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Astronomical Significance of Dasara

Author: VGR Pavan | Last Updated: Mon 22 Oct 2012 12:15:04 PM

dussehra, dasara, vijaya dashami, vijay dashmi, hindu festival

By VGR Pavan

India is a vast country with rich heritage of not only culture but abundant knowledge in various sciences. It is not the past glory which we have to talk about but put our heads together and work for a noble cause. We all know that across our country there are various religious systems and their observation of rites in various seasons. We call it as “Festivals” simply. But if we deeply ponder into the meaning and reason for their practice we come to know that all these are derived from “Vedas” and all of them are the improvisations of these “holy works”.

Vedas are the systematic arrangement of hymns enunciated by masters of philosophy and austerity. They are gifted with concentration and intuition which witnessed the mysteries of nature. We have to understand the real meaning of these Vedic scriptures and try to know what these saints and savants are trying to convey us. I have to confess here that I don’t have any authority on this subject but fortunately I came across some invaluable works of Sri, B.G. Tilak (freedom fighter). Sharing some of those views in this situation is the quintessence of this article.

Astronomy and Vedas

“As it above so it below” says Emerson. In occultism truth can’t be preserved in books or scriptures it lies in experience. The experienced truth is knowledge whereas that truth is Almighty. Therefore to pass on this truth for later generations our ancestors developed some rituals. Systematic observation if these rituals may enable us to visualise the truth in nature. That’s why all the rituals disclosed in Vedas are designed to suit the seasons prevailing and the corresponding effect on the nature.

To observe these practices consistently their needs a schemer. This schemer itself should contain information needed to time the ritual perfectly so that there should not be any disturbance from “complex natural mechanisms”. After generations of observation or investigation those giants (Sages) concluded that the “key lies in the heavens”. The celestial objects surmounting our mother earth in the cosmos had a direct influence over it. Hence if we perform anything relevant to those vibrations we can get the “desired outcome”.

They divided the apparent sky into stellar zones for reference, like we divide land by fixing fences! These stellar zones are termed as constellations, stars, asterisms etc. But how to hand over these maps to later generations is more complex task than the former. They created “tales” or stories so that the knowledge cannot be manipulated or improvised by the medieval generations. Otherwise what might be the reason for God incarnating and killing demons that we ever witnessed on our earth! Thus punctual observation of rituals made possible by noting the stars that rise and set throughout the year. This subject is studied under Astronomy of which the main ingredient is Astrology. That’s why Astrology is called as “Eye of Vedas”.

There are numerous aphorisms in Vedas regarding constellations and interesting stories relevant to them. For instance Moon had 27 wives and among them he loved “Rohini” the most is a simple analogy for the rule that Moon gets exalted in Rohini constellation in Taurus. For want of space I am leaving this concept here.

Therefore constellations play a major role in Vedas and all the rituals associated with them. After keen observation and research our saints recorded the properties of these constellations and designed rituals in symmetry with them. Among the constellations, those rise and set in a particular period have strongest influence on our nature. For instance during the second week of May till the first week of June every year “Sun” will transit in Krithika and Rohini stars. That means “Krithika” will appear for some time before and after sun rise. The nature of Krithika is fiery as depicted by its demigod “Fire” hence nothing will be done during these days. In Muhurtha Sastra it is called as “Karthari Kala” which is exempted for all auspicious celebrations.

This is the basic idea which enables us to have thorough grasp for the foregoing description:

It has been explained above that the constellations rising and setting have strong influence over us. All festivals celebrated in this sub-continent depending up on this basic principle only.

Zodiac or Rasi Chakra is a circular path with constellations as mile stones. Therefore at any point of time a constellation will rise in the east and another constellation which is 180 degrees away from it sets in the west. For instance, if Krithika rise in the east then automatically Visakha will set in west. Likewise there is rising and setting of characters in the drama of the heavens.

