Tradition
Parampara
the wheel of the Sun Chariot, the Konark Temple, the state of Orissa in India
Jyotish or Vedic astrology, as one of the branches of Vedic knowledge, is deeply layered in its teachings. Apart from understanding the quality of time, astronomical phenomena, analyzing karma and human destiny, it definitely opens awareness towards one essentially spiritual dimension of being and understanding of life experiences as a whole.
Parampara is a word used in India and most Eastern spiritual and religious traditions, to describe educational heritage or Guru-shishya tradition, a type of knowledge transfer from teacher to student (in similar manner is in other disciplines as dance, music, etc.).
Thanks to that, a huge ocean of knowledge has been preserved, and a large part has always been transmitted orally, to this day. And continues without interruption, certainly a couple of thousand years before the beginning of the culture of written monuments.
The Jyotish parampara, where I had the blessing to learn, is from the state Orissa in India, Jagannath Puri, the great Vaishnava Purushottam dham (holy place of pilgrimage) is the most famous point, as is Bhubaneswar and Konarak, where for centuries jyotishis have offered their hymns, prayers and studied Vedic Knowledge. The tradition itself originates from Shri Achyuta dasa (Achyutananda), a great scholar from the 16th century, author of numerous books and a direct disciple of the great Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
pt.sanjay rath
At the moment, a great beacon of jyotish light on a world level, and the bearer of our tradition is our dear Guru, Pt. Sanjay Rath, introduced closer to our region by late Zoran Radosavljević, one of his first and among best students. He inspired me as well as many people in the whole Balkan region, Russia and beyond, into studying deeper this vast ocean of knowledge. I owe him endless gratitude for opening the door to these noble teachings from such valuable source, from a teacher who belongs to a family that has been passing on the tradition of jyotisha for a couple of centuries.
He received this knowledge as a child from his uncle Kasinath Rath, and his grandfather Jagannath Rath, who was once a royal (raja) jyotishi and highly esteemed for his knowledge and spirituality. The line, which has its roots in the teachings of Sri Achyutananda, has nurtured and applied a deep understanding of various jyotish areas for generations.
In addition to the gift of his legacy, Sanjay completed his mechanical engineering studies, worked for some time in the high civil service, and in the late 1990s left it entirely, devoting himself to the opening of the Sri Jagannath Center, and later also the Deva Guru Brihaspati Center for teaching and spreading jyotish vidya all over the world, and have raised whole new generation of jyotish enthusiast. He has deep knowledge and rare talent to preserve all those ancient techniques, but also to bring them closer to modern understanding.
He has written numerous books, that will in itself surely be a pillar of knowledge for many generations to come. He edits and publishes the magazine Jyotish Digest and incomparably raises the quality standards of the study and application of jyotish principles, beyond the borders of India, which is an extremely rare gift and a huge blessing for all who had the opportunity to learn from it.
In his teachings he uses the classics of jyotisha such as Brihat Parashar Hora Sastra, Jaimini Upades Sutra, Brihat Jataka and Saravali. He also cites numerous other jyotish, Nadi texts as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Puranas and other classics of Indian rich culture.
Rare are those who can truly understand and respect the all-encompassing dimension of his approach to serious work in reviving the culture of jyotish classics and bringing the essence of all these rich layers of knowledge of the ancient rishis, closer to the prism of current consciousness.
Apart from numerous conferences and writings of the last two decade and more, he focuses on in-depth teaching within separate courses of great jyotih rishi classics in the spirit of tradition within the Deva Guru Brihaspati Center. Each of the programs lasts 4 to 5 years and contributes in an incomparable deep learning way to sincere seekers and lovers of this branch of Vedic knowledge of astrology, man and cosmological phenomena.
Jaimini scholars
- a unique Scholar program based on the traditional teachings of rishi Maharishi Jaimini, and the spiritual core teachings of our jyotish Parampara
jyotish learning programs such as the Parashara Jyotisa studies, also an essential classic
- and in addition there are other advanced programs we go through, like Mantra Shastra program based on understanding and studying the topic of mantras and other spiritual dimensions and techniques
- Shiva Mahapurana Course, deeper understanding of spiritual foundations and some of jyotish based teachings derived from this Great Purana
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the first group of students of the Jaimini Scholar program, together with our jyotish Guru Sanjay Rath, after graduating in 2011, Bhimtal
