Astrological Predictions # 7

7

In Bengal, it is customary, when a mother is about to give birth, to prepare a room exclusively for her. She will remain there until the Niskrama ceremony, the day when both mother and child leave the maternal chamber. On that day, she must witness the sunrise and, later in the day, go to the Ganges to bathe with the child.

Nimai is the nickname that Sitadevi, Advaita’s wife, gave to the newborn. She borrowed it from a tree commonly planted in front of houses to ward off evil spirits and ghosts. This tree is found everywhere along roadsides and also has antiseptic properties, highly valued in Vedic medicine. For instance, it is used to treat leprosy. As Sita cherished this child and did not want any malevolent beings to approach him, she named him Nimai.

Nilambara Chakravarti, the father-in-law of Jagannath Mishra and a renowned astrologer, came to draw the child’s horoscope. He was astonished by what he discovered in the birth chart. In all his life, he had never seen such unique planetary configurations: they represented the supreme harmony between heaven and earth, between man and the Divine. The singular results of his analysis were doubly confirmed when he observed the characteristic markings on the child’s body, signs of extraordinary personalities. He revealed to Nimai’s father that his son was a being of superior nature and would perform auspicious deeds for the benefit of all humanity.

Jagannath doesn’t understand anything about these predictions, except that he has a wonderful son. And honestly, he doesn’t want to know more. However, a few months later, he and his wife notice a strange phenomenon in their home. While Sachidevi is nursing her baby, she spots footprints on the earthen floor, adorned with patterns she instantly recognizes —they are the emblems of Vishnu! Astonished, she sets the child down and runs to fetch her husband.

"Prabhu! Prabhu! Come! Follow me to the other room and see for yourself what my eyes can hardly believe… Look at these footprints! They bear the distinctive signs of Krishna. How is this possible? Who could have made them?"

Jagannath cannot provide her with a rational explanation and ends up stammering: “I… I don’t understand the meaning of all this, and I don’t see why anyone would play such a prank on us. The only plausible explanation I can offer is that Krishna, who resides on the altar, must have taken the form of a child and wandered through the house, for these are indeed His footprints. I must admit, I’m at a loss to say anything more.”

At that moment, Nimai, whose presence had been forgotten, was trying to pull himself up using the wall for support. Suddenly, he fell and began to cry. His mother rushed over to comfort him. What she saw then left her stunned. With a strangled voice, she called out to her husband for help. Frozen in place, one hand covering her mouth, she pointed with her finger to the soles of the baby’s feet.

Jagannath, equally bewildered, took the child onto his lap and carefully examined those puzzling marks. His mind reeled. Overwhelmed and uncertain, he decided to go to his father-in-law, taking his wife and child along, to seek guidance. After all, wasn’t it the duty of astrologers —those learned scholars— to illuminate such paradoxical situations?

Reading the distress on their faces, Nilambara quickly ushered them inside. “What has happened to you? Oh my Lord! In what state you have come!” Jagannath stammered, “It’s the marks on the soles of our son’s feet that have unsettled us so.”

As Nilambara examined Nimai’s tiny feet, a smile lit up his face, as if to dispel the worries of his visitors. “I told you months ago,” he began, “this child is extraordinary. You have brought into the world a being whose purity and spiritual influence will deliver all the conditioned souls of the universe. The marks we see here,” he said, pointing to Nimai’s feet, “including a flag, a thunderbolt, a conch, a disc, and this fish, are part of a set of thirty auspicious symbols. At the ceremony for his birth, I wrote all of this down. Let me repeat: this child is extraordinary! He will spread the Vaishnava philosophy across the entire world, and his name will be worshiped in every town and village on the planet. There are many so-called incarnations of God with no bodily or scriptural evidence to support their claims — mere products of their imagination. But the Vedic texts describe the birth of your son as an incarnation of Vishnu!

I have even discussed this with saintly scholars who can confirm my assertions. By giving birth to this being who embodies all the divine characteristics, you are assured of returning to the spiritual world at the end of your lives."

Preceding chapter 6: The Birth
Next chapter 8: Nimai eats dirt