Article by Abhishekha, USA

Bengali Typing: Amrita D, USA

Publisher:

It is a tough job to write an introduction to a text that has no clear cut history written down anywhere. What is written below is what has been heard or read in non-authoritative sources and there are various versions of the same story. The ideal introduction to this was collected around 2 years back by us and due to formatting of machine it has been lost.

Everyone knows of Varahamihira and his son Prithuyasas. Varahamihira seeing some danger to his son’s life put him on a small boat in the sea and his son was picked up by the King of Lanka, who brought him up like his own child and got attached to him. He taught astrology to Prithuyasas and made him master it. After this part of the story there are 2 versions a) it was a maid who got friendly with Prithuyasas and b) it was the king’s daughter who got friendly. They married and decided to leave the country and go to India. One day they eloped, the King of Lanka found this out and he was to send his army to bring them back as they had done this behind his back knowing that he would never allow them to leave his land. Then he cast a prashna chart and saw that the time on which these love birds had decided to elope is a definitive time and they would succeed, so he asked his army to bring them with honor and he wanted to just have a word with them. When they were brought back, he said to Prithuyasas that I will allow you to go to India with 4 books of astrology (some say 5) provided you will answer a question posted to you by my general who will accompany you when you reach India. If you fail the books won’t be yours. Upon which Prithuyasas agreed. When they reached the banks of India, some say it

is Kanyakumari, they saw a calf being born. The general accompanying Prithuyasas and his wife asked him to predict the skin colour of the calf. From far Prithuyasas saw the calf and drew a prashna and said it is going to be white in color, but when they reached the spot, he saw that it was pink in color, he was so distraught with his failed prediction that he threw his books in the sea sensing that all his knowledge in astrology was useless. The books of astrology were titled as per the Tatva i.e. Prithvi (earth), Agni (Fire), Jal (water) and so on. Later when he returned to the spot where the calf was there, he saw the calf licking his skin and the pink filament was coming off, his skin was actually white. He realized that his prediction was correct and ran to get his books back but Mother Sea had taken it back in her womb.

Later Prithuyasas and his wife met the father that is Varahamihira in the city of Ujjain. As time went back the daughter in law of Varahamihira became very famous for her predictions as she too had learnt secrets of astrology from the Lanka King. Now comes the part that is indigestible, Varahamihira got jealous of his daughter in law as everyone in the city would throng to her and not him and he said to his son that if this continues they no longer would occupy the seat of honor in the Kings court i.e. Navaratna (9 gems) of the Court. So they agreed to cut off the tongue of Prithuyasas’s wife and when she came to know of it she said ‘Dear Husband, you are God to me (in olden times women treated their husbands as Gods in India) and whatever you say I will do it willingly but first you learn astrology from me, what the King never taught you’ and then she started teaching rarest of secrets of astrology to Prithuyasas and these rumblings of hers has come to be known as Khannar Vachan.

The reason for her name of Khanna is after her tongue was cut, still she would stutter and predict and thus her name got changed to Khanna is one version of the story. It is difficult to imagine that a great astrologer like Varahamihira would cut of his daughter in laws tongue, we all have grown up loving Varahamihira but at the same time none of us know the real story. It is also seen by all of us that astrologers do anything to be famous and remain famous, they try to catch on to self created thrones that no longer belongs to them and still many astrologers in India resort to Sadhana of the negative type of occult practices to remain famous or to get knowledge. This practice of using such type of occult mantras tantras is now becoming more prevalent in the era of Internet Astrology Forums & blogs where for 2 minutes of fame everyone tries to stamp upon the other. Infact some organisations offer you a mantra to start with when you join their astrology course or parampara, 99 % of astro students are the gullible lot and believe that mantras are a necessity to learn astrology or to predict, if that was so Indians or Paramparas would have 1000s of years back written articles on how to time marriage to the day, date of death, date of every event through their mantras. Unfortunately more harm to one’s life is done via mantras than good which though was the original purpose of it, this conclusion you would arrive after 30-40 years of intense observation on lives of 1000-2000 astrologers but by then it’s too late as you yourself would be one of the case studies.

