Decoding Rahu: The Mystical Planet

Important Declaration This book does not seek to challenge or disrespect any religion, school of thought, doctrine or cultural beliefs nor the individuals corresponding to any of the same.

Consider this book a unique perspective on the subject matter woven together with the singular purpose of helping the reader, no matter what religion, beliefs or culture, school of thought they may belong to, in decoding the significations of the mythical entity ‘Rahu’.

Publisher: Coach Kaushal 7th floor, The Address Building Mayur Vihar Extension New Delhi 110091

© 2024 by Jay Kaushal

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover credits: elankhong.com

First Edition Published Paper Free Made with love in India

Foreword I wrote this book back in 2021 with the singular focus of combining my analyses of the energy of ‘Rahu’, the North node of the Moon across multiple disciplines and schools of thought.

At the time, I really didn’t have the necessary confidence in the ideas I was putting across because I didn’t know how they would be received by the average reader studying ‘Rahu’ from a purely ‘vedic’ astrological perspective.

So I wrote the book under a pen name ‘Dhananjay Kalki’ and published it to amazon. Over the period of the next 6 weeks, this book reached the top of the charts in the category ‘Astrology & Occult’, beating lengthier volumes by far more established astrologers such as Marc Boney.

Then suddenly, one fine day, amazon banned my book without any explanation whatsoever. The only thing conveyed to me was the ‘Decoding Rahu’ was in some way against the content guidelines of the platform.

I enquired whether it was the cover, the title or the content? I received no clear answers. The only answer I received was that amazon community guidelines found the book to contain ‘adult’ content that was against the guidelines of the platform.

I proceeded to threaten amazon with legal action if they failed to take off all my books from the platform and close my account. If you’re randomly striking down a book that has been on the top of the charts for 4-6 weeks and doing so without a decent explanation why.. then I can’t trust you as a platform. Plain and simple!

A few months later I got to know that despite the so called ‘guarantees’ that amazon provides its publishers against piracy, someone was ‘reselling’ my book via their platform.

This was shocking as there weren’t ‘physical’ copies to be resold! This was a book that I released exclusively on Kindle and unless someone actually went through the trouble (with malicious intent) to copy the content of my book and then sell it illegally, this wasn’t possible.

I sent a copyright notice to the individual but to no avail. I didn’t really want any more hassle than I had already been through so I dropped the idea altogether and began focusing on the paperback edition of this book with an expanded research and 4 additional chapters.

However, as with the energy of ‘Rahu’ it’s just a project that has been continuously pushing deadlines and running into weird holdups. Meanwhile, the book is still illegally available online and a lot of my audience from Quora and Youtube, tired of waiting I suppose for the real deal.. having been buying this in the black market.

So this near year 2024, I decided to make it available for free on issuu.

I am still working on the updated and enhanced paperback edition of this book and the reason it’s taking time is because this time I want to retain all ownership and distribution rights.

I plan to sell this book independently from an online bookstore hosted on my website coachkaushal.com and protect it well from any kind of miscreants.

That’s the business aspect of it. From a literary aspect as far as it is concerned, you can expect a lot more well researched knowledge that helps you decode this mysterious entity ‘Rahu’ which is said to be very closely connected to one’s life purpose and destiny.

So please take this book as a teaser for a much bigger volume to follow.

Hope you enjoy it.

To sign up to be notified for the ‘Decoding Rahu’ paperback, you may do so on the link given below: https://coachkaushal.com/decoding-rahu-the-mystical-planet/

Hari Om!

Vedic Thought Hari Om Namo Narayana!

The ‘Samudra Manthan’ or the ‘churning of the ocean’ in Hindu mythology is probably our own analogy to the formation of continents from the oceans, as explained in geographic texts in the scientific world.

It’s a scientific fact that in the early years of its formation, the Earth was nothing more than a ball of swirling hot gases and molten minerals. Later on as it cooled down, it was for a long time nothing more than a blue globe of water.

It is here that the concept of Samudra Manthan as described in the ‘Purana’s become relevant. It is said that all of the materials that we see in the world around us today came from the churning of the oceans. The churning of the oceans is actually where the story of Rahu begins.

But even before that, it is important to note that in Hindu mythology, it is the ‘Varaaha Avatar’ or the celestial boar, an incarnation of Vishnu, who is credited with saving the Earth from being drowned. You see, there was this powerful demon who wanted to push the Earth into the abyss and to save the Earth, Lord Vishnu is said to have taken the form of Varaaha, the celestial boar and pulled out the Earth from the abyss on the balance of his tusks.

Rahu, is one of the ‘Navagrahas’ or nine planets, who is credited with development and fulfillment of desire in the material world and each one of Vishnu’s avatars correspond to one of the nine planets. The Varaaha avatar corresponds to Rahu.

Rahu is actually very closely tied to creation and represents desire. If there was no Rahu, there would be no forward karma for the soul meaning there would be no incentive for the soul to manifest in this world. The soul manifests in this world because it still has areas in which it desires growth and Rahu helps the soul achieve that grounding in this material plane by means of experiences to aid growth.

People often complain in Rahu mahadasha and antardasha about feeling lost, depleted and out of element, ‘waiting for it to be over’ while the truth is Rahu is nothing more than the vector of change. It’s easy to spend your entire life limited to your security paradigms, which is what Ketu represents in your chart. However it is very difficult to do the necessary work and go through the necessary cycles in order to grow like you need to. In order to grow like your soul desires to grow in the material plane.

That’s all the purpose of Rahu is really but we mistake it for other things. One of the biggest reasons for so much fear attached to this shadow planet is a lack of proper knowledge and understanding of the ancient texts that are too many and too far apart from each other.

The Sankhya shastra talks about one aspect of creation, birth, rebirth and cyclical death and rebirth. The Garuda purana talks about something completely different yet is too a subset of the same vastness of which the Upanishads form a part.

Then there are the Jaimini Sutras and the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, there is Nadi Jyotisha and then there is Bhrigu Samhita. Then Tajaka astrology has also been integrated to our systems of learning and so have some western astrological concepts.

The difference between divination, mythology, astronomy and astrology is so indistinct in the field of Vedic astrology that most people end up being confused. Most people end up confused because they miss the point entirely which is to look at all of the data objectively.

If you know two things to be true and can’t find a way for both of them to be true, don’t fudge one to match the other. Find a way that provides you the means to look at both objectively such that both of them are true.

This is where the most interesting aspects of Vedic astrology emerge and you begin to realize how much of the truth is really hidden from most who claim to know it. Yes, soap operas about devas and asuras have certainly distorted people’s understanding of the same. The truth about everything though is beyond all of that. It is beyond everything that meets the eye and more.

None of the present gods and goddesses in our world are actually as they originally were. Some have evolved and some have remained the same. Some have changed entirely and new ones have come up. Paganism however throughout the world throws up interesting similarities which are hard to ignore. It is amazing how Zeus can have similar traits as Indra and Jupiter.

It’s also quite amazing that the African goddess Oshun is quite similar in a lot of ways to the Hindu goddess Ganga and Buddhist goddess Tara.

Then again, Tara has many incarnations in the same way as Durga and other Egyptian and African goddesses.

What scientists may dismiss as mere coincidence or scientific minded people may dismiss as superstition and heresy is actually a testament to the ‘connected consciousness’ of the human race. How can anyone claim to have an original idea when almost every idea no matter how original can be traced back to someone from some era if not contemporary.

In Tantra, a hidden part of Shakt tradition in Hinduism, there are hidden forms of each of the visible forms of the Goddess Durga. There is Saraswati, the usually seen and known form of the goddess of knowledge, depicted wearing white and holding a Veena, Rosary and the Vedas. Her

Tantric counterpart is ‘Matangi’ a goddess depicted in green to whom only impure offerings are offered.

The reason for this is that Matangi is the goddess of hidden knowledge and offering her food after tasting it is meant to signify that no knowledge no matter how hidden, is unique. To gain hidden knowledge, or ‘true’ knowledge, one must first accept that all knowledge is somehow impure.

Strangely enough, this is where the concept of Rahu comes in and much unlike what you may have heard from your average ‘jyotshis’ or ‘pandijis’, the collective consciousness of Hindu historians was very advanced.

You think the people who came up with the decimal system and economics would just write things for the sake of it without any underlying code to it?

Yes in the modern age one may be tempted to think that way as times are tough and the ‘Pro Hindu’ brigade has been going all out recently in vehemently defending imaginative concepts they have no conception of. People all around the world are diving back into their roots frantically to be able to make sense of their present value system but aren’t really going about it in the right fashion. Obviously therefore, when you set about propagating theories you don’t know the origins to yourself, you find yourself as just another dumb portal in the vast network of information.

You see, information is just that and inconsequential at that if you don’t apply to it the analytical skills necessary to convert it to ‘knowledge’ using your critical insights. Mythology is just mythology if you don’t try to understand it from the perspective of the contemporary scholars and level of societal development.

Things are a lot deeper than they appear when you attach the right context to them and the mythology of any culture is no different. Especially if you consider the fact most of these ancient texts have been written or compiled by established scholars who had patrons who were the wealthy upper class in the feudal structure or kings themselves.

Entertainment could have been one of the reasons for detailed research and description of these things as are mentioned and some even go to the extent to say that majority of these scriptures were written under the influence of ‘Soma ras’ which was a drink synthesized from cannabis.

Therefore, vast proportions as explained are to be ignored and the underlying meaning be made an effort to comprehend.

Before you dismiss this as blasphemous, be informed that there is archaeological evidence of the same. Moreover, ‘Bhaanga’ a derivative of Cannabis finds a lot of acceptance and application in Shaivite culture. Therefore, vast proportions as explained are to be ignored and the underlying meaning be made an effort to comprehend.

Either way, I personally am of the opinion that Vedic astrology or ‘Jyotishmathi’ that finds a mention in the Atharva Veda is a tool for self realization. In this I share the view of some of the most prominent astrologers of our times as well and even some of the leading spiritual minds.

The main reason I have for saying so is that Vedic astrology in its true essence doesn’t stand on its own at all. This isn’t a stand-alone subject by any means. It was never meant to be that way at all either!

‘Vedic astrology’ employs concepts based on ‘Vedic’ knowledge. It is a very complex system where everything is coded and every meaning is subjective and to be understood in the right context, the adjoining ‘mythology’ or details of it must be known. Add to this scientific measures such as astronomical coordinates and you have a system that is cross referenced extensively. Add to it further the beauty of the Sanskrit language being its ‘checksum’ system, you can verify if a particular shloka has been tampered with or not.

Basically, in the Sanskrit language, there is a formula for writing every ‘shloka’. It needs to have a specific number of ‘maatras’, letters and word count.

For example, the most common ‘chhand’ or ‘verse’ used for writing mantras of the gods across the Vedas and Ramayana, Gita and Mahabharata is the ‘Anushtup Chhand’. The Anushtup Chhand consists of 32 letters or ‘varnas’ spread across four feet of eight ‘varnas’ each.

