Post No. 13,785
Date uploaded in London – 16 October 2024
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
xxxx
Eclipse ,Ghosts and Omens from Shakespeare, Tamil and Sanskrit Books (Post.13,785)
Fear about the solar and lunar eclipses is seen in most of the ancient cultures. Europe in the Middle Ages had the same fear. We see many negative remarks about them in Shakespeare’s plays. They reflect the view of the Europeans. Here are some quotations from his plays and songs.
A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye.
In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets;
As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood,
Disasters in the sun; and the moist star,
Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands,
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse.— Hamlet
All the ominous portends such as dead spirits are on the Roman streets, disaster in the sun and the moon (moist staar), with fire and blood, eclipse are listed here.
Commentators say, this is what seen just before Julius Caesar’s death in Rome. So, they expected the same thing in Denmark.
The moon “Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse” (1.1.120), says Horatio. He believes that the appearance of the Ghost is a portent to Denmark, as the sick moon was a portent to Rome.
Eclipse of the moon is seen as a bad omen.
****
“These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us” is a line from King Lear by William Shakespeare. The Earl of Gloucester says this line in Act 1, Scene 2, connecting the eclipse to the decline of his family and kingdom. He goes on to predict that the eclipse will lead to:
There was a partial eclipse in 1590 and a more major one on October 12 1605, which is probably what he refers to in King Lear, where the Earl of Gloucester predicts “These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us… Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide.
Vikings believed that wolves were eating the sun, the Chinese thought they predicted the death of the Emperor, and the ancient Greeks thought eclipses were signs that the gods were angry, and about to visit destruction on humans.
After killing her, Othello suggests Desdemona’s murder was an act so serious that:
Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse
Of sun and moon, and that the affrighted globe
Should yawn at alteration.
It’s not the only celestial event: at the moment there is a “supermoon” which means the moon is close to the earth making it appear larger than usual. Othello also refers to this phenomenon, blaming the moon’s influence for the rash of murders.
It is the very error of the moon,
She comes more near the earth than she as wont,
And makes men mad.
My comments
Moon and madness is already explained in the article hare on the moon. Vedas clearly link the moon and the mind
But here Shakespeare says MOIST moon/ star in Hamlet. Hindus only link moon and moist in their hymns. Hindus said moon is the one that sustains plants. Science is yet to prove it. But we see it in Hamlet.
Mr Crooke, in his book Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, has an interesting note on the moon:
“The moon has several special functions in relation to disease. Roots and simples collected by moonlight are more efficacious”. This is quite Shakespearian for Jessica says,
“n such a night Medea gathered the enchanted herbs
That did renew old Aeson “(The Merchant of Venice)
And Laertes speaks of the poison ‘collected from all simples that have virtue under the moon’ (Hamlet) .
Also very common is the belief that any disease contracted by a man under the waning moon tends to diminish. Patients are often told to look at the moon reflected in butter or milk or water, and the cure will be effected. This is mostly done in the case of leprosy and similar diseases.
“In spite of all these advantages there is very little special worship of the Moon. When an image is erected to him it is usually associated with that of the Sun God. Moon worship is most popular in Bengal and Behar.”
****
Hindu Beliefs on Eclipses.
Atri Hymn in the Rig Veda described the Total Solar Eclipse.
SRI UMAPADA SEN OF CALCUTTA HAS ESTABLISHED THE DATE OF RIG VEDA AROUND 3000 BCE IN HIS BOOK THE RIGVEDIC ERA. HE SUPPORTS THE VIEW OF A. LUDWIG WHO ALSO APPRECIATED THE VEDIC HINDUS’ AMAZING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HEAVENLY BODIES.
Solar eclipses narrated in the Veda cannot be overlooked. In passage 10-138-4 of the Rig Veda, it is said Indra ‘maseva suryo vasu puryam adade’. this means it was the sun that was eclipsed, for the words ‘ vi suryo Madhya amuchat rathevam divah’ in the preceding verse point clearly to a solar eclipse.
Purananuru 174 in Sangam Tamil literature explains the solar eclipse that happened in first century BCE. The poest says the demons hide the sun. Hindus believe that Rahu and Ketu , the demons planets devour sun or moon. Buth they knew both are shadows. They calculated the exact date of the occurrences.
Jayadratha episode in the Mahabharata showed Krishna’s exact calculation of the solar eclipse.
