Lakshmana Suri's Jyotih Pradeepika

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This Jyotih Pradeepika manuscript is very different from the other versions. It is partial and discusses only 24 Sutras of the 1st quarter of chapter 1 of Jaimini Sutras. However, within this brief text, one can glean the intellectual brilliance of the author who treated most of the Sutras in an altogether different way. His unique way of defining various technicalities is unprecedented. The highlight of the work is the demonstration of the concepts using many real-life horoscopes. This work also has a great historical value as it demonstrates the Raja Yogas by presenting the horoscopes of Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb.

This small work, though partial and sketchy because of the gaps in the manuscript, is a treasure-trove of Jaimini Jyotisha. The author offers an entirely different way of interpreting the Nidhyatu Yogas, Argala analysis, and Drik Dasa calculation and its interpretation. Along with these, the unique way of preparation of the Svamsa Chakra, Pada Chakra, Upapada Chakra, and Graha Chakra; their utility in applying the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of the Ist Chapter of the Jaimini Sutras; application of the Svamsa, Pada and Upapada Chakras for Upajeevya Raja Yogas; the Svamsa Chakra Karaka Dasa calculation and interpretation; the Atmano Bhavapamsa Dasa calculation and interpretation; the Bhava Lagna Karaka Dasa calculation and interpretation - all these are worthy of detailed study and research making us realize the depth and grandeur of the Jaimini system.

In this book I have presented the Sanskrit text of the manuscript in Devanagari followed by English translation and detailed notes. I have summarized the insights and inferences in a separate section segregating the concepts topic-wise. This would help research minded readers who want to further work on these concepts using actual horoscopes. To the end of the book, the scanned copy of the original manuscript is included for reference.

After successfully bringing out my English translation of Raghava Bhatta's Jataka Sara Sangraham at the end of 2018, I had taken up the task of translation of Sutrartha Prakashika of Akumalla Nrusimha Suri. While going through the three versions of Lakshmana Suri's Jyotih Pradeepika commentary in my collection, I could see that both Sutrartha Prakashika and Jyotih Pradeepika are almost same in their treatment of the Jaimini Sutras. Hence, I started working on the English translation of both of them with an intention of presenting them in a single book. Midway into the job, I received another manuscript of Jyotih Pradeepika from Sri G.V. Prabhakara Murthy Garu of Bangalore. This version was written down by late Sri Madhura Krishna Murthy Sastry Garu from the manuscript of his Guru Sri Sripada Venkataramana Daivajna Sharma Garu. I could immediately recognize that, except for the opening lines, this Jyotih Pradeepika manuscript is very different from the three versions I have with me. I was awestruck after going through this manuscript and it completely pulled my attention away from my work on Sutrartha Prakashika.

This manuscript is partial and discusses only 24 Sutras of the 1" quarter of chapter 1 of Jaimini Sutras. However, within this brief text, I could glean the intellectual brilliance of the author who treated most of the Sutras in an altogether different way. His unique way of defining the Argalas, Atma Karakas, four kinds of Chakras, Upajeevya Raja Yogas, and various Dasa systems etc. are unprecedented. The highlight of the work is the demonstration of the concepts using many real-life horoscopes. This work also has a great historical value as it demonstrates the Upajeevya Raja Yogas by presenting the horoscopes of Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb.

There appears to be more than one Lakshmana Suri as evident from the different versions of available Jyotih Pradeepika manuscripts. I suspect at least two different persons on the basis of manuscripts I have seen. The author of this present version likely belongs to the southern part of India as he discusses horoscopes of people bearing Tamil and Telugu names like Varadaraja Perumallu besides the horoscope of the famous Appayya Deekshita. The birth years in CE of the eight natives as per the horoscope details are respectively: 1608, 1621, 1606, 1607, 1591, 1542, 1592, and 1618.