There is a very interesting story behind the Birth of Vedic Astrology. Mar-14-2010 Sunday
The Brahmin community, in spite of their scriptural knowledge, high intellect and honesty, were economically deprived, as their duty was to give knowledge and perform the relgious rituals without seeking anything in return. So they had to live in poverty and depend entirely on the alms given by others out of generosity. They requested Maharishi Bhrgu to find an amicable solution to end their poverty.
Maharishi Bhrugu worshipped Goddess Bhagavathi Sri Maha Lakshmi. After a long tapasya of twelve years, She appeared before him and granted him his wish. She advised him to create an astrological treatise with the help of which the Brahmin community can predict the past, present and future of people, and this will ward off their poverty. She told him no person shall have astrological predications as a free service; it shall be a great sin. The person must reward the astrologer liberally with dasa-daanas which include gold coins, gorgeous clothes, houses, farms, cows and the like. If a person takes free service from an astrologer-brahmin using cunning tactics, he has to repay thousand times the fee during next birth to the astrologer. This is a Runa (Debt), which is carried through different births in future. Then she granted him daivagna-jnana (proficiency in astrology) as a boon and disappeared.
Maharishi Bhrugu, with help of Bhagavan Sri Ganesha, compiled the famous Bhrugu Samhita. It consists of several lakhs of horoscopes with different planetary combinations, their results and the remedial measures for prosperity and to ward off the evils. The Brahmin community gratefully learned astrology and used it for predications and prospered very well.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------