Nadi astrology

Nadi Astrology ('நாடி ஜோதிடம்' in Tamil), (nāḍi jy- unit for prediction. That is why they are called “Nādi
otiṣa) is a form of Hindu astrology practiced in Tamil granthas”.
Nadu, Kerala and adjacent regions in India. It is based
Chandra Kalā Nadi, which is also known as Deva Ker-
on the belief that the past, present and the future lives of alam, was published by Sagar Publications in 1992, edited
all humans were foreseen by Hindu sages in ancient time
and translated into English by R Santhanam. It is a com-
pilation of over 82 hundred verses by Achyut of Kerala,
that is why it is called Deva Keralam. But its original
1 History kernel was Chandra Kalā Nādi which has not been pre-
served as a separate text. Deva Keralam has borrowed
In Tamil Nadu, the texts are mainly written in Vatteluttu, many non-Nādi concepts also in order to make the book
which is an ancient Tamizh (Tamil) script. They were fuller, but it preserves the gist of Nādi astrology. How-
written by a Rishi called Agathiyar who had a highly de- ever, there are many different trends in Nādi Astrology
veloped consciousness. These ancient records of prov- which are not present in Deva Keralam. There are Nādi
idence were made famous by practitioners around the texts named after planets, such as Guru Nādi or Shukra
Vaitheeswaran Temple in the state of Tamil Nadu. First, Nādi, and there are voluminous unpublished texts like
the Naadi palm leaves are located based on the thumb Dhruva Nādi. The palm leaves in Tamil Nādu temples
impressions (right for men, left for women).[1] use a style different from that of Deva Keralam, and the
Tamil method of Nādi Astrology is paralleled by Bhrigu
These Naadi leaves were initially stored in the premises
Samhitā in North India, which has been published in part,
of Thanjavur’s Saraswati Mahal Library in Tamil Nadu.
but many spurious publications in the name of Bhrigu
The British colonialists later showed interest in the Naadi
Samhitā have also appeared in the market.
leaves concerned with herbs and medicine, future pre-
diction, etc. Some leaves got destroyed and the remain- The basic methodology of these Nādi or Samhitā texts
ing were auctioned during the British rule. These Nadi have never been described in these texts, hence as-
leaves were obtained by the families of astrologers at the trologers can predict only what they already possess, and
Vaitheeswaran Temple and have been passed down the are dumb-founded when they do not possess the required
years from one generation to the other.[2] leaf about some particular person. The most fundamental
trait of Nādi texts is Nādi, which is actually a sum total of
all divisions of a sign caused by sixteen divisional charts
(shodasha vargas) described in texts like BPHS (Brihat
2 Theory Parāshara Horā Shāstra). 135 divisions out of total 285
are repeated in other divisionals, hence there are exactly
The basic concept of Nadi Astrology is “Nadi” (nāḍi). 150 distinctive divisions of a sign. But these divisions
There are 150 Nādis in a sign or Rāshi (Rāsi), one sign is are unequal, largest division being of half a degree and
30 degrees of zodiac. Twelve signs of zodiac grouped into smallest division is 36th part of a degree.
three categories : Movable (Chara), Fixed (Sthira) and
Dual (Dvisvabhāva) signs Nomenclature of 150 Nādis is When predictions are based on Nādis in which ascendant
peculiar to each of these three types of signs. There are and planets are placed, it means the combined results of
1800 Nādis in 360 degrees. Numbers and names of Nādis all sixteen divisional charts are being told. Hence, Nādi
are identical among all four Chara signs. Among all four Astrology is the most detailed and accurate method. But
Sthira signs, Numbers and names of Nādis are identi- it requires highly precise birth time, and it also requires
cal, but numbering is different from those in Chara and knowledge of genuine Nādi texts, most of which are un-
Dvisvabhāva signs. Similarly, numbering of Nādis in all published and the custodians do not allow others to see
four Dvisvabhāva signs are identical among themselves, the manuscripts. Same is the case with Samhitā texts in
but different from Chara or Sthira signs. For instance, the North India, such as Bhrigu Samhitā or Rāvana Samhitā.
first Nādi in Chara signs such as Aries is Vasudhā Nādi,
but in Sthira sings the order is reversed and Vasudhā is
150th Nādi. In Dvisvabhāva signs such as Gemini, Va-
sudhā is 76th Nādi, ie from the middle of 150. Thus,
there are 450 distinctive names and numbers in full zo- 3 Beliefs
diac. Nādi texts use this concept of Nādi as the basic

