The Importance of Muhurtha :

The value of Time is inestimable. All objects in nature are produced in Time, developed in Time and destroyed in Time. The truth of these statements requires no further proof. It stands unchallenged. Here we have a grand problem for solution. If the creative, protective and destructive forces are embedded in the all-Powerful Time recognised as the great KALAPURUSHA in the astrological literature, then will it not be reasonable to study the influences of the various energies issued from the solar globe and from the other globes dependent upon the Sun for their supply of all vital energies and reflected by them under various modifications? Astrology is a science which deals with Time proceeding from the Sun and all the wonderful phenomena which are embodied in that mysterious agency. Scientific investigations have now led to the conclusion that "we are faced with a cosmic determinism". Astrology "is a complete system of philosophy that requires the assistance of neither metaphysics nor physics. It's the empirical systematisation of the idea that radiation is the determinant of all terrestrial phenomena. That idea is as valid today as when it was first started and the most striking experimental evidence of its validity has been furnished by modern scientific research. Being the first human attempt to apply mathematics to biology its conclusions and broad generalisations are being confirmed by newer scientific data".

As to how planets influence human beings, we do not propose to answer in these pages. This particular subject has been dealt with in detail in An Introduction to Study of Astrology by Prof. B. Suryanarain Rao and in our Planetary Influences on Human Affairs to which the reader may conveniently refer if he wishes to understand the rationale of astrology. Suffice it to say that we are living in a veritable sea of vibratory energies which unerringly and equitably supply the means of creating, maintaining and destroying life and its activities in our little universe. Planetary x-rays are unseen vibrations and they affect biological an.i psychological processes.

 
If we admit that the Sun is the source of all life and its activities then it follows that in Time - which is denoted by the Sun - is embedded all forces or energies for the works of creation, protection and destruction and these energies have been very carefully unearthed by the ancient Maharshis and embodied into the formulae found so profusely in the pages of MUHURTHA, an important division of astrology. Time is the essence of all things - their creator, protector and destroyer. The seasons of natural law into which the common year is divided have their counterparts in the processional cycle of the Sun. Periods of planting, cultivation, harvest, maturity and decay are common to every subcycle of its activity. Time has got its own properties. The first substance of Time is of course energy generated by sidereal activity. Its forms are active when phenomenal and potential when non-phenomenal. Time therefore can be said to be the basic working power in astrology. This is especially so in Muhurtha as within the time chosen for a particular purpose all the good vibrations have to be centered such that the energy generated would nullify all other unfavourable factors and ensure success, of the enterprise.

What is meant by Muhurtha? How far is it superior to horoscopy? These are important questions which we shall try to answer in this chapter. Horoscopy reads what is indicated by the planetary positions at the time of birth being the resultant of one's previous karma. In other words, it has to do only with what one has brought with him the sum-total of one's inheritance - physical, mental and material. Here we do nothing more than read simply a technical letter as if it were written in planetary and other symbols. Muhurtha, on the other hand, is much more important. It gives valuable directions by following which the person will be enabled to remove, neutralise, counteract or overcome the evils indicated by the horoscopic chart. Horoscopy is diagnostic. It merely points out the ills but prescribes no remedies. Muhurtha is prescriptive as well as preventive. It tells how by undertaking ventures at auspicious times one can ward off the evils and ensure success. Suppose break in education is indicated by the position of evil planets in the fourth house from the Ascendant and by the affliction of Jupiter, lord of education and Mercury, lord of intelligence. These planetary conjunctions indicate want of education in a man as a result of his karma in previous states of existence. Muhurtha says that the obstructions to educational progress by the planetary conjunctions indicated at the time of birth can be minimised by fixing an auspicious time* for commencing the education. Suppose evil planets in the fifth house indicate loss of children. Then Muhurtha comes to his help first by asking him to marry at a certain auspicious time when ethereal currents released from the planets will be so powerful as to minimise or modify the afflictions to the extent that the birth and survival of at least some children may be ensured. Thus Muhurtha helps one to minimise or modify the evils of our past Karma to a considerable extent. I must warn my readers not to imagine that Muhurtha is the masterkey to all wealth and happiness. Muhurtha tells us when to do a certain thing if failure is to be avoided.

 
We have said above that creative, protective and destructive forces are embedded in the womb of Time. As the Sun and the planets are the signatures of time and as all the forces or energies have their source of origin in the Sun, the movements of planets give us a clue as to when the various kinds of creative and destructive forces which are nothing but radiations set in.

Taking an everyday example: nobody could say that the influence of the Sun during the course of one day will be the same. The Sun in the morning, the Sun in the afternoon, the Sun in the evening and the Sun at midnight cannot and will not be the same in heat or in any of his other agencies-light, magnetism, electricity, etc. A man wants to have a picnic and we ask him to have it either in the morning or in the evening when the Sun is not very hot. This will be asking him to reject the noon as inauspicious for pleasure. Here the physical effects are demonstrable to some extent. Similarly a man wants to have a pleasant function. We advise him to have it at a suitable lime when, in spite of the season being rainy, there is no chance of the weather being cloudy or rainy. Will we be wrong in asking him to reject the time when the weather is likely to be disturbed? The same reasoning should guide us to appreciate the idea behind the selection of auspicious times for our various activities. There is a time to sow and a time to reap. Why not we do the sowing operations during harvest season? Nature would be against us. This is shown by the Sun's position. During the sowing season, creative forces are in operation. When an important activity is to be undertaken, destructive forces have to be screened off. All the planets move incessantly and release different kinds of forces and the Maharshis have given us clues as to how best we can make use of the grand constructive vibrations operating in nature if our endeavours are to be endowed with success.

Even animals instinctively feel that they should move in harmony with nature. For instance, the palolo worm found in the sea around the Fiji Islands reacts in a very definite way to lunar and solar cycles. This animal lives the greater part of its life in deep coral rocks beneath the sea. Towards November, the hind portion of the body becomes distended with migrate eggs. In the early morning, exactly one week after the full moon in November, the hind portion detaches itself as a special reproductive individual which comes to the surface, discharges its eggs in an explosive manner and then dies. There is therefore some sort of an instinctive appreciation on the part of the worm of the Moon's influences, and that the eggs should be discharged only when the planetary vibrations are harmoniously disposed. When such is the case, a human being is to be much more conscious about forces that make or mar his progress and how by the selection of a proper moment, he could take advantage of the constructive forces operating in nature.

 
Each moment has got its own potency and as Carl Jung says "whatever is born or done this moment of time has the qualities of this moment of time". Hence the moment of birth or the moment at which we elect to do an important act is not certainly an insignificant epoch. Cosmic radiations pouring at the moment on the earth from outer space and coming from various stars and planets act on our brain cells which take up these cosmic radiations which are transformed into vital electricity. It must be noted that in all undertakings invisible energies are set in motion by ourwords, deeds, thoughts and of course by our actions. You may call these invisible forces as electric, ethereal or electro-magnetic or cosmic radiations. As man himself is an electrical body discharging different kinds of electrical energies, his success and failure are simply matters of attraction and repulsion between himself and the objects with which he has to deal in his day-to-day activities.

Muhurtha could therefore be defined as that precious moment when the vibrations radiated by man are altered to a specific wavelength capable of entering resonance with the radiations of the same vibratory rate coming from other planets and stars.