Jataka Parijata
Jataka Parijata is an Indian astrological text that is ranked alongside Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra of Parāśara Muni, Bṛhat Jātaka of Varāhamihira and Phaladīpikāḥ of Mantreśvara. It is regularly studied as a textbook and a reliable reference-book, and is one of the few books that gives time on the nativity, the other two being Horā Ratnaṃ and Jātaka Bharaṇaṃ.
Jataka Parijata is written in Sanskrit in the usual Śloka-format. Its author, Vaidyanātha Dīkṣita, was probably born c.1425-1450. Many noted scholars and authors like - V.Subramanya Sastri, G.S.Kapoor, Gopesh Kumar Ojha, Bangalore Venkata Raman, Bepin Behari, Gayatri Vasudev, S.S.Chaterjee, Ernst Wilhelm, Hart De Fouw, Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Komilla Sutton - have translated and written commentaries on Jataka Parijata beside referring to its contents in their own works.
Jātaka Pārijāta, according to Gopesh Kumar Ojha, was completed in the year 1347 Śaka/1482 Vikram Saṃvat i.e. in the year 1426 A.D. It is based on various earlier works such as Garga Horā, Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, Śrīpati-Paddhati, Sārāvalī, Bṛhat Jātaka, Sarvārtha Cintāmaṇi etc. Its author, Vaidyantha, who was a devotee of Ranganatha and lived in South India in Karṇāṭaka or Andhra, belonged to the Bharadvāja Gotra and was the son of Veṅkaṭadri. Some scholars are of the opinion that Vaidyanātha is the same person who wrote Prataprudriya. Keśava Daivajṅa, the author of Keśava Jātaka and Muhūrta-Tattva, was his disciple.
Jātaka Pārijāta has Eighteen chapters viz. I: Prathamo'dhyāyaḥ – Rāśiśīlādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on forms of Signs, II: Dvitīyo'dhyāyaḥ – Grahasvarūpaguṇādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on nature of Planets, III: Tṛtīyo'dhyāyaḥ – Viyonyādijanmādhyāya or Chapter on Births, IV: Caturtho'dhyāyaḥ – Bālāriṣṭādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on Early Death, V: Pañcamoyo'dhyāyaḥ – Āyurdāyādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on Longevity, VI: Tṛtīyo'dhyāyaḥ – Jātakabhaṅgādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on Miseries and set-backs, VII – Rājayogādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on gain of Rulership and ruling powers, VIII – Dviyadigrhayogādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on Conjunction etc., of two or more planets, IX – Mandyabdadiphaladhyaya or Chapter on the role of Māndi etc., X – Aṣṭakavargādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on Aṣṭakavarga system, XI – Prathamadvityābhāvaphalādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on nature and results on account of planetary influence etc., of the Lagna and the 2nd house, XII – Tṛtyācaturthabhāvaphalādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on nature and results on account of planetary influence etc., of the 3rd and the 4th house, XIII – Pañcamaṣaṣṭhabhāvaphalādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on nature and results on account of planetary influence etc., of the 5th and the 6th house, XIV – Saptamāṣṭamnavamabhāvaphalādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on nature and results on account of planetary influence etc., of the 7th, the 8th and the 9th house, XV – Daśamekādaśādvādaśabhāvaphalādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on nature and results on account of planetary influence etc., of the 10th, 11th and the 12th house, XVI – Strījātakādhyāyaḥ or Chapter on Female horoscopy, XVII – Kālacakradaśādhyāya or Chapter on Kālacakradaśā calculation and results and XVIII – Daśāphalādhyāyaḥ Chapter on Uḍudaśās.
These eighteen chapters said to originally contain 1763 ślokas, due to interpolations now consisting of 1910 or 1918 verses, cover the entire range of Hindu astrology based on Parāśarian principles. Like Bṛhat Jātaka, Jātaka Pārijāta is a condensation of more ancient Hora texts and some later important works including Bṛhat Jātaka.
Author
Vaidyanatha Dikshita, was the author of Jataka Parijata.Not much is known about his life except for his statement in Jataka Parijata. According to Katva, Vaidyanatha lived in the 14th century in Mysore. V. Subramanya Sastri, the translator and commentator of Jataka Parijata, disagreed with the attribution of Sarvartha Chintamani to Venkatadri Dikshita, suggesting that Vaidyanatha Dikshita was born between 1425 and 1450. He cited the fact that Kesava Daivajna, the author of Muhurata Tattva, a Sanskrit treatise on Hindu astrology and a disciple of Vaidyanatha Dikshita who was born around 1456, was the father of Ganesa Daivajna, who in 1520 wrote the Sanskrit treatise on astrology titled Graha Laghava.
Vaidyanatha also wrote Patrimargapradeepika, a textbook on calculating the birth-chart etc., and the Janamapatrika.