Article by Phyllis Chubb

Many people had the honor of meeting or studying with Narendra Desai during the 77 years he shared with us between 1924 and 2001. This multi talented and highly evolved person touched the lives of many people.

He was a Gandhian activist and freedom fighter, a classical Sanskrit authority and a Jyotisha par excellence. As the result of his efforts to free India his physical eyesight was damaged, however in no way did this damage impair his inner vision. As a result of his knowledge of classical Sanskrit Narendra Desai brought fresh air and opportunities for new research to the teachings of the great sage Parasara and other Maharishi. He did this by acknowledging the importance to be paid to the graha beyond Saturn. He learned of the importance of these new planets through a prediction of their discovery written on a Vasistha Nadi Palm leaf held within a museum in Madras, India.

The scroll he read had predicted three important grahas would be discovered in Kali Yuga. The names provided for the graha were Prajapati, Varuna and Yama. The characteristics and themes associated with these names align with most accurately with those called Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in the West.

Naturally this discovery was met with mixed emotions. Some people immediately chose to adapt these new graha into the chart’s array however other people chose to confine their studies to the originally identified graha.

In an article written some years ago, Dennis Harness, then director of the Institute of Vedic Astrology in Sedona, Arizona, recorded Narendra Desai’s advice for all of us: “Never mind what others say about the outer planets, they are there, we must use them!”

And use them many of us do, thanks to Narendra Desai’s encouragement and for many the results obtained through daily observations have attested to the accuracy of his words.

That he read many thousands of charts, of people from all walks of life, is well known, and his wisdom is missed by countless clients and students. The list of his achievements and honors is long: He received several honorary degrees and gold metal awards from various astrological Institutes. He was a life member of the Bombay Astrological Society, Past President of the C.J. Krishnaswami Foundation and Astrological Academy.

For thirteen years he wrote an Astrology Column for the Mirror Magazine in India as well as numerous other articles on astrology and palmistry. He also wrote a book on the Essentials of Numerology. To say his range of knowledge was vast would not be sufficient praise.

Thumb reading was another area of great interest to him. And, as always, he actively shared his ever growing knowledge with students thereby introducing them to the wonderful world of reading thumb prints. This was a technique he personally used to verify the accuracy of charts.

What is to follow is being shared for the sole purpose of showing another side to this soul, a side that is rarely seen, and certainly not commonly understood at least not in the West. However, it is hoped what will be described below will show the extant of this man’s spiritual development.

In 1998, about 6 weeks after Richard Houck’s book The Astrology of Death had literally fallen into my hands as I stood pondering before a shelf in a book store, I met Narendra Desai. Prior to catching the book I knew nothing of Vedic astrology, although I had practiced and taught Western astrology for 20 plus years. Upon purchasing it I began reading Richard’s book immediately. It was as if I couldn’t put it down and so much of it confused me. After struggling with it for 2 days, in desperation, I telephoned Richard Houck seeking clarity.

Naturally he was unable to answer all my questions but he did tell me there would be a conference on this type of astrology in Sedona, Arizona in 6 weeks and that I should go. As it happened my husband over heard our conversation and he agreed with Richard. To make a long story short, fate seemed to be at work. The travel agent said there was a seat sale on flights to Phoenix that ended at 5 pm the day I spoke with Richard, as part of the deal I got a car to drive to Sedona from the airport in Phoenix and there was still space at the conference. I should have known then my life was about to change and change it did, I just had no idea how much it would change.

I arrived safe and sound at the Conference and being an eternal student was happy to attend classes, I had to find out more about this ‘stuff’. Before one of my first classes began, all of us were talking and sharing information about where we had come from etc. everyone including me was in a great mood. All of a sudden tears started running down my face. I couldn’t believe it, I had nothing to cry about. Then I saw a very short man walking to the lectern and as I watched him my tears continued to flow. I wanted to leave the room but couldn’t move. His eyes swept the audience then his head jerked back and his eyes focused on me. I felt as if the lecture was given to me and today I still don’t know what he was talking about. At the end of the lecture my feet carried me to his outstretched hands rather than out the door. He held my hands as he spoke with the other students and when they left the first words he said to me were, “What took you so long?” Need I say the tears were flowing again and I still didn’t know why.

In the following days we spent a great deal of time together and he told me many things about myself, how he knew me, what I had to do. He told me that he was leaving soon and kept emphasizing that we would meet again. For now I was to study hard. He looked at my chart and told me many things but of course at that time regrettably I didn’t know enough to even ask questions.

He asked if I wanted to know when I would be leaving this life. He said he felt I needed this information in order to plan. Filled with false confidence I said yes. Now having that information is valuable and most comfortable however there was a period when this knowledge was anything but comfortable. This taught me a valuable lesson.

There was a day long intensive that year with another famous teacher, C.S. Patel. I attended that lecture with Narendra Desai at my side. As Mr. Patel spoke Narendra Desai would pat my leg and tell me, “You knew that, you knew that!” If I did know it I certainly wasn’t aware of it! A strange thing happened, while I was in the room with these two giants I could understand everything they were saying, and it was all so natural and normal. Unfortunately the moment I left their presence I was back to my normal state and knew nothing.

Saying good bye to this giant person who had so phenomenally and effectively altered my life was done with a peace that words can not describe. Returning home was not easy in many ways, how could I describe what had happened to me? My years of study in psychology had not prepared me for such an event. And it took time to accept the magnitude of what had happened as the result of being in his company. It took even longer before I would attempt to explain this event to anyone else. As a result of his most powerful influence on me and the things he told me, a day does not go by with out some portion of it being devoted to Jyotish and the expanded world of knowledge associated with it. Without a doubt I know his presence must have had a similar impact on countless other people as well.

For years I have questioned what he saw, how he saw the world, how did he know so much and so forth. Now I accept he simply knew and I know more than anything else that through Narendra Desai I met a most holy person and through him I, along with countless others, have had the opportunity to see and hear the vast teaching of the Jyotish come alive through the words and actions of a Master Jyotisha. He blessed us all and we are all the richer as a result of his knowledge, generosity and open heart.