The Nostalgic Lanes of C.S.Patel By R.G.Krishnan, USA.
I met late Mr. C.S.Patel for the first time in the year 1982 at Ahmadabad, India at an Astrological Convention, where we both were
honored with the award of “Jyotish Maha Mahopadhyaya” title. At the convention Mr. Patel’s speech made a big impact on me and I told him that after returning to Bombay I will meet him on a regular basis to learn more from him on finer points of astrology.
Thereafter a good friendship and a Guru/Shishya relationship developed between us. I was eager to learn more astrological knowledge from him and he was eager to part with his specialized knowledge. In the year 1982 onwards until 1988 I lived in Bombay and made it a point to meet him on every Sunday and in each meeting I learnt some thing new from him.
He had a good collection of books on astrology written by several eminent astrologers. Many of the books in his library were books which were out of print and were difficult to get. He had preserved these books carefully and would refer to them occasionally to make his point. He had a very good habit of recording brief notes at the back page of his books, which helped him to swiftly retrieve any information he needed. He continued this wonderful habit until his last breath.
In our weekly meetings we discussed mainly the verses from Nadi astrology. He used to maintain a big chart showing the position of transiting planets with dates on which these planets will be in retrogression and the dates in which they will be direct, dates on which they will enter each sign etc. He also kept notes of important events and the dates on which such events occurred along with the astrological reasoning.
During the year 1982 through 1984 he discussed with me the various verses from Chandra Kala Nadi (aka Devakeralam). One particular verse which he referred to ran thus; Lagnese Nidhanamsaste Moode Shashtagathe athava Shudhvadaya cha Maranam Bandhu Heene Mahitale Meaning that when the lord of the ascendant is posited in the Navamsa chart in the 8 th house with ref to the ascendant of the Rasi chart or is eclipsed by the rays of Sun or is posited in the Navamsa chart in the 6 th house with ref to the ascendant of the Rasi chart, then the native will die of starvation or on the bare ground with no blood relations by his side.
To make his point he used to refer to the chart of the great Mahatma Gandhi (chart given below). It will be seen from the above natal chart that Mahatma Gandhi had Libra Ascendant in the Rasi chart and that the lord of Ascendant Venus was adversely placed in Taurus sign in the Navamsa chart which was the 8 th house from Libra Ascendant of the Rasi chart. As we all know Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead on Jan 30 1948 at Delhi by some assailant. At the time of his sudden death no blood relations were near him as mentioned in the verse.
Around this time on Oct 31 1984 the then Prime minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi was assassinated and was shot dead by one assailant. It will be seen from her natal chart that she had Cancer Ascendant in her Rasi chart and lord of ascendant Moon was adversely placed in Aquarius sign in the Navamsa chart (8 th sign with ref to ascendant in her Rasi chart).
Later Mr. C.S.Patel had written an article on this verse elaborating the two natal charts discussed above in an article entitled ‘Search light on Navamsa’ which was published in the Astrological Magazine in Jan 1986. In the year 1985 while discussing some astrological points he referred to a verse on Mars which described Mars as “Vrshti Kruth Vrushti Hartah Cha” meaning that Mars is the planet which can cause rainfall and which can also deny rainfall. In Bombay we generally have Monsoon commencing in June which will last until
August. In that year in July Mars transited an enemy sign namely Gemini in July that year. Mr. Patel told me that the rainfall in July is likely to be much less although it is one of the monsoon months during which one expects heavy downpour. I was surprised to observe that first two weeks of July were full of dry days without rain which is rather unusual for a place like Bombay. He also mentioned that when Mars moves over to watery sign Cancer there will be heavy rains. This was also observed to be holding true. Incidentally during the current year 2008 in June, Mars transited cancer sign (a watery sign) and we had seen news paper reports stating that heavy rainfall occurred in Bombay in that period. In USA also we had heavy floods in Midwest & in Mississippi river in the month of June which was unusual.
In the year 1987 we had organized annual convention on Astrology under the banner of Indian Council of Astrological Sciences. Dr. B.V.Raman and other eminent astrologers like Mr.K.N.Rao, Justice Kapoor Ghanashyam Joshi, Parasmani, V.A.K Iyer, Raman Thakkar etc attended. The function was presided over by a Deputy Minister of Maharashtra Govt. Dr. Raman had personally appreciated Mr. Patel on the Reasearch in Nadi astrology by him and the articles published in Astrological Magazine of India. This convention gave opportunity to eminent astrologers like Mr. K.N.Rao to meet personally Mr.Patel & discuss with him the finer points in Nadi Astrology etc.
The convention went off very well and it gave immense pleasure and happiness to Mr.Patel. He had expressed to me then that this was one of the landmarks in his life.
