11^th & 12^th April, 2009

Part II[Session I]: w.e.f Noon on the First Day

Synopsis & Introduction:

At noon on the first day, as scheduled by Professor Choudhry, I commenced the PPP on: ‘The Light of the SA on World Leaders, their Mass Movements and their Monumental Legacies’. In this presentation, I had endeavored to explore into the necessary and sufficient SA conditions, which go into the making of great World Leaders and ensure also their Monumental Victories & their Monumental Legacies as well.

 I have been closely guided in this work by Prof Choudhry.

If we look at any human society, we are able to identify a handful of extraordinary human beings, who have enjoyed the Divine Grace of God to such an extent, that through their life and Mission, they have been able to bring to all humanity a Legacy of Monumental proportions, which has invariably been in the nature of courageous ‘revolutions’. Often, these World Leaders, either brought in a new world order, or ushered in some courageous revolutionary achievement which turned out to have an everlasting impact on human life and consciousness as a whole. The fields of activity of all these World Leaders may vary, but the underlying principle is essentially the same.

Thus I am dealing here not merely with successful and famous people [examples of which may not be wanting at all in our  societies], but  rather with illustrious World Leaders, Mahatmas, Avatars, Saints, Scientists & Statesmen who have been nothing less than revolutionary founding fathers of new systems of thought and life. This is the basic idea, which is being examined here.

My commentary on each of the eleven World Leaders falls into three parts. Firstly, I provide sufficient life-data on that World Leader. Secondly, I throw some SA Light upon their charts. Thirdly and lastly, I apply to each chart, the list of ‘Six Essential Ingredients’, to ascertain to what an extent, they pass the test, and reap ‘the final fruit’ of their Monumental Mission-which is the Monumental legacy.

In this Introduction, I complete the first and second parts, and shall leave you to complete the last and third part, when you actually look at the PPP.

 Six Essential Ingredients in the making of such World Leaders are firstly identified and cast in the form of SA Sutras. Subsequently these SA Sutras will have to be applied by you, successively to each of the eleven World Leaders I have considered for the purpose of this Conf. In the course of the PPP, I have also given some idea about each of their lives and only thereafter do you have to apply the SA Sutras to understand how it is that they all left behind Monumental Legacies for the benefit of future generations?

In this introduction, I have given, here and there, some additional interesting facets of the lives of these World Leaders, over and above what I had spoken at the Conf. I have done this only because, I thought, it will help us to have, so much clearer an understanding of their charts.

Six Essential Ingredients in the Making of these World Leaders:

1: Divine Grace for ‘Nobility of Soul’

2: Divine Grace for Monumental Courage for accomplishing the Monumental Mission

3: Divine Grace for Success [‘Victory’] in the Monumental Mission

4: Divine Grace: Surmounting VIH Obstacles

5: Divine Grace: Strong VIIIH / ‘Inheritance’

6: Divine Grace: Intelligence, Learning, Knowledge & Wisdom

Note: I have used the term Divine Grace to mean: Strong Hs/Planets in the SA

‘The Final Fruit’ of the Monumental Mission:

The World Leader comes to be enshrined in the hearts of his followers as a godly & selfless Avatar/Scientist/Acharya/Statesman, because of the blessings of God, he was instrumental in bringing, into the lives of his numberless followers.

This happens when all of the above 6 Ingredients are present in his Chart and Life.

SA Sutras for the ‘Nobility of the Soul’: Ingredient 1

i. Strong spiritual planets per se [Su &/or Ju, &/or Mo];

ii. Strong VH &/or IXH [Dharma Hs];

iii. Strong Sa &/or strong VIH/Ke, as givers of Grace for service, responsibility, dedication;

iv. And the above Influences on: Strong Asdt lord &/or Asdt H, or on the IIIH, IVH, VH, IXH.

Note that in the SA we use the Divisional Charts for assessing the Strength of Planets only

Essential Ingredient 2: Courage to Undertake a Monumental Mission

SA Sutra: Courageous Passion is the main engine of the World Leader’s Mission.

The PD for Courage is the IIIH [Anjaneya Shakti], & The GSs are the Su & Ma

        Fruits of the IIIH [A Sun like H]:

        i)   Divine Grace for creating followers

        ii)  Divine Grace for team work & leadership therein

iii) Divine Grace for Courage, Victory [Success],           Vitality, Profound Interest

Essential Ingredient 3: Divine Grace for Victory in the Monumental Mission

Victory in Monumental Mission Work [which leaves behind an everlasting impression on the followers & upon the world] in the Charts of World Leaders is given by:

SA Sutra: “If there is a MTS in the IIIH, then the IIIH lord becomes the PD, while the Su & Ju, become GSs for Victory in Monumental Mission Work.”

Essential Ingredient 4: Divine Grace for surmounting
‘VIH Obstacles’

There should be Divine Grace for Victory in battles with the forces of enmity & minimum losses of various kinds:

SA Sutra: “A strong VIH would give capacity to succeed in great labors [service], the Divine Grace to defeat enemies and be free of the sapping losses through litigations, accidents, ill-health. Ideally, there should be no planet in the VIH.”

Essential Ingredient 5: Divine Grace in the form of a
strong VIIIH [‘Inheritance of Ethos, Collective Beliefs’]

A strong VIIIH will prove to be an asset in the galvanizing of the ‘Wealth’ of the vast cultural, spiritual, & religious beliefs of the masses.

SA Sutra:  “Inheritance = 8 – 9 – 4 – Su – Mo”

SA Sutra: “Whenever the VIIIH is strong in a Nation’s Chart, there emerges an inherent scope for that Nation to have:

The ‘Wealth’ of a vast & varied store house of collective beliefs [cultural, spiritual, political], all of which may prove to be crucial for holding the Nation together as one cohesive mass of people.”

SA Sutra: “Thus, in the Chart of a World Leader of a Mass Movement, a strong VIIIH would provide the much needed scope for building beliefs or for galvanizing the existing cultural, political, & spiritual beliefs of the people; so that this may be considered as one of the important blessings for the creation & sustenance of a people’s Mass Movement.”

Essential Ingredient 6: Divine Grace for Intelligence, Learning, Knowledge & Wisdom

Divine Grace for spiritual learning and other knowledge & Intelligence, so that as a World Leader, one is not blind spiritually & otherwise.

