THE REFORMED SANATAN CALENDAR compiled and edited by Acharya Darshaney Lokesh

THE REFORMED SANATAN CALENDAR
compiled and edited by Acharya Darshaney Lokesh
[Pictured in part above, Link to Source]

A cosmological treatment prepared by
Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet
Director, Aeon Centre of Cosmology
March 2011
© Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet 2011

While I truly appreciate all efforts to have the tropical zodiac reinstated at the heart of time computations for Hindus, replacing the currently-used Nirayana method with its 23-day late ayanamsha, which we all know has no real contemporary or ancient Vedic sanction, I do have reservations about your Sanatan Calendar. However, for me the very most important item for calendar reform is that Mahavishuva and Makar Sankranti are reconnected to the March Equinox and December Solstice – where they definitely belong. This reformed calendar having achieved that, it can serve the Hindu Samaj better than others.
Having stated that, I do wish to put certain facts on record for any future deliberations that may prove necessary in fine-tuning calendar reform efforts. In pointing these out let me make it clear at the outset that I realise the compulsions which may have made your effort too ‘cluttered’, in my view. The intent may be to make the calendar acceptable to as many peoples/sects/factions as possible. But I do find that there has been an unnecessary stress on what is found – or thought to be found – in the Rig Veda, the inclusion of which has complicated the results more than necessary. Nonetheless, this is the type of debate I had expected to take place at the 24-26 December 2010 Conference on Calendar Reform in Tirumala, but which was stifled, if you recall.

The foundation for my treatment
To begin, I need to explain my work to a certain extent and, above all, how I attained knowledge of things Vedic – or for that matter of other ancient schools of higher knowledge like that of ancient Egypt and Greece, and elsewhere across the globe. But bear in mind the fact that in these places the thread of higher knowledge has been broken. We find only fragments left in old texts; or, in the case of Egypt, in the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid at Giza. These fragments help us understand that this body of higher knowledge was widespread. I believe that in very ancient times, perhaps during the earliest Sangam era, Bharat was the centre of this Knowledge. Eventually it left the subcontinent, only to return at a much later time. Of course this cannot be proven conclusively, only inferred from what we find in India today. Hints along these lines are found in the Veda; but lamentably, as Sri Aurobindo stated, ‘the soul of knowledge has fled from its coverings’. Given this situation, efforts to use the Veda as basis for calendar reform become complicated. After all, who is in a position to state that they are in possession of that ‘soul of knowledge’?
My position has been clear regarding the above from the beginning of my yogic life in the late 1960s. I was not at all interested in the past, only in the present. Astrology is a practical art which makes focus on the present one of its foremost demands. If at all I have found important elements of higher knowledge in ancient cultures, it has always been by positioning myself at the heart of the Knowledge through yogic practices. I have never done the reverse as scholars do: to study minutely those extant remains of the past (and this includes above all else the Rig Veda) in order to establish or discover that Knowledge in the present. This is important to bear in mind for the right understanding of my assessment of your Sanatan Calendar. More than any of you, I assure you that I have dedicated my entire life to ‘resetting Bharat’s cosmic clock to its original vedic moorings’, as stated in the subtitle of your Sanatan Calendar. The result is over a dozen volumes published and many articles on this very theme. However, it must be stated again that I have not followed the scholar’s approach. I do not know Sanskrit enough to delve into the original texts – its study alone, as you know, would occupy a lifetime. I had other work to do which is clearly seen in my own horoscope for reference. Nor was it necessary to do so. I had the realisations of the secret doctrine we find in the Veda before even taking up residence in India. I can present evidence of this in the form of a text I wrote in Rome in March of 1970. Before this, as a practicing astrologer, I had written Astrology and the Question of Unity (unpublished). Both these texts were entirely Vedic, though I had no knowledge of the Veda at the time nor any contact with astrologers in India. My work even then was different from both East and West. The difference lay in the vision of unity I saw in the zodiac – the very same path we know to be the pathway of the planets around the Sun. This understanding arose from a method of inner development – not scholarship but yoga. I ‘saw’ in the zodiac the various planes of existence just as we find detailed in the Veda in that pathway; and this was essential for the proper reading of a horoscope.
When I came to India I discovered the same approach when reading Sri Aurobindo’s text, The Secret of the Veda. In his case as in mine, the point is that the Knowledge through realisation came first; then I could recognise it in those remnants from ancient schools including the Rig Veda. I need to state that it was when I read Sri Aurobindo’s treatment of the latter that I began to understand exactly what he meant when he wrote, ‘the soul of knowledge had fled from its coverings’.
Bharat is of course unique in that the thread has not been broken as it was in Egypt and Greece and elsewhere. This is the only civilisation to maintain a connection with the ancient way. But this by no means makes matters easier; quite the contrary when we observe that totally un-Vedic methods are passed off as Vedic Astrology. Troubles then arise when we seek to clear away the cobwebs that have accrued over the centuries around the ‘soul of knowledge’. By far the most serious deviation of all was the adoption of the Nirayana system of time reckoning for rituals and horoscope. I have written time and again that if the intent is to weaken the Hindu Samaj, there is no better method than to distort the core of Hinduism which is its relation with the Great God of Time.

