Introduction

This is an authoritative and proven text. The Master of the Greeks original: "Yavanacharya"; referring to the historical transmission of Hellenistic/Persian astrology to India did not rely on his own imagination; rather, he followed the teachings of his predecessors. As stated by Romaka: "That which Brahma told to the Sun, and the Sun told to the Greek, and that which was spoken by the Greek—that is known as Tajika." original: "Brahmana gaditam bhanorbhanuna yavanaya tat..." Furthermore, authorities such as Todarananda, Khut-Khut, Romaka, Hillaj, Vishana, and Durmukhacharya are all masters of Tajika. Since these figures were themselves Brahmins, the use of Persian words in Tajika is not a defect.

If someone should argue that this contradicts the scriptural injunction "One should not speak the language of the barbarians," original: "Na vadedyavanim bhasham" I have not refuted that law. That verse is indeed true, but its application belongs to subjects like poetic rhetoric. Regarding the use of Persian terms here, the maxim "When the fruit is obtained, what use is the root?" original: "Phale prapte mule kim prayojanam" applies. One's concern is with eating the mango, not with counting the trees. Just as a lotus born from mud is fit for the worship of the gods, and a gem born from the head of a venomous snake is fit for a crown, so too here our concern is with the utility of the science.

Why hold caste prejudice against a fruitful science? The Tajika system is currently the most effective for revealing results. The Sage Garga has said: "The Greeks are indeed barbarians, but this science is well-established among them. Therefore, they are honored like Rishis; how much more so then a Brahmin who knows the Vedas?" original: "Mlechha hi yavanastheshu..."

There is also a story in other texts that at one time, astrologers began to challenge the divinity of God by predicting the past, present, and future so accurately. Seeing this, Lord Brahma used the fire of a curse to shroud the miraculous rays of those sciences. In this state, Sages like Vashistha and others made the Tajika system even more miraculous to illuminate their own revealed sciences. The eighteen authors of the Samhitas term: Samhita (encyclopedic collections of astral science) manifested various texts by threading those same Persian words into the jewel-strings of Sanskrit vocabulary. The root of this system also lies in the exact moment of the first breath at birth. I have written extensively on this in the beginning of the "Chapter on Birth" in my Mahidhari commentary on the Brihat Jataka.

Now, for the benefit of the public, I have happily surrendered all rights for the publication of this book to Seth Khemraj Shrikrishnadas, the head of the "Shri Venkateshwar" Press.