Are Eclipses Fatal for the Rich & Powerful?
This is part one.
At present we are in between two eclipses, a lunar eclipse has just passed (17–18 September 2024) and a solar eclipse is coming soon (2nd October 2024). Another lunar eclipse may ‘almost happen’ on 17th October.
First I will tell you the story of the ancient Hindu Emperor Dashratha who died around a terrible solar eclipse accompanied by inauspicious omens. Then I shall tell you about the fate of the rich and powerful near eclipses.
After reading my articles, you will learn a little bit about how to predict the results of eclipses yourself. If you are either rich or powerful, in the government or even a leader in your community, home or country — you must pay attention to what is being written here, because eclipses are very important for you. Same holds true for heads of terror syndicates, drug lords and other men engaged in evil deeds at a mass scale.
Alpha males and females who have become leaders through good or bad means, through bloodlines or their sheer hard work, engaged in evil or holy acts; none are spared. Eclipses do not judge. How you became a leader is irrelevant. If you have influence (power) or wealth (that causes influence) over other humans, eclipses will effect you more than they affect the masses. Period.
In the revered Hindu Epic — Ramayana, the story of beloved Prince Rama and his wife Sita is told. Right before an eclipse, Rama is banished to the jungles and Dashrath dies due to a broken heart as he cannot bear to be separated from his first born son Rama, the heir to his vast empire. Dashrath also dies due to grief from the betrayal of his favourite wife Empress Kaikeyi (Princess of Kekaya Kingdom), on whose command Rama is banished. This is a common effect of an eclipse — death of kings.
The jungles are infested with राक्षस (rakshas or raakShasa). They are are evil, cannibalistic beings who love murder, mayhem and disrupting Hindu worship. Rama goes there with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman. Chances of survival in the jungles are slim because of being infested with with these deadly rakshas. We will discuss who the rakshas are in another article. But you can already observe another effect of an eclipse — banishment.
Rama is not an ordinary prince. He belongs to the most famous and ancient Solar Dynasty of the Hindus. He is an avatar (incarnation of the supreme Vishnu). All his life, he has prepared to become the emperor of the Kosal Empire with its capital at the revered district of Ayodhya. Just like his father, he too is rich and powerful.
Ayodhya is the capital city of human beings (homo sapiens). It was established by Manu, the first man on earth. It is from Manu, the word ‘Man’ is derived. ‘Man’ is short for ‘Manav’ which means ‘progeny of Manu’.
There have been 7 such Manus who have kept humanity alive on earth. Each Manu is considered the progenitor (and protector) of humans. We are in the 7th Manvantar (time space interval of Manu) of Vivasvan.
The first Manu is called ‘Svayambhu’ which means ‘he who came into existence by himself’. Hindu scriptures say he is self born or self manifested son of Brahma (the creator). Svayambhu was one of the first to observe and write about eclipses. You may read about what he has to say in the article — Who Were the First to Observe Eclipses? After every Manvantar is a deluge and the person who rebuilds humanity after the deluge is given the title of Manu.
The 7th Manu Vivasvan establishes the first city after the deluge — Ayodhya. If you wish to know more about the revered city of Ayodhya, you may read my book Amazing Ayodhya.
During the time Ramayana is written, Dashrath is the emperor who rules the earth. He is the most powerful amongst human beings as he is the emperor who governs over them. He is a descendent of the 7th Manu Vivasvan and his son Rama would be the future heir to the crown of Manu.
The Ramayanic era is an ancient time when apart from homo sapiens (humans) numerous other varieties of the homo genus are recorded as being present on earth. Rakshas and Vanar are examples of these varieties.
Today we know about the coexistence of the different varieties of homo genus and other ancient men through the numerous excavations that have revealed their skeletal remains. Eclipses also affected the other beings of the homo genus, as recorded in the Ramayana.
After the extinction of the different varieties of the homo genus, the astrology books no longer carried the effects of cosmic events on them. We know this because later books on astrology (from 2000 years ago and after) do not mention the effects on rakshas anymore. Whereas, we do find numerous mentions of effects of cosmic events like comet sightings on rakshas in the Ramayana.
This point about other homo genus is made because from the effect of eclipses, no one who has been living or is presently alive — is spared. From crops to cows, from peace to wars, from famine to feast, from man to beast — all are affected.
Dashrath’s Eclipse — The eclipse that changes the fate of Ayodhya.
