Light of the Stars

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The Divine Stellar Configurations in the Horoscope of:
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

by Srimati Abhaya Mudra devi dasi

From the Editor: Prabhupada came into my life through an article in Fact Magazine just after His Divine Grace came to New York, in ’66. However, I first met Shrila Prabhupada face to face in the winter of ’68 in Santa Fe. At the time, the Santa Fe center on 411 West Water Street was the newest ISKCON temple. By Nov. of 1968, I had already read about Prabhupada in ‘66, had chanted in Tompkins Square Park in ‘67, attended Rathayatra in San Francisco in ‘68, and now I found myself sitting before His Divine Grace. It was late in the year, the deep winter, and the first question I posed to my spiritual master was, “Do you like astrology?” Shrila Prabhupada smiled at me very, very broadly and said, “Oh. So you like astrology?” Then he pointed his finger right at me. Feeling that His Divine Grace was urging me into deeper conversation, I continued, “What is your birthday?” He beamed. “Sept. 1st, 1896,” he replied with great satisfaction. His look was a dare, saying, “Go ahead, have a look at your Guru’s chart. See the exalted stars of your Guru Maharaja.” Of course, Shrila Prabhupada would never talk in this way, but I must say that his look said it all. So I smiled for the first time in his presence and asked, “What time?”

“About Four o’clock pm,” he replied.

Actually, I gave up astrology for several years so that I could read Prabhupada’s books and serve his mission. I had always wanted a Guru, and now was my opportunity to learn the perfection of Vedic culture from the most truly qualified perfected devotee on the planet. I wanted to learn to serve His Divine Grace, so I joined the newly-formed ISKCON Press under Shriman Brahmananda das Prabhuji. Actually, Prabhupada ordered me to go to New York upon initiation and become his bookbinder. So I gave up any notion of astrological study, or study of anything else but His Divine Grace’s books and lectures, until in London Shri Vijai Ranamukhadevaji walked up to me out of nowhere and said, “Hello, I am a Vedic astrologer.” Thus I realized that Prabhupada was giving me permission to study—if I could remain judicious about it.

At the time, several other devotees studied astrology under a Vedic astrologer who was obviously smitten with egoism and false prestige. I had met him and never liked him. In fact, when I explained his chart to this “teacher” just by seeing his face, it put him on notice that I was aware of his games. Eventually, the students of this astrologer were rejected by Shrila Prabhupada as they fell under the spell of non-Vedic illusions pertaining to material consciousness.

As far as my astrology teacher Ranamukhadevaji, he was officially a Buddhist, but he professed strong Hindu roots, or rather Vedic roots of the Tamil tradition in Shri Lanka. It was there from a Tamil pandit that he had learned this Vedanga jyotish. I used to meet with him at the British Museum library and we would discuss charts. He concluded that Shrila Prabhupada could only be Dhanush lagna, based on his bodily build. Once when Shrila Prabhupada came to London, Ranamukhadevaji, who kept himself in an absolutely impoverished state, presented Shrila Prabhupada with Lord Krishna’s horoscope engraved on a golden plate! Shrila Prabhupada took it nonchalantly and adequately blessed Ranamukhadevaji, who (unlike that other teacher) was always respectful to Shrila Prabhupada and honored His Divine Grace with the highest praise. What I really liked about Ranamukhadevaji is that he never interfered with a disciple’s budding devotion, except to water it. My astrology teacher was a Vaishnava at heart, one who worshipped Lord Krishna and who recognized Shrila Prabhupada as an avatara of Godhead sent to deliver the nectar of sankirtan.

Over time, I would present Shrila Prabhupada’s horoscope to a number of India’s greatest and most renowned astrologers for their opinions. Those who were non-envious all agreed that Shrila PRabhupada was no ordinary conditioned human being, but a divine representative of God Almighty. Pandit Shashikant Jain said the horoscope had but one flaw, which had to be there in order for such a perfect soul to have taken birth.

