Khannar Vachan - 1

Of
Varamihiras Daughter-In-Law
By
Abhishekha & Amrita, USA
Bengali Typing: Amrita D, USA
A Mission Saptarishis Initiative

Publisher:

t 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. There is another story
of Khanna which Abhishekha has put at the end
as Appendix.

Everyone knows of Varahamihira and his

son Prithuyasas. Varahamihira seeing some
danger to his sons 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 kings 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 wont

was introduced to jyotish by my

Kulguru at the age of eight. After the initial

trigger early in life, I have pursued the study
of jyotish with utmost passion ever since. I am
indebted to my better half for the current
work for not only the typing of the Bengali
text but also for her assistance in translation
and continued support to me. This work is as
much mine as it is hers. I would also like to
thank SA for their utmost patience and trust
in me

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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.
ater 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
1
had learnt secrets of astrology from the Lanka King. Now comes the part that is indigestible & hope
not true and may Varahamihira forgive us. It is said 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 Prithuyasass 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 ones 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 its too late as
you yourself would be one of the case studies.

s 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
2
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

One must note that Ravana who was from Lanka was supposed to be the greatest astrologer ever born. His knowledge was
supposed to be unparalleled.
2
http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/07/29/d30729150290.htm
531

of so called agricultural advances made. The present book will throw light on ancient folk
literature and merits of indigenous knowledge.
A Blog3 post writes: Khanar bachan or Khanas 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 Khanas 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.
Khanas contribution in agriculture is unforgettable and is widely accepted by the farmers. In fact,
farmers in villages are still following some of khanas verses in modern agricultural practices. Khanas
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 Khanas 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 shouldnt 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, Khanas 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
Khannas 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 Khannas 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

http://jbpv.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/folklores-the-heart-of-bangladeshi-culture-and-heritage-part-six/
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link has now become inactive4. If someone has any of Khannas 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 of jyotish that is
needed now & came forward that he wants to not put his name but a pen name 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 Abhishekhas work live forever is
our request to God.

http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/V_0002.htm
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Khannar Vachan
p a :
First Chapter

e :
Study of auspicious or inauspicious omens during travel

e o o 2

eo

n 3

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 doesnt 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.

e , o i :
Study of the implications of vessel, dead people and hearing people call from
behind etc.

4
5
n 6
i 7
8
n 9
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 ones 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

534

raised is a good omen. A crying person on the left side of an individual is better omen than a
laughing one.

e :
Omens for journeys at dawn

ic 10

11

i 12

13

, u 14

15

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 dont do so at this hour. All around is darkness and Khanna says that is when it is
dawn.

e :

Omens related to measuring of shadow

d a

16

k a

17

e,s

k d 18

a 19

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.

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d a
Second Chapter

, , , o n p :
Study of the auspicious/inauspicious time for agricultural activities
Universal Rule

, d

ic 20

21

22

It is good for sowing seeds from the start of Shravana month till the 12th day of Bhadra month.
Radishs sowing should be sixteen days. Cottons sowing should be eight days. Four days of sowing for
rice.

:
Success in Agriculture

23
c o

24

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.

25

u j 26
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.

, j

27

u 28
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 i a i 29
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.

i k 30
k e
n 31
i
32

33
- , a i
i 34
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; ones brother(s) joins in the ploughing process.

- :
Dos and Donts of Ploughing

a
35

36

37

38
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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.

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

i 39

,
,

40

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

p :
The process to sow grains

41

k 42
n

n 43

d n

n 44

45

46

uo u, k 47
i s

48

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.

538

 o :
Rice and Betel plant

e a

49

50

51
Rice grows in sunlight but Betel plant grows in shade.

a :
Bad years for growing crops

i e 52

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

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

, 53
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 Khanas
advice.

:
Good year for crops

, k nt

54

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.

:
Deposition of pearls near sea shore
539


k
n
55
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.

:
Profit and Loss in Agriculture

a 56

- - 57

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.

:
At the time of harvest

i i

58

59
u

60

61

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.
540

 :
Betel leaves/plant

62
If Betel seeds are sown in the month of Shravana, the harvest is excellent and there will be no shortage
of the supply.

:
Mustard

63

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

i :
Split white Urad bean (Kalai)

i 64

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

o ik :
Radish and Sugarcane

k i 65

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.

i o :
Kalai and Moong (both are types of lentils)

o 66

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.

o :
541

White Sesame (Teel) and Black Sesame (Maan)

, 67

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.

i :
Chickpea

i 68
Between the last nineteen days of the month Ashwin and the first nineteen days of Kartik, one should
plant Motor Kalai (Chickpea).

To Be Continued
Appendix By Abhishekha

hona on Zee Bangla (Mon-Sat, 7 pm) is the story of the mythological child Khona, a young girl
soothsayer whose life and prophecies are considered timeless and contemporary.
Khana is born as a princess in Sri Lanka to the king Upatissa and got the knowledge of jyotish
from Saptarishis themselves. She was poisoned in her childhood by her step-aunt when in her
unconscious
state
Saptarishis
gave
her
the
knowledge
of
jyotish.
In the serial on Zee Bangla, till now she is pretty much a kid and has a childhood bond with Mihira who is
shown as the son of the King's priest. However, later in the serial, the priest unveils the mystery that he
found this child on the sea-coast floating in a casket. Here, in the serial it seems she would be the wife of
Mihira (who may have been the son of Varahadev, one of the Navaratna in the court of Vikramaditya).
Mihira is not the original son of the temple priest but he found him on the sea coast. They also showed
Varahadev as one of the nine gems of Vikramaditya. So, it is possible that the original story line (as reported
in this article) is valid.
Khona was born around 1500 years ago to Upatissa, the King of Ceylon. From
early childhood, Khona showed traits of being distinctly different. She was intelligent and smart,
studied astrology and was very good at mathematical calculations. She was called the Bhagyalakshmi of
the kingdom. The life of Khona was very dramatic astrology, politics, conspiracy, love her journey
encompassed them all. Khonas prophecies are still relevant today as most of them are based on
mathematics and science.
Over the years, many different views have emerged about the life of Khona and curiosity about
her life abounds endlessly. The shows (TV serial) unique storyline is backed by extensive historical
research.
He has read some couplets in Bengali of the girl astrologer, Khana, who was a genius. She
put in couplet forms some of the finest secrets of astrology.
~ Yogis, Destiny and Wheel of Time, KN Rao quotes his Guru's words.

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