Hs of higher learning: VH & IXH. These could be strong, or strong planets placed therein.

SA Sutra: ‘On Creative Intelligence: VH, IIH, Su, Ju’.

Final Fruit = Monumental Legacy, SA Sutra on ‘Wealth’ [Artha]

The Monumental Legacy of the Mission of World Leaders of Mass Movements [or otherwise] is given by:

The SA Sutra on ‘Wealth’: PD of ‘Wealth’ is IIH &/or XH,

While the IVH lord, IXH lord & IH lord are the GSs of ‘Wealth’.

Mnemonic: “Accu - Wealth = 2[&/or 10] – 4 – 9 – 1 –  Ve”

Ve is the GS for ‘Accumulated Wealth’.

Professor Choudhry, in his inimitable way, watching the lives of the World Leaders, unfurl before him, one by one, introduced the XH, alongside of the leading IIH, in this important SA Sutra on ‘Accumulated Wealth’. It is to be noted that in the above SA Sutras, pertaining to ‘Wealth’, the term ‘Wealth’, stands not just for ‘economic Wealth’ as shown by the bank-balance at the end of one’s life, but is to be understood in a more general sense.

It has a much more comprehensive meaning: accumulated achievements [Artha], for the whole of life. We will see that each World Leader has to his credit at the end of his life, a certain kind of ‘Wealth’, as the following list illustrates. Such an ‘Accumulated Wealth’ is then the yardstick for measuring the magnitude of the Monumental Legacy. ‘Artha’, which also means achievement, has also been used in this sense only.

Varieties of ‘Wealth [Artha]’ [Wealth Accords also Status]

Note: SA ‘Wealth’ Sutra Applies to all Varieties

1. ‘Wealth’ of Community Service: Rural Upliftment, Disease/Poverty Eradication [Vivekananda]

2. ‘Wealth’ of Spiritual Education: Eradication of Ignorance & Sorrow & Gains of Understanding, Compassion, Oneness of Life [Ramakrishna, Shirdi Baba, Prabhupada Swami, Padre Pio]

3. ‘Wealth’ of Education: Spiritual and Scholastic & Life-long Learning [Aurobindo]

World Leaders considered for this Intl Conf:

1.               Sri Shirdi Sai Baba[1835-1918]

[28 Sep 1835, 5:53 AM, TZ= -5hrs 06mts (LMT),

POB: Pathri (76E30,19N17)]

2. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa [1836-1886]

[18 Feb 1836, 6:43 AM, TZ= -5hrs 58mts (LMT),

POB: (87E44, 22N53)]

3. Swami Vivekananda [1863-1902]

[12 Jan 1863, 6:33 AM, TZ= -5hrs 53mts (LMT),

POB: Calcutta (88E22, 22N32)]

4. Mahatma Gandhi [1869-1948]

[2 Oct 1869, 7:33 AM, TZ= -4hrs 38mts (LMT),

POB: Porbandar (69E33, 21N44)]

5. Sri Aurobindo [1872-1950]

[15 Aug 1872, 5:13 AM, TZ= -5hrs 52mts (LMT),

POB: Calcutta, (88E20, 22N30)]

6. Sri Ramana Maharshi [1879-1950]

[30 Dec 1879, 12:11 AM, TZ= -5hrs 13mts (LMT),

POB: Tiruchuzhi (78E17, 9N25)]

7. Prof Albert Einstein [1879-1955]

[14 Mar 1879, 11:22 AM, TZ=-0hrs 40mts (LMT),

POB: Ulm, Germany (10E00, 48N30)]

8. Padre Pio [Christian Saint from Italy][1887-1968]

[25 May 1887, 4:10 PM, TZ= -0hrs 50mts (LMT),

POB: Pietrelcina (14E51, 41N12)]

9.  Paramahamsa Yogananda [1893-1952]

[5 Jan 1983, 8:38 PM, TZ= -5hrs 34mts (LMT),

Gorakhpur (83E23, 26N47)]

10. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada [1896-1985]

[1 Sep 1896, 4:00 PM, TZ= -5hrs 53 mts (LMT),

POB: Calcutta (88E22, 22N32)]

11. Mikhail Gorbachev [1931- ...]

[2 Mar 1931, 12:10 PM, TZ= -3hrs (BGT),

POB: Stavropol (41E59, 45N02)]

Here is a short summary of the life & times of each of the above World Leaders [first part] and some pertinent SA Light on their charts[second part], so that after completing this, you can proceed to apply the 6 Essential Ingredients to their lives, with a view to understand, how it was that they left behind a Monumental Legacy[third part].

Shirdi Sai Baba:

Chart and SA Light: Virgo Asdt chart, with the Su, as the XIIH impacting upon the Asdt MEP - this gave renunciation, spiritual qualities of the Su, such as Trikalagnana [knowledge of past, present and future] and medicinal knowledge as well. The Asdt lord, Me afflicted by the VIH lord of enmity in the IIH, gave life-long enmity. Ju ruling the IVH of the Atma or God was fully strong and was placed in the XH. He came to fame during the Ju Dasa. This strong Ju gave him all the Divine Grace to be a truly great world teacher, but on the Nivritti marga [Renunciant’s path].Ke, the spiritual planet was also strong for him.

Life-Data: He was born around Sun rise time, deep within a forest. Both his parents were enlightened through the grace of Lord Shiva and their renunciation took the form of great detachment in the form of voluntary separation from their new born child! Thus they abandoned their baby in the woods! A fakir picked up the baby and brought him up for the first few years. Thereafter the young boy came under the care and guardianship of a renowned Spiritual Master ‘Venkusa’ who groomed him further, till roughly his fifteenth year. Thereafter he asked the boy to leave him and proceed in a certain direction, through the wilderness so as to be out of bounds for all his peers who were jealous of him, though his peers were also in association with the Spiritual Master!

Shirdi Baba made the village of Shidi, his permanent abode. Here he lived like a Hermit and a Saint, practically within the walls of an old mosque in ruins. There were forces of enmity in his life, as a life-long pattern, but because of his oneness with God, he was not perturbed by his detractors and by the forces of enmity, jealousy, hatred and ignorance.

