Author: Sanjay Rath
Vāra: Weekday
Vāra & Vāreśa: Weekday
अथ सप्त वाराः। atha sapta vārāḥ |
Translation: We speak of the seven weekdays
आदित्यश्चन्द्रमा भौमो बुधश्चाथ बृहस्पतिः।
शुक्रः शनैश्चरश्चैव वाराः सप्त प्रकीर्तिताः॥
ādityaścandramā bhaumo budhaścātha bṛhaspatiḥ |
śukraḥ śanaiścaraścaiva vārāḥ sapta prakīrtitāḥ ||
Trasnlation: Sun (āditya), Moon (candramā), Mars (bhauma), Mercury (budha), Jupiter (bṛhaspati), Venus (śukra), Saturn (śaniścara) are the givers of the seven (sapta) weekdays (vāra). The weekdays are simply named after the planets by adding the suffix ‘vāra’ or ‘day’ after the name of the planet/lord.
Example: Ravi (Sun) + vāra (day) = Ravivāra or Sunday. In this manner all weekday names
Long Course
BPHS takes 5 months to read, max! why does this course need 5 years?
Every subject has levels of knowledge and the same book can be taught at different levels. I studied Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ for my 10th Grade and am pretty sure that the Masters level students in English Literature who study the same book would be doing more justice to it. Consider the pronunciation of words.
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’
BPHS Path
Why are we approaching the topics of BPHS in this manner?
This is the manner in which we have learnt Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra and that is the exactly same manner in which we intend to teach this vedic classic. The present form of BPHS is the result of the efforts to bring together the lost book. Even at the heights of his fame, Varāhamihira did not have access to BPHS which can only mean that the book was not publicly available and only certain brāhmaṇa families held this sacred knowledge in secrecy. Later, fragmented chapters were recovered from all