Padhavee purva punyaanaam – Horsocope says this.

It is a practice from times of yore to write a sloka

before writing the horoscope of a person.

This sloka in Sanskrit ( attributed to Kalidasa of Kalamrita?)

says that the ‘janma patrika’ (written document of one’s birth)

tells about the mother from the comforts of birth,

how one establishes the name of the lineage

and what status / profession one enjoys from the ‘purva punyam’

( the results of good deeds of the past births).

“Jananee janma sopwkhyaanaam

varthanee kula sampathaam /

padhavee purva punyaanaam

likyathE janma pathrika //”

This is adopted in the Tamil work “Aiyaaswaameeyam” like this.

“seeraarum janma sukham seiguvathum,

kulatthin yErrarum selva vaLam yEtruvadum,

thEraa munam seidha ‘nal-vinaiyin’ munnu vazhiyumaam

janana pathiram yezhuduthal”

After writing this vesre (either in Tamil or Sanskrit) only,

the horoscope of a person is written.

In fact the term horoscope is not

the exact translation of JAthakam.

It is ‘janma pathrika’.

Jathaka: means one who has formed or manifest.

From Jathaka:, the Tamil expression of JAthakam has formed.

But Horoscope means that which tells about the scope of hora.

Hora means ‘hour’.

The exact meaning in Sanskrit as coined by Varahamihira is

“ahOrathra”

It means day- night.

By retaining a letter from each these two words,

hora was coined by Varahamihira.

This hora is equal to 2-1/2 naazhigai / ghatika.

1 naazhgai = 24 minutes.

1 hora = 60 minutes.

Horoscope literally means that which tells about time / hour.

Somehow this word has come to be adopted to mean janma pathrika.

Now looking at the import of the janma pathrika sloka,

the mother’s fate is connected with the new- born at the time of birth.

If the child is to suffer Balarishta (death at young age)

or other problems at the time of birth,

the mother’s fate must also be such that of suffering.

The mother’s state is thus first seen in the horoscope.

The mother’s bhava (4^th) is therefore also known as ‘Sukha - sthana’

The comforts and happiness of life known from this bhava only.

Next comes “varthaneem kula sampathaam”

The equivalent Tamil verse is

“kulatthin yErrarum selva vaLam yEtruvadum”.

This verse will be distorted if one fails to understand

what it means by ‘kulam’.

It is not caste.

Caste is what the British attributed to our system,

in their lack of understanding of the varnas.

The politicians have stuck to it in their selfish interests.

Kulam is not about caste.

It is also not about “kudi”.

To understand what kulam or kudi is,

I suggest a reading of Thirukkural,

601,602,603 and 604 (adhikaaram - Madi inmai).

954, 955, 956 and 959 (adhikaaram - kudimai).

(I also suggest the reading of commentaries by persons

like ParimEl azhagar and such other oldies.)

Kudi is the root-word for ‘kudumbham’ (family)

From Madi inmai kurals, we come to know

that one must not be lethargic

if one wants to further the interest of kudi – family.

Whereas one must stand by the attributes and character

of established practices of ‘kulam’ ( lineage or vamsam).

When it is said ‘varthaneem kula sampathaam’ or

‘kulatthin yErrarum selva vaLam yEtruvadum’,

it means the horoscope indicates whether the person stands by

the attributes, characteristics and behavior

for which the kulam is known.

The word ‘varthaneem’ is a Sanskrit word,

which is also adopted in Tamil as

‘varthanam’ or ‘varthitthal’

This means ‘establishes’ or ‘improves upon’.

(uLLadhal, thanguthal, peruguthal, or nigazhthal)

The horoscope tells whether the person will be endowed with

such attributes that are associated with that particular lineage.

This is not about caste.

Caste is the word that finds no place

in this system of Tamils and Indians

who had been historically and culturally Sanathanists.

The horoscope also tells about the ‘padhavee’ that one will get.

This is about status or state or profession or position that one holds.

This padhavee is known by the ‘punyam’ indicated in the horoscope.

Janma pathrika is written to

know these three (comforts, character and position).

These three happen to one based on the

‘baggage’ that one takes from the previous birth.

The ‘baggage’ that is taken at three levels of

physical, vital and mental (bhu, bhvah and svah)

manifest as character.

From the horoscope it is known

whether one’s character is tantamount to the kulam (lineage )

he is born into.

If it runs contrary, conflicts arise.

If it is in accordance with it,

the person is known as “kuleenan” (kulam uLLOn)

(Choodamani naigandu).

The combined fate / karma of other family members

is involved in this aspect.

But padhavee is one’s own making, in that,

it is completely based on one’s past karma,

though the comfort part is partly connected with mother

it also is mostly connected with past karma.

An easy way to know whether one’s past karma is

good enough as to give one good ‘padhavi’,

look at your right palm (for right handers, and left palm for left handers)

and look for any vertical line starting from the base of the palm (or above that)

going towards the middle finger.

An un-interrupted and sweeping line indicates a good level of past karma

with reference to padhavee.

A leaning of that line towards index finger

indicates an exalted nature and respect from that padhavee.

A broken or absence of line indicates a life to be endured.

A wonderful line of such ‘padhavee’ is seen in Mr Karunanidhi’s hand.

But it is no guarantee that

he will inherit the same line in his next birth.

It all depends on what he is doing now as Karunanidhi!!