecanam |
prāṇāyāmena puruṣaṃ dhyāyamānā janārdanam || (2.4.30-33)

rāmamātā dhanaṃ kiṃ nu janebhyaḥ saṃprayacchati |
atimātraṃ praharṣo 'yaṃ kiṃ janasya ca śaṃsa me ||
kārayiṣyati kiṃ vāpi saṃprahṛṣṭo mahīpatiḥ |
vidīryamāṇā harṣeṇa dhātrī paramayā mudā ||
ācacakṣe 'tha kubjāyai bhūyasīṃ rāghave śriyam |
śvaḥ puṣyeṇa jitakrodhaṃ yauvarājyena rāghavam ||
rājā daśaratho rāmam abhiṣecayitānagham | (2.7.5-8ab)

mantharā tv abhyasūyyainām utsṛjyābharaṇaṃ ca tat |
uvācedaṃ tato vākyaṃ kopaduḥkhasamanvitā ||
harṣaṃ kim idam asthāne kṛtavaty asi bāliśe |
śokasāgaramadhyastham ātmānaṃ nāvabudhyase ||
subhagā khalu kausalyā yasyāḥ putro 'bhiṣekṣyate |
yauvarājyena mahatā śvaḥ puṣyeṇa dvijottamaiḥ || (2.8.1-3)

te tu tāṃ rajanīm uṣya brāhmaṇā vedapāragāḥ |
upatasthur upasthānaṃ saharājapurohitāḥ ||
amātyā balamukhyāś ca mukhyā ye nigamasya ca |
rāghavasyābhiṣekārthe prīyamāṇās tu saṃgatāḥ ||
udite vimale sūrye puṣye cābhyāgate 'hani |
abhiṣekāya rāmasya dvijendrair upakalpitam || (2.13.1-3)

praviveśātha rāmas tu svaveśma suvibhūṣitam |prahṛṣṭajanasaṃpūrṇaṃ hriyā kiṃ cid avāṅmukhaḥ ||atha sītā samutpatya vepamānā ca taṃ patim |apaśyac chokasaṃtaptaṃ cintāvyākulilendriyam ||vivarṇavadanaṃ dṛṣṭvā taṃ prasvinnam amarṣaṇam |āha duḥkhābhisaṃtaptā kim idānīm idaṃ prabho ||adya bārhaspataḥ śrīmān yuktaḥ puṣyo na rāghava |procyate brāhmaṇaiḥ prājñaiḥ kena tvam asi durmanāḥ || (2.23.5-8)

Puṣya occurs in the following verses in the vulgate: 2.12ab, 3.41ab, 4.2ab, 4.22ab, 4.33ab, 7.11ab, 8.9cd, 15.3ab, and 26.8 ab.

Notes:

1 Since the month of Pauṣa comes after the harvesting season, cultivators and traders are in a relatively prosperous state, and have some money to spare. There is a Bangla proverb, kāro pauṣmās kāro sarvanāś (To one the month to prosper ( Pauṣa), to another, disaster). A festival is also held in every Bengali Hindu household at the last day of Pauṣa. Several types of cocoanut confectionaries are prepared and people are invited to partake of them.

2 The other two synonyms are Tiṣya and Puṣyā.

3 Commenting on Aṣṭ 2.3.45 (nakṣatre ca lupi), Katre provides an example: ‘One should drink a milkshake when the asterism Puṣya is in conjunction with the moon,’ puṣyena/puṣye pāyasaṃ aśnīyāt (p.148)

4 pauṣe puṣyar kṣage candre puṣyasnānaṃ nṛpaś caret |

saubhāgye-kalyāṇakaraṃ durbhikṣa-maraṇākahaṃ || (Kālikā-Purāṇa 86.2, p. 879). 
 

This verse is quoted in the Śabda-kalpa-druma, a Sanskrit-Sanskrit dictionary, from which it is re-quoted in Böhtlingk-Roth’s Sanskrit-Wörterbuch.

5 For the critically edited constituted text of the original Sanskrit passages, see Appendix A below. A vulgate text with an English translation is to be found in <http://www.valmikiramayan.net/utf8/ayodhya/sarga2/ayodhya_2_frame.htm>

6 It may be mentioned in this connection that there are several floating verses (udbhaṭa-śokas) of unknown authorship satirizing astrologers. Some of them have been collected in the anthology, Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra under the head, ‘Censure of Evil Astrologers’ (kugaṇaka-nindā).