I am giving the gist of my articles written between 2017 and 2021
The beautiful Rig Veda Hymn 5. 40 gives to us the solar eclipse .
Rig Veda says very clearly that a solar eclipse finished before Atri finished reciting his verse/hymn. His disciples praised him for this feat. They did not know that Rishi Atri was an astronomer. No total eclipse can lost more than seven minutes. That too is very rare.
Until today Hindus are the only race in the world who take eclipses seriously. They knew the bad and good effects of the eclipses. Any prayer done during eclipse is 100 times more effective. Any food eaten during or just before the eclipse will have bad effects. Such beliefs and special rituals like propitiating the departed souls do not exist in any other religion. They put Dharba grass in all the cooked foods to save it from the radiation. The reason is that not all the eclipses are bad. But they want the same rules for all eclipses so that people will remember to follow them.
Eclipses are believed to be of evil omen. Gloucester summarises admirably the Hindu belief in passage in King Lear (1-2)
“These late eclipses in the sun and pointed no good to us… love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide; in cities mutinies; in countries discord; in palaces treason; and the bond cracked ‘twixt son and father”.
Shakespeare said more than what Hindu scriptures said about the eclipses. Hindus will eat no food which has remained in the house during an eclipse, and all the earthen vessels which are in the house must be broken. During an eclipse, all the household business is suspended and eating and drinking prohibited. Even sleeping is forbidden. They bathe before and after the eclipse; use the time for prayers. Orthodox Hindus stand in the water and recite Gayatri mantra. Bathing during eclipse also cleanses from sin.
People born under particular stars wear special talisman, i.e., a palm leaf written with mantra is worn on forehead.
Though Hindus knew what causes eclipses and they calculated precisely and forecast the date and time, they told the laymen some stories. Ignorant people cant understand astronomical calculations. They told the laymen that two planets (shadows) Rahu and Ketu are demons or snakes and they devour sun and moon.
Ghosts in Shakespeare
Foreigners have big confusion about Hindu beliefs in ghosts. All the foreigners described Hindus as devil worshippers. Ignorant people like Dr Caldwell called all the Nadar community members as devil worshippers. Other foreigners described 90 percent Hindus are devil worshippers. This is because of their ignorance; they could not differentiate between the Asuras, Rakshasas, departed souls, Brahmarakshas (Brahmin ghosts), demon planets Rahu and Ketu and the actual ghosts (of people who died unnaturally in murders, suicides, accidents); apart from these some tribal beliefs about forests caves and hills (they are like Bermuda Triangles) and anything that cant be explained were classified as mysterious ghosts.
Foreign writers classified all these as devil worships. Such beliefs exist in all parts of the world and in all cultures. Atharva Veda described even bacteria and Viruses as demons because the laymen won’t understand. Eclipsing planets such as Rahu and Ketu were described as Snake demons but not ghosts
In King Lear, Shakespeare says,
Unsepulchred they roamed and shrieked, each wandering ghost”.
The earliest Shakespeare in which Ghosts appear is Richard III. Richard is visited by the spirits of his victims in sleep.
In Hamlet, Horatio doubts the existence of ghosts that Barnardo and Marcellus claimed to have seen on two previous nights.
Horatio says that before Julius Caesar’s assassination,
“he sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in Roman streets”
In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare says, Brutus saw the apparition of murdered Caesar. He wondered whether it was some god or angel or devil.
This is definitely Hindu way of questioning.
In Macbeth Banquo’s ghost plays an important role.
In short, all the important plays of Shakespeare have ghosts.
****
Monier William’s Ignorance:—
Rev, E Osborn Martin adds the epithet “bloody” for all the Hindu gods and goddesses: Shiva, Kali, Avatars of Vishnu and Ganesh! They are described in the chapter ‘Demon and Devil worship in India’ in his book ‘The Gods of India’.
Ignorant Sir Monier Williams writes, “the people worshipping a milkman who was killed by a tiger and he became devil”.
Sangam Tamil literature said that the heroes were worshipped after their death. If a person dies in an attack by a tiger or any animal when he tried to save the general public, Tamils erect Hero Stone for him and worship. Even today all the countries in the world erect memorials for their leaders and the visiting foreign dignitary must lay a wreath there. When some accidents happen people go to the spots and lay wreaths or flower bunches and light candles etc. Poor Monier Williams and his colleagues including Caldwell would have described them as devil worship!