A Khanna spoke the rules of astrology combining it with her poetic skills; some part of it which was easy for the common man to remember got passed on as her sayings. It is very interesting to note that sayings of Khana are found in other parts of the region such as Nepal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa and Tripura, which support the idea that the sayings are a part of our common heritage with regional variation. It is said they are also found in Bangladesh. Another version of the story is she was from South Bengal or Sri Lanka and was the wife of Mihira. Hasna J Moudud in a book review of Anthology of Bengali Proverbs and Bachans by Muhammad Zamir Published by Bangla Academy, April, 2003 writes ‘The author has classified into broad categories the present collection of 139 proverbs. 1. Social Adages and Proverbs, 2. General Adages, 3. Khana and Agriculture, 4. Adages on Agriculture. The main features of Khana’s Bachans are agricultural wisdom or advice. Khana also included livestock and dairy farming as important tools for agriculture and livelihood. She gives a lot of importance to paddy as the most important crop then and now. She also was an ecologist and encouraged the merits of local fruits rich in food nutrients such as banana. To this day her sayings and advice have not proven wrong inspite of so called agricultural advances made. The present book will throw light on ancient folk literature and merits of indigenous knowledge.’

A Blog post writes: ‘Khanar bachan or Khana’s verses are in local and Bengali languages in poetry form along with rhymes and they exist as oral form only. Khana, a Bengali woman, is the compiler of these verses. She was an expert astrologer too. Her verses were the most basic guidelines for traditional agriculture in Bangladesh. Though most of Khana’s verses are associated with agriculture yet, there are some verses which are related to some other aspects like social life, cooking, food, habit astrology etc. Khana’s contribution in agriculture is unforgettable and is widely accepted by the farmers. In fact, farmers in villages are still following some of khana’s verses in modern agricultural practices. Khana’s verses are mostly highlighted some key factors of crop management like time of sowing, harvesting, seasonal adaptation, etc. In some of her verses astronomical influences on agriculture are present too. Some examples of Khana’s bhachan are as follows:

“Khana bole hal niye mathe jobe koribe gamon

Age dekho chashi bhai jeno hoy subhokhon

Shobhokhon dekhe soda koribe jatra

Pothe jeno na hoy oshubho barta”

Meaning:

Khana Says, The farmer should select an auspicious time before going to the filed with his plow. On the way he shouldn’t listen to any bad news. This indicates the psychological condition of the farmer before going to work.

Another one:

“Mathe giye age koro dik nirupon

Purbo dik hote hal koroho chalon

Khan bole mor kotha shuno mohashoy

Phashal pholibe odhik nahi sonsoy”

Meaning:

After going to the field, first the farmers should select the spot to start plowing and it should be from east side. Khana says if someone follows this suggestion he definitely will have good harvest.

“Amabashya ar purnimate je ba dhore hal

Tar dhukhkho thake chirokal”

Meaning:

A farmer who holds the plow on the Amaboshya (new-moon-day) and on Purnima (full-moon-day) he will be unhappy throughout his life.

“Aaush dhaner chas

Lage tin mash”

Meaning:

It takes three months to cultivate Aasuh rice (One kind of rice in Bangladesh)

Thus, khana’s Bachan have a great impact on traditional agriculture of Bangladesh.

We at Saptarishis Astrology tried finding manuscripts on Khanna but could not get our hand on Khanna’s Vachan, assuming that some rare astrological principles might be unearthed. Our search lead to a Kolkata based contact cum publisher Mr Manish Agarwalla who kindly sent us a free copy of two versions of Khanna’s book that he said might not be authentic. Then we had traced the name of one published work of 1908 which we could not get our hand on which is supposed to be most authentic. The link has now become inactive. If someone has any of Khanna’s authentic work kindly write to us. Unfortunately getting this one document scanned, sent to various people who knew astrology and Bengali both, begging them to translate took us years. Finally one girl got it translated from Bengali to Hindi and then it was sent to Baroda astrologer B.L.Parmar who started translating it but took time due to his old age and other engagements. In total 6 people were approached who promised to translate and every time after 3-4 months of constant tireless follow up we discovered that none were doing it, at a time we felt that maybe there is nothing of importance in this work of Khanna and that might be true eventually but that is the process of publishing, you spend a long time hunting for a manuscript, long time hunting for a scholar who understands astrology and that language, then after months and years you find out if there is anything worth in it. So in total it took us 2 years of constant efforts to get this out and still nothing substantial to publish here. But in the meanwhile a man from US came in our contact and he readily agreed for this project with the able help of Amrita who typed the Bengali font, disciplined the translator from his busy schedules. In the meanwhile Parmar Saheb finished his translation and when we told him our dilemma he said in a second no worries let this man from US do it, that is his destiny. Parmar could easily do it since he is one of the only men in Gujarat who donates 1000 copies of rare books every year to astrologers through his Baroda Astro Club.

