The Wish-Fulfilling Tree of Auspicious Timing

(4)

Realizing that this work had not been refined or offered at the lotus feet of the goddess of learning, and that its circulation remained extremely rare, I spent a long time searching through the houses of traditional astrologers. Eventually, I acquired an ancient copy of the Tree of Desires for Electional Astrology original: "Muhurta Kalpadruma"; a 'Muhurta' is an auspicious moment chosen for starting an activity which was divided into three parts and in a state of total dilapidation. Deciding that this work certainly deserved to be set in print, I completed the editing process to the best of my ability and handed it over to Mr. Pandurang Jawaji, the proprietor of the Nirnaya Sagar Press, for publication.

Since I was performing this revision using a single, extremely worn-out and fragmented manuscript, the maxim "even the walking man may stumble" original: "gacchataḥ skhalanaṃ kvāpi"; a Sanskrit proverb suggesting that errors are natural when one is making progress applies here. Should any inaccuracies meet your gaze, they are not the fault of the original author, but rather mine, caused by the lack of a clean manuscript and the resulting fluctuations of my own mind. I ask the most learned scholars to forgive me and to point out any errors they encounter so that they may be cleansed; in this way, everything may be made perfectly square and correct in the second edition.

It is clearly evident from two verses at the conclusion of the Kunda-siddhi A technical work on the construction of sacrificial pits—specifically the verses beginning "Thus the pavilion..." and "The moon, the ages..."—that the illustrious ornament of astrologers, Vitthala Dikshita, graced the city of Varanasi (presided over by the god Shiva) in the Shaka year 1541 approximately 1619 CE. There also exists a work by the honorable Vitthala Dikshita titled The Method of the Desire-Granting Vine original: "Kalpavalli-paddhati", a treatise on natal astrology Jataka-paddhati: a manual for calculating and interpreting individual horoscopes consisting of sixty-six verses. I shall also publish that work as time permits.