Constellations versus Zodiac
As we are aware, the main distinction between the true Vedic Way and the post-Vedic is that in the latter the circle wherein computations are made is entirely sidereal. Nirayana astrology disregards the tropical zodiac for providing the correct ayanamsha. Its proponents believe that this point needs to be located in the ‘fixed stars’ (hence Nirayana) – i.e. the constellations. The fact that astronomical science has given the same name to both the zodiac and the twelve constellations, though they are completely separate, further compounds the confusion. This is the origin of the problem we face in convincing the layperson.
Thus, when we argue that Makar Sankranti should be celebrated at the December Solstice, their claim is that – Yes, it is the shortest day of the year but Makar ‘has shifted’ over the centuries and millennia. It is ‘no longer attached to that Solstice since the zodiac has moved.’ This can easily be disproved by informing the public that the Nirayana system is based on the constellations and not that zodiac of the Veda and all ancient civilisations; in the text and diagrams accompanying the calendar, you have illustrated the point quite well. The ecliptic zodiac, pathway of all the planets in our solar system never shifts, contrary to what astronomers claim: 0 degree Mesha/Aries is always the same, years after year, century after century. And passage over that Zero Point (ayanamsha) is always the March 21-22 Equinox. You have indicated this synchronism in your calendar.
We would be largely in agreement on all the above, but now our differences begin. This is because the focus of my cosmological work is APPLICATION, as it should be for any astrologer. This application would be today in the context of a new India – that is, India in the midst of the 21st century global civilsiation. Therefore my new cosmology is entirely Indo-Centric and is unique in the world of applied cosmology which has been Euro-centric, especially with the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church and then colonialism. It is a cosmology that can ‘put its money where its mouth is’, to use the American phrase. Slogans such as ‘India is the Guru of the world’ are easy to mouth; but I am interested in confirmation via objective knowledge, not slogans. The new Indo-Centric Cosmology proves the point. It also provides the direct link to the Veda in an unbroken line.
But Nirayanis claim that their astrology is ‘vedic’. Who then is to be believed? We can only provide the correct link when we establish the true Vedic Astrology. In doing so, we prove that the Nirayana system should indeed be termed Post-Vedic to be correct; and even history will confirm this assessment. More importantly, it can also be proven to be un-Vedic. Consequently, as you have rightly quoted in your 2011 Calendar, it leads the Hindu Samaj to adharma, if the dharmic basis of Hinduism is indeed vedic – because the Nirayana method certainly has nothing in it that can be linked to the Veda given that the essential premise (the circle used for measuring) is un-Vedic.