This man from US and our interaction grew and he understood the philosophy and he thus accepted the pen name of Abhishekha. There is another work in Bengali that is culled from 27 classics out of which many ancient works are not available today, that task is pending and we hope Abhishekha either does it or his efforts inspire other Bengali astrologers to come and do it. May Abhishekha’s work live forever is our request to God.

খনার বচন

Khannar Vachan

প্রথম অধ্যায় :

First Chapter

যাএাকালীন শুভাশুভ বিচার :

Study of auspicious or inauspicious omens during travel

শূণ্য কলসী শুকনা না। শুকনা ডালে ডাকে কা।।১

যদি দেখ মাকুণ্দ চোপা।। এক পাও না বাড়াও বাপা।।২

খনা বলে এরেও ঠেলি। যদি না দেখি সন্মুখে তেলি।।৩

At the beginning of a journey if one sees an empty vessel, sees a crow on a barren branch of tree or sees one who doesn’t have facial hair even at an appropriate age; one should not begin such a journey. Also if one sees an oil merchant at the beginning of a journey, one should never begin such a journey as it would be disastrous.

যাএায় কলসী, মরা ও পিছুডাকা ইত্যাদি :

Study of the implications of vessel, dead people and hearing people call from behind etc.

ভরা হতে শূন্য ভাল যদি ভরতে যায়।।৪

আগে হতে পিছে ভাল যদি ডাকে মায়।।৫

মরা হতে জ্যান্ত ভাল যদি মরতে যায়।।৬

বাঁয়ে হতে ডাইনে ভাল যদি ফিরে চায়।।৭

বাঁধা হতে খোলা ভাল যদি মাথা তুলে চায়।।৮

হাসি হতে কান্না ভাল যদি কাঁদে বাঁয় ।।৯

It is considered inauspicious if one sees an empty vessel. However, if the vessel is full with water, it is considered auspicious. During travel if someone calls from behind it is considered inauspicious, however, the only exception to this is if one’s mother is the person calling out the name. If one sees a dead body at the beginning of a journey it is considered to be a good omen. A similar good omen is also when someone is seen dying at the death bed during the journey. Seeing a jackal during journey is a good omen and even better omen is if the jackal is on the left side of the individual. Seeing a cow with its head raised is a good omen. A crying person on the left side of an individual is better omen than a laughing one.

ঊষা যাএা :

Omen’s for journeys at dawn

মঙ্গলে ঊষা বুধে পা । যথা ইচ্ছা তথা যা ।।১০

রবি গুরু মঙ্গলে ঊষা । আর যত ফাঁসা ফুঁসা ।।১১

ডাকে পাখি না ছাড়য়ে বাসা। তাহারই নাম জানিবে ঊষা ।।১২

বইবে খাবে হেন আশা । যদি ফিরে না পায় বাসা ।।১৩

নড়ে পখি,তবু উড়ে না।১৪ তখনি কেন সে যায় না ।।১৫

Journey done on the dawn of Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday is considered good.

Dawn is the time when birds chirp without leaving their nest. When the night is at its end and the hour is darkest, that is when we say it is dawn. This is when birds feed in their nest. Even though they would want to fly, they don’t do so at this hour. All around is darkness and Khanna says that is when it is dawn.

ছায়া যাএা :

Omen’s related to measuring of shadow

দ্বাদশ অঙ্গুলি কাঠি । সূর্য মঙ্গলে দিয়া দিঠি ।।১৬

রবি কুড়ি অঙ্গুলে ষোল । পঞ্চদশ মঙ্গলে ভাল ।।১৭

বুধে এগার,বৃহস্পতিতে বার । শুক্রের চোদ্দ শনিতে তের ।।১৮

হাঁচি জেঠি পরে যাবে । অষ্টগুণ লভ্য হবে তবে ।।১৯

In an open space lit by sunlight, erect a stick twelve fingers tall. Measure with your finger the length of the shadow of such a stick. If the shadow measures twenty fingers on a Sunday, sixteen fingers on a Monday, fifteen fingers on a Tuesday, eleven fingers on a Wednesday, twelve fingers on a Thursday, fourteen fingers on a Friday, thirteen fingers on a Saturday then journey on such a day is considered a good omen.