Moving further, Jyotisha relates to Tantra which is a school of Shakti worship that details ways of self realization in this world by manipulating energy centres within the body through Saadhna.

Now further, a lot of it is quite related to Kriya Yoga and Mantra Saadhnas which are further derived from study of the Vedas.

Long story short, if you have the eye for research and bypass this obsession of predicting the future with astrology which is what it has been relegated to in the past several hundred years, you can see in Jyotisha, a solid avenue for self analysis.

What is the point of reading any of these ‘sacred texts’ if they cannot change your life? Nothing.

That’s actually the point of reading them, to be able to change the baser instincts in your consciousness and develop your mind through austerities and exemplary behavior which is often depicted through interesting and engaging stories.

Take the example of the Panchatantra, the most popular example of the same which has been spread across the world more or less owing to the simple nature of the underlying morals.

Similar is the case with Aesop’s Fables that came from the west and Hans Christian Anderson’s popular children stories.

The only difference between these stories and the extremely lengthy volumes passed down from generation to generation vastly through memorization is that Hindu mythological texts are rooted in Vedic knowledge. While each of the volume of the Vedas is connected to each other in some

way, the vast array of ‘supplementary’ reading, the Puranas are considered the ‘Fifth Veda’ because these stories dive into the same concepts in a little more detail with a lot more simplicity for the common man’s understanding.

That is why it is said for a lot of these texts that your karma is improved even if you listen to them being recited. That is why quite often you’ll see in Hindu households that when things are not quite going right for the family they host a reading of Puranas. If they have been blessed they hold a reading of the Puranas and if they are just generally desiring prosperity, they hold a reading of the Puranas.

The reason is the simplified nature of the stories that seek to propagate Vedic thought, a lot of which was firmly rooted in ‘discernment’. This word right here is so important that I pity the person who has skipped it in trying to storm through the book and claim it read. This is all that most Vedic literature is about. Pick any book you want from anywhere, ‘discernment’ is the central theme. Pick Tulsi’s Ramayana, Valmiki’s Ramcharitmanas, Shrimad Bhagavatam, Upanishads, most of Kalidasa’s famous plays such as Meghdootam or Bana Bhatt’s Kadambari Kathamukham, the central theme is discernment.

Hindu culture has always laid a lot of weight on discernment. The famous three words in philosophical thought now spread across the world “Tat Tvam Asi” or “That Art Thou” are the fountainhead of Vedic thought.

This is why perhaps that Buddhism was integrated into Hinudism and Buddha included as one of the avatars of Vishnu. Staunch Buddhist proponents in India take a strong disliking to this fact perhaps because it completely blurs the segregation of Buddhist thought with Vedic thought.

Perhaps there wouldn’t be a tangible way for those aggrieved of Pro Hindu oppression to claim emancipation that it is convenient that Buddhism remains distinct from Hinduism.

If you really think of it, that is probably the basis of all religions of the world being maintained thoroughly heterogeneous and distinct. The problem is though, the odds are rather stacked against these factional elements as history and geography as I have pointed before, is rife with examples pointing towards the opposite. The fact is that the more we try to be different the more we end up becoming the same but in a way that I don’t know it and you don’t realize it.

This is the basis of all Vedic thought and that is why we have an overflowing syllabus of texts.

It’s the fact that pluralism makes for interesting discussion and what better test of discernment is there than to increase the number of choices to elect from. So therefore, this should be the basis of Vedic enquiry or even theological enquiry in the same way that courts across the world borrow a leaf from each other’s books when passing judgments, when we try to study mythology or rather what is scientifically classified as ‘mythology’, we could try our best to look at what is being said multi dimensionally. That will have the most far reaching benefits.

The Legend of Swarbhanu One of the most interesting stories from the Puranas, is the story of the Asura, Swarbhanu.

A long time ago when the Earth was nothing more than a ball of swirling oceans, the devas and asuras began the humongous task of churning the ‘ocean of milk’. Vishnu’s Kurma avatar or the giant turtle was the chosen incarnation for bearing the load of Mount Mandara. Mount Mandara was supposed to be the giant pole used to churn the ocean.

The ocean of milk is said to be located as the fifth ocean from the center of the seven oceans. It is said to surround the continents known as Karuncha. The churning of the ocean was done primarily to harness ‘Amrita’ or the nectar of immortality from it. Why was it required?

Well, it so happened that once upon a time, Indra the king of heaven or ‘Swarga Loka’ one of the 14 Lokas as detailed in the Shrimad Bhagavatam, while riding on his elephant the Airavata, came across sage Durvasa. Durvasa, who is considered one of the most powerful ‘Rishis’ or ‘celestial monks’ to have ever lived, was born out of Shiva’s anger. He was therefore quite naturally, notorious for his anger. Everywhere Durvasa went, he was treated with great reverence lest he curse the inhabitants in rage.

Indra, the king of heaven, on the other hand, is considered across the puranas to be notorious for his pride. Also, Indra had been cursed to always be encountering instability in his kingdom. As a result of this, even with the most powerful army in the universe and quite often even with the best intentions, Indra is doomed to periodically encounter fateful events that invariably lead to him losing his kingdom. Whenever he loses his kingdom, Indra has to let go of his pride and seek help from Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, to fight back and regain power.

One day, as fate would have it, Durvasa offered Indra a celestial garland made by celestial nymphs, or apsaras. Indra, in an attempt to prove his humility, accepted the prize gracefully and placed the garland on the trunk of his esteemed elephant, the mighty Airavata. However, the garland being as splenderous as it was but a garland after all, suddenly began to attract bees and Airavata being an elephant after all, got irritated and flung the garland away with a flick of his trunk.

This enraged Durvasa who took it as a personal insult and cursed Indra and all his followers, the devas, to become bereft of all strength, energy and fortune.

Now, since times immemorial, battles have raged between the suras and asuras. The asuras in their constant intent to breach the gates of heaven have tried their very best to outwit the simple devas. As described in the Puranas, the asuras are actually quite an industrious and conniving bunch. So far as we are able to make out from the study of Sanskrit texts, they would probably win outright if not for Vishnu stepping in time and again to help out the devas.

This time however, the upturn was of epic proportions and led by Bali, one of the strongest asura kings to have ever lived, the asura army gained control over the entire universe. When the time came to churn the ocean, the devas and asuras both realized that it was not a job to be accomplished alone. It was a job of massive proportions in fact as is detailed in the Shrimad Bhagavtam. Seems quite natural in fact as so many connotations you see attached to the popular gods, were thrown out from the samudra manthan.

As usual, the devas sought help from Lord Vishnu to overcome the asuras. Vishnu being Vishnu, as is his nature, advised the devas to deal with the asuras in a diplomatic manner. He promised the devas however that if they cooperated with the asuras in a diplomatic manner, after the samudra manthan, he would ensure that the devas get the nectar of immortality first.

It is important to note here that if you listen to these ‘stories’ without observation it is very easy to get carried away into the impression that Vishnu is biased towards the devas. It is very easy to get carried away into the impression that Vishnu is the asura like manipulative, conniving entity who trumps the asuras’ plans.

A lot of people say that when they hear stories from the Vishnu Purana. Obviously, there are those who don’t even venture close enough to reason whether or not the Lord is justified in doing what he does as that would be blasphemous. However, Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma, is intrinsically pluralistic and it is not uncommon for some enlightened pandiji or swamiji to motivate the audience to ‘think’ and reason as they are listening to the ‘katha’ or stories being recited from the puranas.

The legend of Swarbhanu is an amazing starting point in the cycle of karma as the supreme entity ‘Vishnu’ provides to excute itself. From the purview of just this story, Vishnu has the intent to help as he can see Indra meant no harm in what he did. His actions weren’t disrespectful and he was trying if nothing more to rise above his personal weakness and stereotype which is pride. Now that destiny has other plans is a different matter altogether as Durvasa being Durvasa, is acting out of his own nature which is although extremely powerful, intelligent and knowledgeable, prone to anger which paradoxically is a result of his own ego.

To the uninitiated, Bali was one of the greatest asura kings, famous for his ability to donate and give. Why did it make him so great? For two reasons: The first one being the fact that sacrifice and altruism is considered to be the basis of human development especially in Hinudism and all religions bearing loose connections with it or branching out from it. Take Jainism, Buddhism and Sikkhism, the values of sacrifice hold a special place.

Secondly, to be able to hold those values as an asura, where being selfish and self centered is the norm, Bali had a special place among kings as a whole not just the asuras. So on the one side, we have the simple devas lead by a man who mostly succumbs to comedies of errors while engaging in a pompous display of his grandiosity. The other corner has an exceptional king who leads from the front, displaying qualities his subjects haven’t yet evolved in themselves.

Why does Vishnu side with the devas then? Well, as you will see later on in this story, the only thing Vishnu ever does is strive to maintain the balance. Nothing more nothing less.

The asuras usually get their doses of power by praying to Shiva or Prajapati who give freely.

They give freely because Shiva doesn’t really care. He is the god of death and culmination. His natural instinct is to give because death hangs upon us all. Take the tools you need and do what you want to because if there is anything certain in this world, it is death and you can never be given the boon of immortality. Prajapati Brahma gives freely to demons who pray for his generosity because everyone is the same to him, him being the creator.

Obviously, to be granted boons, you need to perform tough penance to appease Prajapati and Shiva and asuras are described as having a lot of ‘yatna’ shakti or the power to work hard.

Therefore, asuras would routinely perform tough penance to appease the gods and seek boons from them.

If you look at someone’s chart with a lot of well placed malefic planets against someone with a lot of well placed benefic planets, there’s a chance the former will have more material success.

Why? To achieve material things you need to have a lot of ‘Rajasik guna’ or the quality to desire and work.

Now have you ever wondered why is it that any book you pick up, you find the devotees of Vishnu as these mendicant, absorbed simpletons with no ambition for power or authority? Well, Vishnu is in the middle of the Trimurti and is in charge of maintaining the balance of the world.

It is important to note here that this amalgamation has come about only later and early on in the Vedic period, Vishnu was not considered one of the main gods.

The main gods in that period were the Vedic gods; Indra, Agni, Mitra, Varuna. The Sun god had one of the primary spots and Shiva, or Pashupathi actually traces his origin back to the Harappan civilization. Vishnu has acquired the widespread traction and acclaim mainly in the Bhakti period and a renaissance in the Gupta period. The Bhakti era was when people really got into Vishnu worship and if you look closely into what Vaishnavism is about, it will come as no sacrifice that asuras aren’t great fans of Vishnu.

Vishnu or ‘Hari’ meaning to ‘take away’ is notorious for bursting your bubble about the world and creation in general. Vishnu’s job is not to take away your material possessions or belongings as most people lost in maaya so fear, but to help you wake up to the reality of the world and understand that none of this is actually real. Vishnu ‘takes away’ your desire by taking away

your illusions about the world and creation. Vishnu wakes you up to the reality of life and shows you that the truth about existence is actually to embrace vulnerability for spiritual growth. The way to that vulnerability and spiritual growth is to learn to give and offer oneself in service.

