14/09/2025
Once, while Ramana Bhagavan was circumambulating Arunachala, he told his disciple, “Hold this small cloth bundle.” A little farther on, a thorn pricked the disciple’s foot and it began to bleed. The disciple immediately tied that bundle to Bhagavan’s foot and said, “Swami, if you had known beforehand you could have taken another path.” Bhagavan replied that we have come into this life to experience our karma. If you try to change someone’s karma, it will only come back later — maybe three days from now, or at a worse time when you are less ready — so karma cannot be escaped. We must undergo whatever karma is ours to experience. Since we are not great sages like the rishis, it helps to use astrology to learn in advance and be prepared, or to seek divine grace so we are in a position to bear that karma.
If you come to me for a reading, I did not promise—“I will change your karma, stop what is coming, perform this puja or homa for you.” What I said was different. Karma can be reduced or increased by your punya (merit) and papa (deeds), or one may be helped by divine grace; I explain those things based on your horoscope. But I cannot perform miracles — I cannot simply take your karma away. Why should I take your karma? You must change your own qualities and do some good deeds to alter outcomes. I will tell you what to do, how to perform those deeds, and what pujas or remedies may help. I will also tell you how to gain mental courage and how to come out of that difficulty. Astrology can do only so much — no one can change everything for you. If something is changed, you will still have to live with and learn from the result.
