Wednesday, April 27, 2005

DR BV Ramans techniques

Bri Sri Raman Suprajarama

Dear Vinay,

I would want to bring a few points to your notice.

> Dear Narasimha,
> I differ in my views on Dr.Raman. Raman used a wrong
> Ayanamsha, (that invariably changed the Navamsha
> lagna, navamsha position of planets) and sometimes did

The question of Ayanamsa is very debatable. Geocentric system was given by Ptolemy and this was accepted as the correct system. When Copernicus gave the heliocentric system, everyone including the church condemned it. His book “De Revolutionibus” was suppressed for 13 years. It is now accepted the correct planetary system. While I am not debating on which is the correct Ayanamsa to be used, it would be in order to respect each one’s belief.

> not even advocate the use of Navamsa chart. He
> suggested that the Navamsa chart could be shelved if
> a planet was strong in the rashi chart. I hear that

The above statements are not true. Dr. Raman gave importance to the Navamsa chart. If you go through “Notable Horoscopes” by Dr. Raman, you can see how he has used the Navamsa chart in analysis and timing events. I would want to give a few lines from the talk he gave at Cambridge, England on 21 September 1970.

He said, “I should like to be somewhat prolix in my treatment of the Navamsa chart.

Its first and most important use, as I have already said, is in balancing for good or bad, the main chart so that the horoscope as a whole is assessed correctly. The most powerful Raja Yogas or combinations for royalty get tempered or even neutralized if the planets causing such Yogas are afflicted in the Navamsa. Conversely, even if the main chart is somewhat weak and the planets causing affliction are well placed in the Navamsa, the main chart secures strength”. During the usual discussions that I had with him, he always stressed on looking at the planetary placements in Navamsa chart and then draw conclusions.

> A pity. He rarely used other divisional charts like
> D-10 etc. Raman used nothing other than the
> Vimshottari Dasha for predictions. I wonder how he
> could give sound predictions with such techniques.

Dr. Raman did use divisional charts and other Dasas. If you read his book Studies in Jaimini Astrology, he has given the various Dasa systems and also examples. He said that Vimshottari Dasa was universally applicable, and if one finds it difficult to compute other Dasas, he can safely predict using this Dasa system. During our discussions of Jaimini principles, he suggested I start with Chara Dasa and Shoola Dasa for predicting general events and timing death respectively. He also suggested the use of Ashtamsa chart along with Shoola Dasa. In regard to divisional charts, this is what he wrote “The life chart or the Rasi Kundali is indeed the basic chart upon which rests all the other charts. In it is hidden all the various factors which will come to fruition in the course of the present life of an individual. But it must be dissected into other charts so that a clear history of each one of the factors of life is obtained. Quite often the evidence which seems important in the Rasi or the main chart is modified by the evidence furnished by the subsidiary chart.”

> even today his children faithfully use his Ayanamsha.

I did try using Lahiri Ayanamsa and other Ayanamsas. When I tried to analyze using Lahiri Ayanamsa, never did my grandfather or father discourage it. It was after many tests and my own understanding that I started using Raman Ayanamsa.

> Unlike some of his contemporaries like Krishnamurthy
> or Sheshadri Iyer who have to their credit some
> original contributions, Raman contributed nothing
> original or new to the arsenal of astrological

Looks like you have not read his books completely. Apart from the general combinations that are given in the classics, Dr. Raman has also given many new and different combinations. Best example would be the Longevity chapter in Hindu Predictive Astrology. In his book, How to judge earthquakes and weather, he has given different rules and methods based on his experience. The Astrological Magazine carried lot of articles giving new ideas and thoughts in regard to Mundane Astrology.

Sri Narasimha Rao has given a good reply to your other statements and I would want to leave it at that.

It is ok to bring out the negative points of a person, so as to help him, but it more important to verify the statements one makes. While false statements do not carry any weight, it could bring in bad Karma.

Om Tat Sat,

Raman Suprajarama

Brihaspati Gayatri, Vishwamitra/Gaathina Rishi Rig Veda 6.62.6