On 15th August, around 8 pm, I reached Vaishali metro station from my tiny house in Indirapuram.
I was going to meet A and S after a period of roughly 5 years. Last we had met and lived in proximity in Girkirwada in Arambol, where A had helped me and my friends get a nice accomodation right next to the beach.
A was going to drop S and their daughter to the airport, for they were flying to Germany, where they would stay for some time before heading back to India and ultimately Kalgha. Kalgha is where I had first met them almost a decade ago.
While going up to the platform in the Vaishali metro station, I noticed a man, with a lot of glow on his face, dressed in the garb of a pandit.
Usually I approach and initiate conversations with interesting people in public, especially if they seem to be religious or spiritual.
He definitely seemed to be a practitioner. I thought I should approach him and talk to him but I hesitated.
He had a red tilak which I took to as a sign that he was a devi upasaka. He was wearing a yellow kurta and had no belongings other than a small yellow satchel.
We both were waiting on the platform for the same metro and he stood a few metres away from me. There were a good four or six minutes for the metro to arrive.
I approached him and stood right next to him. He was looking in the other direction and didn’t notice me. I called him once but he didn’t hear. Then I called him again. Finally he noticed me.
I told him that he seemed to be a dharmic person.
“I am a little bit and not so much.”, he said.
Which is honestly the most goated reply one person can give to such a question.
“Are you a devi upasaka?”
“Yes.”
“What devi do you worship?”
“Vindhyavasini.”
“Where are you from”
“Gorakhpur.”
“Are you a sadhaka”
“I do little, yes.”
“Are you coming from a temple right now?”
I asked in hope of discovering a new devi temple nearby.
“No. I come from Gorakhpur to the city when yajmaan call me to do rituals on their behalf etc.”
“What do you practice?”
“I practice astrology and rituals.”
I asked him if he could take a look at my kundli on my phone. He replied in the affirmative.
I pulled out my phone from my pocket, opened my kundli and showed it to him.
He held my phone in his hand. Meanwhile, the metro was approaching and people were rushing near the gates in order to get a seat.
He told me that he will look in a while, when we both got onto the metro.
With my phone still in his hand, I got onto the metro and secured a seat for him and me. He boarded the metro and I called him next to me, where I was blocking a seat for him.
He had to get off at Preet Vihar which was just a few stations away.
He looked at my charts.
He said that I had a lot of obstacles in my life. That most of my work would stop because of impediments and would move through very slowly.
This was quite true.
Then he told me a very simple upaya, for which I would have to go to a local mandir and make offerings in a particular way on every Monday and Friday.
He also told me to chant Rudrashtakam daily at home and as much as possible.
He also chanted the first paragraph of the Rudrashtakam there in the metro, sitting next to me.
नमामीशमीशाननिर्वाणरूपं विभुं व्यापकं ब्रह्मवेदस्वरूपम् ।
निजं निर्गुणं निर्विकल्पं निरीहं चिदाकाशमाकाशवासं भजेऽहम् ॥ १॥
निराकारमोंकारमूलं तुरीयं गिराज्ञानगोतीतमीशं गिरीशम् ।
करालं महाकालकालं कृपालं गुणागारसंसारपारं नतोऽहम् ॥ २॥
तुषाराद्रिसंकाशगौरं गभीरं मनोभूतकोटिप्रभाश्रीशरीरम् ।
स्फुरन्मौलिकल्लोलिनीचारुगङ्गा लसद्भालबालेन्दु कण्ठे भुजङ्गा ॥ ३॥
चलत्कुण्डलं भ्रूसुनेत्रं विशालं प्रसन्नाननं नीलकण्ठं दयालम् ।
मृगाधीशचर्माम्बरं मुण्डमालं प्रियं शङ्करं सर्वनाथं भजामि ॥ ४॥
प्रचण्डं प्रकृष्टं प्रगल्भं परेशमखण्डमजं भानुकोटिप्रकाशम् ।
त्रयःशूलनिर्मूलनं शूलपाणिं भजेऽहं भवानीपतिं भावगम्यम् ॥ ५॥
कलातीतकल्याणकल्पान्तकारी सदा सज्जनानन्ददाता पुरारी ।
चिदानन्दसन्दोहमोहापहारी प्रसीद प्रसीद प्रभो मन्मथारी ॥ ६॥
न यावदुमानाथपादारविन्दं भजन्तीह लोके परे वा नराणाम् ।
न तावत्सुखं शान्ति सन्तापनाशं प्रसीद प्रभो सर्वभूताधिवासम् ॥ ७॥
न जानामि योगं जपं नैव पूजां नतोऽहं सदा सर्वदा शम्भु तुभ्यम् ।
जराजन्मदुःखौघतातप्यमानं प्रभो पाहि आपन्नमामीशशम्भो ॥ ८॥
रुद्राष्टकमिदं प्रोक्तं विप्रेण हरतोषये ।
ये पठन्ति नरा भक्त्या तेषां शम्भुः प्रसीदति ॥
॥ इति श्रीरामचरितमानसे उत्तरकाण्डे श्रीगोस्वामितुलसीदासकृतं
श्रीरुद्राष्टकं सम्पूर्णम् ॥
He also told me I had partial Kaalsarpa Dosh. Further told me that the coming Monday was Naag Panchmi and I could go and start the upaya from this Monday onwards.
He also told me that good time was going on till 2028. He also said something about related to Shani starting in 2028. Then added that, it would be a good time too.
I took my phone from him and noted down everything he said in my Notes app.
I asked him his name. His name was Gopal Shastri. His guru’s name was Kapil Shastri and he had passed away.
I took his phone number for future contact.
His metro station had also come. I told him that this was his stop.
He seemed a bit reluctant to get off. Later I realised that perhaps he was expecting some donation.
In the moment it didn’t struck me at all that he might be expecting that. I regretted not giving him anything later on.
Anyway, he got off and I continued on my journey to meet A and S.
Epilogue
I have met some really great astrologers in my life. I am not sure why is this.
Perhaps the greatest, and most no-nonsense one that I met was Pt. Umashankar Tripathi jee whom I met in Varanasi last year.
I am always a bit sceptic when I meet any astrologer because there are so many scamsters in this field.
However, the few things Shastri ji told me during the short metro ride were indeed true.
From next Monday onwards, I also started doing the upaya he had told me.
I also felt some things in the local mandir I started to visit. Was it the upaya working? I guess we will never know.