Known for his compassion and profound self-abnegation, he brought joy and spiritual contentment to all those devotees, whose good fortune it was to discover his godliness and receive his blessings. He was on the perfect path of renunciation, loved all his devotees and brought an abundance of Divine Grace and benefits into their troubled lives.

He is known for his thousands of miracles, for his bold declaration that he was God and for his healings as a doctor of herbal & folk medicine, and also for his Trikalajnana, i.e.; for knowledge of the past, present and future. His life was an example of a Saint, who recognized the same one God, in both the religions of Hinduism and Islam. It was a life of simplicity, openness, compassion, piety, utter friendliness, surrender to God, Spiritual austerity and service to his fellow human beings, as a Spiritual Teacher and true renuncient, par excellence.

In a word, he was the true Avatar of that age, reminding people of the power of God, His Divine Grace and the importance of Spiritual Faith, at a time when the self-confidence of Indians was at an all time low, because of subjugation by the British Raj. Even today lakhs of devotees visit Shidi to receive his blessings and drink the nectar of his ‘Monumental Spiritual Legacy’.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa:

Chart and SA Light: An Aquarius Asdt Chart[Humanitarian & service-oriented Asdt], with a strong Ju, placed in the VH of Ishtha Devata, and Asdt lord, Sa, placed exalted in the IXH of God and Dharma, and with the IXH lord, Ve placed exalted close to the MEP of the IIH of status and prominence on the world stage, but a trifle weak, on account of deb in the D-9 div chart.

As in the case of the renuncient Sri Shirdi Baba, his Ra and Ke were also strong. Ke gave the inclination to be turned inward, while Ra gave high emotional sensitivity. Strong Ju’s exact aspect to the VIIIH lord, Me placed in the IH, gave him great versatility in his mystic reach, encompassing practically all faiths and religions. Ju also exactly aspects the Asdt lord Sa.

This made Sri Ramakrishna highly spiritual, but at the same time also thirsty for achievement because Ju gave aspiration[Ju was XIH lord].The Su impacted on the Asdt MEP, enhanced his spiritual inclination, and made him a spiritual king. The Cosmic feminine energy, Ve stands for the Divine Mother, Kali, whose devotee and son he was.

Life Data: He was born to very pious Brahmin parents, but lost his father when he was only 7 yrs old. Was frail and exceptionally sensitive and had the first mystical experience at the tender age of six, when seeing the flight of some water birds against dark expanding clouds, he went into a trance[Samadhi & Divine ecstasy], losing body consciousness in the process.

The next mystic communion with God came at the age of eleven, when he was enacting the role of Lord Shiva in a play. From his eleventh year onwards, mystical experiences became an integral part of his life. He was so intelligent and original that he refused to be English-educated along conventional lines [that was fashionable in his times], calling the same only a ‘bread-winning’ kind of education.

When Ramakrishna was twenty, his elder brother also passed away, and to support himself and his family, he undertook the job his elder brother was doing – the work of a priest at the Dakshineshwar Temple of Kali. He was at this temple for the rest of his life, as a beloved devotee and son of Mother Kali and as a Spiritual Teacher for numberless people of his time. It was an age when faith in God was at an all time low for Indians, for they were exploited and plundered by foreign rulers. The coming of Sri Ramakrishna was for restoring the lost faith in God and to anchor the despondent people to the Spiritual Legacy of their forefathers.

A lady Guru Sri Bhairavi Brahmani taught him Shakti worship through Bhakti Yoga as laid down in the traditional 64 Tantras [1861-1863]. It was she who declared to the world that Ramakrishna was an Avatar. Ramakrisha was of course never interested in such a lofty spiritual stature that was bestowed upon him. Two yrs later, an advaitin-renuncient, Totapuri initiated him into Sannyasa and Advaita Vedanta and in 1866, a Hindu Sufi Guru, Govind Roy initiated him into Islam. In 1873 he and Sambhu Charan Mallik read the Bible together and he immediately began to have Christian mystical experiences.

His mysticism was the most versatile and all encompassing, among all the Saints in different parts of the world. His message to mankind was that every religion was true and necessary.

He had no interest in practical matters, was too sattvik and too idealistic. He would imagine himself to be various Puranic personalities and heroes and this put his family members to great worry and anxiety-seeing his mystic phantasy.

He discovered his disciple ‘Naren’ [Swami Vivekananda], who was to later bring fulfilment to his Mission and complete his unfinished work. His teaching was that all religions are true, even though he had the greatest bond of devotional adoration of the Divine Mother in the form of Kali. His mysticism was all encompassing, leaving nothing in the spiritual world, as ‘not belonging to his religion or faith’. In this sense he was an Avatar who had come to remind humanity of the universal nature of the religious truth. His work along with that of Swami Vivekananda, formed the Spiritual foundation in the consciousness of Indians upon which bedrock, Mahatma Gandhi, in the succeeding decades was to erect the ‘Monumental Legacy’ of a politically free and independent India.

Swami Vivekananda:

Chart & SA Light: A Sagittarius Asdt chart, with the Asdt lord Ju well-placed in the XIH, having reasonable strength and involved in a very favourable mutually influencing yoga with Ma, as the VH lord. Ma is fully strong. This yoga gave Naren, a high calling in life, endowed him with a colossal intelligence [his college professors thought of him as a genius], made him lion-hearted, passionate, angry, impatient, action oriented, a warrior in the spiritual field. Me and Ve were placed in the Sun-like IIH, and this enhanced their strengths appreciably, for both planets,  suffered from the weakness of combustion. The Su, very significantly made a very beneficial influence upon the Asdt MEP and on the MEP of the VIIH of the ‘other’. The MMP, the Mo was in the XH and made an affliction to Sa , Ayushkaraka, with an orb of 3degs 50mts.Unfortunately, his health was further weakened by the Nodes closely afflicting the VIH-XIIH axis. These two factors, reduced his longevity and tragically prematurely terminated his Mission on Earth - when he was only 39 yrs of age.

His Monumental Mission consisted of a number of things.

[1]He taught Vedanta, Yoga and Upanishads to the West. This served to raise the image of India on the world stage.

[2] He established the Ramakrishna Mission for the welfare and education of the poor, after his Master passed away.

[3] Established also the Ramakrishna Mutt, for furthering the spiritual vision of his great Master Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa[After his master passed away].

