Destiny or Freewill, what rules supreme, has been a matter of continued debate. Destiny driven people do not give any credence to freewill at all. When I advise such people to explore their inner-self, identify the indwelling negative tendencies, and address them, I am often confronted with the question: “That’s my inborn nature, how can I change itIJ” But among those who really worked upon them, some of them could scale unimaginable heights also.

Here is the case of a realised master, Pandit Nagraj Sharma in his late 90s, whom I had the pleasure to meet during my recent visit to Amarkantak, where from two major rivers namely Narmada and Son originate. like any other ordinary mortal, he too, was born with a baggage mix of both positives and negatives. In fact, if we look at his negatives, it is difficult to believe that he would be a balanced person, what to talk of attaining great heights that he has actually scaled. But he identified his negatives through intense self-reflection, worked upon them in all seriousness, and got over them. Having thus cleared off all his inlaid negative baggage and with that all preconditioning gone, his mind was ready for fresh inquiry.

As a consequence, when he got into intense meditation, he had the rare distinction of experiencing the state of samadhi, the pinnacle of meditative experiences.  This is the highest state of Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga. But instead of exhibiting his intuitive power developed following samadhi, which normally most of the godmen do to impress people, he turned his enlightened mind towards ayurveda.  He did extensive research on medicinal herbs and could develop products of great medicinal value. All these were enough for me to be tempted to seek his blessings.

When Pandit Sharma’s family members learnt that I am an astrologer with long experience, they expressed the desire to cast his horoscope. But only his date and place of birth were known, his time of birth was not. I assured them that the Krishnamurti system I follow has a time tested provision for arriving at the right time of birth, even if the tentative time of birth is not known.

For a commoner, finding out exact time of birth through astrological calculation may appear to be a fictional idea. But remember, there remains continuum in time and space all through its continued run. So there has to be reciprocity between the dynamics of present moment with the one in the past. Working on this concept, late Sri KS Krishnamurti, who developed the system, arrived at the conclusion that the ruling planets at the time of consultation has to be in conformity with the time one would be born. Applying this technique I worked out Pandit Sharma’s exact time of birth and then cast his horoscope.

let us now have a look at his chart to figure out his negative trends in particular. The Sun placed adverse to Mars and Saturn meant that he should be inherently aggressive, argumentative, impulsive, quarrelsome, and with a negative mindset. Mars ill-disposed off to Saturn makes him due for physical and emotional strain. Moon locked in adverse formation to Neptune and Jupiter account for his volatile emotionality. Also, he should be an escapist stuck to his self-delusions.

See how he turned his negatives into positives. Remember, the planets signify a particular stream of energy having specific characteristic features. These energies are available in equal proportion to all of us. They, however, reflect on individuals according as their minds are inherently framed. And energies do not have a drive of their own, the way you turn them is how they are going to act. Once he overcame his negatives and turned his mind positive, the planetary combination that brought in negative tendencies began working positively to his advantage. He continued to be aggressive as indicated above, but that got directed towards passionately pursuing his creative passion. The negative mindset, instead, turned into a sense of detachment. He did escape the routine frame of life usually followed by ordinary mortals but to work upon his innovative ideas directed towards benefiting larger mass.  His psychic faculty also got further empowered.

He had enough of positives as well, which he honed further. All put together is what makes Pandit Nagraj Sharma as he stands today. It is not important that all of us reach Pandit Sharma’s level. But even if we are able to achieve a fraction of it, our lives will turn into a beautiful experience.

The writer is an astrologer, vastu consultant and spiritual counsellor. Write to him at G-5, Basement, Jungpura Extension, New Delhi 14 Tel: 9818037273/ 24310031 Email: pioneerqueries@bharatastro.com Website: www.bharatastro.com