Once you do that, once you embrace that vulnerability, Vishnu’s message to you is that your problems are his problems and he’ll find a way for you even if you are too simple to realize one.

And so therefore, Vishnu promises the Devas that he will do whatever is necessary to ensure they get their hands on the elixir of immortality. However, to reclaim Swarga loka from the Asuras, they were to offer them a truce in return for churning the ocean together and mining amrita or the nectar of immortality. They offered to share and divide amongst them the nectar of immortality when it was successfully churned from the ocean. The asuras agreed to this arrangement and both parties began the process of churning the Ksheer sagar.

When the preparations for the churning process began, both parties working amid a truce began to troubleshoot a lot of practical problems that came up. First of all, they needed a long enough pole to successfully be able to churn the ocean. For this, they zeroed in on the mythical Mount Mandara. However when the question of lifting and bringing the mountain to the site came up, everyone was clueless.

Vishnu intervened at this point and suggested that they take the help of Garuda, the King of birds, to fly the giant mountain to the churning site.

But with what shall we churn this giant pole everyone wondered!

To be used as a large rope for this purpose, Vishnu suggested the name of the celestial serpent Vasuki who coils around Shiva’s neck. He was to be summoned to the churning site too but after Garuda left. As despite everyone’s divinity, Garuda was still an eagle and Vasuki still a serpent, they both were prone to a natural enmity and that had to be worked around.

So Garuda lifted the giant mountain Mandara and brought it to the site and Vasuki was summoned as soon as Garuda left. However, as soon as the giant mountain was placed on the surface of the sea it began to sink into the water. Once again, Vishnu came to the rescue, transforming himself into a giant tortoise to bear the load of the mountain on his back and prevent it from sinking.

Now when the time came to start the churning process, another conflict came up. The asuras wouldn’t hold Vasuki from the tail as they found it disrespectful to be holding the tail end of a serpent. So the devas who were holding the head shifted to the tail end to appease the asuras and make them work together.

At this point, it was realized that a balance was needed to ensure that the mountain didn’t lean over to any of the ends. To fix this problem, Brahma was invited to be seated at the top of Mount Mandara.

So the story goes that they churned and they churned for a thousand years and owing to the tug on Vasuki from both sides, Vasuki being a serpent after all, began to spit poison and fumes that weakened the asura camp as a lot of them being near the head, came in the line of fire. They kept on churning and finally after a millennium, the first product came up from the depths of the ocean; vast amounts of poison, ‘Halahala’. The quantity and potency of the poison was such that it was enough to wipe out all life.

At this moment, Shiva stepped in and drank the poison as a bid to save the planet and life.

Shocked at his selfless deed, Parvati, his consort grabbed him by the throat to stop the poison from progressing further down his throat thereby restricting its flow. This saved the entire universe and Shiva came to be known as Neel Kantha or the one with the blue throat.

The churning went on and it was beyond this point that precious items began to be churned out.

All kinds of herbs were cast into the ocean and fourteen ratnas (gems or treasures) were produced from it and were divided between the asuras and the devas.. According to the quality of the treasures produced, they were accepted by Shiva (because of consuming the poison), Vishnu, Maha Rishis (for Kamadhenu or Surabhi), which was given by Vishnu, the devas and the asuras.

In addition to that, three categories of Goddesses, Apsaras, supernatural animals, valuables and divine entitites emerged from the ocean.

Finally emerged from the ocean, Dhanvantari, the divine physician of the gods, holding a pot of amrita or the nectar of immortality. This final development resulted in a furious scramble between the asuras and devas for the prize. Garuda swooped down to collect the nectar and flew away with it.

As things calmed down a little, in order to end the deadlock and finally distribute the nectar, Vishnu changed his form to that of a seductress Mohini and emerged from the ocean carrying the pot of amrita.

The asuras were enchanted by the heavenly mesmerizing beauty of Mohini and lost all recollection of their goals and ambitions. All they could think of was following Mohini where she lead them, carrying the nectar of immortality with her. In some time, Mohini had hypnotized all of the asuras with her seductive breath taking charm and finally put forth a suggestion to distribute the nectar.

She assured the asuras that they would get their share of the nectar too but the devas would be given their share first. Mesmerized as they were, the asuras agreed to her conditions and queued up after the devas to wait patiently for their turn.

All but one, the asura Swarbhanu.

Swarbhanu was the only demon who could see through the illusion of the divine creator himself.

In the same way that Bali was exceptional in qualities as an asura, Swarbhanu was exceptional in the enhancement of those qualities that asuras possess.

Not only did he possess the drive and the obsession to not trust anyone but himself in pursuit of immortality, Swarbhanu knew how to mask it as well.

This is actually very interesting and provides a lot of clues to the energy of Rahu and Ketu in one’s chart. People with the nodes quite prominent in their chart or in the Kendra houses quite often are the same.

They are either greats in their field such as Amitabh Bachchan (Ketu in first house), Putin(Ketu in 10th house) or they squander through life aimlessly without direction.

Rahu’s placement in your chart shows where is it exactly that your soul is pulled towards and pulled towards in a way that is beyond your control.

Swarbhanu in himself didn’t formulate the plan with careful thought.

If you really compare his behavior with what we know about human nature and behavior in modern times, Swarbhanu kind of ‘went with the flow’.

If he had spent the time to carefully think things through and plan and analyze the pros can cons of what he was going to do, he most probably would have missed the chance.

It was the split second urge to not trust anyone but himself and go for what he knew he desperately needed.

Immortality.

Greatness.

A lot of scholars will have varying opinions about this but the truth is, Swarbhanu’s action is actually quite impressive. If you really look at it, he deserved the nectar of immortality just as much as anybody else who participated in the manthan.

Maybe he would have got the amrita after all by following the rules but maybe he wouldn’t have.

The point is, there is no guarantee that the asuras, being asuras after all and quite uncouth in their behavior, would have shredded each other to bits for a bigger share of the amrita.

This is why the great actors, entrepreneurs, leaders, celebrities and sportsmen all mostly have a promiment nodal placement in their chart.

It’s the trait of putting yourself first before everyone else but not in the opportunistic and evil way as most people think. It’s the trait of putting yourself before everyone else to get what you know you deserve.

You look at the birth dates of some of the greatest businessmen and actors in the world you will find the number 4 and 7 quite prominent.

The number 4 in numerology corresponds to Rahu and 7 corresponds to Ketu.

So it happened that the devas sat in line waiting patiently for their turns to drink the nectar of immortality as being distributed by Mohini. The seven bodied planets or grahas, all sat in one line. Surya, Chandra, Mangal, Budha et all.

Suddenly Surya realized that there was another deva sitting between him and Chandra. Surya enquired of Chandra if he could recognize this deva. Chandra didn’t think anything was out of place as he presumed the deva to be with Surya. By the time Mohini had reached them they both realized that the deva sitting between them was not a deva at all but an impostor.

Before they could alert Mohini of this fact, the impostor was already drinking the nectar of immortality from the pot.

Surya alerted Mohini who realized she had been fooled. Taking the form of Lord Vishnu himself, his true form, Vishnu decapitated the demon Swarbhanu into two parts but not in time.

The nectar of immortality had been consumed by this crafty operator and although it hadn’t reached his torso it was still in his throat as he was being dismembered by the Sudarshan chakra.

Long story short, there was no going back from either of the actions, Swarbhanu the slick demon had become immortal however being cut into two would have to live on in two parts, Rahu and Ketu.

Many questions arise here of what and why and how.

In the end most conclude that it was Vishnu’s wish that the Rahu and Ketu be always present in the universe. It was Vishnu’s wish and in Bhakti tradition especially, it is said that it is the divine’s wish alone that is the sole cause of everything in this world.

Even if you wish to perform a yajna to impress the devas, the inspiration to do so must come from the divine.

Only the divine can direct your consciousness.

Therefore, the energy of Swarbhanu was required to be immortalized.

This is because while many associate Rahu and Ketu with confusion, in truth was Swarbhanu practiced by effortlessly slipping in to the line to get his share of amrita depicts ‘discernment’.

‘Discernment’ is the biggest and most important quality highlighted by the Vedas.

Swarbhanu was discerning enough to not fall for the charms of Mohini unlike the rest of the asuras.

He was also discerning enough to see that the devas on their own were incapable of claiming their share of the amrita without Vishnu’s help.

He also saw that Mohini, in her enchanting form, was too full of herself to imagine the possibility that her charm wouldn’t work on even one asura.

Amidst the commotion of all the divine entities and divine goods being mined from the churning of the ocean, Swarbhanu was one individual who remained focused on the end goal.

Others may have gotten confused or distracted by the apsaras, gems, celestial animals like Kamdhenu and divine entities like Lakshmi and Soma coming out the ocean but not Swarbhanu.

Now what people need to understand is that this energy may not be operating consciously in this lifetime but this is how it acts.

Consciously, you may not want to take the direction that Rahu is leading you towards but your soul knows instinctively that is the path to take.

This is why a lot of people who encounter Rahu mahadasha before the age of 42 (when Rahu matures) or people who don’t have any planets in Rahu nakshatras, face a lot of problems.

If you have some planets in Rahu nakshataras then Rahu mahadasha or antardasha periods although may be accompanied by swift change, you still have some familiarity with the energy.

However, if you have no planets in Rahu’s nakshatras namely Ardra, Swati and Shatabhishaka, when Rahu mahadasha comes along you feel the entire course of your life has changed.

This is very chaotic compared to Ketu mahadasha as Ketu mahadasha still comes with sufficient knowledge of what actions you need to take to stay afloat.

Rahu is the embodiement of the immortal Swarbhanu’s mind.

You can try all you want to do one thing but when faced with a situation that is troubling you considerably in life, your reaction towards it is how Rahu governs it.

Like Swarbhanu, your soul knows something about what you want and where you want to get.

You try to resist it for long and you see it’s impossible.

Even Vishnu’s Sudarashan chakra couldn’t stop Swarbhanu from getting what he wanted and becoming immortal. It would be foolish to think us as mere mortals can.

Now, a clue in this puzzle is the Sankhya.

The Sankhya Astrology isn’t nearly as respected in the west as it is in India. They have a vastly different perspective on any form of divination, astrology included, than we do in India. One of the biggest reasons is the church’s stand on astrology, divination and such other instruments of ‘fortune telling’ as conflict with the teachings of the Bible. The Abrahamanic religions as a whole share this stance and you won’t find any person indulging into these fields without carrying the mark of taboo.

It’s quite common to come across depictions of ‘fortune tellers’, ‘psychics’, ‘gypsies’ and ‘astrologers’ in the same breath. All of them are more or less equally mocked and on the other side of the world you see these guys being held in such high esteem even regarded as scholars and pious spiritual people.

There was this book I read a lot as a kid. I really loved it. It was a book on right brain exercises and on the surface it was really just a book of weird looking tools and devices mined and unearthed from all over the world in excavations etc. Dig deeper though and you saw a completely different purpose to this exquisite compilation.