Dashrath knows he has lived his whole life. He was already old when he had his sons through the blessings of priests who did Yajnas for him. A Yajna is when offerings are given to fire to deliver it to the respective devas (gods). It is done through fire but fire is not directly worshiped. Fire is a medium of worship.
Now Dashrath is even older than before. Rama and his brothers have come of age. Rama has grown up to be a fine young man, who, through constant practice is skilled in tactical charioteering, horse and elephant riding, and archery. All these were essential skills for a king as they were the heads of their armies. In Sanskrit it is called ‘Samar Vidya’ which implies ‘knowledge of war craft’.
In the ancient times, as it is now, the rich and the powerful had their own astrologers. The need to know the future, and the events that were going to take place was important for them because it was an essential aid in decision making.
J.P. Morgan, one of the foremost American financiers, bankers, and industrial organisers (during the two pre-World War I decades) has an interesting quote attributed to him on astrology — Millionaires don’t use astrology; billionaires do.
We do not know how many of his decisions were aided by astrology, but the wheels that he set in motion are still turning today. Even after 110 years of his death, JPMorgan Chase is the fifth-largest bank in the world by assets that are valued around US$3.9 trillion.
One of the key points to remember about the wealthy and powerful is that they make arrangements for at least three generations of their bloodline while they are still alive. Most common folks cannot even think as far as their retirement, but the rich and the powerful have the desire, the foresight, and the need to predict the future to secure their heirs. This is why wealth and power often runs in families. Needless to say, succession planning too becomes significant.
Dashratha is no different. Dashratha has many astrologers and they have warned him that his time is almost up. So Dashratha calls his beloved son Rama and addresses him in the following shloka.
अपि चाद्याशुभान् राम स्वप्ने प्श्यामि दारुणान् |
सनिर्घाता दिवोल्का च परतीह महास्वना || २-४-१७
“Oh Rama, these days I see frightening and ominous events in dreams and also during day time. I see meteors accompanied by thunders falling, generating great sounds.”
Dashratha is observing ominous signs in subtle body as well as the physical body. His dreams frighten him and his eyes observe inauspiciousness. In Hindu Yogic Philosophy, the body that dreams is a different body than the physical body. This is the reason that the shloka above is worded as such.
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The body that experiences earth’s physicality is called स्थूल शरीर (sthoola shareera) or physical body. This body has eyes that see. The body that dreams is called the सूक्ष्म शरीर (sookShma shareera) or the subtle body. This body has the mind, the thoughts, feelings etc. Therefore, when you see the two bodies simultaneously experiencing ominous signs — it implies that danger is serious as well as imminent.
The third body is the causal body or the body that causes called कारण शरीर (kaaraNa shareera). This body is the cause of the existence of the gross and subtle bodies. It connects individual and cosmic consciousness together. When ones time is up, often the causal body sends signals to the subtle and physical body, this is why some people have prior intimation of their departure from earth.
The word निर्घाता in the shloka means not only thunderstorms but also imply destructive forces of whirlwinds, hurricanes and earthquakes. The meteors are accompanied by either one or all of these destructive forces. In the study of omens, this is a calamitous sign.
And, that is not all. Dashratha’s fears are confirmed by astrologers.
अवष्टब्धं च मे राम नक्षत्रं दारुणैर्ग्रहैः |
आवेदयन्ति दैवज्ञावः सूर्याङ्गारकराहुभिः || २-४-१८
“Oh, Rama! Astrologers are informing me that fearful planets like Sun, Mars and Rahu are encroaching my नक्षत्र (nakshatra).”
Eclipses can be cause by either Rahu or Ketu. ‘My nakshatra’ means ‘constellation under which one was born’. There are 27 such nakshatras in the sky. The nakshatra of birth is in the moon sign of birth and not the sun sign or ascendent at birth.
When Sun and Rahu come together, it signifies a solar eclipse. In Dashratha’s case, the solar eclipse is taking place in his birth nakshatra. In addition Mars is also a participant of this eclipse, meaning Mars too is getting eclipsed.
Dashratha knows the consequences of this solar eclipse with Mars adding fire to fuel destruction. So, he tells Rama.
प्रायेण हि निमित्तानामीदृशानां समुद्भवे |
राजा हि मृत्युमाप्नोति घोरं वापदमृच्छति || २-४-१९
“Whenever such inauspicious signs are produced, the king will generally get either death or a dreadful calamity.”
तद्यावदेव मे चेतो न विमुञ्चति राघव |
तावदेवाभिषिञ्चस्व चला हि प्राणिनां मतिः || २-४-२०
“Therefore, before my mind is deluded I wish to see you installed as heir apparent for a man’s mind is unstable indeed, Oh Rama.”
