Can you believe that someone in India is storing records of your entire life cycle ie. your past, present and future, hard to believe but Yes, this is called Nadi Astrology. Nadi is an ancient astrology, which has been composed by great Maharishis (sages) of India in the past using their spiritual powers. The sages recorded these predictions for every individuals for the betterment of humanity and to safeguard dharma (righteousness). These sages predicted the characteristics, family history, as well as the careers of innumerable individuals contain in several thousand volumes, each containing around a hundred predictions. These Nadi prediction recordings, being the repository of wisdom of the Great Saint was one of the well preserved books for thousands of years by the many generations of rulers, until an auction during the British rule, when it finally became the proud possession of an influential family of Valluvar community at Vaitheeswarankoil in the Tanjore district of Tamilnadu. 

 The Rishis (sages), who dictated those Nadis, were gifted with such a remarkable foresight that they accurately foretold the entire future of all mankind. Many scholars in different parts of India have in their safekeeping several granthas. Initially, Nadi Astrology predictions was thought to be just writing on Astrology, but soon it became evident that the scriptures contained some unique predictions of specific natives, who will come seeking them, at a particular stage of their lifetime, as foretold by the Great Saint in these predictions.

Structure of the Nadi Writings

Among the various characteristics of man, one is "his obsession for probing things unknown. From ancient times, man is obsessed and eager for seeking more and more knowledge. He has succeeded too. It is an unending quest.

India's contribution to this search of the unknown is very important. India has a tradition that has always kept alive its link with the unknown. India is not just a nation, a country, or a piece of land. India is much more than that - something symbolic, poetic, and talent-invisible! The reason is that India is the only country in the world, which has concentrated on and devoted its entire talent and intelligence in the search of the truth. For thousands of years millions of people have been making efforts .towards that single objective. For that, they shunned riches, adopted poverty, risked ill-health etc. But they never gave up their search for the truth. The divine, blissful vibrations of all those sages are always present in the atmosphere here. They include saints, mahatmas, rishis, munis, gurus, scholars, great poets, painters, and talented intellectuals who were the medium of Divinity. They have obliged mankind by opening up various avenues to divine knowledge. But to grasp that divine knowledge, it is necessary that one attain a certain high standard of moral behavior, asceticism and knowledge.

Of the many aspirations that humans have, one is to peep into one's future. A number of sages (rishis-munis) have dwelt on that in a number of ways. One of its outcomes is the science of Nadi Astrology.

Needless to say that these rishis and munis were experts in the science of Yoga, which describes the different states of one's being. If we grasp them, some light can be thrown on how the Yogis get or may be getting the knowledge of ascertaining and recording the future of every human being. That is just a small part of that vast store of cosmic knowledge.

It is believed that for the first seven years of one's life, the stress is on the development of the gross body. Imitation is its basic characteristic. During that period, there is a lack of development of intellect, emotions and desires. There isn't much difference between such a being and an animal. The physical body of an animal is also developed, but its other facets remain undeveloped.

In the next seven years, the emotive body is developed. Youth attains maturity. In the succeeding seven years the subtle body attains development. That phase leads to the development of logic, thinking power, and intellect. After the development of the second facet there is some kind of adolescent maturity. But the third facet leads to the development of one's rationality, logic and intellect, because of education, culture and morality considerations. Probably because of this, the voting age throughout the world is

The mental caliber of most human beings gets stuck up at that third stage till death. The development of the fourth, i.e. mental plane does not evolve in their beings. Experiences of the mental plane are very interesting and unprecedented e.g. mesmerism, telepathy, clairvoyance, reading the thoughts in others' minds, etc. In that state the visual reality is out of consideration e.g. it is possible to grip a thing in one's hand and then transcend its existence. Others' could be aware of the things in your hand, but to pull others into your transcendental plane of thoughts would be impossible. From there onwards one's own intellectual world begins. The rules of truth and falsehood of the material world begin to lose their significance. One is in a trance; unable to distinguish whether what is happening is real or just illusory!

A number of practitioners of black magic get trapped in that state of their mind. They earn a bad name because of their black-magic power. In that state, one obtains a lot of power (siddhies), which is known as the awakening of the Kundalini. Modern Physiologists do not accept the existence of Kundalini, because they are not able to locate and identify it in the body. What is known as Kundalini is the development of the fourth state i.e. the mental faculty. One specific result of activation of the Kundalini is unprecedented, spiritual experiences as also the power to foretell the future of individuals.

The development of the fifth i.e. spiritual faculty (Atmic body) is a continuation of the development of the fourth state. Words such as 'house' or 'TV' are easily grasped because they connote concrete things, but when one mentions soul alias Atma that becomes incomprehensible. One has no experience of that and therefore one cannot grasp its meaning. Those who can comprehend the existence of the 'soul' are the persons in the fifth stage of development who stand on the threshold of the final spiritual liberation (Moksha) i.e. the final escape. However, some unknowingly stop at that stage, with a sense of total fulfillment.