The purpose of the book was to push the reader to figure out how these devices were used in the eras to which they belonged. The point was, as the name suggested, to fire up the neurons in your right brain, which has been scientifically associated with intellectual and analytical faculties that aren’t based in recollection of data. This is per se the creative side of your brain.

Vedic astrology is a lot like one of those ancient tools mined out from the depths of the treasure trove of philosophy, astronomy, Vedanta and mythology. Vedic astrology isn’t a uniform document as in a book that can be read from cover to cover and applied. It is important to understand that the elements that constitute it are heterogeneous and derived from multiple sources. There’s the astronomical part of it that is the Surya Siddhanta. The mythological part of it based largely in the puranas and Vedas. The philosophical part of it based in documents such as the Jaimini Sutras. Further, the electional parts of Vedic astrology come from treatises written by some great scholars like Varahmihira etc.

The concept of nodes is actually more of an adopted concept in western astrology than it is in Vedic astrology. Western mythology supports more the concepts of the outer planets and rely on the same to provide the detail that they need in analysis.

Vedic astrology involves the nodes more extensively because the outer planets are not assimilated into the mix and nakshatra system provides a very detailed picture with layers upon layers of the ‘psyche’ unfolding. In India, you find quite often that some of the greatest

astrologers were also great astronomers and mathematicians. K.N Rao, B.V. Raman and further in the past, Bhaskaracharya and Aryabhatta.

So the real question here is the purpose of Vedic astrology in these modern times and whether it serves to give us something that we could use for our personal development. For those well versed in astrological terms and definitions, techniques etc, all this fills a void for meaning and knowledge but to those exploring spirituality, does Jyotisha really fit in to fill the void, the need for self knowledge and discovery?

Well here’s where the right brain problem fits in. You look at Jaimini Sutras and in them, see a way to read charts and predict events. You do this from your left brain that looks at astrology a certain way, the scriptures a certain way and mythology, astronomy a certain way.

A Sanskrit scholar looks at the Jaimini sutras and looks at them rare pearls of wisdom from the sage Jaimini. A western scholar looks at them another way, a seeker of spiritual wisdom looks at them as they are on merit.

We must look at these documents from the perspective of what they were meant to do.

Everything in Vedic literature had a purpose and the predominant theme was enlightenment.

There are different approaches to enlightenment however and India being the pluralistic society that it is, has provided as many roads to as many destinations you think there must exist. This is a common theme in all of eastern philosophy in fact and an overarching theme at that no matter what you indulge your senses in.

Taoism, Zen, Sikkhism, Jainism all have flown out of Hinduism in some way and Hindusim mind you isn’t one religion either rather a loose congregation of many religions. So it is important to understand that our ancient scholars probably wrote because writing was expected of them. They taught because society demanded so and they memorized and published, syndicated because the values of pluralism demanded so.

Long story short, imagine a land of multiple splenderous, prosperous kingdoms who had enough to get by for generations, strategic and economic hold over most of the West via trade exports they monopolized, political hold over the East via powerful navies that could vaporize opponents on a single command and too much strength to ever successfully battle each other and win.

Where then did they invest all their resources?

Amassing wisdom and knowledge and organizing ‘Shastrarthas’ to debate who was more knowledgeable and learned. Vast amounts of literature has been produced in India in the period between __ and __ and chiefly for the reason that economic might and political influence of an empire was gauged by its level of culture and societal development.

You see the reason for our search for self reconciliation or self discovery is tied to the nature of this world. It is widely accepted in Eastern philosophy that this world is illusionary. We see the

world from an illusionary lens of the ‘Maaya’. The purpose for our existence is the growth of our soul. That is the basis for our life here on this planet and our journey through life. In Hindu philosophy, it is said that before manifesting in the physical world, we are aware fully of the nature of our experiences and the journey through this flesh body, all interactions included.

Now the basis for this belief is found in the Sankhya philosophy.

In fact, the story behind the Sankhya holds another clue. The Sankhya is said to have been penned by the great sage Kapil. The Shrimad Bhagavatam tells the story of Kapil muni as this: There lived a rishi named Kardama Prajapati and his wife Devahuti. Kardama was born from Chaya, the reflection of Brahma. One day Brahma asked Kardama to procreate upon which Kardama went to the banks of Saraswati river, practiced penance for some time, visualized the supreme creator Vishnu and is told by Vishnu that Manu, the son of Brahma will arrive there with his wife Shatarupa in search of a groom for their daughter Devahuti.

Vishnu thus advised Kardama to marry Devahuti, and blessed Kardama that he himself will be born as his son. Besides Kapila as their only son, Kardama and Devahuti had nine daughters, namely Kala, Anusuya, Sraddha, Havirbhu, Gita, Kriya, Khyati, Arundhati and Shanti who were married to Marici, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vashistha, and Atharvan respectively.

Kapil is therefore an incarnation of the supreme godhead Vishnu. In the Shrimad Bhagawatam, Kapil presents the hidden knowledge of the Sankhya to his mother Devahuti. Kapil's Sankhya is also detailed as having being described through Krishna to Uddhava in the Shrimad Bhagawatam, in a passage known as the "Uddhava Gita".

Coming back to the story, Kardama rishi being a ‘Tattva gyani’ i.e. a person having true knowledge of the universe, was mostly occupied in penance and usually oblivious to his wife’s state of mind which tended towards a general dissatisfaction towards their state of affairs.

Kardam being a sage and him and his wife living as Sages in the Vedic life style obviously meant frugality was an essential part of their life.

This obviously was difficult for Kardam’s wife to handle and adjust to as she was the daughter of a king. One day Kardam noticed that his wife was in a sad mood and so he asked her why that was so. Upon learning that she desired worldly happiness that he himself had come to look through and hence not require, Kardama approached her lovingly and explained: “It is not that I am unable to provide these worldly pleasures for you that we live so simply, it is because I do not feel the need to indulge as I have seen through maaya. However, I believe it is my duty to provide you these pleasures as your husband and therefore, I shall arrange for you to have them.

So saying Kardama manifested one of the finest palaces and adorned by the finest ornaments and servants and dancers and what not. After that, Kardama and his wife enjoyed themselves in the

world of Maaya for thousands of years until one day he began to notice that his wife was getting sad again.

So he asked her if she had had enough indulgence in Maaya and was looking for something else now. When his wife responded in the affirmative, Kardam blessed her to have a son. As soon as she got pregnant, Kardam departed to the forest to carry on his penance while instructing his wife to brace herself for the arrival of her son who was none other than Shrihari Vishnu in human form.

Kapil grew up and then gave the secret knowledge of the Sankhya to her mother and this lead to her liberation from Maaya and this world.

Now the important lesson to be learned here is that a sage as great as Kardam knew the futility of showing the path of enlightenment before the path of self realization was traversed. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a staple in most management courses, the need for self actualization is the ultimate need. The need for self actualization is quite often bound closely with materialistic endeavors. The way to self expression in a world clad with Maaya is through Maaya. The cure to loneliness is through solitude, the cure to eating disorders is through eating right, not in giving up eating.

Rahu is the entity that tells us the way to see through the Maaya is to go through Maaya. By giving up Maaya you miss the point of being born here in this simulated environment all carefully structured and arranged for your soul to be able to grow how it needs to. It’s like buying a movie ticket to a thriller that you had been waiting to release in theaters for 6 months and then going and standing behind the big screen.

The Sankhya, although a very deep subject in itself can be summed up very easily into a summary that explains the process of death and rebirth via the references of the Mind, the Intellect and the Ego. The Soul is what needs development and so remains an observer throughout the process of manifestation, death and rebirth.

Ultimately, the soul or the Aatman needs to merge with the Parmatmana and be done with this cycle of death and rebirth. To do this, upon completion of one lifetime, the soul must pick out another body to manifest into for which the ‘interviewers’ assigned to the job of short listing a body are the Mann, Buddhi and Ahankaar; the mind, intellect and ego respectively.

Now before the soul manifests into the material world, where everything is wrapped neatly under the veil of Maaya, the soul is well aware of the experiences it must go through in order to elevate itself and grow. However, as soon as the soul enters a body and arrives into the material plane, the trio of the mind, body and soul take over.

The soul remains a passive observer while the Jeeva or the human comprehends this world from the perspective of the mind, intellect and ego. Basically, the trio of Mana, Buddhi and Ahankaar

is like the three elements of the projector, the screen and the darkness in a theater to enable the experience of watching a movie to come alive.

Rahu is closely associated with the soul’s desire to grow. It indicates where the soul needs to grow and the experiences it needs for that purpose. Now, you may not like those experiences at all but they are what your soul needs to grow.

Like the story of Kardam Rishi and his wife Devahuti, ultimately you will realize the futility of it all and hopefully immerse into a spiritual bliss but before that happens, the way to walk the way is through the way.

This is where, the worlds overlap.

Quite often you will see people with life path number 4 and a prominent Rahu placement in their chart or prominent Rahu nakshatras, encountering a lot of difficulties in their life.

Then you will see these people are the ones to also achieve heights that others didn’t think possible.

You may feel I’m over idealizing Rahu ji here but the truth of the matter is that in the way that Saturn is the planet responsible for conferring ‘greatness’, Rahu is the planet responsible for ‘pioneers’.

Business is Saturn but Entrepreneurship is Rahu.

There’s a famous quote that an Expert hits a target in the centre and Genius hits a target no one else can see.

A general advice to people going through Rahu mahadasha and Rahu antardasha is to work to open yourself to the innumerable possibilities the world has to offer.

You cannot solve ‘Rahu’ based problems with a ‘Sun’ based or ‘Moon’ based approach. In fact, a lot of astrolgoers say that Rahu behaves like Saturn but that’s actually far from the truth.

If you have some relationship between Rahu and Saturn in your chart then maybe. By way of planetary or rashi aspects, nakshatras etc. this could be possible.

However, Rahu is only related to Saturn as Saturn is related to Sun or Mars.

Get what I mean?

All malefic planets more or less behave in the same way.

To manifest in the physical world, the aims of Rahu, you need to obviously integrate the teachings and qualities of the other planets.

Think of it like this.

The architect has the plan but he can’t build the structure himself.

He needs the construction company to build the structure.

The construction company needs raw materials.

The raw materials are manufactured using capital goods.

Capital goods are built by engineers and engineers are taught by teachers in a college.

You understand the inseparability of Rahu with the other grahas?

Your mind no matter how unique obviously cannot manifest plans no matter how grand, without the help of qualities and entities based in the physical realm.

Even so, here’s the caveat.

You can have everything at your disposal. You can have the raw materials, the labor, the funding, the land etc. but if you don’t have the plan, you can’t build a sky scraper.

This is why people in Rahu mahadashas and antardashas need to approach their problems from an Entrepreneurial perspective.

What does that mean?

It means to understand that famous statement that “An Entrepreneur is a person who jumps from an airplane and figures out how to build a parachute on his way down.”

That’s it.

That’s what no one will tell you but what will help you the most when dealing with the energy of Rahu.

The Tao The ‘Tao’ quite literally means ‘The Way’.

