Manik Chand Jain

Comment: Subtitled, Collected and co-related from the ancient scattered writings of many Greek & Roman authors. Rick Houck was a great fan of this book. In his introductory notes to this book, Jain cites many authors, among them, Stanford Cleveland, Robert Dean, Rona de Thyge, G.C. Nixon, Charles Jayne, Harriet Banes, Katherine Spencer, Frederic Van Norstrand, Cyril Fagan, Rupert Gleadow, Howard Hixon, William Tucker & Sepharial. The real source of this book is the unmentioned Isidore Kozminsky. The Stars & Your Future, first published in 1973, is essentially a slight reworking of Kozminsky's Zodiacal Symbology & Its Planetary Power, first published in 1917. In his book, Kozminsky gives the planetary "ruler" of each degree, using the traditional names, including Uranus. In his re-write, Jain uses the same planets for the same degrees, with the exception of using "Herschel" for Uranus. Uranus was originally named Herschel, in honor of its discoverer, William Herschel (1781). The use of "Herschel" as a name for the planet Uranus died out by 1900, Jain's resurrection is unexplained. Some examples chosen at random, Kozminsky to Jain:

Kozminsky: 25 Taurus: Under the influence of the planet Uranus: A dense column of smoke from which issue flashes of lightening.

Jain: 25 Taurus: Ruler Herschel: Degree of premeditation: A dense column of smoke from which issue flashes of lightening.

Kozminsky: 4 Virgo: Under the influence of the planet Mercury: A bookbinder fastening covers on a number of unbound books.

Jain: 4 Virgo: Ruler Mercury: Degree of Protecting: A book binder fastening covers on a number of unbound books.

Kozminsky: 12 Capricorn: Under the influence of the planet Mars: A man in full armor, visor up, holding his two hands on the hilt of his sword, the point of which pierces the ground.

Jain: 12 Capricorn: Ruler Mars: Degree of Striving: A man in full armor, visor up, holding his two hands on the hilt of his sword, the point of which pierces the ground.

Kozminsky, of course, had the traditional western tropical zodiac in mind. Jain's zodiac is not concretely specified, but his book was published in India by one of the top astrological publishing houses. A number of his references (above) were prominent in the western sidereal movement of the mid-20th century. Rick Houck used to swear the delineations for Lahiri-ayanamsha based charts were the best he had ever seen. At the moment there is a difference of about 22 degrees (eg, symbols) between these two zodiacs.

So now you know.

Sagar, 166 pages.

11. Concerning the 4th house & planets therein; 12. Concerning the 5th house & planets therein; 13. Concerning the 6th house & planets therein; 14. Concerning the 7th house & planets therein; 15. Concerning the 8th house & planets therein; 16. Concerning the 9th house & planets therein; 17. Concerning the 10th house & planets therein; 18. Concerning the 11t house & planets therein; 19. Concerning the 12th house & planets therein; 20. How to judge a mundane map;

21. Examples of mundane map; 22. Eclipses; 23. The effects of solar eclipses; 24. The effects of lunar eclipses; 25. Example of eclipses; 26. Planetary conjunctions; 27. Earthquakes; 28. Comets.

Comment: The core of this book is a word-for-word copy of Raphael's Mundane Astrology. To this, Jain adds horary notes, principally in delineation of zodiacal signs (much expanded from Raphael, for no good reason): Capricorn Places signified: barren, brushy, thorny places, fallow ground, etc. In the expanded section on planets, to Raphael's text, Jain adds rulership, exaltation, detriment & fall, as well as keywords (for sun: power, vitality, self-expression) & natal descriptions (for sun, superior or proud & haughty persons.... "good": deal with superiors, solicit assistance, grant favours..., etc.), which is natal writing. "Dealing with superiors" has nothing to do with mundane astrology. Jain includes Pluto & the nodes (missing entirely from Raphael, as would be expected). Of course by this time the reader, unsure if Jain wrote anything of his own, is searching his library for the horary source (Raphael, again? I haven't a copy at the moment). Here is Jain on Pluto (pg. 12): Pluto is not a nice-seeming planet, but apparently we need his influence to 'round out' our lives - natal writing, and not very good at that. Jain includes a brief note on Rahu & Ketu, if only as an unstated reference to his own Rahu & Ketu in Predictive Astrology.