For those in the sixth stage, there is a possibility of their crossing into Moksha, i.e. total liberation and merger into the divine soul i.e. 'Brahman'.

What is the distinguishing mark of the sixth facet of realization?

Attaining Brahma means merging with the divine soul to feel "I am the Brahman". One step further, alias the leap forward is where there is neither 'I' nor 'Brahman', no 'You' and 'me', where there is Nothing. It is only a big zero - (total, absolute void), which is Nirvana, the seventh facet.

Stages from the fourth onwards are abstract, like a dream. The mind works day and night resulting in planning, imaging and dreaming. The imagination culminates into a concrete resolve and becomes one's will. When the ability to dream develops fully, it leads to extra-sensory vision. (Psychic vision)

To transform a dream into a vision, one need not keep one's eyes open since one can sense the things just by closing one's eyes where dreams seem to be the reality. One can see things beyond the wall, or one can read another person's thoughts. 'Vision' here means the ability to see things by contracting the distance between time and space and to notice or hear of things with the subtle inner cognizance. From that extra-sensory knowledge the Nadi authors must have been inspired to visualize detailed happenings of the future of generations, and note them down on palm-leaves demonstrating Divinity's mechanical, methodical and mathematical control of all happenings in the universe. That kind of service of theirs, to all humanity is invaluable. They undertook the task in the spirit of sheer inspired duty sans remuneration or reward.

How did all that happen? How many other sages were gifted with that prophetic insight? How many others volunteered to note down those predictions? How long did the task of etching palm-leaves take? What must have been the etching device? What could have been the duration of the task? Who encouraged them to read out the same to those for whom it was meant? What is the pattern of index used, so that the relevant noting about any person wanting to know his or her future could be quickly sorted out? A number of such questions arise.

While reading and discussing about the Nadi treatises so far, I have been able to sense the logic behind the compilation of these treatises. From whatever I have read or discussed, I dare deduce that there must have been Gurukuls (residential schools run by several sages and gurus) at various places under the supervision of Saint Agastya and other Naadi-recorders. While engaged in the meditative grasping of the Vedas for self-enlightenment and insight into the future of the Universe, the other subjects such as Ayurved (Medicine), Jyotirvcd (Forecasting), Dhanurved (Archery), Sthapatya (Architecture), Chitrakala (Painting), Nrutya (Dancing) and Sangita (Music) etc. must have been taught for relaxation from their concentration in divining the future of all human beings. Some disciples might have obtained expertise in those subjects. There might have been seminars at the royal courts, organized for these disciples to participate in the debates and discussions on those subjects. With a view to make use of these discussions for the benefit of humanity at large the Naadi- writing must have been undertaken under the guidance of the head of the Gurukul.

Besides, every morning the guru must have been guiding and leading his 200 to 300 disciples into collective mental sorties into humanity's future. Because of that, those disciples must have become adept at divining the past, present and future of all human beings.

Around every seer, there must have been about two to three other disciples, who might have noted down whatever was seen of the past and future about human beings. Since such a trance might have lasted for a few minutes, writing of only five or ten horoscopes might have been completed on any single day. While compiling all those rough notes and finalizing them, they might have been discussed, corrected and then noted down as final notes ready for recording on palm leaves.

At the same time, the newly-joined disciples must have been engaged in collecting Palmirah (Tadpatra) leaves from the neighboring farms or forests. Later on, classifying them, chemically processing them and readying them, like reams of paper, trimmed to a standard size and shape with a hole punched in their surface for tying them together in neat bundles must have followed.

Some hundreds of disciples - especially trained in the Tamil code script, must have etched the writings on palm-leaves with a sharp nail gripped firmly in their palms.

Some other disciples must have been engaged in sorting-out the palm-leaves into 108 sections, depending upon the variety of thumb ­impressions, and packing them firmly into 50 to 60 palm-leaf bundles between two wooden strips,' secured with a string. Those bundles of predictions must have been sent to big temples in the state for safe­keeping. That must have been organized through advance consultations with the kings of the region. It could also be possible that the ruler had been a past disciple at the Guru's hermitage. That noting-job must have taken hundreds of years, resulting in a compilation of millions of prediction-strips. (While writing out this account, the author of this book had a strange feeling that a supernatural power was guiding him).

Those palm-leaves alias Nadi Pattis are available even today, despite numerous social, political upheavals and natural disasters. Non availability of palm-leaves, delay in drafting and finalizing the predictions correcting mistakes committed by the carvers in hurry, or those arising from some distractions etc. might have naturally hampered the recording task.