It seems only natural to me to include the concept of Tao here in this book about Rahu for two reasons. For one, Taoism explains perfectly the concept of dealing with the energies of Rahu.

Anyone with important Rahu placements in their chart by virtue of houses or nakshatras, will find that the only thing that truly works for them is going with the flow.

Secondly, the foreign nature of this doctrine is very closely tied to what Rahu represents, foreign things, ideas, religions, doctrines and philosophies.

There aren’t many astrologers, theologians or philosophers making these associations in today’s day and age but in my experience, if you really pay attention, each of the doctrines in the world actually correspond quite well to each of the nine planets in Vedic astrology.

Vedic astrology is more like a blueprint rather than a narrow school of thought restricted to one religion.

For example, Islam is a religion based on austerity, strict discipline and minimalism. It has originated in a place where very little thrives naturally and resources are scarce and therefore competition high. The room for error in the natural geographical origins of Islam are actually quite slim. This is also why raids and ambushes on caravans in the desert were unfortunately the only way for sustenance for early muslims. Another important thing is that the name ‘Islam’ in itself means ‘surrender’. If you compare it to a graha you will find a lot of resemblance to what Ketu stands for. The conflict ridden and bloody past of Islam could be a result of the shadow aspect of Ketu in that Ketu can be a very violent graha. Also, a positive and very difficult element of Ketu’s energy is ‘sacrifice’ and that actually forms a very important part of Islam’s methodology.

In the same way, if you pick Sikkhism and its focus on service, teachings of gurus, brotherhood and kindness, all inclusiveness, you find it is very much in sync with Guru or Brihaspati’s energies. Similarly in Sanatana Dharma Hinduism, most of the emphasis is on qualities related to the Sun. There is a lot of emulation of the Sun in fact and probably only the Egyptians were as obsessed with the Sun as Hindus.

Christianity once more being an Abrahamanic religion is quite in touch with Ketu’s message and the biggest message of them all being Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross. However, upon a closer analysis of its past and present you find it a lot closer to Saturn’s ideologies.

If someone slaps you on one cheek give him the other, the kingdom of god being in men, not one men, nor a group of men but in all men. Finally, the biggest proof is the proverbial and literal carrying of the cross by Christ. All because it was his load to bear for being the son of god and atoning for the sins of humanity.

In the same way, Zen Buddhism is based a lot on the dynamics and energy of the graha, Mars. It is all about balance and spontaneity as well as elegance and shock. Zen masters have been known to shock their disciples into enlightenment after years of carefully peeling down layers upon layers of their ego and psyche.

So basically, long story short, I believe Osho’s views on this matter actually make a lot of sense.

“The entire history of humanity is yours to inherit. The message of Christ is as much yours as the message of the Buddha irrespective of what religion you were born into or what religion you follow. Just by being born human, their developments and all developments by other human beings before you are as much yours as theirs and of their kind.”

Your ideology therefore could depend a lot on the predominant planet in your chart and the right doctrine or religion or ideology for each person may be different. People these days never care enough to explore what their spiritual perspective to life is and upon finding themselves out of sync with the spiritual and religious values of the religion they have been born into, declare themselves as ‘agnostics’, ‘spiritualists’ or ‘atheists’.

Truth is, how can you say what a taste tastes like if you have never tasted it?

Maybe you can maybe you can’t and maybe you can’t taste all of them in a single lifetime but you can do your best with what feels right to you and what doesn’t. Your journey therefore may or may not be the same as someone else’s even if they’re looking for the exact same thing as you.

This is one of the most interesting themes of Tao. “To talk about the Tao is to not understand the Tao” it says in the Tao Te Ching, the authority on Taoism.

Basically, the more you try to explain and rationalize the way, the more obscure it becomes as the way is not to be explained as it is a standard entity that everyone can chart a course towards.

Quite understandably, ‘the way’ is different for each seeker.

One can teach you how to find your way but one can’t teach you how to find the way because the way cannot be found, the way finds you!

It’s quite similar with Rahu and this is what most people going through major Rahu periods or minor Rahu periods don’t realize and in fact run from. It is that Rahu periods and Rahu placements in general, call upon you to do just one thing; to execute your soul’s desire and

function from a deeper place within you, to use your heart and open your heart in fact because as long as your heart is closed, you will always be fearful of what comes next.

These are however, two very different things. One is the philosophy of ignoring what comes next and living myopically in the present. The other is the philosophy of realizing whatever is, simply is and will be so. One is being so fearful that you don’t dare look and the other is to realize looking or not changes nothing as the way takes you to where you need to be.

The cure for darkness is through darkness. If you’re caught in a dark room, you must navigate the dark room the best you can because if you were given a torch light to look for a match in the dark room, it won’t be a dark room to begin with.

One approach to finding a match in the dark room is to sit at one corner and imagine all the ghastly things imaginable that could be in the corners of the room lurking for you in wait. You try your best to move but the moment you do you are over taken by fear of all of the elements around the room that you are unaware of. You try to walk as carefully as possible but still knock things down in the process, make a mess, become more uncomfortable about the fact that you cannot see and make the entire process an extremely harrowing experience.

The second way is the way of Wu Wei or the approach of not struggling.

You believe you know where the match is and you move towards it with purpose and grace where your mind thinks in the room it is placed and the darkness doesn’t seem to get in the way.

You take a step and then another, maybe you stumble and fall in the process but it is okay because you expect to stumble and fall moving like that.

It is by not trying but being lead by ‘allowing’ that you are lead to where you need to be. How many of us know this for a fact? All of us have been through some hardships and if we haven’t we will, because sooner or later you are always climbing a mountain and that is the law of nature. You can’t spend your life in the valley all the time, as a hunter you need to keep moving.

That is the DNA in us, of hunter-gatherers, of an extremely intelligent species designed to tire out the prey rather than use brute force.

So how do you find a match in a dark room?

You don’t. You let the match find you. In the same way that the first man who discovered fire did what he did. In the same way that the first man who made the wheel did what he did. In the same way that the first person to figure out you could just stay at a place and farm the food you want, figured it out.

When you are silent, it speaks. That is the Tao. The Tao is an infinite consciousness that cannot be explained, an abstract idea that cannot be held, an innate knowing that cannot be known. You cannot know the Tao, the Tao can know you

if you’re open. However, if you seek to let go of that which you are, to understand something that is beyond everything, are you not blocking your own progress by admitting that you are?

That is the lesson of Rahu and when you’re going through tough situations you need to realize in the end you’re being lead back to the source of your being. The simulation that your soul knowingly entered to catalyze the development required at the soul level is not merely an individual development.

The development of the individual is linked to the development of the collective. Think about it for a minute. Without Steve Job’s personal apex as an inventor, with the ‘iPhone’, there wouldn’t have been a world where we had ‘smartphones’. Without Roger Bannister’s breaching of the 4 minute barrier, there wouldn’t have been a world where we thought it imaginable to run a mile in less than 4 minutes as a human being.

All individual progress is linked to collective progress but the cost for that is for you to forget that innate individuality that forms that is the root. To forget the individuality is to allow the universe to steer your ship where progress must be made. Do not mistake that progress to be selfish or to come at a selfish cost. That cost is borne by the collective too for if you die this moment with all your dreams unfulfilled, you will rob not just yourself of the opportunity at living a fulfilled life but your children of having a parent who could be what you could. You will rob society of what you could give to it with your best version.

Rahu as a teacher pushes you towards that greatness by pushing you out into the arena and closing the doors behind you. The way now, for you to grow, is to connect with your soul, Ketu.

You see in Ketu you have the innate knowing about who you are, where you come from and what you’re here to accomplish. To connect with that knowing you need to allow the Tao to guide you. To allow the Tao to guide you, you need to stop forcing. The more you force, the more it moves away from you because it is the nature of the ego to ‘force’. The soul in general knows it need not force anything because even if it had everything there is nothing in real to be had but the final knowledge that it is all there is.

People say that Rahu leaves you at 99% and takes away everything it gave you at the end of its period. That is not true. Rahu pushes you to go beyond yourself onwards on the path of self development and you are bound to fall short sometimes but it is the progress in that 99% that shapes your character.

If you look at the legend of Swarbhanu himself you notice the dynamics at play. Swarbhanu could’ve let the opportunity go and waited in line and risked not even one of the asuras becoming immortal.

Instead, he chose to take his chances, bypass the order of the devas and ensure at least one asura became immortal. As soon as he did so, his had was severed and his body split in two, the head

and the torso. In the end we say, this too was God’s will. This too was as Vishnu wanted it. If you really think about it, one demon is all we really needed to add variety to the court of 7 grahas.

If you’re familiar with vedic astrology and in particular electional astrology, you would be aware of the havoc that the nodes can bring into a muhurat. You can do everything right and just Rahu and Ketu in the Kendra houses can play the havoc you thought unimaginable. You will never really be able to tap into the universal knowing however if you are afraid. You need to let go of fear. Vedic astrology was never meant to scare people. It would not find a place in the Vedas if the idea of this science was not to bring light to the people. Jyotishmathi meaning Jyotisha-mathi i.e.’ lighting the lamp’ was meant to be a way for you to illuminate the lamp within.

This is the lamp that you need to find in that dark room you find yourself in.

Yet you stumble and fall in face of what is never meant to be yours because you are too afraid to look. You bought the tickets for the play, you paid the price for the experience now you are scared. Why? Because you’re scared of losing everything. You’re scared of losing out, giving in.

When you tap into what causes your ego to hold on to constructs that build it up or break it down, you realize it was never really you calling the shots on your life.

One thing just lead to another and you came to be where you are now in this moment, doing what you will right now or the next moment. It is scary only because you have no clue what will happen next and instead of appreciating the wonder that this experience brings, you hold on tightly to what shouldn’t happen.

It is this idea you have that what shouldn’t happen shouldn’t and what should happen must because your ego is so tied up with everything that you can’t detach. However attachment comes with grief. Ultimately you are forced to detach when it is so painful you’re covering your eyes looking at a horror scene but need to know in any way what happens next. In that moment you are truly detached because now you are truly and mindfully anticipating what comes next.

Then you go to an astrologer and vent and pine to him about the troubles you’ve had and how difficult it has been for you and he gives you a remedy or a gemstone to wear and you’re elated because this will make the ‘bad things’ go away. The bad isn’t bad but a symptom of what you need to heal within you and you choose to ignore it. You choose to ignore it because this entire culture of healing is amiss.

You see, what is superior is so because it is not pretentious. What is pretentious is not superior because it hasn’t learnt to appreciate the beauty of being wrong; the beauty of being flawed. You look at a perfect artwork, a perfect painting and what makes it perfect is the imperfection that is irreplaceable.

After the famous artist Claude Monet had a cataract operation, he by some fluke of nature, began to see ultraviolet light and this changed his paintings completely. You look at Claude Monet’s paintings from the later part of his life and the colors are just spectacular. It is unimaginable to think in those colors for someone who doesn’t have that impediment. However, that is what made his paintings so unique.