The entire text has been carefully reformatted from Raphael's original. The astute reader will find many textural embroideries, some of which must certainly be Jain's own work.

Sagar, 176 pages.

11. For brides only; 12. For bridegrooms only; 13. Marriage is a co-operative affair; 14. Can success in marriage be foretold?; 15. How astrology can help you avoid marriage pitfalls; 16. Surmounting adverse marriage aspects; 17. Should I get a divorce?; 18. Was that divorce necessary?; 19. Can your wife manage money?; 20. How thrifty is your wife?; 21. Wives in the pay line; 22. Marriage after 50.

Comment: I do not have hard evidence in front of me, but this is almost certainly not the work of a Hindu - or a Jain, for that matter (Jain is the name of a religion in India, not just a man's name). Large tracts of this book are clearly not comprehensible to traditional Indians. This book is written entirely from the romantic perspectives of the two individuals, a strictly western view.

"Modern" Indians, like "modern" peoples everywhere, have no interest in traditions & so rarely consult astrologers. As for the traditionally-minded, most Indians, like most westerners, do not have a personal astrologer, so usually rely on recommendations from priests at the local temple. The local temple is, of course, conservative & traditional. Astrologers they recommend will be those versed in traditional Vedic astrology. The cornerstone of traditional Vedic compatibility is the famous navamsha, the one-ninth divisional chart, which Jain never mentions, there being nothing remotely Vedic in this book. There is this, instead: Obviously, most wives work because they want that extra pay cheque. The amazing part is, they rarely want it for mink coats or diamonds. They want it for such things as a radio, a TV, an automatic washer & dryer, vacation trips, adequate insurance coverage, dental & medical care, a rainy-day savings account, a reasonably reliable car and to say [sic] buying a home of their own. (pg. 167) For a Indian, even one of 2003, this is strange on the face of it.

My best guess is the original author was a New Yorker, writing around 1960. M.C. Jain claims to have written this book, on his deceased head be it. In two previous Jain books, we have seen Jain blending his original source with additional materials. Aside from north/south Indian solar charts shown in the book, there seems to be little additional material in Astrology & Marriage Counselling.

For a genuine Vedic point of view, see L.R. Chawdhri's Women & Astrology.

Ranjan, 181 pages.

Comment: In this book, Jain covers 89 gems & uses western names, rather than Indian ones. General information about what to do with stones, though short on specific remedy uses. Suitable & unsuitable gems for different sun & ascendant (lagna) signs, notes on gems & disease, and gems & numerology.

The revised edition is dated 1998. Here are the publisher's notes on the revision: In the second edition we have not deleted or omitted any portion of the book but have added astrological content to the subject wherever found necessary. A few new chapters have been added.... Separate chapters have been added regarding the astrological & numerological uses of gems. How they should be prescribed has been explained with the help of charts. Shri D.P. Saxena, a well known astrologer & author of many books on astrology, has done this service for us. (pg. 5)

I do not have any reason to think this is not M.C. Jain's work, except that, like Astrology in Marriage Counseling (above), nothing in the main part of the book sounds like a native Indian (or Jain) wrote it. On page 11 is a reference to "saints & angels", which are Christian terms. On page 12, "an old writer finds...." Hindus do not have old writers. They have ancient & venerated rishis & maharishis & gurus. On page 13 there are "days of antiquity". Hindus have the ancient Vedas. On page 68, "according to Hindu mystics". What, pray tell, is a "Hindu mystic"? There are occasional notes that are strictly Indian in nature (such as the one on pg 13 about Rahu & Ketu), but there is a striking omission of gem-remedies, the core of Indian gemology. Instead, we have pages of western-style gems-that-cure-diseases. Despite my carping, please be aware this is a quite decent book, whomever wrote it. Only good books get ripped off. (If you're going to steal, steal the best).

Ranjan, 91 pages.

Comment: The Hindu conception of the nodes, as we've pointed out elsewhere, is vastly superior to Western ideas. Here are nodes in signs, houses, in combination with planets (yogas), in transits & dasas, in synastry & eclipses & more.