1
2 4 RESEARCH

3.1 Brahma thoughts and do no harm to any other being. Bad Karma
is committed even if we think unrighteous thoughts.
In ancient history, this universe and earth were created What is to be given to your lot in life, when, how and
by the cosmic public servant, Sri Brahma, who is a higher where are all decided by the Brahma using the Navagara-
consciousness of every human being, and the entire uni- has and the Siddars as channels. As the Brahma can-
verse is controlled by three powerful cosmic public ser- not everything in our realm directly, 84,000 Siddars have
vants or the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh). been created to perform duties on its behalf. Siddars are
While Hinduism does not have a 'god' in it, these enti- only another level of public servants in the cosmos, and
ties were worshiped by people in various forms across the they have capabilities and energies many would consider
globe or universe. supernatural, although in Hinduism this is quite normal.
Of all the siddars, 84,000 are identified as very powerful
and these siddars express themselves by way of Naadi.
3.2 Athma Agathiyar is the leader of all Siddars. Agathiyar along
with Kakapujandar, Bokar. Agatiyar always thrived for
Athman is the 'real' you with no body, no mind or no Jeeva Karunyam (to not harm any being), i.e., taking
desire. Athman is immortal, and characterises the real care of all living things in this world and guiding them
you. Changes apply only to the physical bodies. Common to the path of Gnana or the attaining of supreme self-
stages are birth, childhood, teenage, adulthood, oldage, knowledge.
and death. The real you (the Athma) then enters into a
different body depending on your Karma and takes form
relative to the good or bad deeds you have done. Athman
can neither be created nor destroyed. Athman manifests 3.4 Types
in a physical body as per applicable karmas.
• Naadi talks about a person’s past, present and fu-
In Karmic terms, a transition like this is like a person
ture and is mostly concerned with material things
working in an organisation getting promoted when he or
like getting a job, construction of house, marriage,
she works sincerely, honestly and efficiently, or demoted
curing a disease, etc. Gaanda Naadi were already
if he or she is a bad worker.
written by Siddars ages back and are available in
Naadi Astrology is like a mirror of your karmas in the Tamil Nadu with the blessed people.
previous birth(s). While this is not entirely accurate, for
simplicity’s sake, let’s say there are two options associated • Jeeva Naadi is like a live thing happening. It is
with your Karma. You either live out your mistakes or mainly concerned with Gnana and Nakshatra.
you can overcome them by performing corrective actions
in a proactive manner - this goes for all living beings.[3]

4 Research
3.3 Navagrahas and siddars
One Wing Commander (Retd.) Shashikant Oak of Pune
All beings, irrespective of species, nationality, religion, has a great contribution in bringing the Naadi palm leaf
social class, aggressiveness, etc., are controlled by the based astrological system into limelight. For more than
Navagrahas (nine houses or planets). The Navagrahas are 16 years, he has been conducting an original research on
very sincere in their duties as cosmic public servants and the aforesaid system. His research includes various sci-
never deviate in performing their duties. They cannot be entific angles, and has given the whole subject a new di-
bribed. They affect individual beings as well as entire so- mension. To conduct the original research, he has visited
cieties as per the Karma (thoughts, words and deeds of almost all the Naadi centers in India during the course of
beings in this world as well as other worlds) applicable. last 15 years, apart from individually meeting a thousands
The current life path of a person is determined by past of persons to take on account the firsthand experiences.
Karma. For example, if a person is blessed with wealth He has also presented a detailed paper called 'Compar-
in this birth, then it implies this person has done many ative Study: Nostradamus and Naadi Granthas.' Over
punyas (activities that resulted in good Karma) in his/her the past few years he has been instrumental in bringing
previous births and he/she is enjoying the benefits of it in out the subject to the notice of international researchers.
this birth. It is like a person who has saved a lot of punyas Apart from writing several research oriented books and
in his or her account cashing it in when the need arrives. detailed articles in various languages; Wing Comman-
Birth, death, rebirth and moksha are all controlled by our der (Retd.) Oak has also initiated preparing a dictio-
karma. Paapams (activities that result in negative Karma) nary of ancient Tamil words which appear in the Naadi
are obstacles that may take long to dilute whereas punyas palm leaves. His books are available in Marathi, Hindi,
earned can be 'spent' very soon. From the Hindu point of English, and have been translated into several other lan-
view, this makes it important that we always think good guages including Gujarati.
 3