Parochialism versus universalism
To truly serve a new India, not just Hindus, the Dharma has to be all-inclusive not only of Indian contemporary society but of the whole world. We mouth the Slokas and chant the scriptures but may not really believe that there can be an objective means to establish this universalism. The calendar you have devised as it stands cannot serve a global purpose because you seek to incorporate in the present what you believe is or should be the eternal components of a Veda-based calendar – the names of the months, for example; more on that anon. In my view, this approach encourages a situation where ‘the forest is lost for the trees’.
The new India has to take her place at the centre of the entire world. She must serve universally not simply one community or sect or belief system, even one as wide as Hinduism. But we constantly place limitations on the service that Hinduism can render. Therefore I state that the ultimate calendar to replace the Nirayana Chaos of Ayanamshas has to be all-inclusive and not exclusive as your calendar becomes by focussing on what you consider to be the element that makes the calendar Vedic. I do not believe that your calendar can bridge the gap to universalism; it is precisely the new cosmology that can prove the point.
And yet this ‘new’ cosmology is far more Vedic than all the rest. For what is carried over is the foundation of the cosmic harmony just as we find in the Rig Veda. That would be the Journey, as the Rishis called it. They have made it perfectly clear that this Journey begins in Mesha/Aries and the March Equinox; more than that, they have explicitly established that there is a unified progression in this Journey with one ‘world’ moving into another ‘effortlessly’:

Certain eternal worlds are these which have come into being,
Their doors are shut to you (or opened) by the months and the years;
Without effort one (world) moves into the other
And it is these that Brahmanaspati,
Has made manifest to knowledge. (RV. II. 24-5)

The months and the years are of course the zodiacal signs/worlds – however you wish to name them. Months refer to the 12-month annual rotation around the Sun; years refers to the Precession of the Equinoxes which is calculated in years: an astrological age is 2160 years. But the important reference is to the knowledge Brahmanaspati confers once ‘access’ is allowed. This is the secret of the Veda. The terms you are using in order to give your calendar a more Indian and exclusive character do not contain that higher knowledge. The zodiac as we know it throughout the world today, originating somewhere, sometime in pre-history unknown to scholars, does contain Brahmanaspati’s knowledge.
I realise that what I am stating is blasphemy to the followers of Avtar Kishen Kaul (AKK), or to N. S. Rajaram, or to David Frawly and others of the same school. This is because none of these gentlemen have undertaken the Journey as prescribed in the Rig Veda. If they had they would understand why the zodiacal tradition, which they claim only reached India with the Greeks, is enshrined in every Hindu myth and temple across the land. It is clear that at the end of the Vedic Age the purpose was to preserve the core of the Knowledge in writing and then in stone so that in the dark age that was to follow it would be available to future generations to rediscover, since the actual realisation of the Journey/Initiation would be lost. And so it did come to pass. This would also explain why so many of those stone structures were destroyed. Unlike today, in the first half of the Age of Pisces there were still practitioners, scholars and travellers who were aware of the connections I am making; hence they knew how to undermine the culture.
None of those who deny the presence of the zodiac symbols in the Veda know the Vedic content of the zodiac itself, on which is founded the Vedic Journey; therefore they cannot recognise it when it stares them in the face. Often their misplaced nationalism and consequent biases blind them to their own tradition.
And yet it is so clear, beginning with Agni, ‘leader of the hosts’. Of course he is the first month Aries the Ram, the cosmic energy of which is experienced as Agni who leads the rest. Lo and behold, his vahana is nothing other than the Ram! Or there is Indra of the Moon, often referred to as the Bull because the Moon is exalted in Vrishabha the Bull. And what of Aditi’s 12 sons, the 8th of whom is Martanda, progenitor of the human mortal race; the 8th zodiacal sign is indeed the sign/stage of Death in the sequence of her 12 ‘sons’. I could go on and on illustrating the manner in which zodiacal tradition formed the basis of the Vedic higher knowledge that was preserved in temples and myths during the Puranic period for future generations. It is still there, right before our eyes, if we would but remove the veils that keep us blinded to this tradition. This is easier said than done.
We note that the Indian psychic touch is given by the personification of those cosmic components into Gods and Goddesses; and these in turn can be experienced by the devotee in the form of the Godhead according to the destiny and temperament of each individual. This indeed is the great gift that India has given to the world, entirely in consonance with her own pulse of destiny: the Third Power, the Individual Divine, the Daughter Principle. Throughout her history – more especially her contemporary history – Indian civilisation has proven itself to be faithful to this cosmic essence of 3 (1947=3). The rulerships, exaltations, and so forth of traditional astrology all provide clues to the secret doctrine. The zodiac is the magical eternal script over which no nation can claim ownership and which is now in the domain of universal knowledge, thanks to the wisdom of the Rishis who knew how to preserve it for future generations to rediscover. That time is upon us; your calendar efforts have this noble purpose to help fulfil for India and the world.