One of India’s truly great scholars, Dr. D. Arkasomayaji who was like a second father to me and who had won the greatest scholastic awards available in India, explained to me many details of Shrila Prabhupada’s chart. Dr. Arkasomayaji (whose name means “Sun and Moon”) spoke as I took notes. I sent Dr. Arkasomayaji’s respected opinion to Shrila Prabhupada, who was then giving his final blessings to the world from Vrindavana. Tamal Krishna would later tell me in confidence that “Prabhupada went into ecstasy” when Tamal read him my letter. However, His Divine Grace loved Dr. Arkasomayaji’s “review” of His Divine Grace’s sacred writings even more than his astrological reading which accepted Prabhupada as “the greatest spiritual master of the Age.”

Now not only the greatest scholars of India, but also Shrila Prabhupada himself, accepted Dhanush lagna, and for those who would like more on this issue, please obtain a copy of my Krishna conscious book on Moon signs entitled WHAT IS YOUR RASHI? from the Bodhi Tree (and not Krishna Culture).

Let me confirm to those who don’t know, that Shrila Prabhupada had a good command over the principles of Jyotish Shastra, as I once heard him summarize the deepest wisdom of jyotish to an inquiring gentleman on the Bombay apartment rooftop in four words. (Incidentally, I shall disclose those four words to the first person who brings me $100,000.)

So with those words of introduction, Pavan’s Press is both pleased and proud to present Shrimati Abhaya Mudra devi dasi’s understanding of the jyoti (light) that came into our dark lives in the form of Shrila Prabhupada. –Ed.

Light of the Stars

Smt. Abhaya Mudra devi dasi

The personified deity of Earth, Bhumi Devi, feeling pitiably aggrieved that Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was leaving her at the end of Dwapara Yuga—wished to know the Earth’s fate once He had departed. Naturally, she was sad that His lotus feet would no longer be blessing the Earth that His transcendental revealed pastimes would be drawing to a close. Lord Shri Krishna consoled His devotee by replying that for 5,000 years there will be dark ages full of wars and ignorance. Then, for 10,000 years His devotees will traverse the Earth thus lightening her burden lighter, and after His devotees leave, there will be only low class men left on earth.

If we accept that the beginning of Kali Yuga was dated after the battle of Kurukshetra, and to be more exact after the departure of the grandson of Arjuna, Maharaja Parikshit – the hero of Srimad-Bhagavatam (and who was the only one who was still able to control the dark forces of Kali Yuga), then the date is 27 February 3102 BC. The 5,000 years of dark ages, after which passing mankind has duly forgotten its glorious past, have already gone to an end, and now is the time of those 10,000 years predicted by Lord Krishna. So the next 10,000 years will write another chapter of transcendental history full of pastimes. If we calculate when those ten thousand years began, we would find out that they begun with the birth of Shrila Abhay Charan De, son of Gour Mohan De, on September 1st at 15:24, year 1896. This unusual boy born in Calcutta would later be rightfully known as His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

The glories of Shrila Prabhupada are unlimited and are impossible to narrate adequately. Except for Lord Ananta Shesh, the holy couch of Lord Vishnu, who is there in these three worlds who can properly describe the beauty of the Lord and His devotees? Though each devotee of Krishna is an individual servant of the Lord bound by a unique relationship, Krishna’s love is equal towards all His votaries. It is well known by all devotees that the holy name, pastimes, paraphernalia and devotees of the Lord are considered to be non-different from Him. The Lord’s pastimes are intertwined with His elects with whom there is a constant exchange, an ebb and flow of love or prema-bhakti. For there is none other who can impart this light of love than our spiritual master. Hence we devotees pray to Shrila Prabhupada thusly:

om ajnana timirandhasya jnanajanan salakaya
chaksus unmilitam yena tasmai shri gurave namah

“I who am standing in the depths and darkness of abject ignorance do offer my humble obeisances unto my (most dearly beloved) Shri Guru Maharaja for he alone has opened my eyes with his (blazing) torchlight of knowledge.”

