The Guaranteed Astrologer - 1

From The
Publishers Diary


ow as I look back, I think of him as a messiah, one sent by God to help me learn
astrology, though alas, my ill fate did not allow it. He was the unknown master,
not well known in astrology literary circles, but one whom clients could swear by.
Today, just a few of his books remain, but they are virtually useless as the master keys of
each of the aphorisms were lost when the master passed on. If, after reading this article,
some of you are inspired to write back with your own experiences of a similar master, please
know that Saptarishis Astrology would be deeply grateful.
Studying the way of the ancients and elders teaches us not just what a successful
astrologer should do, but also what he should not do. This article constitutes a path of
learning for this writer, who had swayed from the path and wished to re-learn the proper
attitude toward astrology, especially how to avoid certain pitfalls. There will be two
responses to this article: the young uncorrupted lot will appreciate it, whereas the more
corrupted lot will disagree with it; hence we had not earlier mentioned The One about
whom we are now writing, except in hushed tones or mysterious one-liners.
1
What is being
written here was due to the influences of The One long before he shed his mortal coil; his
clients gave him his due respect and honor, but the astrological community did not do so. It
is this debt that we wish to pay here in this article.
Prepare your coffee and take this articles print-out, and cuddle up on the patio for
what we hope will be a pleasant read. Also note that this is not a technical write-up, hence
charts and technical details of Indian astrology are not given. This way, even the Western
astrologer can enjoy it. Usually, publishers cannot praise an astrologer since other writers of
his magazine may become jealous, but The One is no longer alive, so nobodys business
will be affected. Each astrologer contributes something toward the science, so we must bow
to each other. Astrology is not a race to achieve the throne; otherwise it would negate the
very purpose of a spiritual science that was advocated by the ancient sages. The result of my
writing this piece may be that important astrologers may wish to stop writing for this
magazine, or possibly, no important astrologer will want to join the board of writers, and
there may be some vengeance in business resulting in monetary loss. Maybe thats the fate
of SA (Saptarishis Astrology), but then we have never run this magazine with a business
mentality. Rather, we have run it like a family, and the entire astrological community is our
family, which we must serve. If you as an astrologer feel jealousy or dislike toward the man
whom we are going to describe, then we are sorry to inspire these harsh feelings. It only

1
We had referred to him in one of our past articles BSP-2 which mentioned a BSP-2 rule that similarly corresponded to one of
his techniques, which is that Saturn destroys one signification of the house 2
nd
from it, and this is how Saturn gives results. That is the
aspect of Saturn that Indian astrology has missed, which the BSPs have been able to unravel and which The One had also
unraveled, though he took it to a far superior extent than BSP.
N
means that astrology needs to become more of a penance in our lives, wherein true spiritual
feelings of brotherhood and non-hatred toward others should arise. This article represents an
attempt to commemorate a great astrologer who lives no more, who was somehow hidden
from the world. He was often referred to in forums
2
as the Guaranteed Astrologer, and
somewhat like the mythical Rocky Balboa, he was an underdog who has become a hero to
some of us.

The Professional Astrologer Who Refused To Give Consultations
e were in North India in 2006 with a friend who was unemployed. Being
unemployed in India is the worst sin, especially if you have grown up with a
flamboyant lifestyle, having expensive tastes and habits. Though we were well
networked, we called up X who has been referred to many times in the editorials
3
. X was
told that our friend was in desperate need of a job, that his parents were old and in huge
stress as the friend had just left a high paying job as GM of a small company. X was told
that the friend had lost hope with astrology and that he really needed accurate advice. He
needed to know the date when his next job would begin, and needed to know if there was an
astrologer who could tell him this. X referred to the astrologer named S. K. Mehta. Xs
intention was that we go and meet Mr. Mehta and learn his unique system, as he was known
to predict to the day without using Horary astrology. So it was our intention to meet Mehta,
and this was more important than anything else. When we called him, he asked who had
referred us, and as X had asked us not to mention his name (because he was concerned that
Mehta would not charge us a fee if he knew we were sent by a friend
4
), we said that a film
producer in Bombay had recommended him. Mehta Saheb
5
stated that he did not know such
a person and that we should not come to see him. Next day, he was once again asked for a
reading; he subsequently asked who referred us, and this time we answered with another
name, and he said we should go away and not bother him again. Then, we called up X and
updated him, at which point, X said it would be okay to mention his name. Evidently, X had
known him for 20 years and had not wanted Mehta Saheb to do a free reading based on his
friendship, which is why he had not wanted his name mentioned. This time when we called
X, I said, Sir, we are paying $80 per day in a hotel room, and Mehta Sahebs fee is only $20,
so he must allow us a reading as we desperately need to see him, and still he turned us
away. However, when we called Mehta Saheb and mentioned the magical name of X,
instantly, he told us to come at 3:30 in the afternoon. It seems X had been doing this often
before, wherein he had not wanted his name mentioned in the referral.
At 3 P.M., we were at his house and were ushered into a consultation room, where
four people were already sitting. Mehta Saheb was at his desk with a lit cigarette, the smoke