Therefore my complaint is why anyone would wish to disassociate that sacred script from the Rig Veda and deny its presence, though obvious, just to be Indian and not be ‘influenced’ by foreign cultures as these gentlemen seek to do. Ironically, it is the other way around: It is Bharat that has influenced everyone else! You see, in doing so, in discarding the hieroglyphs and pictographs for the more familiar Sanskrit Madhu/Madhava and so forth which have a different function, that of ‘six pairs of twins seeking to unite with the one at the centre’ (RV), you are doing exactly what the scientists and Nirayanis have done. They have made the calendar un-Vedic simply by disconnecting the zodiac from the Equinoxes and Solstices. You are doing something similar by stressing a Sanskrit nomenclature that has no universal appeal, a nomenclature in which Brahmanaspati’s higher knowledge may be lacking. If you do so intentionally with the idea that the real thing must be camouflaged, kept secret and thus hidden from the profane, that is one thing. But I doubt that any of these gentlemen know enough of the Tradition to be in a position to make these subtle choices. And in any case, we are in the Aquarian Age, Vishnu Trivikrama’s ‘highest step’, the sign/age of the Friend Mitra. To hide, to seek to obfuscate and keep secrets is simply not in harmony with the Time-Spirit. Rather it is often a means to camouflage our own ignorance and thus to continue duping the public.

Number and Zodiac, the new tools of the Divine Maya
This brings me to the sacred language for the entire world today. It has principally two components by means of which it can be applied: the zodiacal tradition, exactly as it has reached us today, and our Number system. Both, in my view, originated in India. In order to make the Knowledge applicable today we need these two measures for application along with the proper universal calendar – if India is to fulfil her sacred destiny which is indeed universal in character. To carry out this exercise we need a calendar that starts with Mesha/Aries as the first sign/month (in the measure of 12), Taurus the second and so forth. The reason for this is that the service Number renders in the new Indo-Centric Cosmology would be obliterated if that order is disarranged (this is why I asked you how yesterday’s date would be written). I note that your calendar starts with Pisces (Meena), though you do provide the date and time for Mesha Sankranti, the vernal equinox and correctly state that it is the Tamil New Year. Perhaps I am reading the calendar incorrectly. I do not see Number used in the way we are accustomed to worldwide as far as registering dates are concerned. In the sample you provided, you stated that 8.3.2011 would be 17th Madhu 1933. Obviously if Number is the issue (and I can prove it is) then this date would not tally with anything of a universal order. You would object to January being the number 1 as is demanded, claiming that it has no Vedic sanction. But the point is the significance of the Makar Sankranti itself and its role in the Harmony. That universal 1st month is the December Solstice plus 9 – or the Time Year (0-9 number measure) together with the Space Year (1-12 zodiacal measure). The two together are the helical structure of the new Indo-Centric Cosmology, applicable today because of these universal measures.
As I understand your statement, 1933 is the official Saka year computation. But you do not indicate why the year starts with the first day of Madhu, or why that ‘month’ would be Pisces:

