At Astropatri, we believe that the origins of Astrology are too ancient to be described clearly. With passage of time, multiple thought schools have come to be associated with this ancient science.
In this section we would like to explain to our readers – various prominent schools of Astrology that are currently prevalent in India. These schools are not in contradiction to each other but are complimentary to each other.
The core of all schools remains the same – helping humans to do better and overcome all adversities.
Lord Shiva while being known as the Sanharak ( Destroyer) is also the originator of many of the sciences that humans of every era use. Yoga is one of them. Similarly, it is said that Lord Shiva created multiple leaves ( Nadis) that contained future predictions of all humans on insistence of Mother Parvati.
Bhrigu Rishi, one of the Saptrishis took it further and expanded the Nadi (Palm leave) astrology. Therefore Nadi astrology is perhaps the oldest school of Astrology.
This school of Astrology seems to have been very popular in Chola Dynasty ( 10AD) and has been used by learned Tamilians to a great extent. It therefore has also come to be known as Tamil Astrology in some cases. A large percentage of the leaves have been destroyed by passage of time though much blame also goes to the burning of Nalanda University by invader Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193.
It is said that those people who are fortunate enough to get their leaf, get very accurate details of their past and present as well as a good peep into their future.
नेति , नेति , नेति (Not this, not this, not this – Like the Creator himself, the knowledge is also beyond all dimensions).
Parashari Astrology is one of the most commonly used Astrology methods in our country.
Propounded by Rishi Parashar ( father of Shri Ved Vyasa), Parashari Astrology has given birth to other variants like Jaimini astrology as well. The most prominent literature that has served as foundational text for this school of Astrology is “ Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra”.
The other books in this school of thought are:
Jaimini Astrology has been propounded by sage Jaimini. He is considered as one of the disciples of Sage Parashar (at some places, he is also referred as the grandson).
This school of thought places more emphasis on Dashas based on signs rather than planets based Dashas like Parashari system does.
The system uses majorly 7 planets (excluding Rahu – Ketu) in its predictive techniques.
Jaimini school of astrology has the concept of Karakas. For example :
Atma Karaka ( Ak – signifying Self – represented by the Planet with the highest degree)
Amatya Karaka ( AmK – signifying Career – represented by the Planet with the 2nd highest degree)
Bhratra Karaka (Bk – signifying Brother – Career – represented by the Planet with the 3rd highest degree
Matra Karaka ( Mk – signifying Mother – represented by the Planet with the 4th highest degree)
Putra Karaka ( Pk – signifying progeny – represented by the planet with the 5th highest degree)
Gnati Karaka ( Gk – signifying Obstacles – represented by the Planet with the 6th highest degree)
Dara Karaka ( Dk – signifying Spouse – represented by the Planet with the 7th highest degree)
The famous book here is Jaimini Sutras.
KP school of Astrology is a rather recent development in the field of Astrology. It has got its name from the late professor Kuthur Subrayaiyyer Krishnamurthy (1908-1972).
Many astrologers and astrology believers sing great paeans about the KP system.
The KP system has focus on Nakshatras, Planet Degrees and Sub Lords. It also places a lot of focus on Bhava Chalit.
It also has a major focus on event prediction with precise timing and detailed analysis of specific events like marriage, career changes, travel, and health-related matters.
This is perhaps the most recent addition to the vast domain of Astrology. The name is derived from the colour of the cover of the book. It is literally a Red Book ( Hindi translation is thus Lal Kitab).
The originator of the book is Shri Roop Chand Joshi ( 1898-1982). He was a native of Punjab. There is an interesting story that while once getting some repair work done of his house, few plates carrying Astrology principles written in Urdu were found. Pandit Joshi read them and they became the foundation of his research.
Lal Kitab has some variance with traditional schools of Astrology. For example, a chart drawn as per Lal Kitab technique, always has Aries Lagna. There is great importance on the placement of a particular planet. For example if Moon (Significator of Mother) is positioned in 8th house, it is considered very inauspicious for the mother. There is a great focus on degrees of the planet as well as on the deeds of Past life.
Lal Kitab remedies also known as Lal Kitab Totke are known to be quite effective. However, there is a school of thought that doing Lal Kitab remedies is like a double-edged sword. It can cut both ways.
The author of this article has seen extremely accurate predictions using Lal Kitab by an astrologer during his Astrospeak stint.
The Creator and the Creation, both are beyond any measurement, definition and explanation. Astrology is also infinite in knowledge. We are grateful to all the people who contributed in making this Astral science – such a useful tool for human existence. We hope that with passage of time, new studies, new researches happen in the field of Astrology to refine it further.
Nadi Astrology 