[4]He was lion-hearted, royal in his bearing and approach to life, went about his mission in the spirit of a warrior, was selfless to the core, sacrificing and dedicating his life for national upliftment, and caring nothing for his own spiritual salvation.IN this sense, he was one of the greatest patriot’s of Pre-Independent India.

 [5]He successfully galvanized the spiritual and cultural ethos of the Hindus and gave them self confidence, courage and the encouragement to plunge into action, at a time when Hindus were consumed by a feeling of diffidence, dullness and apathy. [6]His prodigious intellect was known for its powers of discrimination and learning. As a young man he studied very closely and critically Western logic, Western philosophy and European history, apart from Hindu spiritual lore of the Vedas and the Tantras, before he embarked on the mission of creating a new national consciousness, based on rediscovering the spiritual treasures of India.

Many thinkers consider Swami Vivekananda to be the father of Indian nationalism, which meant Hindu nationalism in the age in which he lived. Due to foreign domination for centuries, Indians had lost a sense of self-dignity and self-identity as ‘Hindus’. Vivekananda identified this malaise in Hindu society of his times and therefore championed the cause of a Hindu India and made millions of Hindus at home and millions of westerners in distant lands aware of Hindu heritage and its greatness. He came to do this at a time when the Hindu morale was low and his mission work resulted in a new and vibrant form of Hindu renaissance and Indian nationalism. This served as a foundation and bedrock upon which Mahatma Gandhi, coming behind him built his edifice for the liberation of India from British imperialism.

After his Master passed away in 1886, in 1890 he undertook a long journey of discovery, travelling to every part of North India. In 1893 he addressed the Congress of World Religions, on the as yet undiscovered greatness of a spiritually luminous India. In 1897 he started the Ramakrishna Mission. The biographer Romain Rolland has drawn our attention to the fact that this great disciple and his great Master had personalities and approaches to life but were the direct antithesis of each other.

Mahatma Gandhi:

Chart & SA Light: Libra Asdt chart, with a strong Asdt lord Ve in its own MTH, strong Sa, as Yogakaraka planet, ruling the VH, placed in the IIH of habits and tastes- and this gave him austerity in food matters, a highly fruitful yoga or mutual influence between the IIIH lord Ju and the significator of the IIIH, namely Ma, and that too, formed in the Asdt H itself, thereby bestowing upon him, thereby, the immense lion’s heart, Monumental Courage, through the Anjaneya Shakti[IIIH].

A strong XIIH lord, Me, malefically impacted on the Asdt MEP[as in the case of Sri Paramahansa Yogananda and Sri Shirdi Sai Baba], bestowing upon him, analytical clarity, perfection[SA Sutra], renunciatory tendencies, his spirit of self-abnegation, as well as his many imprisonments, his Padayatras [walking expeditions, as in Salt Satyagraha]and Ashram Life, etc.

Prof Choudhry pointed out, when I was covering the chart of Mahatma Gandhi, that, as the Su was placed in the XIIH [Ashram Life], and Me impacted closely on the Asdt MEP, the ‘Numero Uno’ nature of the Su, and the ‘signification of the Su’ as the father, also made it’s impact on the Asdt MEP, through its dispositor, Me. So, through his assassination, he was destined to became the father of his people, the Indians. This also added to his already Leonine courage.

Life Data: He was very articulate [a lawyer at that], and with exceptional courage he spear-headed India’s struggle for independence and took on the British Empire and defeated them through his courage[Ju-Ma Yoga] and intelligence[Sa] and capacity to galvanize the spiritual ethos of his people[Su, Mo].

Using the non-physical ‘revolutionary weapons’ of Ahimsa[non-violent approach] & Satyagraha[tenacious holding on to the truth] and the civil disobedience movement, he was able to secure complete independence for India from the diabolical British imperialism.

His above mentioned methods in the freedom struggle attracted world-wide attention and thus taught all the nations of the Earth, a saner, nobler and more spiritual approach to the problem of liberation of an oppressed people. As Einstein remarked: “Future generations will scarce believe that  such a one as this, walked this Earth in flesh and blood”. The Monumental Legacy he created has made an everlasting impact on the entire human consciousness, transcending the barriers of race and nationality, religion & language.

Sri Aurobindo:

Chart & SA Light: This is a Cancer Asdt chart, with the exalted, but weak Ju [as the lord of the malefic VIH of Karmayoga], making a close impact upon the Asdt MEP. As though to strengthen the VIH’s influence on his personality, his Asdt lord, the Mo was also placed in the VIH. Both the Nodes were [in their exaltation signs] strong, as in the case of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa & also in the case of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba.

Such a strong exalted Ke placed in the VH of creative intelligence and insight, and aspecting the Asdt H from there, imparted to Sri Aurobindo, considerable yogic insight, in his fresh understanding and interpretation of the Vedas. Ju’s general significations of intelligence, wisdom, and capacity for teaching, also impressed themselves upon his self, especially after turning inwards, since his self-imposed exile in Pondicherry.

Three FB planets were in the IIH of status. It was a Leo Su, which though weak enjoyed placement benefit. It brought down the blessings corresponding to the second house. Ve, as lord of the IVH of spirituality was also placed in the IIH. To testify to this, he did have a stature, as a Spiritual Leader and Guru & Yogi [Ju blessed him with new thoughts aimed at far reaching changes in philosophical/spiritual thoughts. ]. However, this was superseded by his fame as an author, leader of his followers, and commentator of the Vedas and other Indian spiritual lore. The corresponding blessing planet, Me was placed almost on the MEP of the IIH of status, and in this way, he came into prominence as a writer, insightful thinker, and as a philosopher and sage of his times[SA Sutra for the IIH significations of the IIIH lord, Me].    

Life Data: Thus, this is the chart of a great yogi, mystic, philosopher, teacher, original commentator on the Vedas, and a patriot par excellence. In the first part of his political career, he attracted the attention of the Indian people to his powerful writings and his strong reactions against the ruling British govt. policies.  The malefic influence coming from the ‘warring-nature’ of the VIH on his self was responsible for this.

For a time he was even imprisoned by the British govt. At this turning point, he turned inward and his spiritual life and yoga became more important for him, than outer achievements. Imposing a self-exile upon himself, he moved to Pondicherry on the East coast of India [a French colony at that time],from where, he commenced his magnificent  new work of  spiritually awakening the Indian people through his writings in the magazine Karmayogi, and through his Ashram work.