When important eclipses (like Dashratha’s eclipse) occur, and are accompanied with inauspicious signs, many men and women get sick, anxious, deluded or lose their minds. There is a saying in Hindi for this — “विनाश काले विपरीत बुद्धि”. This means that when the end is near, the mind acts opposite to how it should act. In other words, when death is near, one’s intelligence works perversely.
For this reason, Dashratha speaks of a deluded and unstable mind. He is fearful that he may make wrong decisions that can cause Rama not to be crowned king. Therefore, he wants to hurry before his mind works improperly and against his wishes. He then orders Rama that he will be crowned king tomorrow.
So you can see above, that fatal eclipses for the rich and powerful come with ominous signs. They do not come alone. The ones who have a developed sense of intuition or are aware of how to read omens, are able to interpret easily, just as Dashratha could. In the past, astrologers were adept at interpreting dreams, omens as well forecasting of results of planetary movements.
As we move forward in the epic of Ramayana, we know that Rama ends up banished in the jungle and Dashratha dies. The wise deed that Dashratha does is that he has already decided who will be his successor and it is declared to everyone. Thankfully, Rama’s brothers are not power hungry to wage war against their own and usurp the kingdom as it is observed in the case of other rulers like Ashoka.
After his fathers death, Ashoka killed a 100 of his brothers and half brothers to be crowned king. Post the killings and numerous wars, he became the poster boy of peace by preaching and spreading Buddhism. Ashoka’s early rule was so brutal and unpopular that he was known as ‘Chand-Ashoka’ or ‘Ashoka the Cruel’. He destroyed not only his family but also the Hindu and Ajaivika dharmas practiced by his father and the masses. Needless to say, only in five decades after Ashoka, the glorious Mauryan empire disintegrated.
On the other hand, despite the demise of the emperor, Kosala Empire survives and does not perish like many other empires. Rama comes back from his banishment and takes over the reins of the empire in Ayodhya and he becomes the greatest ruler ever. He and Sita are worshipped even today.
Now that we have learnt how Dashratha’s eclipse brought calamity on him and changed the fate of Ayodhya, there will be a few questions that come to mind depending on the depth of ones thoughts.
Question 1 — Ramayana is supposed to be mythology, then clearly the story and effects of eclipses must be untrue.
Question 2 — If Ramayana is was real, that means this must have happened to other kings in the past as well? Did eclipses really cause the demise of kings and kingdoms in the past? What about in the current era? Who have the eclipses affected and how? Are they truly fatal for the rich and the powerful?
Answers 1 — There are two types of blind in the world. Those who have a physical deformity and cannot see through their physical eyes. And, then there are others — who do not want to see. While there may be cure for the former, there is no cure for the latter. No amount of facts can convince or cure a man of his ignorance — who closes his eyes to claim that the darkness he experiences is because the sun has ceased to shine.
Those who believe Hindu history to be mythology, i.e., false or fabricated stories, belong very much to the latter type of people. None of them find it ironical that the Christians and Muslims have their histories, along with the Buddhists, Sikhs and Jews, but all of Hindu history must be lies.
This did not happen by default but by design because the oldest religion in the world is Hinduism. It contains eerily true records of events of ancient past encoded in Sanskrit poetry. Its spiritual philosophy is so vast that it no one human is capable of understanding all of it in one life, despite the claims by numerous gurus.
The term mythology was forced upon Hindu History in the British era by Christians who found it difficult to convert Hindus to Christianity. They also altered many texts to change its meanings deliberately. There are many papers on the same and books written on this subject. Feel free to explore and read about the unethical and diabolical ways of the British when they came to India. When the British left, their dirty works department was taken over by the communists. Since the article is about eclipses, we will stick to the subject.
Answers 2—Let us explore eclipses during which some powerful people died due to a sudden calamity, sickness, murder or by any other means. You be the judge of whether eclipses are fatal or not.
After presenting to you the case of Dashratha from the Hindu Solar Dynasty in ancient times, second case I present to you is of a person from another royal family, but from the modern era. This person was the most popular and photographed person in their time. Can you guess who this person is?
Click to read the second case of — Death by Eclipse.
Neena Rai — author of Amazing Ayodhya (English) and Adhbhut Ayodhya (Hindi). MA Mass Communication + Clinical Psychology. Interested in research, ancient wisdom, politics, yoga and esoteric knowledge. Join me on my journey of exploration and understanding.