‘The Primary dates mentioned in the Calendar are Vedic month days. So today's date is (i.e. for 8th March 2011).17th Madhu 1933. This is for the first time such a calendar is made using primary vedic/local solar month dates. If English dates are to be given primarily then the calendar should begin with 20th February for Madhu 1st of Saka 1933. I thought that since we are using the vedic month names which were long forgotten in India, the dates should also be as per the solar month dates. Every panchanga begins with 1st day of say Panguni (Madhu and gives corresponding other dates. Saka era is India's national era and that comes in every religious sankalpa along with use of the Julian based 60 year names. It is now Vikruti in Tamil Nadu but Viswavasu in North (a difference of 13 years between north and south due to the initial fixing differences). All these have been brought to discussion in the Calendar Reforms Committee report of 1952.’

Your explanation proves the point that the systems currently in use cannot unify what now stands hopelessly divided. Regarding your reformed calendar, in my assessment this would be borrowing from the Nirayana system by implementing a ‘shifting’ ayanamsha, though you do enter the Mesha (Aries) Sankranti correctly at the vernal equinox; but it would seem to fall on the 30th day of the month Meenam/Madhu. Clarify if I have misunderstood.
As for the Nakshatras, again I see a mixture of sayana/nirayana. You do make the point that as they are understood today – i.e. another division on the backdrop of the constellations rather than the tropical solar zodiac – it does not tally with the reality of the cosmic structure. Clearly there has been some interpolations and misinterpretations in this area across the centuries. One thing remains clear: when higher knowledge of the zodiacal tradition was lost and its zero point disengaged from the vernal equinox, a different aspect of the Vedic calendar took precedence, one that in predictive astrology of today could ignore the zodiac to a large degree. The emphasis of science on fixity was imposed on the Nakshatras as well. They were also projected into the amorphous, pillar-less (no equinoxes or solstices) sidereal sphere where, as we know, neither zodiac nor Nakshatras fit. Constellations (though called zodiac) do not consist of a neat 30 degrees each as the months/signs of the tropical zodiac do; nor do the Nakshatras fit into the constellations neatly, as you have rightly pointed out.
My complaint with your presentation is that you are again accommodating your calendar to the prevailing custom which has been obliged to replace the zodiacal signs with the fixed stars of the constellations and name them according to those ‘stars’, though you do indicate when the Sun is seen to inhabit any of the Nakshatras which do not contain a neat 13.20 degrees of celestial longitude. This is, again, the forest missed for the trees.
If we are discussing the division of one ecliptic circle by sections of 13.20 degrees – the mean daily motion of the Moon – what results is an interesting aspect of astrology. In the West each of those 27 points/degrees themselves (28 if you double up at the zero point) are known as ‘critical degrees’. They are called the Mansions of the Moon. A planet or lagna or luminary situated on or very near these degrees would play a most important role in a person’s life. This system was brought to Europe by Al Biruni in the 12th Century, via Arabia from India. It is still attributed to him and is used in astrological readings by sensitive, intuitive astrologers. India has excelled in expounding a number of such divisions – dwadshamshas, navamshas, and so forth. Everything would be fine if this all pertained to the one circle (RV) of the tropical zodiac. But of course this is not the case.
Regarding your inclusion of Nakshatras, simply by giving their actual measurement in the heavens does not do enough to reveal the problem at the root of the usage. You fall in line by carrying out the equations in the very constellations the Nirayana system uses and which should be discarded. Of course then you would run into trouble. You would have to deal with the 13.20-degree Nakshatras, which no doubt you consider a western interpolation.
My point is that all measurements must be done vedically, in One Circle (RV, AV). Forget the constellations in this context entirely. That, of course, requires courage. My sense is that you seek to make your calendar appealing to all sections by incorporating their methods as best you can. The result is to make confusion worse confounded. I hope that this document will elucidate the point.¹