There must have been some plan, during different periods of history, for the safekeeping of these records in different places and regions to facilitate their perusal by the needy. Some of the disciples of the Gurukuls must have settled as citizens in different regions carrying those leaves with them. During the course of time some of that massive material must have got damaged in transit due to differences of opinion, power-struggle and such other calamities. A considerable portion of that predictive material must have been destroyed during the 1000­ year-long Muslim invasions. Despite all such calamities, the Naadi patties are still available in our own day to foretell the future of all people.

History of Nadi Samhita

It is said that millions of years ago, Yogis who could visualize the Past, Present and Future, had gathered in the vicinity of the Himalayas. They foresaw the future of living-beings born on the Earth. They discussed among themselves and arrived at certain conclusions. Scribes from the South took notes of the dialogues held there. They knew the art of carving on palm leaves. They etched the dialogues held at the seminar. The seminar must have continued for a number of years. At the end of the seminar, the huge material - the note books ­must have been compiled. People of the South returned to their respective regions with that material. The decay and destruction of that, massive material might have begun in the third Or fourth generations of those compilers due to natural and social upheavals, as also due to the breakdown of  vehicles used in transporting those records. Knowing this, Maharishees such as Bhrugu, Kardam, Maitreya, Vashishtha, Brahma, Krishna, Prahlad and Bali communicated with each other on various occasions and redrafted those findings, which were later compiled once again by Rishi Surya. He endorsed nine compilations by different rishis. Later those scripts were divided each into three groups. However, over the millenniums, only the Surya and the Bhrugu compilations have survived to our own day.

The above account appears to be all jumbled and garbled. Several questions arise e.g. exactly when and where did the Yogis hold their Seminar? How have the rishis, who could accurately mention every individual's date, day, month, year, name and the place of birth, been so vague about the place and the period of compilation of Nadi literature, saying" Millions of years ago, somewhere in the Himalayas etc.'" If the artisans of the south carried with them the etched forecasts to the South, (which are available even today in Telugu, Malyalam and Tamil languages), how come there is a confusing proliferation of what are known as Bhrugu and other versions in the North? And what are the classifications of those records? Questions like these remain unanswered.

Dr. R. Nagaraj Sharma has with him the "Saptarishi Naadi". He at times writes articles about it. But his writings are hard to understand being academic and conjectural, using astrological jargon. Beginners like me with only rudimentary knowledge get bored while reading those articles. For instance at one place, he mentions that the "Saptarishi Naadi" commenced with the dialogue between Parvati and Parashar". In Maha Shiva Vaakya or other mythological accounts, when Lord Shiva discusses the intricacies oflife with his wife, Parvati and advises her on the omnipotence of knowledge, the rishis present are benefited by that divine discourse as though it were the Ganga stream of knowledge. However, in that Naadi (May be because Lord Shiva was more engrossed in practicing the Tanadav Dance) it is sage Paraashar who enlightens Goddess Parvati about the future of mankind. At some places, Atri and five other rishis participate in the discussions and voice their individual opinions. We are already aware of the conflicting stands o(sages Vishwamitra and Vasishtha. The same is reflected here too through their differences of opinion and arguments.

Sri. Sharmaji writes further, "from the style of the noting, it appears that Mother Parvati might have convened a meeting of all those rishis­ yogis who had congregated to seek the darshan and blessings of Lord Shiva, the father of all. She herself must have chaired the gathering. Mankind is engrossed in its struggle for life resulting from their evil­doings during earlier births i.e. the individual's Karma, and the process of balancing of evil with good deeds. They might have thought of some possible remedies for man's sorrows so that man's burden of sorrows and worries could be somewhat mitigated through spiritual practices? They might have also thought it proper to prepare and encourage humanity for intellectual pursuits, with divine knowledge about their future and warn mankind of the dangers well in - time. That appears to be the main objective in compiling the Naadi forecasts.

The above surmise appears to be quite vague and mythical. But the purpose mentioned appears to be genuine. This same Dr. Nagraj Sharma has expressed a shocking personal opinion, in another article. He thinks that whosoever were those writers, Maharishees who compiled the Naadi Astrology  texts, did not have anything to do with extra sensory perception alias divine vision. According to him, innumerable horoscopes were cast, based on the birth date and accurate information available from the then existing records from the positions of the Nakshtras (Stars). Their predictions must have been deduced from mathematical calculations of the planetary positions. But then how was it possible for them to mention the names of humans and the other details of their lives, merely from the positions of the stars and planets? Have we ever come across anyone from the roadside astrologer to the learned ones of the TV Programmers, who has stunned us with accurate predictions of names of people from the use of the same basic data, such as planetary positions at birth or from one's thumb-impression or by any other means?

