Beyond the logical mind, the destiny factor

As a medical graduate, I learnt the real meaning of words ‘Rx’ used by all medical professionals while writing a prescription for their patients. It means “We treat, she cures”; ‘R’ being the recipe and ‘x’ the blessing sought from the Goddess of Health.

Later during my medical practice of 35 years in neurology, I came across many curious and exciting phenomena, which could be perceived as anecdotal or superstitious. While being involved in the management of critically ill patients, I observed the attendants would consult astrologers and recite mantras. It was an enigma, at times, when these patients would survive defying all scientific rational. All these instances prompted me to explore with an open mind the occult sciences. This initiated my interest in astrology.

Over the years I realized that to some destiny was much bigger, and powerful, than the doctor or his deeds and karma. Being a fatalist and a firm believer of God, I considered many happenings as ‘destiny’, but the atheist in me always explained such phenomena as a matter of ‘chance’ or ‘luck’. The study of astrology threw more light on the subject, illuminating areas one might not otherwise see. One of these areas was time, a phase of life, good or bad.

Individuals with the same skill perform differently at different times. In cricket one calls it “inform and out-of-form”. According to astrology, performance depends on ‘Mahadasha’ or ‘Antardasha’ — an exalted or debilitated star period — in the facilitator’s life which governs the result of an act. The phenomenon can be better understood with Tendulkar’s example.

Pretty much overnight, the ‘God of Cricket’ surrendered to the circumstances and called it a day. The crowd which made him a legend suddenly became his greatest critic.

I thought of examining Tendulkar’s horoscope, which I retrieved from the internet, as a test case and made some very interesting observations. The available horoscope of this prodigy shows an exalted Sun-Mars-and-‘Gaj Kesari’ yog on the one hand and a negative Rahu-Chandra yog with a debilitated Venus.

From 1989-96, he decimated all his opponents and brought glory for himself and the nation and steadily grew to became a ‘brand’. His lean period, from late 2002 to early 2006, coincided with Venus while Sun made him prominent again. Later from June 2011 till retirement, the Rahu-Chandra brought him to a stage of diminishing fortunes.

In my opinion, astrology or the study of horoscopes, is a science of statistics hitherto not proved in the laboratory, but the hypothesis has been tested time and again with retrospective and perspective data. My views may not be shared by many, but as a student of science I keep my mind open with Einstein’s words guiding the way: Beyond physical science, the cosmos has many exciting things to offer.

Karl Marx once said, “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but in circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past”.