Lao Tzu talks about concepts in the Tao that reverberate perfectly with the natural order of things. A natural knowing of balance that cannot be explained but felt, tuned into. This is quite similar to how vedic texts set about describing the Aatman. They talk at length about what it is like and what it can do, what it can accomplish and then end it all with ‘Na iti’. This translates to ‘not like this’ either.

“Practice not doing and everything falls into place. Tao is like a well that is used but never used up. It is hidden but always present. I don’t know who gave birth to it. It is older than god.”

“That Tao doesn’t take sides. It gives birth to both good and evil. The master doesn’t take sides.

He welcomes both saints and sinners. The Tao is like a bell oath. It is empty yet infinitely capable. The more you use it the more it produces. The more you talk of it the less you know it.

Hold on to the centre.”

“The Tao is called the great mother; Empty but infinite. It is always present within you. You can use it anyway you want.”

“The Tao is infinite, eternal. The Tao was never born thus it can never die. It is infinite because it has no desire for itself. Thus, it is present for all beings. The master stays behind. That is why he is ahead. He is detached from all things. That is why he is one with them. Because he has let go of himself, he is perfectly fulfilled.”

“The supreme god is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus it is like the Tao. In dwelling, live close to the ground.

In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. When you are content to be simply yourself without competing, or comparison, everyone will respect you.”

“Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Keep chasing after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work and stand back. The only path to serenity.” ~Lao Tzu The more you try to act out of the consciousness that is the illusion, the more you stand detached from the consciousness you aren’t consciously connected with. What that means is, letting go of

what you identify with and embrace what you can be. That is tough because then you need to detach from material things and keep walking as you give up old things for new.

Vishnu’s plans are always wrapped within a certain sprinkling of Maaya. There’s an interesting story where Krishna is sitting in his palace in Dwarka talking to his wife Rukmini and they hear that the sage Durvasa is in town.

Rukmini suggests that they go and greet him. When they go to the edge of the city to greet Durvasa, he was happy to see them. Durvasa had one condition however that he would only come into the city if the chariot would be pulled personally by Krishna and Rukmini.

On the way back into the city, at some point, Rukmini, overcome by thirst requested Krishna to find a solution. After all, it must not have been easy for a queen to pull a chariot on foot even if she had Krishna carrying half of the burden. In order to quench her thirst Lord Krishna stopped the chariot and made water of Holy River Ganga come out and flow by digging with his toe on the ground. Rukmini didn’t think twice before she knelt down to have a sip to quench her thirst.

Prone to rage as Durvasa was, he got enraged that Rukmini selfishly ignored asking her guest, the revered sage Durvasa, if he would like to have a drink.

Durvasa cursed Rukmini to be separated from Krishna and overcome by sadness and guilt, both Krishna and Rukmini pleaded forgiveness. Durvasa relaxed his curse just a little, as was customary for the great rishis since words spoken by holy men cannot be taken back. However, more words can be spoken that complete, accentuate or dissolve with more conditions.

Durvasa advised Rukmini to do penance for twelve years and in fact, the place that this incident has said to have taken place is known as the modern Rukmini temple, two kilometers from the city of Dwarka. Rukmini did severe penance for twelve years and impressed by her prayers, Mahavishnu appeared and granted her the boon of being reunited with her husband.

As soon as Durvasa had suggested a solution to Krishna and Rukmini for the curse, his mercurial temper subsided and he began smiling. Upon being asked by Krishna the reason for his smile, Durvasa looked at him with a playful knowing and surrender. “Well, don’t you act all coy Krishna, it was you who made me give that curse in the first place.”

Which is actually true because as legend has it, Krishna had wanted to teach Rukmini a lesson for her arrogance as she was very mean to Radha, Krishna’s eternal consort who never married.

On a much deeper level, Durvasa could see through the worldly illusions and see Krishna for who he was, the incarnation of Mahavishnu and the doer of all deeds; the ‘Karta’ and the ‘Karma’.

Now doesn’t it seem to fit perfectly with what the Tao is? It does, doesn’t it?

That’s the thing. The Tao is the cause and the effect. The truth is, the cause and the effect exist simultaneously neither separately nor chronologically. The cause and effect exist side by side in

the same way that your purpose and your destiny are tightly interwoven into the scheme of your life’s struggles and strengths. Your struggles exist to strengthen and your strengths exist to be tested. That’s the point.

Swarbhanu exists at that intersection where systems are meant to be broken because if a system can be broken it can be improved. Also, no system is infallible. If no system is infallible, every anomaly and exception in the system exists to strengthen the system.

A great reference to this concept is Vishnu’s Varaaha avatar. Varaaha or the celestial boar is the avatar Vishnu took to pull the Earth out of the abyss that it had fallen into. There can be no development or life if all of creation is plunged into an abyss. The meaning to all of these documents these scripts is figurative largely and like an artist who does nothing to explain his work, leaving them all to the imagination of the observers, there can be multiple meanings drawn from these works.

If you’ve been having problems with life maybe it has more to do with your inability to adapt than your ability to be consistent. Adaptability is consistency as the only constant in this universe is change. Unless you learn to change you cannot be consistent and unless you are consistent, you cannot learn how to adapt and improvise to the occasional storms of your life.

People take undue pride in belonging to systems that have done little else but kept everyone part of the system at largely the same level of mediocrity. Then there are others who have no concept of what a system is, go about shouting slogans of change and revolution.

In the beginning, almost every great entrepreneur out there is a disruptive force in his or her industry. Not for long however, as disruption quickly turns into a new paradigm and is established through systems that work and have been working for ages. Until of course, the mediocrity of constancy gives rise to a new disruptive force that rises to challenge the status quo.

Tantra & Chinnamasta If you’re familiar with the term ‘Tantra’ there are two possibilities. The first one that you are an ardent student in the field of Hindu spiritualism and occult. The second possibility being you’ve only heard the sexual meaning of this term vastly publicized in the west as a method of experiencing transcendental sexual pleasure. Interestingly, both are true but on their own each perspective is incomplete.

So basically, Vedic knowledge is so diverse and scattered especially as a result of the paradox that Hinduism is; homogenous heterogeneity. You might be aware of the concept of the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Brahma being the creator, Vishnu being the sustainer and Shiva or Mahesha being the destroyer.

Now, out of the three, Brahma has been cursed to not be worshipped. Why is that? Well, legend has it that Brahma, after creating the universe, began to develop amorous feelings for his own creation, Saraswati. Now, as was always going to be the case, Brahma is caught between a rock and a hard place. Since he is the one in charge of creating, everyone he creates is essentially his creation therefore like his own child. However, Brahma needs to have a consort like everyone else. One would imagine life gets too boring being alone. In defying this rule though, Brahma ceases to be a god worthy of worship.

Brahma ceases to be a god worthy of worship because desire is a very ungodly trait. The most essential trait of godliness is letting go of your desire. When you’re omnipotent, you are somewhat expected to be able to see through the game of creation, see through the Maaya. If you’re unable to do so you’re not exhibiting a godly trait.

I am actually quite impressed that Vedic philosophers thought about such a fine topic in so much detail. This is actually an anomaly I’ve seen not addressed in most beliefs. For example, in Greek mythology, Poseidon and Zeus’ violation of women is taken far too easily one would say. Which is okay because their narrative is different. Their narrative is of gods being a more powerful ‘species’ so to speak, who lord over men because of their power. Once again, the concept of ‘kismet’ and destiny loom large because these violations lead to the birth of demi-gods that have roles to play in subsequent events.

Similarly, you have the tricky nature of progression from the starting point of there being only Adam and Eve. You often wonder that if they were the first humans then aren’t we all brothers and sisters? Well, Vedic philosophers have had a long time to think over things with the extra thousand years that they’ve been around compared to the rest and that means there are multiple angles to a sentence and word sometimes even a letter.

Tantra however is a fairly simple subject. It’s simple, not easy. It’s simple because it’s all about energy. Yes, you can tap into this energy and harness it to experience transcendental sexual bliss but that would be like eating the skin of a banana and throwing away the banana itself.

In addition to the Shaivites and Vaishnavites who are worshippers of Shiva and Vishnu respectively, the Shakts are worshippers of Shakti. Shakti meaning energy is the representation of female energy in the cosmos, the yin to the yang so to speak. Now the traditional description of feminine energy is passive and observant while male attributes are proactive and dominating.

This is where Tantra comes in. You see, as a representation of the consorts of the masculine gods, feminine energy is described as such. However taken in isolation, this is the energy of creation and motion. Vedic texts describe the masculine and feminine counterparts in terms of energy as a cripple sitting on the shoulders of a blind man. Now feminists may take objection to this description in itself but if you drop all of that and try to understand how what is said makes sense, you develop a whole new perspective.

The feminine energy may be passive and observant however it is what causes the active masculine energy to take action. So while Taoism talks about the effortlessness of the river which seeks out the lowest regions by default and yet still manages to irrigate the plains and slopes, the masculine element to this process is the erosion on the rocks it cuts through and the formation of alluvium as a result of it.

Without the river flowing the way it does, rocks would never deteriorate into alluvium. Without the alluvium deposits, the fields would not have enough nutrition in the soil to be able to yield crops. Without the effortless and passive nature of the river, there would be no means to shape the natural resources into usable entities.

But wait a minute. Does the river appear feminine to you in any way?

I mean rapids floods et all, a river is a devastating force as and when it wants to be. You can build a dam, you can build ten damns but if a river goes berserk it goes berserk. Why? The quantum of energy in a river by virtue of its effortless and passive nature is the source of its overwhelming strength and power. Imagine for a minute the amount of hydroelectric power harnessed from rivers all around the world. This surely doesn’t sound like ‘Yin’ energy. Does it?

However, this description of the river as a feminine entity is consistent across cultures. All around the world, there are goddesses associated with rivers never male figures. Take the ocean however and it is associated with the male form. That’s because oceans largely like mountains hardly do anything. They have tons and tons of resources and potential but no active nature to them. Yes there can be tsunamis in the ocean but they’re caused by the Earth not by the sea.

Further, the wind is personified again as a male entity and well, the wind is active and effortless in nature. Look closely and you’ll realize the wind moves because of the Sun. The Earth has an atmosphere because of the water cycle and its rotation.

In Biology, it is common knowledge that female DNA has two copies of the X chromosome. The male reproductive cells however, have only one copy of the X chromosome and another copy of the Y chromosome. When the reproductive cells of both sexes meet, if the resultant combination is XX, the child is a female and if the resultant combination is XY, the child is a male. What that basically means is, we are all predominantly female and the slight difference in us, is what makes us male. It isn’t the other way round by any means.

Tantra is actually not just limited to Hinduism and its texts are scattered across the Indian subcontinent. Apart from Hinduism, Tantric texts are also to be found in Tibetan Buddhism.

Then there are some religious subcultures that have a predominant reliance on Tantric philosophy, for example the famous ‘Anand Marga’ which has its origins in Bengal.