All the ladies who sacrificed their lives to save their honour or in Satee are worshipped! Ignorant foreigners called those devil worship. But they themselves erect war memorials in every nook and corner and ask Kings and Queens to lay flower wreaths every year. we can call them Devil worshippers!!
Westerners killed millions of women as Witches in Inquisition; Joan of Arc was the most famous woman burnt alive by the British in France.
Sir Alfred Ryall declared that “every mysterious, gruesome looking dell, cavern, steep pass and wild and desolate hill top or ridge in Central India has its Deo (god), never seen of man, but felt by those who visit the spot – by shepherds and herdsmen camping out far amid the melancholy worlds or by travellers along the lonely tracks…. The whereabouts of the spirits is sometimes marked by a heap of stones, sometimes by rags tied to bush, occasionally by chains suspended mystically from a cliff or a tree; or the spirit wanders around a huge banyan tree or a ruined temple.
Mr Bowtring, in his Eastern Experiences (1871), described the Spirit Houses found in the Mysore Forests – little sheds built over the white ant hills and dedicated to the wood demons.
Captain Forsyth, writing about Berar, mentions that when the Gonds fell the wood on a hill side, they leave a little clump of trees to serve as a refuge for the spirit whom they have dislodged.
Westerners also believed in haunted buildings; every year newspaper articles about haunted places appear during Halloween times.
Sangam Age Tamils also believed that spirits occupy all the hills, water sources and trees. It is in Sangam literature. Those who don’t study both Tamil and Sanskrit literature blabber more than others. Hindus believed in ghosts but they are different from good spirits.
VARAHA MIHIRA ON ECLIPSES from BRHAT SAMHITA
From Wisdomlib.org
Chapter 5 – On the course of Rāhu (rāhu-cāra)
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Note: Rāhu represents the moon’s node, i.e., one of the two points where the moon’s orbit cuts the ecliptic.
1. Some say that Rāhu, the asura, though his head was cut, dies not but lives in the shape of a planet having tasted of ambrosia.
2. That he has a disc like the sun and moon and as that disc is black it is invisible when in the sky except on the occasion of eclipses in virtue of a boon from Brahmā.
3. Others say that he resembles a serpent in shape with his head severed from his tail; a few that he is bodiless, that he is mere darkness and that he is the son of Siṃhikā.
4. Now, if he has a body or be simply a head with a regular motion in the ecliptic, how comes it that he eclipses the sun and moon when they are 180° from him?
5. If his motion be not subject to fixed laws, how comes it that his exact place is ascertained; how comes it that he never eclipses by the part of his body between his head and tail?
6. If being of the shape of a serpent he eclipses with his head or with his tail, how comes it that he does not hide one half of the heavens lying between his head and tail?
7. If, as some say, there be two Rāhus, when the moon is eclipsed by one of them at rising or setting how comes it we see the sun in the opposite point uneclipsed by the other Rāhu of equal motion?
8. The truth is that in her own eclipse, the moon enters the shadow of the earth, and in that of the sun, the solar disc. Hence, the lunar eclipse does not commence at the western limb nor the solar at the eastern limb.
9. Just as the shadow of a tree neither continues in the same direction nor of the same length, so changes the shadow of the earth, night after night owing to the revolution of the sun.
10. When the moon, whose course is always from west to east, is due opposite to the sun swerving neither much to the north nor to the south, she enters the shadow of the earth.
11. The moon, moving from the west, hides the solar disc from below just like a cloud; and the solar eclipse varies differently in different countries according to the different degrees of visibility of the eclipsed disc.
12. What eclipses the moon is bigger than the moon; what eclipses the sun is smaller than the sun. Hence in semi-lunar and semi-solar eclipses, the luminous horns are respectively blunt and sharp.
17. It is wrong to say that there can be no eclipse unless five planets are in conjunction and it is equally wrong to suppose that on the previous Aṣṭamī (eighth lunar) day, the coming eclipse and its properties can be ascertained by examining the appearance of a drop of oil on the surface of water.
18. The magnitude of the solar eclipse is determined by means of the moon’s parallax (in latitude); the points (on the disc) of the commencement and termination of the eclipse are determined by means of both parallax and angles;[1] the times of the commencement and termination of the eclipse by means of the time of new moon.
