Astrology and Spirituality-Tithis and their significance

   By KVRK Bhargav 

 (Bhargav is a student of Swami who after completing his B.Tech in Textile Engineering graduated with an MBA from the the Sri Sathya Sai University in 2001. Ever since, he has had the great fortune of waiting for Swami’s direct guidance. He has been blessed with many interactions with Swami and he pursues astrology as a hobby to understand how it complements and dovetails spirituality. He shares his insights on how the planets are not causes of fear; rather they all serve the common goal of prodding man towards his spiritual destiny of Self Realization)

An eminent speaker was addressing the huge gathering in Sai Kulwant Hall on the occasion of Durgastami in the divine presence of our Beloved Bhagwan. During his talk he commented rather emphatically, " People believe that the tithis of Astami and Navami are inauspicious. How can they be inauspicious? Avatars like Lord Krishna and Lord Rama were born on Astami and Navami respectively."

Swami who was intently listening to his talk interrupted him, called him near, corrected him and said, " Rama and Krishna went through lot of suffering and hardship though being born as avatars as the tithis of their birth were inauspicious."

 Traditionally speaking, these tithis or dates govern the commencement of a lot of new and auspicious ventures in our households. Whenever I was to start a train journey, my grandmother used to sit with the panchangam to find out the best tithis to undertake the travel. Come Ekadashi , she would keep a morning to night fast, saying her prayers turning a rosary and doing parayanam of Bhagwad Geeta, emphasizing that it  has lot of merit. I always used to scoff at her orthodox ways, as my so called educated and scientific mind dismissed it as a mere superstition. I always tried to accept anything after putting it through the rigours of my test tube mind. She had a totally different temperament; she accepted with unflinching faith whatever has been handed over to us by our seers with complete reverence to their wisdom. But when I got a chance to study astrology, I started understanding the profound wisdom which our seers and sages of yore had, to have given us such rituals and practices.

Tithis in a month

Tithis are the dates which come into existence due to the relative motion of moon with respect to earth and sun. When moon is closest to the sun it is called a new moon day or Amavasya and when it is the farthest it is called full moon day or Poornima. Journey from new moon day to full moon day is called the shukla paksha or the waxing phase and the journey from full moon to new moon day is called krishna paksha or the waning phase. Tithis like Panchami and Ekadashi are considered very auspicious and the tithis - Astami and Navami are considered very inauspicious for undertaking any activity. The waxing phase when the moon apparently grows in size as well as strength, is considered beneficial and the waning phase, where the moon shrinks is not beneficial.

Let us try to understand this in astrological parlance. Sun and Moon play a major role in shaping our entire life and the day to day events of a human being. Moon signifies our mind, emotions, devotion to a chosen deity, sensitivities, obsessions and fears and Sun represents the soul, spiritual will, ego, the digestive fire, warmth, generosity and also self-centred nature and excessive pride.  They also represent the lunar nadi of Ida and the solar nadi of Pingala in our body as explained in the article on eclipses. The physical, mental, emotional well being of an individual depends on the balance in the prana of these two nadis. When an individual is born, a snapshot of the placement of planets in the zodiac at that time is his/her horoscope, governing the individual's whole life. There is also the concept of transits, which is the day to day change in the positions of the planets influencing the day to day activity of the individual i.e. birth horoscope is the macro view and the transit is the micro view. The different predictions, which we read in all the newspapers and magazines like 'the week ahead' or 'know your next week' takes into consideration only the transits of planets. Taking into consideration only the transit without considering the birth horoscope, results in an inaccurate prediction.

In a birth chart or transit chart, if two planets are five and nine places away mutually(known as trikona) they work in complete harmony complementing each other's energies, helping the individual to internalize their energy  for spiritual uplifment. Similar is the case  when they are three and eleven places away but to a lesser extent. In the same way, if two planets are placed six and eight places away (shasta- astaka) they seriously interfere in their mutual functioning and create obstacles for the native.

(8)	Su    (1) (9)	(2)	(3)
(7)	Alignment for Panchami and Ekadashi(waxing, five and nine away)		(4)
(6)			Mo  (5)  (1)
(5)	(4)	(3)	(2)

Chart 1

(2)	Su  (1) (3)	(2)	(3)
Mo  (1) (11)	Alignment for Panchami and Ekadashi(Waning, three and eleven away)		(4)
(10)			(5)
(9)	(8)	(7)	(6)

Chart 2

(7)	Su  (1) (8)	(2)	(3)
(6)	Alignment for Astami and Navami(Six and eight away)		(4)
(5)			(5)
(4)	(3)	(2)	Mo  (6) (1)

Chart 3

On shukla paksha Panchami and Ekadashi (waxing moon), sun and moon are mutually five and nine away(chart 1), making it a very auspicious time for spiritual practices and also start any new ventures. Similarly, on krishna Paksha(waning moon) panchami and ekadashi sun and moon are mutually three and eleven away(chart2)  again making it an auspicious time. On astami and navami of both waxing and waning periods sun and moon are six and eight away (chart 3)seriously hampering their mutual energies and creating obstacles for the native.We logically get one argument here that as the transit is not solely responsible for governing a person's life, why do we give them so much importance. The answer is that these Tithis in transit don't have an overbearing influence in a person's life but the energy available to us either positive as in Ekadashi can be harnessed by all and negative as in Astami or Navami can be shunned by all.  My grandmother was wise enough to follow these dictums scrupulously with utmost reverence without questioning them. As Ramakrishna Paramahamsa very aptly puts it, ' Experience starts with implicit faith'

If one notes carefully, in Sanatana Dharma tithis like Aashadha Ekadashi, Vaikuntha Ekadashi, Karthik Ekadashi, Bhishma Ekadashi( when Bhishma left his mortal coil) and chaitra ekadashi are considered very auspicious.  Devout observe fast, maintain a strict diet regimen, undertake spiritual pracitces and try to internalize the available energy. They also visit temples and spiritual centres to recharge themselves. Also tithis like naag panchami, vasant panchami, rishi panchami, sri panchami have a special significance. As an afterthought,the success or failure of a venture doesn't solely depend on the choice of Tithis. If the Wimbledon final is played between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal(as in 2011) on a Astami, which is inauspicious for both, the one with a stronger will power, self- belief, one pointedness and to some extent a strong birth horosope will win.

Taking this thought to the highest level, one can earn Swami's grace with one's faith and effort as Swami very aptly says that if one has pure and selfless feelings, and a zeal to accomplish a noble act His anugraha will always help the person to  achieve the goal irrespective of what the ‘inverted bowl above’ predicts.

  Paramhamsa Yogananda in the chapter 'Outwitting the stars' in his book Autobiography of a Yogi, echoes the same feelings “Occasionally I told astrologers to select my worse periods, according to planetary indications, and I would still accomplish whatever task I set myself. It is true that my success at such time has been accompanied by extraordinary difficulties. But my conviction has always been justified; faith in the divine protection, and the right use of man’s God-given will, are forces formidable beyond any the 'inverted bowl' (sky) can muster.”