The Nadi Readers
“The will is not free, it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect, but there is something behind the will which is free.” - Swami Vivekananda This is how it felt...
My Nadi leaf is being read to me in Old Delhi. My translator (Tamil to English) is on the right
Imagine if you traveled to a far away and ancient city and while wondering there you hear of a secret library, unlike any other on earth, and you are given directions and go there, and it takes a long time, and the streets you travel are busy and crowded filled with people and cars, and the long-sought street the library is on is non-descript and does not stand out in any way, and you go up the steps, and at the second-story upstairs flat there is an unremarkable door, and you remember the restaurant you ate at once where you lifted a bowl of soup to drink on a delightful night of nothing special and saw the most amazingly wondrous sight: an orange chandelier glowing in the bowl you held; then, looking deeper, you see yourself, with a different face living a different life with different parents and friends wearing exotic clothes and you look into the eyes of the one whom you see looking back at you and pass through the bright doorway of the here and now . . . into a shabby room with faded paint and dirty walls and windows where a dark-skinned man with a red bindi mark on his forehead and bright white shining teeth is singing in ancient Tamil, reading off a tiny script no more than 1/8” high inscribed long ago in Sanskrit on a palm leaf now bound between two strips of wood and what he is reading is all about 'you.'
Recently, only several thousand years ago, at the direction of a Chola King, this very text you are now hearing was written down in Sanskrit and then many years later translated into ancient Tamil, the South Indian language. The writing was etched in black ink on a palm leaf, which has passed through the more recent ancient dynasties that ruled India: the Cholas, the Muslims, Vijayanagar, the Portuguese, the Mughals, the Dutch, the French, and finally, the British, who last and ignorantly burned and destroyed much of the library and auctioned off the rest.
Library of Nadi Leaves at Venkatesvarm Koil, Tamil Nadu
(It is now thought that over 60% of the library has been destroyed) . . . and the brown-skinned man singing before you is singing about your life, reading the etchings on a palm leaf that were first recited by a Rishi who had overheard a conversation between Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati . . . It was a conversation in which Parvati asked Shiva to recite the fate of her children, which Lord Shiva then does, taking a long, long time to do so.
Shiva speaking with Parvati (The Ganges is pouring out of Shivas matted hair)
And when I heard the story of my own life sung and read out, starting with the names of my parents, Norman and Marjorie, That they are deceased, that I have an older brother from my Father's first wife, and that my partner's name is 'Gilda' my mind is stunned with wonder. I believe I could be Parvati's child . . .
If you understood what is being said or what is going on here, then ‘you’ would no longer exist, and ‘you’ pass through a bright doorway into the here and now where you are sitting in a shabby room, there are children playing outside, and you are hearing about your own life written in a palm leaf book thousands of years ago and stored in a temple in South India.
The 'book' is written on rectangularly cut palm leaves (about 1/16" x 2" x 20”) with two cords holding together the pages bound between two 3/16" wooden boards.
A Palm Leaf manuscript
It has been pulled down from dusty, old, wondrous stacks of that ancient library, especially for you, based only on your thumbprint.
Nadi Leaves at Venkatesvarm Koil, Tamil Nadu
It is a ‘book’ that holds several leaves written about ‘you’ as you are right now, this moment, today, as well as your history, how you came to be here, what you did in your past life, what you will do in your future life and somehow this book or the writer of this book knew that you would come to this library to hear this text read out to you today! Right now . . . ! it is your Nadi or destiny!
. . . and the chandelier glows in the soup bowl, turns blue and sparkles, and brightens into a white brilliance. It seems that someone has a light and that someone knows ‘you’ where ‘you’ have been, what ‘you’ have done, who you have met, and what will happen to ‘you’ in the future.
'You' hear that this leaf or book was written down thousands of years ago by someone you never met, by someone your parents never met, by someone your partner never met. Someone who knew the day you were born, the month and the time, someone who knew that 'you' would come today, this day, this week, this year, this life, and this book would be waiting for ‘you' everything entering into this single moment altogether, like the reflection of the moon that night with your dear friend Anthony on a still country lake in summer, when the universe peeled back its blanket of stars and the incredible blessing of infinity, full of peace and wonder poured out over the lake and swept ‘you’ both away; the 'you' that was then and now, never and forever.
When the Buddha became enlightened under the Bodhi tree, he remembered all his past lives.