19. Commencing from the time of creation, Brahmā is the lord over the new and full moon periods of the first six months; the Moon is the lord over those of the second six months; Indra over those of the third six months; Kubera over those of the fourth six months; Varuṇa over those of the fifth six months; Agni over those of the sixth six months and Yama over those of the seventh six months; and so on the cycle being repeated over and over again.
20. If Brahmā should be lord as stated above, cows and Brāhmins will prosper; there will be health and happiness in the land; and crops will thrive. If the moon should be the lord, the effects will be those described above; also, learned men will suffer and there will be drought.
21. If Indra should be the lord, the princes will be at war with each other, the crops of Śarat (October and November), will perish and there will be no prosperity in the land. If Kubera should be the lord, rich men will suffer in their wealth but there will be prosperity in the land.
22. If Varuṇa should be the lord, princes will suffer; the rest will be happy and crops will flourish. If Agni should be the lord, there will be good crops, and there will also be health, freedom from fear and abundance of water.
23. If Yama should be the lord, there will be drought, famine, and total blight of crops; in the next parva mankind will be afflicted with misery, hunger, death and drought.
24. If the eclipses should occur before the calculated times, there will be miscarriage of pregnancy and wars in the land; if they should occur after the calculated times, flowers and fruits will perish and there will be fear in the land and crops.[2]
25. I have described, as above, the effects of the occurrence of eclipses either before or after the calculated times in accordance with the ancient śāstras; but the calculation of a really learned Astronomer will at no time fail.
26. If there should be both lunar and solar eclipses in one month,[3] princes will suffer both from dissensions among their own army and from wars.
27. If the eclipse should occur at rising or setting, the crops of Śarat (October and November) will perish and princes will suffer. In total eclipses if the eclipsed sun or moon should be subject to malefic planetary influence, there will be death and famine in the land.
28. If the sun and moon should begin to be eclipsed when only half risen, deceitful men will suffer as well as sacrificial rites. If they should be eclipsed when in the first section[4] of the firmament, those that live by fire and virtuous Brahmins will suffer as well as men belonging to one of the holy orders.
29. If they should be eclipsed when in the second section of the firmament, agriculturists, heretics, merchants, the Kṣatriyas and commanders of the army will suffer. If when in the third section, artisans, the Śūdras, the Mlecchas and ministers will suffer.
30. If when in mid-heaven, the central provinces will suffer, but there will be happiness over the land and the price of food grains will fall. If when in the fifth section, herbivorous animals, ministers and household inmates will suffer as also the Vaiśyas.
31. If they should be eclipsed when in the sixth section of the firmament, women and the Śūdras will suffer; if when setting, robbers and the border Mlecchas will perish. Those will be happy in whose section the eclipse terminates.[5]
32. If the sun and moon should be eclipsed when in their uttarāyaṇa (northward march), the Brāhmins and the Kṣatriyas will suffer; if when in their dakṣiṇāyana (southward march) the Vaiśyas and the Śūdras will suffer. If the eclipse should commence at the northern, eastern, southern, or western point of the disc, the Brāhmins, the Kṣatriyas, the Vaiśyas or the Śūdras will suffer respectively.
33. If the disc should be eclipsed at one of the comers, the Mlecchas, persons proceeding to battle and those who live by fire[6] will perish; if the southern limb should be eclipsed aquatic creatures as well as elephants will die; and if the northern limb should be eclipsed cows will suffer.
34. If the eastern limb should be eclipsed there will be abundant rain; if the western limb should be eclipsed, farmers and servants will suffer and seed grains will be destroyed,
35. If the sun and moon should be eclipsed when in the sign of Aries (Meṣa),[7] the Pāñcālas, the Kaliṅgas,[8] the Sūrasenas, the people of Kāmboja,[9] of Odra,[10] of Kirāta,[11] soldiers and persons who live by fire will be afflicted with miseries.
36. If the sun or moon should be eclipsed when in the sign of Taurus (Vṛṣabha), shepherds, cows, their owners and eminent men will suffer miseries.
37. If they should be eclipsed when in the sign of Gemini (Mithuna), chaste women, princes, powerful petty chiefs, learned men, people living on the banks of the Yamunā and the rulers of Bahlikā and Matsya with their subjects will suffer miseries.
38. If they should be eclipsed when in the sign of Cancer (Karka) the Ābhīras, the Śabaras,[12] the Pallavas, the Mallas, the Matsyas, the Kurus,[13] the Śakas,[14] the Pāñcālas and the Vikalās[15] will be afflicted with miseries and food grains will be destroyed.