As more and more followers sought his blessings, his original interpretation of the Vedas became available to the reading public. For 40 yrs he continued his spiritual sadhana, delegating to the Mother, all administrative activities of the Ashram. The Mother was herself vey spiritual and so dedicated herself, thereby, leaving Sri Aurobindo free to continue his yogic enquiries into the Vedas.

His life Mission has been to anchor the intelligentsia of India to our Vedic heritage and Vedic roots. He was very concerned that a free and independent India still ran the high risk of ‘going astray’ in a ‘West-dominated modern’ world, which was but built on sensory knowledge only and not on the spiritual nature of man. Thanks to his yeomen service, millions all over the world[Indians and non-Indians alike], took his works to heart, even changed their life styles, in order to come closer to the spiritual destination  of  spiritual flowering, which Aurobindo had set for them, as their life’s mission. His Monumental Legacy, which he has left behind for all of us, is a truly spiritual one, which will come to full bloom, only when each one of us undertakes the discovery of the Vedas, taking it to be, but the discovery of our own divine nature.

Prof Choudhry commented that when there is a close impact of the VIH lord on the Asdt MEP [as in Sri Aurobindo’s Cancer Asdt chart] and the Asdt lord too is placed in the VIH, one becomes very wilful and steadfast, and does not give up one’s own views. He added that, ‘However, the influence of the VIH also brings in the blessings of profound enquiry in unconventional areas [Vedas and Yoga, as in his case]’SA Sutra}.

Such an impact of the VIH on the Asdt H, also results in poverty. This holds for the chart of Sri Ramana Maharshi as well. At one time, in his early years in Pondicherry, he was forced to use the same towel to wipe his body after a bath, as three other co-workers were using. So acute was the shortage of resources.

Prof Choudhry also drew out attention to another  SA Sutra: ‘When any Chart is being discussed, which has the impact of the VIH, then, ‘the VIH hallmark of conflict and controversy’ will also manifest, on that occasion’. As mentioned already, Sri Aurobindo had also a strong Ke, from the VH, aspecting his Lagna. This took him into antarmukha [introversion], and brought him the Ketuvian blessing of Yogasadhana, and Yogic knowledge of the Vedas.

Sri Aurobindo was confined to his study room in Pondicherry, for 40 yrs and more. He was a prolific writer [IIIH activity] and became recognized for that, and this was given by Me, the lord of the IIIH, placed almost on the MEP of the IIH of status. Prof  Choudhry pointed out that ‘Me is the planet which gives the urge and the inclination for thoroughness and perfection’[SA Sutra], and when the influence of the VIH is taken into account, we see that he sought perfection in a new interpretation of the Vedas and the scriptures, through his profound enquiry into these areas. Ke also gave him a mystic tilt and yogic insight in all his writings.

One very important Sutra, on which Prof repeatedly placed his emphasis, was this three-fold nature of the planetary influences:

SA Sutra: “In analyzing any chart, one has to be aware of three distinct ways of assessing the exact nature of the planetary effects. Firstly, one must consider strength, secondly, the impact or influence on the MEPs of Houses or even on other planets, and thirdly the result of placements. All three must be considered.”. We may now apply this discriminatory knowledge, to most of the charts presented here and reap the benefits.

 Sri Ramana Maharshi:

Chart & SA Light: He was a Virgo Asdt with the Asdt lord placed in the IIIH and closely afflicted by the MMP, Ma, as the lord of the VIIIH of Moksha. The Asdt MEP was very closely afflicted by the strong lord of the VIH, Sa, placed in the VIIH. Thus the strong planets in his chart were a strong VIIIH lord, Ma, the Mokshakaraka, a strong VIH lord, Sa, the Karmayogakaraka, and a medium strength Ke, well-placed in the XH and aspecting the IIH and the IIH, from there.

Sa gave celibacy, spirit of service, austerity, discipline, diligence, and profound enquiry in an unconventional field-Atmavichara [SA Sutra]. A strong VIIIH also gave the profoundity and mysteriousness, associated with the VIIIH and above all the Divine Grace to mobilize the people’s forgotten awareness of Moksha as the ultimate goal of human life. Prof Choudhry remarked that the Su, separated him from his home-life and also gave him the renown [through its impact on the XH],  for his renunciation [XIIH signification].  

Life Data: No spiritual qualities served as a ‘prerequisite’ for the boy Ramana to deserve the highest blessing of Moksha[Enlightenment] at the age of sixteen. With that blessing, the self or the personality vanished, leaving only the body as the vehicle and abode for the absolute consciousness of Shiva. In this state, he could not carry on as a school boy any longer and so in a single mighty leap of renunciation, departed from his home life to arrive at the abode of Arunachala Shiva at Tiruvannamalai. For the next 54 yrs, he never stirred out of this holy abode, while the whole world came to his feet, to understand his teachings of Atmavichara [enquiry into the real nature of our seemingly petty self], to see his Self Realization as a living example of the highest spiritual blessing of Moksha and to offer him the highest devotion and surrender. All the peoples of the Earth,  whether Indians, Japanese, Europeans or Americans, who are able to feel the Maharshi or who have understood the profound significance of his teachings of Atmavichara, will testify to his Monumental Legacy with their tears and with their awakened tender hearts.

Prof Albert Einstein:

Chart & SA Light: Here we have the intellectual Gemini Asdt chart of the most illustrious Philosopher-Scientist of the last century. His strongest FB planet is Ve, as the lord of the VH of creative intelligence and imagination, placed strongly in its exaltation sign in the XH. Two consciousness planets, Me, ruling the IVH of home-life & inner contentment, and Mo, ruling the IIH of family life, family-cohesion, and status, are weak and afflicted. Ke afflicts Me, exactly. These two weaknesses and afflictions [in the SA, placement in a malefic H also tantamount to an affliction] were responsible for his delayed speech in childhood, as well as for domestic unhappiness in the first marriage, which ended in a divorce. He had to dissolve his first marriage, because his wife [also a Mathematician & Physicist] refused to come over to the US. There were however, two sons from the first marriage. Note the debilitation of the IIH of family cohesion, and the IVH lord afflicted.

