Man, the Maker of his Own Destiny -3

Contd...(c).."If you can get an explanation of a phenomenon from within its nature, it is nonsense to look for an explanation from outside. If the world explains itself, it is nonsense to go outside for an explanation. Have you found any phenomena in the life of a man that you have ever seen which cannot be explained by the power of the man himself? So what is the use of going to the stars or anything else in the world?....

....My own Karma is sufficient explanation of my present state. So in the case of Jesus himself. We know that his father was only a carpenter. We need not go to anybody else to find an explanation of his power. He was the outcome of his own past, all of which was a preparation for that Jesus. Buddha goes back and back to animal bodies and tells us how he ultimately became Buddha. So what is the use of going to stars for explanation?....

...They may have a little influence; but it is our duty to ignore them rather than hearken to them and make ourselves nervous. This I lay down as the first essential in all I teach: anything that brings spiritual, mental, or physical weakness, touch it not with the toes of your feet. Religion is the manifestation of the natural strength that is in man. A spring of infinite power is coiled up and is inside this little body, and that spring is spreading itself. And as it goes on spreading, body after body is found insufficient; it throws them off and takes higher bodies. This is the history of man, of religion, civilisation, or progress. That giant Prometheus, who is bound, is getting himself unbound. It is always a manifestation of strength, and all these ideas such as astrology, although there may be a grain of truth in them, should be avoided."This again confirms that for a true spiritual aspirant, Astrology has no importance, for he is aiming at something much, much, higher than that.

(d)..There is an old story of an astrologer who came to a king and said, "You are going to die in six months." The king was frightened out of his wits and was almost about to die then and there from fear. But his minister was a clever man, and this man told the king that these astrologers were fools. The king would not believe him. So the minister saw no other way to make the king see that they were fools but to invite the astrologer to the palace again. There he asked him if his calculations were correct. The astrologer said that there could not be a mistake, but to satisfy him he went through the whole of the calculations again and then said that they were perfectly correct. The king's face became livid. The minister said to the astrologer, "And when do you think that you will die?" "In twelve years", was the reply. The minister quickly drew his sword and separated the astrologer's head from the body and said to the king, "Do you see this liar? He is dead this moment." ..

...Though this may be a concocted story but still it presents the views of a Great Saint that India has ever produced. This view certainly needs attention. If ever Astrology finds importance in India, it should never touch 'life and death' matters. Even Prof. B.Suryanarain Rao, the grandfather of Dr.B.V.Raman, admitted in his translations of SriSarwarthachintamani _{pg 491} -

"Childrens are born in a most surprising variety. Some get children within a year of nuptials, and they go on getting every year a child up to a certain age. Others get a child every alternate year. Some get children once in three years, while others have them once in 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 years. The regularity is most perplexing and cannot be explained. Some will have no children for 30 years after marriage and nuptials and then get one child before closing their chapter. Some get only males. Others get only daughters. Some get a son and a daughter alternatively, while the others get a daughter and a son alternatively. Some get two sons and then two daughters while others 3 sons and 3 daughters. There are some who get consecutively five or six sons or daughters and then the sex is changed. The wonders of creation are mysterious and Mahatmas (Saints) alone can read them satisfactorily."

We must remember that these are the wordings of a most famous and most successful Astrologer of his time, who admits the incapacities of the subject Astrology.

Contd...