In the jyoti of this light, let us now examine the horoscope of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. That Krishna has personally ordered Shrila Prabhupada to undertake this mission is visible from the place of his Chatra rasi—the place from which usually a bad karma is seen. For a conditioned soul, taking birth in this material world could be seen as a curse but, here we find an exalted Moon, representing the divine command of Krishna. The Moon is joined with Mars in Rohini nakshatra—the nakshatra of Krishna—representing the order Srila Prabhupada personally had to carry on with the mission, since Mars is also the ruler of his Aruda Lagna—which demonstrates how one is perceived in the world. So in a way Srila Prabhupada is also non-different from Krishna because his words represented the command of Krishna to spread the sankirtan movement far and wide and thereby decrease the burden of the Earth by the chanting of:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare [1]

On many occasions Shrila Prabhupada mentioned that astrologers in his early childhood told him that during the time period of his planet Mercury, he would go to the West and make a lot of temples. And by the time Mercury mahadasha arrived, Shrila Prabhuapda had already renounced family life and accepted sannyasa. Mercury is an exalted planet in His chart joining debilitated Venus—the planet being debilitated in second from the Sun points to a person who had no problem with renunciation of worldly desires. [2] Mercury is the karaka (or “indicator”) for disciples, thus in this Budha-dasha or Mercury major period he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Being in the 10th house (or karmastan, an “angular” house or kendra and the most visible house in a chart) Mercury definitely was shining bright.

The spiritual master’s atma-karaka or “significator of the self” is Rahu, and in this case it is in the sign of his office Aquarius [3] Even the evil planet became a messenger with the nectar of immortality in his trough, who brought it to us as a service – visible from Rahu’s aspect to the Sun, Jupiter and Ketu – all in the 9th house. Jupiter the ruler of lagna has joined powerful Sun in his own house and spiritual Ketu. This sign is his power lagna as well, and gave the thousands of temples all around the world. His writing is marked by exalted Saturn ruler of the house of writing, the 3rd, and again Mercury, 3rd from Aruda lagna – for most of his books He wrote in Mercury’s dasha.

When we zoom into other charts of the divisional system known as shodasha-varga, we see again and again repetition of planetary combinations indicating a sadhu and a liberated person. Some of the most obvious yogas are:

-Bhadra mahapurusha yoga (lit. “great man”), involving Mercury exalted in the tenth.

-Chandra-mangala (combination of the Moon and Mars together), which by itself is enough to make some one materially successful, but in Shrila Prabhupada’s case, the Moon is exalted.

-Gaja-keshari yoga: Caused by the Moon and Jupiter in mutual kendras, this planetary yoga instills in one the simultaneous qualities of both a lion and an elephant.

-Jaya yoga: Mercury confers also jaya yoga (exalted 10th lord) – victory over his enemies. [4]
-Saraswati yoga: The name is self-explanatory), again involving Mercury, Venus and Jupiter, and same planets participating in Shrila Prabhupada’s Brahma yoga as well.

-Mridanga yoga was conferred by the positions of Sun and Mercury, which distributed his glory and make him equally famous the way only kings could have been in ancient times.

-Kalpadruma and Parijata yogas when said combined Parivraja yoga (seen in the charts of ascetics) offered him a total success in preaching missions.

Kedara yoga for wealth and happiness, and most of all huge stability.

Raja yoga: There are many types of raja-yoga present in the chart.

-Chamara yoga gave His Divine Grace skill in many arts, as history has recorded.

Shrila Prabhupada has left his physical body, but ISKCON is his body as well. In many ways what is happening in the life of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness can be seen from the main planetary periods, which Srila Prabhupada could have been undergoing in His physical body right now, and we can make prediction. -Written 1 Dec. 2007

1. The burden of the Earth lessened with the appearance of Shrila Prabhupada and the sankirtan movement of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the West, i.e., the Viet Nam War came to an end, then the burdens of the Earth have doubled since the disappearance of Shrila Prabhupada and the diminishing sankirtan due to the unfocused or misguided values of the current leadership which have substantially slowed down ISKCON’s “every town and village” movement. -Ed. back to text

2. Venus, the planet of sensuality is often found in debility in the horoscopes of true renunciate and it is one of the many, many wonderful specific features of Prabhupada’s horoscope. –Ed. back to text

3. Interesting that Rahu represents the Western world or mleccha-desh, where Shrila Prabhupada became known as the paschatya-desha-tarine. –Ed. back to text

4. It goes without saying that a pure devotee has no enemies, but Shrila Prabhupada was the sworn enemy of the evil principles of Kali Yuga, viz. meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication and false philosophies of the insidious cult of Mayavada. –Ed. back to text

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