 The Su, as lord of such an important Sun-like IIIH, has a very special role in Gemini Asdt charts. In the chart of Einstein, it is placed in the XH of the professional impact on the world. Though weak on account of the weakness of infancy, it brings in a Leonine courage, in the professional arena, and will be very useful, for those creative intellectuals, who topple the old world order, in their field, and replace it with a new one, which is of a revolutionary kind. This is what happened to Einstein. Prof Choudhry has emphasized this role of the Su in the XH, elsewhere. Ma placed exalted in the VIIIH of research, gave him aspirations in Physics research. He came to world fame in the Ve Dasa.

Life Data: German-Swiss-American physicist, winner of the 1922 Physics Nobel prize[for the photoelectric effect and not for the Special Theory of Relativity].He had created at the age of 26, The Special Theory of Relativity, to account for the Michelson-Morley experiment. His mass energy equation, E=mc² was to govern the stupendous quantities of energy released during an atomic fission bomb. The Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory [which came in its wake] revolutionized our concepts of space & time, matter & energy. They showed that at high speeds space & time get interlinked and so too matter & energy. This revolution in man’s understanding of the so-called ‘physical world’, has been by far, the greatest intellectual leap in our understanding of the mysterious ‘physical world.’

He began to speak so late [at age 5 only] that his parents thought that he could be ‘mentally retarded’.

 Enjoyed  successively, German, Swiss, Italian and American citizenships. After doing his doctoral work, had to work in 1902, at the Swiss Patent Office in a clerical capacity only [IIH lord debilitated in the VIH]. This gave him enough leisure to think. In 1905, published three papers [on the Special Theory of Relativity], in 1907, came upon the mass-energy equation.

In 1933 moved to the US, as he was not happy with the way things were going on in his home country Germany, under Nazi rule [Jan 1933 to May 1945]. The Nazis persecuted the Jews and Einstein was a German Jew. Later in the US, observing the world wide menace of Nazism he urged President Roosevelt to make the atomic bomb, so that the menacing Nazi power could be contained, and the evil Nazi empire terminated.

 In 1952, with the creation of the Jewish state of Israel, he was offered Presidency of Israel, as he was the most illustrious living Jew of the century, but the wise Einstein refused this offer, on the grounds that he was good enough to understand matter and energy, but not skilled enough in dealing with human beings! In the last 20 yrs of his life, as the most distinguished and original thinkers of his age [at the Princeton Institute of Advanced Study in the US], he was strangely intellectually alienated from the main stream of Physics research, as he could not bring himself to accept Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory, as these had also come to stay, as much as the Theory of Relativity had, and had just like his Theory of Relativity, revolutionized our naive conception of the physical world.

He was not just a brilliant scientist in some narrow field of specialization-in Tensor Analysis [Maths] and Theoretical Physics, but was a natural philosopher, a Sage with pronounced social sensitivity and an amazingly deep and wide grasp of all fields of human endeavour, most importantly, Religion. His testimony to the Monumental Legacy left behind by Mahatma Gandhi, may be seen in the PPP, in the section pertinent to Gandhi.

When I had applied the SA ‘Wealth’ Sutra to his life, to see what Monumental Legacy he had left behind, and found to my dismay that Ve alone saved the situation and had brought him world fame; Professor Choudhry made two illuminating comments.

He said, when there are many strong planets in a chart, one can see that the Divine Grace operates in many sectors of life in a wide-ranging way, and that this is always much better, whereas when only one planet is strong, then one excels and gains in prominence in one area, but makes no satisfactory mark in the other areas of life.

Secondly, he also amended the SA Sutra on ‘Wealth’, by saying that in the SA Sutra: “‘Accumulated Wealth’=2-4-9-1-Ve” , alongside of the IIH, we must also consider the XH as well. He added that the Su in the XH, though suffering from the weakness of infancy, did make him a World-renowned Leader.

Commenting further on the mere placement of the courage-giving planet, the Su, in the XH [and not necessarily near the MEP], Prof Choudhry said: “The mere placement of the Su in the XH, boosts courage in the professional sphere”[SA Sutra].

Padre Pio[Italian Christian Saint]:

Chart and SA Light: Libra Asdt Chart, with the strong Asdt lord Ve, the Mo and Sa placed in the IXH, The Su was afflicted by the MMP and badly-placed in the VIIIH. Prof Choudhry remarked that such a placement of the Su denies income in worldly life, but will prove to be an asset for the spiritual life, for it will not give any aspiration for earning. In view of three Sattvik planets in the IXH of God and Dharma, and the influence of strong Jupiter on the asdt MEP, he considered this one of the best charts in the spiritual life that he had seen. Apart from the strong Asdt lord, there was the sensitive Mo and the lord of the VH, namely Sa, which represents devotion to God, in this chart.

 Life Data: Born in a very pious Christian family. They were described as: ‘God is everything-people’. He along with his elder brother and three younger sisters, were told a large number of Bible stories. The parents and grandparents could not read and write, but had nevertheless, learnt by heart many passages from the scriptures. They were however, very pious and innocent.

When he was five he consecrated himself to the Master Jesus, in an act of piety. Unlike other children, he liked to be by himself, liked to sing hymns and do prayers. In later life he even told that ‘when he was young, he used to converse with the Master Jesus, with Madonna and his guardian Angels and also suffered attacks by the devil’.

In 1903, when he was 15 yrs old he was initiated into the order of Friars. He took the name of Pio, in honour of Saint Pius V, the patron Saint of Pietrelcina [birth place].

On Jan 22^nd 1904, took the vow of poverty, chastity and obedience. At the Friary of St Francis of Assisi, he studied for 6 yrs, thereby qualifying himself to become a priest [SA Sutra on spiritual education applies].

On Aug 10^th 1910, at 23, he was ordained priest by the Archbishop.

On Sep 7^th 1910, when praying in the Piana Romana, Jesus & Mary appeared to him and gave him the wounds of Christ, Sigmata.

Between 1911 to 1916 he was sent home for ‘illness’. These illnesses bear a striking resemblance to the abnormal conditions of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Padre Pio also served in  World  War I, in the medical sector.

On Aug 5^th to 7^th 1918, Christ appeared and pierced his side. This is taken by theologians as the piercing of his heart, indicating the union of love with God.