Thangka of Buddha remembering his past lives
He saw his life as one would look in a mirror . . . Imagine what it is like for a person to live without such a mirror, to never see oneself, to never have a memory of who 'you' are. ’You' and ‘I' are this person. And this palm-leaf book in this ancient library is a mirror of who 'you' and ‘I' is, are, have been, and will be.
To understand this is a great mystery. It is to see who arranged the petals on a flower and as they are so incredibly perfect and wondrous, but because you have seen them, you became a poor artist or a monk or a renunciate or a parent or a thief.
You are a saint and sinner, lover and hater; perhaps you cared for someone so much that you cried and felt the pain of not getting what you wanted, and much time had come and gone, and the water of many lifetimes flowed beneath the bridge, you become thankful for the pain, and for all that you have been given and despite all that is, in spite of everything being always forever passing away; with tears, you give up and dissolve utterly. This has happened before, it is happening now it will happen again
I am reminded of a dream that Carl Jung related in his autobiography, Memories Dreams and Reflections
Carl Jung
"I was walking along a little road through a hilly landscape; the sun was shining, and I had a wide view in all directions. Then, I came to a small wayside chapel. The door was ajar, and I went in. To my surprise, there was no image of the virgin on the altar, and no crucifix either, but only a wonderful flower arrangement.
But then I saw on the floor sat a yogi- in lotus posture in deep meditation. When I looked at him more closely, I realized he had my face. I started in profound fright and awoke with the thought: “Aha, so he is the one who is meditating me. He has a dream, and I am it:” I knew that when he awakened, I would no longer be."
This is the hole in the universe, and if it is true, and it seems to me it is, then what is going on is a great mystery. It has been going on forever.
Having the Nadi readers find my leaf was the most amazing thing I experienced in India. The biggest slap across the face of free will I ever received. It should change my life. The fact that such a thing exists should change all our lives, whether we believe in it or not.
Nadi Readers outside of Kanchipuram
Nadi Reader near Kanchipuram
The pictures above are of Nadi readers outside of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. They are a father and son. After my experience in Old Delhi, where they found my leaf, I wanted to visit other Nadi Readers to see if they could find my leaf as well. Although they looked, they were not able to find it. They were, however, glad to share with me about the Nadi tradition and their understanding and practice of it.
The Nadi readers who did find my leaf, including my Father's name and my Mother's name and middle name, were in Old Delhi (You can see their picture at the top of the page). Struck with the accuracy of my past and present and overwhelmed with the life-changing implications of what the Old Delhi readers had told me, I decided to visit South India, the Saraswati Mandir temple in Thanjavur, and the main temple, where most of the Nadi leaves are still kept in an ancient library. On the way, I visited several other Nadi readers in Tamil Nadu to see if they could also find my leaf. None of them did.
I never made it to Thanjavur. On my way there, I traveled through the south of India to Tamil Nadu, where I stayed in a cottage on the beach at Mamallapuram next to the Shore Temple, where the oldest temple in South India was built.
This 100-yard-long carved rock wall tells the story of the sage Bhagiratha performing penance by holding his arms above his head while standing on one foot. He did this to bring down the Ganges River from heaven to purify his ancestors, who had been cursed and turned to ash by the Sage Kapila Rishi. (You can see him on the wall next to the left of where the water would flow). He was told that only if their ashes were washed by the river Ganges, would they be able to ascend to heaven. The King, Gangakondam Cholapura (The Chola king who ‘took’ the Ganges), traveled over two thousand miles with his army to northern India to bring back Ganges water to his kingdom. That Ganges water was released from a tank above this wall on celebratory occasions, and it poured down the center channel of this rock face.
There, in front of this wall, I saw the first day of the Indian National Dance Festival. It was meant to take place over several nights.
Indian National Dance Festival in Mamallapuram
But after the first evening performance, early the next morning, December 26, 2004, the Tsunami hit. It changed my 'plans' for the time being. (You can read about that here: (To see pictures and read about the Tsunami)
I considered writing a book about the Nadi tradition. It has so much to say, not only regarding the information given to an individual about his or her life but about how life works and the Law of Karma.
“God created the Law of Karma, and then he retired.” - Mahatma Gandhi
The Nadi readings are a slap in the face of free will . . . How could I have used my free will if all of what they told me was true (and it certainly seemed to be, at least about this life) and it was written down over a thousand years ago? The Indian tradition believes 100% in fate or destiny born of karma and 100% in free will. This does not make ‘sense,' and they agree . . . but then again, neither does an endless universe.
