BPHS takes 5 months to read, max! why does this course need 5 years?
When I was four, I dropped a book on the floor and my mother taught me to pick it up and place it back. Then to touch the book and say ‘विष्णु’ (viṣṇu), to touch my head and say ‘विष्णु’ (viṣṇu) again and finally a third time, to touch my heart and say ‘विष्णु’ (viṣṇu). I was too small to understand the value f such an important lesson, a lesson that would change the course of my life, a lesson that would bring the wealth of knowledge to my head. I was so small that I could not even pronounce the holy name ‘विष्णु’ (viṣṇu) and would say biṣṭu-biṣṭu-biṣṭu …
Don’t look for short-cuts as that is the surest way to delude yourself. Hurting your intelligence is the surest way to hurt yourself. Ādi Śaṅkara called jyotiṣa the ocean of vedic sciences and refused to debate on this topic as one lifetime is not sufficient to finish the debate. By accepting that you can read this huge secret vedic science in just about six months is a sign that your ahaṁkāra has definitely got the better of you. Please do not delude yourself. It has taken me more than three decades of sincere study every day to fathom some of the depths of this ocean. It will take you as much time and you can choose to start today, or maybe in ten years, or maybe in the next life. This choice is yours – and this is really the freewill you can exercise.
Jyotiṣa is the safest path through the terrible darkness in this age of ignorance (Kali Yuga). Very often I meet people who are so tied down with the chore of earning money and survival, so caught up in their daily life that they just cannot find any time for study. Well, that is exactly what Kali Yuga is about. You will become a slave of Kubera, the god of wealth and will be dragged around the planet like a draught animal and will spend the rest of your existence either pitying yourself (most of the time) or patting your back (rare) when you think that you pulled the cart (job) better than your colleagues. How long will you live under this carrot-and-stick formula of this Kali Yuga? Is it not time to say a prayer to Lord Śiva, the great Tryaṁbakkaṁ who shows the path to emancipation?
om namaḥ śivāya namaḥ mukteśvarāya
And we are only saying that we need ‘a few academic years’ and will allow you to learn at your natural pace while we will keep urging you on. We expect you to take about 15 months and would advise you to keep a target of 12 months to finish the first year of PJC. Work systematically and the you will finish this academic year in time and will join the rest of the batch in PJC Year-2.