39. If the sun and moon should be eclipsed when in the sign of Leo (Siṃha) hill men, prince like people possessed of a single military force,[16] princes and forest men will suffer miseries. If they should be eclipsed when in the sign of Virgo (Kanyā), crops, poets, writers and singers will suffer and the rice fields of Aśmaka and Tripura[17] will be destroyed.
40. If they should be eclipsed when in the sign of Libra (Tulā), the people of the extreme border lands on the west, the people of Sindha, the trading classes and the people of Kaccha will be afflicted with miseries. If when in the sign of Scorpio (Vṛścika), the people of Udambara, of Madra,[18] of Colā and of Yaudheya will all suffer miseries along with soldiers armed with poisoned weapons.
41. If they should be eclipsed when in the sign of Sagittarius (Dhanuṣa), ministers, fine horses, the Videhas, the Mallānas, the Pāñcālas, physicians, merchants and persons skilled in the use of destructive weapons will perish. If when in the sign of Capricornus (Makara), fishes, the families of ministers, the Cāṇḍālas, skilled magicians, physicians and old soldiers will perish.
42. If they should be eclipsed when in the sign of Aquarius (Kumbha), hill men, men of western countries, carriers, robbers, shephards, serpents, worthy men, lions, citizens and the people of Barbara will perish. If when in the sign of Pisces (Mīna), the products of the sea beach and of the sea, man of respectability and of learning and persons that live by water will suffer.[19] Also those provinces will be affected which correspond to particular lunar mansions in which the eclipses happen to occur, as will be explained in the chapter (14) on Kūrmavibhāga.
43. Solar and Lunar eclipses are of ten kinds and they are technically known as—1. Savya, 2. Apasavya, 3. Leha, 4. Grasana, 5. Nirodha, 6. Avamardana, 7. Āroha, 8. Āghrāta, 9. Madhyatama, 10. Tamontya.[20]
44. If the eclipse should commence on the left side of the disc, it is technically known as Savyagata: the earth will then be flooded with water and there will be joy and freedom from fear. If it should commence on the right side of the disc, it: is technically known as Apasavyagata: mankind will suffer from their rulers and from robbers.
45. If the solar or lunar disc should be just dimmed by darkness all round which disappears immediately, the eclipse is technically known as Leha (licking): all creatures will be happy and the earth will be flooded with water.
46. If a third, or a fourth, or one half of the disc should be eclipsed, it is technically known as Grasana (seizing with the mouth) grasa—partial eclipse: the wealth of prosperous princes will suffer diminution and prosperous countries will be afflicted with calamities.
47. If the eclipse should, commencing at the edge, travel inwards and remain there for a time of the shape of a dark ball, it is technically known as Nirodha (blocking up): all creatures will be happy.
48. If the eclipse should be a total one and continue so for a time, it is known as Avamardana (tormenting): the then chief provinces will suffer and the then chief rulers will be afflicted with miseries.
49. If immediately after the termination of the eclipse, the disc should be re-eclipsed[21] (by comets and the like), it is technically known as Ārohaṇa (climbing): the princes will be at war and there will be fear in the land.
50. If a small portion of the disc should be so slightly eclipsed as to resemble a mirror covered with the vapour of hot breath, the eclipse is known as Āghrāta (smelling): there will be good rain in the land.
51. If the middle of the eclipsed disc should be dark while the disc continues bright all round, the eclipse is known as Madhyatama (centrally dark)—annular eclipse: the Central Provinces[22] will be afflicted with miseries, mankind will suffer from stomach pain and there will be fear in the land.
52. If all round the disc, the darkness be thick and in the middle, it be slight, the eclipse is technically known as Antyātma (terminally dark): the crops will be injured[23] and mankind will suffer from robbers.
53. If the eclipsed disc should appear white, there will be prosperity and plenty in the land, but the Brāhmins will suffer; persons who live by fire will be afflicted with miseries.
54. If the disc should appear yellow, there will be increase of disease in the land and crops will suffer. If the disc should appear of gold color, swift footed animals and the Mlecchas will suffer and there will be famine in the land.
55. If the disc should be of the colour of the sky at dawn of day, there will be famine and drought and birds will suffer. If red-black, there will be prosperity and plenty in the land but slight rain.