2
Forum on Yahoo groups called Jyotish Group that was once a great forum, now everyone seems to have deserted it due to
pollution.
3
Now due to many inquiries, SA is forced to hide the identity of X, who prefers anonymity and lives in seclusion.
4
An astrologer must always be paid his fees.
5
Saheb is similar to Sir, and is a term used to accord distinction to someone senior or genuine.
W
of it filling the stale air in the small room, and a young man in his late 20s was sitting in
front of him. Mehta Saheb was shooting off rapid predictions to this young man, in a nasal
tone and high pitched voice which was barely discernable. In between, he would offer
astrological explanations to the young man, who did not seem to understand astrology, but
who wore a wide smile nonetheless. He seemed to be enjoying the stunning predictions,
such as

1. Your mother is 5 feet 6 inches tall, and she limps while walking.
2. You found a job in January exactly two years ago.
3. Your father is in a property dispute, which has been ongoing for four years, and which will be
resolved in another five years from now.

We realized that we were sitting in front of a master, who incidentally did not have
any books, certificates, or photographs of saints or gods on display. Mehta Saheb was
constantly smoking and many times kept the cigarette lit for a long interval without even
smoking it.
6
Then he made us wait, as it was time for him to eat, and he offered us food,
after which he asked for the birth details of our friend, and he created his chart on a Palm
Top like instrument. He scribbled the chart on a notepad, and our investigative eye noted
that he had drawn the natal chart and next to it the same chart from the Moon Ascendant.
7
I
do not recall if he created a D-9 chart or not. After he did many calculations by hand, he
scribbled in minute detail what is popularly known as the Period/Dasa
8
calculation in India,
which helps in timing results. Indian astrologers popularly think that the Period/Dasa is not
available in Western astrology, but this is far from the truth. Western astrology also has a
method of Period/Dasa computation. Mehta Saheb was calculating this by hand, and we
realized that he was also doing something more. He then stared at the horoscope for
approximately eight to ten minutes and not more than that.
9
X would not agree here since
he has probably seen Mehta Saheb divulge stunning predictions in seconds, but maybe for
some reason, Mehta Saheb stared at it for this long time. Then he started reeling off
predictions which left us speechless and made us realize that we were sitting in front of a
master of masters, perhaps the finest God could ever make. X would often say about
Mehtas predictions, It was as if Sage Bhrighu
10
was speaking through him.

6
Seeing the cigarette, we realized which planet is strongest in his horoscope and attributed this very planet to his stunning
predictions. This is related to a new observation mentioned in our commentary in the series on asterisms in the Ravana
Samhita series. For Westerners, this is an ancient text that has not survived in purity and we published it in English for the
first time, and it can be found in previous issues of Saptarishis Astrology.
7
In India, it is customary to create the natal chart with Moon as the Ascendant even though the Moon stays in the same
sign for a long period, and this system has been followed for thousands of years.
8
Vimshottari Dasa, as it is called in India.
9
In India, anyone who has been to masters of astrology believes that an astrologer cannot take more than 30 seconds to reel
off his predictions (no exaggeration here), and if he takes longer than that, then he does not know astrology. Yet one must
remember that today, such masters are very few in number, and we must not criticize what is left of astrology.
10
Sage Bhrighu is an ancient sage whose predictions are noted as the greatest ever and who wrote a voluminous book where
one can find any living persons horoscope with stunning predictions given by the sage and also remedies to the problems.

