The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Sanskrit: बृहत् पराशर होरा शास्त्र; IAST: ; abbreviated to BPHS) is the most comprehensive extant Śāstra on Vedic natal astrology, in particular the Horā branch (predictive astrology, e.g. horoscopes).[1] Though ascribed to Maharṣi Parāśara, the origin and date of the original composition is unknown. The most popular version of the BPHS consists of 97 chapters, a 1984 translation by R. Santhanam.[2] [3]
The Jyotiṣa - Vedic Astrology - is one of the Vedāṅga or six disciplines linked with the Vedas to support Vedic rituals. The three branches of Jyotiṣa are:
The Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra is concerned with the predictive branch of Horā, used, for example, to determine the appropriate and most auspicious times for various events and ceremonies (i.e. depending on the anticipated planetary and star movements and positions).[9]
J. Gonda states that at 'some time after 600 [<nowiki/>[[Common Era|C.E.]]] was written the purva-khanda of what was to become known as the Brhatparasarahora [''Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra''], ascribed to Parashara... [it] is deeply indebted to the [Brhajjataka of [[Varāhamihira|Varahamihira]]]; it has also borrowed two verses from Sphujidhvaja... and its existence is presupposed by the author of the uttara-khanda, which was commented on by Govindasvamin in ca. 850 [C.E.]. Therefore, the purva-khanda must have been written between ca. 600 and 750... but before 800'.[10]
Additionally Bhaṭṭotpala (circa 900 C.E.) was a Vedic astrologer that 'in his commentaries he wrote that though he had heard of [the] Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra, he had never seen it. Thus we know it was lost for at least nine hundred years, until new manuscripts emerged from the early 20th century (see below).[11]
As such, there are doubts in regards to the authenticity of various manuscripts of the Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra (BPHS) that emerged centuries later. One concern raised is the apparent admission by Sitram Jha in his 1944 publication of the BPHS that he changed and removed elements of the manuscript.[12] Another concern raised by Vedic Astrologers such as Shyamasundara Dasa 'that casts doubt on the veracity of the modern BPHS is the complete lack of any ancient commentary on the text. The oldest commentary known to me is that of Devacandra Jha's Hindi commentary from the first half of the 20th century, that is, less than 100 years old'.[13]
According to R. Santhanam and J. Gonda, the following are the modern translations (and manuscripts) of the Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra (BPHS):
| Editors / translators | Edition name | Chapters | Verses | First published | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giridhara Lala Sarma and Govinda Sarma (Sri Venkateswata Press, Bombay) | 5781 | 1905 | First printed version of the BPHS. Partial Hindi, mostly Sanskrit commentary. reprinted by Khemraj Press in 1961. | |||
| Thakuradasa Cudamana (Calcutta) | 1926 | Bengali translation | ||||
| Sitram Jha[14] | Varanasi | 71 | 5100 | 1944 | translated to Hindi. Apparently admitted tampering with his published version of the BPHS manuscript. | |
| Devachandra Jha (Chaukhambha Publications) | Chaukambha | translated to Hindi; similar to the Varanasi edition. | ||||
| Ganesa Datta Pathak | Thakur Prasad | 1972 | translated to Hindi | |||
| C.G. Rajan | 36 | Tamil translation; without Sanskrit verses | ||||
| N.N.K. Rao and V.B. Choudhari[15] | 25 | 1963 | English translation (2 volumes); without Sanskrit slokas | |||
| R. Santhanam (Ranjan Publications, New Delhi) | 97 | 1984 | English translation. 97 chapters with Sanskrit slokas. | |||
| André Kërr (Academia Brasileira de Astrologia Védica) | A Bíblia da Astrologia Védica | 97 | 2017 | Brazilian portuguese translation (2 volumes in 1). 97 chapters without Sanskrit slokas. |