Common false beliefs of Nakshatras

Common false beliefs of Nakshatras

S N Rao

Ever since time immemorial, it is strongly believed that certain Nakshatras are bad or Dosha Nakshatras for the girls. But the same Nakshatras are not considered to be Dosha Nakshatras to the boys. It may appear that even our vedic shastras have shown discrimination between a girl and a boy in considering the same values in respect of a horoscope study. Everything envisaged in our ancient Sastras, had some strong reason or reasons behind it. This aspect of showing a discriminatory approach to certain Nakshatras between a boy and a girl should be looked into in the light of the then being socio-economic conditions and family set up.

The following Nakshatras of the girls were attributed with the consequntial effects as given below.

Moolam Nakshatra (Moola) is believed to take a stake on the life of the father-in-law;

Ayilyam Nakshatra (Ashlesha) is believed to take a stake on the mother - in - law's life;

Revati Nakshatra is believed to take a stake on the elder brother-in-law's life;

and Visakam Nakshatra (Vishaka) is believed to take a stake on the younger brother-in-law's life.

It is also believed that only the first two pada of the respective Nakshatras are effective and worth fearing and the 3rd and 4th Pada’s are not considered as important. While the horoscopes matching process ensures the protection of a girl, coming into the family of a boy, it also laid some emphasis on the safety of other persons in the boy's family. The girl is coming into the boy's family and forms part of it. She is going to live in the same house where the father-in-law, mother-in-law, elder brother-in-law and younger brother-in-law are also living which means the family is a joint family set-up for the consideration of the above Dosha Nakshatras. The boy does not go to the girl's family and make a living in that house and as such, Dosha was not attributed to the Boy's Horoscope.

When a girl's Nakshatra was considered as affecting or influencing some other member of the family, it was on the concept that they all lived together. In the modern day, the father, mother, son and daughter have to separate and live in an altogether different place - away from their joint home - for the purpose of education and employment. The family's living status is not all the same that was some years back. Like a girl being separated from her family after the marriage, the modern economic conditions have brought in separation of the son also from the family - in some cases - even the husband and wife are separated on account of their jobs. When a boy gets married, he is not going to live with his parents or grand-parents. His employment necessarily compels him even before the marriage to live in a separate place.

A family consisting of a father, mother, sons, daughters, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law are all only conceptual and not practical in the present day scenario. Obviously, the family of a newly married boy is going to be nucleur and not necessarily a joint family with the father, newly married son, the brothers (other sons) together in one family. In the changed economic and social order, when the newly married son is going to live separately and not as a joint family with his brothers, the question of applying the earlier dosha’s in respect of Visaka and Revathi Nakshatras does not carry any consideration. Similarly, when the parents are not going to live with the boy after the marriage, the question of applying Moola or Ashlesha Nakshatras of the girl will also not arise.

Even living together as a joint family, our traditional belief that the 3rd and 4th Paada of Moola and Ashlesha Nakshatras are not harmful, is equally a consideration we have to bear in mind. I strongly believe that our forefathers would not have prescribed these as Dosha Nakshatras under the existing social order. I also strongly believe that the Nakshatra of the girl newly coming into the family can change the fate of someone in the family, who can otherwise survive the fate. If something bad happens to anyone in the family because of the arrival of a girl with a Dosha Nakshatra, the same bad thing should have happened even if the girl with a Dosha Nakshatra did not arrive into the family. A Dosha Nakshatra of a girl cannot re-write the fate of any other person, if his/her fate is already destined.

A Dosha Nakshatra may be an indicator of something bad but it can never be a creator of anything bad. This false belief that the girl's Dosha Nakshatra has caused damaged the life of some other person itself has caused irreparable damage to the lives of several girls.