7 These two maxims have been cited by S. Thakur in 1982/1988 p. 22. To the best of my knowledge they had never been recorded before. Enquiries with Nyāya specialists such as Professor M.K. Gangopadhyaya and Professor Prabal Kumar Sen too confirmed this conclusion. Thakur in his short note, however, discusses Daśaratha’s speeches alone; he does not mention those of others.

Works Cited

Aśvaghoṣa. The Buddhacarita. Ed. and trans. E. H. Johnston. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1978 (first pub. 1936).

Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini. Ed. and trans. S. M. Katre. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1989.

Böhtlingk, Otto and Rudolf Roth. Sanskrit-Wörterbuch. Delhi: Motilal Banrsidass, 1990 (reprint).

Brockington, J. L. Righteous Rāma: the Evolution of an Epic. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1984.

Kālikāpurāṇa. Ed. Panchanana Tarkaratna, revised by Srijiva Nyayatirtha. Kalikata: Nababharata Publishers, 1384 Bangla Sal.

Katre, S. M. See Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini.

Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki. Vol. 2. Ed. Shastri Shrinivas Katti Mudholkara. Delhi: Parimal Publications, 1983. (vulgate)

Rāmāyaṇa, Book 2, Ayodhyā by Valmīki. Trans. Sheldon Pollock.Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Śabdakalpadruma (1822-58). Compiled by the Pundits appointed by Radhakanta Deva. Delhi: MLBD, 1961 reprint.

Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra. Narayan Ram Acharya (ed.). Bombay: Nirnay Sagar Press, 1952, newly edited by Kashinath Pandurang Parab. Śrīsubhāṣitaratnabhāṇḍāgāraṃ. Revised by Wasudev Laxman Panashikar. Delhi: Eastern Book Links, 1991.

Thakur, Srikrishnaciatanya. Jyotiṣīder bhāgya gaṇanā upahāsa karechen Vālmīki (Vālmīki ridicules the astrologers’ calulation). Utsa Mānush, October-November 1982, reprinted in Vijñāna Jyotiṣa Samāja. Kolkata: Utsa Mānush, 1988 (first published 1983), 22-24.

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa,The. Critically edited by G.H. Bhatt and others. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1960-75.

Varāhamihira. Bṛhatsaṃhitā with [saṃhitā-]Vivṛti by Utpalabhaṭṭa. Ed. Avadha Vihari Tripathi. Varanasi: Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya, 1968.

Varāha Mihira. Brihat Samhitā. Trans. N. Chidambaram Iyer. Madras, 1884.

Viśvakoṣa. Compiled and published by Nagendranath Vasu. Vol. 12. Kalikata, 1308 Bangla Sal (1901ce).

Acknowledgements: Amitava Bhattacharyya, Sourav Basak, and Sunish Kumar Deb. The usual disclaimers apply.

Ramkrishna Bhattacharya taught English at the University of Calcutta, Kolkata and was an Emeritus Fellow of University Grants Commission. He is now a Fellow of PAVLOV Institute, Kolkata.

Email ID: ramkrishna.bhattacharya@gmail.com)

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Signs in the Sky: The Irrationality of Astrology

JV Narlikar

With the New Year just around the corner, most people will now be taking stock of their performance in the current year and will be busy making fresh resolutions for the New Year. Anxious to perform better than in the past, they hope to foresee their future. Instead of making a rational assessment and prediction, many people fall back upon superstitions. Making an accurate assessment of this situation and exploiting the weakness of the gullible to the hilt, astrologers do a flourishing business in making horoscopes. Millions of copies horoscopes are printed and sold every year in our country. Bookstalls in railway stations and bus stands and airports display them prominently.

In our continuing effort to debunk this nonsense of astrology, we publish an essay by the eminent astrophysicist, Jayant V Narlikar. This essay was first published almost two decades back in The Times of India (January 1, 1994). We have left out the last paragraph of the original essay as it is not relevant today.

‘The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves…’ Thus wrote the Bard of Avon in his classic, Julius Caesar. William Shakespeare belonged to the 16^th century and Julius Caesar pre-dated him by about 17 centuries. The statement denies any power to heavenly bodies in shaping human destiny.  In the modern age of science when the astrophysicists have solved the mystery of what the stars are made of and what makes them shine, how does the above statement sound?

Imagine the following scenario.  The time is early afternoon, yet the ever-busy city of Bombay is at a standstill, its streets empty, the BEST buses parked in rows long the pavements, shops with shutters drawn. Why? Is it one of those bandhs which have (sadly) become part of our life?  Has the plague been rampant? Have there been bombs going of everywhere? Or is the city deserted because of the threat of an imminent air attack?