Documentary evidence
I am sending you herewith a small book of mine, Time and Imperishability, essays on the Capricorn hieroglyph (Aeon Books, 1997). I have marked certain pages where Number is used to reveal the destiny of the New India, largely via the Capricorn hieroglyph. Elsewhere in my published works I have used the same hieroglyph as the Measure of Bharat (The New Way, Vols. 1 & 2, Aeon Books, 1981 et al.) The exactitude of the new cosmology based on these Vedic keys is astonishing. It all comes alive today, within the context of the global society we live in. In the midst of those circumscribing conditions, if India is indeed the centre/soul of the Earth, as we do believe, then the new cosmology must effectively, factually prove the point.
Indeed it does. Therefore my plea is let us not discard what the world has to offer today, mesmerised by a past that can never return. The new cosmology is the Vedas and the Puranas updated, but not for that any less Vedic.
Does this reformed Sanatan Calendar help me to understand the world today, as it is and not as I would like or suppose it to be? The answer has to be a qualified negative. For instance, what use is the Saka computation (2011=1933)? What does it tell me about India today? Actually nothing at all; whereas 2011 does and can be proven to do so. Therefore, is it more worthwhile to transpose the harmonies of the Vedic Age according to certain interpretations into our contemporary society? Has that in any way revealed the lost ‘soul of knowledge’ Sri Aurobindo knew to have ‘fled its coverings’? Will Madhu/Madhava, Sukra/Suchi, and so forth bring that soul of knowledge to the devotee today and make sense of the world we live in now, in this 21st century?
The answer has to be a resounding NO. And yet you have put so much energy into devising a calendar that may help one understand a certain terminology in the Veda, but brings us no closer to that soul of knowledge which, by its very eternal nature must and can be found in today’s play of circumstances. If not, these are just words, slogans, and with them more barriers are erected to de-universalise India’s destiny.
In the small book I am sending you to provide factual proof of what I state, the relevant pages have been marked for easy reference. In the chapter ‘The Implicit Individual’, on page 92-98 I have presented a list of births stretching across the most significant portion of contemporary India’s destiny, beginning in the 19th century and moving into the 20th. The four births mentioned on page 95 form what I call the Lunar Line; similarly, on pages 93-4 there are the birth numbers of the Solar Line. The reasons for these designations are explained in the book and need not detain us. But the point is that they are not unfamiliar terms for Hindus, given that the 7th Vishnu Avatar is of the Solar Dynasty and the 8th Lunar. And in my view the Dasavataras form the backbone of Hinduism.
However, these terms, using the universal calendar just as it functions for the whole world without corrections, adjustments, and so forth, allows me to carry that Puranic Principle into today’s world, to make sense today of the destiny of the New India. In other words, that India can demonstrate the vibrant indisputable power of Mahakala which works through the nation with an astonishing control such as we find no where else. This is a confirmation of Sri Aurobindo’s declaration about the new power manifesting in this Age as Supermind creating the conditions for its own manifestation. (I am aware that N. S. Rajaram of the Nirayana School holds himself up to be an authority on Sri Aurobindo, yet incongruously he upholds a system that would deny everything Sri Aurobindo came to transform.)
The formula is 9/6/3/0-1 as described in my cosmology. It is a sequence about which the scientist-inventor Nikola Tesla is reported to have stated, ‘If you knew the 9,6,3 you would have a key to the universe.’ The number harmony I have discovered can stand up under any scrutiny, involving as it does a series of at least twelve births across time and space of individuals who played the roles the new cosmology foretold with no contriving or manipulation of circumstances to fit the Formula. No human being (astrologers and numerologists included) could devise such a phenomenal control over destiny or pretend to do so for a client; hence the futility of a predictive astrology. That is not the way of the future. Can this be explained by any of the sciences we know today? Certainly not. For this reason I emphatically state that Science cannot lead the way, contrary to what you have quoted me as saying. Further, is this cosmology any less ‘scientific’ because contemporary science is blind to Mahakala and his Supramental Shakti? The new Indo-Centric Cosmology is its own science; I challenge any astronomer to prove me wrong.
The Dasavataras form the basis of the new Indo-Centric Cosmology. The tool used to prove the point is simply the universal calendar just as it exists today, bearing in mind that its appearance did not depend on an Egyptian savant, a Roman Emperor, or a Christian Pope. Its emergence was entirely due to the impeccable control of Mahakala and the executing power of his Supramental Shakti. Their labour would be lost if your calendar with its interpretation of Vedic computation had been used to seek to reveal that control, that destiny. The pages I have highlighted prove the point amply. (See page 206, ibid, for evidence.)

