Many trust Vedic astrology for important decisions in their lives. Many even take astrology as the main guide for choosing a spouse. Astrology is a Vedic art, and thus it is supposed to be scientific and effective, but that’s not what we frequently observe in practice.

If you look at many temple libraries nowadays, you will see a book called “How to Mess Up Your Life with Astrology”, which was written by a devotee lady who has great experience working as an astrologer. Being experienced in the field, she can naturally write about its shortcomings, and that’s what the book is about, a candid picture of many of the problems that plague the astrological field nowadays.

How can a Vedic science such as astrology be plagued with so many problems, to the point of seriously messing up people’s lives?

The problem is not astrology per se, but some of the people who practice it.

The smṛti-śāstra very clearly prohibits unqualified persons to study the Vedas and perform Vedic sacrifices, with verses such as “tasmāc chūdro bahu-paśur ayajñīyaḥ” (A Sudra is unfit to perform sacrifices, being unqualified). Because of these prohibitions, a Sudra is not allowed to hear the Vedas, and thus it’s not possible for him to understand their meaning or perform the rituals and penances prescribed in them.

We are also cautioned that vedākṣara-vicāraṇe śūdro patati tat-kṣaṇāt (A Sudra who studies the Vedas falls into degraded life). As the saying goes, “Little knowledge is dangerous”. If a person is not capable of properly understanding the Vedas, it’s better to not study it at all, since misunderstanding and misusing the knowledge will do more harm than good.

Of the four Vedas, the Rg, Sama, and Yajur Vedas deal with mantras and ceremonies, as well as intricate spiritual topics, and thus are not fit to be studied by Sudras. The Atharva Veda deals mainly with material sciences such as health, architecture, astrology, and so on. These are also unfit to be studied by unqualified persons (just like a person without the necessary requirements will not be accepted into a university). This may sound discriminatory at first, but if we consider it carefully, it makes sense, since there is no gain for the individual or the society if an unqualified person starts working as a physician or engineer, as well as an astrologer. The problem is that this is exactly the situation we have nowadays.

Modern universities are usually organized as places where people can get professional skills. People are trained to follow certain guidelines and thus perform their functions according to the book, even without really understanding what they are doing. People are thus trained to be good workers, and not necessarily to really understand their fields. The Vedic sciences however don’t work like that. Astrology, just like Ayurvedic medicine and other fields requires one to have deep insight into the subjects to be able to properly apply the science. One who tries to just apply closed formulas will make serious mistakes.

To properly understand these sciences one needs to have not only higher intelligence, but spiritual insight, and that’s precisely why the smṛti-śāstra prohibits unqualified persons from even studying it, since anything they may try to apply will be misguided. As we can see, that’s precisely the problem nowadays. People who lack the qualification to enter into a good university and become a qualified doctor or another type of professional often take into Ayurveda or astrology to try to make a living, and thus create havoc in others’ lives.

Therefore, when deciding to accept the services of a Vedic astrologer or an Ayurvedic doctor it’s very important to first understand the personal qualifications of the professional. The preliminary qualification is that one should be qualified as Brahmana, living a sattvic life and showing the capacity to understand and apply the sastra. This is usually not difficult to ascertain if we put the sentimentality aside and just judge impartially.

If however, one has the qualities of a Sudra, an ordinary person, he should be rejected. This simple rule can save us from lots of sorrow and frustration.