No matter what Vedic scripture or document you refer, the common theme is almost always that the secrets of power are known to the ‘Tantriks’. In the Ramayana, it was Indrajit who was the most powerful warrior. Even Ravana couldn’t surpass Indrajit’s prowess in casting illusions. It was Indrajit’s ‘Naga Pasha’ that succeeded in grounding Lakshmana. In the Mahabharata, it was Ganga Putra Bheeshma who was the most powerful warrior, having been blessed with the boon of deciding the timing of his own death by the goddess of the river, Ganga.

Another famous example from a more recent time is Ramakrishna Paramhans, the guru of the Swami Vivekanada. Paramhans is said to have had a deep relationship with goddess Kali. So deep was this relationship in fact that he is said to have been best friends with her, having normal conversations like we do with friends.

Anandmayi ma is another example and her work on Tantra and meditation is probably the most innovative and advanced research on the subject in the field of spirituality.

The famous Indian mathematician Ramanujam, who has done some of the most profound work in infinite series in the modern era, claimed to hear solutions whispered to him by a goddess.

Ramanujam died pretty young and even today most of his equations remain unsolved. He was so ahead of his time that the idea of a divine entity whispering solutions into his ear didn’t even sound preposterous to his contemporaries.

Tukaram, a famous poet from Maharashtra of the Bhakti period, is said to have fallen gravely ill so much so that he didn’t even have the strength to get up and tend to his bowel movements. The mother divine is said to have appeared to him and asked him how could he have Shakti if he didn’t worship Shakti herself?

He started Shakti worship after that and from that day on, his life is said to have changed completely.

In the Devi Mahatamyam, the role of the divine mother is described as one of the protector to the gods. It so happened that a terrible demon named Mahishasura, after getting a boon from Shiva,

began wreaking havoc on Earth. Being able to take any form, he would do things like turn into a giant buffalo and break apart mountains with his horns. So decapitated was the deva army by his immense strength that it was impossible to pin him down. As soon as someone got to him, he would change form and escape.

Tired of the carnage, depleted and defeated, the devas headed over to Vishnu to find a solution.

Vishnu and Shiva were filled with such anger towards the asuras that an automatic unconscious release of energy began to take place from their bodies. This energy or ‘Tejas’ from the devas The combined together and coalesced into a higher power. A power to look after the devas and tackle pesky demons in ways the simple devas were unable to.

This is when the devas each contributed consciously, a part of their energy toward the formation of Durga, a divine energy to look after them and protect them in times of great distress from ‘Durgati’ or deterioration. Vishnu contributed his Sudarshan Chakra, Indra contributed the bell from his celestial elephant Airavat, Shiva contributed the trident and so on.

What made this energy unlike any other godly energy was the mastery over both light and dark.

On the surface, she had a splendorous form unlike any other. A beauty more divine and attractive than the most beautiful nymph. However, push her and she would reveal a warrior form with a dexterity surpassing an army of a thousand. Push her even further and from her forehead would burst through the most shocking, ghastly, destructive energy of Kaali.

Kaali represents everything about the universe the way you imagine it to be that shouldn’t be so.

Appearing surrounded by a pack of wolves howling, cenotaph in one hand, severed head grabbed by the scalp in the other, wearing a garland of human skulls and a tunic of human arms, Kali is the embodiment of fear.

There is nothing beyond Kaali. Kaali is the end of all ends. After killing the demon Rakta Bija who would keep cloning more demons from every drop of his blood spilt, Kali become so blood thirsty that the devas didn’t have an answer to her blood lust.

They had created this divine form that had now gone beyond them and was out to devour them itself! It’s at this moment that Shiva, the divine masculine hence the default consort to the divine feminine, lies down in her path to stop her. Kali, unfazed, just stepped on Shiva himself as though he was just another boulder. Only that he wasn’t, Shiva is Shiva, the god of death. Shiva is Shiva, the drinker of Halahala from the Samudra Manthan, the protector of the devas and the three worlds.

Realizing the imbalance in the power structure of the universe that she had created, Kali immediately realized her mistake and stuck out her tongue in shock. It is this image of hers which is one of the most famous images associated with Tantra.

The legend goes that Daksh, one of the sons of Brahma and father of Sati, the consort of Shiva, organized a grand yajna that would make him the ruler of the universe. All gods and goddesses were invited to be a part of this grand affair except Shiva. Shiva is well, Shiva, quite set in his ways and uninterested in grand affairs. He has nothing to prove and no interest in what others think of him. He is the immovable male energy; like the mountains, the forest, the boulders and rocks.

Sati however, was invited to the yajna being Daksh’s daughter and she convinced Shiva to go with him despite his constant advice to her not to attend. Unsurprisingly once there, Daksh insulted Shiva and Shiva, who isn’t moved by emotions readily, decided to leave. Sati got so enraged at Shiva’s actions that she split into 10 forms for each direction that Shiva could possibly take to leave the yajna. She then proceeded to jump into the yajna to destroy its piousness and teach Daksh a lesson while also moving Shiva to anger.

Enraged Shiva picked up the burning body of his consort and broke into ‘Tandav’, the cosmic dance of destruction. For a very long time he is said to have traveled the three worlds carrying the body of his dead wife. Sati’s body decayed as he carried her across the universe, crying and howling. Finally, as he always does, Vishnu stepped in to rid Shiva of his attachment and bring him back to his senses. He split Sati’s body into 51 pieces using his Sudarshan Chakra. Wherever the parts of her body fell, a ‘Shakti Peeth’ was formed. These are centers of great Tantric energy and have a Shakti shrine built on them.

However these Shakti sites are different from the ‘Mahavidya’ sites. Shakti worship is also different for mahavidya worship as the mantras are often secret and require special worship methods. In fact even the idols are often secret and are not popularly made by sculptors or artisans. Therefore, they cannot be easily found except on the internet.

The mahavidyas each correspond to the navagrahas and the ascendant. This is more like a secret code which is one part of the code in fact and there can be multiple interpretations of this code.

The navagrahas are the personified representation of the nine planets in the Vedic system. Each of the planets is considered independently, a deity and each one of them imparts a specific trait to the native and provides a specific strength.

The Sun is related with the soul’s purpose and physical vitality as well as ability to fulfill one’s dharma. The Moon is related with the mind, sensitivity and ability to understand and appreciate art, music and the fine things in life. In the same way, Rahu is related to the soul’s purpose in this lifetime and the native’s ability to fulfill the purpose it has manifested to fulfill.

The mahavidyas each relate to the Navagrahas as Matangi to Surya, Bhuvaneshwari to Chandra, Dhumavati to Ketu, Shodashi to Buddha, Saraswati to Brihaspati, Baglamukhi to Kuja, Kali to Shani, Lakshmi to Shukra and Chinnamasta to Rahu. Goddess Bhairavi relates with the ascendant in the birth chart.

To the uninitiated, the ascendant or lagna, is usually taken as the centre of the first zodiac sign that was rising in the East when the native was born. It denotes the life path of the native and physical traits and life events.

Now each of the mahavidyas have a form that is coded and representative of its energy. Goddess Baglamukhi for instance, is shown holding a golden cudgel in one hand and the tongue of a demon in the other hand. Dressed in sparkling yellow, she is depicted standing on a golden chariot.

The story of Chinnamasta is fascinating to say the least.

She is depicted as holding her own head drinking blood oozing out from her dismembered body.

Alongside her are shown two yoginis drinking blood from a second and third stream spurting like a fountain from her neck.

On the surface all representations of Kali are gruesome, frightening and graphic to say the least.

As you learn to look beyond what meets the eye however, you realize there is a plethora of knowledge running deep below the surface.

The interpretation of this rather graphic image is one of separating the mind from the body. If you apply the Sankhya to the mahavidyas you see that it is quite consistent. In all kinds of meditative practices the rule of thumb is for the teacher to make the student understand that he is not his thoughts. This is the problem most of us have. We tie down our mind for a lack of sufficient capacity in the physical realm. The mind is free and goes beyond what the body is capable of. The meaning of the imagery here is for you to understand that the body is meant to feed the mind. The mind is unbounded and free.

The two yoginis are meant to denote the purpose of the body to feed the people around you. The mind is not segregated actually into distinct boxes of you, me and them. The mind is one, the mind is collective of all who share the world. Our individual conscience is but a reflection or a miniature representation of the collective consciousness.

That is also what Rahu represents.

Rahu represents the soul’s purpose of tapping in to the accumulated experiences and knowledge of past lifetimes drawing in from the experiences of seemingly ‘other’ people. The soul taps into these experiences to be able to execute what needs to be done to grow. Growth occurs at the spiritual and the intellectual level. The crystallization of all growth is in the growth and enhancement of the vast library of files contained in the cloud so to speak, ‘the mind’. Our problem quite often is in our inability to comprehend this growth and only look at the physical clues of growth. If we cannot find them, we stand dejected and feel sorry for ourselves.

Swarbhanu saw the opportunity of having one asura immortalized, for sure; against the promise of all asuras receiving the nectar of immortality. On the surface this looks like a very selfish task

and a very naïve one at that. Once could say that he jeopardized the chance of all of his kind becoming immortal for a personal gain.

The flipside view is to understand what his action meant. With the immortalization of one asura, the asuras can rest assured that they can never be wiped out completely. In the victory of one individual lies salvation for the masses that are represented by that one individual. Look around you and you will see this represented so often in politics, business, sports and entertainment.

Look at the stock markets for instance, where the rising share prices and valuations of one company mean increased wealth for so many. Look at medical science where the increase in profits of a single pharma company indicate the spread of the cure to the masses as well. Look at science and technology where one scientific discovery from a country far away means so much for the entire world collectively.

The idea is to understand that individualism is not to be mistaken as something ugly or selfish.

Individualism is the basis for collectivism. Anybody who doubts that is invited to study communism and how it failed. The desire for personal development cannot simply be replaced with enforced altruism. Widespread altruism only results in widespread dissatisfaction.

Why is that?

Because the balance of power is grossly disturbed.

Do you know that in the early days of the universe, sometime after the big bang, there was nothing for millions of years except clouds. Yes, nothing but cosmic clouds everywhere spread into nothingness bearing the promise of future galaxies, stars and planets, neutron stars, red dwarfs, comets, asteroids and what not. However, they were all merely that; an unfulfilled promise. A promise projected to be fulfilled at a later date.

It would all have been that and nothing more if not for an imbalance.

What do I mean?

Well, as long as all the mass stood evenly distributed throughout the universe, there was no opportunity for there to be development. For these astral clouds to condense into heavenly bodies there was needed a gravitational pull which would not exist unless there was a slight disorder in the system. When matter stands evenly distributed, gravitational pull in all directions is uniform and therefore, there is nothing happening as it is canceled out in all of the particles in the system.

Maybe it was just the expanding universe that brought about the imbalance or maybe it was just chance. Whatever it was, it was the result of an imbalance quite similar to the cases described by me above. More matter condensed on one side and one heavenly body began to attract more matter than others. Soon huge lumps of clouds formed that condensed into galaxies and nebulae.

None of this would have happened in a system that was standardized. None of it would have taken place in a system where there was no direction. In the solar system if you observe, the Sun is bigger than all planets put together. Much bigger in fact, you can fit a million Earths into the Sun and there still may be space left over.

