Light On Life

I am an expert astrologer trained in Modern Psychological and Hellenistic, as well as familiar with Evolutionary, Horary, and Electional. I've read dozens of books, listened to dozens of lectures, and am also a practicing astrological consultant. I recently decided to learn Jyotish, and this book has been on my list for many, many years as an ideal introduction to the study. I'm not sure where or how I had this book recommended to me, but buying this book was one of the best astrological decisions of my life. It is both a beginner and an intermediate book; is extraordinarily detailed; covers much ground; and is, for the most part, well-written. Warning: this book is only for the serious neophyte. It does not hold your hand. It speaks the Jyotish language, and you will need to refer to the index many times in order to refer back to the introduction of the concepts. That said, if you were studying, say, Modern Psychological, you would need a dozen books to compare to the depth and breadth contained in this one book. This book has my highest recommendation.

This book is, by far, the best resource I've found for learning astrology. The explanations are clear, well-structured, and easy to follow, even for beginners. It breaks down complex concepts in a way that finally makes everything click. It covers the topic, and nothing compares to how thoroughly and simply this one teaches the foundations. An absolute must-have for anyone serious about understanding astrology.

I have read 8 books on Vedic astrology and numerous articles and videos over the last four years or so. I number of books I just glanced at via "sample" books. By far the best introductory book to this immense topic is Light on Life. It is both comprehensive and detailed to be considered more than just an introduction to Jyotish. It is a book for both beginners and intermediate astrologers. If I had only one book to choose, this would be it. Is it the only book you will need? No. For example, it does not give much credit to the study of Shad Bala and does not cover a number of predictive techniques. But both of these would need another book to adequately cover (and for predictive techniques, there are several of which each of these could use a book or two). But de Fouw and Svoboda do an exceptional job of introducing he heart of Jyotish and providing many detailed indications of the planets, signs, houses, and even a good introduction to the Nakshartras. For example, they list many characteristics of the planets that other books simply ignore. Also, their commentary on each house adds unique insight to the already detailed list of indications. The only fault, if you can even call it that, is that present so much information and do it so concisely that it can overwhelm the beginner. You may need to reread portions several times before a concept is understood. However, if you make the effort and do not give up, you should find this book to be an immense aid throughout your astrological studies. While there are areas of controversy, I still believe this book to be the best out there.

As I explained the book is interesting. I felt the content though interesting a bit shallow

A comprehensive textbook on Vedic Astrology. It does suffer from a bit of long windedness, though. Its binding is not the strongest and with enough use, pages will fall out.

There are many books for Beginners in Vedic Astrology which are written more like a cook-book, and where essentially you just take a look at the placement of the planet on your chart and then read what it's supposed to mean. This is not that kind of a book. This book assumes that you are seriously interested in grasping Vedic Astrology and it guides you step-by-step toward developing a solid level of understanding and competence. The book contains countless correspondencies of planetary influences (grahas), constellations (rashis) and houses (bhavas). These correspondencies go way beyond just interpreting the natal chart, and enable the skilled jyotishi to get insight into the individual, question or particular situation sometimes even without looking at the chart. Understanding of these numerous correspondencies can enable jyotishi to assist the individual in successfully dealing with challenging situation. Even though this book is "an introduction" to Vedic astrology, it may not be the best choice as the very first book on astrology. For absolute beginners, perhaps a book like Beneath a Vedic Sky may be a better choice to start with.

I previously bought this book on kindle and then realized for me I also needed the physical book. Great info and very well written and easy to understand.

This book is very well compiled. Each statement conveys something meaningful. Would recommend this as the first book that a vedic astrology student must read. Update July 2014: After reading many more books in the past few years, I still cannot believe that I keep coming back to this book. It is not just a book for amateur but also a quick reference for many basic things about vedic astrology. After studying this book, one can venture into the following ocean of knowledge http://www.vedicastrologer.org/classes/index.htm (Pdt. Sanjay Rath Lectures) [...]

Best book

Good book for beginners.

good book

This is the best all-in-one English language Jyotish primer. The hallmark of a classic work, especially one dealing in spiritual knowledge, is that the reader can return to it over and again and always find something new. This quality speaks highly of the authors' respective mind levels and their understanding of the subject: Hart de Fouw and Robert Svoboda are both steeped in Vedic knowledge. The book gives a concise grounding on the roots of Jyotish and its underlying philosophy. It takes the reader through basic astronomy, planets, signs, houses and the Panchanga. It covers the Nakshatras thoroughly, which the authors view as central to understanding Jyotish. Descriptions of the Nakshatras in some books tend to be nebulous, but you get a good grounding here simply by absorbing the key meanings and rulerships of the 27 asterisms. The art of astrology is to integrate all the separate elements of a chart. Light on Life comes into its own in the chapter on interpretation, where the authors give an 18-point rundown of how to analyse a Vedic horoscope. The authors bring together the strands of planetary strength, rulership and affinity from classical Jyotish texts, with practical insights of their own. The sections on Planetary Yogas and forecasting, which combines the Vimshottari Dashas with Gochara, is likewise excellent. Step by step, exactly what you want. Example charts give detailed practical illustrations of principles used in the book. Minor quibbles concern the text-heavy layout, and a sometimes rather ponderous prose style (my edition also contains some glaring typos). Classical Jyotish is set out in aphorism form, with very little exposition, which is often easier to digest. Also, the same two anonymous example charts are used throughout the book, so the reader has to keep flipping to the back to find the chart diagrams. Still, this is the go-to book for aspiring Jyotishis of almost any level. Jyotish is a virtual 50-50 split between technique and intuitive knowledge, and Hart de Fouw and Robert Svoboda clearly have an abundance of both.

Impressive knowledge here. You have to read several times to realize how deep svoboda can get with simplicity. Really thanks svoboda. Pranams