indly note that any client in India knows in his heart that the greatest of
astrologers can reach a maximum 60 percent accuracy, whereas many astrologers
would tell you that they easily get 80-90 percent accuracy. The details of the chart
of our friend are not given for privacy issues, but one must remember what Mehta Saheb
said to us on the telephone, as his parting shot before he passed on: Try to predict the chart by
knowing the events of a person, and you will master astrology.
11
Now read the predictions as
given by Mehta Saheb on our friends chart, and please note that 80-90 percent of these
predictions did come true.

1. Your father is a government employee who was falsely implicated in a case and then
suspended. The Committee Enquiry would reveal that he was not at fault but that it
was his superior who falsely implicated him. He would be re-instated after exactly one
year from this trouble. Friend replied with astonishment that this was very true, and no
astrologer in India had ever before predicted this to him.

2. You are a clean-hearted person and you have been fooled mercilessly by many, and your
whole life is a tragedy since everyone cheats you or takes you for granted. Just five
months back you were cheated similarly. People like you can never become successful.
Friend was about to reply that this was very true, that it had unfortunately happened just like
this, but Mehta Saheb was busy looking at the chart, and just put his hand up as if to say, Dont
disturb me. I know that my prediction is true.


3. You are not married right now, and I am not sure if you will get married, but first reply
to me if any of your fathers elder siblings are unmarried. My friend replied in the
affirmative that four out of five of his fathers siblings were unmarried, and Mehta
Saheb then raised his voice slightly, Okkk, you will then get married. Here, one must
intervene that it was felt he would never get married since he was 34 years old with a very badly
afflicted chart by any standards, and all famous astrologers had failed miserably on his chart in
regards to timing marriage. Friend replied that two of his aunts from his fathers side and two
of his uncles from his fathers side were unmarried. We intervened to ask him if this is due to
Rahu debilitated in his 7H with its dispositor debilitated, too. Mehta Saheb smiled and asked
politely that we not disturb him. Kindly note the word then above, thats the key.

4. Mehta Saheb said that the wife will have some practice of her own, like a lawyer or
doctor, that right at the time, it is not her own practice, but when he would meet her, it
would be her own practice, in which she was doing some kind of preaching, and

11
We have tried this advice as a dictum and succeeded at times to locate the Ascendant and some planets but failed miserably
due to lack of knowledge and intelligence. Others are requested to follow it and see the stunning results; you would get to
know more about planets than what is written in any book.
K
working with the government - Years later, it was noticed this prediction failing partially as
the wife of the friend was a teacher and not a lawyer or doctor, but she was into preaching as a
teacher, and she was taking private tuitions from childhood and later she was taking her own
tuitions and also employed with a government school. Incidentally, what we checked was that in
2006 she was taking tuitions under her brothers classes, and later became independent starting her
own tuition classes, making the prediction true in a way.

5. Then Mehta Saheb said in his slightly nasal voice that friends wife will be one of five
children and yet heir of a huge inheritance, and she might be the youngest (this did not
come out as true), but when he meets her, she would have almost none of the
inheritance, that right now her family has two houses, but when he meets her they
would have sold one. She would have been cheated of her inheritance. At the time of
this prediction, the family would have two vehicles. He went on describe that three of
her siblings would have taken an MBA, one would be in the hotel business, ones marital
life would be spoiled and he would be divorced by the time friend meets his wife-to-be. -
Have followed this case and noticed that part of the prediction is not true but yet astoundingly
true to a larger extent, as the friend married a girl who has in total five siblings including herself,
in spite of her being the second eldest, her father had openly said to all five siblings that the whole
inheritance which he is supposed to receive would be hers only. When the friend met the girl, she
told him that she was heir of a huge inheritance but that her uncle had cheated her father and
given him a small insignificant percent of it amounting to some 20 lakhs (40,000 $). They had thus
two houses but due to this cheating, one was gone and the other, her brother had cheated her whole
family out of to make it in his name. Two siblings are right now doing MBA, the third is an
MBA graduate who is divorced, the fourth does not have a hotel business and is into
Telecommunications, but he did his studies in Hotel Management, so here Mehta Saheb was a bit
off.

