Nav Smarana

Author(s): Vinod Kapashi
Publisher: Vinod Kapashi

Page 78

places, villages and towns etcetera be pleased and give us boons. Let there be rulers whose treasures and stores (silos) remain inexhaustible. (9)
(Comment: Here we have seen the names of nine planets. Astrologers have mentioned the effects of planets on man's life and a person can suffer or get rewards as per the position of planets in their charts. The Hindu system of astrology mentions the following nine planets:
Moon (Chandra) Sun (Surya) Mars (Angärak) Mercury (Budha) Jupiter (Brahspati also called Guru) Venus (Shukra) Saturn (Shani) Rähu
Ketu
The Indian system of astrology included the sun and the moon in the list of planets. The Sun is really a star and all planets circle around it. Moon is not one of the nine main planets and we don't know the equivalent English terms for Rähu and Ketu. (Are they Uranus and Neptune or comets?) Indian astrology says that Rähu and Ketu are the bad malign planets and people under their influence do go through hardships. The other planets could be malign as well as benign depending on how they are placed in your chart.
References have been found in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts on some guardian gods who look after the various directions.
There are four gods looking after the four main directions'. They are: Soma, Yama, Varuna, and Vaishravan (kuber). But this particular recitation follows the sentiments of the wider population in India. The Majority of people in India are Hindus and the influence of Hindu belief and superstitions is so great that here one can see that the Hindu Gods have also been remembered as protector gods.
Hindus traditionally believe in Soma, Yama, Varuna, Väsava, Kuber, Aditya, Skanda and Vinayak as their guardian gods. Vinayak, most popularly known as Ganesh, is the famous God with the elephant head. Lord Ganesh is the remover of all obstacles and is always remembered before the start of all good activities. These four gods of the directions have been widely accepted by Jains too and they have been mentioned in this recitation together with the four more gods
The name of Lord Ganesh is remembered with great devotion by the majority of the people in India. Here the writer of this stotra has mentioned eight lokpälas. In fact the writer adds a word 'etc. here which suggests that not only Hindu lokpäla gods are remembered but any other similar ones may protect everybody.)
Bhagavati Sootra 3/7