Devanagari
ज्योतिषामयनं साक्षाद् यत्तज्ज्ञानमतीन्द्रियम् ।
प्रणीतं भवता येन पुमान् वेद परावरम् ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
jyotiṣām ayanaṁ sākṣād
yat taj jṣānam atīndriyam
praṇītaṁ bhavatā yena
pumān veda parāvaram
Synonyms
jyotiṣām
—
knowledge of astrology (along with other aspects of culture in human society, and specifically in civilized society, there must be knowledge of astrology)
;
ayanam
—
the movements of the stars and planets in relationship to human society
;
sākṣāt
—
directly
;
yat tat jṣānam
—
such knowledge
;
ati
—
indriyam — which an ordinary person cannot understand because it is beyond his vision
;
praṇītam bhavatā
—
you have prepared a perfect book of knowledge
;
yena
—
by which
;
pumān
—
any person
;
veda
—
can understand
;
para
—
avaram — the cause and effect of destiny .
Translation
O great saintly person, you have compiled the astrological knowledge by which one can understand past and present unseen things. By the strength of this knowledge, any human being can understand what he has done in his past life and how it affects his present life. This is known to you.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O great saintly person, you have compiled the astrological knowledge by which one can understand past and present unseen things. By the strength of this knowledge, any human being can understand what he has done in his past life and how it affects his present life. This is known to you.
KB 10.8.5
Nanda Mahārāja addressed Garga Muni as one of the great authorities in astrological science. The foretellings of astrological science, such as the occurrence of solar or lunar eclipses, are wonderful calculations, and by this particular science a person can understand the future very clearly. Garga Muni was proficient in this knowledge. By this knowledge one can also understand what his previous activities were that are causing him to enjoy or suffer in this life.
Purport
The word “destiny” is now defined. Unintelligent persons who do not understand the meaning of life are just like animals. Animals do not know the past, present and future of life, nor are they able to understand it. But a human being can understand this, if he is sober. Therefore, as stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.13)
,
dhīras tatra na muhyati:
a sober person is not bewildered. The simple truth is that although life is eternal, in this material world one changes from one body to another. Foolish people, especially in this age, do not understand this simple truth. Kṛṣṇa says:
dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati
“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (
Bg. 2.13
) Kṛṣṇa, the greatest authority, says that the body will change. And as soon as the body changes, one’s whole program of work changes also. Today I am a human being or a great personality, but with a little deviation from nature’s law, I shall have to accept a different type of body. Today I am a human being, but tomorrow I may become a dog, and then whatever activities I have performed in this life will be a failure. This simple truth is now rarely understood, but one who is a
dhīra
can understand this. Those in this material world for material enjoyment should know that because their present position will cease to exist, they must be careful in how they act. This is also stated by Ṛṣabhadeva.
Na sādhu manye yata ātmano ’yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ
(
Bhāg.
5.5.4
). Although this body is temporary, as long as we have to live in this body we must suffer. Whether one has a short life or a long life, one must suffer the threefold miseries of material life. Therefore any gentleman,
dhīra,
must be interested in
jyotiṣa,
astrology.
Nanda Mahārāja was trying to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by Garga Muni’s presence, for Garga Muni was a great authority in this knowledge of astrology, by which one can see the unseen events of past, present and future. It is the duty of a father to understand the astrological position of his children and do what is needed for their happiness. Now, taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by the presence of Garga Muni, Nanda Mahārāja suggested that Garga Muni prepare a horoscope for Nanda’s two sons, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In this verse Nanda begins to hint his request for nama karana from Garga. "The treatise (ayanam) about planets (jyotisam ) from which (yat) one can get knowledge not available to the gross senses is not only known by you, but you are its creator (pranita). By astrology one knows the future (para ) and the past (avara) of the human being. By inspecting the charts of my son born to me in old age and seeing the lines on his hands and feet, please tell all the auspicious and inauspicious events of the child’s future."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Ayanam means motion of the planets and consequently knowledge of that or what causes that knowledge. Thus astrology means that which produces knowledge of the movement of planets. You have made this knowledge of the planets into astrology scriptures. What type of knowledge is this? There are other practices of knowledge but this produces knowledge unattainable by the senses. Or ayanam can mean scripture. By this scripture people like you attain knowledge beyond the senses. By this one can know the past and the future events of life. You should tell us concerning these two boys. One will ask about previously life because auspiciousness in that life determines auspiciousness in the future. Therefore Garga first tells about Kṛṣṇa’s previous birth. By this method, any person (pumān) can understand the past and future. This indicates that astrology is easy to understand.