Myths and the reality of the Lal Kitab

At the outset I must make it very clear that I am neither

enamored by the book nor wish to belittle it. My interest
in astrology is entirely academic and my approach
therefore very objective and detached .

Question 1. What is the basis of this scripture ?

There are quite a few astrology paddhatis prevalent in India today,

be it KP , System's Approach , Krushna's ashtakvarg etc. they are all
either elaborations or modifications upon the traditionally accepted
Vedic astrology. Across all these paddhatis the basic parameters are
the same . They differ either in approach or emphasis , the aim being
the same in all cases.
Lal Kitab also draws its basics from the Vedic astrology , but it
differs in approach or what the book calls " grammer" ; and the
emphasis is not so much on predicting the future as on
solving the problem of today , hence the importance of Upaya.
Therefore Lal Kitab is seldom used for long term predictions
although it could well be. The very first page of the book states
the two purposes the Lal Kitab is meant for : (a ) to help remove
the blockage in the flow of fortune's water and ( b ) to help erect
an obstacle in the path of adversity thus saving the native from
misery .

Therefore I believe that the Lal Kitab is as much a part

of tradition as any other paddhati .

Q.2 When and where it came into existance ?

There are FIVE separate publications with varying length :

1939 ed of 383 pages, 1940ed of 284 pages;1941ed of 428 pages,
1942ed of 384 pages and finally the1952ed of 1173 pages.

Surprisingly the name of the author has not been mentioned

in any of these editions , instead they carry the name of the
publisher , shri Girdhari Lal Sharma and his photograph.
If it were an original work by any author, he definitely
would have got his name on it.

There are so many myths and legends about this book that it
is really very difficult to sieve out the facts. These myths seem
to have been woven around the book to make it look divine or some
thing ‘out of this world’. Let me take them up one by one.
{ a }….that the book was written by Pt. Roop Chand Joshi.
Some people , specially from Punjab ( probably for parochial reasons),
believe that the Lal Kitab was written , as an original work,
by Pt. Roop Chand Joshi and he did not put his name as an
author because he was in Government service under the British.
I do not understand why Joshi ji could not have put his name as an author.
The British might have been against writing seditious material but not a
book on astrology . Even if that being true he could have used his
name in the 1952 edition , there were no British then nor he was in service
any longer. Pt. Roop Chand Joshi was a very honest and a saintly person,
he couldn’t have claimed something that was never his.

{ b } ... that the book was revealed in a dream .

Never heard of dreams in installments and that too spreading
over a period of twelve years. Because that is what alone
could justify five publications spread over a period of 12 or 13 years.
Not many takers for this fiction.

{ c }... that the book was received as an ilham , kind of through

a revelation, thus adding mystical sanctity to the book. If that were
true the Lal Kitab would be the second book in human history to be
revealed to the mankind , the first being the Quran. This was an
effort to make it appear as sacrosanct so that there
could be no criticism or scientific evaluation of the book.
This belief has done more harm than good to the book.
Well no body with a scientific frame of mind is going to
believe that story either.

{ d } ... that this book was written by Arun the charioteer of Sun
god. Later Ravan took it away to Lanka and from there it
reached the middle east. It traveled back to India. This was an
effort to get the book into the Samhita ranks , like other
astrological samhitas in the name of rishis ,while at the same
time trying to justify the use of urdu and persian words.
Not many people believe that either.

The fact is very simple : this is a book of astrology and that

it was first published in 1939 by shri Girdhari Lal Sharma
All subsequent publications are elaborations / explanations
of the original. Every thing else about the book is irrelevant.
All these books are available with some individuals or in the
libraries.
Summarizing, all these stories about the book have been woven
around by Lal Kitab semi-literates to hide their incompetence and
instill in the minds of their clients an awe and reverence for the book.
Reverence or faith in any system is built on its efficiency rather than
through such non-scientific humbug of trying to make the book appear
as divine. Therefore I believe that this book is a documentation of the
then prevalent thoughts and beliefs in the Northern Hills of India.

Q.3 Which Vedic parampara it comes from ?

Of course from the same parampara { tradition } as Sanket nidhi , Jatak

Parijat ,Sarvarth Chintamani etc. You have to bear in mind that
this book is a result of collective wisdom of a society which
had lived in isolation of the northern hills for centuries . This
tradition is still in use all the way from Kashmir to the
Garhwal hills of Uttaranchal. In the Punjab it came to be known
as Lal kitab , because of its first documentation appeared in the
red binding,
As the societies living in isolation grow their own idiom ,
culture and points of references , similarly this tradition of
astrology had also developed its own idiom and 'grammar'.
But the difference of idiom or the grammar does not make
it come from any other parampara { tradition } . You know the growth
of Indo-European languages.

Q 4 . Has this Lal Kitab knowledge been recognized by the

Vedic astrologers ?

Do we really need that ? We are the end users and it is we

who have to recognize the validity of an empirical tool. To
me astrology is just a tool , nothing sacrosanct about it . I
don't care who manufactured the device so long it is useful
to us all.
Although I have noticed that quite a large number of vedic
astrologers have recently started turning to the Lal Kitab
for remedies.

Bhooshan Priya