ASTROLOGY AND TV

What I am writing here is confined to my experience, contact and occasional appearances in the television channels of Hindi only. I do not know what is happening in regional languages.

Mass Fraud

Let me start first by referring to the late  Kasturirangan, the editor of the Hindu. He believed in astrology but allowing weekly predictions based on Moon sign to be given in the paper he edited, he still had the wisdom to call it “mass fraud”.

In the television programmes  given by astrologers daily, the predominant  part is Moon sign prediction for all-- dividing the world into twelve rashis of 50 crores each or Indians into more than nine crores each and also prescribing even common shantis for them. Is it astrology or mass fraud masquerading as astrology?

The astrologer doing it willingly is a party to this fraud. How do you describe the astrologer who for the sake of some money is prepared to sacrifice the true spirit of jyotisha thus ?

Fraudulent astrologers  participate in it, television channels promote it to boost their ratings and gullible fools mistake it for serious astrology.
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About me

Let me clarify here. I made only frequent  appearances in television and discussed only  honest research not daily predictions.

Some  channels wanted me to do daily Moon sign predictions. I rebuffed them and unilaterally  cancelled my contract as I got overburdened  when people starting ringing me up from all places in India and abroad and even wanted to  come to Delhi to consult me.

I never encouraged  it but some of them did come expecting me to tell them that some miracle would take place in their lives and all their problems would vanish. Such stupid expectations is what people these days have when they approach an astrologer. I make it a point to tell them not to consult me again.I have to rest now at this age more than do astrology for anyone who demands my time, particularly those who want to accumulate more and more money.

Ash-Abhishek marriage

Take the cases of frauds in these channels  day in and day out.

The marriage of Abhishek and Aishwaya  on the Hindi television channels was attended by veritable orgy of fraudulent astrology.

There were astrologers prepared to show any horoscope of Aishwarya and discuss and some of them went talked of Mars dosha in her horoscope and the need to marry her to a tree first. Some even claimed that she was actually married to a tree which was challenged by Amitabh Bachchan who asked them to show the tree to which Aishwarya was married !!

If someone attains iconic status as these film actors do and are promoted feverishly by the television to boost their TRP, if astrologers see this as an occasion to make a television appearance and speak anything in the name of astrology, what is it----genuine astrology or fraud?

I saw more than seven horoscopes of Aishwarya Rai used by different astrologers in this episode which ran sickeningly for many days. I was asked by some television channels to participate in it and I refused because to be willing to discuss anything, whether the horoscope is correct or not, only because it gives
you a chance to make television channel, is a temptation and consequently a fraud.
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Monetary Gains

The monetary gains that often animate such astrological gimmicks are more frequent in the television. The painful task of restoring faith of people in genuine astrology is a stupendous task now.
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Kaal Sarpa Yoga

When the Kaal Sarpa Yoga controversy took place, I challenged people to show me where it was mentioned---in any of the well known classics. Instead someone took to circumlocutory argument that some sarpa kriya is mentioned in the Vedas. I asked him to show if there was any predictive astrology in the Vedas and whether yogas are referred to there and there is a mention of Rahu-Ketu forming such a yoga. That fraudulent astrologer ran away because others sitting there laughed at him.

I did research on in, wrote a book and showed in my television programmes horoscopes after horoscopes for four Sundays how people with this combination had risen so high in life----like George Bush and Margaret Thatcher among many.

To say that these astrologers doing all this in television channels are not frauds and are not willing party to the spread of fraudulent astrology is the ignorance of fools and crooks doing lot of damage to astrology. Those who are justifying it and defending it have an axe to grind and can never have sound logic.

Sting operations

Look at the so called sting operations of these channels, some of them fabricated. Three of these channels including two famous ones are now required to answer notices issued to them by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. All such gimmicks are indulged in to boost their ratings and astrology is a part of this fraudulent scheme. The astrologer participating in it is a fraud.

No television channel is interested in promoting genuine astrology. In fact, they all opposed astrology from 2000 to 2004 till the opponent of astrology got defeated in the famous case in the Supreme Court.

Some main non-religious news channels  in Hindi introduced astrology when in 2005 some of my programmes succeeded.

Others  jumped into in but introduced the daily Moon sign or Sun sign predictions. From there started a long chain of astrological frauds promoted by the television.

Astrology in the news channels in Hindi was unknown till I showed how good and serious astrology would appeal to listeners. Then I decided to withdraw from it and got cancelled the agreement unilaterally.

Remain under no illusion. That these astrologers do not have half percent belief in the sacredness of the rishi tradition of jyotisha.

When I made an appeal to fight collectively the battle for astrology in the Supreme Court in 2003, none came forward and I had to do it all alone as a sick man. All that these fellows believe in self promotion.

Remember, the Godman industry in India is around 20,000 crores and according to the editor of an English weekly, the astrological industry is around 30,000 crores.

Therefore remember in the scheme of minute to minute and hour to hour sensations which the television channels promote the astrologer is becoming an essential part of the fraudulent scheme, becoming a fraud himself and those supporting these astrologers are fools or crooks or both-- fellows without mental balance and immature.

These are globalized trends invading India.

In that sense some Muslim countries banning some foreign televsion chanels and preventing the baneful influence of the west reaching their country, needs to be understood with some intelligence and appreciated.

(29 September 2007)