Well, the scenario is not imaginary.  It actually took place but not because of any of the above causes which, though unpleasant, are at least rational.  The cause was irrational; its source, the star nearest to us – our sun. The day was February 16, 1980, when a total solar eclipse was visible from certain parts of India. For Bombay, which claims to be the most advance city in India, a partial cover of the sun was, however, enough to drive practically everyone indoors.

Science Models

Schools texts tell us how and why the solar and lunar eclipses take place. Models are made to demonstrate how the earth’s shadow (in the sun’s light) falling on the moon causes the lunar eclipse and how the moon blocking the view of the sun from the earth causes a solar eclipse.  The geometry of the earth-moon-sun system tells us that the eclipses of the sun are considerably rarer than the eclipses of the moon.  Even the Indian astronomer, Aryabhata, back in the fifth century knew all this. Yet, the spectacle of a shining ball of light disappearing, if only for a few minutes, causing momentary darkness is impressive, and can even be frightening if you do not know its case.  Thus our ancient forefathers may be excused for reacting to the phenomenon with wonder and far. It is not surprising that legends grew up around the eclipse phenomena, legends that inspired rituals. The transient darkness and the serpentine shadow bands were considered harmful.

The fear, the legends, the rituals continue to dominate the minds of many to this day, even though science has given a rational explanation for the phenomena.  This irrationality which drove even a city like Bombay behind doors, has its roots in a deeply-imagined belief that the fate of any individual here on the earth is governed by the heavenly bodies.  Let us see what hard scientific evidence has to say on this belief.  To what extent do starts govern our condition?

The existence and sustenance of life here on the earth has been possible because our planet goes around a star (the sun) at a ‘reasonable’  distance; that is not too close to be burnt out by the sun’s heat and not too far as to freeze to death.  The sun provides energy that is needed for all life forms out here.  Our own building blocks – the elements we are made of - were mostly manufacture deep in the cores of other stars through the process of thermonuclear fusion and ejected through stellar explosions. The stars are essential for our existence.  But this statement is a far cry from the claim that your birth chart of horoscope determines your future or that an eclipse or a comet will bring disaster.  Scientific temper requires that such claim be examines in the first instance by the usual techniques that scientists use to test the validity of empirical relationships. What has been the outcome of such tests?

Birth Charts

Take, for example, the belief that for a happy and sustained married life the birth charts of the couple must be compatible.  Compatibility here means a matching as per astrological criteria. To test this hypothesis studies have been conducted for couples of kinds, those whose marriages were happy and sustained and those whose marriages did not last. The birth charts of couples from both groups were given to astrologers (who were not told to which group they belonged) to sort out which coupes and compatible birth charts and which did not.  Their classification tuned out to have co correlation whatsoever with the actual groups; In other words, compatibility of birth charts has no bearing on compatibility of marriage. This is just one of the many ways in which astrological predictions have been tested by scientists using objective criteria and statistical methods of inference employed successfully in other fields for testing empirical hypotheses.  In all cases the results have been negative; that is, astrological statements have shown no scientifically predictive power.

In the ancient times of Julius Caesar, the motions of planets were known to be irregular, not fitting in the same circular pattern in which stars appeared to move. The Greek word ‘planet’ itself means ‘wanderer’.  Did the planets wander because they moved at will?  Did they possess extraordinary powers? Did they exercise them on humans here on the earth?  Affirmative replies to these questions partly, if not fully, account for belief in astrology.

The work by Kepler and Newton in the 17^th century, however, has put the planets in their place, in orbits round the sun with motion, far from being irregular, but entirely calculable.  Today computer programs are available with whose help even a secondary school student can tell where Mars or Jupiter will be at any given time on any day.  Spacecrafts are launched to the moon and the planets with trajectories of split-second accuracy, thanks to the entirely predictable nature of scientific laws – the same laws that so graphically and accurately predicted the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy with Jupiter.

Astrology Flourishing

Why then even today we find astrology still flourishing?  For reasons one must look to that part of the human brain that is subjective, not rational.  Belief in astrology may provide solace to the frustrated and hold out hope when by all objective assessment there none.  For the stars (that is, the planets, which in astrological jargon also include the moon and the eclipse nodes) may then provide excuses for human failing and inaction and raise expectations that they will override human control.

While an individual may find mental solace in such beliefs, they are hardly beneficial to society. Think of marriage proposal between otherwise well-suited couples being turned down because their horoscopes don’t match. Or important decision like launching welfare programmes or forming cabinets put of to ‘more auspicious times’.  Or relaxing efforts in the success of an enterprise because ‘stars are favorable’.  I have hopes that in the highly competitive age of science and technology the long battle against superstitions will eventually be won.

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