True Stories of the Power of Vedic Astrology

The planets in the sky are alive and have energy which they emit. The greatness of Vedic Astrology comes from establishing a deep relationship with the planets, the signs and the Nakshatras. This relationship feeds the astrologer and influences his way of thinking, just as we are influenced by our human relationships.

The planets speak to the astrologer when he develops this relationship through worship, admiration, appreciation, affection and love toward them.

Just like a flowering plant which responds and becomes connected to us through care and attention and begins to speak to us about its needs, the planets begin to communicate. Another example is the reaction of animals when you touch and caress, it creates a friendship with them. Animals are feeling and emotional beings. It is not thinking, but the power of feeling which draws them closer and makes them respond to our attention.

Here are two examples from ancient times where the astrologers were so completely in tune with the stars and their own purpose that they were able to make extraordinary predictions, showing Vedic Astrology to be the unbelievably great and intricate art that it is. Of course, there are hundreds and thousands of such examples known to the astrological community.

In 1st Century BC there was a great astronomer and astrologer named Vaharamihira who wrote one of the classical texts Brihat Jataka. He was the King’s astrologer, one of the gems in the court of King Vikramaditya. A son was born to the King and the astrologer was summoned to cast a chart for the boy. The King wanted to know the future of this child. Vaharamihira took several days to read the chart and returned to the King with the news.

He told the King the child was going to be killed at the age of 7 years, 7 months, 7 days and 7 hours in the evening by a boar. The King made the greatest efforts to try to stop this destiny but death is not an easy thing to be stopped since it is born with the body. How we are going to die is a part of the fixed karmas of life.

In his effort to overcome this predication of the astrologer the King built a seven floor palace for the child to grow. The child lived on the seventh floor and was given all kinds of education and training. There was a guard placed on every floor to assure that nothing could enter the palace to harm the boy. When the 7th year, 7th month and 7th day came the astrologer alerted the King that they now needed to be more careful – today is the day. Every hour of the day, a palace guard was sent to report the condition of the child to the King. Each hour they reported him to be in fine condition. So, when the 7th hour came the guard came and said that everything was okay with the child.

But Vaharamihira was not satisfied. He suggested to the king to go and check on the child personally. They went to the palace and spoke to each guard and each floor reported no problems and no disturbances. On the 7th floor when they asked the guard of the child’s whereabouts they said he was standing on the terrace and that he was fine. When the King and Vaharamihira reached the terrace they found the child lying dead on the floor. When the child was looking up at the sky on the terrace, he was struck by an iron sculpture of a boar. This boar had been an art object placed on a pillar on the terrace as part of the palace’s architectural design.

Here is another story from the late 18th Century. There was a powerful King in Karnataka State called Tippu Sultan who was a benevolent King. He wanted to conquer Cochin in the Kerala State so he created an army and marched. When he stopped in a village on the way he sent his scouts to find out about the area. One scout reported that he found out there was a great astrologer nearby so the King called for the astrologer. Tippu Sultan was very well known historical figure at the time in this area. The astrologer came the following day to see the King.

The King said to him “I am told you are a great astrologer, I have a question for you.” The astrologer said “Great King, ask me whatever you like, if I am capable I will answer the question.” The King was holding a parrot in his left hand and he asked the astrologer “what do you think is the longevity of the parrot in my hand – how long will it live.” Of course, no one can answer this question. If the astrologer said it would have a long life the King could kill it immediately, if he said it would have a short life he could let it go into the sky. Either way the astrologer was in trouble. But the science of Vedic Astrology is that it indicates the possible destiny. An Astrologer who is wedded to his divine knowledge of astrology would not be afraid of the consequences of truth.

The astrologer said “yes” he would answer the question. He calculated a chart for that moment and thought about it a while before exclaiming that the parrot would have a long life. It would not die soon. The King responded “is that so!” and at that moment the King drew a sword from his belt with the intention of killing the parrot at that moment. As he pulled out the sword he cut his thumb which began to bleed. As soon as he started bleeding he let go of the parrot which immediately flew away.

The King exclaimed “you are a good astrologer!” But this had been only a test and the King asked the astrologer to return the following day. The following day the King met with the astrologer in private and informed him that he was planning to conquer Cochin. He wanted to know what the outcome of such a battle would be.

The astrologer calculated a chart for the moment again and told the King that he was not going to win the battle. Such a statement was a great risk for any astrologer in those times – the King could have had his head for such a negative prediction. But the King only had the man taken to jail where he was held prisoner.

The battle lasted 15 days and on the final day he was defeated. When the King returned to the village he had the astrologer brought to him. Not only did he let the astrologer go, he honored the man by giving him an abundant amount of land and property. The man no longer needed to worry about his own life, his children’s lives or his grandchildren’s lives because he was given so much land and that family is still known in Kerala.

This is the power of true Vedic Astrology. There is no such astrologer today who can talk with this kind of confidence and make such exacting predictions. This is because these days there is not the same level of passion for the science as there was in the past. They did it because they loved it – their own lives were not even as important as the knowledge, as shown in the stories. They had to tell the truth otherwise life was not worth living. Mahatma Gandhi was another such great man, speaking the truth no matter the consequences. In the 20th Century, only one such astrologer I know of was the late Dr. B. V. Raman.

These true stories are meant for those people who have interest in astrology, those who are already astrologers like me and for those who are interested in one day making Vedic Astrology their profession