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THE MEMOIRS OF A CAT
According to it, the heavenly bodies (only nine-Nawagraha) are not physical bodies; they are gods or demi-gods, two of them (Rahu and Kelu) being queer mixtures of god and devil. It is impossible to rationalise Hindu astrology. It cannot be interpreted in terms of modern astronomy. It cannot be argued that the godliness of the Nawagraha is a symbolic conception; that they are really physical bodies which exert physicochemical (or electric, if you wish to be ultramodern) influence. All such efforts to rationalise Hindu astrology cannot be of any avail, simply because the first step towards a reconciliation with the most rudimentary knowledge of astronomy will necessitate rejection of the doctrine of Nawagraha. And the disappearance of the traditional Nawagraha will necessarily mean the end of Hindu astrology.
For, all astrological calculations are made on the basic assumption that the movement and constellations of the nine heavenly bodies influence the life of men. The Nawagraha are said to be stars; they are, however, a fantastic medley which indudes one star (sun), six plancts and two purely imaginary bodies (Rahu and Ketu)-products of pure superstition. The six planets themselves cannot be identified with the members of the solar system. The moon, for example, is counted as a planct. In reality, it is a satellite of the earth which is a planet. There is no way of ascertain
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