Lord Prajapati - the lord of created beings - is said to have three classes of descendants: Gods, men and demons. The first ones, the devas, are said to live in swarga (heaven). Men live in bhumi (earth) and Rakshasas or Asuras live in patala (hell). Each of the nakshatras is said to belong to one of these three classes of beings. Every class has 9 nakshatras as their domain.
As far as this factor is concerned, a person whose janma nakshatra is of divine nature exhibits the qualities of piety, charitableness and goodness of character. Those that are of human descent are said to be a mixture of good and non-good. Demon born persons are said to be self-willed, dominating and forceful.
| Gana | Nakshatra numbers |
|---|---|
| Deva | 1, 5, 7, 8, 13, 15, 17, 22, 27 |
| Manushya | 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, 20, 21, 25, 26 |
| Rakshasa | 3, 9, 10, 14, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24 |
Like in the case of the Yoni classification, marriage partners ideally belong to the same category. Nevertheless some other combinations are also favourable, while possible disadvantage arising out of an unfavourable combination may be ignored if the bride's star is beyond the 14th from that of the bridegroom (see 4, p 68 and 10, p.68).
How does this classification of the human nature tally with Maharishi's cognition that "Human life is all divine"?
There is a nice Upanishadic story that indirectly throws light on this question. It might be of interest to relate it here. (See 14, CH V section 2)
Three classes of Prajapati's sons, gods, men and asuras, after serving Him for some period, approached Him and asked for his guidance. When the gods came to Him and said "Please instruct us", He said "Da" and asked if they understood. Yes, they said, it means "Dama", by which you tell us to control ourselves, for we know, that naturally we are swayed by desires. "Yes", He said. "You have rightly understood".
To his human sons, on approaching Him he said "Da", and asked if they understood. Yes, they said. It means "Dana, by which you tell us to give, and share our wealth among each other, for we know, that we are naturally avaricious. What else could you say for our benefit. "Yes", He said. "You have rightly understood".
Likewise, to this demon sons he said "Da" and asked if they understood. Yes, they said, it means "Daya", by which you tell us to shed our cruelty and have compassion with others, for naturally, we are given to injuring others and so on. "Yes", He said. "You have rightly understood". The Upanishadic text goes on to say that this very lesson continues up to this day, every time a thundercloud is heard to say: "Da, Da, Da": control yourself, give and have compassion.
Shankara, commenting on this story, points out that there are no gods or demons other than men!
"Those among men who are wanting in self-control, but are otherwise endowed with many good qualities, are the gods; those who are particularly greedy are men; while those who are cruel and given to injuring others are the demons. (...)
Hence it is men who should learn all the three instructions, for Prajapati meant his advice for them alone.....
The relevance of this story, in the context of Jyotish is clear.
This commentary of Adishankara reveals the self-referral meaning of these vedic stories. Indeed if Jyotish is to be of any value to mankind, it has to be understood and practiced on the level of self-referral, human consciousness.
Maharishi once gave an explanation of this kind of vedic stories, which places the whole searching more clearly in a self-referral light. Maharishi once said that wherever in the vedic text mention is made of persons approaching their father, or consulting Lord Shiva, or Mother Divine etc. it is to be understood as an allegorical description of the creative process: The mind fathoming deeper and deeper levels of inner silence, until the ultimate level of pure awareness, the field of pure knowledge and its infinite organizing power is reached. As a result of this contact with the constitution of the universe, life is restored to balance and all doshas and their concomitant problems are removed. In other words, these upanishadic and puranic stories are allegorical descriptions of the process of man realizing his true nature. Maharishi's cognition "human life is all divine" refers to this natural state, where man spontaneously lives his full potential, his true nature. In 'Love and God' (p.22) Maharishi gives a beautiful description of a human being, who has realized his cosmic status.
"Cosmic life gains expression in his activity. The thought of cosmic life is materialized in his process of thinking. His eyes behold the purpose of creation. His ears hear the music of cosmic life. His hands hold on to cosmic intentions. His feet set the cosmic life in motion. He walks on earth, yet walks in the destiny of heaven. Angels enjoy his being on earth. This is the glory of unity born of love." (Love and God, p.22)
Returning to the context of this paper, the necessary conclusion is that if Jyotish seems to indicate some doshas in our nature, in our personality and behaviour - we should understand that these apply only to the kind of experience we are prone to when we are still on our way home...on our way to Self-realization. Long before our life on earth would come to an end, nature supposes us to have gained enlightenment. Maharishi often has said that the normal course would be that one has gained enlightenment - unity consciousness - by the age of 25. Per definition, enlightenment means that one has reached perfection and that one is eternally established in Sattva: 'nitya sattvastho', freed form all doshas and weaknesses.
It might be not out of place to mention here that Jyotish books generally mention many imperfections when they describe the nature of the several nakshatras, rashis, and grahas. From the perspective of Maharishi's Vedic Science, as hinted at above, it is clear that wherever these doshic descriptions are
provided, they should be understood to refer to those stages of evolution, where the person has not yet fully realized his own unbounded nature. In the case of persons who have realized their true nature, and have become 'all divine', these doshic descriptions no longer apply! This was useful for placing Vedic astrology in context of Maharishi's Vedic Science: then it really becomes Jyotish, then in this light, it is no harm to apply it, honouring its limits. The division into three ganas (see table) finds a practical application in matching two birth charts for marriage compatibility (For details see Kalaprakashika page 72)