Astrology

[poornima lagadapati]

Jyotisha or Jyotishya (from Sanskrit jyotiṣa, from jyóti- "light, heavenly body") is the traditional Hindu system of astrology, also known as Hindu astrology, Indian astrology and more recently Vedic astrology. The term Hindu astrology has been in use as the English equivalent of Jyotiṣa since the early 19th century, whereas Vedic astrology is a relatively recent term, entering common usage in the 1970s with self-help publications on Āyurveda or yoga.

The horoscopic astrology practiced in the Indian subcontinent came from Hellenistic influences, post-dating the Vedic period. and the Vedanga Jyotishya, one of the earliest texts about astronomy within the Vedas,dates from the last centuries BCE.

Following a judgement of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2001 which favoured astrology, some Indian universities now offer advanced degrees in Hindu astrology, despite protest from the scientific community that astrology is a pseudoscience.

 

[Himanshi Agarwal]

The word astrology comes from the early Latin word astrologia, which derives from the Greek ἀστρολογία—from ἄστρον astron ("star") and -λογία -logia, ("study of"—"account of the stars"). Astrologia later passed into meaning 'star-divination' with astronomia used for the scientific term.