If someone sneezes or a lizard drops during a journey then the good results obtained from such a journey is multiplied eight times.

দ্বিতীয় অধ্যায়

Second Chapter

শস্যাদি রোপণ, শ্যাদি গণনা, শস্য সাফল্য, কর্তন ও আলিবন্ধন প্রভৃতি সাধারণ নিয়ম :

Study of the auspicious/inauspicious time for agricultural activities

Universal Rule

শ্রাবণের পুরো, ভাদ্রের বার । যত ইচ্ছা তত পার ।।২০

ষোল চাষে মুলা । তার আধা তুলা ।।২১

তার আধা ধান । বিনা চাষে পান ।।২২

It is good for sowing seeds from the start of Shravana month till the 12th day of Bhadra month.

Radish’s sowing should be sixteen days. Cotton’s sowing should be eight days. Four days of sowing for rice.

শস্য সাফল্য :

Success in Agriculture

যদি বর্ষে টিকরে । ধান হবে মকরে ।।২৩

যদি মাঘ মাসে বৃষ্টি হয় । ঊচ্চ ভূমিতেও চাষ হয় ।।

করকট ছরকট সিংহ শুকা । কন্যা কনে কান ।

বিনা বায় বর্ষে তুলা । কোথা রাখবি ধান ।।২৪

If it rains heavily in the month of Shravana, if it is extremely sunny in the month of Bhadra, if it rains again heavily in the month of Ashwin and if it is not very windy and there are mild rains in the month of Kartik, such a year will give excellent crops and the farmers will be respected.

যদি চৈতে বৃষ্টি হয় । তবে ধানের সৃষ্টি হয় ।।২৫

যদি কার্তিকে উনো জ্বলে । খনা বলে ধান দুনো ফলে ।।২৬

If it rains in the month of Chaitra, it is good for crops. If in the month of Kartik it is not windy and has mild rain, Khanna mentions that such a year gives double the usual quantity of crops.

দিনে রোদ, রাতে জ্বল । বাড়ে ধানের বল ।।২৭

বৈশাখের প্রথম জলে । আউশ ধান দুনো ফলে ।।২৮

খনা বলে শুনোরে ভাই । তুলায় তূলা অধিক পাই ।।২৯

If it is sunny in the day, rains in the night and such an event happens every day, then the crops become healthy. If it rains heavily in the month of Baishak, ‘aush’ (A secondary rice crop) crops doubles in quantity. There is excellent cotton growth if in the month of Kartik there is not much windy and mild rain.

খনা বলে হাল নিয়ে মাঠে যবে করিবে গমন ।

আগে দেখ চাষি ভাই হয় যেন শুভক্ষণ ।।৩০

শুভক্ষণে করিবে যাএা ।

পথে যেন নাহি শোন মন্দবার্তা ।।৩১

আগে ভাই মাঠে গিয়া কর দিক নিরুপণ ।

পূর্বদিক হতে কর হলের চলন ।।৩২

ফসল ফলিবে ভাল নাহিক সংশয় ।

খনা বলে মোর কথা শুনো মহাশয় ।।৩৩

বাপ-বেটা মিলে, অভাবেতে সদর ভাই ।

মনের সুখেতে চাষ কর চাষি ভাই ।।৩৪

The first day when one goes to plough the field he should do so at an auspicious moment. If on the way to work on the first day, anyone speaks of anything inauspicious, one should return back home. Only after seeing another auspicious time, the person should restart his journey. One should start ploughing from the eastern direction. If this is done, the harvest will be good. One should do this with his son and in absence of a son; one’s brother(s) joins in the ploughing process.