Ganesh Chathurthi:

We celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi on Bhadrapada Sukla Chathurthi day every year. Generally by that time Sun will be in Kanya (Virgo) and naturally we will have Utharaphalguni or Hastha constellations rise on or before sunrise. Hastha means palm and Hasthi means elephant. Therefore we all worship Ganeshji on this day as celestial blessings shower on us. The legend behind the story is of Parvathi creating Ganeshji with sandalwood paste. Hastha star lies in Kanya Rasi hence his creation by a “Lady” is justified. Ganeshji was worshipped for removing obstacles, in earlier days agriculture was the main occupation hence people worship him for removing impediments in begetting abundant produce. That is the reason why he will be made of clay, offering of leaves and grass and again dropping into water. Ganeshji is termed as “Surpakarna”; Surpa means winnowing basket which is resembled to harvesting. Thus it is worship to the nature, for the nature by the nature.

Dasara - Dussehra

Dussehra 2012 date is 24 October. Aswayuja Maas is when Full Moon day forms in Aswini star. During this month before sun rise we can visualise the constellation “Simha “(Leo) and later Kanya (Virgo) hence we have the image of Durga Maa as a “Woman sitting on Lion”. The same scene will repeat 6 months later but after sunset in the month of Chaithra. Still today there is a festival called “Vasanth Navarathri” which will be celebrated during the first 9 days of chaithra maas.

Among these nine days the star “Moola” is very significant which means the “Root”. This constellation had “Nirrithi” (a demon) as the deity hence it is said that Mother fought over the demon for three days and the tenth day is her victory.

Moola which indicates the root is referred to Saraswathi Ma. Perhaps she is the root for all the knowledge. Moola falls in the sign of Dhanus (Sagittarius) ruled by Jupiter who is the chief significator for knowledge and wisdom!

Another reason which strikes to my mind is that when Moon transits in Dhanus it will be in opposition to Mithuna. In Vedic Astrology Mithuna resembles a male and a female. Scholors like G.V.R. Rao opined that they are none other than Paravathi-Parameswara. Another view in support for this view is that in Mithuna Rasi there is a constellation named “Arudra” whose deity is Rudra. Even today Shiv-ling installations will be done when Moon transits in Arudra. Therefore when Moon transits in Dhanus it will be against Arudra (Shivji) hence Shakthi will have the blessings of Shiva then. For a serious practitioner of occultism these reasons are valuable but for common people it is general. Lord Krishna said that one’s day is others night and others day is ones night.

So far in astrology we take that when Sun transits in Makar Rasi Utharayan will start because his journey will change direction from this sign and vice versa with Dakshinayan. However B.G. Tilak opined that Utharayan is when Sun travels in the Northern Hemisphere of earth i.e. from Mesha to Tula. Dakshinayan is when he travels through Tula to Mesha. In Vedic times Utharayan is called Devayan whereas Dakhinayan is called as Pitruyan. Hence offerings to the departed souls are made when Sun changes his path from North to South i.e in Pitruyan.

South is for death and heavenly abode which satisfies vasthu sastra followers I suppose. The worship of Shakthi in a ferocious mood can be well justified with this analogy. Kali Maa is the queen of demons or dark forces represented by South direction. All cults which are called as “Koula/Vamachar” etc. are developed with this basic idea. Hence the cruel dimension worshipped during the important phase of the year has great significance to Sadhaks.

Now the readers can understand the significance of Mahalaya Amavasya which we follow during the dark half of Bhadra pada Maas when Sun takes our offerings to Pitru Lokas.

Ayudh Puja

In south India this puja will be performed on the last day of Dasara. Workers who use various tools, implements, instruments offer Puja to them for getting more knowledge and expertise in them. When Moon enters the sign ruled by Saturn who represent “working class”this worship is of significance. The star on this day is Sravana ruled by Moon in Saturn sign. In KP the combination of Saturn-Moon will cause Punarpoo dosha which throws impediments/obstacles to achieve the objective. Hence this worship may dilute that dosha to some extent. Further Sravana looks like ear and called as star of learning. Therefore one can learn well if starts work from this day. The deity of this star is “Vishnu” icon for prosperity.

Therefore each and every activity is having a background in cosmos. It will be endless if we go like this. Hence I am concluding this article with the following opinion.

Nine days of Dussehra denotes nine months of gestation and the tenth day is the victory for a mother to nurture a baby and for the Divine mother to nurture the creation. This is the victory of love over pain hence lets all bow before the “Divine Mother”.

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