Do you think however that there could be a solar system if the Sun didn’t exist? No. You need a massive energetic body like a star to ensure there can be life, there can be direction, there can be some sort of force that makes all the other planets rotate revolve and evolve.

Without the overbearing gravitation of one massive star, planets would just hurtle through space like asteroids. It is the constant light, heat and gravitational pull that ensure a planet slowly develops an atmosphere and grows life.

In the story of Mata Chinnamasta, it is said that once the divine mother was bathing in the river with her close aides, or Yoginis. The yoginis are powerful celestial entities of a female polarity blessed with god like power and energy. The yoginis do the bidding of the goddess.

So they were bathing in the river when the yoginis suddenly complained of hunger pangs. The divine mother, as is her nature, was overcome by a feeling of love and compassion. To address the distress of the yoginis as soon as possible, she cut of her own head and invited them to feed on the nutrition of her own blood.

In essence, a lot of scholars agree this is a depiction of the Kundalini energy hitting the crown chakra with such force that the head blew off. How can we relate this story to kundalini awakening?

Well first of all, let’s discuss the ‘chakras’.

In tantric thought there is an energy body below the physical body as we see it. This energy body is the basis of the spiritual body and the physical body. The chakras are actually quite common place knowledge these days especially since the concept of ‘energy’ has become quite popular and widespread.

However, do not dismiss this as something ‘mythical’. In scientific thought, the concept of energy is actually quite well established. Quantum physics is the favorite subject of science fiction writers and energy healers these days. Simply because it exists at the precipice of what is and what could be. Long story short, you are matter but you are also energy. It is just a matter of perspective based on where you are at a given moment.

There are seven energy centers in the body. Each corresponding to bodily functions of the organs surrounding them. Imbalances in these energy centers are indicative of ailments in the physical body. They can also be indicative of underlying problems in the emotional body and upon closer research and with a little more self knowledge, you can tap into these energy centers to evolve beyond what you think you are capable of.

The 7 ‘chakras’ are as follows: The first chakra is the Root chakra, located at the base of your spine.

The second chakra is the Sacral chakra, located below your navel and above your genitals.

The third chakra is the Solar plexus, located above your navel and below your rib cage.

The fourth chakra is the Heart chakra, located at the centre of your chest.

The fifth chakra is the Throat chakra, located at the base of your neck, blow your larynx.

The sixth chakra is the Third eye chakra, located at the centre of your eyebrows.

The seventh chakra is the Crown chakra, located at the top of your skull, the crown.

Now, the Kundalini rests at the base of this 7 chakra system, at the root chakra. The idea is to raise it higher and higher through the chakras until it connects with the top of the skull with the crown chakra.

Kundalini awakening is the process of perfect alignment of all of the chakras. It’s as if a circuit is completed by all elements being in alignment. Kundalini awakening is pretty much the experience of awakening itself. However the concept of awakening itself is intriguing in that it is approached differently by all cultures.

All concur on the singular truth that it isn’t a pleasurable experience by any means. Awakening means awakening to the reality of the world. Awakening is, awakening to the fact that you and I are just bags of skin wrapped around a carcass of bones concealing oddly shaped bags of muscle and blood.

‘Awakening’ is like awakening to the reality that your beautiful and expensive mahagony front door is nothing but a block of wood. Awakening is realizing that your perspective of things is just that, a perspective nothing more. The reality of things is subjective. The reality of things lies in the efficacy of the explanation that defines them. Most truths cannot be defined and most lies are as elaborate as the concept of god and purpose of evil.

It is difficult to pin down awakening but awakening in the energy body in the way of the ‘Kundalini awakening’, is a massive experience. If your body is not prepared for it, if your mind is not ready for it, the energy ascends through your spine and hits your crown chakra with such force you lose the will to live.

Of course, these are all compiled accounts. The truth is subjective. The truth is variable. The truth about awakening is that you awaken when you need to awaken. When you need to awaken, both the cause and effect of the awakening occur simultaneously.

There is a popular story about Shiva and his consort Parvati that provides a lot more clues to the paradox that awakening really is.

After Vishnu exhumed Sati’s body with his Sudarshan chakra and Shiva woke up to the reality of his attachment, he was shocked. God of death himself, crying over death; Shiva can be extreme but he always finds a way back to his meditative self.

So Shiva sat down in penance indefinitely.

Meanwhile, to the lord of the mountains, the great Himalayas, a beautiful daughter was born.

Fair and beautiful, devoted and pious, this girl was aware of her purpose from her early days itself. They named her Parvati, after the ‘Parvata’ or mountain. Parvati is Sati’s reincarnation.

She was born with a natural inclination towards Shiva and so she began to perform penance to have him.

For thousands of years, she performed penance of the toughest kind. Ultimately towards the end she stood arms stretched over her head, resting on a single toe for a thousand years.

Ultimately, Shiva and Parvati were reunited. It so happened that Shiva, impressed with Parvati’s devotion, appeared to her and asked her for a boon. Parvati expressed her desire to be his wife and bound by his promise to his deities to grant boons, he agreed.

In many ways, this may not be taken literally. You may take it figuratively as well. The divine feminine is the divine feminine, she is Sati and she is Parvati. She is Saraswati and she is Ganga as well. She is Durga and she is Maneka, Kali, Indrani, Rudrani and Lakshmi. Every female form in the universe is a reflection of the divine feminine in the same way every male form is in some way a reflection of the divine masculine, Shiva.

That we are all aware to different degrees the level of divinity within is what defines our level of awakening. Parvati was awakened because she was one with the divine feminine and the divine feminine was one with her. Shiva had to sit in penance because he let himself be carried away by the illusion of death that he couldn’t see Sati everywhere in everything, in every form, in every place.

Parvati comes back to him and awakens him to her. In doing so she awakens Shiva like the divine feminine in the universe awakens the divine masculine to its purpose, power and strength.

In the same way that the river cuts through rock and waters the fields, the Kundalini energy is the awakening of Shakti within the body. Of course, if the course of the river isn’t set already, it will flood and destroy the fields. If the rocks are not old and solid enough, the river will break them apart and shatter them. So it is with Kundalini energy and it is why you need to be grounded firmly in this world before you can rise beyond it.

This is probably one of the reasons that Tantra has become so popular in its modern day variant ‘Tantric Sex’.

What more to bring you back firmly into the Maaya and connect you with the primal instinct of life than sex?

The thing with Tantra is, it doesn’t frown upon sex either.

On one side you have the path to awakening that is represented by the monks and the saadhus.

The path of celibacy, self discipline, abstinence and renunciation. On the other end you have this path where you can have sex all the way to enlightenment?

How does that work out?

The answer to this question lies once again and understanding the nature of Rahu.

All of creation and existence is present with you naturally and so is the natural expression of that.

Resisting Maaya is futile because in the end you have to accept that the body is just a medium for the Mind, Intellect and Ego to provide the experience to the soul it needs to grow.

For the soul to grow, there are different stage of growth and as long as what you experience is conscious and your experience of life and this world and everything you experience is ‘conscious’, you are evolving and growing.

If you contest by saying that in this way individuals will resort to anti social activity in the name of ‘allowing’ the soul to express itself freely and being ’conscious’ through this process, you are wrong.

When you are ‘conscious’ you don’t fall into the lower vibrational expressions of the experience of life.

Even with Tantra and sex, it’s the unconscious practitioners who fall out of the loop of what it is all about; merging with your partner.

Take the example of the temples of Khajuraho.

Anything you can sexually imagine has been carved intricately on the elaborate vimanas of the temples in the complex.

It’s as if the architects are inviting the devotees to knock their imagination out and empty the mind of anything that may interfere with the experience of engaging with the deity in the garbhgriha when they enter the temple.

It’s like the master asking the disciple to not think of a pink elephant.

Imagine that for a second.

Imagine that someone gave you a meditation exercise which would thoroughly enrich you and empower you and strengthen you and help you advance consciously.

The only condition to this meditation exercise is that if you think about a pink buffalo you fail.

What would happen?

All you would end up thinking about sooner or later is the image of a pink buffalo.

It’s the same with sex and everything bad and negative in this world.

The more you try to ‘keep it out’ the more you give it a way to enter and overpower your mind and senses.

The more you ‘allow’ it to be integrated with who you are and your consciousness, ‘consciously’, the more it will cease to dominate you.

Goddess Chinnamasta is quite similarly, put in charge of the energies of Rahu.

To understand and overcome the problems that Rahu’s energies cause in your life, you need to focus your mind on Devi Chinnamasta and to this effect a mantra saadhna could be of much help.

A simple mantra saadhna where you just chant a mantra for the deity at a fixed time everyday and meditate on the deity’s form is enough and doesn’t even require a guru.

However, it is always a good idea to have a guru but a guru will come into your life only when it’s time.

For some people the guru may appear only after the goddess has blessed them and allowed someone to enter.

For others still it may be possible that enjoying the tutelage of a guru may not be an experience that the soul has chosen for this lifetime.

Devi Chinnamasta is an expression of the divine feminine that seeks to protect the deities by allowing them better control of their mind.

She is said to rid her devotees of mental stress and anxiety that is so commonly associated with the energy of Rahu.

Chinnamasta is said to open up the Crown chakra and gift devotees with a stronger connection with the divine and universal knowledge.

The Crown chakra is actually the last chakra in the Tantric energy system for Kundalini energy and depicts the soul’s connection with the other world.

It is by utilizing this energy system that great saadhus and gurus are able to ‘leave’ their bodies consciously rather than waiting for death to arrive.

Interesting isn’t it?

But ofcourse.

If you are conscious enough to be able to fulfill your duties here on this planet and grow as much as you’re here to grow through actions and experiences while being mindful of the whole process rather than resisting it, death is just another experience in the end.

It’s the experience of merging back into the source.

The more you allow yourself to learn through the process of change that is set upon you, the more you grow and the more you realize, like the symbolism of Chinnamasta: The ‘nourishment’ your mind desires is within you not outside of it.

No matter where Rahu is placed in your chart, it is about how your mind approaches that placement not how it is in reality.

The reality is subjective and variable because nothing escapes Maaya.

The only way to look through Maaya is to learn to look at yourself through the filter of your desires like the imagery of Chinnamasta feeding blood from her own dismembered body to her decapitated head.

As you do that, you enlighten yourself and like the two yoginis on either side of her drinking from the fountain bursting through her neck, you enlighten and nourish the world.

Hari om namo narayana!

About the Author

Jay Kaushal has been working as a full time life coach since 2017. Well versed in eastern healing modalities and practical tools of behavioral analysis such as graphology and language, Jay completed his education with a BTech in Computer Science and two PGs in Management.

He has also studied Vedic Astrology, Tantra, Meditation and healing with a continually expanding skill set that seeks to unify multidisciplinary knowledge into a single cohesive coaching methodology.

Jay’s working style marries the mundane with the esoteric to help clients advance along the journey of their soul purpose by enabling tangible growth in the material realm to achieve exhilarating personal benchmarks of excellence and quality of life.

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