56. If the disc be of the colour of the pigeon or of blood colour or of the colour of gold or yellow-black, mankind will suffer from starvation. If again the disc be black or as said above, of the colour of the pigeon, the Śūdras will suffer from disease.
57. If the eclipsed disc should appear yellow resembling the topaz in colour, the Vaiśyas will perish and there will be prosperity in the land. If the disc should appear to be burning, there will be fear from ñre; if it should resemble gold ore, there will be wars in the land.
58. If the disc should appear black resembling the colour of the stem of dūrvā grass (agrostis linearis) or yellow, there will be much death in the land. If of the colour of the flower pāṭali (Bignonia Suaveolenis) ‘trumpet flower’ there will be fear from lightning.
59. If the eclipsed disc be of the colour of red dust, the Kṣatriyas will suffer and there will be no rain. If of the colour of the rising sun, of lotus, of the rainbow, there will be suffering from weapons.
60. If Mercury should see the eclipsed disc, honey and oil will become scarce; princes will suffer. If Mars should see the eclipsed disc, there will be war in the land and fear from fire and robbers.
61. If Venus should see the eclipsed disc, crops will be injured and there will be drought and famine in the land and the mankind will have fear from robbers.
62. These evil effects, resulting from planetary look at eclipsed disc, apply as well to the time of termination of the eclipse as to its commencement. If Jupiter, a beneficent planet, should also see the eclipsed disc, the evils described will vanish in just the same way as the flame of fire dies out when water is poured over it.
63. If during the eclipse, there should occur portents, meteoric fails, dust storms, earthquakes, universal darkness or thunderbolt, the eclipse will re-occur after six, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four, thirty, or thirty-six months respectively.
64. If Mars should be eclipsed by Rāhu,[24] the people of Āvanti, those living on the banks of the Kāverī and the Narmada and haughty princes will be afflicted with miseries.
65. If Mercury should be so eclipsed, men living between the Ganges and the Yamunā, on the banks of the Sarayū and in the country of Nepāla, those living about the east sea and on the banks of the Śoṇa will suffer and women, princes, soldier boys and men of letters will perish.
66. If Jupiter should be so eclipsed, learned men, kings, ministers, elephants and horses will perish and persons living on the banks of the Indus and in the northern countries[25] will suffer calamities.
67. If Venus should be so eclipsed, the people of Dāśeraka, of Kaikaya, of Yaudheya and of Āryāvarta and the Śibīs will suffer; women and ministers will be afflicted with miseries.
68. If Saturn should be so eclipsed, the people of Marubhava, of Puṣkara[26] and of Saurāṣṭra, the minerals, the low classes inhabiting the Arbuda hills, and the hillmen of Gomanta and Pāriyātrā will perish immediately.
69. If the solar or lunar eclipse should fall in the lunar month of Kārttika,[27] persons who live by fire, the Magadhas, the eastern princes, the Kosalas,[28] the Kalmāṣas, the Śūrasenas and the people of Benares will suffer miseries; the ruler of Kaliṅga with his ministers and servants and the Kṣatriyas will perish but there will be prosperity and plenty in the land.
70. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Mārgaśīrṣa, [29] the people of Kāśmīra, of Audha and of Puṇdra[30] will suffer miseries; quadrupeds will perish, men of the western countries and Somayajīs[31] will suffer calamities; there will be good rain and prosperity and plenty throughout the land.
71. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Pauṣa,[32] the Brāhmins and the Kṣatriyas will suffer; the people of Sindh, the Kukuras[33] and the Videhas will perish; there wall be slight rain and fear of famine in the land.
72. If the eclipses should fall within lunar month of Māgha[34], persons noted for filial duty, the descendants of Vasiṣṭha, men acting up to the Vedic principles, elephant and horses will suffer distress; the people of Vaṅga[35] of Aṅga,[36] and of Benares will be afflicted with miseries; and there will be rain suited to the wants of the ryots.
73. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Phālguna[37], the people of Vaṅga, of Āśmaka, of Avantikā and the Mekalās will be afflicted with disease; dancers, food crops, chaste women, bow-makers, the Kṣatriyas and ascetics will also suffer.
74. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Caitra[38] painters, writers, singers, prostitutes, men learned in the Vedas and dealers in gold, the people of Pauṇḍra, of Auḍra, of Kekaya and of Āśmaka will suffer distress and there will be good rain throughout the land.[39]
75. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Vaiśākha[40] cotton, gingelly and beans will be injured; the Ikṣvākus,[41] the Yaudheyas, the Śakas and the Kaliṅgas will suffer; but there will be prosperity over the land.[42]
76. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Jyeṣṭha,[43] the Brāhmins, the Queens of the reigning sovereign, crops, rain, large gatherings of men, beautiful persons, the Sālvas and the Niṣādas will suffer.
77. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Āṣāḍha,[44] wells, wet fields and rivers will become dry; dealers in roots and fruits, the people of Gāndhāra, of Kāśmīra, of Pulinda and of Cīna (China) will perish; and there will be abundance of rain.
78. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Śrāvaṇa,[45] the people of Kāśmīra, of Pulinda and of Cīna (China), the Yavanas, the Kurus, the Gāndhāras and the people of Madhyadeśa (Central Provinces), the horses of Kāmboja and the crops of Śarat will perish; the rest of mankind will enjoy prosperity and will be happy.
79. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Bhādrapada[46], the people of Kaliṅga, of Vaṅga, of Magadha and of Saurāṣṭra, the Mlecchas, the Sauvīras, the Daradās[47] and the Śakas will perish; pregnant women will miscarry but there will be prosperity over the land.
80. If the eclipses should fall in the lunar month of Aśvayuja[48] the people of Kāmboja, of Cīna (China), the Yavanas, surgeons, the Vāhlīkas and the people living on the banks of the Indus, together with the physicians of Ānarta and of Pauṇḍra and the Kirātas[49] will perish, but there will be prosperity in the land.
81. Lunar and solar eclipses terminate in ten ways technically known as—1. Dakṣiṇa hanu, 2, Vāma hanu, 3. Dakṣiṇa kukṣi, 4. Vāma kukṣi, 5. Dakṣiṇa pāyu, 6. Vāma pāyu, 7, Sañchardana, 8. Jaraṇa, 9. Madhvavidaraṇa, 10. Antavidaraṇa.[50]
82. If the lunar eclipse should terminate at the south-eastern point of the disc, the termination is technically known as dakṣiṇa-hanu (right jaw): crops will perish; facial disease will afflict mankind; princes will suffer; and there will be good rain.
83. If the lunar eclipse should terminate at the north-eastern point of the disc, the termination is known as vāma-hanu (left jaw): the king’s son will be afflicted with fears; there will be facial disease and wars, but prosperity over the whole land.
84. If the lunar eclipse should terminate at the southern point of the disc, the termination is known as dakṣiṇa-kukṣi (right abdomen): the king’s son will suffer and the enemies in the south may then be defeated in wars.
85. If the lunar eclipse should terminate at the northern point of the disc, the termination is techincally known as vāma-kukṣi (left abdomen): pregnant women will miscarry and crops will suffer to some extent.
86. If the lunar eclipse should terminate at the south-western and north-western points of the disc, the terminations are known as dakṣiṇa-pāyu (right anus) and vāma-pāyu (left anus) respectively: there will be diseases of the genital organs in the case of both terminations and the Queens of reigning sovereigns will suffer in the case of the latter.
87. If the lunar eclipse should commence and terminate at the eastern point of the disc,[51] the termination is known as sañchardana (vomitting): there will be prosperity and joy in the land and food crops will flourish.
88. If the lunar eclipse should commence at the eastern point and terminate at the western point of the disc, the termination is known as jaraṇa (decaying): mankind will be afflicted with hunger and with wars: where then will they go for protection?
89. If the middle of the eclipsed disc should first begin to clear, the termination is known as madhyavidaraṇa (central opening): there will be anger at heart and prosperity over the land but not much rain.
90. If the edge should first begin to clear all round, while there is darkness in the centre, the termination is known as antavidaraṇa (terminal opening): Madhyadeśa or Central Provinces will suffer, and the crops of Śarat will be injured.
91. These terminations of the lunar eclipse apply to those of the solar eclipse, the only difference being that where the east has been referred to in the former, it must be taken to mean the west in the latter.[52]
92. If, within seven days from the termination of an eclipse there should occur a dust storm, mankind will suffer from starvation; if there should occur a fall of snow there will be fear from disease; if there should occur an earthquake, the chief rulers will die.
93. If, within the said period, there should occur any meteoric fall, the ministers will die; if clouds of various hues should appear, mankind will suffer from various fears; if clouds should begin to roar, there will be miscarriage of pregnancy; if lightning should appear, rulers and tusked animals will suffer.
