Interview with Pundit K.N Navaratnam

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=215 BGCOLOR="#CC3366" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="2b006732dkcfyw.gif"> <div> <IMG SRC="1e9afec0.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="236" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=170 BGCOLOR="#CC99CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> </B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>  </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#330099" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>  |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="New Vedic Astrology Discussion Forum"><U>New Vedic Astrology Discussion Forum</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What is Jyotish?"><U>What is Jyotish?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Me"><U>About Me</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Charles Manson"><U>Charles Manson</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Latest NewsLiving with Siva"><U>Latest News-Living with Siva</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kylie Minogue"><U>Kylie Minogue</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Moon in Vedic Astrology"><U>The Moon in Vedic Astrology</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sri Yukteswar on Astrology"><U>Sri Yukteswar on Astrology</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Inuguration Chart Of G.W Bush"><U>Inuguration Chart Of G.W Bush</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gurudeva"><U>Gurudeva</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Self God"><U>The Self God</U></A>   |   <B>Interview with Pundit K.N Navaratnam</B>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pundit K.N Navaratnam"><U>Pundit K.N Navaratnam</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photos"><U>Photos</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newspaper Articles"><U>Newspaper Articles</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Five Elements"><U>The Five  Elements</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rahu and Ketu"><U>Rahu and Ketu</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Yogi and Ava Yogi Planets"><U>Yogi and Ava Yogi Planets</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Relationships"><U>Relationships</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mrityu Bhaga"><U>Mrityu Bhaga</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michael Hutchence"><U>Michael Hutchence</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Boris Becker"><U>Boris Becker</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Richard Houck"><U>Richard Houck</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mars and Venus"><U>Mars and Venus</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Favorite Links"><U>Favorite Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Book Review"><U>Book Review</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Book Review 2"><U>Book Review 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Book Review 3"><U>Book Review 3</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Book Review 4 "><U>Book Review 4  </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Consultations"><U>Consultations</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U>Contact Me</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=310 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CC99CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>Interview with Pundit K.N Navaratnam</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1eb1e770.jpg" border=0 width="542" height="375" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Pundit Welcomes Ammachi to open the Sivathondan.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="1ed25730.jpg" border=0 width="549" height="371" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Preparing to light the lamps to inaugurate the Sivathondan.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="1ef276f0.jpg" border=0 width="551" height="367" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Ammachi lights the lamps.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF3300" FACE="Garamond" ><B>Firstly Pundit what do you think of what is known as "western astrology?"</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Well as you know, I am not that critical about their techniques as much as the system known as the tropical zodiac. The western system makes good use of aspects and even progressions are worthy of study. However by not using an Ayanamsha they cannot come to correct conclusions. Hindu astrology has far superior techniques to make accurate predictions from a horoscope.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Can you expand on this for any newcomers to astrology who may read this?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>With Vedic astrology we can look at different aspects of the person from three different ascendants. We can look at the positions of the planets from the ascendant rising, the Moon or the Sun. Even if the birthtime is unknown, a very accurate reading can be given by the skilled astrologer from the position of the planets from the natal Moon. With experience rectification occurs automatically. In Vedic astrology we have so many excellent tools like Muhurta, Ashtakarvarga, Dashas, Gochara and Divisional charts to come to our conclusions. The western system lacks all these aspects so is somewhat limited. The main problem though is they are simply using the wrong system. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>What about Nadi readers have you any experience with them? </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Do not mention these rogues to me! I am yet to meet one nadi reader who is not a scoundrel or cheater. I went to see a nadi reader with Seshadri Iyer and he said I should open a photography shop! Nothing he said made sense. Others nadi readers I have met even admitted to me they make up a lot of what they say to people. A good example of this was of a nadi reader who came to Melbourne a few years ago to do readings. My son Lanko became very good friends with him and when visiting India decided to surprise him with a visit to his home town. My son asked locals where this nadi reader was and they laughed and said "since when has he been a nadi reader?" It seemed this fellow had become a nadi reader on entering Australia. Maybe he needed to pay for his holiday!! As far as I'm concerned there is no such thing as nadi.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I feel this way about western astrology in that because they lack the tools of Vedic astrology and are using the wrong calculations they have "invented" things like "midpoints" "asteroids" and "Chiron" to prop up a system that is basically wrong. What are your thoughts on this?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Somebody who understands how to interpret astrology according to the Vedic system, does not have this need to dabble in all these misleading things, they can come to the correct conclusions within our system that has stood the test of time for thousands of years.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>When I first met you, you clearly told me that until you understand the nakshatras you were not a Hindu astrologer. What did you mean by that?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The nakshatras are the fixed stars showing the fixed nature of our karmas. The planets are the messengers of the fixed stars. The planets roam around the universe against the backdrop of these fixed constellations. The whole vimshottari system is based on the nakshatra position of the natal Moon. It is pointless trying to explain the importance of these things to most people. The true Hindu astrologer readily knows and accepts the great importance of these nakshatras.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Can you tell me a bit about Sri Seshadri Iyer?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Seshadri Iyer was humble and kind man. He was also the best astrologer of his era. He had done a lot of his own research and was honest in admitting where he found useful points of interpretation like the yogi and ava yogi planets. Many other big names in astrology claimed to be the originator of great ideas when in fact they were somebody else's. Krishnamurti was the worst culprit in doing this although his skill as an astrologer cannot be questioned. Nobody really knew how to read a divisional chart until Seshadri published his books "New Techniques of Prediction" 1 and 2. Until then people used mostly the rashi and navamsha charts. Most people couldn't even interpret the navamsha correctly in those days either.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Yes, I noticed in B.V Ramans "How to read a Horoscope" there is no mention of divisional charts and little use of the navamsha chart. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>B.V Raman did a lot for astrology and we should thank him and remember him for that. His weakness was he used his own ayanamsha which most feel is incorrect. Even now his children still use it which is loyal but not good for the overall development  of astrology. I feel the ayanamsha known as Krishnamuti's is best but Lahiri is the official one and can be also used with reasonable accuracy. We should not forget astrology is built on the bed rock of time and unless a perfectly correct birth time in available we should only use approximate times regarding predictions anyway.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I notice you actually published your own ephemeris in 1972 how did that come about?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In 1972 there was an embargo on books coming from India to Sri Lanka so I decided to print my own ephemeris. I still have the one copy you see in my room.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>What do you think of the state of astrology now practised in India?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>While there are still some good astrologers to be found in India there are also far too many cheats and misleaders clinging to archaic and superstitious ideas. You have told me some of the things you see on the internet on the message boards and I have advised you to have nothing to do with these things as you will only become confused by these people's nonsense. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Yes, I have given the chat sites away. I feel there is too much misleading and inaccurate advice given out. I am also disturbed by people prescribing mantras or stones when a visit to the Doctor or Psychiatrist would be more apropriate! </B></div> <div> <B>What do you feel about this? </B><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Many people still cling to stupid ideas and hopes that an astrologer can solve all their problems. While it is true astrology is a powerful tool for looking into any problem, the steps to rectifying the problem must be taken by the person with the problem. Too many astrologers like to play the great Guru and think they can play God. However, to solve a persons problems we must be aware of the </B><I><B><U>real </U></B></I><B>cause of the problem. Many people know their weaknesses but just want them confirmed by somebody else. Astrology is excellent for seeing the real nature and not some persona an individual may have developed to deal with the world. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>More of this discussion soon............</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>