It was a mild joke as planetary alignment does play a part in Vedic Astrology. Astrology indeed had a high place in ancient India and significantly influenced

It was a mild joke as planetary alignment does play a part in Vedic Astrology. Astrology indeed had a high place in ancient India and significantly influenced the development of mathematics and astronomy. 5th/6th century mathematician Aryabhatta was also an astronomer as well as an astrologer. He even devised his own numerical encoding, which is far more compact than the Katyapadi system but not as amenable to writing numbers poetically.