হল চালনার বিধি–নিষেধ :

Do’s and Don’ts of Ploughing

অমায় আার পূর্ণিমায় যেবা ধরে হাল ।

তার দুঃখ থাকিবেক জানি চির কাল ।।৩৫

তার বলদের ধরে বাত । ঘরেতে না থাকে ভাত ।।৩৬

খনা বলে শুনরে বাণী । হাল ধরিলে দুঃখ গণি ।।৩৭

বলদ আাছে না করে চাষ । তার দুঃখ বার মাস ।।৩৮

One should not plough the field on full moon or new moon. If one does so then sorrow shall follow him forever. The bullocks will not move as they will suffer from musculoskeletal disorders due to the lunar tides. The farmer will not have rice to eat. This is the reason that Khana has suggested her farmer brothers not to start ploughing the field at this time.

আউশ ও পাটের জমি :

Land for growing Aush (a substitute of rice) and jute

বেলে জমিতে আউশ ফলে । পাটের ভুঁই আটালে ।।৩৯

মানুষ মরে যাতে, গাছলা বাঁচে তাতে ।।

পছলা সরায় গাছলা বারে, গোঁধলা দিয়ে মানুষ মারে ।।৪০

Rotten “gobar” (excretion of the cow), rotten manure on one side causes a lot of unpleasant odor in the farmer’s home and is deadly if consumed as food but on the other hand is extremely good for trees as their manure.

ধান্য রোপণ প্রকরণ :

The process to sow grains

আউশ ধনের চাষ । লাগে তিনমাস ।।৪১

কোল পাতলা ডাগর গুছি । লক্ষ্মী বলে হেথায় আছি ।।৪২

আষাঢ়ে কড়ান্ নামকে । শ্রাবণে কড়ান্ ধানকে ।।৪৩

ভাদ্দরে কড়ান্ শীষকে । আশ্বিনে কড়ান্ কিসকে ।।৪৪

আষাঢ়ের পঞ্চ দিনে রোপণ করে ধানে ।।

বাড়ে তার কৃষিবল । কৃষিকার্য তার সফল ।।৪৫

আঁধার পরে চাঁদের কলা । কতক কালো কতক ধলা ।।৪৬

উওরে উঁচা, দক্ষিণে কাত । ধারায় ধারায় ধানের ধাত ।।৪৭

চাল ধান দুই সস্তা । মিষ্টি মিষ্টি কত কথা ।।৪৮

Aush crop grows in three months. If the saplings are sowed with some gap in between them, they grow strong and in large quantities.

If seeds are sown in the month of Ashad, the harvest will be less. If done in the month of Shravana, the harvest and crop growth will be very good. If sown in the month Bhadra, very little growth is seen and if sown in Ashwin, it results in useless efforts since growth and harvest is almost negligible.

ধান ও পান :

Rice and Betel plant

এক অঘ্রাণে ধান । তিন শ্রাবনে পান ।।৪৯

ডেকে ডেকে খনা গান । রোদে জলে হয় ধান ।।৫০

ছায়ায় শুধু বাড়ে পান ।।৫১

Rice grows in sunlight but Betel plant grows in shade.

ধানের অশুভ বসর :

Bad years for growing crops

শনি রাজা মঙ্গল পাএ । চষা খোঁড়াই সার মাএ ।।৫২

The year in which Mars is the minister and Saturn is the king is an ill-year for growing crops.

শালি ধান্যের চাষ :

The process to grow Shali crop (a type of rice)

আগে বাঁধি আলি । রোপ তবে শালি ।।

কেমন ফসল দেখবে ফলে । খুসী হবে, খনা বলে ।।৫৩

These crops should be arranged in parallel rows in the field and the crops should be tied together in small groups. If this is followed, there will be good harvest and the farmer will be happy with Khana’s advice.

ধানের শুভ বসর :

Good year for crops

বুধ রাজা, শুক্র যদি মন্ত্রী হয় । সেই বৎসর শস্য ভাল হয় ।।

খনা বলে এতে নাহিক সংশয় । আগে পাঁজি দেখ মহাশয় ।।৫৪

The panchanga should be referred and in the year in which Mercury is the king and Venus the minister, the yield is excellent that year. The earth will be full of bounty and Khana is certain on this as she never lies.

সাগর তীরে গুটিকাপাত :

Deposition of pearls near sea shore

যদি সাগরের তীরে হয় গুটিকাপাত ।

সে বৎসর ফসলের জানি কুশল বাত ।।

শস্যপূর্ণ বসুন্ধরা নাহিক সংশয় ।

খনার বচন কভু মিথ্যা নাহি হয় ।।৫৫

A year when pearls are found in the sea/ocean, such a year is extremely good for crops and agriculture. The world will be full of healthy crops without doubts, thus says Khana.

