Retrograde Planets

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The Author is a mining engineer from “Indian School of Mines” now known as IIT Dhanbad. He has put in 28 years of service in the Army as an Engineers’ officer. He is a JYotish Acharya from Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan. For a Long time, he has been pursuing astrological studies as a keen student. His researches reflect his analytical approach to go into the details as an engineer and then he put them across frankly as an Army officer.

The author has earlier written many books (List on front inner cover Page) which have been received well by the astrological fraternity.

A little over a year ago, I penned a book on Mysteries of Retrograde Planets in Hindi. This book was well received by astrological fraternity and I received numerous calls to bring out its English version for the benefit of non-Hindi clientele. Indian/Vedic astrology is primarily based on Vedas and Karmik theory. The astrology is such a vast ocean of knowledge, that any time one gets a dip into it, one is certain to pickup jewels which not only enhances one's knowledge but clears doubt and reinforces concepts. I, as a regular student of astrology remain in constant touch with my mentors/ teachers/ classics to help me in this regard. Therefore, the present effort is not merely an English version of the previous book, but is its modified/ revised version.

Any normal person gets baffled by the enormous size and mass of the universe and our Milky Way galaxy of which our solar system is a small part. As per NASA (USA) a galaxy includes not only stars, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, gases, and other objects & material, but also a big helping of dark matter and a mysterious and invisible form of matter which is not yet fully understood. The mass of Milky Way galaxy has been estimated to be about 700 billion times that of our Sun. While the Sun has a mass of two nonillion (i.e. 2 followed by 30 zeroes.) kilograms or 330,000 times the mass of the Earth.

From time immemorial, people have been interested to know the nature and movements of the heavenly bodies and their possible effects on human life. Since effect of any body is directly related with its closeness, so we first study our own solar system of which the Sun is the centre. In Vedic astrology, there are nine planets. Out of these only five- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are planets in real sense. The Sun is the star and lord of the solar system. The Moon is a satellite of the Earth, but being the closest heavenly body of Earth and having a great velocity, has been accepted as a planet. Rahu and Ketu are merely point of intersection of ecliptic & Moon's orbit and have no mass of their own; but due to their strategic location on the ecliptic, they are considered as full planets and are called Karmik control planets or heavenly filters.

During study of movements of these planets, an individual gets confused as to how, why and when the five real planets at times gets retrograde or backward motion and what will be the effects of these retrograde planets on human life. This particular aspect of astrology is the subject matter of this book. There has been some confusion/ doubt about their role. However at the outset, it may be clarified that all planets always move in direct motion along their orbit around the Sun. The retrogression is merely an optical illusion because we observe all movements from a point on the Earth. Therefore, due to relative velocity and position of Earth and the concerned planet, they sometimes appear to be moving in backward (retrograde) motion. And that is why the Sun and the Moon never get retrograde.

In preparation of the present work, the author does not claim originality. In fact I have borrowed the ideas, principles and explanations given in many classics and works by some of the great astrologers. It is not possible to name all of them. However, I am indebted to the encouragement and blessings of Shri Kailash Bhushan, Justice SN Kapoor, Shri AB Shukla and my teachers. It is now difficult to identify which ideas arose from where, but the final form has an identity of its own. I have not the least intention to offend any astrologer or the native of the illustrated charts. However, inadvertently, if it has occurred, I offer my unconditional apology. I realize my personal limitations and alone am responsible for any shortcomings, which may come to light.

I am thankful to Mr. Saurabh Sagar and Mr Shashi Bhushan Lodhi for their suggestions and extra efforts to get it published on Priority. I can never forget the contribution and inspiration of my ever enthusiastic grand-daughters- Monil & Ishita Singhal, who have encouraged and helped me in computer/internet related works for my astrological pursuits. I dedicate this work to them for the happiness they have instilled in me. I do hope this effort would be of interest and use to all those who find the subject engrossing.

I would fail in my duties, if I do not show my gratitude towards those who have appreciated my earlier works.