In fact, the astounding accurate Naadi prediction and the names of present-day persons recorded in the Naadi Texts, were the main reasons I got drawn towards astrology. But for those records I would not at all have bothered to glance at the predictions appearing in newspapers and magazines!

In the Saptarishi Naadi available with Dr. Sharma, neither the names of individuals are mentioned nor are other details available. Those are typical predictions based on certain birth- Nakshtras and planetary positions. Dr. Sharma has deduced some predictions from the Saptarishi Naadi, which are very complicated. However, Dr. Sharma cannot satisfactorily answer the question as to how the Nadi leaves actually mention the names of individuals, besides predicting the important events of their lives.

Similar hazy predictions are available in Hindi and Marathi volumes of Bhrugu Samhita in the North. They all claim to be "Authentic." In those volumes, the first few pages cover a number of horoscopes of persons born in different years. Those horoscopes are numbered. One has to identify the one matching with one's own horoscope and read the prediction noted under the number recorded against it on the particular page of the book. Names of father, mother, husband, wife etc. are not mentioned in those books. Date of birth, month, and year are also not found in it. One can finish reading that standardized prediction in a trice. Thereupon one realizes that only some of the predictions match with one's own past or present situations.

Late Dr. Bangalore Vyankata Raman alias B. V. Raman, editor of the Astrological Magazine published from Bangalore was once invited to deliver lectures on Hindu Astrology in London, during September October 1970. In that series of his lectures, he spoke on 'Naadi Astrology'. Sri. Raman was an authority on astrology alias Fal-Jyotish. His emphasis was on individual predictions appearing in the Nadi Astrology records and on how to establish the relationship of various conjectures as per other methods in the science of astrology. He expressed the view that the Nadi Shastra is highly advanced and divine, as sages have written the same. He further said, "I am studying the Naadi Shastra for the last 20 years. I would be writing a book on the subject by the year 1972. (However, I have not yet come to know the name of the book) Nadi records are part of the great and unique literature of Hindu culture. Some Europeans believe that when the library at Alexandria was burnt, the keys to a number of scientific subjects were destroyed and humankind was deprived of that divine knowledge. Even if that is true, I feel proud to tell you that not only the keys but bunches of keys of a variety of such branches of knowledge are not only safe in India but are even successfully and silently serving mankind. Naadi records are one of them. After studying the Nadi records in depth, one realizes that the Naadi authors might have been benefited by the formulae and the yoga mentioned by Parashar Rishi. This vast literature could be conveniently saved because it is written briefly in the form of poetic stanzas. My grandfather, the late Suryanarayan Rao had read one Naadi about sixty years ago i.e. around the year 1910. The names of Naadi records I came across later are: Budha Naadi, Shukra Naadi, Saraswati Naadi, Satya Naadi, Chandra Naadi etc."

Sri. S. Kannan of Chennai wrote a very interesting series of ten articles in the Astrological Magazine. (I don't know where he is at present. I am looking for his address). He says at one place, "I discussed with Sri. Gopal Krishna Rao around 1952 about how the vahous Naadi's were formed and what could have been the method of their findings etc. Sri. Rao was the Meenakshi Naadi interpreter. According to him, there was a mention about this in the Budha Naadi. He was told by Budh Naadi shastri,"Srinivasa Acharya that some Naadi's come into the limelight only for a short period of time. Thereafter they become extinct. Whereas some of them in the hands of proper persons come alive with the glow of their predictions and become popular with people e.g. The Nandi Vakyam and Saptarshi Vakyam Naadi's do not predict the future of people now living. Not being of any use now they are stocked in the Chennai Government Oriental Manuscript Library, for inquisitive readers.

Sri. Kannan and Sri. B. V. Raman has conveniently avoided saying anything about the history and origin of the Naadi Texts. Some other names of Naadi's mentioned by Sri. Kannan and Sri. B. V. Raman are Sahadeo Naadi, Narad Naadi, Navgrah Samvad Naadi, Maharishi Siddhant, etc. In the Navgrah Naadi, the grahas (planets), themselves describe their benefic or malefic effects. That is how predictions therein are unfolded to the reader. In the Maharshi Siddhant, 18 Maharishees discuss the predictions. In one article, Sri. Kannan had mentioned that he started seeking Naadi-reading at the age of 15. He married during Rahu Bhukti. But according to Shukra Nadi, it happened during the Ketu Bhukti. He has eight children. However there was no mention of the last two children in the Shukra Naadi. In order to find out the secret behind these facts, he took interest in reading the Naadi. He also appears to have taken interest in becoming friendly with Naadi readers, helping them to get accommodation or a house, and also in getting those clients etc. If one looks at the names of Nadi-astrologers, one is likely to be astounded, because in Chennai (Madras) or south of it the number of Nadi Astrology centers may be more than the number of cycle-shops or hair cutting-saloons.