सज-1

In this lesson we learn about what is vedāñga jyotiṣa and its scope.
Vedāñga Jyotiṣa
Objective of the lesson is to know how big is this subject and to realize that jyotiṣa is as vast as the universe. Everything that is created finds its place in symbols and significations. Please take a printout of the slides and keep them with you while listening to this lecture so that you can make notes immediately as you go through the slides. Let me give you an example of a student who got into a detailed discussion with a pandit and later

Vāra & Vāreśa: Weekday
अथ सप्त वाराः। atha sapta vārāḥ |
Translation: We speak of the seven weekdays
आदित्यश्चन्द्रमा भौमो बुधश्चाथ बृहस्पतिः।
शुक्रः शनैश्चरश्चैव वाराः सप्त प्रकीर्तिताः॥
ādityaścandramā bhaumo budhaścātha bṛhaspatiḥ |
śukraḥ śanaiścaraścaiva vārāḥ sapta prakīrtitāḥ ||
Trasnlation: Sun (āditya), Moon (candramā), Mars (bhauma), Mercury (budha), Jupiter (bṛhaspati), Venus (śukra), Saturn (śaniścara) are the givers of the seven (sapta) weekdays (vāra). The weekdays are simply named after the planets by adding the suffix ‘vāra’ or ‘day’ after the name of the planet/lord.

Example: Ravi (Sun) + vāra (day) = Ravivāra or Sunday. In this manner all weekday names

Brhat Naksatra $7.53
God has decorated the heavens with constellations like pearls on dark steed. The light of the Sun hides them in the day, and all knowledge of them is divined in the darkens of the night’
…Maharishi Parasara, Rig-Veda
Although we will be giving some basic lessons on Nakṣatra, they cannot substitute the knowledge contained in this book. If you do not have your copy, get one now. It will help you to understand not only the basics of the nakṣatra, but also has many advanced concepts that will not be found in any other book on