Aroodam ( Horary Astrology) - Nimittam

Dear all,
Aroodam (Horary astrology) has been practiced for centuries in India. The state of Kerala, is famous even today for traditional use of Aroodam.
Horary astrology is the branch of astrology that deals with answering question by studying the astrological charts set for the exact time and place of asking a question. It differs from the well known natal astrology, which gives insight on the entire life of a person. From a horary astrology chart, one can find the answer only to that specific question. that generated it. The more advanced form is the Astamangalam Prasna and Deva Prasna methods.
There are many other forms of Aroodam- like throwing cowrie shells (chozhis) and reading out of the number of shells turned upwards.
Another one (Nimittta) is prediction based on observation & interpretation of signs / omens around, at the time when the query is raised. Naturally, this calls for very keen observation and interpretation skills. Otherwise, the interpretation could go wrong. This branch of vedic astrology, also known as Nimittam, gives amazing results for specific queries, in the hands of the right practitioner.
But, it calls for immense application & practice.
While all other branches of astrology have many reference books, those on Nimitta are very hard to come by.
With my interest in predictive sciences, it was but natural that I was attracted to 'aroodam' also, especially the last one, Nimitta, calling for interpretation on the basis of signs around us.
I am posting a 'true-story', narrated by my 'teacher', who introduced me to this predictive form of 'prasna sastra'. Time permitting and in case our friends have an interest in knowing more about this form of predictive interpretation, I would try to post some of the findings in subsequent postings.
By posting this story here, I am not even remotely suggesting anyone to believe blindly what is contained therein. You could as well take it as any other fictitious story. But, personally, I do feel that this 'science' calls for a closer look, with an open mind, instead of summarily dismissing it as 'humbug'.
It is upto you to take it or leave it.
Cheers!
rrg

"Sankaran Namboodri's Aroodam"​

Sankaran Namboodri (SN) was a renowned astrologer, over 70 years old. A Sanskrit scholar. He was a Sri Vidya Upasaka (worshipper of Sri Vidya) also. He had great intuitive powers gained out of regular yoga & meditation practices. People even from far off places visited him for consultations. His clientele believed that his predictions never failed. He had mastered various forms of 'Prasna marga' (horary astrology) – one of them being, Nimitta, predictions based on happenings, signs & omens around us. He believed & preached that Nature, in its abundant wisdom, always provided innumerable clues to the future happenings in our life and it was up to us to understand them properly and take corrective action accordingly. He had a son, Kesavan, whom he had initiated into this field. K, by virtue of being an understudy to his father for over decades, felt that he had also attained the level of independently interpreting the signs and give predictions. He was waiting for an opportunity to test his skills.
One fine morning, a young lady came looking for Sankaran Namboodri for an urgent consultation. As he was not home, Kesavan volunteered to give predictions for the visitor's query. The lady initially hesitated and preferred to wait. But, when she was told that SN's timing for return was uncertain, she narrated her problem to K. Both the lady and K were seated on the big pyol (thinnai) of the house.
Her husband was in jail for a murder of a rich person in their town, a crime that he had not committed. The couple could not afford to hire any reputed lawyer to defend him. The Govt appointed lawyer, though did his best, was not very confident of his success, as the prosecution had made a strong case against the accused. The circumstantial evidences were also totally against the accused. The final judgement was scheduled to be delivered in the next couple of days. It was expected that the husband would be sentenced to death or atleast life imprisonment. Towards this the lady desired consulting SN for his advice as well as whether any 'parihara' (anti-dote) could be thought of for saving him.
Her completion of narration of the issue and seeking K's advice coincided with the arrival of Kesavan's wife, who had gone for fetching water from the river. K's wife was carrying a pitcher (mud pot) full of water. While entering the house, she involuntarily tripped and dropped the pitcher. The pot broke spilling entire water to the ground, that stood absorbed in no time. K interpreted this as sure death sentence for her husband – that the life contained in his body being released, similar to the water contained in the pitcher and his soul merging with the universal one, like the water getting absorbed into the ground. On hearing this, the lady broke down, crying uncontrollably. She refused to leave the place till she met SN and took his blessings. She waited on the pyol crying.
SN returned after an hour or so. Seeing this lady crying outside his house he asked her the reason. By then K also joined them and explained what transpired, as also his predictions. On hearing the entire story, Sankaran Namboodri sat on the pyol, closed his eyes and meditated for a few moments. He then assured the lady that the judgement would go in her husband's favour and by God's grace he would be released forthwith. SN's interpretation was that the prison which was holding her husband against his wishes, like the pitcher holding free flowing water from the river, would not be able to contain him any more. Also, the pitcher breaking was a development, contrary to the expectations. Normally, you expect K's wife to carry the pitcher safely inside. Similarly, in the case of the prisoner, an unexpected development, contrary to the general expectation, was awaited. Towards his interpretation he pointed out few more supportive signals (shaguns) that were available around. SN admonished K for his wrong interpretation of signs and advised him to never to jump to conclusions on the basis of reading a single sign, however strong it could be. One need to cross check the interpretation with other indications available.
Sure enough, the lady was at SN's house next week, with her husband, to pay their regards. As predicted by SN, her husband had been freed for want of clinching evidence.
It would become bookish, if I were to go deeper into the reasons for SN's prediction. Suffice to note that the same signs could be interpreted differently and would call for very keen observation for supportive evidences around, before coming to any predictive conclusions. This came only out of experience, maturity & intuition.

PS: I don't remember the names of the aroodam specialist as well as his son. Just used the names that came to my mind. Otherwise, I have tried to reproduce whatever I could remember of the story, related to me way back in 1971.

 

Dear Mindi, Sindhuja & Shakambari,
I am happy o note that you all found it interesting.
As I was interested in study of vedic astrology, I was introduced to Nimittam system of Aroodam 38 years back, when I was around 19. Since then, I have practiced this with some variations from my side, with very good results. This system is based on observing sagunam / omens around when the query is raised and interpreting them. It is the interpretation that is very difficult in this system, as you would have observed from this story. Towards this, for cross checking, I have introduced some variations with the helpof numerology and tarot. Time permitting, at a later date, I would post some of my real life readings which you may find very interesting.
The other part of Horary astrology is through interpretaion of astrological chart drawn when the question was born. This is what is widely followed in many parts of India.
Another system that is followed widely in South is the Chozhi system.

Let us await the reaction of other friends also before proceeding further.
Cheers!
Rrg

 

Thanks Padminiji.
Pleased that you found this post interesting.
When I read about your missing brother one instance came to my mind.
It was during 1988, brother - in- law of a colleague of mine went missing in Delhi. My colleague approached an aroodam specialist in a village near Sonepet (an hours drive from Delhi) 4 days after the boy went missing. The astrologer asked for a shirt of the missing boy and a Kg of rice. He meditated for sometime, holding the shirt in his hand. Thereafter, he threw entire rice up and looked thro' the falling rice in a trance. He then stated the exact location - including the name of the building, as also the condition of the missing boy as if he was seeing it in a picture. My friend rushed to the location and brought the boy home.
Even in South people locate lost items / persons by applying kajal (kann mai) on betal leaf. All said and done, for every one genuine practioner, there are scores of bogus ones, that we need to be careful about.
Cheers!
rrg