Someone in late fifties going through a very difficult phase in life came with a host of questions: “Sir, I am a highly religious person and dedicate at least two hours every day in service of God. I follow a value system and have not intentionally hurt anybody in so far as I can remember. Yet, I have been put through unforeseen problems of such a dimension that it difficult to bear with. What bad Karma have I done to go through such an ordeal? How is it that my prayers have gone unheard? By what time shall I get relieved?”

At the outset, be assured that your situation may begin to ease out after August and start gaining grounds from November. Thereafter, you are expected to register sustained growth. Now, coming to your question, if you think that there is a God sitting in the heaven who would be selectively listening and responding to your prayers, you are simply mistaken. A divine shakti (power) does, however, keep playing within that keeps you alive, which when unavailable, you become a dead matter. But then, any shakti is a double-edged weapon, which you could use either ways — positively or negatively. How intelligently you use that shakti, is your call, and which is guided by your individualistic mind traits. Please bear in mind; puja may help you in inculcating a value system and becoming a good human being. At the end of the day, however, you are to engage with a living world comprising of an assortment of good and bad people, each born unique, all carrying varied interests. In such a weird world, which remains the natural breeding ground for conflict of interest, it is just not enough to be a good Samaritan. You rather need to smartly conduct yourself without compromising with honesty of purpose.

Coming back to your Karma, you may be by and large aware of how you conducted during this life. But what about the implications of Karmic imprints carried over from the past life, which you are not aware of? If you have been beneficiary of good karma, you can’t be spared of the vagaries of bad karma either. They play out concurrently. And the Karma cycle works almost in a self-automated mode, with no scope for any interference from any extra-terrestrial forces that can be appeased to one’s asking. Also remember, Karma has wide connotations. It is not just limited to your intent. It also includes how alert you have been against impending challenges posed by competing and contrarian forces, and how intelligently you attend to them.

You say that you have done no wrong in this life, but that is based on your self-defined standards, which may or may not be true to the callings of ground realities. Now, to figure out how good you have been so far in the game of life, calls for a look within. That may offer you an insight into your fault lines, which, in turn, may help you realise how realistic or delusional has been your approach to life. Perhaps astrological pointers to the basic fabric of your mind’s making may help you in this respect.

You are born in Pisces lagna having exalted Venus there itself. The lagna lord Jupiter, well-fortified in its own sign over the head is full of promises. It also makes you a well-meaning person. The two put together, implies that you are a highly ambitious person expected to do well in life. That, however, will come about if the negative implications of planetary alignments in your chart get addressed. Jupiter ill-disposed off to Mercury, which is conjunct headless Ketu, accounts for your vacillatory tendencies, insensible reasoning and judgment. Mercury again, placed adverse to Saturn speaks of a fixated one-track mind. If that would not be enough, the Sun locks horns with mischievous Neptune, Moon, and Uranus. That makes you a self-willed person, who, defying conventional wisdom would be tempted to go about with one’s own delusionary perceptions, often distanced from ground realities. You may not acknowledge truth at its first appearance. Instead, guided by the belief that when God is there with you, he will eventually lead you to success, you continue pursuing your line of thinking till pushed to the wall. And the result is there to see.

So, instead of trying to find out the reasons underlying your ordeal, better work upon your fault lines, develop practical sense, and be geared up to smartly take on the callings of life.

The writer is an astrologer, vastu consultant and spiritual counsellor. Write to him at G-102, Bharat Nagar, New Friends Colony, New Delhi-110 025 Tel: 91-11-49848475/9818037273 Email: bharatbhushanpadmadeo@gmail.com Website: www.bharatastro.com