SANNYAS- IS IT IN YOUR DESTINY?

Sunita Chabra

"A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is already situated in transcendence." (Bhagavad Gita 5.20)

Look around, sun rises from the East sets in the West. One season follows another. Sea-Evaporation-Clouds-Rain.  From mango seed only the mango trees grow and not the apple, likewise for all plants and animals. Egg-Caterpillar-Metamorphosis-Butterfly. One who is born will have to die. All dead radiate radiocarbon, used for age calculation from archaeological sites. All planets and stars remain in their position by certain forces. Everything in this universe is very systematic and follows certain laws, so why presume that between birth and death, there is no system or law that’s being followed? God created this universe under a definite plan. He created this brahmanda or universe under the operation of specific laws and when these laws are understood, the whole plan reveals itself.

Palmistry is the ‘study of the hand’ and various signs on it. Lines that run across the palm, the mounts (or fleshy parts) of the palm and the structure of fingers hold the secret to our past and future. The hand cannot act by itself, for there is no brain or intelligence to direct it, but all that it does is by command of the brain. The hand shows what kind of brain, the seat of intelligence, is directing it. I believe subconscious part of the brain stores the destiny. Everything that we were born with when we came into this world, who and what we are today and what we will be in future is indicated on our hand. Well it’s a kind of DNA. It is like a code that we need to decipher.

To take to a life of a sannyasi (ascetic), is it the destiny of an individual? Our ancient scriptures say that after 84 lakh births we are born as human beings. We are in this cycle of ‘birth-death’ till our soul attains its goal. Moksha or perfect liberation is the goal of the soul whereby the soul or atma becomes one with the holy paramatma. When a particular soul will take birth is decided by the individual’s accumulated karmas. The birth of a person takes place under certain planetary conditions again depending upon his or her accumulated karmas. God is really magnificent, he writes our destiny in our palm as prints or you may call it a manual. Owing to karmic amnesia--‘forgetfulness’, we may not remember our past births or know our present life’s destiny plan, but at the soul level there’s a clear awareness as to why he or she has taken birth and for what purpose.

Why do you think God decided to write our destiny in our hand? I believe, ‘hand’ symbolizes, action/karma and God wants all of us to improve upon our accumulated karmas. The stars at the time of our birth lay our destiny path; where and when we will meet our sorrows, challenges, joys and happiness is all written and becomes our destiny. Each soul attains a certain level through its karmas over many lives. The decision to willingly take sannyas/renunciation is also a soul’s choice. The goal of a sannyasi is "atmano mokshartham" - which means one who strives for the mastery over one's smaller self for moksha. It is not an easy task to be a sannyasi for one has to devote full time effort to the direct experience of the highest spiritual realization.

Much of what a person goes through in the present birth is a direct result of what was accomplished, or left undone, in his past life. Rebirth gives a chance to complete unfinished business. Everyone the self is involved with, be it siblings, parents, friends and lovers are part of karma. All karmic lessons must be completed; situations and people whom we share destiny with will continue to be presented with the same lesson time and again, until it is fully accomplished. Yes, it is possible that prior to birth we may have written in our destiny certain lessons that we intend completing.

The type of hand should be the first consideration in palmistry. How different is the hand of a physical laborer and spiritual laborer? I have always wondered about this. The hand indicates the character and personality traits of a person. The setting of the fingers and manner of opening of the palm should next be noted. Each finger reveals a different attitude. The tips of the fingers contain the nerve endings on the body.

One of the main features of a sannyasi’s hand is that they are long and have fingers with knotty joints. Generally, the first phalange containing nail, is longer than the other two phalanges of the finger. These knots may indicate accumulated wisdom. Such a hand is probably the most beautiful in appearance. It has been seen that those who have breadth of vision and lack practical worldly wisdom, are materially not very successful. Those, who possess such beautiful hands may have beautiful souls but may have very tough life. They are easily deceived in life. Such are the hands of seers, rishis and ascetics, who are highly devotional and religious. They feel and say things through their soul and do not believe in superficiality of life. Sannyas and intense bhakti illuminates mind to bring memories of karmas of our past lives. A sannyasi through his intense bhakti takes responsibility for his or her past-life karma in this lifetime. The inner instinct or intuition is nothing but our enlightened mind guiding us and as we do bhakti and prayers, our instincts become strong.

The thumb and the markings on thumb are really very important. The thumb in palmistry is considered as the center of the will-power and logical thinking in a person. Long and well-shaped thumb shows intelligence and refinement of personality. Palmistry is not merely predictions but is soul-centered. It helps us understand life’s different phases and gives us opportunity for psychological and spiritual growth. Only God has the power to change our destiny. Probably, choosing the path of religion or a life of a sannyasi is kind of karmic undoing. Rebirth affords us a chance to complete unfinished business.