On Sep 20^th 1918, Wounded Christ manifested. When the ecstasy ended, Padre Pio received the visible Stigmata, the five wounds of Christ, which would stay with him for the remaining 50 yrs.

In early 1919, news of the visible Stigmata spread to the whole world. Theologians hold correctly that ‘Padre Pio’s spiritual gifts of Stigmata, Perfume, Prophecy & Bi-location was a sign of God in their midst, to lead the people back to their faith.’

Throughout his life Padre Pio slept only for 2 hrs each night and ate very little. San Giovanni Rotondo [Friary] began to be filled with pilgrims.

Between 1924 & ’31 various statements were made by the Holy See that denied the supernatural character of Padre Pio’s phenomenon. Pope Pius XI, reversed the negative verdict of the Holy See. In 1939, when Pope Pius the XII, was elected Pope, he began to encourage people to visit Padre Pio.

Between 1940 & 1956, Padre Pio built a magnificent Church & Hospital for healing the sick & the distressed. It was a glorious success.

On  Sep 26^th 1968, a large gathering of followers, numbering hundred thousand [One lakh], congregated at San Giovanni Rotondo to bid a very tearful farewell to their beloved Patron Saint Padre Pio.

Paramahamsa Yogananda:

Chart & SA Light: Leo Asdt with a strong Ve, as the IIIH lord, giving authorship, communication, courage, vitality and profound interest, placed strongly in the IVH and blessed by Ju exactly, from the VIIIH of Yoga and Kundalini Awakening.

Ke, the planet of renunciation is also strong, as in the case of Shirdi Sai Baba, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, and Sri Aurobindo. In addition, as in the case of Shirdi Sai Baba [Virgo Asdt], the XIIH lord conjuncts the Asdt MEP. In Yogananda’s case, it was the Mo as the XIIH lord, and in Shirdi Baba’s case, it was the Su as the XIIH lord. This gave renunciation in both cases. His Divine Grace giving planets, namely Ju, ruling the VH and Ma, ruling the IXH, sacrificed their strengths to make his occult VIIIH of Yoga and Kundalini Awakening stronger.

His teaching to the world was Kriyayoga, which the spiritual planet Ju, from the VIIIH of Kriyayoga, transmitted to the strong Ve in the IVH, through its ninth aspect. As Ve gives authorship, it becomes the powerful vehicle of Kriyayoga. It is maintained as an occult teaching, taught only to those who are serious and initiated. This is in keeping with the mysterious and secretive nature of the occult VIIIH.

Life Data: ‘Mukunda’ was born into a devout Bengali family in Gorakhpur. According to his younger brother Sananda, he was spiritually precocious and was in search of various Sages and Saints, from a young age. At the age of 17, he met Swami Sri Yukteshwar Giri, who was to be his Spiritual Master [Guru].This was a very momentous meeting, described by Yogananda in his classic work: ‘The Autobiography of a Yogi’.

Disciple of Swami Sri Yukteshwar Giri [of the Yogoda Satsang Society in Ranchi].The previous Guru was Swami Sri Lahiri Mahasaya, and his Guru was Swami Sri Mahaavatar Babaji.

 He completed his graduation at a college in Calcutta. In 1915 took the vow of Sannyas and was named ‘Swami Yogananda Giri’. In 1917, he founded a school for boys, where modern education was imparted side by side with Yoga and spiritual way of life. Later this school was shifted to Ranchi, and became the Indian Chapter of the Yogoda Satsang Society, which was founded by Yogananda in the US.

In 1920, he moved to the US, initially as an Indian delegate to the Intl Congress of Religious liberals in Boston. He travelled widely on the East Coast of this country and lived there, sometimes for many years at a stretch, sometimes for shorter periods, till 1952.He was the first of the great Hindu Yogacharyas, who settled in the US, on a permanent basis. In 1920, he founded the ‘Self-Realization Fellowship’ for organizing and disseminating the philosophy of Yoga and meditation. In 1924, he established the world headquarters at Los Angeles.

In 1935-1936 he visited India and made it a point to have Satsang with Mahatma Gandhi, Anandamayi Ma, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sir C V Raman, Rabindranath Tagore and many other prominent leaders. In 1936, his Master passed away in Puri, but before the Master passed away, he gave his disciple the highest spiritual title of Paramahansa [Supreme Soul, the Soul is likened to the Swan [Hansa or Hamsa]].

Paramahansa Yogananda, wrote several books, the most well-known being ‘The Autobiography of a Yogi’, and  Gita Bhasya-meaning commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. The Autobiography of a Yogi has remained as a modern spiritual classic [strong IIIH].

He passed away on March 7^th 1952[when he was 59], at the end of a dinner party, as he was coming to the end of his address. But amazingly, his dead body defied all known laws of putrefaction, as it remained without putrefaction for 20 days, after his demise, without showing the slightest signs of putrefaction.

“Yogananda taught his students the need for direct experience of truth, as opposed to blind belief. He said that “The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul’s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God.”

“Echoing traditional Hindu teachings, he taught that the entire universe is God's cosmic motion picture, and that individuals are merely actors in the divine play who change roles through reincarnation. He taught that mankind's deep suffering is rooted in identifying too closely with one's current role, rather than with the movie's director, or God.

“He taught Kriyayoga and other meditation practices to help people achieve that understanding, which he called Self-Realization.

“Self-realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God’s omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all that you need to do is improve your knowing.”

He passed on to his disciples the techniques of Kriyayoga, which aim at the flowering of intelligence and the awakening of Kundalini-leading to Self-Realization.

Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada:

Chart and SA Light:  Had a Capricorn Asdt chart, with many strong planets. He had a strong benefic Me, as lord of the IXH of God, placed strongly in its own MTH. It also impacted closely on the MEP of the IIIH, thus making him very courageous, successful, with Divine Grace for followers, and giving him authorship over a number of excellent works in the spiritual field. He had a strong Ma, placed in the VH of Ishtha Devata, as the lord of the IVH of Atma or contentment, along with an exalted Mo, which was 60% in old age. This made him a devotee of God, lord Krishna in particular. Gave him very high discriminative  intelligence  and gains as well. Not to speak of Leonine courage, and a golden heart [IVH]. He had a strong VIIIH and a strong Su, which boosted his courage further, and made it possible for him to harness, the collective spiritual ethos of the human race. His status lord Sa was excellently placed in the XH, with its dispositor Ve placed in the IXH, in its deb sign. Ju alone was badly placed in the VIIIH of obstructions, and weakened further because of the Ra-Ke affliction to it. His spiritual work was done in the last 23 yrs of his life [54-77].