5 Naadi astrology in popular cul- • Shashikant Oak (Wing Commander), Naadi Predic-
tions A Mind Boggling Miracle (2010), ISBN 81-
ture 7182-948-1

Prince of Malacca
In the film Chandran Rutnam is set to direct, Prince of
Malacca, the olai-chuvadi (palm-leaf) reading which Raj
Rajaratnam sought to forecast his future is influenced.[4]
After Johny reads an article in the Newsweek magazine
by a professor at the University of New York, he be-
comes interested in olai-chuvadi reading or Naadi astrol-
ogy. The article reveals, “Rajaratnam had gone to the
ola-leaf readers.” It is said there was a government case
against Raj, that he was in the stock business, that he
was famous worldwide. That he had to close his business
down. Rajaratnam revealed in the article that he doesn't
generally believe in fortunetellers and astrologers. “But
the ola leaves were written thousands of years ago. In
those days there was no share business. I found it inter-
esting.” The leaf reader had also divined that his wife was
born in “some Southeast Asian country.” His wife Asha
was born in the Philippines.[4]

6 References
[1] Kris Dhingra (12 October 2007). “Nadi Astrology –
Opening The Leaf To Your Future”. Delhi Planet, India.
Retrieved 28 June 2012.
[2] “History Of Naadi Astrology”. Nadi-astrology.org. Re-
trieved 2012-08-19.
[3] Lois Lane (7 August 2011). “Nadi Astrology And The
Secrets Of Your Past Life”. Delhi Planet, India. Retrieved
28 June 2012.
[4] Sashi, Rathi (2012-10-05). “Chandran Rutnam set to di-
rect “Prince of Malacca” is about a Wall Street hedge fund
billionaire and his activities”. PR Inside. Retrieved 2012-
10-10.

7 Bibliography
• Shashikant Oak, Naadi Predictions A Mind Boggling
Miracle (2010), ISBN 81-7182-948-1
• Sanjay Rath, Collected Papers in Vedic Astrology
(2006), ISBN 0-9765177-1-X, chapter 9, pp. 247–
276.
• Thomas Ritter, Die Palmblattbibliotheken. Und ihre
Prophezeiungen zur Zukunft Europas (2006) ISBN
978-3-938516-20-1.
• Thomas Ritter, Die Geheimnisse indischer Palm-
blattbibliotheken Dem Schicksal auf der Spur: Dem
Schicksal auf der Spur. Das Vermächtnis der Sieben
Weisen. Schicksalsbibliotheken auf der Spur (2002)
ISBN 978-3-89094-350-3.
4 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
• Nadi astrology Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadi_astrology?oldid=627692064 Contributors: AxelBoldt, William Avery, Venu62,
Discospinster, Dbachmann, Pearle, Sundar2000, Ross Burgess, Velella, Tintin1107, Woohookitty, Tabletop, Rgbea, DaGizza, Pigman,
Amithchandhran, Welsh, Sandstein, Deville, Tacubus, Arthur Rubin, SmackBot, Raghulmz, DMacks, FunkyFly, Jac16888, Cydebot,
Nipisiquit, Karebear2884, Apocno10, Mallan23, FisherQueen, THe GUTT, Kateshortforbob, Porkodi, Naniwako, Eeshwar1, Zerokit-
sune, Catchsharad, Ritz1on1, John.Knott, Garymani, WereSpielChequers, Ramkumaran7, Astrologist, Vinay Jha, MenoBot, MaryNagata,
Gs44631, XLinkBot, WikHead, Addbot, Sunds, C6541, Tide rolls, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Raju.infotech, AnomieBOT, Mks86, Xqbot, Sell-
yme, Bpselvam, FrescoBot, Endofskull, Skyerise, John of Reading, Elektrik Shoos, A930913, Kalki10, ClueBot NG, Rajaram Sarangapani,
Muon, Jeevanram, Theopolisme, Helpful Pixie Bot, MKar, Bhrigu.Ashram, Siddarkudil, Mediran, Comatmebro, Jep Tong, Samnitin123,
Mogism, Isarra (HG), Stormmeteo, Jayakumar RG, Karyakarta and Anonymous: 141

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