All the fingers of hand are generally pointed, especially the first finger, the finger of Jupiter, with its first phalanges longer than the other two. It is an ancient belief that the light force of God enters human being through the first finger of the hand. It is a common meditation mudra to join first finger (the divine light) with the thumb (ego). Light force of God merges with our soul like a catalytic spark, a kind of divine alchemy. The beads of prayers are not in our hand by chance, it is destiny. Spiritual enlightenment and desire to wash away the ego associated with self or ‘I’ is the most important karmic lesson. But do we have to take sannyas that is leave city and everyday life to go to some secluded place, like the Himalayas, to attain liberation, the eternal peace? 

Now, no matter how spiritual a person may be, somehow when you are living in a material world amidst plenty, the temptation may creep in. After all, the soul is still like a soft clay, that has attained certain shape but still not solid. For instance, think of a man or a sadhu trying to live in Las Vegas or Macau his whole life surrounded by gamblers, women etc. It will not be easy for him. Right environment and atmosphere is essential for soul’s growth. Regardless of all the good intentions the probability of being drawn into material world is strong.

After seeing the shape of hand, the thumb and the fingers, let us see for other signs on hand:-

1. Tree- This is an extraordinary sign wherever found on hand. In Hindu palmistry this sign is called Kalpa Vriksha, the Sacred Tree. This sign on the mount of Jupiter is found on the hands of saints and spiritual leaders.
2. V Mark or angle: V Mark is also a Hindu religious symbol and is associated with the Hindu deity—Lord Vishnu, the creator. When this sign is found on heart or head line, the main aim of such a soul is not just to acquire wealth or build houses but it is for a soul to spiritually evolve in his journey on earth.
3. When there is a big island, like a barley sign, with a dot in the middle of the thumb, like an eye, the person possesses the sixth sense. This sign is found on the thumbs of great seers and saints.
4. A triangle between the Mount of Saturn and the Mount of Sun shows a yogi who helps many in this journey of life. Swami Vivekananda had this sign.
5. The sign of Temple is a most respected and a very rare sign in hand and leads a person towards the path of liberation. Temple is a sign of sanctity.
6. The sign of Shesh Naga is named after a Hindu deity Nagadeva and is considered as the sign of Divine concept, also called Deva Maanya Rekha. This too is a very rare sign and if connected with the line of Sun under the third or ring finger of the hand embodies the concept of Lord Vishnu. Swami Vivekananda had this sign. The presence of this sign on his heart line shows the presence of great Lord Vishnu (shesha naga is symbolic) in Swami’s heart/soul. It was his destiny to follow the path of spirituality. Temple sign on sun line shows this disciple of Lord Vishnu will be remembered for his teachings in ages and years to come.



Illustration 1: Swami Vivekananda hand; rare signs 4, 5, and 6 as listed above

7. A trident on the mount of Jupiter, below the first finger of the hand with the Ring of Solomon, the semi-circle around the Mount of Jupiter, gives spiritual powers to the possessor. A horizontal line on the base of the first finger is called Diksha Rekha (line of renunciation). It shows the person may renounce the world later in life.
8. A heart line ending under the mount of Saturn with prominent Saturn finger, the second finger, indicates that the person is of a saintly nature; indifferent to the world.

Who seeks sannyas? (Destiny, yes, but what divine push, through events or circumstances, accomplishes it) I list three main reasons for a soul to seek the divine path of renunciation.

1. Who are going through bad times and want to alleviate physical and mental difficulties, this is when above mentioned signs (from 1-8) are found on the mount of Saturn
   
2. Who want to attain material gains like wealth, career success, power etc, (yes, it may sound strange to desire sannyas for material success), this is when signs are found on fourth or the little finger of the hand and
   
3. Who want knowledge for their own personal growth; it is to quench the thirst of their inner voice of atma. Such souls have already gone through a certain level of elevation in past lives but still have not attained the desired level. This is when the above mentioned signs are found on the mount of Jupiter.

Whatever may be the motivational reason for taking sannyas, it is good to understand the mind, the source of our karma. At a deep level inside us, our desires and our thoughts motivate and create our karma. What karma we do in our life has deep seated reasons behind it. Mind has three levels- conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious (Sigmund Freud’s theory). To know our mind is to heal both physically and mentally. Mind is so powerful that it can make us feel sick, smell and visualize what we desire. Emotions deep-rooted in our mind can push us to break laws of the society or cause disease. To control our karma it is very important to understand our mind. In order to eliminate negative bodily reactions one has to enter the subconscious part of the mind. We are naturally programmed by our bhagya, the destiny plan, in subconscious mind that inspires life events. Otherwise how do you explain people falling in love with someone or feel an attraction to someone in whom we see a lot of obvious character flaws. No logic or reasoning works here.

The desired purpose of sannyas is to channel our conscious mind into a more positive direction by totally transforming our state of mind. To meditate is to turn inwards. When we succeed in becoming so absorbed in something that mind becomes completely one with it, it is a state of samadhi. The conscious mind drops back into that unconscious oblivion. It is a state of the deep absorption in the object of meditation, wherein only the essence of that object, place, or point shines forth in the mind, as if the mind were devoid even of its own form. This is the stage of absolute and eternal freedom beyond all time and place. As described in our holy books, a path to moksha, a state when soul does not return to bondage of sorrows and happiness’!!!

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