Lacking evidence to the contrary, I believe this to be M.C. Jain's own work. The writing is typically Hinglish (to us K.N. Rao's word): Natal planets work as Aerials of Wireless Receiving Sets in Human body. Here is Planets (Human Aerials) pick up the radio-activity of the Cosmos. (pg. 81). Evidence suggests Jain was personally proud of this book. When Richard Nolle gave this book an unfavorable review in 1980 (unfavorable so far as Jain was concerned), Jain replied in the forward of his next book, Karmic Control Planets (below). And odd notes on Rahu & Ketu turn up in just about all the books that Jain put his name on, whether cribbed or not. The result is a pity. A man who might be known for his work on the nodes is instead thought of as a pop astrology writer - and a thief, as well.

Sagar, 170 pages.

2. Cases of Suicides (Boy wonder of Wall Street, Sylvia Plath, Jim Jones, Reason for suicide, Janis Joplin, Freddie Prinze, James Vincent Forrestal, Unexpected departure, Diana Barrymore);

3. Cases of Murder A. Political: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan, President Mujibur Rehman of Bangladesh, President John F. Kennedy of USA, Prime Minister Aldo Morro of Italy, Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandarnaike of Sri Lanka, George Morcone, Mayor of San Francisco, What triggers a murder?;
B. Non-political: A karmic tragedy, The mysterious Loeb-Leopold case, Death of a son, Murder most foul, Murder in San Francisco; Who killed Bob Crane;

4. Kidnaping/Molestation/Murder: Richard, Scott, Richard Speck;

5. Famous People: The roaring girl (Amelia Earhart), Elvis Presley, President Jimmy Carter, President Richard Nixon, President Lyndon Johnson, President Harry Truman, Yugoslav President Marshal Tito, King Peter II of Yugoslavia, King Farouk of Egypt, President Rajendra Prasad of India;

6. Lunar mansions tables; 7. Ayanamsa tables; 8. Vimshottari dasa tables.

Comment: The Karmic Control Planets are those planets ruling the signs wherein Rahu & Ketu (the moon's nodes) are located. As Ketu is the inlet point for past karmas, the planet ruling Ketu's sign is the past life Karmic Control. The planet ruling Rahu's sign is the Karmic Distribution Control Planet for the present life. Does this sound like Mohan Koparkar's Lunar Nodes to you? Let's have a look:

Lunar Nodes, by Mohan Koparkar, was copyright 1977. M.C. Jain's Karmic Control Planets appeared sometime after 1980 & presumably before Jain's demise in 1984. We note:

Koparkar, pg. 7: ....it (the nodes) acts as a vacuum tube connecting the Unknown Past (Karma) and the Known Present. In other words, nodes bridge the gap between previous form of soul to the present soul structure. It also enables us to extrapolate the present soul structure & its possible connection to the future soul form. This automatically ties us down with a concept of some form of reincarnation process.

Jain, pgs. 18-19: Rahu & Ketu act as a vacuum tube connecting the Unknown Past (Karma) and the Known Present. In other words, Rahu/Ketu bridge the gap between the previous form of soul to the present soul structure. It also enables us to extrapolate the present soul structure & its possible connection to the future soul form. This automatically ties us down with a concept of some form of the process of reincarnation.

At this point the two texts diverge, but there is more cribbing elsewhere. The top of Koparkar's page 15 is copied in the 3rd paragraph of Jain's page 19. Clever eyes may find more, I must press on.

Why do I consider this book, overall, to be Jain's original work? Because after their introductory notes, the two authors go in different directions. Koparkar, a board member of the American Federation of Astrologers & still (January 2003) very much alive, launches into textbook delineations of nodes in signs, nodes in houses, aspects to nodes in the natal chart, etc. Jain, by contrast, hardly explains his stolen idea at all. He instead rushes into an analysis of some 36 charts. Instead of explaining Karmic Control Planets, he instead tells us why people commit suicide, using a mixture of western & Vedic techniques. Jain starts case studies on page 22. They end on page 199 (the remaining pages are tables). The bulk of the book appears to be Jain's own.

This book has an amusing introduction. Richard Nolle reviewed the first edition of Jain's Rahu & Ketu & faults Jain for using western techniques in a supposedly Vedic astrology book. Jain retorts that Rahu & Ketu was written for the International market (whatever that is) and because of that, anything goes. For M.C. Jain, it certainly did.

Ranjan, 208 pages.