Newsweek reported this article - We Are All Hindus Now written by Lisa Miller. This may come as a surprise to many and give a talking point to the ignoramus lot of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, but believe me, this is nothing new. Any person who has read the Vedas will shrug it off saying “big deal”.

The term “Hindu” was given to the folks living on the other side of river Indus by Arabs just few hundred years back, whereas the real religion is at least six to seven thousand years old. As I have mentioned in the description of my site on Vedic Astrology, there is no concept of “religion” in Vedas. It essentially is a way of life for millions of Indians. The word that comes closest in translation for religion is dharma, which is also the word for “principles”.

The real religion is Sanatana Dharma, which means “all encompassing religion”. Even Wikipedia is wrong here where it says that Hinduism is often referred to as Sanatana Dharma… The truth is actually the other way around - Sanatana Dharma is often referred to as Hinduism. A person who follows any religion essentially is a follower of Sanatana Dharma. By extension, a Christian is a Hindu, a Buddhist is a Hindu, and so on. An American like Lisa Miller has just realized this age old truth. She, in my humble opinion, is a born again Hindu.

Editor: Please use the following link to download the subscription form. Pricing and other details are mentioned in this subscription form.

http://www.planetarypositions.com/astrologicalmagazine/subscription-rs.pdf

Message from Mrs. Gayatri Devi Vasudev:

******

You will be glad to learn that I have just launched THE NEW ASTROLOGICAL MAGAZINE, a monthly devoted to Jyotisha or astrology and other aspects of India’s rich intellectual heritage. The March 2009 issue which is now on the stands is the inaugural issue. THE NEW ASTROLOGICAL MAGAZINE seeks to uphold the highest traditions in astrological journalism pioneered by my late father Dr. B. V. Raman.

The inaugural issue of THE NEW ASTROLOGICAL MAGAZINE will be the March 2009 issue to be on the stands by mid-February and will be the “Dr.  B.V. Raman Memorial issue”  dedicated to the Father of Modern Astrology Dr. B.V. Raman. It will carry world predictions for the lunar year Virodhi (March 2009 to March 2010) apart from scholarly papers by well-known names in the field in addition to annual and monthly forecasts for the 12 Zodiacal signs.

THE NEW ASTROLOGICAL MAGAZINE will provide a platform for discussion and exchange of ideas as well as for research papers on different aspects of astrology — Phalita (natal predictive astrology), Samhita (mundane astrology) and Ganita (Indian astronomy) — as well as related areas of study. Our aim in bringing out this magazine is to continue Dr. B.V. Raman’s efforts to revive and rejuvenate the study of astrology as an academic subject. It will also strive to create respect for this ancient science for its rational and logical methods amongst the younger generation and dispel wrong notions on it in an effort to enthuse them to take to a diligent study of the subject.

It is our sincere wish that you associate with us in our work by joining our list of subscribers. I am attaching the subscription details for you to share with your friends.

******

Folks, I am sorry to have kept out of touch for such a long time. A host of personal and work related commitments do not allow a lot of time to be devoted to Astrology and by extension, to this blog.

There was a question on the post of General Strength of a Bhava about Venus being a yogakaraka in 6th house. The source of this statement is a book on Jyotish - Uttara Kalamrita, pages 60 and 61 of the Hindi edition, published by Ranjan Publications.

I could have quoted the portions from Uttara Kalamrita here, but in its current form, it may not make sense to a lot of non-Hindi speaking astrologers. I thought of translating the relevant paragraph and publishing it on this site, but then I realized that it is not an easy task. I promptly ended the effort and now I wonder how astrologers who write their books in English do it. I also wonder if these works are really error free.

I have reasons to believe that there are mistakes in these books and majority of these errors are in translation and explanations provided by the authors. I will give the following example, but will refrain from telling the name of the book and the author. All I would like to say that this book is in English and the author has provided English translations for Sanskrit shlokas.

Moon and Venus are considered females in Vedic Astrology. In this book on Vedic astrology, the author does not disagree and calls them both स्त्रियौ. In the same book, there is another shloka on qualities of Venus where Sanskrit shloka reads - सुखी बली. The translation provided by the author for this phrase is “fond of comforts, manly and potent”.

IMHO, सुखी should read “full of joy”. बली can mean “full of strength” but not “manly and potent”, unless of course if “strength” can be attributed only to males and I am being extremely unreasonable. Still, a planet being defined as a “female” in one shloka and being described “manly and potent” in another is not something I as a student of Astrology can reconcile with.

I have subscribed to Express Star Teller, a Chennai based Vedic Astrology monthly magazine and have been reading it for few months now, after the disappointing closure of The Astrological Magazine.

My initial impression of this magazine was (a) not very good editorials and (b) too many ads, as obviously the hangover from the previous favourite remains. Well, there are a lot of ads compared to AM, but what the hell… probably the commercial angle will keep the magazine afloat for a long time to come. Don’t we put up with tons of ads in the Times of India or India Today?

Although, I must admit that Star Teller has started to grow on me. Some of the articles in the magazine are pretty good, e.g., the articles on importance of Lagna in the present issue and the astro profile of John Nash in the June 2008 issue are written by some knowledgeable authors and are a good read.

I am not very comfortable with the magazine’s emphasis on Lal Kitab remedies. However, it could be because I am not familiar with these remedies and have not been exposed to them before. Do these really work?

Thanks, “Interested in Astrology”. I have corrected a typo as pointed out by you on the help page.

Just wanted to point out a typo on the below link - maximum points is 36, not 38 as you have indicated in the line “For a 100% match, the value would be 38”. Please do correct when you get a chance.

All, the page is horoscope-compatibility-matching-help.