Some of the other predictions we dont remember, though we noted a few in our
diary. He was the only astrologer we had to stop after 45 minutes of predictions since it was
too stunning and we wanted it on paper due to his indiscernible voice. Also, he said that
these predictions were just preliminary, and that after he would give us 30 predictions for the
next 30 days, we were to give him feedback in writing, and only then he would rectify the
birth time. After this, the real predictions would be given. And we had thought that
already his predictions had been stunning enough! We sat in awe as we were in front of the
finest astrologer so far, though others may have experienced better than we had. Then we
realized why X had sent us to him. The problem was that X secretly desired that we learn
Mehta Sahebs system, but Mehta Saheb had an accent which was too difficult to discern, and
his writings were indecipherable, as we were to discover later.
Though he was very strict on this 30-day feedback, he still gave us three dates that
were for a particular month only, as to when the new job would be found. He said that out of
the three dates he would guarantee one date even though we had not gone through the
process of chart rectification. This scribe was stunned since no astrologer had ever guaranteed his
predictions since the 6
th
century astrologer Varahamihira, who was ready to be hanged if his
predictions did not become true, yet, this scribe cannot guarantee even one of his own predictions.
Because of his dazzling predictions, this scribe started calling Mehta Saheb the Guaranteed
Astrologer in various Internet forums.
Now these dates for the upcoming job were nine months later than the dates given in
most consultations, and we were dismayed since it was not exactly what we had wanted to
hear. Most of us go with pre-conceived notions of what the astrologer must say to us. In fact,
most astrologers in India might have given our friend a one-or-two-month period for new
job gain, and Mehta Saheb was the only astrologer who gave us such an extended-wait-
period prediction.

Xs Reaction
n November when my friend landed a job, X asked, Out of the three dates which Mehta
Saheb gave as good, better and best, which one was accurate? I said that none were, and then
X asked how much did it differ, and scribe replied that it differed around 22 days. X
immediately wondered aloud in great frustration if Mehta Saheb had lost his astrological
ability. X seemed to feel, based on this one case, that his recommendation had been useless.
This writer, on the other hand, was quite pleased and astonished that the month of the job
hire had been predicted to the T, and that this prediction had been made nine months in advance,
and so what if his prediction had been off by a mere 22 days? However, X had known Mehta
Saheb for 20 years of close friendship, and in this time, had seen him predicting a minimum
of 50 cases of job gain to the day, which is why this was a surprise to him.
In one future instance on the same chart Mehta Saheb failed dramatically, but by then
he had moved to the holy city of Haridwar, India, due to his ill health. He did not want to
make this particular prediction, and scribe had to pester him several times for it, but in the
end, his prediction failed anyway. He did not tell us that it was time for him to pass on but
he had told X three years earlier that a particular week three years later would be bad for
him, and then three days before the event, he called up X and said its time to say goodbye to
20 years of friendship.

Some Of His Predictions
his is what X and some contacts in Delhi told me. What we have heard from X will
always be totally true since we know X to be the most honest devotee
12
of astrology
that we have ever met and known personally for a long time. Some of this might be
factually erroneous since we heard it on the phone and there is a slight chance we could have
heard the facts wrong.


12
Mark the word devotee; he has never behaved like a typical astrologer in spite of studying astrology since 1962. In spite of
reading every commentary on each classic and being at times a stunning predictor, his approach/attitude (bhavana) towards
astrology is something too pure like a servant ready to serve rather than be served, guess thats the reason he is so successful.
I
T
1. X had an industrialist client whose brother was jailed by the Enforcement Directorate.
The industrialist was a long time client of Mehta Saheb and was worried about his
brother, and Mehta Saheb said that at 10 oclock he would be freed, and exactly at 10:05,
the industrialist who was sitting with Mehta Saheb received a call from his brother that
he had been freed. X was witness to this prediction, which incidentally was not made
through horary astrology, but from natal astrology, which makes it more astonishing; but if
you knew the kind of calculations Mehta did, you would not be so astonished. He was
quite keen and almost fanatical about doing his astrological calculations by hand; we have
not seen any other astrologer so meticulous and quick at it.