India tends to put more emphasis on fate. The tendency in the West is to put more emphasis on free will. If both of these are considered valid principles of life, they present a stunning paradox.
If the Nadi readings are genuine, one of the implications is that most of us do not use our free will very much. I certainly had not. How could my mother's name and middle name be known and written down a thousand years ago and read out to me based on just my thumbprint?
The Nadi readers could not have read my mind and written it down on the palm leaf. I was in the room the whole time. I was allowed to take a picture of my leaf and have it independently translated (They rarely allow this). The text on the leaves is written in ancient Tamil, which is as similar to modern-day Tamil as Latin is to modern-day English. They were not reading my mind. It simply seems that what and who we think we are, we are not and that almost all of what we think is ‘free will’ is fate.
I was told that while the readings are considered very accurate up to the present (this is called parabdha karma - the karma we are destined to experience in this life). As to the future, they accept free will, the effect of present actions, and understanding, which can be changed; indeed, this is part of the purpose of the Nadi readings. These readings throw light on life (Jyoti is light) as well as any other actions (agama karma - the karma we are presently creating and kriyamani karma - our present actions which will come to fruition in future lives. This last is the only karma we have control over).
Some people say, "I do not believe in such things. I do not believe in Astrology.” I reply, 'Have you ever studied the field? Have you ever looked into it? Have you ever had a reading from a Jyotisha?’ I would say that if anyone explores the subject, not the short, superficial readings that you can find in the daily paper or a magazine, but a full Jyotish reading performed by a competent Vedic astrologer, you will find that Vedic Astrology and what it tells you is impossible to dismiss. Water is wet, and fire will burn; this is not a matter of belief but of direct experience. Belief and doubt are both irrelevant.
Even so, all children must test the flame with their fingers, and you must test astrology yourself. If we know the seed, you know the tree, what its fruits will be, and the 'parents' of the seed. According to this same principle, it is possible, by an 'examination' of any present moment, to see the future and the past.
There is a Tibetan saying attributed to Padmasambhava:
“If you want to know your present, look at your past. If you want to know your future, look at your actions.”
Astrology does not simplify the world or one's life. On the contrary, by throwing light (Jyoti) upon the personality, qualities, actions, and events of life, by relating the tendencies, whether strong or weak or neutral) of the past, the present, and the future, it makes life even more mysterious.
Life is a cloth woven warp and woof from karma . . . We call it 'cause and effect’. The 'cause' is the effect concealed. The 'effect' is the cause revealed. It is incomprehensible and worthy of wonder.
Let me close by again, stating how I began this article with a saying from the Indian tradition by one of its most extraordinary men, Swami Vivekananda (the man who brought the Yoga of God-Realization to the West: See my book: How Thoreau’s Walden Pond Mixed with the Ganges and Yoga Came to America with Swami Vivekananda.
Because such a thing as Jyotish and the Nadi leaves were known to the great Rishis or Wise men of the ancient Indian tradition, they could say:
“The will is not free-it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect- but there is something behind the will which is free.” -Swami Vivekananda
My Nadi reading was the most amazing thing I encountered in India.
Update 2018
Several friends have visited the Nadi readers in Old Delhi and recently have been asked for what I think to be significant amounts of money: "48,000rs (about $500usd) so priests could do puja for the next 240 days of nonstop chanting to remedy his karmas." My friends passed on the donation and still received the readings; it is now seven years later (2024). When I went in 2004, there was an optional donation of 500rs. In every case I know of, the readings were outstanding and 'mind-blowing.'
So, be warned, and do what you think is best. Another thing: do not volunteer any information about your birth date, name of parents or siblings, etc. If they ask you, 'Does your father's name begin with a 'N,' and it is true, simply say, 'Yes.' Otherwise, you will not believe it if they find your leaf. Like things all over the world, especially in India, along with inexplicable phenomena that are true, there are a lot of fakes and scams, so I suggest you keep to these few simple suggestions.
For more articles about the Nadi on the web:
Differences between Nadi Astrology and Vedic Astrology
For Related Stories and Articles by Peter Malakoff:
Tragedy Fate and Nemesis- A consideration of fate and free will
This essay and stories within it, consider the relationship between the loss of the sense of tragedy and the rise of 'New Age' thinking.
Stories of DH Lawrence, Carl Jung, Isak Dinesen, Agamemnon, Oedipus, Nemesis, Darius, Tyche Polycrates, Eisenhower, and Gandhi are all brought together here.
Brillant 🙏🏼