Astrological Guidance And Destiny -
Seek astrological guidance, but don't be totally dependent on it. The astrologer has many limitations. No astrologer has the final say in any matter. Plan intelligently, remembering the astrologer's advice. Any pariharas (remedies) suggested by the astrologer can be adopted as long as they are spiritually oriented and do not involve unnecessary expenditure. Such remedies (as per Parasara the father of Indian astrology) are prayers and chanting of Mantras. Other remedies, which involve huge costs are not reliable and are mostly suggested by dishonest astrologers. Accept your Prarabdha and do your duties cheerfully. Know that you cannot escape your Prarabdha. Even Yogic can help you only to postpone it, not avert it! But there is one area where you have total freedom. That is your current karma (Kriyaman). You can determine the course of action. You can bring in an anti-current of thoughts, a current of noble, spiritual thoughts, thoughts guided by Dharma. It is never too late to change the course of action. In the Kriyaman area, do good deeds. Let Dharma guide you. Some times there may be a conflict between free will (Kriyaman) and destiny (Prarabdha). However powerful Prarabdha is, DO NOT DESPAIR. Do your duties cheerfully without being excessively attached to the fruits of your actions. Surrender yourself to God and do your duties with a Nimitta Bhava. Great Yogic like Bhisma and Vasishta have placed Purushartha or exertion (free will) above destiny. Do not underestimate the role of Kriyaman Karma, your Free Will to change the course of action. Advanced people do not need astrology. They accept Prarabdha as God's will while the ignorant person develops pathological dependence on astrology, starts despairing, lapses into inaction or makes half-hearted attempts. It is perhaps for this reason that reformist thinkers like Swami Vivekananda and Swami Dayananda Saraswati were opposed to astrology. But saints like Sri Ramakrishna who was Swami Vivekananda's guru, spoke positively about astrology, because they had the attitude of a bhakta (devotee) and see all this as a 'play of the divine'. It all depends on how we take it. The devotee (bhakta) sees only Prarabdha. The vedantin (gnani) sees only Purushartha. Both are correct, because these are two sides of the same coin. The bhaktha (devotee) feels it is all Prarabdha only. Yet there is no fatalism in this. Prarabdha is only Purushartha (efforts born of free will) of previous births. Purushartha combined with Prarabdha brings effects. A man who is sick has to take the medicine (Purushartha) and leave the result to Prarabdha. Through Purushartha, Markandeya conquered death. Vasishta advocates Purushartha to Sri Rama throughout the Yoga Vasishta. We are neither totally bound by destiny nor are we totally free. We have limited freedom like a cow that has been tied to a post in a field with a rope. It can move freely, but only within the limits of the field. We have limited freedom depending upon how much we can stretch our Karma. Author Diwakar vashist is a senior consultant of Institute of vedic science, New Delhi, India. He is Head of faculty who conducts online live classes for vedic astrology , vedic vastu , Numerology , palmistry etc. He is working on the ancient vedic sciences Since last 20 years i.e. vedic astrology, vedic vastu, hatha yoga, meditation etc. By Diwakar Vashist