2. A friend of X in Delhi had his marriage falling apart, so X took him to Mehta Saheb as
X realized that one cannot play in experimentation with popular astrologers, but rather
should take his friend to astrologers who can really deliver. This friend of X was in a very
high position, and so was his wife, both being employed in MNC companies with huge
salaries. Mehta Saheb saw the chart of Xs friend and said that he was married, and then
asked if they had two children. The man replied that he had two children and mentioned
their ages. Mehta Saheb said Oh, in that case you would soon be divorced, and within a year,
you would have a girlfriend who would live with you (live in relationship), and she would give
birth to your child. X tells me that the prediction came out true to the T.

3. To another friend 15 years before the event, Mehta Saheb saw the charts of his
daughters and said about one that she would marry at such and such age, the name of her
husband would be starting with such and such letter, he would be doing such and such business, and
his father would be of such and such status in life, and his uncles would be in such and such
profession. For brevity and privacy, the details were deleted. Having one firsthand
experience of Mehta Saheb, we knew that he was an absolute master in looking at the
profession of relatives and especially the relatives of the spouse. X indicates that he was
even a master at predicting the starting letter of the name of ones spouse.
13

4. One of his failed predictions that X often tells us is that of a very rich man from
Punjab, and Mehta Saheb was sure that he would become the President of India. The
man campaigned in Delhi for four years or so, and spent huge sums of money doing
PR with political parties, but the event did not happen. Like any other astrologer,
Mehta Saheb felt he was correct in his prediction, but he failed. In another chart, he got
everything wrong for seven years.

13
Predicting the starting letter of ones spouse if we are not wrong, one of our authors Dr. Paresh Desais father, the late
Ravindra Desai, was capable of doing; this the author has not indicated to us but other sources have indicated it. What we
remember clearly from various sources is that Ravindra Desai used to predict the date and time of the event at times and the
mighty of Mumbai would visit him. Mehta Saheb had predicted the starting letter of the spouse of our friend but right now
we are unable to get the diary where we noted it in order to verify it.
5. In one of our trips to Delhi, this scribe, P.M. Padia (Guru of James Braha) and
Andree Leclerc were visiting a famous publisher, and scribe was suggesting that the
need of the hour is to revive old classics in astrology, especially the books of astrology
greats like the late J.N. Bhasin and Bepin Behari. Their books need to be re-written, as
all of them are priceless jewels which need to be represented in clear simple English
and systematic presentation. At that time, I just removed the topic of one book which
the publisher had withdrawn, which was of S. K. Mehta, and the publishers son
immediately pounced with enthusiasm in the conversation as to what a brilliant
astrologer he was. Kindly note that publishers have met all kinds of astrologers and
are forced to test either their knowledge or their predictive ability. Later in the
conversation, it was learned that S. K. Mehta used to also give consultations at this
publishers office and he had wide experiences of Mr. Mehtas predictions. In fact, the
publishers son mentioned one experience concerning the daughter or granddaughter
of the late J. N. Bhasin. It seems Mehta Saheb used to often give the date of accident or
breakdown of her car and the granddaughter of Bhasin would get the car serviced and
in perfect order before the said date, yet it would break down on the concerned date and
this would repeat and repeat for each prediction.
6. He predicted that another famous Delhi publishers hand would break, and the
publisher did have a bad fracture some time later.
7. A client went to him and he said without knowing the background, your father was
in the army and he has a huge mustache even now after retirement but he has no hair on his
head and is bald.
These predictions are not so great, but this is what we have to offer now as to what we
remember. His students who have disappeared are requested to prove us wrong and bring
out the true glory of their gurus predictive ability and more important than that, of his
techniques.

