Jataka Tattva is a standard treatise on the predictive part of

Hindu astrology Jyotisha or Jyotishya (from Sanskrit ', from ' “light, heavenly body" and ''ish'' - from Isvara or God) is the traditional Hindu system of astrology, also known as Hindu astrology, Indian astrology and more recently Vedic astrology. It is one ...

and follows the Parashari System. It is written in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. Its author has adopted the Sutra method for imparting knowledge of astrology instead of the traditional Sloka format. A great deal of importance is given to Medicine and Astrology. The author of this text, Mahadeva, son of Revashankar Pathak, hailed from

Ratlam Ratlam, known historically as Ratnapuri (lit. ''gem city''), is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam di ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, he was a devotee of Goddess

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

, the consort of Lord

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

and well-versed in medicine, Sanskrit and Jyotisha. Mahadeva is believed to have lived from 1842 to 1888. He had written this treatise with the assistance of Vishnushastri, and completed its writing on Phalguna Shukla Panchami Vikram Samvat 1928 (on 14 March 1874 ). The brevity of the sutras employed to describe lengthy original passages culled from other texts is noteworthy. His son, Shriniwas Mahadeva Sharma translated this text into Hindi which translation with commentary was published in 1913. The earliest translation of this text into English appears to be that of V.Subramanya Sastri which was published in 1941 by V.B.Soobbiah and Sons, Bangalore. Jataka Tattva comprises five tatvas or sections, namely, ''Samjna'', ''Sutika'', ''Prakirna'', ''Strijataka'', and ''Dasha''. These five then are further divided into 13 sub-sections. Some say it can be used to diagnose medical ailments, in addition to reading the dasha effects. In his book titled - ''Light on Life: An introduction to the Astrology of India'', Hart de Fouw has cited Jataka Tattva

References

Hindu astrological texts Sanskrit texts {{Astrology-stub