94. If, within seven days from the termination of an eclipse, there should appear a halo round the Sun or Moon, there will be disease in the land; if there should be an appearance of false fire about the horizon mankind will suffer from rulers and from fire; if there should be a storm, there will be fear from robbers.
95. If there should appear either a rainbow, or a comet club-like in shape, people, afflicted with hunger, will suffer from foreign yoke; if there should be either planetary conjunctions or cometary appearances princes will be at war with one another.
96. If there should occur a fall of good rain within the said period, there will be prosperity in the land and the evils described above will disappear.
97. If on the new-moon day immediately succeeding a lunar eclipse, there should occur a solar eclipse, there will be dissensions among men and discord between husbands and wives.
98. If, on the contrary, there should occur a lunar eclipse on the full moon day immediately succeeding a solar eclipse, the Brāhmins will perform various sacrificial rites and mankind will be happy.
Note on the ceremonies for the expiation of the evil effects of the eclipses:
It may be some relief to the monotony of what has preceded to append here a description of certain ceremonies for the expiation of the evil effects of the eclipses.
In lunar eclipses those persons will suffer in the sign of whose nativity in which the Sun was, the moon happens to be eclipsed.
Again, if an eclipse should occur in the sign in which the Sun was in one’s nativity, then the persons on his father’s side will suffer; if in the sign in which the Moon was in one’s nativity then the persons on his mother’s side will suffer.
Again that person will also suffer in whose Lagna[53] or Nakṣatra the Sun or Moon is eclipsed.
If the eclipse should occur in the 19th constellation from that in which the moon was in one’s nativity the person will be afflicted with miseries, if he should fail to perform the requisite expiatory rites: it therefore behoves a person to avert the evil effects of an eclipse by gifts, by fire ceremonies, by worship of the Devas, by japa and by (eclipse) ceremonial ablutions.
He should get a serpent made of gold or flour and present it to Brāhmins on the day of the eclipse. He shall then recite the mṛtyuñjaya and other well-known mantras. As all the Devas are present on the occasion of an eclipse, mantras or japas ought not to be recited or performed while the eclipse progressess but only when the eclipse begins to decline and terminate, though, during the former period new mantras may be learnt. As regards the ablutions above referred to, we quote from Matsyapurāṇa:
That person, in the lagna of whose nativity an eclipse occurs, ought to bathe in the water purified by mantras and by drugs as prescribed below. On the occasion of the eclipse he shall adorn four Brāhmins with garlands of white flowers and with white sandal paste; he shall fix four pots in four places near each other and he shall bring earth from places frequented by elephants, by horses, by chariots and by cows and from ant-hills and from before the entrance to the palaces of kings as well as from deep waters, and throw the earth into the water pots; he shall also put into the water pañcagavya,[54] pearls, yellow pigment, lotus, the conch shell, a piece of crystal, white sandal paste, mustard seed, ariconuts, the fragrant root of the plant Andropogon Muricatus and the resin bdelium (exudation of the Amyris Agallowchum); he shall then invoke the Devas into the pots. The Brāhmins shall then say aloud,
“May all the seas, rivers, and other waters come into these pots for the purification of our Master”.
The Brāhmins shall then invoke, by their respective mantras, the Devas presiding over the eight points of the compass. They shall also invoke into the pots the deities presiding over all creatures and things, with or without motion, in the three worlds as well as Brahmā, Viṣṇu and the Sun. They shall also chant verses from the Ṛk, Yajus and Sāma Vedas. The pots also shall have threads tied round their necks and adorned with white flowers and white paste. The master shall then be bathed with the charmed waters; after bathing the master shall present cloths and cows to Brāhmins and worship his favourite gods. At the commencement of the eclipse, the Brāhmins shall tie, over the master’s head, a cloth containing bits of the five precious gems and a gold plate with mantras inscribed in it. The gold plate shall then be presented to the Brāhmins.
He who bathes as prescribed above will not only be purified from the evil effects of an eclipse but will gain the higher worlds.
For the description of technical words in this chapter please go to wisdomlib.org
–subham—
Tags- Eclipse, Solar, Lunar, Rig Veda, Puranauru, Sangam Literature, Ghosts, Varahamihira, Brhat Samhita, Grahana, Chandra, Surya, ceremonies,
Tamil and Vedas 