The Man, The Machine
his is the most important section as per this scribe, and a learning for even the best
of the lot. If some of the good points of Mehta Saheb are inspirational, then this
write-up has served its purpose. Mehta Saheb did not learn astrology from anyone or
from books. He was an engineer, and when he started to learn astrology, he read two books
by one popular author. He read it and practiced it on some charts, only to realize that no
clear predictions could ever be made via that knowledge, so he instantly discarded those
books, and when we met him he showed us that in his house there are no books. He was
self-taught, and he called his system Observational Astrology.
He never met an astrologer, never went to any conference, never advertised his consultation
service, never wrote any articles and was light years away from Internet forums. In October of 2010
at Guru Shivananda Murthyjis conference, we took a long pending interview of the veteran
T
astrologer K. N. Rao, and on the last day just before ten minutes of our departing, we asked,
pushing the MP3 recorder towards him, whether he heard of S. K. Mehta, and then K. N.
Rao said in his baritone voice very loudly, Brillianttttt Astrologer.
Mr. Mehta did not have many possessions in life, and this is often the mark of a great
astrologer, and he did not want many clients, and his fees were the same whether it was for
others or the ex-Chief Minister of a State, to whom he had predicted that in 11 days on such
and such date, he would become the Chief Minister of that State.
14
The Chief Ministers wife
would personally invite him with an airline ticket to the capital city to give predictions, and
X had seen her personally at the residence of Mehta receiving predictions, too. Twice he had
given to-the-date predictions to this Chief Minister in front of X, as to when he would
become Chief Minister. It is not known if he distinguished between the common man and a
Chief Minister, but it did not appear so, since Mehta Saheb came across in front of us as a very
humble astrologer, and he would not be of the type to show partiality to people in power.
Mehta Saheb was not a popular person since he did not write articles or attend
conferences and he was not so well known in India, but only in those circles where he was
recommended. Some so-called holy astrologers had a problem with Mehta Saheb since he did
not believe in God,
15
did not believe in remedies and he used to smoke and drink alcohol. The
problem with India is, in spite of thousands of years of spirituality and all of us claiming
that India is the most spiritual land, we have not been able to eradicate racism, dowry,
poverty, or corruption.
16
We have not been able to go to the core of spirituality to understand
that its not ones eating or drinking habits that make a man, its his heart, nothing more,
nothing less. The saints of Maharashtra and Indian yogis have shown this for hundreds of
years, how they can smoke but also give great spiritual teachings, perform miracles and be
the kindest of humans. The Hugging Saint Mata Amritanandamayi once said in an
interview in Times Of India that Spirituality starts where religion ends.
Well one brief meeting and few calls is a very short period in which to get to know
anyone, but after a certain age, one gets the experience of how to judge character. With
Mehta Saheb, we did not notice arrogance or a bloated ego; though he deserved it, and yet he
himself answered that he learned astrology on his own through Observational Astrology.
One does not know why he refused to call it my research, but it was only called by him,
Observational Astrology. Speaking of Observational astrology, he would often sit with X
and discuss charts and then remove his small diaries and say something such as, In 1982, so
and so had come with so and so combination in his chart, and this current client has the
same combination, and the same events have unfolded. X said that if one kept the rule
books of Mehta Saheb, where he scribbled his rules of prediction, it actually would be one

14
Due to compulsions of privacy we had to delete the name of the state, it is the most powerful state in India is what may
suffice.
15
This is not entirely true, according to X, who says that Mehtas concept of God was far different than the text book
definition.
16
In fact, many of todays astrologers would have the most corrupt politicians as their clients and these astrologers
shamelessly flaunt it since the time of Independence of India. In true spiritual circles, astrologers are often not regarded
highly in India, since astrologers have not been able to convert their clients into honest entities or good human beings.
metre in height. Mehta had a huge memory and would remember charts well. He had some
eight to ten students that he taught over a period, but unfortunately no writings or teachings
have come out of them. In fact, one of Mehtas books was withdrawn by his students from a
famous publisher, which is what the publisher told us. X found him to be one of the few
astrologers with whom he could discuss astrology without worrying about the politics of
astrologers or hurting the ego of astrologers when asked some tough technical questions.

His Books
It has taken us three years to procure the two marvelous books written by the Guaranteed
Astrologer:
1. New Rules & Combinations In Hindu Astrology.
2. Synchronization of Periods.