চাষের কাজে লাভালাভ :

Profit and Loss in Agriculture

খাটে খাটায় লাভের গাঁতি। তার অর্ধেক মাথায় ছাতি ।।৫৬

ঘরে এসে পুছে বাত । তার ঘরে হা-ভাত হা-ভাত ।।৫৭

The farmer who works with his workers/attendants in the field gets maximum profit from the harvest. The farmer who stands in the shade under an umbrella and supervises the work, get half the profit. The farmer who sits at home and expects his work to be done by his workers/attendants gets nothing and such a farmer never has rice in his home to eat.

ধান কাঁটার সময় :

At the time of harvest

থোড় তিরিশে, ফুলো বিশে । ঘোড়া মুখে তের দিন ।।

গুঁজগে ট্যাঙ্কে বইঝে রেইখে । যা দিগে যার আছে হীন ।।৫৮

শীষ দেখে বিশ দিন । কাটতে মাড়তে দশদিন ।।৫৯

অঘ্রাণে পৌটী । পৌষে ছেউটী ।।৬০

মাঘে নাড়া । ফাগুনে ফাঁড়া ।।৬১

The bush of the crops grow after around 30 days from sowing. The crop flower is observed twenty days after the bush appears. When the loaded flowers resemble the head of a horse, thirteen days after that harvest should be done.

After twenty days from seeing the head of the crops, Khana advises the farmers to reap the fields. It will take ten days to harvest and then the crops should be loaded on carts.

If fields are reaped in the month Margashira, the farmer gets full harvest. If it is done in the month of Poush, the farmer gets 6/16th of the harvest. If done in the month Magha, the farmer gets only dried crops and if done in the month Phalgun, the farmer gets nothing.

পান :

Betel leaves/plant

পান পোঁত শ্রাবণে খেলে না ফুরায় রাবণে ।।৬২

If Betel seeds are sown in the month of Shravana, the harvest is excellent and there will be no shortage of the supply.

সরিষা :

Mustard

খনা বলে চাষার পো । শরতেরশেষে সরিষা রো ।।৬৩

In the end of the month of Sharad, one should sow mustard to get best results.

কলাই :

Split white Urad bean (Kalai)

ভাদ্দরের চারি আশ্বিনের চারি । কলাই রোবে যত পারি ।।৬৪

From Bhadra month’s last four days to the first four days of Ashwin month is the best time to sow Kalai.

মূলা ও ইক্ষু :

Radish and Sugarcane

খনা বলে শুন শুন । শরতের শেষে মূলা বুন ।।

মূলার ভূঁই তুলা । কুশরের ভূঁই ধূলা ।।৬৫

At the end of the month Sharad, radish is grown. For growing radish, the field has to be smoothened like cotton. The soil has to be properly fertilized.

কলাই ও মুগ :

Kalai and Moong (both are types of lentils)

সরিষা বুনে কলাই মুগ । বুনে বেরাও চাপরে বুক ।।৬৬

In the same field, ‘Shorchey’ (mustard) and ‘Moog’ (mung bean) can be grown. This makes the farmer delighted with joy since two crops can be grown on the same field.

তিল ও মান :

White Sesame (Teel) and Black Sesame (Maan)

কোদালে মান, তিলে হাল । কাঁতেন ফাঁকা, মাঘে কাল ।।৬৭

Plough the place where the seed is to be sowed. In the month of Kartik, white sesame seeds should be sown. In the month of Magha, black sesame should be sown.

মটর কলাই :

Chickpea

আশ্বিনের ঊনিশ আর কার্তিকের ঊনিশ ।

বাদ দিয়ে মটর কাই বুনিশ ।।৬৮

Between the last nineteen days of the month Ashwin and the first nineteen days of Kartik, one should plant ‘Motor Kalai’ (Chickpea).

About Author: He was introduced to jyotish by his Kulguru at the age of eight. After the initial trigger early in life, he has pursued the study of jyotish with utmost passion ever since. He writes with the pen name Abhishekha and is the Editor/Publisher of AIAC Times, Chicago.