Brihat Jataka


Brihat Jataka or Brihat Jatakam or Brihajjatakam, is one of the five principal texts written by Varāhamihira, the other four being Panchasiddhantika, Brihat Sahinta, Laghu Jataka and Yogayatra. It is also one of the five major treatises on Hindu Predictive Astrology, the other four being Saravali of Kalyanverma, Sarvartha Chintamani of Venkatesh, Jataka Parijata of Vaidyanatha and Phaladeepika of Mantreswara. The study of this classic text makes one grasp the fundamentals of astrology.

Structure

Brihat Jataka is considered a standard textbook on Vedic astrology, and sometimes described as "India's foremost astrological text".
The work covers the wide and complex range of predictive astrology. The brevity employed in its composition is noteworthy. In an article titled "On the Authenticity of the Brhat Parasara Hora Sastra" published in the July and August 2009 issues of The Astrological Magazine, Bengaluru, the Vedic astrologer Shyamasundaradasa writes that
one was not considered a scholar of jyotish unless he had memorized Brihat Jataka and Prasna Marga not Brhat Parasara Hora Sastra. Brihat Jataka was considered to be a jewel among astrological literature and indeed in my early days of study there were many translations and commentaries on Varahamihira's Brhat Jataka....In South India Brihat Jataka is held in the highest esteem,not BPHS. Why? Because of its many ancient commentaries by Bhattotpala and others especially the Dasadhyayi of Talakkulathur Govindam Bhattathiri...
The classic text Jataka Parijata of Vaidyanatha has word for word borrowed several verses of Brihat Jataka to explain and/or illustrate its view-points etc.

Chapters

The original text, written in chaste Sanskrit, consists of more than 407 Shlokas or verses that comprise 28 chapters.
The following information is derived from "On the Authenticity of the Brhat Parasara Hora Sastra" by Vedic Astrologer Shyamasundara Dasa:
Kalyanraman refers to twenty commentaries on Brihat Jataka of Varahamihira and Alberuni in his memoirs has mentioned that Balabhadra, who lived before Bhattotpala, had written a commentary on Brihat Jataka. Bhattotpala, who had written his commentary on Brihat Samhita as Utpala, and in his writings refers to Vikramaditya Saka i.e. Vikram Samvat and not Salivahana Saka or Shalivahana era, completed his commentary, Jagaccandrika, on Brihat Jataka in the year 832 A.D. by which year he had also finished commenting upon other works of Varahamihira. His commentary of more than eight thousand verses on Brihat Jataka includes numerous illustrations. There are also three lesser known commentaries on Brihat Jataka considered to be one of the best works on Hindu astrology, they are - Subodhini, Muraksari and Sripatyam. Commentary by Rudra titled - Vivarna though based on Dasadhyayi of Talakkulathur Govinda Bhattathiri is considered to be the superior of these two. Jyotisa, allied to metaphysics, has a philosophical background and aim. A disciplined body, mind and spirit makes one adept in Jyotisa which feature emerges prominently in Brihat Jataka as a basic work on this science and which feature is also brought out with remarkable clearness and force in various commentaries on this text including that of A.N. Srinivasaraghava Aiyangar’s Apurvarthapradarsika.