The Journey

As the Telugu new year “Ugaadi” is approaching let’s discuss briefly about the souls journey and new beginnings. Lagna is defined defined as the point in the sky on the eastern horizon when any being is born. This forms the anchor or Lagna for the life span of that being. Several points in the sky could be considered as this anchor but this “Udaya Lagna” i.e. the point on the zodicac that coincides with this eastern horizon becomes the most important point in the natal chart.

The natural zodiac begins (anchors) with Mesha (Aries) rashi and depending on the various schools of thoughts the first nakshatra is either Ashwini ruled by Ketu or Krittika ruled by Surya. But all the nakshatras starting from Revathi up to Krittika and the two rashis of Meena and Mesha, symbolize the soul’s journey into a living being.

The Lagna is like the anchor that hooks the ship (soul) on to the dock (body) in this “Samsara Sagar” (sea of life) akin to Meena Rashi which is symbolized by the sea and a pair of fish. The pair of fish swimming opposite to each other representing the duality (Dwaita) or Yin-Yang principle. Meena rashi is classified as a dual rashi in Jyotisha. Revathi nakshatra represents the mythical “Vaitarini” river as mentioned in the Garuda Purana. It is shown symbolically that the souls have to catch the tail of a cow to cross over this river to reach Yamapuri. But isn’t it so strikingly similar to the journey of the sperm up to the egg for fertilization? Observe that Revati nakshatra is ruled by Budha graha who also rules the endocrine system which controls the harmones required for reproduction. The northern direction is ruled by Budha and in olden days the grave yards used to be on the north side of the towns and villages. Budha also rules babmboo wood which is used to carry the dead bodies and the natural 3rd house (entry) which is the 8th from the 8th (exit). The female reproductive system (Yamapuri) is Bharani Nakshatra whose ruler is Lord Yama. Out of the millions of sperms only one is able to survive the acidic environment of the Uterus and fertilize the egg, which is symbolized by this river full blood and pus in Garuda Purana. The sperms have to compete and race like a horse (Ashwini) to reach the egg. This is the “Gandanta” or junction between the Watery and Fiery rashis. A certain balance of heat and cold must be present for the fertilization to occur. Bharani means “to carry”, the fertilized egg is carried over to the uterus by the Fallopian tubes. The fetus develops in a constrained environment as symbolized by Yamraj’s noose (Yama and Niyama are self-regulation and personal practices, which are so important for a women during pregnancy). The cutting of the umbilical chord is represented by Krittika nakshatra symbolized by scissor/blade/knife. The uterus looks like the Ram’s head. Wonder if Elon Musk got inspired by Aries (something new) for his Tesla car’s logo?

This is just a scratch at the vast symbolism in Hinduism, and many layers of understanding and interpretations exist.

“The Only Purpose of Man’s Sojourn on this Earth is to Seek God ”- Yog~Martand Yogiraj Siddhanath (SatGurunath)

Reference:

https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/196359

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaitarna_River_(mythological)#:~:text=Vaitarna%20or%20Vaitarani%20(Vaitara%E1%B9%87%C3%AE)%20river,believed%20to%20purify%20one’s%20sins.