Memoirs of Shri Swamiji by B.L. Parmar

Article by B.L. Parmar

Baroda Astrology Club, a place where  lovers and believers of astrology can get together and share an infinity of astrological  interests,  was  founded   by our late Shri Swamiji, one of the most renowned astrologers of Mumbai many years ago already.

Since Saptarishi Astrology offers a space for sharing and enjoying remembrances of great ones from bygone times, I take this opportunity to share some incidents about our Shri Swamiji, a man who never swerved from his love and strong faith in Jyotish in spite of any circumstances or apparent difficulties.

When I first met him, he had already lost his eyesight due to cataract problems.  Because of this, Swamiji was unable to read but, rest assured that this great inconvenience was largely compensated by his stunning memory that seemed at times overwhelmingly powerful – thus, Astrology’s complicated rules were child’s play for him and he could very easily extract the immediate concerns and pertinent information that his clients were seeking, something that many of us, seeing astrologers, still aspire for after years of dedicated study.

As a young astrologer, Shri Swamiji’s main occupation was to cater his professional services to some actors and wealthy people. His skills were widely acknowledged and this brought him much fame as well as very decent income.

His skills and fame were eventually acknowledged by Bhavnagar Astrology Club from Bombay who publicly honoured him in a function where he was offered a shield and costly shawl, an old Indian custom still followed to this day in many such occasions.  Respects and recognition were also offered to our Shri Swamiji from Nadiad Astrology Club, another Mumbai organization.  Thus, his fame spread widely in Mumbai, in the whole of Gujarat, as well as many more places in India.

Let me now open a window through which you can view some examples of his interactions and personal conversations with some of his clients.

Swamiji did not require any amount of details from a consultant to be of help.  If any kundli without a name or address was presented to him, this was no impediment to his providing the right answer.  Following the advent of his blindness, someone needed to read the kundli loudly for him and he would instantly grasp the essence of it and advise accordingly.

Once up on a time, one person asked Swamiji about the kundli of a lady, inquiring to know one important thing applicable for her life.  Several astrologers had already supplied a variety of answers to this query but none of these proved complete and/or sufficiently significant and worthy to be qualified as being of definite importance.

At last, when Swamiji was consulted he said that “This woman will get richer due to marriage or after marriage.”  In the events that unfolded, it so happened that this lady got happily married to a rich man but later became a widow – this is when she inherited the commendable wealth of her deceased husband.  This was her first husband.  Subsequently, she did remarry to another wealthy man and, unbelievably, the same pattern of events repeated where she became a widow again, and inherited again… repeating this same scenario twice in her life.  This prediction was indeed remarkable!

One day when Swamiji was available for readings at the Club, a well-known astrologer came along with his wife for consultation. This astrologer was a highly qualified person.  He therefore showed his kundli to Swamiji…

Upon seeing this kundli, Swamiji declared something that seemed very strange and improbable to all of us present; he said “your wife will leave you suddenly in your life!”

After some time elapsed, to his great dismay despite the forewarning, that person’s wife left him and went away with a person of questionable standing.  Swamiji’s prophecy proved right again!

On another occasion, one of his friends tested Swamiji by asking him to predict about his own life – this happened around 1960 when Swamiji was about 38 years.  Swamiji answered “What good will it do you once you know my future?  I am not going to become a millionaire or billionaire” – which he did not become despite his already firmly established fame.  Actually, when Swamiji later lost his eyesight, he spent his life in social work wanting to help and benefit as many people as he could.

In a similar manner, with the intention of testing his knowledge, one person showed a photo print of someone’s hand. This was when Swamiji still had the use of his eyesight.

The questioner asked about the wealth of this printed hand’s owner, to which query Swamiji answered that the person concerned was suffering from an incurable disease.  And this proved to be an amazingly true statement.

Swamiji was born on March 11^th 1922 and passed away on July 23^rd 1995.  All of us who had the chance to know him and interact with him consider ourselves blessed by this man’s true humility and detachment.

The life of Swamiji has inspired the rest of us, members of his Baroda Astrology Club, in a manner of benefiting our fellow human beings by giving free service and teaching of astrology at “Sharda Mandir School, Salatwada” every Sunday.  This we are pledged to accomplish in the kind memory of his love for us and for everyone he met.