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Vedic Origins of the Zodiac - Part 2 
May 3, 2007 |
| Vedic Astrology Diary Archives |
By Dr.
David Frawley
- continued from Vedic
Origins of the Zodiac - Part 1
Vedic
Origins of the Zodiac - Part 3
For Dirghatamas, as was the case for much of later Vedic astronomy,
the main God of the zodiac is the Sun God called Vishnu. Vishnu
rules over the highest heaven and is sometimes identified with
the pole star or polar point, which in the unique view of Vedic
astronomy is the central point that governs all celestial motions
and form which these are calculated.
According to Dirghatamas Rig Veda I.155.6, "With four
times ninety names (caturbhih sakam navatim ca namabhih), he
(Vishnu) sets in motion moving forces like a turning wheel (cakra)."
This suggests that even in Vedic times Vishnu had 360 names
or forms, one for each degree of the zodiac. A fourfold division
may correspond to the solstices and equinoxes. Elsewhere Dirghatamas
states, I.164.36, "Seven half embryos form the seed
of the world. They stand in the dharma by the direction of Vishnu."
This probably refers to the seven planets.
Most of the astronomical information occurs in his famous Asya
Vamasya Hymn I.164. Much of this hymn can be understood as a
description of the zodiac. It begins:
1. Of this adorable old invoker (the Sun) is a middle brother
who is pervasive (the Wind or lightning). He has a third brother,
whose back carries ghee (Fire). There I saw the Lord of the
people (the Sun) who has seven children.
This verse is referring to the usual threefold Vedic division
of Gods and worlds as the Fire (Agni) on Earth, the Wind or
Lightning (Vayu) in the Atmosphere and the Sun (Surya) in Heaven.
This also may refer to the three steps or strides of Vishnu
through which he measures the Earth, the Atmosphere and Heaven.
The Sun is also a symbol of the supreme light or the supreme
Sun God that is Vishnu. The Sun or supreme light has seven children,
the visible Sun, Moon and five planets.
We should note that the zodiac of twelve signs is divided into
three sections based upon a similar understanding, starting
with Aries or fire (cardinal fire ruled by Mars, who in Vedic
thought is the fire born of the Earth), then with Leo or the
Sun (fixed fire ruled by the Sun), and then with Sagittarius,
the atmospheric fire, lightning or wind (mutable fire ruled
by Jupiter, the God of the rains).
2. Seven yoke the chariot that has a single wheel (chakra).
One horse that has seven names carries it. The wheel has three
naves, is undecaying and never overcome, where all these beings
are placed.
The zodiac is the single wheeled-chariot or circle yoked by
the seven planets which are all forms of the Sun or sunlight.
It is the wheel of time on which all beings are placed. The
Vedic horse (ashva) is symbolic of energy or propulsive force.
3. This chariot which the seven have mounted has seven wheels
(chakras) and is carried by seven horses. The seven sisters
sing forth together, where are hidden the seven names of the
cows.
The seven planets create their seven rotations or seven wheels.
Each has its horse, its energy or velocity. Each has its feminine
power or sister, its power of expression. It carries its own
hidden name or secret knowledge (symbolically cows or rays).
This refers to the astrological influences of the planets.
11. The wheel of law with twelve spokes does not decay as it
revolves around heaven. Oh Fire, here your 720 sons abide.
The circle of the zodiac has twelve signs. It has 720 half degrees
or twins, making 360 total. The Shatapatha Brahmana X.5.5, a
late Vedic text, also speaks of a wheel of heaven with 720 divisions.
"But indeed that Fire-altar is also the Nakshatras. For
there are twenty seven of these Nakshatras and twenty-seven
secondary Nakshatras. This makes 720." Twenty-seven times
twenty-seven Nakshatras equals 729, with which some overlap
can be related to the 720 half-degrees of the zodiac.
12. The Father with five feet and twelve forms, they say,
dwells in the higher half of heaven full of waters. Others say
that he is the clear-seeing one who dwells below in a sevenfold
wheel that has six spokes.
