As sadhakas with anarthas how much should we rely on astrology?
Answer Podcast
As devotees with anarthas, how much should we, importance should we give to astrology? Even if it is not favorable or if it is favorable? Does Krishna take control? Yes, astrology is like a weather forecasting device. Because it tells us, if you are going on this road, you are going to face a storm, you are going to have a slippery road, you are going to have this.
It does not determine whether an accident is going to happen or not. It does not, it simply tells us what we are likely to face. And it helps us to prepare.
Now Sri Prabhupada, in general, was not over-dependent on astrology. He considered astrologers, but he did not make his bhakti conditional on the practice of astrology. So, many different issues nowadays, how good astrologers are, we do not know.
And even if somebody is consulting astrologers, you know, the astrologer is not just, astrology is not just looking at charts. Actually, the two people have to develop a relationship by which they understand each other and then some guidance can be given. It is just by looking at charts, it is not some kind of, you have to understand, it is not that everything is to stand in life.
Certain things are to stand in life and certain things may be very, certain things may be very favorable, very unfavorable. So, major decisions in life, say for example, marriage or if one has a child, what kind of career the child should pursue. A child has artistic mind that parents just want the child to go into engineering or medicine.
Major and comparative maybe there should be, at that time if you want to consult astrologers, you can consult. But to consult for every small thing, that can become a problem. Because the astrology, anything that we use, it should be like an aid for our Krishnamurti.
But the challenge with anything in this world is that instead of an aid, it can become a substitute. That means, instead of, when I have a problem, I go to astrologer, the astrologer gives me some solution. So, actually I am going to take center of Krishna.
Now the astrologer can tell us, if you go back to the philosophical perspective, the immediate cause, there is an intermediate cause, there is an ultimate cause. So, now Krishna is ultimately in control of everything. As far as the intermediate cause is concerned, what is happening by certain past karma, astrologer can tell us that, to some extent, if the astrologer is experienced enough to give up precisely.
At the same time, it is not that Krishna, it is not that Krishna wants us to not use our godly intelligence, not use our own abilities to make rational decisions. Now, consulting an astrologer should be an aid in our taking responsibility decisions. Consulting an astrologer should not be a way of abandoning our responsibility for taking decisions.
An astrologer told me, so I do this. Astrologer told me don’t do this, so I don’t do it. It shouldn’t be like that.
Ultimately, it is my life. It is my choice. And even if the astrologer is right, if I don’t do the things properly, see, I have asked you, this road is smooth, you drive on this road, somebody tells you.
But if I am driving drunk on that road, I am going to meet with an accident even if the road is smooth. If this road is going to be very stormy, if I drive carefully, I might navigate to that road also. So, we have to know that astrology is not a substitution for taking responsibility for our life, our decisions.
We have to take our decisions responsibly using our God-given intelligence. And as an aid, we can use astrology. And we shouldn’t let our relationship with Krishna or service to Krishna become dependent on astrology.
Whatever happens, we keep serving Krishna. Specific, important things in our life, we can consider astrologers. There are different devotees who have different takes on this.
Because Prabhupada, he did talk in scriptures about, as if there is a lot of reference to astrology. But practically, Prabhupada did not depend too much on astrology. So, in terms of the way he encourages devotees to take, shall we take, I will pass it on.
So, it is more a matter of seeing that as an aid to our taking responsibility. If we feel that, yes, this will help me, and I would like to have some kind of forecast, it’s good, we can take it. It’s helpful.
But we shouldn’t make it as a substitute for taking