Life Data: Sri Prabhupada was one of the great Hindu teachers of the last century, who succeeded in bringing the fruits of Hindu Dharma to Hindus and non-Hindus, alike [worldwide], but especially in the United States. He belonged to the Hindu spiritual tradition called Sri Gaudiya Vaishnavism. He is known for being the Founder-Acharya of one of the largest Hindu Spiritual Movements in the last century, namely, that of ISKCON [International Society of Krishna Consciousness].

Life began for him, in quite a usual way-he married, had children, and even ran a small pharmaceutical business till his 54^th year. In 1950, at the age of 54, he took a deliberate step that is intermediate between a House-holder’s life and a Renunciant’s-this is recognized to be the third stage in a man’s life called Vanaprasthashrama. Though this step is not full renunciation, it does pave the way for exiting mundane entanglements, in the next, final and fourth phase, called Sannyasashrama.

In 1959, at the age of 63, he took Sannyas and started writing commentaries on the Vaishnava scriptures..

In 1966, when he was 70, he founded the ISKCON movement. He lived for another productive seven yrs. Six yrs after the founding of ISKCON, his magnificent work-a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita- called ‘The Bhagavad Gita-As It Is’ was published. In Its first printing 10,000 copies rolled out. Between the 2^nd printing and the 32^nd printing, another astonishing figure:         6, 10, 000 [six lakhs and ten thousands] copies were produced and in the 33^rd printing, another 60,000 copies were produced. This classical Hindu scripture was also translated into 19 languages, some Indian, and some European.

Many great thinkers in the Religious field {like the Roman Catholic Mystic Thomas Merton [1915-1968]}, have shown the highest regard for Swami Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada’s work on the Bhagavad Gita. During the last ten yrs of his life, he faced many challenges from his critics-to the effect that the ISKCON was a cult which was attracting the American youth, but he weathered all such storms with a lion’s heart and succeeded in leaving for posterity a Monumental Spiritual Legacy, even though in one sense, it was rather narrowly circumscribed around a single and unique personal God, namely, Lord Krishna.

Mikhail Gorbachev [1931- ...]

Chart & SA Light: Here again we have an intellectual Gemini Asdt, with a strong Ju placed in the Asdt H and aspecting the two Dharma Hs, namely the VH and the IXH. Ju bestowed upon him, both love of learning, and association with institutions of higher learning. He studied Law at Moscow University. It also gave him connections with distant lands, and a good relationship with his wife. The Su, which is a very important planet for the Gemini Asdt is well-placed in the IXH of higher learning and God’s justice, and likewise, Me is also placed there. But the curious thing is that, as in the case of Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, the IIIH lord is exactly blessed by Ju, the foremost planet of Divine Grace and this held the key to his Monumental achievement. The blessing, in the case of Mikhail Gorbachev was much more powerful, than that in the corresponding case of Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, as Yogananda’s Ju was weakly placed in the VIIIH.

He was eloquent in communication, he did, in his capacity as the head of the USSR, what was Dharmic[Ju-aspects the Su, in the IXH] and good for the land, authored good works, had Monumental Courage, for bringing down the Communist ideology and state. Sa, which is another Sun-like lord for the Gemini Asdt was also aspecting the strong Asdt, albeit with a weakness of 50%, but only due to old age. This fortifies the Asdt, further, and makes Mikhail Gorbachev virtuous and ethical, and without this ethical disposition, he would have had less Divine Grace to terminate the repressive Communist Ideology and Regime.

The IIH is another Sun-like H and here the IIH lord the Mo, is strong in its own MTH. This gave him high academic accolades and made his rise to political power in a fast-paced way. The strong Mo also facilitated communication with the masses.

Ju’s blessing to the Su, the placement of the Su and Me in the IXH, the strong Mo, the aspect of Sa to the Asdt, the placement of  the strong Ju in the Asdt, all these factors combined together, to give him a very high nobility of soul, for accomplishing his Monumental Mission.

Life Data: The winner of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize[strong IIH] will go down in history as that lion-hearted statesman, & head of the USSR, who courageously dismantled the evil empire of Communism and thereby liberated millions of Soviet people, from the suffocation of the Communist rule-because they were living under that rule like frightened sheep. Those who are familiar with politics within USSR, will immediately recognize Gorbachev’s achievement to be one of the great political revolutions of our times-a near impossibility, in fact.

In his childhood, he had seen hard times and saw his grandfather imprisoned for 9 long yrs, for some small violation of rules in the context of community farming and collective granaries. This was the highly repressive brute force regime of Joseph Stalin. During the World War II years [1942-1944] he had known what it was like to have German troops stationed in his native village.

Though he had a very good idea of collective farming and agriculture, he was also very outstanding as a university student and had an excellent academic record [Note his intellectual Gemini Asdt with a strong Ju in the Asdt]. He went to the university [1953] as a law student, and was always interested in Politics. There he met his future wife and they married in 1957. A girl child was born in Jan 1957.

He had a fairly easy and fast ascent in Politics. Notice the exact aspect of the strong benefic Ju on to the Su, as the IIIH lord of courage and success. In 1980, he became a member of the Polit Buro. Thereafter he rose to the position of the General Secretary of the Communist party [1986-1991].In 1988, he introduced the revolutionary policy of Glasnost [being transparent and open], which gave greater freedom of initiative, thought and expression. Thus towards the end of the 1980’s   he brought in more restructuring[Perestroika] and Glasnost[Openness].In this way, the already economically-crumbling the 70-year old Communist ideology was given the final blow and dismantled, as he was the head of the USSR, between 1988 and 1991.

He introduced greater liberalization of the economy. Made God respectable in Soviet lands once again, Church bells began to ring louder and family culture began to flourish, after having been denied these simple joys of the soul for 70 yrs. The East-European countries also became free from Soviet domination. He decentralized power and built up better international relationships.

Part III