The five feet of the father or the Sun are the five planets
or the five elements that these often refer to (to which Vedic
thought associates the five sense organs and five motor organs
in the human body). His twelve forms are the twelve signs. The
Sun in the higher half of heaven with the waters is the signs
Leo with Cancer (ruled by the Moon), with the other five planets
being the five feet, each ruling two signs. In Vedic thought,
the Sun is the abode of the waters, which we can see in the
zodiac by the proximity of the signs Cancer and Leo.
The sevenfold wheel is the zodiac moved by the seven planets.
The six spokes are the six double signs through which the planets
travel. The same verse occurs in the Prashna Upanishad I.11
as a symbol for the year.
13. Revolving on this five-spoked wheel all beings stand.
Though it carries a heavy load, its axle does not over heat.
From of old it does not break its ancient laws.
The five-spoked wheel is again the zodiac ruled by five planets
and five elements and their various internal and external correspondences.
14. The undecaying wheel (circle) together with its felly
(circumference), ten yoked to the upward extension carry it.
The eye of the Sun moves encompassing the region. In it are
placed all beings.
This may again refer to the ten signs ruled by the five planets,
with each planet ruling two signs. The eye of the Sun may be
the sign Leo through which the solar influence pervades the
zodiac or just the Sun itself. The upward extension may be the
polar region.
15. Of those that are born together, the seventh is born
alone. The six are twins (yama), Divine born rishis. The wishes
that they grant are apportioned according to their nature. Diversely
made for their ordainer, they move in different forms.
The six born together or are twins are the twelve signs, two
of which are ruled by one planet (considering the Sun and Moon
as a single planetary influence). The seventh that is singly
born is the single light that illumines all the planets. Elsewhere
the Rig Veda X.64.3 speaks of the Sun and Moon as twins (yama)
in heaven.
The planets are often associated with the rishis in Vedic thought,
particularly the rishis Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shukra (Venus)
and Kashyapa (the Sun) which became common names for the planets.
Their ordainer or stabilizer may be the pole star (polar point).
48. Twelve are its fellies. The wheel is one. It has three
naves. Who has understood it?
It are held together like spokes the 360, both moving and non-moving.
This perhaps the clearest verse that refers to the zodiac of
twelve signs and three hundred and sixty degrees. The same verse
also occurs in Atharva Veda (X.8.4). The zodiac has three divisions
as fire, lightning and Sun or Aries, Sagittarius and Leo that
represent these three forms of fire. The 360 spokes are the
360 degrees which revolve in the sky but remain in the same
place in the zodiac.
Yet another verse (43) of this same hymn of Dirghatamas refers
to the Vishuvat, the solstice or equinox, showing that such
astronomical meanings are clearly possible.
If we examine the hymn overall, we see that a heavenly circle
of 360 degrees and 12 signs is known, along with 7 planets.
It also has a threefold division of the signs which can be identified
with that of fire, wind (lightning) and Sun (Aries, Sagittarius,
Leo) and a sixfold division that can be identified with the
planets each ruling two signs of the zodiac. This provides the
basis for the main factors of the zodiac and signs as we have
known them historically. We have all the main factors for the
traditional signs of the zodiac except the names and symbols
of each individual sign. This I will address in another article.
Elsewhere in Vedic literature is the idea that when the Creator
created the stars he assigned each an animal of which there
were originally five, the goat, sheep, cow, horse and man (Shatapatha
Brahmana X.2.1). This shows a Vedic tradition of assigning animals
to constellations. The animals mentioned are the man, goat,
ram, bull and horse, which contain several of the zodiacal animals.
The zodiac in Vedic thought is the wheel of the Sun. It is the
circle created by the Sun’s rays. The Shatapatha Brahmana
X.5.4 notes, "But, indeed, the Fire-altar also is the
Sun. The regions are its enclosing stones, and there are 360
of these, because 360 regions encircle the Sun on all sides.
And 360 are the rays of the Sun."
- To be continued
reprinted with permission
Copyright 2007. Vaughn Paul
Manley. All Rights Reserved. |
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