Part 4.5 - Future of Man and Cosmos

[Full title: Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa and Karman (5): Future of Man and Cosmos]

Very early ritual actions and time are intentionally connected through the medium of sacrifices for futures recompenses. The importance of moment to such effect as a unit of cosmic time, its transitory existence on part of the observer is acknowledged. That it carries along with it certain qualities of the cosmos deemed special for human work and while passing away it takes along with it the qualities it brought forth also the fact that being a part of the natural law it cannot be reproduced voluntarily and is beyond human intervention is also acknowledged. This is what can be termed as the ‘strength of the moment’ which must have been contemplated in the prevalent culture then and thereby specific actions are seen to be arranged on its occurrence.

The importance of right moment, in relation with its qualities and its transitory existence for a sacrificer appears to be studied and utilized in the Vedic times where the man was said to be cut off from the heavenly world if the proper time for Darśapūrṇamāsa rite was not followed. The importance of cosmic time as one which connects man to other planes on performance of proper actions was acknowledge since early period.

The ideology of cosmic paths and regions materialized as a practical device to the study of human and cosmic future. Work aimed at a right direction in cosmos for desired effect in terms of future was arranged and the path of natural light displayed by the heavenly bodies was followed. The order of light brought forth by Kāla was pursued to such an effect. The initial study of cosmic order by means of the deities leading to the sacrificial order and then the moral order in and later to the Upaniṣads divulge the flow of the correlation as beginning with a cosmic orientation and ending with centralization around human. Rather, the transformation of Ṛta, the physical cosmic order into Dharma, the sacrificial and moral order which served as a basis of culture can equally be termed as a basis for the correlation of Jyotiḥśāstra and the concept of Karman. Though serving a physical substratum to the ideology of the culture was the initial role of Jyotiḥśāstra, with the concept such as the deliverance of the soul where Prakṛti becomes a mere illusionary appearance, the role of cosmos became more and more passive with Jyotiṣa confined as a mechanical time reckoner and the later Karma theory limiting itself to human actions. The Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa, the first of the extant texts on Jyotiṣa, deemed technically as a calendar is a sound proof of the reliance of human activity on the cosmic order for a definite future and also of the cultural line of thought connecting appropriate cosmic time and human action for the achievement of such a future which was believed to be an ideal one by the man of early times.

Jyotiṣa which was very initially connected to the study of light forms, loosely bound to the physical and moral actions of human gradually came to be labeled as Kālavidhānśāstra, the law of times which appropriated specific times for the performance of human actions. There occurs a shuffling between cosmic time and human actions, as a cause as well as an effect in terms of shaping of the human future on account of which Kāla is equaled with a potter (Mahābhārata 12.34.10). A systematic effort directed towards organizing human future with the aid of Kāla is evident in the culture. The development is gradual and essentially phase wise but not linear on terms of the cultural versatility and occurs in an attempt to decipher repeatedly the cosmic puzzle in relation with man and his future along with the apt usage of time and actions to restore the perhaps attenuated harmony of human and nature.