Bhagwad Geeta from an Astrological Perspective

While reading Bhagwad Geeta, I realized that in each of the slokas, Lord Krishna is guiding Arjuna to recenter his life around the consciousness. He tells Arjuna that each and everything in this world has taken birth from the same consciousness and merges back into the same and this cycle of birth and death keeps happening continuously without any break. That is the reason why he tells Arjuna to realize reality so that consciousness, and not any materialistic object, comes to the center of life.

When we analyze the teachings of Geeta with the background of Astrology, the teachings of Geeta become all the more clear. Astrology is the study of the nine forces of nature and their interplay in different human beings. Three of these forces: Mercury, Rahu, and Ketu operate in the domain of mind and relatively signify the intellect, Mana, and the Chitta. Three forces operate in the domain of energy Jupiter, Mars, and Venus. They signify cosmic energy, physical energy, and quantum energy. Three forces operate in the domain of the unconscious Moon, Sun, and Saturn which signify the causal energy of past samskaras of harmony, change, and possession. 

All of these nine forces have different arrangements inside us. Different people have different horoscopes which tell us different ways in which these forces operate within us. For example, a person with Lagna rules by Jupiter will be more inclined to explore the cosmos. His natural inclination will be to gain more and more knowledge about the world and the cosmos. While the natural inclination of a person with Lagna rules by Venus will be towards execution. He would take a keen interest in arts, management, and fine works which require detailing. It will further depend upon the relative strength of these planets, and where they are placed. which other forces are affecting these planets and what is the Dasha that is going in the horoscope.

Broadly, our intellect (Mercury) operates in the domain of harmony. Its main function is to logically analyze the input received by the brain and to decide what is best for the future. For this purpose the required energy is supplied by Jupiter and background material is provided by the Moon. Similarly, Chitta (Ketu) operates in the domain of possession. Its main function is to supply the memory of the past. It is supported by the quantum energy of Venus and old samskaras of Saturn. Mana (Rahu) takes the decision in the present moment supported by intellect and Chitta. It is in turn supported by the physical energy of Mars and the causal energy of the Sun to change from one situation to the other. That is how we keep taking the decisions of life to move from one situation to the other. 

The interplay of these nine forces keeps taking place inside all of us in quite different ways. All these forces are always in action just like the moving frames of the movie in a cinema hall. While that movement is going on, the movie looks beautiful. If the movement is hindered by any technical glitch, and the synchronization of the sound and visuals is disturbed, the movie becomes a pain to watch. Similarly, so long as these forces of nature are in the movement, life is beautiful. We make life burdensome by getting fixated on one of the frames of the movie. 

As Krishna said, all these forces and their interplay are taking place in the field of consciousness. They emerge from the consciousness and merge back into the same. They have no permanent existence. The problem happens when, out of ignorance, we consider them to be permanent and set that desire for permanence in our lives. We get fixated on a particular frame of the movie. 

In the domain of Mercury, Jupiter, and Moon, we sometimes divide their interplay into good and bad. More and more of the good scenes are demanded while bad scenes are disliked. These goods and bads have no meaning when we see them from the vantage point of consciousness. That is what Krishna tells again and again in Geeta that both good as well as bad have emerged from him. But due to fixation with the idea of good and bad, we start resisting the natural movement of these forces (called Swadharma in Geeta). 

Arjuna is resisting the battle after seeing his cousins and elders standing on the opposite side. His intellect is supplying him infinite logic not to fight what is the use of fighting against our own people? This will result in a loss of fame. There will be consequences in this world and the next. There will be the loss of the entire family. That is where Krishna tells him to realize that all these forces of nature have emerged from the consciousness and merged back into the same. As Arjuna recenters his like around the consciousness (Krishna), he can see clearly the play of the consciousness through different forces. He is not deluded by the artificial division between good and bad and sees the entire thing in totality. He understands that in totality, it is his Swadharma to fight the battle since his relatives and elders have become too fixated on their desires.

Similarly, in the domain of Ketu, Venus, and Saturn, we sometimes divide the interplay of the forces into cravings and aversions. We like the repetition of the cravings. Duryodhana has been fixated on his craving for the kingdom, Karna on his aversion to social criticism, Dronacharya on revenge, and Bhishma on loyalty towards Hastinapur. That is the reason why all of them have lost awareness of the consciousness. That is what happens with all of us when we get fixated on our desires to get money, power, and positions. 

In the domain of Rahu, Mars, and the Sun, we make the decisions. We divide the interplay of these forces into like and dislike. We keep seeking more and more of what we like and running away from what we do not like. This division of the frames makes the entire movie lopsided. When we gain awareness of reality and reset our lives around the consciousness, these likes and dislikes melt in the fire of that awareness and we enjoy life as it comes. We start living in the present moment. We start being aware in each moment of the temporariness of the entire interplay of these forces and therefore remain firmly centered in the consciousness as a witness to the interplay of all these forces of nature taking place through the body and mind that we generally misunderstand as "I".