The former maybe can be used by any Western or Indian astrologer student for marvelous
predictions, and the latter gives a very technical form of timing periods in astrology
(Vimshottari). Both the books, especially the latter, are beyond this scribes intelligence, but
one would want others to learn it well, and if you read it and find it working, then please do
write articles on it by sharing your experiences. Please note that with his work, one might
need to relearn astrology,
17
so if your cup is not empty, dont bother to go through it as we
would not want you to waste your money.
Do note that X clearly mentioned that not even 1% of Mehta Sahebs knowledge has
come out in the books, and the books were written by his students.
18
X said these books need
to be re-written by a good writer, as Mehta Saheb was a predictor and everyone in India
knows that the ones who can predict are rarely good writers. Its almost a 99 percent rule as
these predictors do not have time to write books or have time to write in Internet forums, as the
population of India is so much that if one gets the wind that one is a great predictor, then his
house will often have queues waiting to get in, whereas most writers do not have the fortune
of having people lining up outside their homes. Along with one of our volunteer writers, Mr.
Venkat, we had tested some of the astounding principles given in New Rules of Hindu
Astrology, but we found it working on a few charts stunningly and failing on a few, so
apparently, we did not have the master key of S. K. Mehta. Young and old readers often
criticize other astrologers techniques, not realizing that knowing a technique and then
writing how to use it can be the most difficult part, even when a writer wants to openly
share. Yet in the next installment of this article, we would take up some of his rules and
show how astoundingly it works on some charts and how it fails on some, giving a balanced
view. That should also serve as a reminder to young students that the best kept secrets of
true researchers and writers is that each technique can work on 100 charts and an article can
display all those 100 charts, and similarly that same technique can be used to show how it is

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His method of using exaltation and debilitation of planets is far different than the traditional method of both Western and
Indian astrology.
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Kindly note, as mentioned earlier, Mehta Saheb was not the best of communicators.
not working on another set of 100 charts. If you plan to buy his books, do not expect miracles
coming out. Remember that one metre-in-height rule book of Mehta, and remember for a
super computer like Mehta, it was never possible to put his knowledge out in book form. It
was only after the insistence of X and other admirers that something had to be published,
and for this, we must be grateful. The books of Mehta Saheb remind me of the books written
by sages, where each aphorism can seem to be working on some charts and failing on some,
yet it is our tradition that we do not criticize the sages so why should we criticize a modern
author and create bad karma.

Learning From Him
ver the years we have found that Observational Astrology is the greatest form of
guru to oneself. But this has to be blended with the ability to accept that our
knowledge is limited, and there are some rules which are not known to us, since if
we believe that we know all the rules or we are the greatest researcher ever born, we would
not be able to learn from Observational Astrology. This may have been the strongest point of
Mehta Saheb, as he re-wrote astrology for himself, starting from scratch. If there is
something valuable I have learned from him and my mentor, it is that I for one am not
capable of becoming a practicing astrologer if I cant be 99 percent accurate, since its a sin to
misguide someone, and if I am only 50-60 percent accurate, then I am making this
subject/science a form of entertainment, which it is not.
When an astrologer decides that he does not want to be known in the literary circles
of astrology, he may be at a great advantage and can excel far more than anyone. Often
literary circles of astrology are distracting and consuming time and precious mental energy,
apart from at times creating bad karma out of philosophical disagreements. If I can find
faults in myself and compare it with what I can learn from Mehta Saheb, it is, he did not bother
to write articles, he did not have the desire to stand in front of crowds of young astrologers
in conferences, he did not have to spend days to prepare his speeches like other conference
speakers, he did not have to spend days writing an article and then spend years promoting
that article at every instance, and he did not want to be surrounded by hundreds of students.
Mehta Saheb was spared all this and he could save all this time and devote himself to the
real astrology and not pseudo astrology that I have been doing, and most important is that
he did not seem to have the desire to be called a guru or be given a red carpet treatment.
Even though we spoke few times, we spoke at length, and we never found him complaining
about any astrologer. Mehta Saheb was better off not believing in God, it seems. He seems
to have fulfilled the expression, Fill It, Shut It, and Forget It.

He died as the Unsung Hero of Astrology.




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