Uttarayana and Dakshinayana
Finally, it is gratifying to note that you have signalled Uttarayana correctly as the December Solstice. But its 21 December date is lost in the whirlpool of Vedic interpolations. It is simple: the shortest day of the year is 0 degree Capricorn/Makar. If that is highlighted, what does uttarayana tell us of our world today? It tells us that this is far more than just the northern highest position of the Sun vis-à-vis the Earth. It links the passage to its opposite Dakshinayana of course. But we immediately see the phenomenon as a key to evolution itself, as an evolutionary axis for the entire Earth. More than that, through the applied cosmology using the universal calendar and the tropical zodiac, we can delve deeper until the uttarayana/ dakshinayana axis tells us which nations actually embody the phenomenon. They are India (Capricorn/Makar) and the United States of America (Cancer/Kataka); or else, Spirit and Matter, or inspiration and execution; something on the order of Purush/Prakriti. Without the proper zodiacal signs of Capricorn and Cancer and their hieroglyphs this could not be done factually, applicably. Suchi/Tapas tell us nothing today; Cancer and Capricorn tell us everything; moreover, they delineate the physical bodies of the nations they rule. I refer you to the pages 82-89 cited above to confirm this for yourself. When applied to the universal calendar and the tropical zodiac, we note that the USA was indeed born under the sign/month Cancer (4 July 1776), provided we use the correct calendar and not the Nirayana system which shifts the zodiac by 23 days and would therefore place America in Gemini and the new India in Cancer! (The Capricorn factor is Bharat’s ancient astrological ruler, not to be confused with the 15 August date of Independence – Leo/Sri Aurobindo’s birthday – in the last century.)

Rahu and Ketu – the Lunar Nodes
In your calendar text you correctly explain the lunar nodes phenomenon as the points where orbits cross and not actual physical bodies. In my work they serve an important function and are not to be dismissed lightly. They bring the number count to 9, which is essential for understanding the destiny of the new India and her cosmology. Also, the Navagrahas at the entrance to each temple further consolidate the 9 factor, so essential to the fulfilment of India’s role in the world today.
I have also observed that Rahu/Ketu form an axis (like uttarayana/dakshinayana) in each individual’s horoscope. This configuration becomes the axis of a person’s destiny and is not to be dismissed disparagingly, regardless of the taunts from scientists who ignore these subtle functions entirely. Consequently, they have used both the Rahu/Ketu axis and the Navagrahas to demonstrate how ‘ignorant’ of astronomy astrologers are! In view of what I state, who is demonstrating ignorance?

In the Nirayana system the entire harmony recedes and is closed behind thick veils. Above all, we lose the sense and purpose that Mahakala instils in everything that surrounds us today. He does not need any Vedic nomenclature to further confuse the issue. He wants only to reinstate, to unveil that eternal Soul of Knowledge within today’s world. Surely you must agree that it is precisely this sense and purpose that is lacking today – and which something like the Nirayana System, or even your reformed Sanatan Calendar further obscures in spite of its improvements. Therefore I must state clearly that I consider it an improvement and nothing more. I eagerly await the next stage of your efforts.

***

¹ I doubt that the ‘stars’ mentioned in the Veda are really equal to the Nakshatras of today; much less were they given an even 13.20 degrees (the Mansions of the Moon); nor were those 13.20 measured in the constellations on the backdrop of a completely uneven and arbitrary ‘zodiac’. The Stars may well have had a different function – for example, pointers regarding the Precession of the Equinoxes. As it would seem, astrology in the West is clearer about these matters because it uses the Vedic System of One Circle resting on the seasonal Equinoxes and Solstices, which India has discarded.