Continuation…
Dr. Shanker Adawal
Other types of people: They are not very tall, have a round face and big shoulders. They have pot bellies, big teeth and small chins. Big black eyes which are unevenly sized (the left eye is usually smaller), hairy foreheads. They have small hands with short, stubby fingers. They have thick feet, a snub nose and a large prominent mouth. Their faces are almost inevitably cheerful and these people laugh out aloud. These people are not reliable when it comes to financial matters and neither are they willing to trust others. He likes being pleasant, peaceful and is quite enthusiastic about life in general. They are cheats by nature and cannot be cheated by anyone. They have no dearth of vehicles or servants. Peaceful, intelligent, peace-loving and a pleasant temperament, devoid of anger. They are stable in thought and have no worries on the family front. Though they have worries about their career, there is nothing external in their appearance to indicate this. They try their hands at many professions on a grandiose scale. They eat a lot but are not particularly concerned about the quality of food. They do not enjoy deep sleep but they are also people who can manage with less sleep than others. They have a tendency to use ancient proverbs, Sanskrit grammar and chaste grammatically correct language in their speech. They are unwilling to respect women and are generally unstable. Their mission in life is religious activity.
These words of the ancient astrologers that I have depicted above of these: the father’s death, skin coloured like dark-wheat, broken sentences, humour, dangers, disguise, dental disease are correct for the `Other types of people’ category. Fore the earlier types, disorders of the blood and marrow, medium height, graciousness, dehydrated appearance, learning, pleasant temperament and good behaviour are applicable.
The ancient and modern descriptions of Mercury: Mercury is the governing planet for students and scholars. Let us examine therefore the changing facets of Indian scholars vis a vis the movements of Mercury, over centuries. In the age of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (BC 2000 to 1400) students wore deer skin. They had but one garment, a loincloth and a sacred thread. When they grew older they grew their hair. They rose early, exercised and then purified themselves with a bath before reporting to their teacher’s wife for orders to complete their household chores in the Gurukul. They said prayers thrice a day, rested once after lunch and in the evening they repeated all the chores they had performed in the morning. This was the daily routine. There were separate Gurukuls created for royal children where there were taught the intricacies of war fares and mantras that dealt with weaponry.
In the era of Lord Buddha (500 BC) India had three mammoth universities – Kashi in North India, Takshila in Punjab (now Afghanistan) and Nalanda in Bihar. Children were sent when they were about eight years old to study there. Before being sent to the university, an Upanayan ceremony was conducted to bestow on them the sacred thread and the secrets of the Gayatri Mantra. Their heads were shorn clean before the sacred thread was slipped on and they were told to lead austere lives. Thereafter begging for alms as is laid down in the scripture, the student made his way to the university where he studied for about 12 years. There he was taught Vedas, Vedanta, philosophy, poetry, grammar and other subjects. On completion they earned certificates like philosopher, poet or scholar. It was imperative to practice Brahmacharya or celibacy in student life. This may be the reason why ancient astrologers have branded Mercury a gender neutral planet.
In the nineteenth century, there were dramatic changes in the life of Indian students because of the advent of the British into India. Schools were set up in each village or town and colleges in big cities. There was no longer any need to go to Kashi, Takshila or Nalanda and students after the Upanayan ceremony began getting admission to village schools. With the British advent, students also adopted Western styles of attire. They began growing their hair and using pomade and other products to groom it. They began using talcum powder and many males started sporting moustaches. The dressing style changed to shifts, coat, jacket, pant, boots and collars. Many students began wearing spectacles as their bad vision began to be detected by the doctors available in every village. Black gowns and hoods became the vogue for graduation convocations and thus came the change in Indian student life.
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